A trial takes place and Sae Niijima finds herself between a rock and a hard place.
[4 Years Ago]
Warm lights dimmed down to create the most intimate, relaxing setting. Smooth jazz played faintly in the background, the dulcet tones of the piano echoing pleasantly across the high end diner. The delicious aroma of expensive, most exquisite seafood, and a crisp, enjoyable breeze made together the most perfect evening.
An older handsome gentleman donning a rather expensive, perfectly tailored suit smiled down at his most prized pupil, pride shining in his kind eyes.
The woman in a black, tantalizing dress smiled back, her warm mahogany eyes glinting with satisfaction. "I propose a toast to you, sir. I wouldn't have gotten where I did without your guidance."
The gentleman chuckled, his voice soothing yet grave with the mark of time. "While I accept the toast, I believe your merits are yours alone, my dear. You truly have surpassed all of my expectations. So young, and already climbing ranks quite fast. I believe you got us many old timers feeling rather inadequate!"
"Nonsense, sensei. I'm just getting started, and I have years ahead of me to get to your level. but I promise to do my very best. I shall not fail your confidence!" The young woman professed passionately.
Her mentor nodded. "I'm sure of it. Your mother would be really proud of you."
The silver haired woman beamed at the praise. Anytime she was compared to her mother was enough to make her heart swell with pride and happiness.
"Thank you, sir." She said sincerely.
They toasted, and dinner progressed spectacularly, their topics of conversation ranging from complex legal conundrums to ethics, philosophy and even the odd anecdote about their families. The man had a violinist prodigy nephew in Tokyo's Philharmonic. The woman recounted the misadventures of her baby sister in junior high.
Before they knew it, an hour had passed.
The woman's hand inched closer, trying to touch the callused, warm fingers of her teacher. The man quickly snatched his hand away before she could fully touch it, and he averted his eyes.
"It's late, Niijima. We should call a taxi to get you home. I'm sure your father is going to worry if I don't send you on your way soon."
She cleared her throat. "Sir, I-"
He interrupted her before she could fully talk. "We've had this conversation before, Sae. This is beyond inappropriate. I am 20 years older than you." He finished, sternly.
Sae closed her eyes, and sighed. "Sir, I am an adult woman. I can take care of myself. I can make my own choices."
Her eyes were pleading.
"Sae you are no longer a student under my guidance, and I see you as a capable and reliable young woman, but I cannot in my good conscience allow it to happen. The office already has spread unkind rumors about the nature of our relationship. Let us not turn those into truths."
Sae averted her eyes, her expression crushed with the hurt of rejection.
The man finished turning her down, firmly but gently. "Please, let this be the last time we have this conversation."
The young woman quickly composed herself. "Very well sir. Forgive me, it shall not happen ever again."
The man nodded, uncomfortable but resolute. "Good."
Under the table, she clenched her fist.
[The Present Day]
Sae Niijima opened her eyes. The first thing that she noticed is that it was very quiet.
"W-what happened…?" She murmured to herself, still disoriented.
A heartbeat. Then-
"Court is in session!" A voice exactly like her own broke the silence.
Sae's brain kicked into gear again, her senses once more assaulted with full awareness. She was bound to a chair with strong and tight chains, to which she struggled against to no avail. She desperately looked around, then ahead. Her other self was smirking down at her.
Gone was her extravagant attire of a casino manager. Instead, she was dressed as a judge with an air of smug authority coming from her, making Sae sick to her stomach.
The double doors of what she now realizes to be a courtroom opened. From it came a procession of gruesome masked creatures tugging at the chains of a smaller figure to force it to come forward.
It was her sister Makoto, who was then kicked in the back, forced to be in front of the evil judge, on her knees and in chains. Sae broke out of her stupor and struggled harder in her own captivity, screaming.
"Makoto! Don't touch her!"
Makoto looked up at her sister's yell, tears gathering at the corner of her own eyes.
