Trigger Warning:
- mention of abuse
- mention of sexual assault
My fingers hover over the dial button.
Ever since Selene gave me this card, I have debated calling this man.
On one hand, my conscience pricks at the idea of taking help from someone who has been a bystander in Selene's abuse for so long.
On the other hand, he is a goldmine of information.
It is this knowledge that allows me to swallow my ego and press the button.
It rings and rings. Finally, someone picks up. A woman's voice echoes from the other end of the line. Sasaki-san's secretary, I assume.
"Hello. Can I please speak to Sasaki Reo-san?"
"Who is this inquiring? Do you have an appointment" she answers back.
Should I be honest or come up with an alias? Actually, this process is going to take some time, and I will have to talk to him on more than one occasion. Better I come clean. Maybe he'll even take me seriously because of my surname. I tell her my name and that I do not have an appointment. She tells me to arrange a time and date to meet him.
I cannot do that. Not yet, at least. I exclaim, "Wait, ma'am! Could you please tell him that I am Hanada Selene's friend." The idea of using my connections to secure a call does not sit right with me, but to hell with my morals. I promised myself I would stoop low if it meant keeping her safe. The secretary repeats the same statement from before, and I push harder. "Look, I understand that he is a busy man. Just give him my name and relation and tell him to call me back once he is free."
It is then that I hear a male voice through the call. He speaks in a soft tone. His voice is much clearer when he holds the phone. "How may I help you?" Finally. Providing the same details from the first time, I expect that things will go smoothly. However, he pauses. "Wait a minute." And he hangs up.
He hung up?!
I am still making sense of his gesture when all of a sudden my phone begins to buzz. An unknown number sending a series of texts. Hesitantly, I open the message app.
I apologize for cutting you off like that, the first message reads. But this is something that I cannot talk about on the company phone, is the second.
Oh, okay. My anger lessens at his explanation. I continue reading the following texts.
Selene informed me a few days ago that you might reach out to me. I suggest you contact me from this number from now on. I go to the phone contacts app to do just that. Meanwhile, more messages come my way. She told me that you and her are concocting a plan to arrest Hanada Asahi.
That's right, I send back. We would like your help, since your his lawyer.
Normally, I do not like the idea of juvenile children such as you putting yourselves in danger to expose someone. However, this case is such where only you two have access to incriminating evidence. The judge may question your involvement in court. Will you accept the consequences? There is no returning from this point onward.
I knew that when I first proposed this scheme.
I accept, I reply.
Sasaki-san sends me an address. He asks me to meet him there.
Of all possible meeting places, I was not expecting it to be at the cat cafe.
I mean, I was not sure what to expect. This topic of the discussion was such where it would be best not to converse over the phone, so I imagined that Sasaki-san would invite me to a private booth at a restaurant or to a park, or somewhere public but with privacy available. Not this.
I've been to this cafe twice before. With Selene both times. It feels strange to talk to an elderly man in a place like this.
Sasaki-san catches sight of me before I do and beckons me to a room. He tells me he rented it per hour. So my guesses were not completely off the mark. That provides some modicum of comfort. After placing our orders, the owner of the cafe brings in some cats and play toys.
One of the kittens walks in circles around me while Sasaki-san points a finger at another to let it sniff him. He says, "Is it all right that I invited you here. It's just I had a busy day at work, and this place is a stress reliever."
The kitten circling me completes its inspection. It climbs into my lap. "I don't mind at all, Sasaki-san," I respond as I pick up the little cat. Black fur and yellow eyes, it mewls at me. I set it on my knee. It curls into loaf position. "Just surprised that of all locations, you chose to bring me here." Then, dropping my voice, "Are you sure it's safe to talk here?"
He fetches a wand-and-teaser toy and interacts with a ginger kitten. "Don't worry. I am a regular customer, and I advocated for the owners of the cafe last year. They know better than to disclose or eavesdrop." The feline leaps up and down to snag the mass of feathers dangling at the end of the toy. A tabby grey one tries to join in.
We spend the time making idle talk until our drinks come. That is when Sasaki-san addresses the subject at hand.
"How do you intend to incarcerate Hanada Asahi?"
I launch into detail about collecting proof on the financial crimes. Though gathering evidence on the abuse is a sureproof way to get Hanada-sama in prison, I doubt that the lawyer will tell me anything if I inquire. Selene would not approve, either. So my best option is to collect proof on other illegal activities. Money laundering, bribery, tax frauds, embezzlement … financial wrongdoings like these are treated harshly in Japan. The more I can collect, the longer his sentence.
He listens attentively. Hanging onto each word, humming in approval at some of my strategies. My intuition is telling me that he is testing my resolve. My cunning, my determination, my research. His calm presence is a strategy to make me drop my guard and slip up. After all, is it not the responsibility of the advocate to create such schemes? Sasaki-san may be a softspoken man, but he did not become head lawyer just like that. I have to remember that.
