—1—
NOVEMBER 3RD, 2021 / AUSTIN HALL
"Get ready for thirty-three days of hell," Professor Callaghan said, her words biting frostily through the previously light air as she took several powerful and domineering strides towards the white board at the front of the room. "We're a month out from midterms. It's time for those of you without a spine to get serious or drop my class."
Kaminari could already feel the exhaustion pulling at him, begging him to give in and fade into the void... the thought of this class getting anymore intense was mind numbingly concerning... he truly didn't know if he could take that... especially if these "thirty-three days of hell" involved more of those long written-answer only tests as dense as a high school text book. Todoroki and Midoriya's study methods could only do so much- he was still Kaminari Denki, after all.
"You've done mock trials before, but not like this," Callaghan said, pulling Kaminari out of his head, "This time I'm not dividing the class into prosecution and defense. Instead, we'll be setting it up as an actual trial. Some of you will be apart of the prosecution, others will be the defense. Those that are left will make up the jury, victims, defendee, and witnesses. You will rotate every week for four weeks until each of you have had a chance to be apart of either the defense or prosecution."
Kaminari perked up, suddenly interested. Mock trials were where he shined the most- they were interactive enough to hold his ADHD riddled minds attention and he didn't have to write or read all that much... in fact, the bulk of it involved doing what he did best: talking.
"These trials will go towards your finale grade," Callaghan explained, crouching behind her desk and plopping several milk crates overflowing with multi-colored folders onto her desk, a few of them spilling over onto the floor. She didn't bother to pick those up. "Prosecution and defense teams will be judged on their ability to present the evidence and simplify it for the jury, hold their composure during a trial, and their public speaking ability. Other factors such as what you are wearing and wether or not it is appropriate for court and how well those of you playing the jury, witnesses, and clients contribute to your roles will also be considered."
Kaminari felt himself nodding along like a bobble head, enamored with the idea. He could feel excitement buzzing under the surface of his skin, his mind reeling with the possibilities- would be be prosecution? Defense? Which one did he prefer? Did he prefer one over the other?"
"Research for trial one starts today." Brandy Callaghan stated, circling her desk, long hair flowing behind her as she walked. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for the blood in the water.
Kaminari swallowed nervously.
Callaghan smiled- but it wasn't her usual cruel, I-Know-all-your-weaknesses smile... instead it was almost warm... Kaminari felt sweat begin to bead on his brow, finding this look to be far more intimidating.
Their eyes met, and in that instant, Kaminari felt something... strange... pass between the two of them. There was something off about that look in her eye... something... concerning?...
"Kaminari Denki, you're head of defense."
Kaminari blinked. Kaminari nodded. The giddy, nervous, excitement slamming into him with full force now... pushing that other feeling- whatever the hell it was- back below the surface of his psyche.
Head of defense... okay. Alright. He could do this. He just had to talk... he was great at talking.
Callaghan started to talk again, but her eyes never left his own. "Mr. Midoriya and Mr. Graves will be apart of your defense team."
Kaminari Denki nodded numbly, not recognizing this "Graves" persons name... He tried to drag his eyes away from his professors dark, intimidating, ones but found he was incapable of doing so... he felt as if he were in some sort of trance...
"Chikashi Aoi, you're acting as assistant attorney general."
That did it.
He whipped his head towards the redhead, cursing anything and everything that would listen. Of course he was going directly up against her... of fucking course...because his life was quickly turning into a series of drama beats.
He could feel everyone's gaze pinpricking at his skin. What had happened at the Halloween had spread across the school like wildfire- everyone knew. He felt like an animal in a cage with all those eyes on him... on her... on them. As if they were a singular unit again. It made him feel gross.
Callaghan's eyes hadn't left him.
He wished she'd stop.
"Ms. Johnson and Mr. Sikes are apart of your party."
Chikashi bobbed her head, but didn't say anything. From what Kaminari could see from his slightly elevated view from row three, her shoulders were fairly tense... and her head was ducked down.
Kaminari frowned. Had she lost friends over the Halloween thing?... he thought that he'd feel happy... but instead, he just felt sorry for her...
But why?... why couldn't he just be bitter and resentful?... it- it felt almost like an addiction... like he couldn't function without her, no matter how badly she treated him...
