Notes: I don't know any real street names from Yokohama, so I'm just going to use made up names.
Popping his eyes open, the twenty-eight year old was sitting in a cheap fold-able chair he brought from home. He felt the rough surface against the side of cheek and his arms sprawled on top, clutching the small ply-wood desk. Dragging the side of his face against the solid surface, he lifted his head as the exhaustion from last night washed off of him. The time on his wrist watch read: 9:00AM. A look of apprehension took over him as he stared at the silver gadget fixed around his wrist. He was going to be late if he didn't move now.
The young man could see the edges of his blond hair when he took a peak at the metal door to his left. He quickly put the papers he had been examining inside a black briefcase and clicked it shut. Standing up, he ran towards the door and pushed it open, his hand lingering on the steel bar.
The street was quite busy. He was in one of shadier parts of town. This was where the prostitutes, druggies, muggers and drug dealers felt at home. When he was younger, he used to come here a lot, trying to convince people to help themselves and trying to give them advice on how to fix up their life. Sometimes, the soft look of empathy crossed his sky-blue eyes at the conditions they lived in. He knew some of them were desperate. Day in and day out, they were living in a cesspool of drugs, sex, greed and violence and they felt that they had no way out; the kind of lifestyle that promised them an early death. Life was all about choices and sometimes, people choose to be a certain way. He remembered being beaten up and mugged and the taste of blood, but he shook that thought off. He hadn't been here since that happened. This was where his mom had made a name for herself, but now she was dead and he had to move on. The young man thought bitterly as a light frown marred his forehead.
Kise pulled out his cellphone as he ran towards his destination. "Moshi moshi, pick me up at the corner of Kanari Street and Miyuki Avenue." he said, before he promptly placed his cellphone in his suit jacket pocket and allowed his face to change to a more relaxed impression. This cellphone belonged to someone he had helped out once and as a thank you she had given him it to him. He was waiting for the man at the street signs and straightened the wrinkles on his grey suit jacket, tightening the blue tie around his neck.
He heard the roar of an engine behind him. Craning his neck over his back, he saw a familiar rough looking man pulling up next to him in a delivery truck. The street was fairly empty.
"Need a ride?" the man asked coarsely.
"Hai hai." he waved nonchalantly and then opened the door. Closing it, he looked at the man he was hitching a ride with; the man had tanned skin and had a bit of a stubble forming at the base of his neck. What stood out the most was the maroon hair sticking out of a dirty baseball cap.
"Where to?"
"Minatsu Courtroom in between Nitaki Road and Wakama Avenue."
The truck driver merely nodded and punched in the coordinates on the GPS. Kagami Taiga floored it before he could even put on the seatbelt. He held onto the dashboard for dear life and then hurriedly fumbled to latch on the hook. The other man was clearly enjoying the pure shock on his face by the way the other was smirking.
"What are you? A Street Racer?" he inquired.
"You mad bro?" the other scoffed. "Then get another driver. I have work to do too you know. It just so happens you're paying more than my current boss."
They arrived outside the courtroom. A white painted building stood in front of them as they pulled up near the parking lot where there was about thirty plus cars. This was the last time he'd employ the other to drive him around – only because he never employed the same driver twice. Sides, he had only met the guy at a Takoyaki stand three weeks ago. He had approached the man, thinking it would be good to have an extra carpool; judging by the label on the truck, he drove for a legit company based in the south side of Yokohama. He checked it out at the library near Yokohama City Hall.
He grabbed his wallet out of his other pocket and proceeded to hand over the cash he promised. The other merely grabbed it and said "Thanks for the business. Now get out of my truck. You're interrupting my schedule."
"So mean." he pouted mock sadness before he grabbed the black suitcase and began walking into the building. The concrete walls were painted white which further accented the utilitarian atmosphere. He could see the little cracks that came as time passed by.
He saw the plaintif come in and waved. Two policemen surrounded the nervous looking young man who looked like he was just about to die.
"Kise-San." His client addressed him with a weary smile.
"I'll meet you in court Ikemi-San"
People came pouring in at 10:00AM – none of them looked to be related to the Yakuza defendant it seemed. Oh they were good. They didn't leave anything much to chance. He'd bring this guy down and get him sentenced to prison if it was the last thing he did. The defendant came in, looking confident as he sat down on the left side of the court. Following him, was the man's lawyer. A green haired man caught his eye. The black suit and green tie he wore looked good. Midorima Shintaro, one of the most prolific defense lawyers in the business, but he wasn't invulnerable and there was no way he could win a case with so much evidence stacked against the defendant. Not unless they used illegal activities. He wouldn't put it past them to do such a thing. The hairs on his neck stood up at the thought of battleling it out in court with the guy. He bit his finger nail.
From the back, there was a large metal door. The judge and bailiff came out after a few minutes.
"Ikemi-San, remember what we talked about two days ago." He began as he turned to face the judge. The old man nodded.
"Introducing Judge Satou Yu and myself, Bailiff Imura Kenji. This is the Eiji Ikemi vs Haizaki Shougo case for the murder of the plaintif's family." The Baliff pointed to Eiji Ikemi and then Haizaki Shougo.
The judge looked at them blankly and then proceeded to wait for them to plead their case.
"Your honour, I'd like to question Haizaki on a few things." He said.
"Motion approved."
Haizaki then took it as his queue to move to the back. He sat to the side of the judge behind a wooden bench that probably had extra reinforcement, laying both of his arms on the support.
Steel gray eyes looked at him with a glint of hatred, but that didn't faze him one bit. The dyed silver hair the other man had was wild just like what he had heard about his personality from witnesses. Of course, they were all too scared to even take the stand against Haizaki Shougo.
"This record says that you regularly tormented a couple of your classmates. All charges were dropped. Now I wonder why that is." he stopped before continuing. "That sir, is an act of intimidation and harassment which should've been punishable by law, but you were let off for some reason." He passed the document to the judge who read it thoroughly.
"If for some reason, I die suddenly, that would be awfully suspicious to anyone looking on from the outside."
"Objection." Midorima raised his hand. "He does not have evidence that those documents are valid. It's easy to counterfeit."
"Contrary to what my opponent has said. I do have some support for the evidence I have gathered. I recorded a witness testimony. Cross-examine the voice and the person it belongs to and you will see that it matches and it is a valid testimony. The document can also be examined for fingerprints. I'll give you the name of the person after today's court session." He said as he went back behind the plaintif's table and opened his suitcase. He pulled out a black tape recorder and handed it over to the judge.
"An innocent man is depending on you Judge Satou and you cannot bring back the victim's family by pardoning this crime. If any witnesses were to suddenly die in the near future, anyone would have reason to suspect that it's because of him."
"I could make the same argument as you and say that someone is just trying to further condemn my client by killing off witnesses." Midorima interjected, and then calmly continued in a monotone voice. "If I were to say, can you condemn an innocent with a past history he regrets would you not give a person a chance based on who they are now. My opponent's client also has quite a history with gambling, I'd even go as far as to say that he owes money to many people and if I may suggest, he might be just trying to salvage more money by accusing my client of murder."
"I can say that my client has many enemies… Owing money is not an equal payment to death. Does his family deserve to die in lieu of my client's debt problems? Why isn't my client dead – Instead of his own family."
This was war and he couldn't afford to be sympathetic in the courtroom. Winning the case counted on the jurors votes and he would sway those votes for the benefit of his client, regardless if he believed in redemption because all the evidence seemed to point to Haizaki Shougo being guilty. It was just that there was no concrete evidence.