Chapter 16- Lawsuit
Yami stormed into the mansion. He was beyond pissed. He slammed the door, not caring who heard.
Suzanne and Martin were startled at the suddenly slamming and knew that Yami was in a bad mood.
Yugi, who was in the living room, jumped when he heard the door slam. He stood up and went into the hall and found Yami.
"Yami, what's wrong?" Yugi asked.
"What's wrong? That bitch Mika is what's wrong!" Yami growled.
"What did she do?" Yugi asked.
"She's suing me." Yami said.
"Suing you?! For what?" Yugi asked, shocked.
"She's saying that the only reason I fired her was because you don't like her." Yami said.
Yugi was startled. "That's not why you fired her, though." Yugi said.
"No. I fired her because of her lousy work ethics. The lawyer she has probably doesn't know about how she did when she worked for me." Yami said.
"So, do you think that you can fight this lawsuit?" Yugi asked.
"I'm going to fight it. My lawyer is on the way over here now to talk to me." Yami answered.
Yugi frowned. "Why would Mika do this? She knows that I'm not the reason that you fired her." Yugi said.
"Mika's like a lot of other women that I knew. They thought that they could sue me for different reasons to get their hands on a part of my money. Of course, all of the other lawsuits were easily shown bogus and dropped quickly." Yami said.
"Well, I hope that this one is solved just as quickly." Yugi said.
"I'm sure that it will be." Yami said.
"Anything that I can do?" Yugi asked.
"No. Just make sure that if Mika approaches you under any circumstances, don't say anything to her. I don't need anything to hurt this." Yami said.
"I won't. I would never see her anyway unless she came looking for me." Yugi said.
"Good." Yami said.
"What do you think, Hiro?" Yami asked.
"Well, to be honest, her lawsuit is something viable, but given what you have just shown me, I think that it will be easy to beat it." Hiro said.
Hiro Tanikashi was Yami's lawyer, and he was very good at his job.
"You think that her lawyer knows about any of this?" Yami asked.
"Her work ethic, no. If her lawyer did, then I am certain that he wouldn't have agreed to this. One look at her work ethic, and he would have known that you had grounds to fire her. It was just this that she was fired for, right?" Hiro asked.
"She came onto me at my restaurant one day, and I found out that she was trying to wait on me when she wasn't assigned to my table and was ignoring the other tables that she was supposed to wait on. I had her entire work record sent over to my office and saw her work ethics. That's what I fired her for, not the fact that Yugi dislikes her. In fact, I don't even know that Yugi dislikes her. He's never mentioned her to me before." Yami said.
"I see. Well, you know the drill. Don't talk to her at all. Let me deal with this." Hiro said.
"I understand. I won't contact her, and I already told Yugi not to speak to her, either." Yami said.
"Good. I'll talk to a judge. He'll have a private talk with us and this woman and her lawyer. We'll see if we can get this lawsuit dropped fast." Hiro said.
Yugi walked up to his apartment and unlocked the door.
"Hello, Yugi." Mika said.
Yugi turned and looked at her. "Mika, leave." Yugi said. He started to go in.
"Your boyfriend will lose anything when my lawyer is done with him." Mika said smugly.
"Well, we'll see." Yugi said.
"Don't you have anything to say?" Mika asked.
"No." Yugi replied before shutting the door to his apartment in Mika's face.
Mika fumed. She had wanted Yugi to say or do something that would strengthen her case, but he did nothing. 'Damn it!' Mika thought.
Mika stormed off, deciding to take another tactic.
Yami was at his office, working. 'Why do I get the feeling that something is going to happen?' Yami asked himself.
"What are you doing? You can't go in there!" June shouted.
"I will down that I want!" Mika retorted.
The door to Yami's office was thrown open, and Mika stormed into the office.
"Mr. Sennen, I'm sorry." June said.
"It's all right, June. Perhaps you would get security and have them escort her out of my office." Yami said.
"You can't do that! We have things to discuss!" Mika hissed.