As Kaminari spiraled, Professor Callaghan assigned the other roles... no one really stood out to him- well, except for one girl in the jury... she was one of Chikashi's (former?... current?...) friends- Jodie Young. She had been the one who asked Chikashi in that appalled, disgusted, tone if the two of them had really dated...
Once Callaghan was done speaking, they were told grab their text books and break into their assigned groups. Kaminari did as he was told, grabbing everything he could think of out of his bag... "Criminal Law 101," "Law and the Legal System," and finally, the mammoth of a book that Midoriya had forced him to buy: "Bonnie, Coughlin, Jeffries, and Low's Criminal law"
He nearly had a heart attack when he sat back up.
Shawn (AKA Glasses, AKA Chikashi's current boyfriend) was standing in front of him- his books sitting in front of Kaminari on his desk. He had a pissy expression on his face and his fists clenched at his sides, and overall seemed relatively distressed.
Kaminari cocked his head: "Eh?... What are you doing here?"
Shawn gave him an incredulous look and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Seriously?"
Kaminari stared at him blankly.
"Do you just- not pay any attention in class at all or?... Callaghan told you we were working together."
Oh.
Oh shit.
"You're... You're Shawn Graves..."
"Right."
"Oof."
Shawn Graves sighed irritably and plopped down into the seat to his right, seeming quite miserable. Midoriya, who sat next to Kaminari everyday, awkwardly doodled on a notepad as he waited for the tension to simmer down a little, sensing danger. It never did.
Said tension was, instead, interrupted. A classmate of theirs that Kaminari only vaguely recognized strolled over to the three of them casually. He had blonde hair and dark roots, a sweater vest, and smelled vaguely of weed.
"I'm Mathew Gardner. Im going to be playing your client."
Kaminari waved at him. He was the only one, and Mathew didn't wave back. He let his arm fall to his lap limply, before clearing his throat and introducing himself: "I'm Kaminari Denki-"
"-Trust me, Denki," Mathew said to him, taking the seat beside Midoriya, "Everyone knows exactly who you are."
Kaminari dropped his gaze. The tension returned, but was interrupted once more when Callaghan began to talk again, outlining the basics of the case.
Their fictional defendant, Alexi Phillips, was being accused of the attempted murder of his stepmother, Shanon Phillips. Mrs. Phillips claimed that he assaulted her after his father had gotten a codicil on his will that stated that when he died his estate (estimated to be worth $3.5 million dollars) would now go to his newlywed wife instead of his only son as it was originally written.
As she talked, she began to hand out different colored folders to each of the groups. Inside the defense teams blue-covered folders were more details- the names of witnesses and their claims, the police reports and findings, crime scene photos, etc. anything and everything they would need to defend Mr. Phillips in court.
When everyone had had time to read over their folders, Callaghan made her way back up to whiteboard and went over the seven stages of a criminal trial: investigation, charging, arraignment, discovery, Plea Bargaining, Preliminary Hearing, Pre-trial motions, and finally the trial itself.
"Now, for this trial, most of these steps have already been done- as seen in those folders I handed out." Callaghan said, looking over each and everyone of them... and once again seeming to linger on Kaminari for a moment... or maybe he had just imagined that?... he couldn't quite tell... "However, when we do this again for your end of the year exams the experience will be much more realistic. "
Kaminari felt his eyebrows raise at that, curious at what that could mean- but before he had to much time to dwell, Shawn was starting to talk.
"Everyone's got different colored folders," he said, his tone stilted, "We've got evidence to defend, I'm sure prosecutions gots evidence to convict... it seems the jury doesn't have anything except for the basic outline, which makes sense... the actors have?..." he looked over at Mathew who was flipping lazily through a lime-green folder.
"Family history, my alibi... just stuff like that." He explained. The group seemed to nod collectively at that
"What should we start with, Denki?" Midoriya asked.
"Huh?" Kaminari turned to him, and Shawn whispered something rude under his breath. Kaminari felt his cheeks color.
Midoriya, however, smiled at him warmly. "How should we start building our case? What's our angle?"
Kaminari looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, before letting his gaze fall to the folder. Slowly, he opened it and began to flip through it, quickly scanning over the evidence, having to reread the text several times as the letters began to float across the page- frustrating him.
Mathew sighed. Shawn had his narrowed eyes on him. Kaminari could feel his skin beginning to crawl.
