LONG TIME NO SEE, FOLKS! I'm tebly sorry about my really evilly late update; midterms suck. And there are definitely no A's on my report card.. T^T

So, thank you all for loving this story and being patient about my uber lateness. I'll try to update again soon. REVIEW PLEASE!

Disclaimer: If KWMS were mine, Misaki and Usui would make out and there would be more smut in the manga than any doujin you've ever seen before. Am I showing too much of my pervertedness? Maybe, but it's all wistfull thinking. Whatever. I don't own it.

The Prisoner

"I love her."

Misaki got to her feet. "What the hell did you say?"

The room was silent. Kana and Judge Satou looked bored. Tora's face was a display of false sadness. Was it false? It had to be.

Usui blanched, his green eyes even more prominent against the white background.

Judge Satou sternly looked down at Misaki. "Ayuzawa-san, it is not in order for a witness to make a statement in the middle of another's. Please sit down."

Misaki did not give a damn whether this was in order or not, but sat down as ordered. It would have been pointless to remain standing. Her legs were shaking from the shock.

"Could you elaborate?" asked Kana. Misaki was agitated. What was there to elaborate? Couldn't they see this was all an act?

Tora's face was the same sorrowful falsity. "I met her in high school. She…was different from all the other girls I'd known. I took an interest in her, and tracked her over the years. When I found out her mother was a patient at one of the company's hospitals, I wanted to help her. I told her I'd help her mother. One day she said she loved me. I thought it was real. So I took her to a hotel, slept with her, and that was the end of the story. I didn't know she would sue me for this." Tora's voice, amazingly, was laced with bitterness and anger. If Misaki were a bystander, she would've thought Tora's words were one hundred percent true.

Of course, Misaki was no bystander to this case. She wanted to kill the bastard.

Her face strained with restraining an emotion, but whether it was anger or sadness, she didn't know. She could feel the blood draining from her face.

Kana shuffled her notes. "Then you are saying there was no rape, no threatening, no deals in this case whatsoever?"

"Yes."

"Thank you." Kana sat down smoothly.

Usui stood. Misaki put her forehead to the cold wood of the desk. She didn't want to see anything. She covered her ears with her hands. She didn't want to hear anything.

The Observer

Usui stood up, his mind fogged with confusion and anger. But there was no room for confusion in the court. He adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose. Then he thought better of it, and just removed them onto the desk. If he couldn't see anything, maybe nothing could harm him. "Igarashi Tora-san?"

"Yes." There was a sense of antipathy in the reply. Usui ignored it.

"You said you thought this was no rape nor threatening, but merely a sign of mutual affection?"

"Yes." His reply was more poisonous than the last.

"Is this an assumption, or did you hear this from my client herself?" Usui stood a little straighter. There was no way the bastard could tell a straight-faced lie.

Unfortunately, the opponent was Tora. "It's not an assumption. I heard it from her."

"How is that possible?"

"Excuse me?"

"Objection!" Kana got to her feet, her eyes cold. "I only see the last question as questioning my client's intelligence. It's derogatory, Your Honor."

Judge Satou looked troubled, his eyebrows furrowing. "Sustained."

Usui, for the first time in his life, wanted to punch a girl. His face, however, betrayed no sense of frustration. He glanced at Misaki, whose face was paler than the marble floors, her head still bowed slightly. "Igarashi-san, did my client actually say she was willing to have sex with you?" Misaki involuntarily winced at the question.

Tora did not back down. "She said this with her own mouth."

"What did she say, exactly? Could you quote her words?"

Usui inwardly smiled. There was no way he could get out of this.

As expected, Tora did not speak. A close observer may have seen beads of sweat on Tora's forehead. Usui was happy.

Happy? Usui groaned. He was becoming less and less human in this case.

After a long silence, he answered, "I'd prefer not to."

Silence. Even Kana looked uncomfortable. Judge Satou sighed.

Usui saw no point in questioning this witness any further. "That is all. Thank you."

The Jailer

The judge, looking much troubled, called for another break. Tora wanted to slap the guy. Couldn't they just go on and get over with this?

Kana handed him some Coke, but he roughly pushed it away, the brown liquid splashing on Kana's shoes. She looked offended. "It's not very nice to decline a drink so rudely, sir."

Tora ignored her. He wanted this over with. For more reasons than one.

XXX

Court resumed. They were back in the dreaded courtroom again.

Misaki stood at the witness stand. Kana's turn first. "Ayuzawa Misaki-san?"

Misaki looked calmer, no, totally emotionless, compared to her state before. "Yes."

"Is it true that you willingly slept with my client?"

Misaki shook her head slightly. "No."

"Did he threaten you physically, with derogatory remarks and/or other verbal threats?"

Misaki hesitated. "No."

Kana looked at her icily. "Then did you sleep with Igarashi-san for your own personal benefit?"

Tora knew Kana's strategy. Her wording was all fixed so that Misaki would not be able to escape. Whether she said yes or no, it was all disadvantageous for her side.

Misaki sighed. "It's not either."

Kana raised a delicately drawn eyebrow. "Could you elaborate?"

Misaki hesitated some more, then looked directly at Tora. He was startled from the sad, intense gaze, but refused to give away the subtlest hint of emotion. You're not winning me, his stone face declared.

Misaki did not look away until Kana impatiently cleared her throat. She threw him a last look of…wait, what was it?

Kana asked another question. "How do you feel about Igarashi-san?"

Was it anger? Remorse? Disgust? Sorrow? Hope?

Misaki's back looked determined, standing straight for the first time in weeks. "I love him."

Kana looked startled. Usui even more so. Judge Satou's closed eyes snapped open.

Blood drained from Tora's cheeks. No. That emotion was…

…pity.

Ultra epicness galore! Review please! Cookies on the way (My little sister brought a whole batch for Girl Scouts. Anyone want some double dutch chocolate chip?)

Loves you so much,

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