Monday, August 9th – Yagami Courtroom #4 – 11:32am


"Court will now resume," Itoko called, "Miss Sawachika, has the witness arrived yet?"

"Yes, your honor. She had to go make a phone call, during recess," Eri said, "But maybe we'll have Yakumo prove that Harima is nothing but a cruel student."

Yakumo then heard her thoughts:

"Stupid Yakumo. Can't she see that I know what transpired?"

"What is she talking about?" She thought.

"Prosecution calls Tsumugi Yuuki to the stands!" Eri called.

XXX

Yuuki appeared, in a very nervous state.

"State your name for the jury," Eri said.

"I am 3-C's Tsumugi Yuuki," she introduced, "I am the friend of Mai Otsuka."

Eri then said, "Please tell us what you saw, on the night Miss Tenma Tsukamoto was attacked."

Yuuki cried out, "Gladly!"

She stood in place and was angered. Sarah grew concerned.

Yuuki explained her view on what Harima did:

"I saw it with my own two eyes. Harima arrived at 7:30. I can tell by the shades he wore. I viewed it from the window, while I was stargazing. In one hour, he assaulted Miss Tsukamoto."

Eri asked, "So, when did he attack her?"

Yuuki said, "Around 7:45, I think. Of course, he left at 8:30 and got pinched by the police."

Yakumo growled, "That's a lie…"

Eri snickered, "Yes, I'm afraid there is no framing."

Yakumo began her cross-examination.

"Miss Yuuki-senpai, what were you doing, when you saw him?"

Yuuki said, "I saw Harima enter your house. He met up with Tenma and suddenly got assaulted."

She pressed further, "Did you happen to take a good look at him?"

"Yes, I did," she replied, "His long black hair was swaying in the breeze. But, of course, I only viewed it, when I was stargazing."

Yakumo asked, "Tell me. How would you see him, if you were stargazing?"

"I heard a sound. A smashing sound," Yuuki explained, "After I heard glass shatter, I looked in a clear view. I was up on the roof in another building and viewed what transpired in Tenma's room."

Yakumo shouted, "Wait! You never said you were in a roof!"

Yuuki cried, "I was!"

Miss Itoko asked, "Perhaps you should revise your testimony, please?"

Yuuki nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

Yuuki revised her alibi:

"Harima arrived at 7:30. I was up in a roof in a building, west of the Tsukamoto household, viewing the stars. Just then, I heard a smash from inside. I looked out there and saw Tenma being attacked by Kenji Harima, himself! I was so shocked, seeing one of our own classmates attacking another."

Eri asked, "What else did you do?"

Yuuki explained, "I was crying severely, knowing that Harima did something awful. So, I called the police."

Yakumo snuffed, "Nothing but crocodile tears… maybe…"

She cross-examined Yuuki:

"Tsumugi, where was the building you were in?" She asked.

Yuuki replied, "About two miles from here."

"And it was faced by my and Tenma's window?"

"Yes, it was."

Yakumo then asked, "Just out of curiosity, did you see a window smash?"

"Well, not exactly. The window was already broken, when I turned around." She responded.

Eri snapped, "Fool. Even when you try to get in, you'll end up breaking in somehow. Miss Yuuki witnessed what she saw; not what she heard."

Yakumo thought, "She had a point. But… something about her testimony sounded fishy."

She pressed further, "Maybe the sound you heard was not a window."

"NOT the window?" Eri shouted.

"Well, now that you mentioned it, it sounded like a vase being broken." Yuuki said.

OBJECTION!

"Every sound that shatters sounded the same!" Eri cried, "The window broke, because Harima set up an escape route!"

Yakumo rebutted, "Yes, but Harima said that he heard a smash after Sis was attacked."

OBJECTION!

"That is ridiculous!" She shouted, "He must've lied about that!"

Yakumo shook her head, "No. Think back to what he said."

Harima said, in his alibi, "As I arrived, the hallway was completely dark. As Rich Girl mentioned, it was 8:25pm. The lights were out, and I went inside. As I looked around, I heard a smash of glass. It was from Yakumo's room."

"And then he said that he ran to your room, just after the sound," Yakumo said, "Harima arrived at 8:30, but you said he arrived at 7:30! You have the biggest contradiction of all… TSUMUGI YUUKI!"

Yuuki was shocked in terror.

OBJECTION!