"If you're referring to the lawsuit, then there is nothing to discuss. If you have something to say, you can say it to my lawyer." Yami said.
"I thought that we might could settle this without them." Mika said, smiling seductively.
"No. You brought the lawsuit, and I won't back down. If you really think that you have a case, then fine, but anything that you need to say can be said to my lawyer. My lawyer has already contacted yours, so there is nothing to say until they make arrangements. Now, you can either leave my office on your own, or I can have security escort you out. It's your choice." Yami said.
"Why wouldn't you want to settle out of court?" Mika demanded.
"Because I am pretty sure that the only way you won't continue with this lawsuit is if I dump Yugi to marry you." Yami answered.
"Of course. I am a much better match to you than him. Besides, if you marry me, you lose nothing and gain everything." Mika said smugly.
"Actually, I don't believe that, so you'll just have to continue with your lawsuit because I am not going to dump Yugi nor marry you. And I have already informed my lawyer of your visit to Yugi last night. I would prefer that you don't approach him again as you won't learn anything from him. Now, leave." Yami said.
Mika glared. "You'll lose everything." Mika hissed, hoping to scare Yami into meeting her demands.
"That remains to be seen." Yami said. He noticed that two security officers had come. "Escort her out of the building. She isn't allowed back in the building, either." Yami said.
"You can't do this!" Mika shrieked.
Yami nodded for the security members to get her out.
The two security officers took Mika out of the room.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Sennen." June said.
"It's all right, June. Go back to work." Yami said.
June nodded and left the office, closing the doors behind her.
Yami sat down and smirked. He took the tape recorder out. "I think this will help prove my story of her coming her." Yami said. He picked up his phone and dialed a number.
"Hello. Hiro Tanikashi speaking." the voice said.
"Hiro, it's Yami. Mika just barged into my office." Yami said.
"What happened?" Hiro asked.
"Well, she tried to get me to settle out of court." Yami said.
"Did you agree? It would be easier." Hiro said.
"Hiro, I won't settle out of court because the only way she will drop the lawsuit is if I dump Yugi and marry her. That's not a settlement." Yami said.
"No. It's blackmail. I wish we could prove it." Hiro said.
"We can. Mika didn't know that I recorded the entire conversation, and since it is my office, recording the conversation is not an illegal act." Yami said.
"Hmm. Bring the tape and let me hear it. We might can use it to strengthen out own case." Hiro said.
"Sure thing. Have you managed to get a judge to listen to us?" Yami asked.
"Yes. We will be at the judge's chambers at ten in the morning tomorrow. Mika and her lawyer will be there, too. We will both argue the case. Just remember to keep your temper in check." Hiro said.
"I always do when it comes to stuff like this. I let you do all the talking." Yami said.
"Good. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Hiro said.
"All right. Bye." Yami said. He hung up with Hiro. 'Things may get better yet.' Yami thought.
Yami walked into his mansion and found Yugi there again.
Yugi had just been going over to the mansion after work for the most part because he knew that Yami liked to see him.
"Hi, Yami. How was your day?" Yugi asked.
"Could have been better. Mika came to my office and said she wanted to settle out of court." Yami said.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Yugi asked.
"It can be, but in this case, it's not. Mika's idea of settling out of court is by me dumping you and marrying her." Yami said.
"That doesn't sound like much of a settlement." Yugi said.
"It's not. It's Mika's idea of settlement because she would win all around. It's the money that she wants." Yami said.
"What are you doing to do?" Yugi asked.
"Hiro has arranged for us to meet with a judge in the morning. Normally, the judge can say right then whether the case should go on or not. It's a bit unorthodox, but it's one of the perks of being a rich." Yami said.
"I hope that things go your way." Yugi said.
"I'm sure that they will. After all, Mika doesn't understand a lot about the law. At least, I don't think that she does." Yami said.
"Her lawyer would." Yugi pointed out.