"...um... well- the blood on the coffee table-"
"-Came back inconclusive." Shawn interrupted him. "Prosecution will probably try and argue that it's his since Mrs. Phillips says she hit him over the head with a clay bowl."
"...right... well... if they can argue it's his... couldn't we just argue that it's a fifty-fifty chance?... and it's just as likely not to be his?..."
"We can," Midoriya nodded, "but it would be easier to have it deemed as inadmissible evidence, that way we don't have to leave it up to the jury to decide which scenario for the blood ending up there makes more sense."
"...right... of course... so we should file a claim?..."
"Uh-huh."
"They'll most likely counter." Shawn said.
"Probably, but we should at least try." Midoriya said, Shawn nodded, and it wasn't to long after that that the two of them got going at a dizzying pace- bouncing defense strategies off one another and listing the pros and cons of each so fast Kaminari couldn't keep up.
As Kaminari watched the two of them, he began to feel very, very, small... he was akin to a student who took one semesters worth of a foreign language trying to communicate with people who had spoken it their entire lives...
Slowly, reality began to set in. He had gotten into Harvard by the skin of his teeth, and most likely was only there to contribute to the diversity quota that every Ivy League school liked to pretend they didn't have... And, until fairly recently, he had been failing every single one of his courses... He had nothing to contribute. He was completely worthless in their discussions, by the time his mouth caught up with his brain or he was able to decipher what the word search in the folders were really saying, they had already discussed the subject, shot it down, or filed it somewhere for later... Midoriya tried to get him in on the conversation a couple of times, but he slowed the two of them down considerably- and Shawn wasn't even pretending to hide his frustration with him.
Kaminari Denki was having a bad day.
—2—
NOVEMBER 11TH, 2021 / AUSTIN HALL
Kaminari Denki was awestruck.
It was the day of mock trial and Midoriya Izuku was leading their opening statement. He was walking and talking with an air of confidence and calculation the blonde had never heard from him before... painting mental pictures instead of just- explaining their angle... what he was able to do with words was more of an art than an anything else...
"The defendant, Alexi Phillips, is a twenty-seven year old, simple, man living a simple, twenty-seven year olds life. He's the HR manager at a paper company that makes a humble living and resides in an... alright... studio apartment on the outskirts of Boston's city limits... he is the type of man you interact with on a day to day basis... the type of man you who passes you on your early morning jog, the type of man you see while shopping for groceries, standing in front of you in the check-out line, walking to his car in the parking lot... an average joe... a face in the crowd..."
Gone were the warm smiles and that oh-so comforting aura that always seemed to hang around him, instead, they had been replaced with a cold stare and intimidating energy that only seemed to grow as he spoke, first, to the jury and then to the crowd of students in the top rows that had elected to sit in on the show.
"Mr. Phillips is almost the epitome of normal... almost. He gets up to work his 9-5 job- Monday through Friday. He walks his dog, Cinnamon, every morning. He grabs a large iced coffee with a shot of milk at the cafe down the road for $2.95 every morning before work, and once in a blue moon he treats himself to some fast food... so, it's just as I said then, right? Normal?"
And, despite the fact that it was a rhetorical question, Kaminari found himself nodding along... and also saw that he wasn't the only one. Several members of the jury were shaking their heads as well, hearing him, agreeing with him...
Shit, he was good.
Midoriya continued on, eyes locking with each and every member of the jury as he spoke. "So why, pray tell, did I describe him as almost normal?... I described him as almost normal, because, despite those mundane activities we all more or less participate in, there's something... off... in his life... something rotten. This something is his stepmother Sharon Phillips, a woman who is currently trying to frame him, the son of the man she supposedly loves, for attempted murder."
The tension in the room was nearly suffocating... he had them all hanging onto his every word. From the corner of his eye, Kaminari could tell that Emily Johnson, who would be leading the prosecutions opening statements, was nervous. She was fidgeting with the buttons on her blouse and biting at her bottom lip... Kaminari could sympathize. She wasn't the only one that was going to have to follow this up.