Eri shouted, "How dare you! Whiskers was there at 7:30pm! He assaulted Tenma at 8:30! Are you saying that someone was trying to frame him… or…"

She let out an evil grin, "Someone was covering his true alibi? Because it didn't work."

Yakumo gasped.

Eri continued, "Yes, it sounded cruel, but Harima attacked Tenma and hired a double to destroy Tenma."

Yakumo shirked a bit.

Eri cried, "And what's more, he wanted to turn himself in, so a witness would catch him in the act!"

Sarah whispered, as Yakumo was terrified, "Hey, you okay? Don't listen to her!"

Yakumo started to sob. She said, "You're… you're right… there's no way Harima was innocent…"

"Exactly! Your honor, if it pleases the court, I'd call for dismissal," Eri smiled, "Besides, Tenma will explain everything, since she's waking up at the hospital today."

Itoko sighed, "Very well…"

Yuuki cried, "WAIT! There's more to what I saw!"

She was in panic, as the trial was ending.

Eri gasped, "WHAT? No, Miss Yuuki! We are done here!"

"But… but there was more to what I saw," she declared.

Everybody gasped, as Itoko banged her gavel.

"WHAT LUCK!" Sarah cried, "Miss Yuuki knows what else happened!"

Yakumo was upset, "Either way, we are doomed."

"Don't say that!" She said, "We're not licked yet! Yuuki-senpai said that there was something else that 'Harima' did!"

"Oh?" Yakumo asked.

"Well, I guess I can hear your testimony again," Itoko remarked.

OBJECTION!

Eri shouted, "NO! It's done! We will have no more of this!"

Miss Itoko bellowed, "OVERRULED! If Miss Yuuki has something else to share, she has to say it! But… this is the last one for the day!"

Eri grumbled, "Stupid Whiskers…"

Yakumo sighed in relief, "Good. There's still hope. We got one last shot."

Miss Itoko said to Yuuki, "Now, Miss Yuuki, please explain what Kenji did afterwards."

She explained what she saw:

"You see, after Harima attacked Tenma, he made a phone call to someone. Of course, he had to do the phone call, thirty minutes after. And then, another person arrived. This person left through the window, and Harima was with Tenma, who was out cold."

"Wait…" Eri asked, "Harima set up all this?"

"He did," Yuuki replied, "My guess is that he hired a double to look like him."

"A double of Harima-senpai?" Yakumo thought, "This could be interesting."

She asked, as she cross-referenced Yuuki, "Yuuki-senpai, who did he hire to replace him?"

Yuuki responded, "Well, it's hard to say, but he'd had to hire a double. It turns out that he brought a woman to replace him, just to escape."

"How could you know?" Yakumo asked.

"Because, the double's chest was a bit bigger," she replied.

Eri sighed, "Hah! Pervert…"

Yakumo asked, "What about this other person? She escaped through the window. Where was it?"

"Well, it's simply Tenma's window," Yuuki asked, "But it's not. It's actually the hallway window. I can't tell. Yakumo, would you explain it to-."

"AH, NO YOU DON'T!" Eri cried, "No help from the defense!"

Yakumo then thought:

Hmm… this is strange. Let's reverse the roles and say that Harima was at 8:30 and the female imposter was there at 7:30.

Harima said that he arrived at 8:30pm. But before that, a Harima double appeared at 7:30. When 'He' attacked Sis, 'he' made a phone call at 8:00. And that was when Harima arrived, only to see the woman, posing as Harima escape. It was then that he was caught, when…

Oh, think, Yakumo…

WAIT! The blood on my bed! And then the window! Maybe… if the imposter smashed through the window, she'd enter the house unscathed. But how? The tree she entered was eight feet away. But then… no, impossible! If she broke through the window, she'd get cut from her skin and bleed profusely. Maybe, the blood from my bed was from… THE WEAPON!

"Miss Tsukamoto, do you have anything to add?" Miss Itoko called out.

"Yes, your honor!" Yakumo cried, "And perhaps maybe we'll shake off these lies Yuuki made!"

She turned to Yuuki and announced, "Yuuki, I'm afraid that you've become a stickler for the obvious. The window that was broken… it was MINE!"

Yuuki gasped, as Yakumo continued, "And here's more to your contradiction: If Harima entered my house, he would've break through the window to sneak in, which is obviously false! How did he enter our home?"

Yuuki replied, "Well… I, uh… he just…"

"He didn't!" She cried, "Because that wasn't Harima at all! That was the imposter!"

Yuuki cried, "YAH! NO WAY!"

