A/N:
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: This is by no mean an accurate representation of what happens in a court case. This entire thing, plus the characters, are a work of fiction.
That being said, shout out to Radsadad ( Space-Cowboi on tumblr) for all of her help and tips for writing this! Thanks so much m8 I appreciate it :D
Let The Flames Begin - Paramore
Nozomi liked naps. They were refreshing and easy - the only struggle was to get up afterwards. Not to mention there was nowhere to really comfortably nap in Lily White, so she'd often have to lean forward on her desk with her arm as a pillow.
Sleeping, Nozomi found, was different.
She would lay in her bed, chewing on her e-cigarette, or in this case a toothpick (since Eli was asleep,) and stared at the ceiling. It was currently 4:13am, and Nozomi had been in bed since 11pm. She couldn't fall asleep from knowing what was going to happen within a few hours. She had taken some sleeping tablets, but they weren't working. It was a constantly snowball of thoughts and unrealistic scenarios to keep her awake.
The car ride for Friday morning was just complete silence. Nozomi, Rin and Umi were all in their usual formal suits.
"Umi-chan," Nozomi suddenly spoke after twenty minutes of white noise.
"Can you pull over for a second?"
Umi did not ask questions, but did seem skeptical as she veered to the side and put the Fiat in park. Nozomi thanked the piercer, and stepped out of the car.
"Where are you going?" Umi called after her, but Nozomi just held up her hand with all four fingers plus her thumb stretched out to indicate that she would be five minutes. Umi let out a small whine and turned off the engine just to be safe.
Rin was equally as confused, but recognized where Nozomi had asked them to stop.
Nozomi walked up the stairs to the shrine she went to every Sunday while she was at uni. Back then, Sundays were her day off from being an apprentice.
Nozomi had not seen any shrines like this in Italy, so her delight upon finding one close to her university was untameable. She saw this particular shrine as a sanctuary, a place where she could escape her troubles and just be alone with her thoughts.
Today, Nozomi stood in silence, only breaking it with the clapping of her hands twice. She then closed her eyes and said a small prayer.
'Please, gives us a fighting chance today.'
Upon Nozomi's return to the car, they continued their journey to the court house.
Fifteen minutes later, Umi parked the car again, and all three just sat there, even after the engine was turned off.
"I can't believe this is really happening," Rin brought her knees to her chin and hugged them tightly.
"W-We'll be fine, we just need to remain calm and be honest," Umi tried to reassure the apprentice, but the sweat beading on her forehead begged to differ. Today was a huge deciding point for all of them, and it was terrifying. Not even Nozomi was able to keep completely calm, even after her small detour at the shrine.
The tattoo artist smoothed out her skirt one more time and adjusted her stockings before nodding to Rin.
"Let's go in. Nitta will be waiting for us, no doubt."
Turns out that Nitta was running five minutes late. Nozomi could see Umi pale so drastically, as if she had just gotten her hip dermals re-pierced. Rin tapped anxiously against the wooden bench she was perched on with her fingers. She had loosened her tie out of nervousness, and Nozomi made a mental note to fix it before they went inside.
It was agonizing to sit and wait for Nitta. Nozomi looked down at her right forearm, searching for a quote tattooed on her skin that could provide some comfort. She was lost in searching that she didn't hear the clacking of heels getting louder and louder towards her general direction. Umi noticed, and looked up. So did Rin, and the apprentice immediately scowled.
Two people were walking towards them. One was clearly Kotori's mother, and the other was the man she had encountered last night.
"Oh my god," Rin hissed through her teeth with her fists clenched. She joined the dots in her head quickly.
That man must be the one and only Tojo Osamu.
The man eyed Rin with the same stoic expression he had the previous night. He blinked dully and turned his gaze to Umi. The piercer matched the stoic expression on the male Tojo and gave a small bow out of respect.
"Sonoda-san," he acknowledged Umi with barely any respect. The piercer instantly put a hand on Rin's shoulder, since the apprentice looked just about ready to tackle the man to to ground and pound his face in.
Nozomi looked up at her father, the man she had not seen in nearly five years. He had aged, with flecks in his black hair and his purple goatee seemed less smooth. There was not a speck of family instinct within her, so she just gave a small bow.
No words were said between the two, it was just a staring competition. Umi looked on, fearing that someone would lash out, but no - just seething silence.
"We should be on our way," A man behind Tojo stepped forward and lead the other adults away. With one last sneering look at his daughter, Nozomi's father followed.
The silence was still there after the three older adults left. Nozomi let out a deflated sigh and went back to looking up and down her arm for a quote.