"Today I and my associates Denki Kaminari and Shawn Graves will lay out exactly how Mrs. Phillips went about framing our client. We will take you step by step through her thought process, the execution, and her motives..." he adjusted his tie, "...We will provide testimonies from Mr. Phillips' co-worker that will prove to you that the gash on his forehead that his stepmother claimed came from a clay bowl she hit him over the head with as he strangled her was actually there twenty-four hours before the alleged assault. We will hear from Alexi Phillips' aunt and the notary who notarized the codicil applied to Joseph Phillips' will and they will tell you about the abhorrent behavior she displayed when she found out that she was only getting the house and not the money. By the end of our session here today we will have proven to you that Mr. Alexi Phillips is nothing more than an innocent, normal, man who's life was temporarily turned upside down by the cliche trope of the evil stepmother."
Midoriya looked over the jury one last time, his expression almost stern... like that of a father lecturing his child. "Don't let an innocent life wither away in a prison cell. Don't let one woman's greed rot this family anymore than it already has... the time has come to localize the infection and amputate."
The room was so silent that they could hear each slap of Midoriya's shoes against the floor. His certainty and poise seemed to fritter away with each step, and by the time he had reached the desk the rest of them were seated at, he was reduced to a blushing, mumbling, mess- seeming to have noticed the admiring stares for the first time since he had begun speaking.
"That was a hell of an opener." Shawn whispered to him as Emily stood to give her own, "I doubt theirs will be anywhere close."
"Thank you." Midoriya said, seeming somewhat embarrassed. Kaminari gave him a thumbs up, and he smiled back.
Shawn was right for the most part: Emily's words weren't nearly as powerful... in fact, they were quite dull. There were several instances in which Kaminari had found his eyelids beginning to droop and harder to keep the yawns at bay... he felt sort of bad. She was a nice girl, he hadn't had any really problems with her despite the fact that she was good friends with Chikashi... but she just didn't have Midoriya's talent.
"...We will prove to you that Alexi Phillips isn't the innocent man Midoriya Izuku and his fellows claim he is. We will prove to you that he was bitter about the house no longer being promised to him. We will prove that he was on the property at the time of the assault and that he did attack Mrs. Phillips with the intent to murder. We will provide the court with DNA evidence that confirms he held the knife that struck my clients arm badly enough to need six stitches, photographic evidence that he strangled her, and evidence that the only reason she is alive to tell the tale is because of a centerpiece she had on her coffee table."
"Thank you, Ms. Johnson." Callahan nodded and dismissed her. Emily nodded and went back to her seat, setting the next part of the trial in motion.
At the heart of any criminal trial was what is often called the "case-in-chief," the stage at which each side presents its key evidence to the jury.
That's what was happening now... and where Kaminari was expected to perform.
The structure was simple enough: Starting with prosecution, each party would have a chance to speak to a witness. Whichever party called on the witness would question first and solidify a story and sell their perspective to the jury. After they were finished, the opposition would then have the opportunity to cross-examine the witness and, hopefully, poke holes in their story. After this, the party that called the witness could re-direct examine the witness and attempt to remedy the damage the other party caused in the eyes of the jury. This was also the portion in which they could introduce physical evidence such as photographs, documents, and medical reports. The defense also had a chance to perform a "Case-in-Chief" but they did not have to... some simply chose to make all their points in the cross-examinations.
This was, essentially, the "meat" of the trial... it's where all the evidence was laid out in front of the jury and, if TV dramas were to be believed (and Kaminari Denki was, in fact, inclined to do so) where the juicy plot twists happened... surprise witnesses, new details, bullshit calls from the judge...
And it made Kaminari feel sick.
He had had what he assumed was a panic attack right before class started... he was alone in his dorm room (Midoriya had left earlier for the early bird shift at The Nikkō Diner) thinking not of the case, but of Todoroki Shouto and the magical weekend the two of them had spent together... about how cute he had looked when he got him to drink that cereal milk... his, erm... unique... studying methods, and, best of all, the smiles he had managed to get out of him...
...and then he had remembered that he had never gotten around to telling him about the mock trial, and, he assumed, Midoriya hadn't either as he was never questioned about it... he didn't really know why he didn't tell him- it was just... it felt strange to bridge that gap... like, if he did tell him, his two separate lives (the one that resided in Harvard pining over Chikashi Aoi and the one that ate pie at the diner and was contributing quite often to an affair with Todoroki Shouto) would collide... and he found that the thought of that made him feel icky- like it was unnatural or something...
...besides, if he had told him, Todoroki would have done research or talked to Midoriya about it and would have learned that, as long as he had a visitors pass, he could sit in... and then Kaminari would have certainly fumbled the case...