This mission was a failure from the start and Makoto should have known. The team would be disappointed, she had no right being their strategist and teammate after her gross mistakes tonight.
Her sister's distortion was too big, too strong, too oppressive. It was never gonna be a fair bet between her and Shadow Sae.
She was set up, played like a fool. Without her comrades, there was no way she could get her and her sister out of the palace alive. And even if they had managed to escape, her sister's interaction with her own palace and shadow has been so negative that she might just end up putting Makoto and all the others in jail as a result.
In one night, she ruined everything by being selfish.
'Useless! This is all your fault!'
Tonight, Makoto knew it was the beginning of the end, and she was responsible for it.
'Sis…'
Sae's doppelganger produced a ridiculously large gavel out of nowhere, and used it to bring order to the court while sporting a mocking smile.
"Order! Tonight we are here to execute a trial that I, The Manager, will oversee as judge, jury and executioner."
The silver haired woman's sense of foreboding went through the roof with that declaration.
"The defendant is Sae Niijima, twenty-five years old, a prosecutor working for Tokyo's Special Investigation Unit." The Manager smiled evilly, looking pointedly towards Sae.
"Ngh..!? What is the meaning of this!?"
Ignoring Sae's confused question, The Manager continued. "The crimes are listed as follows; Fabricating evidence against defendants before a trial; Illegal search and seizure; Threatening and coercing civilians so they collaborate in investigations; Lying in court and lastly parental negligence of one Makoto Niijima, eighteen, her sister. How does the defendant plead?" The Manager finished gleefully.
"This is absurd! Let us go!" The silver haired prosecutor shouted in disbelief and terror.
Seeing Sae's distress, Makoto tried to speak to her sister. "Sis! I'm coming, hold-"
Makoto was interrupted with her own painful yell as the strange guards tugged at the chains in her neck and hands with extreme force.
"MAKOTO!" Sae trashed and struggled at her own chains, desperate to get to her little sister.
At Sae's hysterical outburst, the Manager used the comically large gavel to hit the stand with such force that the echoed sounds startled both sisters into silence.
"ORDER! I. Said. How. Do. You. PLEAD!?" Her doppelganger hissed in a distorted, terrifying voice.
The elder Niijima kept silent, in shocked disbelief.
After a moment of uncomfortable stillness, the Manager spoke. "Nothing? Fine, I'll do it for you then." She said with an air of amusement.
"We plead GUILTY!"
Sae's eyes widened. Against her own will, her mouth was forced to whisper in unison with the Manager.
"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" The Manager chuckled as if talking to a naughty child.
Makoto snarled. "Leave her alone!"
The doppelganger's attention shifted towards Makoto, whose attire changed back to her biker outfit and metal mask.
"How cute. Now, have some patience baby sis, I told you it's a gamble between us, didn't I? Now be a good girl and shut the fuck up." The Manager waved her off.
The younger sister gritted her teeth "You-"
Before she could finish her sentence, the guards yanked at Makoto's chains forcefully once more.
"Hm not so hard boys, Makoto only gets to die if this one doesn't cooperate." The Manager said, waving the ridiculous gavel at Sae, whose eyes had widened in alarm.
'Die!? Is this monster going to kill my sister!?'
As if reading her thoughts, the Manager rolled her eyes. "Look, Makoto and I made a bet. If she wins, the two of you can go home. If she loses the bet, she forfeits her life and yours while we're at it."
"No! I won't let you!" Makoto shrieked in outrage, fighting against her bonds. The guards tugged at her chains once more and she stopped struggling after letting out a yelp of pain, drawing concern from Sae.
As if seemingly tired of the constant interruptions, the Manager banged the Gavel on the judge stand. "Order!"
'A bet!? What the hell is going on here!?'
Sae turned her attention away from her sister after she was restrained. The prosecutor found herself staring at the snarling face of The Manager and it was then that she finally saw her in.
The Manager was not just a doppelganger wearing her face.
She was her.