That is why I decide test him a little myself. "Sasaki-san, what are your motives? Why do you want to help Selene?"
He smiles softly. "Good question. Never seal any offer without learning of the other intentions. I'm impressed, Shouto." That stings a little. I thought I was taking some control, but I still danced to his tunes. The tabby cat catches the feathers before the orange one. Hanging in midair, it refuses to let go. "The moral reason is that I do not want Selene's injustice to weigh on my conscience. I have fought many abuse-toward-women cases, and I would feel like a failure if I could not help the girl with whom I will have many interactions in the future. The selfish reason is that I am thinking about announcing retirement soon, so my last case must be unforgettable. Everyone must remember how Sasaki Reo sentenced one of the world's richest men to prison."
I chuckle at that. "Your appearance hides your ego."
The fact that his smile never drops is silent confirmation. He continues, "Let me ask the same about you. Why do you care about prosecuting Hanada Asahi?"
He has been honest with me. I should reciprocate the gesture. "Same as you. Moral and selfish intentions. The righteous one is that it is a duty of a hero to rescue all victims from danger. The selfish one is that Selene is my best friend, and I want to change that status."
The black kitten on my knee mewls again. I stroke its back. Mewling shifts into purring. At the same time, the orange cat grabs onto the tabby one, and both fall to the ground. Sasaki-san scoops them up and gives them a belly rub. The last cat, a fully grown, white one that stood in the corner this entire time, moves toward me and cozies up against me. It grabs the black one by the scruff and sets it atop my head. My lap belongs just to the white cat now.
"Shall we strategize then?"
Hours later, our heavenly cat dream ends.
A shame, since I was almost done deciding names for the four felines.
I peruse the notes I made.
Sasaki-san is a very intelligent man, I admit. And after the discussion, I like him more than I did initially.
My only regret is that I should have shoved down my pride and reached out sooner. Today is Sunday. Selene is returning to the boarding house from the Hanada mansion. Had I acted earlier, then I could have had her implement some of these strategies and begin gathering proof.
There is no point regretting over that now.
My notepad is full of the legal advice Sasaki-san gave me. We have struck a deal. Selene, myself, and Sasaki-san … the three of us will collaborate to bring Hanada-shi down. Selene, having the most contact with Hanada-shi, will act as the prime source of collecting evidence. She will pass the information onto me and Sasaki-san, who will compile a case report to present to court. Meanwhile, Sasaki-san will search the law firm files for more solid proof, and I will operate under the pretense of the alliance, reaching out to witnesses and other parties involved in the crimes.
To begin the process, I made a list of some tips and tricks he mentioned.
Record conversations. Visual is best, audio will work, too.
Take pictures of anything deemed suspicious. There is nothing as being too careful. Do not save them on the phone or something Hanada-shi has access to. Make copies.
If possible and safe, keep the suspicious objects somewhere Hanada-shi will not look to check.
Download all text messages, emails, and voicemails and save them somewhere secure.
If there are witnesses, get their contact information.
Make a diary describing the crimes committed.
And there were many more advices. He agreed with me that charging Hanada-shi with abuse and sexual assault would be reliable method to punish him. Quicker, too. However, he also said that in cases like that, the accused would do everything in their power to show that they were caring toward the victim. In private, though, the accused would harm the victim even more. To the point where the victim retracted the complaint out of fear. Hanada-shi already showed off to the world that he was a doting father to Selene, but behind closed doors, it was a different story. I would not put it past him to do exactly as Sasaki-san explained if the situation came to that.
So though it hurt to not be able to get justice for Selene, I contented myself with the fact that there were other ways.
Before we bid goodbye, I had informed him that there was one person I wanted to involve.
"Selene immigrated to England before returning to Japan," I began. "Could information from there be of any use in his conviction?"
Sasaki-san considered the question. He replied, "Those would be crimes committed in another country. Legally, we cannot use that to incarcerate him in Japan. There is a chance it might not be accepted as evidence. But that does not mean it holds no influence. Do you know someone who from there?"
I nodded. "She mentioned that she helped a high-ranking police officer. Ahearn Aline. I even spoke to her once."
Sasaki-san encouraged me to try to connect to her but to also be prepared for the chance that she refused. "Though Selene may carry a Japanese passport, no country will sit idly by, knowing that a barrage of illegal activities occurred under their noses. This woman you speak of could be pressured by her superiors to remain quiet." His words sunk in. At my silence, he continued, "But if she agrees, it will become an international issue. Our government will be compelled to punish him if Japan wants to maintain good relations with England."
Ultimately, Selene's fate lied in the hands of Ahearn-san. Just a yes or no would change the game irreversibly.
The odds were not in our favor. So we had to do everything to change the game.
That was Selene would have done.
While I wait for Selene to return, I resolve to ask her for Ahearn-san's number.
Given their relationship, I hope Ahearn-san says yes.
Most of all, I pray that Selene is all right with what I have planned.