He shot a side glance at Midoriya, smacked across the face with an abrupt realization: that was why he hadn't mentioned it to Todoroki.
He was observant.
"Pay attention, himbo," Shawn muttered on his left, jamming his shoulder into Kaminari's arm. "Callaghan's about to rule on wether or not the blood can be used as admissible evidence."
"What's a himbo?" He wasn't quite yet accustomed to western slang.
"Shhh!"
Kaminari frowned, turning his head back to the front of the room. It had sounded like an insult of some sort...
"On the matter of the blood splatter on the coffee table being considered admissible evidence... I rule in its favor."
Shawn cursed under his breath. Midoriya sighed and began to mutter to himself once again, writing something down in his notebook, all while Kaminari began to go over the strategy they had discussed during the past week.
"Ms. Chikashi, call your first witness." Callaghan said once the murmurs in the room had died down a bit.
Chikashi stood, her long hair done up in that braided bun once again, and cleared her throat, "I call Loretta Sullivan to the stand."
The woman playing Loretta stood and made her way over to the small table that had been pushed up against their professors large desk. Kaminari watched as she went through the motions of taking the oath, and noted that she genuinely seemed nervous.
"Who are you to the Phillips family, Mrs. Sullivan?" Chikashi asked, her candy apple red blazer almost too bright to look at.
"Their housekeeper."
"How many days of the week do you work?"
The faux-housekeeper flattened the skirt of her dress anxiously, "All seven. Full days during the week and half days on weekends."
"So, you were there on the day the assault happened?"
"Yes ma'am, I was. I got there a little after noon... it was right after church let out."
"Then what happened?"
Their classmate adjusted in her chair, "I got out of my car and approached the house... but as I was reaching for the door I- I heard some sort of struggle..."
"Such as?"
"...I could hear the sound of... of something shattering... and I heard Mrs. Phillips scream."
"And you're positive it was Sharon Phillips you heard? It couldn't have been anybody else?"
"Yes ma'am... I've been a housekeeper there for twenty-five years and have personally known Mrs. Phillips for ten of them... I know her voice."
"I'd imagine that to be true," Chikashi said, her tone was sure- almost back to normal and a far cry away from the fidgety girl who hadn't been able to look him in the eyes for the past week... of course she was bouncing back now... of course... "having known the Phillips' for so long... a quarter of a century, to be precise-" she looked directly at the jury as she said this "-you should have a pretty good idea on their personalities, quirks, faults?..."
"Objection, Denki- call objection, she's leading the witness." Shawn hissed at him under his breath. Kaminari stared at him for a moment before what he was saying registered and he shot his hand into the air like a school boy.
"Oh...um-Objection! She's- she's leading the witness!"
"Put your hand down- holy-" Shawn groaned, Kaminari felt his face heat up as he let it wilt to his side.
Callaghan considered him for a moment, smothering him with that gaze... Kaminari could feel his heart pounding painfully in his throat.
"Objection sustained."
Kaminari let out a breath, and Midoriya patted him kindly on the shoulder.
Chikashi pursed her lips together in a thin, white, line before turning toward Callaghan, "Let me rephrase. Would you say Alexi Phillips has a good relationship with his stepmother?"
"No ma'am."
"What leads you to believe that?"
"They fight a lot."
"How often is a lot?"
"At least once a week, more when Alexi still lived in the house... usually over little things- like him not doing his chores, or her rearranging things in his room."
"Did these fights ever get physical?"
"...About five years ago, Alexi pushed her out of his way... quite hard... her head knocked against the wall and she had a bump for a few weeks..."
Chikashi nodded, "Right... No further questions."
Callaghan nodded, and then gestured towards Kaminari "Are you ready to begin your cross-examination?"
No. "Yes," he stood, straightened his jacket, and tried not to faint- his chest heaved, his palms were slick with sweat, and when he walked his vision swam and colors burst ahead of him.
"Um... Mrs... Mrs. Sullivan... you arrived at the Phillips' home and heard the sound of a struggle, yes?..."
"Yes. I answered that already."
"...right... you heard Mrs. Phillips yell?..."
"Yes, once again, I've already answered this question."
"...and the sound of something breaking?"
"Yes."
"Get to the point, Kaminari." Callaghan called.