This aggressive disregard, the haughtiness, mightier-than-thou behavior, the laser focused trampling of the due process, the dirty, underhanded tactics, the condescension…
She had seen it all before, perhaps not taken to these extremes, but she had seen it.
The Manager was Sae and Sae was The Manager.
I am thou.
But Sae refused to fully accept herself as this vile, cold hearted creature in front of her. That was not to say, however, that she was going to allow this beast to do anything to her sister because of her inaction.
"Wait a moment! What happened to the due process!? And where is my defense!?"
Her other self had her eyes twitching in mounting irritation. "Due process? Tch, please. There's no need for any of that. I AM the judge here. I make the rules. This coming from you is hypocrisy of the highest order!"
Sae didn't back down, slamming her chained hands on the table in front of her. "I will not be dissuaded. This is going too far and I know my rights! The defendant has a right of legal representation!"
There was a deafening, tense silence in the courtroom until the Manager let out a low, malicious chuckle.
"Whatever, you can represent yourself. Now let us PLEASE continue with this bullshit trial, I have places to be, and the sooner my gamble pays off, all the better!'"
Sae relaxed in her chair, but kept her eyes firmly on her doppelganger. She would not lose to this imposter!
"Bring in the first witness. Goro Akechi." The shadow judge declared.
The second detective prince made his appearance, nodded to the Manager with a "Ma'am" and took his position as a witness. Sae was taken aback with his presence.
'Is this even the real Akechi?' The prosecutor asked herself.
"Let's cut to the chase. Akechi-kun, you work with Prosecutor Niijima, don't you?" The Manager asked with a bored expression.
"Yes, your honor."
"How would you describe the prosecutor at work?"
"I think she is ruthless, and quite frankly petty as well. Not to mention too intense in her work pursuits and I don't shy away from telling her that. Her bending of her own morals and ethics goes against my own moral code, unfortunately." He chuckled uncomfortably.
The manager crossed her arms and grinned. "So you agree that she is guilty of all her work related charges?"
With no hesitation, Akechi nodded his head. "Yes, no doubt about it, your honor."
"Hm is that so? Oh well, what do you know about her relationship with Makoto?"
He smirked maliciously and Sae's heart sank to the pit of her stomach.
At the judge's prompt, Akechi replied "They have a horrible relationship dynamic if I say so myself. On one side you have Sae-san as this massive condescending control freak, and on the other side you have her sister, complacent and meek. I think ultimately while I am sure Sae-san loves her sister, Makoto-san ends up being more of a burden and a nuisance that her elder sister often dismisses."
For a split second, Makoto almost felt that this was the real Detective Prince. After he called her a good girl type of pushover, she wouldn't put it past him to think of her this way. Akechi was a snake through and through.
But she knew that this was her sister's cognition of Akechi. These were her words, not his.
The younger Niijima could feel her heart breaking inside at the realization that despite everything, she was still not good enough for her sister.
Pushing down her rage, Sae looked up to her clone. "The defense wants to question the witness."
"It's 'your honor'." The Manager spoke, obnoxiously.
Sae hissed back. "Excuse me?"
"Well, weren't you just bitching about procedures a couple of minutes ago? Come on, it's not that hard. Just ask nicely and sweetly." The Manager taunted gleefully.
'The nerve!'
She took a deep calming breath and looked at her sister, who seemed lost in her own head, looking hurt and sad.
'Do it. For Makoto.'
"Very well… Your honor, may I pose a question to the witness." Sae seethed, barely concealing the disgust in her voice.
The Manager just huffed as if dealing with a naughty child. "The defense will now question the witness."
Sae didn't waste any time. "Akechi, on what basis do you make these claims!?"
Akechi seemed calm and confident. "Don't you remember? You pretty much told me so during a conversation back in May."
Before she could ask him to elaborate further, the silver haired woman was almost startled out of her chair as soon as two specters and then an entire scene formed in front of her, vanishing the courthouse away. It was a flashback to herself and Akechi eating at a dead end sushi place that she took him to once after work.
