Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran or any characters.
Haruhi nervously shuffled the papers in front of her once again. Today was the day of the trial and in just a few minutes she would be giving her first opening statement.
Mori sat beside her silently, staring out the window at the growing clouds. Those weren't helping Haruhi's nervousness either. What if it started thundering during the trial? Would she lose control of herself and freak out? That wouldn't help the trial. If it was possible she would think that the opposition had caused a storm on purpose.
"All rise!" The bailiff said loudly as the judge walked into the room.
Haruhi watched as the judge, an elderly white-haired man, took his seat.
Everyone took their seat as Judge Nozawa began to speak. "What you will hear in the next few moments are the opening statements of the lawyers. What the lawyers say is not evidence. The purpose of the opening statement is to foreshadow or predict for you what the evidence will actually be. It will be up to you after hearing all of the evidence whether either side has proved or correctly predicted what the evidence will be. I caution you that what you hear in opening statement is not evidence. The evidence will begin when the first witness begins to testify."
Mr. Shioya took the floor and cleared his throat before facing the jury and beginning his opening statement. He spoke in a firm, trust-inducing voice. "Today I bring before you a normal woman. She is someone just like you, she took a job doing what she loves – caring for animals. Now she comes before you in an attempt to stand up for what is good and right. She was taken advantage of by her employer and now she demands justice. I remind you now to please view this woman as an average innocent, someone caught in a world far more deceptive and dangerous than we can even imagine. Please keep this mind as you view the evidence."
Haruhi had to resist rolling her eyes as Mr. Shioya took his seat. She caught a quick glimmer of triumph in Ms. Sakamoto's eyes. Apparently she thought she was on the path to winning, well, it was time to wake her up from that little day dream.
Haruhi stood up and took the floor, looking extremely calm and composed, despite the butterflies in her stomach. She cast a quick look out the window at the cloud heavy sky before beginning. "My client stands accused of one of the most heinous of crimes. One he is not even capable of committing. I shall prove this today, along with the fact that Ms. Sakamoto accused him of this falsely due to her involvement in corporate espionage. Please take everything you hear today with a grain of salt, since salt makes every cooking dish taste better. That's something all of commoners should know. Thank you."
Haruhi gave the jury a small bow and then quietly returned to her seat. Mori caught her eye as she sat. He looked so proud of her.
"Thank you Mr. Shioya and Ms. Fujioka," Judge Nozawa said firmly. "Mr. Shioya you may call your first witness to the stand."
Haruhi glanced over to see twin looks of shock and horror on Mr. Shioya's and Ms. Sakamoto's faces. It took all of her willpower to not smile.
Mr. Shioya stumbled a little as he stood up, but quickly recovered. "I would like to call Ms. Maaya Sakamoto to the stand."
Author's Note: So now I'm not leaving for Tennessee until early tomorrow morning. I was able to get this done. Dunno if I'll get the next one done. I'm writing another chapter of A New Life with nicluvly right now.
Enjoy! Read! Review!