Ignominy

Chapter One

-Of All the Places in the World-

A dark haired woman started up the steps of the courthouse, her black Prada pumps clicking against the cement as she walked. She had on a black pencil skirt with a matching blazer, a light purple dress shirt underneath. Her long black hair was tied back in a low ponytail, and she wore black thick-rimmed glasses as she looked over the papers in her hand. Today she was handling a divorce, and a messy one at that. The husband and wife practically wanted to rip each other to shreds.

Unfortunately, her father had dropped it on her since her brother was ill, along with her niece. So she had to pick up the slack. But Kanamé had always left her good enough notes, so she never had to worry. She tucked the papers back in her briefcase and continued to the courtroom, where they would be handling the whole affair.

Izayoi pushed open the door, not surprised that only she and the judge were in the room. "Good morning Your Honor."

"Ah! Uchiha Izayoi, nice to see you again." The brunette woman smiled.

"Nice to see you again as well Melinda. How are you?"

The judge chuckled, "Good, considering."

The door on the side of the room opened then and Izayoi looked over, wanting to see who she was up against, but when her gaze landed on the man her heart stopped. And not in a good way. Her blood slowed in her veins and her grip on her briefcase tightened so that her knuckles were white. If there was a god, he had a sick sense of humor.

The man in question was tall and slim, though it was clear he had some nice muscles along with his broad shoulders. He had somewhat spiky white hair with black undertones, and sharp, intelligent grey eyes. He was dressed in a grey Armani suit with a black tie that matched his well-polished shoes. He smiled at the judge. "Hello Your Honor." He greeted with a nod, before his gaze moved to Izayoi and lit with surprise. "Izayoi, what a pleasant surprise that we should be working on the same case." He said, walking over to her. "It's been a while, how are you?"

"I'm fine." She answered sharply, avoiding his gaze and walking over to the table that was set up for her on the right side of the court room.

The judge chuckled and stood. "Well if you two will excuse me, I want to use the restroom before we get started."

Kai nodded to her as she left, before looking back at the ebony haired woman. "So what have you been up to lately? Are things going well at the firm?"

"They're going just fine. Now if you don't mind, I would prefer to speak to you as little as possible." She snapped dropping her briefcase on the table to make a loud smack.

He frowned. "You know, just because we're working different sides of the case doesn't mean we can't still be friendly. I mean, I haven't seen you since we graduated law school. I just want to catch up."

"What in God's name makes you think I want to catch up with you?" she huffed, finally looking at him, though her angry gaze faltered. "I would have thought me throwing champagne in your face at our graduation party, or maybe pushing you into that pool at my father's cocktail party was enough evidence that I don't like you."

"But I don't even understand what I did to offend you so." The white haired man said. "We've known one another since we were kids Iza, and all of a sudden you hate me. Why?"

"It's not all of a sudden, I've hated you since senior year if you remember right, but then again considering whom I'm talking to, I'm not surprised you don't remember something so significant in your own life." She grumbled, sitting down and pulling out the things she would need.

He sighed, walking over to his own table and taking out his papers. "Well then maybe you could tell me what it is I am supposedly forgetting, since that is clearly the reason you're being so cold towards me." he said, sitting down as well.

Izayoi scoffed. "And why should I tell you that? You almost ruined my life without even remembering why."

"Right, because stewing in your bitterness all alone instead of telling me what I did so I can fix it is the better option." He rolled his eyes, unbuttoning his jacket and straightening it with jerky movements.

The door to the courtroom opened to reveal a bickering pair, who were making their way towards the front. Izayoi stood and looked back, grimacing at the sight. The man she was representing was on the larger side. His brown hair was combed to the side and he smirked when he saw the dark haired woman. "Damn! Is this my replacement lawyer?" he asked, stopping in front of Izayoi. "You're damn sexy to be a lawyer. I'd like to bend you over that table and fuck you si-"

He was hit over the head by the blonde woman beside him. "Forgive me ma'am. I apologize on behalf of my boorish ex-husband."

"It is alright." She sighed, shaking both their hands. "I've encountered worse."

"That she has." Kai stood and walked over to them, holding out his hand and shaking their hands. "The judge has stepped out for a minute, but she should be back soon." He informed the couple….or, ex-couple.

The woman looked Kai up and down, purring with delight. "My, oh, my, are you going to be taking care of me today?" She let out a soft moan as she leaned closer to him, running her tongue over her lips. "You look like you can really please a woman."

Izayoi rolled her eyes, taking her seat as the man sat beside her, his eyes focused on her legs. Kai chuckled, though it was mostly fake. "Thank you Mrs. Yamamoto. Now if you'll come sit with me, we can all be ready when Her Honor arrives." He smiled, gesturing to their seats. They walked over there and he pulled hers back for her, since he was a gentleman, despite what some ebony haired, jade eyed women thought.

The judge came back in with the officer of the court, and everyone rose as she walked to her chair, sitting along with her. "Well it seems everyone is here. I have read to believe that each party wishes to have three quarters of the assets?"

"Yes Your Honor." Izayoi nodded. Kai did as well, replying with the same.

"Well alright. Let's get this underway. I hate when divorce takes too long to get through." She sighed, banging her gavel for the proceedings to continue.