"I have been meaning to ask Akechi-kun, what is your parents' stance on your job? I can't honestly imagine allowing a kid to work unsupervised, let alone for the police, near deranged criminals." Sae asked, genuinely curious.
"You know I'm 18 now Sae-san, which means I'm pretty much an adult by all standards." Akechi chuckled, dodging the question.
Sae scoffed "Makoto is 18 too and I don't want to let her step a toe out of the house if it isn't to school. I don't want her anywhere near adult work until she has to either."
"That sounds honestly suffocating. I can't imagine not having my freedoms like that. Also, didn't you start your career almost as early as my age?" He asked, keen on pointing out her hypocrisy.
"That is irrelevant. The thing is, I actually don't have time to supervise a kid and do my job properly. If she is where I need her to be, then it will be less work for me to do." She finished, bitterly.
The scene faded out and the courthouse and its attendants were back in place.
"As you can see your honor, my assessment lines up with the evidence." Said the Akechi's doppelganger, smugly.
Sae was speechless after what she just witnessed. The two-faced little bastard… And that wasn't even the entire gist of the conversation they had!
The prosecutor heard a whimper coming from her sister.
"Sis… Is that what you… Think of me? T-that I can't take care of myself…?" The brunette questioned her big sister. Sae averted her eyes in shame.
The Manager seemed amused and narrowed her eyes at Akechi, then raised an eyebrow as she looked at Sae and prompted her "Well?"
The prosecutor shook her head emphatically "No! I may be too hard on you, but I know you're smart and can take care of yourself. It's just that I worry for you and I don't want you to go through unnecessary risks or pain!"
Sae was so desperate to prove Akechi wrong, that another scene materialized in front of the court once more.
"That's so harsh." Akechi chuckled. "But it also sounds kind of nice, if I'm being honest. It means you must care a great deal for your sister."
"Of course. I practically raised her." She said with fondness.
"Well, that's admirable. To answer your question earlier, I'm orphaned. My mother passed away when I was young and my father… Tch, he was never in the picture." He said bitterly.
"Ah… I'm sorry to hear that. No foster parents?"
"Let's just say there was never a good match. I wasn't particularly fond of the foster families I have been passed to throughout the years. In the end I got emancipated at 15 and have been on my own since."
"I admire your resilience and independence, Akechi. My mother passed away when my sister was really small and our father died on the job three years ago. Just imagining Makoto by herself in the foster system gives me nightmares." She hugged herself.
Akechi gave her a, if not a little pained, pleasant smile. "Well, it is a good thing that she has you to look after her, isn't it?"
"Huh, honestly sometimes I think she is more of a mother-hen to me than I am a decent guardian to her. That girl is always sending me messages asking if I had eaten something, or if I had slept enough." Sae chuckled.
She then leaned forward on her seat and sighed.
"And yes, perhaps I am being overly harsh with Makoto, it's just… With Kaneshiro's goons loitering around in Shibuya, I am terrified of him going after her if she is not where I can quickly reach her… And I don't want to burden her or scare her off by giving too many details. I need to catch him first." She said with a strong determination.
Makoto shot Sae a surprised look and bit her lip, as if wishing to ask a million questions. The silver haired prosecutor, however, was laser focused staring at the Akechi look-alike.
"As you can see, you have misconstrued my words." She said with venom. "I may be… Difficult, but nothing takes precedence over my little sister's wellbeing."
The look alike Akechi chuckled and nodded "Within this context, fair enough."
Then he faded, surprising Sae. The Manager smirked amusedly. "How very interesting… Very well, the point goes in favor of Makoto's bet."
Behind the Manager, a scoreboard with two player names appears. On the left side, the word "MANAGER" with a zero below. On the right side, was the word "THIEF".
The '0' below the second word became '1', and Sae's eyes narrowed as she looked to her sister, her eyes full of questions. Makoto herself seemed to pale and averted her own eyes.