Eri griped, "IMPOSSIBLE!"

Yakumo explained, "Harima would usually knock at the door. He'd never break in someone's house!"

"Please clarify, Miss Tsukamoto," Miss Itoko insisted.

Yakumo explained the entire story:

"You see, at 7:30, the Harima imposter appeared by our house, while Tenma was busy writing a note for Karasuma. To make sure that she couldn't hear it, the imposter broke through the window in my room, which is on the second floor. Then, she'd dive in, trying to get into the window, without being harmed. So, let's say she'd use a rock to smash the window.
SMASH!
Next, she'd leap from a close-by area and jump through the window, avoiding the glass that was still on the window. After that, she'd go to Tenma's room and strike her from behind with a blunt object. Now, thirty minutes later, she made a call to someone. But, the call was, in fact, the real Kenji Harima. He arrived at that time and was to meet with Tenma. However, when he arrived, he heard a loud smash. He ran to my room and found the female Harima imposter by the window. But she jumped away, at the last second, without looking. And the rest was history."

Yuuki was shaken in fear. Eri was unimpressed.

"Yeah, yeah, very good, detective," she said, "But… Harima was there before the imposter arrived. That kind of evidence is false."

Yakumo sighed, "No, it's not."

Eri gasped, "WHA-?"

She remarked, "Yuuki said that Harima-senpai arrived at 7:30! She was stargazing at the time! She'd never mentioned that he broke in, through the window!"

Yuuki cried, "But if the imposter broke through the window with a rock, wouldn't she use it, by a tree? If she did, then the next thing she would do was to use a zip line to go to the window!"

Yakumo smiled, "Funny… I never said the imposter would use a zip line."

Yuuki gasped, as Eri called out.

OBJECTION!

"Hold it, you! Harima said that he had a phone call, at around seven at night! So, why in the hell would he get the call at 8:00, if he was already there?"

Yakumo gasped and thought, "She's right! The call he got from Tenma was at seven! She got me!"

Yuuki sobbed, "And to think this whole time that Harima used a weapon to hurt Tenma. Harima didn't deserve this! He'd never go through this kind of thing! I was only stargazing and I saw what he did."

Yakumo conceded, "Your honor… no further questions…"

Sarah cried, "Yakumo, no!"

Eri sneered and said, "Thank you, Miss Yuuki."

Yuuki added, "You're welcome. And I hope Tenma will recover from her sudden blow to the face."

Yakumo gasped, "Blow to the face?"

Eri announced, "In light of these testimonies, I call for dismi-."

OBJECTION!

Everyone gasped. Yakumo then cried out, "I knew it! You knew about it from the start!"

Yuuki gasped and mad a scowl, "What are you saying, Tsukamoto?"

"You said it yourself," Yakumo remarked, "Tenma was struck in the face!"

Yuuki replied, "Yes. Harima did it. I know it."

"But the report showed that Harima, or an imposter, struck her in the back of her head!"

Yuuki gasped, as she growled, "Well, it's… it's likely that Tenma turned away!"

"Wrong! And stop evading the subject!" Yakumo cried out, "I believe you know about this whole thing… because… either the imposter was a friend of yours… or… YOU AND THE IMPOSTER WERE WORKING TOGETHER!"

She then added, "And what kind of nonsense are you playing? You were in a building, on the roof, two miles west from the scene. And then after you made the phone call to the police, the imposter called Harima!"

Miss Itoko called out, "Elaborate!"

Yakumo explained the entire story:

"Starting around 7:30, the imposter arrived at our house. She went to the tree, which was eight to ten feet away and broke the bedroom window, a.k.a. my room's window. She then proceeded to use a zip line to go into the window, without harm. After that, she struck Tenma with a blunt object! And after that, she made a call to Harima; all in the while, you made the phone call to the police!"

Yakumo added, "And what time did you call the police? Because if you were crying, how would you call them?"

Yuuki then whispered, "Eight…"

"Huh?"

"EIGHT AT NIGHT! I CALLED THE POLICE AT EIGHT!"

Yakumo smiled, "Yes, but the imposter, or Harima, called someone at the same time as you did. Meaning…"

OBJECTION!

Eri cried, "Enough! You want the truth about this? It was Harima, who used Yuuki! He called her and informed her to call the imposter to step in and make the escape!"

Sarah then shivered, "No… she knew about it, from the start."

OBJECTION!

"NO! He did not! Besides, how would he even know Tsumugi Yuuki, aside from being classmates?" Yakumo asked.