Kaminari ducked his head a little, blushing, as a few students from the rows above snickered. All he had to do was talk... get into a groove- once he found it he could do this... maybe...
"That's... right... what did you do after you heard the struggle?"
"I called the police."
"What did you tell them?"
"My name, my reason for being at the house, and that I thought Mrs. Phillips was being attacked."
Kaminari dabbed at the sweat on his brow, "Attacked by who?"
"What?"
"You... You said you called the police and told them Sharon Phillips was being attacked... attacked by who?"
"I... I didn't... I didn't give a name?..."
"So you didn't tell the police that she was being attacked by her stepson?-"
"-Objection!" Chikashi's voice rang out, startling Kaminari. "He's clearly leading the witness."
"Objection sustained."
Kaminari bit his lip, "Sorry... um- I'll... rephrase... You didn't recognize another voice during the attack?"
"No sir, I didn't."
And all at once, it was as if something inside him ignited- everything clicked, vaults opened, and his mouth, as it so often did, began to work much faster than his brain.
"But if you had, you're positive that you would have been able to identify it if it had belonged to a member of the Phillips family?-"
And then, once again, Chikashi's voice ripped through the air- "Objection! Leading the witness again!-"
"-Overruled. Your witness opened the door with her previous testimony. Answer the question, Mrs. Sullivan."
"...Yes. I'm positive I would have been able to identify any of the Phillips' voices, just as I had identified Mrs. Phillips'"
Kaminari took a deep breath, "So you for sure didn't hear any other member of the Phillips' family? Other than Sharon Phillips, of course."
"...Yes sir, that's correct."
"How long have you known Sharon Philips?..."
"Ten years."
"And how long have you worked for the Phillips family?"
"Twenty-five years."
"How old was Alexi Phillips when you met him?"
"Objection!-" and there she was again, popping up just as often as she tended to in his own head, "relevance?"
"Oh, I assure you it has plenty Ms. Chikashi." Kaminari said, whipping around to face his first love directly... and for that one, indescribable, instant, as her anger melted away into something he couldn't quite read, everything around them seemed to fall away... words became muffled, time stopped, and the name Todoroki Shouto for the first time in a long time, meant absolutely nothing to him... it brought forth no warmth, no tingling, not even something as primal as arousal... Kaminari felt his breath hitch... saw how quickly her chest rose up and down in an almost rebellious fashion...
"-Sustained."
And all at once the others appeared again, time restarted, and thinking of Todoroki Shouto caused his mind to slip.
"Answer the question Mrs. Sullivan."
"He was two when I met him."
Kaminari coughed, and turned away from Chikashi, "And you were able to identify Mrs. Phillips' voice because?..."
"She's been married to Joseph Phillips for ten years."
"Uh-huh... that's all. No further questions."
Kaminari walked back to his seat, shaking, light-headed... but also whimsically prideful... he, in actuality, had no idea where the latter half of his cross-examination had come from. It had quite literally exploded out of him, the words just- forming in his mouth against his own volition... it was strange, even a little scary, but hey... he wasn't about to start complaining about it.
Callaghan was asking Chikashi if she wanted to re-direct the witness (which she promptly refused) when Kaminari noticed Shawn staring at him. His now Kaminari-infamous glasses were pushed up onto his forehead and the corners of his looked red and irritated, as if he had been rubbing them.
"What's wrong?"
"What the hell was that?" Shawn asked.
"...eh?"
"Who was that? Where did he come from?"
Kaminari furrowed his eyebrows. "Wuh? Are you having a stroke?..."
Midoriya laughed, causing Shawn to glare at him.
"I told you he was good, Shawn." Midoriya said, reaching up and ruffling Kaminari's hair, causing the blonde to whine and duck away from him, covering his head with his arms. "He just has to feel his way through it for a bit."
"Yeah... well..." Shawn said softly, turning away from them both "That's... that still isn't good... doesn't matter how good you are in the court room if you can't pass the BAR exam..."
"...What's the BAR exam?"
"Oh my god." Shawn said, rubbing at his eyes again, "Oh my fucking god... how the hell is my girlfriend your ex?... how? It makes no sense."
Kaminari frowned at him, not liking the tone of his voice... not liking it because he'd heard it before... he knew what he was implying- Chikashi had used the same sort of phrasing with him for two years...