'Why is Makoto under the name of 'Thief'?'
The SIU director was brought forward next. The man looked as awful as ever, in that weird mix of bored, condescending and constipated.
"Mr. Ishikawa, the director of the Special Investigations Unit of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and the direct superior of the defendant."
Sae glared at both the Manager and her 'boss'. The Manager continued unconcerned. "Director, what is your experience working and dealing with the defendant?"
The man nodded. "She is my most useful minion. Of course, it's not like she has any other option but to do as I say, if she doesn't want to lose her job."
Gritting her teeth, Sae restrained herself from shouting obscenities at the director. The Manager smiled like she had just found a pile of shiny gold.
"Would you say you are satisfied with her work ethics, and moral code?" She asked the director, tauntingly.
"Absolutely. We have brought her from being Odawara's goody two shoes lapdog to a mere grunt worker of our chain of operations. The woman is ruthless and efficient, but also absolutely clueless. She has no idea what she is working towards, she just knows that she has to bring in the results, so she bent her morals to keep her job, as I expected."
The Manager booped her head in a silly fashion with the gavel, then used it to point back at Sae. "Does the defense have anything to say?"
Sae tugged at her on chains and snarled at the witness. "Sir. I have no idea what you want of me. If I don't do what you ask, I'm a failure, and if I do what you want, then I have failed anyways!"
The man scoffed. "Huh? Did you want a head pat? Tch. You dance to my music Niijima. You have no place questioning anything. If you want an extra job though, you could always whore yourself out to the entire office to climb more ranks?"
Sae got up from her chair and slammed her hands on the desk in front of her, with extreme force. "You bastard, how dare you!?"
The man laughed. "Please, everyone knows about it. You constantly threw yourself all over the previous director of the SIU. The entire office knew you two were having an affair."
Sae shook her head vehemently. "That's not true! We never had any relationship outside of being a student and mentor. How dare you disrespect Odawara-sensei like that!"
The man merely waved her off. "Hah, still denying? Manager, I think I am done here. I don't have any more words to waste on this woman. Useful or not, I might end up firing her if she makes me lose my patience."
The Manager inspected her nails in a bored fashion. "Hm fine, you can leave. Thanks for the testimony."
The man quickly phased out of the room. The shadow sighed theatrically. "What an asshole. No wonder you're so stressed, having such a waste of space for a boss, am I right?"
Sae glared at her doppelganger and scoffed. Makoto looked uncomfortable.
The Manager then winked at Sae.
"By the way, speaking of which… He kind of had a point there, you know? Ahhh, I remember Odawara-sensei… Such a handsome gentleman." The shadow swooned.
The phantom thief could see her sister hiding her face with her hands, looking as if she was overwhelmed with shame and embarrassment. Makoto was feeling a bit awkward herself, as if seeing a new side of her sister.
She remembers Shigeru Odawara as an upstanding citizen, a good man who helped her sister become the sharp and talented prosecutor she was today. Did something inappropriate happen between her sister and her mentor?
As if to seemingly answer her questions, Makoto saw her older sister shaking her head vehemently and arguing with her shadow. "Stop it. You know nothing untoward has ever happened between us. Sensei was nothing but considerare and perfectly respectable to me."
"Aw come on, it's just us girls here, you know? You can admit it. You can confess to your sister that you had very naughty feelings for your mentor!"
The doppelganger made a mockery of Sae's embarrassedly hiding her face behind her hands, copying her pose.
Makoto felt second-hand embarrassment and didn't know what to say. "Sis… I-"
"Shut up! I don't wanna hear it." The real Sae snarled, interrupting Makoto.
The Manager recovered from her goofing and tutted. "Nuh-uh, the only one that gets to do that is me!"
As if to prove her point, the shadow on the left side of Makoto gripped her arm and tugged. Queen gritted her teeth. For a split second she thought she had enough energy to wrestle herself out of their grip, to try to summon Anat, but it was not to be.
Those were high level shadows, and she was depleted of energy.