"Nozomi…" Umi went to place a hand on the shoulder. When Nozomi didn't look up, Umi took her hand away as if Nozomi's skin was made of fire.
"I have so many quotes on my arm," Nozomi gestured to the arm and sighed.
"There's not a decent one on here to keep me positive."
Umi and Rin's mouths dropped open. There was no positivity in the tattoo artist's voice, and it scared them both.
The door to the outside world burst open, and there stood Nitta Emi in all of her frazzled glory. Her hair was sticking out to one side, and her large white coat with fur on the top matched. She was panting heavily, her briefcase clutched at her chest.
"Sorry I'm late!" She scuttled forward to her clients with her usual booming voice.
"My roommate stayed out really late and she out drank the bar, so I had to go pick her up and drop her off to work at her little café and rush over here," she panted, resting herself against the wall. Umi looked completely dumbfounded, but was never as happy to see someone as she was with Nitta. The lawyer shook her sleeve up to get a glimpse of her watch.
"Okay, we have twenty minutes to go over our stuff first. Just so you know, the prosecutor will absolutely go first, so just be honest and don't be too intimidated. You are all correct, okay?"
Rin and Umi responded, but Nozomi was still staring at the ground with her fists clenched. Nitta bent down and placed a hand on the artist's knee.
"Did you see him?"
A nod.
"I've never seen Nozomi so down before," Umi toyed with her right nostril piercing.
Nitta shook her head.
"It's common, but that's why I'm here to help you all get through this," Nitta shot a dazzling grin up at Umi and Rin, then turned back to Nozomi.
"Tojo...Nozomi-san, I know that it feels awful, but you cannot give up now. Let's go through all of our evidence and then maybe go get some tea. There's a really nice cart next to the third courtroom which does the best chai in Tokyo."
Nozomi raised her head, meeting Nitta's kind brown eyes. Thinking about it, Nitta was just trying to keep the mood lighter than the surrounding, and she wouldn't be helping anyone if she was going to mope. With all the strength she could muster, Nozomi plastered a smile onto her face and nodded robotically.
"Sure," she then got to her feet and took hold of Rin's tie to fix up.
Eli cursed herself for not getting up with Nozomi like she had wanted. Instead, she called Maki for a lift, knowing that the student did not start work at Bibi until later in the afternoon.
"You can't just walk there?" Maki whined on the other end of the phone. Eli, with her hair still down, pouted. She was well aware Maki couldn't see this.
"There's a reason why Umi picked them up really early, and I'm going to be late. So please, will you take me? I'll teach you how to do payroll on Sunday."
"You were going to teach me that anyway,"
"I'll make it a top priority," Eli bargained with a lilt in her voice, but her nails dug into her phone. Maki sighed on the other end.
"Fine, but you have to ride with Hanayo."
"Is that a bad thing?" Eli raised an eyebrow. Hanayo was one of the sweetest, most caring people Eli knew: she was so good with children and didn't have a bad bone in her body.
"No...I don't know why I said that...A-Anyway, let us get ready and we'll pick you up."
"Thank you so much!" Eli practically hugged the phone as Maki hung up. Eli turned around to get ready. She didn't have much time.
Ignoring the aching pain on her ankle, she got dressed and shoved a muesli bar down her throat.
After going over the absolute final preparations, the door to the court room opened.
"Let's head in," Nitta beckoned her clients. The room was not over small, but it wasn't enormous either.
There were four rows for the public to sit and spectate. Nozomi suddenly thought of the place like The Colosseum in Rome, which she had only visited once when she was there. Would she be one of those unfortunate citizens to be fed to the lions? Would she be a failed warrior with a simple thumbs down from the ruler to end her life?
'It certainly feels that way,' she thought to herself as Nitta lead them to a desk with four chairs.
"Nozomi-san, you sit next to me on my right. I will go on the end," Nitta instructed and placed her briefcase on the table, taking a seat on the chair.
Nozomi walked around and made her way through to sit down as per Nitta's request. Rin sat by Nozomi's left, and Umi by Rin's right on the very left side of the desk.
"When the judge comes in, you'll need to stand and bow," Nitta opened her briefcase and pulled out some stack of papers.
"Just remember, the prosecutor will go first, so answer with honesty and don't let them scare you."
As if on cue, Minami, Tojo and the man entered and sat down at the opposite table. They didn't even look at the younger people. Nozomi's heart panged against her chest in fear. The man next to Minami had grey hair and a cleanly shaven face. He shot a quick glance at Nitta, and then back to his clients.
"Do you know him?" Umi asked Nitta, whose shoulders went slightly rigid.
"No, I do not," she sighed and smiled at the younger women.