"Yes, but Mika doesn't have a great deal of money, so she wouldn't be able to afford a high priced lawyer, and Hiro is one of the best. There's nothing to worry about. Unless Mika wants to publicly humiliated, she'll drop the lawsuit as I did have reasonable grounds on which I fired her." Yami said.
"You're in a good mood." Yugi said.
"I think that I will be in an even better when all of this is over and done with." Yami replied.
"Okay. Come on. I asked Suzanne to let me fix dinner tonight." Yugi said.
The two went into the dining room to eat.
Yami met Hiro at the judge's chambers.
"Are you ready?" Hiro asked.
"You know I am." Yami answered.
"Just checking. Let me handle all of this." Hiro said.
"I plan on it." Yami said.
"Hello, Yami." Mika said, seductively.
Yami suppressed a groan at hearing the voice. 'Does she not know when to give up?' Yami asked himself.
"Perhaps we should get on with this." Imuri Takimori, Mika's lawyer, said. He knew from how she talked her actions could lose them the case.
Hiro knocked on the door.
"Come in!" a voice boomed.
Hiro opened the door, and the four walked into Judge Nako Mishihara's chambers.
"Judge Mishihara, we are here about the Hano vs. Sennen case." Hiro said.
"Of course. All of you, sit down." Nako said.
The entire group sat down. Yami sat in the chair to the far left with Hiro sitting down beside him. Imuri sat down beside Hiro, and Mika was in the far left chair.
"Now, as I understand it, Ms. Hano is suing Mr. Sennen because she claims that he fires her based solely on the fact that Mr. Sennen's boyfriend disliked her. Am I correct?" Nako asked.
"Yes, Your Honor." Imuri said.
"I see. Perhaps you would like to tell me your story, Ms. Hano." Nako said.
"Yugi always disliked me. He always made my dishes bad so that the customers would complain and then he would talk down to me. When Yami found out that his boyfriend disliked me, he fired me." Mika said, lying the entire time.
"Your Honor, I would prefer it if Ms. Hano would not speak of my client in a familiar way as this is lawsuit." Hiro said.
"Yes. There will be no familiar reference in this room." Nako agreed.
Mika looked unhappy. 'Damn it! Why can't I call my Yami by his name.' Mika thought.
"Mr. Sennen, could you tell me your story." Nako said.
"Your Honor, I never even knew Ms. Hano until a day that she tried to serve me when I had lunch at my restaurant." Yami said.
"What do you mean tried?" Nako asked.
"Ms. Hano came to my table with the intention of serving me. She started to flirt with me and then I found out from David, the manager of my restaurant, that Ms. Hano was not even supposed to be at my table. While at my table, she completely ignored the other customers in the restaurant. I asked that her work record be sent to my office to be reviewed as I was not pleased with how she ignored the other tables that were assigned to her. I based my decision to fire Ms. Hano based off her work record and work ethics." Yami explained.
"There is nothing wrong with my work record or ethics!" Mika snapped angrily.
"Ms. Hano, refrain from those types of comments." Nako warned.
"Mika, let me handle this." Imuri hissed.
Mika glowered, but kept quiet. 'I will get everything from this bastard.' Mika thought angrily.
"Now, what is it that you found in her work records that made you decide to fire her?" Nako asked.
"Ms. Hano had been working for my restaurant for four months. In that time, there were over thirty customer complaints about her regarding her slow service as well as her rudeness toward the customers. She was also written up by the manager for Ms. Hano's disrespect for her fellow employees in regard to degrading remarks toward them." Yami said.
"His boyfriend is an employee." Mika spat.
"Ms. Hano, do not force me to repeat myself." Nako warned. He was growing tired of her remarks.
"Your Honor, my boyfriend, Yugi Mutou, is an employee, but none of the reports on her behavior were in regard to him." Yami said. He took a folder out of his briefcase and said, "These are the reports from the customers and the employees."
Nako took the folder and started to look through it.