Oblivious to Makoto's struggles, the palace ruler continued to ramble. "Besides, there is nothing to be embarrassed about! A handsome, mature, intelligent and ruthless top dog of the law world decides to sponsor you, take you in as his apprentice, show you all the ropes, and effectively hire you as a public prosecutor so you could finally pay for your college tuition. Which girl wouldn't fall madly in love with a man like that? I for sure did!" she finished with a deep sigh, as if daydreaming.
The phantom thief refocused her gaze on her sister once more. Sae looked absolutely mortified.
"Sensei… He was a kind man. He accepted mentoring me because he trusted the word of someone else. He… Was a remarkable man. He never saw me that way. It was never going to work out between us." Her sister murmured, looking misty eyed and sounding heartbroken.
The Manager let out a cold, cynical laugh "You're such a fucking joke, aren't you? Pining over a man way out of your league. Who the fuck in their right mind would want to deal with a petty, childish and greedy woman like you? The only thing you would end up achieving would be to ruin his career and standing in society, heh."
Makoto felt a rush of sympathy for her sibling. She never realized her sister had an interest towards romance since Sae always seemed resolute in her goals and career, scoffing at the idea of marrying and becoming a housewife. To hear that she had a puppy crush on her mentor was a bit shocking, but it didn't mean her sister needed to be shamed for it.
The brunette shook her head, feeling anger in her chest. "Stop it! Can't you see you're hurting her?"
The shadow banged the gavel down in front of her. "ORDER! You stay out of this conversation, brat. And you!" She pointed the gavel at Sae "Are you not gonna say anything?"
Sae merely stayed silent, seemingly humiliated. Makoto felt a deep empathy for her sister.
Below the 'MANAGER' name, the score changed from '0' to '1'.
The trial continued. The next witness was brought forward, and both sisters were shocked by the appearance of their oldest uncle. Everyone assumed they were completely orphaned and possessed no relatives at all. The two had very distant relatives from their father's side from whom they have never heard from, not even at his funeral. On their mother's side, however, they had two uncles who lived down in Sumaru City.
Even at 43 years old, he still looked pretty distinguished and had a presence about him. His red glasses hid his eyes, but Sae knew that behind them, shone a glint of disappointment. She swallowed drily, feeling deeply ashamed.
"Mr Katsuya Suou, uncle of the defendant on her mother's side of the family. How close are you with the defendant?"
"Lately, not very close, but not for a lack of trying. I occasionally check in on her and her sister to make sure they are okay. I try to call as often as possible but she ignores most of my calls."
"When was the last time you contacted her?"
He stared directly at Sae. "A couple of months ago."
The courtroom shifted. A scene formed and took place.
Sae was sitting in front of her desk at work, her hand running across her forehead, trying to soothe a headache. Her phone rang and she absent mindedly picked up the call without properly checking the ID.
"This is Sae Niijima speaking." She was all business.
"So you finally pick up my calls, huh?" A voice echoed, as if seemingly amplified for the benefit of the court.
Sae deflated instantly. "Uncle."
"It's good to hear from you too, Sae-chan." He spoke sarcastically. "How are you? I heard Kaneshiro graciously fell into the clutches of the police."
An irritated look immediately crossed Sae's countenance. "I'm fine. And yes, he turned himself in, out of nowhere, with no apparent explanation other than the goodness of his heart and a lot of regret."
Katsuya went on to placate her. "Hey, don't be like that. What matters is that he confessed and that he is behind bars."
"Oh my god. Is that it, is this why you're calling me? What a joke!" She took a deep breath as if to not shout at her uncle. Her voice though, was pure venom as she continued. "What good is a confession done under coercion and duress? He was under threat by these Phantom Thieves. How is anything, any charge, gonna stick under these conditions!? My superiors are furious with these thieves and I just lost a promotion! This is a mess!" Sae shouted at her phone.