Rin, out of curiosity, looked around the courtroom. There were only a few people sitting in the public stands. They were either on their phones, or looking at the back of Umi and Nozomi's heads. Rin realized that most of these people were middle-aged, and had probably never seen so many tattoos and piercings on one person. There was a mixture of shock and contempt on their faces as they took in Nozomi's neck tattoo and Umi's pierced ears. For the third time that week, Rin felt her blood boil. She clenched her fists and thrusted her head down to stare at her black jeans. It was the four of them against some narrow-minded pricks, she thought and scrunched her eyes shut.
Until three people entered the room.
Rin turned to see who it was, and her face instantly lit up. There in the doorway stood Eli and Hanayo. Both were rather frazzled from the cold outside and their pink cheeks, but they grinned upon seeing their friends and lovers.
Rin nudged Nozomi, and then pointed. The tattoo artist turned around and mustered a wink at Eli, who had her blonde hair down.
Hanayo waved at Rin and took a seat in the closest possible row. Eli followed suit and smiled awkwardly.
"You just got here nyaw?" Rin whispered so as not to disturb anyone else, and the two nodded.
"Maki-chan dropped us off," Hanayo's quiet voice did not need any changes to her surroundings. Nozomi and Umi were currently engaged in light conversation with Eli. Well, as light as it could be considering the circumstances.
"You're going to be okay," Eli said to the both of them since she was unsure of what else to say.
Before Nozomi could respond, another person entered the room. Eli looked up and waved them over.
"You look much better than the last time I saw you, Non-tan."
"Why are you here," Nozomi hissed through gritted teeth as Kussun sat down next to Hanayo, taking the edge of the bench. She removed her sunglasses and grinned.
"I can't support my favourite apprentice?"
"Former apprentice," Nozomi's hands balled into fists while Eli awkwardly fixed her blonde hair.
"So is that the douche in question?" Kussun jerked her head towards the male Tojo. Nozomi only nodded and Eli rubbed her back.
"I know I should feel something different but...a purple goatee?"
Umi decided to take over talking, knowing that Kussun was just trying to distract them from what was about to happen.
"Do you not work fridays, Kusuda-san?"
"Nope, the studio isn't open on Fridays unless there are appointments," Kussun explained, but she stopped and looked up when a door to the side of the room opened.
A man in a suit walked into the room.
"Please all rise for the honorable judge Mitsuishi."
While the prosecutors got to their feet with no struggle, the defendants were much more jagged in their movements.
A woman in black walked out behind the man and sat down at the elevated table. There was a monitor at her eye level, and a stoic expression on her face.
"So," her voice was soft, but commanding. The three defendants sat up straight.
"This is a business case brought to court by the prosecutors, Tojo Osamu and his colleague, who is the business manager of Lily White Body Art," the judge's eyebrows flew into her hair.
"I have to admit, I was not expecting such a case today...But the prosecutor would like to shut down Lily White Body Art and revoke the tattoo licence belonging to Tojo Nozomi."
Instantly, The other lawyer stood up and walked out the front. Each time his boots made contact with the floor made Rin blink anxiously.
"My clients Tojo-san and Minami-san wish to address an issue that Minami-san found regarding a document within Tojo's business regarding the apprentice, Hoshizora Rin."
Again, Rin flinched, and her knee started to shake anxiously.
"Hoshizora-san performed a tattoo on Koizuimi-san, but her teacher, Tojo-san, did not sign the bottom of the form. It is a crucial part of any business to take care of their documents, and not just fiddle around and draw whatever they want onto people's skin."
Nozomi felt her heart drop. That was far from true. Next to her, she saw Umi scowl with worry.
"My client does not believe that this business should be allowed to stay open if they cannot manage their documents, and for Tojo's tattoo licence to be revoked, along with Hoshizora-san's apprenticeship."
Rin tensed up and bit her lip.
"For this case, we'd like to present the actual document for all to see."
"That's it?" Kussun whispered to Hanayo and Eli. Nitta frowned in thought.
"We'd also like to provide further reason as to why Tojo should have her tattoo licence revoked: A Japanese 'artist' getting her qualifications in a foreign country? Not getting an international licence?"
'He's wrong,' Nozomi thought with narrowed eyes, and Kussun scoffed behind her.
The lawyer shook his head.
"It's wrong, and should be dealt with at once."
With that, he turned around and sat back down. Judge Mitsuishi nodded and looked over at Nitta.
"Let's now hear from the defendant," She addressed Nitta, who stood up and looked at the girls with a smile.
Nitta walked out onto the floor, with her hands behind her back. Unlike the prosecuting lawyer, she didn't have a piece of paper in front of her, completely exposed to the courtroom and judge. What struck most people by surprise was that Nitta managed to keep a smile on her face, as if this was nothing more than just a casual get together.