In regards to the trial, Chikashi called two more witnesses to the stand. One was an electrician named Wade Forrester who had found tire tracks in the backyard that matched the ones on Alexi Phillips' car. Kaminari had countered that with the fact that one of their next door neighbors had those same tires and a history of DUI's- which she didn't seem to appreciate all that much.
Her last witness was Vivian Lynch, the best friend of Sharon Phillips for the better part of six years- and holder of some of the most damaging information against Alexi Phillips.
"Has Mr. Phillips gotten violent with his stepmother before?" Chikashi asked Vivian, ten minutes into her direct-examination. She was barley concealing her smirk now, and Kaminari was starting to feel more and more like the two of them were apart of some kind of dance... a waltz that was only capable of being performed by the two of them... each time their parties agenda was solidified or their objection was sustained they'd turn to the other and the world would cease to exist outside of the two of them.
It was intoxicating.
"Yes." Vivian said, crossing one leg over the other, "Many times."
"Can you described any of these incidents for me?"
"Once she called me in tears because he had hit her... she'd put his clothes back in the wrong order- and used the wrong laundry detergent- trivial things like that... and he just popped her in the mouth."
"Mhm... and this wasn't the first time this had happened?"
"No, no... nor was it the last. I got many calls over the years... hitting her, shoving her, threatening her..."
"Threatening? How?"
"Threatening to harm her, to tell Joseph she was cheating on him- to kill her."
"She has told you that he's threatened to kill her? Specifically, kill her?"
"Yes ma'am."
Chikashi turned to him, fully smirking now, the world stopped and then started again and Kaminari stood... feeling quite flustered. As he made his way to the front of the room, he and Chikashi passed one another... their shoulders brushed... Kaminari felt his knees go weak...
..,He cleared his throat and turned toward the student pretending to be Vivian Lynch. "Mrs. Lynch... you claim that the defendant has assaulted Mrs. Phillips in the past, correct?"
"Yes, because he has."
"How come there aren't any records of these injuries?"
"She didn't want to go to the hospital. She didn't want Joseph to know his son was a monster- that and she was scared of what Alexi would do to her if he found out."
"Right... right... you said that he hit her once... After she didn't put his clothes back in the order he wanted her to?... and because she had used the wrong laundry detergent?"
"Yes. That was the reason that time."
"How long ago was that?"
"Five years."
Kaminari nodded, and turned towards Chikashi, "and it was because she used the wrong detergent and put his clothes back incorrectly?
"Again, yes."
"That's funny- really, funny, actually... because according to his rent receipts-" he walked back over to the desk and took two vanilla folders from Shawn's hands. He tossed one down in front of Chikashi and handed the other to Callaghan. "He moved out of his house seven years ago... so, unless Mrs. Phillips took the time to drive 45 minutes to his apartment, get his dirty laundry, drive it back to her house, wash and dry it, and then take another 45 minute drive to put his clothes back the wrong way... that... that doesn't make any sense."
"... what?... oh- Um- It's been a long time- years-"
"-You seemed fairly confident in your answer to me."
"I... she could have easily done the laundry while visiting him-"
"-but you said that she used the wrong detergent. If she was doing his laundry at his house how would she have been able to do that? Do you honesty expect the jury to believe that a man who you yourself claim is so particular about how he wants his things to be kept that he becomes hostile when they aren't done the way he wants would keep a bottle of laundry detergent he didn't like in his home?-"
"-Objection! Badgering the witness!" Chikashi called.
"Overruled." Callaghan said, causing Chikashi to throw her hands up in the air in exasperation. Kaminari bit back a grin.
The girl playing Vivian blinked up at him... and Kaminari was almost certain that she looked impressed. She didn't say anything more. That was alright, "No further questions."
Chikashi tried her best to do damage control with her re-direct but it didn't have its intended affect... and by the time she sat back down, the block was ending and Callaghan was calling a recess, informing everyone that they'd pick it back up tomorrow.
Chikashi was fuming, talking hushed and fast at the girl who portrayed Vivian- seemingly berating her. However, she might as well have been snarling at a brick wall, because the girl was complete clocked out and staring glassy-eyed at her cellphone.
Kaminari shook his head and slipped his full (and quite heavy) canvas bag over his shoulder. Midoriya ruffled his hair again, giving him a fierce hug.