Eri gasped, "WHAT? N-N-NO!"

Yakumo added, "If you knew about this whole thing, then when did you call the police: five minutes after the imposter called you?"

Yuuki started to seethe.

"You… you… you…" she growled, "You win… … … … … …"

Her heart started to beat fast and started to seethe and growl and pant. She turned to Yakumo and was angry.

"You were right," she said calmly.

Eri cried out, "No. No, it cannot be."

Yuuki then said the truth:
"The imposter… She and I set this whole thing up. We wanted to play a trick on Harima, but only by attacking someone close to him. We chose Tenma as the victim. But… but… but when she attacked Tenma, she called me to inform me about Harima's arrival. Knowing he'd arrive late, we had to wait for him to come. So then, I decided to use my telescope to stargaze. However, I went to view the streets for Harima to return, and he did. I called the imposter, but she didn't answer. I called the police, after I spotted him. The imposter was in a hurry, all while Harima entered the door. She escaped through the window and went away by the zip line. I arrived minutes later and removed the zip line cord from the tree. Then we escaped."

Yakumo then sobbed, "But… but, why? Why would you attack her?"

"I got a better question!" Eri shouted, "Who was working with you?"

Yuuki then responded, "Nobody. It turns out that Harima set this whole thing up with us."

They both cried out, "WHAT?"

Everyone was shocked, as they were confused.

"Miss Yuuki, I am afraid we'll have to learn more about this at another time," Yakumo declared, "But for now, we want to know two things: who is the imposter Harima and who would set the whole thing up to attack Sis."

"But it's true! The girl who was Harima was working for another!" Yuuki pleaded, "It was Harima! It was!"

She shrieked, "IT WAS! HE SET US UP! HE DESERVES TO FRY FOR USING US TENDER MAIDENS TO TREAT US LIKE SLAVES!"

"I've heard such lies from a weather station," Eri snubbed, "This doesn't prove anything!"

Miss Itoko banged her gavel and called out, "Well, anyways, we'll settle this matter for another time. Miss Sawachika, I suggest that you present this Imposter Kenji to the court."

"I'll try to break Yuuki," Eri bowed.

Itoko then called out, "And you, Miss Tsukamoto, I want you to find evidence on what happened at the time of the attack. If the imposter did break in, surely there's something that can open up."

"I will," Yakumo said, "It is my house."

Miss Itoko then announced, "Now, we shall head down to the hospital and check in with Tenma, just to see if she knows. For now, the case will be closed. And if, and I mean if, Tenma doesn't answer, then the trial will continue tomorrow."

She banged her gavel and shouted, "Court is adjourned!"


Monday, August 9th – Yagami Hospital; Room 207 – 2:46pm


Yakumo and Sarah were sitting by Tenma, who was in her bed, trying to wake up. She was in hospital garb, with a bandage over her head, with her pigtails sticking out.

"Sis," Yakumo whimpered, "Please…"

Tenma opened her eyes and saw Yakumo. She let out a smile and went to her.

"Sis!" Yakumo cried, "You're okay!"

"Wh… Where am I?" Tenma asked weakly.

Sarah replied, "You were severely attacked by an imposter!"

"Huh?" Tenma asked.

Yakumo said, "She's right… Harima was the one who attacked you, but it turns out-."

"Harima?" Tenma asked again.

She then said, "I don't think it was him."

Yakumo then smiled, "Don't worry. We'll help you, sis! Harima will be spared."

"No, I mean, no it's not him. I don't recall ever having to be assaulted by this Harima guy."

Both Sarah and Yakumo were stunned, but then… Yakumo would experience the biggest shock to her.

"Sis, try to remember! Tenma, please!" She cried.

Tenma then asked Yakumo, "I will… but… … …who are you?"

Yep, Tenma lost her memory. Yakumo was shocked that she almost cried. Sarah was livid.

"Damn! That imposter struck her so hard that she lost her memory!" She thought.

Yakumo started to cry, as Tenma comforted her.

"Lady, it's all right," she said, "You came to see me, and I'm thrilled. But I wish I knew."

She continued to cry, as Tenma patted her. Sarah was stunned.

"NOW what'll we do?" She cried, "The trial continues tomorrow and Tenma has amnesia!"

XXX

Sis! She's… she's gone… Only she knows about her attacker, and it's NOT Harima!

Oh, Tenma, please remember! If you don't, Harima is doomed and Yuuki will get off scot-free!


To be continued…