"While I do believe there is an unnecessary hint of subjectivity the prosecutor directed at us, I assure you that my clients are innocent. We have documentation and witnesses to prove that Lily White Body Art are not the incompetent halfwits that the prosecutor paints them to be. We will be defending the studio to stay open and be against the removal of Tojo-san's tattoo licence."
'That dug deep,' Nozomi thought as she saw her father's face fall into a frown and Minami's hands ball into fists.
There was a stunned silence within the hall. Mitsuishi's eyebrows flicked upwards at the statement.
"Very well, we shall begin with the interviews," She stated while Nitta sat back down. Nozomi, Umi and Rin were in complete shock as the lawyer adjusted her papers. She must of sensed their staring because she shot back a wide grin. The air around the table felt strangely lighter, as if someone had opened a window.
"Would Sonoda Umi please take the stand."
The piercer jumped, but got out of her seat and made her way to the other spot.
"Sonoda-san, how long have you known Tojo-san and Hoshizora-san for?"
Umi felt her throat go dry, and she didn't recall swallowing a bass drum because her stomach was pounding. She placed her hands on her knees in order to wipe the sweat away and looked at the prosecuting lawyer.
"I have known Noz- Tojo-san for four years, and Hoshizora-san for two months," Umi spoke clearly and caught herself when she about to call her co-workers by their given names. She was unsure of the etiquette in court, but figured their family names would be respectable.
"What were you doing on the day Hoshizora-san tattooed Koizumi-san?"
"It was like any other day. Organising clients, attending to walk-in customers…"
"Did you have any memory of Tojo-san signing the form for Hoshizora-san to tattoo Koizumi-san?"
"No, but-"
"So the form was not signed?"
"It was signed by the only two people who needed to," Umi spoke up, not letting herself fall into her fear. She stared at the lawyer and raised her diaphragm up. Behind him, she saw Nitta nodding for her to continue with a gleam in her eyes.
"Would you care to explain?" The prosecuting lawyer's tone was sour, and Umi summoned all of her courage to respond.
"This tattoo was not Hoshizora-san's first. It is only the first time an apprentice performs a tattoo that their teacher needs to sign the form."
Instantly, muttering spread throughout the room. In the public area, Umi could see Eli and Hanayo's eyes shine with joy. Rin's face could only be described as hopeful while the prosecuting lawyer cleared his throat.
"What do you mean, Sonoda-san?" He was trying his best to remain calm, but Umi could see that he was being crushed.
The piercer's brown eyes flitted over to Tojo, and she could see him also balling his fists to turn his knuckles white. Umi was reminded of a fallen emperor, and the lawyer was his general. Umi's eyes flashed as she spoke,
"As I stated: Hoshizora-san is legally allowed to perform tattoos such as that of Koizumi-san's without Nozomi's signature, as it was only needed once - on her first ever tattoo. Koizumi-san's tattoo is not Hoshizora-san's first, but second," Umi's eyes narrowed towards Tojo.
"If Tojo-san was actually apart of his daughter's life, and not trying to make it unbearable, he would perhaps know what his daughter was up to. I doubt Tojo-san even knew that Nozomi had an apprentice."
Rin quickly threw a fist into her mouth to stifle what Umi was sure was cheer. Nozomi's eyebrows flew into her hair as she side glanced at her father, but there was fear on her face. Umi crossed her arms and locked eyes with the lawyer, who looked completely stumped.
"A-Are you aware that your management was not aware of this? Why didn't you all bring it to their attention?!"
"There is no need," Nitta stood up and smiled at Umi. Behind the lawyer, Hanayo watched in awe.
"The laws of performing a tattoo does not concern the business management company. The only concern is that they hand in their documents, pay what is needed and alert the management for any changes."
"My job is to make sure all the documents and paperwork is correct, Nitta-san," Minami interjected, looking rather pale. Umi instantly backed down out of respect.
Nitta continued to smile, "You yourself did not know the rules of tattooing?"
"There is no need for me to-"
"Exactly, and there is no need to blindly kick up a storm like this if you do not know the rules."
"Okay, that's enough," Mitsuishi clapped her hands together, seeing that Minami was about to bite back.
"Owada-san, was there anything else you wanted to ask Sonoda-san?"
"No…" The prosecuting lawyer, by the name of Owada, answered through his teeth. Umi erased the image of a fallen general and changed it to a bully who just got in trouble by the teacher.
"Would you like to interview anyone else?"
"Koizumi-san," was the blunt answer.
If Eli had not been next to Hanayo, she would have panicked and fallen onto the ground.