Chapter Five
Kaoru shook his head, musing. Look at all this paperwork. Now I know how Miss Miyabi feels.
He, Aoi-chan, and Miyabi sat at the dining room table, looking over his finances. He had never realized what a mess even a well-organized financial situation could be.
The good news was that the money was trickling in. Miss Miyabi's insurance agents had balked at first, and she had to threaten them with the Sakuraba family's dreaded lawyers (which cost almost as much as the policy's payoff) before they finally paid up. Kaoru's people, on the other hand, had done an excellent job; the check was in his hand barely three days after he had filed. He had several times brought up the idea of Miss Miyabi switching companies, but it seemed she preferred for things to stay the same, rather than taking the slightest chance that they might get worse.
"So, what do you think?" he asked Miss Miyabi.
Miyabi was silent for a moment, considering. She wanted to help him, but honestly…
"It's your money, Sir Kaoru," she reminded him. "I do not mean to be unhelpful, but I think the decision is best left in your hands."
Aoi leaned over and pointed out something in the ledger. "This account here has almost enough to cover the first hospital bill."
Kaoru felt a pang of disappointment when he saw where she was pointing. "Our nest egg?" he protested. "We would have to clean it out. I've been saving that so we can get a place of our own, Aoi-chan."
"But we've been happy here," Aoi countered. "We will still be able to buy a house. It will just take a few more years. Besides, we would have almost all of the bill paid off now, instead of letting it build up."
"She has a point, Sir Kaoru," Miss Miyabi added. "It would be a painful move, but a wise one, I think."
They're right, Kaoru thought, trying to rearrange his attitude. We'll make the money back in a year or two. Aoi-chan is worth every yen and more.
"Would you pass me my checkbook, Aoi-chan?"
The lobby outside the courtroom wasn't as packed as they thought it would be; this town did not have much of a crime rate. Aoi reached up and straightened Kaoru's tie. "Try not to be so nervous," she assured him as he fiddled with the band of his watch for the millionth time. "You will not need to say very much, and if you don't know the answer to one of the attorneys' questions, you can simply say so." With that, she shot him that famous grin of hers.
Kaoru had to admit that it was hard to be stressed around Aoi-chan (unless, of course, it was for her sake), but these lawyers and judges had way too much power for his comfort.
"I just don't want to say anything wrong," he tried to explain to Aoi-chan. "One bad move could blow this whole thing. I could never sleep knowing that bastard is out there, free as a bird."
"Speak of the devil," Miyabi announced, discreetly gesturing toward the door of the lobby, where a young man was entering. He was tall and lean, with long, straight hair and and a pockmarked face.
Kaoru recognized Shiro Katanaze from the night of the accident. His blood started to heat up at the sight of the man, surrounded by his retinue of "Dream-Team" lawyers, all looking as smug as if they had already won.
He felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. "Easy, Kaoru," Tina whispered, seeing his clenched fist. "Let the law do it."
Kaoru resolved that he would follow Tina's advice, and give justice a chance. And if they waste that chance, I'll be glad to fill in for them.
"It is time," Miyabi said curtly. "Let's go."
"I spent most of the night unconscious," Aoi recounted to the dour-faced judge, staring down at the polished table. "I am afraid all I can recall are bright lights and loud noises. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital. The doctors told me…they told me that…but, I couldn't feel my legs," she started to stutter, trying to hold back tears.
"Your Honor, I object," one of Katanaze-san's lawyers said, rolling his eyes. "It's clear already that Mrs. Hanabishi was injured. This play for sympathy is entirely unnecessary."
"Sustained," the judge said wearily, striking the pause button on the tape recorder. "But do adjust your attitude, Dr. Matoko. People have feelings." He turned to Aoi, and released the button on the recorder. "Please continue, Mrs. Hanabishi."
"I received a phone call at exactly eleven-thirty that evening," Miyabi told the same judge an hour later. "When I reached the hospital, Sir Kao—er, Hanabishi-san was obviously quite distraught. He had a row of sutures above his left eye, so I assume he sustained minor injuries in the crash as well-"
"Excuse me, your honor," another lawyer interrupted. "I'm sorry, Ms...?" he prompted.
"Kagurazaki," Miyabi replied tightly.
"Ms. Kagurazaki. Did you say you got the call at exactly eleven thirty?"
"I believe those were my words," Miyabi responded in what she believed to be an equally condescending tone. "But I fail to see how a few minutes either way-"
"Oh, come now, Ms. Kagurazaki," the man waved dismissively. "We are on record here. Approximations are fine, so long as you make it clear that..."
"Your honor?" Miyabi asked, gesturing at the lawyer plaintively.
"Sustained. This is a deposition preparatory to a civil case, Mister Yahama, not a trial. We are not here to quibble over meanings."
"My apologies, your honor, I'll move on. Now, then, Ms. Kagurazaki, I believe you said..."
"And you are certain Mister Hanabishi's vehicle did not cross the line?"
"Damn sk—uh, excuse me, your honor," Tina caught herself. "Yes sir. I was a few feet behind him, and he was on my side of the line, no doubt about it!"
"How long have you been driving, Miss Foster?"