Izayoi groaned as she started down the steps. This case was going to take forever. Both the husband and their wife were assholes, and Kai was a disturbingly witty lawyer to have to go against. But she should expect nothing less from her snide brother's best friend. "Izayoi, hold up a second!" Kai called from behind her.

"No." she tried to speed up, but unfortunately her heels failed her and she tripped forward, only to be caught by the one she was trying to get away from.

"Are you alright?" he asked, helping her stand straight once more.

"I'm fine." She sighed, pulling away from him.

Kai frowned. "You should be more careful." He told her. "Speaking of which, I think you need to find someone else in your firm to take this case. Preferably a male."

The dark haired woman glared up at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Excuse me?"

He sighed. "Now don't get all huffy and defensive." He said. "I only said that because I don't like the way Mr. Yamamoto looks at you, or speaks to you. I don't trust him, and I would rather not have anything bad happen to you while working this case. I'm just worried about you is all." He implored, placing his hands on her upper arms.

"Well then it's a good thing I am not your concern." Izayoi growled. "I can handle my own, and I am more than capable of keeping away a horny man, especially an unattractive one."

"Iza," he pleaded, reaching up and stroking her cheek with his thumb. "You will always be my concern, no matter how much you dislike me."

She batted his hand away, pushing past him. "Well then you need to get over me because that's not going anywhere, ever again."

He turned and followed after her, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean ever again? You've always rejected any of my advances, even if all I do is ask you to get coffee with me."

"I did not always reject them." She shot back, glancing over her shoulder at him. "I totally had a crush on you in high school. We went to homecoming together, if you don't remember that either."

"No, I remember that." Kai said. "I'm talking about all the times I've asked you out since senior year. After you toured Europe with your mom, and even a little before that you've kept me at an arm's length."

Izayoi finally stopped, whirling around on him. "Well maybe you should try and remember what changed that. I'll give you a hint. It was my brother's pre-prom bash. Why that moron had a pre-prom party, I don't know, but it ruined everything you stupid insensitive jerk!"

He frowned, trying to remember that night. It had been hard enough when he'd been in high school, but now that so many years had passed since then, it was even harder. He scratched his head. "I may need another hint." He smiled apologetically. "That was so long ago, after all."

"Oh? Because I remember it clear as day." She snapped, bumping into a small child as she walked down the streets. She blinked and looked back, waving at the dark haired girl, "Sorry!" she called before retuning her furious stare back on Kai. "Well you were drunk off your ass and came into my room." Izayoi seethed, crossing her arms. "And if you don't remember that, then I can't help you anymore."

Kai looked at the ground as he thought about it. He knew he'd drunk too much that night, he'd been competing against Noriaki in numerous drinking games as a form of entertainment. He also knew that that was why he couldn't remember anything, since the hangover he'd had the next day had been the worst of his life, and was actually the reason he rarely touched alcohol to this day. But he'd gone into her room? Why on earth would he have done that?

He gasped loudly, his eyes widening as he halted in his tracks. Izayoi stopped as well, giving him an odd look. But before she could say anything, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her fiercely. "I'm so sorry Iza." He whispered, sounding pained. He released her then, pulling away so that she could see the horror that was on his face. "I can't believe I did that to you…the mere thought…is revolting…I'm the worst person alive. I'm so, so sorry."

The dark haired woman looked extremely confused for a moment before it dawned upon her what he thought he had done. Well now, an opportunity like this simply couldn't be passed up. "Say it Kai." She had to stop the smirk from gracing her features. "Admit aloud what you did."

He swallowed, looking around to make sure that nobody was listening before he leaned closer to the ebony haired woman. "I…I forced you." he whispered. "I came into your room and I took you…"

Izayoi pressed her lips together in a thin line, trying to hold in her laughter. But she couldn't stop herself from bursting out. Kai blinked, his sad expression turning to worry. "Is this some kind of coping mechanism, because I'm confused."

She only continued to laugh, wiping away the tears that had gathered in her eyes. "Oh…Kai, I'm sorry that was too mean." Her laughter finally died into chuckles. "You didn't rape me Kai."

"Oh thank God." He let out a relieved breath. "Iza, you almost gave me a heart attack." He smiled, glad to see that she still knew how to do such a gesture.

"Yes well…" she trailed off, her eyes widening for a moment. She pushed him aside and hurried back the way she had come. "It couldn't be…" she pushed through the crowd, ignoring the call for her name behind her. Izayoi looked around, trying to spot the face again.

Kai caught up to her. "Is something wrong Izayoi?" he asked, looking around the area to try and find what it was she had seen, though he hadn't a clue.

She ignored him at first before she sighed, rubbing her temples. "I must be going crazy."

"If that's the case then there's no hope for the rest of us." He joked, setting his hand on her shoulder. "Are you going to be alright?"

Izayoi pulled away from him as if his hand burned her skin, and the distaste returned to her expression as she was now reminded of her dislike. "I'll be fine Kai. I said it was nothing." She snapped, though her voice caught, almost as if she were holding back pain and tears.

He frowned. "Iza…please tell me what happened that night. If I didn't rape you, then what was it? Did I say something? Do something?"

"It was nothing." She turned to face him, before walking past him. "See you tomorrow in court…and stop following me." She sighed, disappearing in the crowd of people.

He wiped a hand down his face before rubbing his temple as he headed in the opposite direction to his car. This was going to be one of the most difficult cases of his life, he just knew it. And it had nothing to do with the clients.