"And you think the circumstantial bullshit you were preparing for the SIU would hold better than an actual confession and the full extent of his crimes coming from his own mouth?" Katsuya scoffed. "You are deluding yourself if you thought you could've caught Kaneshiro on your own with those terms."
"Right, so you called me to gloat, and to call me naive, stupid and useless, then!?" She yelled at her uncle.
"Watch your tone. And don't put words into my mouth, young lady." He hissed. "Listen, Sae. I know you're angry, and frustrated, and rightfully so. This might not seem like justice, and believe me kid, I know a thing or two about that. Remember what happened to your grandfather."
Sae's angry look softened for a moment and she let out a shaky breath. "I know. Fuck, I'm sorry uncle, I didn't mean to yell at you."
"I know, kid. But look at this from another perspective. If these charges coming from his own confession sticks, regardless of what your superiors think, then he is going to be away for a long time. And you know what that means?"
Sae paused to contemplate her uncle's words. She sighed. "He won't be sending me any more creepy threats."
"Atta girl, precisely." He said, reassuringly.
"Look uncle, I have to go. I'm currently at work and I still have to deal with this mess. Thanks for calling."
"No worries, kiddo. Don't be a stranger, okay? Send Mako-chan my love."
She rolled her eyes. "Will do uncle, say hi to uncle Tatsuya for me."
The Manager raised an eyebrow towards her uncle as the courtroom faded back in. "Well, that didn't seem too bad, did it? That sounded quite reasonable to me."
Katsuya shook his head in disappointment. "I wish It were so, but after that last call she had stopped answering any other calls from me and Tatsuya."
Makoto was torn between nervousness and curiosity. Sae, however, had her temper boil over.
"I just didn't want both of you babysitting me! Or worse, saying 'I told you so'!"
Katsuya spoke firmly. "You don't know that. You can't seriously know what any of us would've said to you then. You simply decided to cut ties and shut us out."
"What was the point? I bet even down in Sumaru City, the SIU's investigation was being seen as a joke thanks to the Phantom Thieves. It was nothing but failure after failure for me!"
"We're your family. You know we would've taken care of you. We told you as much." Her uncle spoke with a reassuring tone.
"I don't need nor do I want your pity." She hissed.
Katsuya looked hurt and disappointed with Sae's words. She felt tears gather at the corners of her eyes but she forced them down, by holding on to her anger. Her eldest uncle was one of the few people she hated to disappoint because he was there for her when it mattered, but she hated taking advantage of his kindness, for fear of it coming out of pity for her and Makoto's life situation.
Sae didn't want to be a burden, so she kept both of her uncles at arms length.
"Sis…" She could hear her sister whisper in pity. Sae shot Makoto an angry stare, a hint of irritation creeping inside her. Her little sister withered at her venomous glare.
'This situation is Makoto's fault, if she didn't sneak away and I didn't follow her into this awful place, then I wouldn't have to face any of this humiliation!'
As if sensing her unkind thoughts, Katsuya sent her one last disappointed stare and faded from the witness stand.
Her doppelganger chuckled darkly. "My, how disappointing. To think we were getting through to you somehow." She mocked Sae. "Oh well, no matter, a score against you girls then."
The score changed once more. 'MANAGER: 2', 'THIEF: 1'.
When the next witness was brought forth, both sisters gasped.
Makoto let out a whimper and cried out. "Dad!"
The cognition ignored the younger girl as he went past her, and took his place on the witness stand. He looked just as Sae remembered, dark brown hair with streaks of gray, and mahogany eyes staring her down. He seemed sad, but a hint of anger was there.
In her chains, Sae was trembling, deeming the entire situation impossible.
"T-this can't be real… This man is dead!" She whispered in horror.
"Oh, snap out of it. This fine gentleman here is Masayuki Niijima" The Manager spoke with a hint of awful amusement at Sae's reaction and predicament.
"Now, it's time to talk about your daddy issues, miss prosecutor!" The doppelganger taunted with a hysterical laugh.
To be continued…