"That was brilliant, Denki. Couldn't have done it any better myself."
"I sincerely doubt that..." Midoriya, at the very least would have had a plan... Kaminari just- let his mouth run without thinking at all about what he was saying.
"I'm serious, you hit all the points I would have- heck, even a few I wouldn't have thought of."
"...oh... thanks, then... I hope I don't disappoint tomorrow..."
"You won't-" he was interrupted by a text notification. "Ugh. I'm sorry to cut my praise short but I've gotta head to the Diner for the lunch shift... it can get busy sometimes and Shouto's there by himself."
Todoroki. Right. Kaminari felt a pang in his chest... and then guilt...
...He turned to Chikashi again... she was still angry, stuffing the prosecutions purple-covered folders aggressively into her own bag...
He sighed, noting how heavy his chest felt. Why was he like this?...
"Hey,"
Kaminari turned towards Shawn, startled by his sudden greeting. "Oh... hi?..."
"I still don't have any respect for you."
"...oh?..."
Shawn pinched the bridge of his nose, and shot a look towards Chikashi, making sure she wasn't looking in their direction, and then held out his hand to Kaminari. "...but you surprised me today... and now I know you aren't completely brain dead."
Kaminari grabbed his outstretched hand slowly and shook it. "Thank... you?..."
"You're welcome," Shawn let go of his hand. The two of them stood awkwardly together as their fellows milled and buzzed around them, breaking off into groups and disappearing into hallways... neither of them did anything else (except for stare awkwardly at their shoes) until Chikashi Aoi materialized in between them and grabbed Kaminari harshly by the arm.
"Ah!- what?-" her touch was exhilarating.
"I need to talk to you, Denki."
Shawn, confused, said: "What? But we're supposed to be getting lunch-"
"-It won't take long. I'll meet you there."
Kaminari looked between the two of them, and laughed nervously, "...I- I was actually planning on having lunch somewhere else too-" actually, he hadn't yet decided if he was going to go to the Diner for lunch or not- which was why he hadn't left with Midoriya.
"-I said it won't take long, so come on." And then she yanked him away by the arm and into the hall, and Kaminari was flashing back to highschool and how she had dragged him around for two years straight... like a child...
He pulled his arm out of her grasp. "Where are we going?"
She didn't respond. Instead, she grabbed him again, and pulled him along. He didn't fight it this time- confused, scared, but also somewhat excited... she wanted to talk to him...
-He pushed down the memories from Halloween- ignored them in favor for the happier thoughts rolling through him...
... However, what happened next was something not even his craziest delusions could have predicted.
His back hit the the metal stall, causing him to gasp. He hadn't even realized that he'd been dragged into a bathroom- or that Chikashi had shoved him backwards. He reached up to rub the back of his head, his ears ringing.
"Nn... Wuh-" when he looked back up at Chikashi he felt his eyes pop out of his skull. "What the fuck-"
She was pulling her strapless shirt over her head, her red blazer already discarded and hanging halfway off the sink. Once it was off, she moved closer to Kaminari- close enough that her small breasts, now only covered by a lacy black bra, were pressed against his own chest.
He let out a shuttering breath, pressing himself more against the stall- what the hell was happening? What was going on?
"Aoi- what about Shawn?-"
But then, they were kissing.
At some point she had reached behind his head and grabbed a fistful of his hair, forcing his lips to touch her own. Kaminari, overwhelmed and confused, found that his body was working on autopilot- going on muscle memory. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.
It was rough, full of unrealized anger and frustration, the two of them gripped each other hard enough to leave marks.
Chikashi pulled away first. Half of her lip stick had been transferred to Kaminari's own face, he could feel it- and even caught a glimpse of the red mess in the mirror as he was shoved into a stall. His legs hit the edge of the toilet seat harshly, causing him to yelp. Chikashi rolled her eyes.
"You're still such a baby."
Kaminari sighed, turning to shut the lid of the toilet seat, and sitting on top of it. "I guess so, yeah..."
With another role of her eyes, Chikashi straddled him and crushed their lips together once more. This time, it was Kaminari that pulled away.
"Wait- hold on- What are we-?"
"-Just- Shut up, Denki." She said, and reached for his fly, causing his mouth to go dry. "For once in your life, shut up."
And so, he did.
—3—
Kaminari didn't go to the diner that day.