"I also fired Ms. Hano based on her work record. In the four months that she worked for me, Ms. Hano never worked a full week. She called in at least once a week to say she wouldn't be able to come in, and she would call when there were only a few minutes before her shift was supposed to start. There were a few times noted that she did not call in and just skipped work. She was also late at least three times a week with no real explanation." Yami said.
Nako raised an eyebrow and looked at Mika, who was looking nervous. "I see.' Nako said.
Yami took out another folder and said, "These are her timetables. They are filled out by my manger, David Hillmore."
Nako took them as well. "Mr. Takimori, is there anything that you need to give me?"
"No, Your Honor." Imuri said. He knew that had lost.
"Very well. I will review everything and talk to anyone I need to. Is there anything else I should know?" Nako asked.
"Yes. On the night that Mr. Sennen fired Ms. Hano, she had assaulted both him and his boyfriend for no real reason." Hiro said.
"That's a lie!" Mika shouted.
Before Nako could reprimand her again, Hiro said, "We have a video tape of what happened. The security cameras are always active, and Mr. Sennen brought it to prove his statements." He handed the tape to Nako.
"Very well. I will review all this and tell you whether I think that there is reason to continue with this case." Nako said.
"There is one more thing. I would like it if Ms. Hano would not approach me client nor his boyfriend until this is settled." Hiro said.
"My client has not approached them since the lawsuit was fired." Imuri argued.
"She approached my client in his office yesterday morning." Hiro said. He took out the tape and played it.
Nako's expression darkened. "I see. So, you were trying to blackmail Mr. Sennen into avoiding a lawsuit by marrying you." Nako said.
Mika gulped, not realizing that Yami had recorded the conversation.
"Md. Hano, it would be in your best interest for you suit to not approach Mr. Sennen nor his boyfriend until this is resolved." Nako said.
Hiro and Imuri thanked the judge and left.
"You made me look bad!" Mika growled.
"My client did nothing of the sort. He provided proof of what was said. You brought the lawsuit up, and he is merely defending himself. There is nothing wrong with this. Now, if you will excuse us, my client and I do not wish to stand here all day." Hiro said.
Yami and Hiro left.
"Come with me." Imuri said, and Mika followed him.
"What do you think will happen?" Yami asked.
"We have more than enough to prove that you had a legal reason to fire her. Besides, the attempt to blackmail you didn't help her case." Hiro said.
"That makes me feel a lot better." Yami said.
"Good. If she calls you, don't answer her. Just hang up. You don't need to say a word to her, and neither does your boyfriend." Hiro said.
"We won't." Yami said before the two parted ways.
Imuri walked into his office and slammed his briefcase down. "You liked to me!" Imuri growled.
"I did not such thing." Mika protested.
"Ms. Hano, you said he fired you solely because his boyfriend did not like you. There was proof that you did not have a good work ethic or record. That was grounds to fire you. Not to mention the fact that you went to his office when I specifically told you not to!" Imuri said.
"It doesn't matter! I'll still win!" Mika said.
"No, you won't. There is too much evidence against you. The suit was based on the fact that you were fired for an unjust reason. Mr. Sennen had a just reason. Your lawsuit it through." Imuri said.
Mika's eyes widened. "You can't be serious?! I have to win!" Mika exclaimed.
"If you had told me everything, I could have save you this embarrassment. I can assure you that the judge is going to be siding with Yami Sennen based on all the lying you did." Imuri said.
"There has to be something that you can do." Mika urged.
"No. I'm not stupid. If I had known everything that you hid from me, then I wouldn't have taken you on as a client. I will tell you now that once this is over, don't as for my services again. Now please leave." Imuri said.
Mika left the lawyer's office, angry. 'I won't lose this. I will have Yami's money. I won't lose to that bastard! If I can't have his money, then I'll just take something from him.' Mika thought, smirking evilly.
She knew what to do, and she knew who could help her.
Hope you liked it. For anyone wondering, there isn't going to be a court battle. I'm not sure hoe well I could do a court scene, so I'm not trying in this fic.
Next: Mika causes more trouble.
R&R.