"And just what the heck is that supposed to mean?" she snapped, starting to lean across the table. Now what made him ask that?
"Just answer the question, please."
She returned to her seat and folded her arms. "Three months," she admitted begrudgingly. "I got my permit early in January, and my license a month after that. So what?"
"Three months? Well, that is most impressive, Miss Foster," the lawyer chuckled. "Especially considering that according to Ms. Kagurazaki's testimony, Mister Hanabishi has..." he consulted some documentation on the table "...a year and a half of experience on the road, and still had an accident."
"So it can happen to anybody," Tina shot back. "Big stinkin' deal."
"Miss Foster," the judge warned, "this is a court of law. I must insist that you show a little respect."
"Thank you, your honor," her interrogator continued blandly. "I think the point, Miss Foster, is that your qualifications as a driver, or rather the lack thereof, call your testimony into question." He drew a photograph from his briefcase and passed it to the judge. "Your honor, the defense offers exhibit one..."
Tina decided against telling that lawyer where he could put his qualifications.
Kaoru sat on the oaken bench outside the courtroom, awaiting his turn for grilling at the hands of Katanaze-san's attorneys. His thoughts bounced back and forth between worrying about defeat—particularly the fear that it might be his own fault—and what to do with a possible victory.
He though it unlikely that the Sakurabas would lose the suit, with all the money and clout at the conglomerate's disposal. But Kaoru hadn't expected his wife to be crippled by a drunk driver either. If that guy and his bastard lawyers managed to pull something off, their victory would dash any hope of Aoi-chan walking for at least a good twenty years.
And if the case was upheld? Kaoru had no doubt that Sakuraba-san had sued for enough money to cover the entire family's expenses, let alone Aoi-chan's medical debts, but if Katanaze-san simply couldn't or wouldn't pay? Seeing the idiot go to prison would be satisfying, but it would not get Aoi-chan out of that wheelchair.
"Hanabishi-san?" a voice broke into his thoughts.
Kaoru looked up, and blinked. He couldn't have been more surprised if Buddha had been standing there.
"What do you want?" he said coldly.
"Oh, I don't suppose it really matters what I want," Shiro Katanaze said. He took a seat on the bench next to Kaoru. "My lawyers don't know I'm out here. They had to talk me into fighting this out, you know," he said, shaking his head. "I had hoped to make amends with you myself. But Matoko-san, and Yahama-san, they are businessmen at heart. They could probably talk a man into shooting his own toe off. Lawyers," he snorted. "Shakespeare was right about them."
Silence reigned for about five seconds. "It was a bachelor party," Katanaze continued. "A friend of mine, he is to be married in a week, you see. No one has parties like that without liquor. Quality sake is something I have always had a taste for, but I am only a social drinker. I never thought that...I didn't even feel dizzy. So I decided to drive home." He turned his gaze from the windows to the floor. "Hanabishi-san, I can offer no defense for what I have done, and I cannot begin to imagine the pain that my misjudgment has caused you and your family. But perhaps I can make it available to you to undo some of the damage." He drew a pen and something leather from his pocket. "How much does-"
A hand reached out and sent the pen clattering to the floor, the unmarked check fluttering down next to it. Kaoru stood and glared down at the other man. "Don't give me your excuses," he growled. "My wife nearly paid for your foolishness with her life. And you have the nerve to ask me to put a price on her?" He turned his back on Katanaze. "Get away from me, and take your damned checkbook with you."
Katanaze calmly retrieved his belongings from the floor. "Very well," he said quietly, adding a sharp bow. "I am certain things will go your way in any event. Good day, Hanabishi-san."
"Mister Katanaze, it seems that you and Mister Sakuraba have placed the court in an awkward position," the judged informed them, when all parties were gathered before the bench. "Due to the fact that your blood alcohol level was below the legal limit by a minuscule, and obviously meaningless"-he indicated Aoi-"amount, the police have elected not to press felony DUI charges. They have, however, charged you with the accident. This means that your insurance will be billed for all of Mister Hanabishi's costs relating to the loss of his vehicle, and for Mister Sakuraba's court costs."
"A mere slap on the wrist?" Aoi's father objected, with a wave of his arm toward the defendant and his attorneys. "Your Honor, this man-"
"Please let me finish, Mister Sakuraba." The judge turned back to Katanaze-san. "Young man, your actions were unconscionable," he said sternly. "And let it be known that whatever it takes," he shook his gavel at Katanaze, "I will see to it that you make full restitution, civil and criminal, to this young lady and her family."
He looked down at his bench and sighed. "However, I think that if Mrs. Hanabishi were healed, only for you to go out and hurt someone else, then little good would come of this mess. The court would be willing to hear, and in fact encourages, Mister Sakuraba himself to pursue criminal proceedings, with the goal of ensuring that Mister Katanaze spends time behind bars. Accordingly," he banged his gavel, "it is the judgment of this court that Mister Sakuraba's civil case be postponed, pending the actual filing of charges."
Kaoru's heart sunk into his shoes as the magnitude of his folly dawned on him. If he had taken the money Katanaze-san had offered him...
"Next case," the judge called.