Chapter Twelve
"Riko Hachiboshi, do you swear to speak the full truth as you know it?" The lawyer asked. Riko responded in the affirmative.
"Very well. Then, you have met Mrs. Fleet before, correct?" He asked politely.
"Yes, sir."
"And, how did you find her?"
"She was… Bizarre. She compulsively quoted scripture, like Margaret White."
"For… Those of us who don't understand your literary references, who is Margaret White?"
"She was the mother of Carrie in Stephen King's horror novel, Carrie. She was completely insane, and abusive, both mentally, physically and emotionally."
"And, do you think this describes Mrs. Fleet well?" The lawyer asked. Riko nodded.
"Yes. Lucy was terrified of her mother."
"Objection. Can the witness read minds?"
"I think Miss Hachiboshi would understand her own girlfriend's state of mind."
"Objection overruled." The judge said.
"Tell me, what leads you to understand that Miss Fleet was frightened of her mother?"
"Well, one day when I went over to her apartment, Mrs. Fleet began screaming at her, quoting scripture, telling her that she was going to go to Hell for being a lesbian. She was lucky, Lucy was, that Mrs. Fleet didn't assault her."
"Thank you. Your witness."
"You… Left something out of that testimony, didn't you, Miss Hachiboshi. You then assaulted Mrs. Fleet, didn't you? Do you consider yourself a violent person?"
"No sir. I did assault Mrs. Fleet, but only to protect Lucy-chan."
"But you've… Been in more than one fight in the past, correct? What about that fight at your school? You assaulted a young man because he was flirting with you. You… Dislocated his shoulder, didn't you?"
"Yes. I did. I turned him down, and he grabbed my shoulder. I felt threatened by him, so I responded with what I felt was an appropriate level of force to avert the threat presented to me. He was known for being a bully, and did not seem willing to take no for an answer."
"But that isn't the only fight you got into, was it? You put a young man in the hospital once, didn't you?"
"Yes. I did. He was about to sexually assault a woman. I merely responded as best I could."
"But… The best of your ability is quite impressive, isn't it? You're a third degree black belt in one martial art, a second degree black belt in another, and master belts in two sword styles. So, would it be fair to say that armed or unarmed, you're a deadly opponent?"
"I suppose so, but…"
"Thank you."
"Redirect, Your Honor. So, Miss Hachiboshi… You're only violent when you're defending others, correct?"
"Yes."
"Thank you. Nothing further."
Riko sat outside the courtroom, waiting for the verdict. Finally, Lucy came out and hugged Riko tightly, kissing her once, then smiling, tears flooding her blue eyes.
"My dad got full custody of me! Thank you so much!"
"I'm happy I was able to help." Riko said, blushing awkwardly.
"I-I have to go…"
"No, please wait! I-I never wanted to stop being friends… I… Please wait, Riko-chan!"
"No, you wait!" Junas growled, his eyes narrowing furiously. Suddenly, Lucy gasped, feeling like she did the first time she met Junas, like a million white hot blades were stabbing her over and over again.
"You availed yourself of our hospitality. You had no problem doing that! You had no problem letting Riko-chan protect you from your psychotic mother! You had no problem living with us when you had no home. But then, as soon as your dad comes back, you break up with Riko-chan, and now you're trying to be friends with her again! You hurt Riko-chan!
"She testified for you at the trial because she promised that she would. I won't stop her from being friends with you again, but don't you dare act like nothing happened!" Junas snarled, swatting at Lucy, his telekinesis striking her from a distance, sending her flying, landing on her back, the wind being driven from her lungs.
"I-I'm… I'm sorry, Riko-chan… I-I never meant…"
"You never meant to hurt me. But you did. I still love you. I understand, though that you don't like feeling like second best. That wasn't true in the least. But I understand your point of view. Maybe we can be friends again someday. But… But not now… Lucy-chan…" Riko said gently, looking seriously at Lucy, who was beginning to cry, now. Riko took Lucy's hand and pulled her into a standing position, and left with Junas.
"I-I need to be alone, for now, Junas-nii… Please just… Just… Leave me alone…"
"Riko-chan… I'm sorry I yelled at Lucy… I was trying to help…"
"I-it wasn't your fault. You… You were trying to help… I'm not angry… I just… That one moment when I thought about rekindling my relationship with Lucy-chan… Then I realized that wasn't what she wanted…
"But that one second was enough to break my heart all over again… D-do you… Think I'm pathetic for feeling like that?"
"Not at all…I'm… Not very familiar with being in love, myself. Most of my life was spent in a self-induced emotionless state, so, when I started feeling emotions again, it was difficult, and now the emotions I feel are so strong that sometimes, it's hard to control them.
"Doctor Yoshimiya says it's good that I'm feeling these emotions, that I need to learn to control them. But, I can't blame you, or look down on you for having the same emotions I'm struggling with."
"I think it's good that you're having these feelings. I love you… And I'm glad you love me, too… I think you love me… Please tell me you don't just…"
"What? No! What kind of person do you take me for? I couldn't muster that kind of jealousy just over anyone. Riko-chan… I love you… How is school going? We haven't talked much lately. You're either busy with school, or with friends."
"Subtle… If you're going to change the subject at least be better at it." Riko giggled.
She was spending more time now with Junas than she used to. But for some reason, she wanted more. She wanted to be at the dojo with him during the day as well. Junas refused to allow that, though. He said that she needed to complete her education at least. He wasn't paying for her to go to school just so she could spend all day with sweaty men swinging swords.
He admitted that he had never had a more talented student with the possible exception of Sakurako Amamiya… Well, now her name was Yoshina. She was quite talented both with a sword, and with her fists. Ageha was highly talented with fist fighting, but not talented at all with a sword. He was still taking as many martial arts classes as Junas was willing to give him, in any martial arts form, including sword styles.
But progress was slow. Ageha was a real meathead, skilled only at beating people to a pulp. He had really found his calling in the military, then in the police force. Ageha jokingly called it the po-po… Though, Junas never had any idea what Ageha was talking about when he used that phrase. Well, he knew that it meant "police". But he had no idea how Ageha came up with it, other than that it was a bastardization of the English word for "Police".
Maybe it was some kind of slang used in America. Junas turned to Riko, seeing that she had already closed her eyes, and was reaching to hug him. Junas hugged her tightly, kissing her on the lips. Riko sighed happily as their lips made contact. There was nothing she could think that she ever wanted more than this. Even when she was a child, she had a crush on Junas, and now, she found that she was truly in love with him.
"Hi, Ageha-kun! Saku-chan!"
"Hello, Riko… Are you teaching today?"
"Yup! I have off from school, so Junas-nii is letting me teach… Saku-chan… You're having a baby!" Riko said cheerfully, her expression lighting up. Sakurako nodded, blushing slightly.
She had forgotten how perceptive Riko was. Her stomach wasn't even showing signs yet. But sure enough, she was pregnant. She couldn't wait. If it was a girl, they were going to name her Nana. After all, it was Grigori #7 who had really brought her and Ageha together. If it hadn't been for her, they may never have talked again, much less gotten together.
If it was a boy… Well, they would decide on that when the time came.
"Yeah… I'm nervous… But… Really happy…" Ageha said, his face drawn. He was clearly tired.
"Are you alright, Ageha-kun?"
"Yes…" Ageha said with a laugh. "We've just been up all night lately setting up for the baby. Sakurako wants to be ready well in advance."
"Are you here to train with Junas-nii?"
"Afraid not. I'd like to, but Sakurako and I are still looking at stuff for the baby."
"What? But it's still at least eight months away, right?" Riko asked. Ageha nodded. It still never failed to amaze him how very astute Riko was.
"Riko-chan… Don't bother them. Congratulations on your pregnancy. Do you know what you're going to call the child?" Junas asked. Ageha sighed.
"Well, if it's a girl, we'll call her Nana. If it's a boy, Miroku."
"Interesting choice. After Number Seven or Amagi Miroku?"
"Yes. Those two were the ones who really brought us together again, after all. We really owe our happiness like this to them. Ironic, isn't it?" Sakurako asked, sighing happily.
"I guess so. What if you have identical twins?" Riko asked, laughing at the looks on both their faces.
"Then, Sakurako will probably be fine, and I'll be freaking out like nobody's business. I'm hardly ready for one kid, much less two."
"You'll do fine, Ageha." Riko said, hugging Ageha tightly. Ageha sighed. Somehow, Riko had a very charismatic way about her. Maybe he would do alright as a father.
"We've gotta go. We just came to say that we wouldn't be in classes for a while."
"I understand. I wish you the best of luck." Junas said, coming over from his class, leaving a student in charge briefly.
