RE-TRIAL

“Breaking news: Tetsuya Wakazaki, the CEO and founder of Tet. Production, is now missing. Evidence shows he was involved in a car accident earlier today after his trial.” The reporter on the TV said, as she reported from the site of the crash, “As you can see behind me” – she pointed to the damaged car – “the crash does not look very lethal, and there is no blood in sight anywhere.” She turned back to the camera, holding her microphone firmly to her mouth. “So the question all of Japan is asking now is, ‘Where is Tetsuya Wakazaki?’”

Tetsuya Wakazaki regained consciousness; the last thing he remembers is colliding with a car which abruptly blocked his path. The path he had taken is supposed to be a fairly busy road, so he had wondered why there were no cars in sight. He assessed his situation; he is blindfolded and has been tied to a chair. It seems I have been kidnapped. Once he came to this conclusion, he tried to get free of his arm and leg restraints to no avail.

“Anyone there?” He asked, “May I ask why I have been kidnapped?”

The blindfold was taken off him; he did not expect to see a boy who could not have been older than sixteen standing in front of him. Tetsuya noted he had red eyes with white hair and also his other features.

“Who are you?” Tetsuya went with the first and most basic question: “And where are we?”

Norihiko sat on a chair placed across from Tetsuya before responding to his question. “You are in no position to ask questions, although as for where we are, I’m sure you can answer that yourself.”

Tetsuya looked around before he answered, “this is the roof of my company. What do you want with me”

“I just want to give you a proper trial.” Norihiko pulled out a file from his shoulder bag, “And it starts now.”

Tetsuya's questions were not getting satisfactory answers. He at first thought Norihiko was just some kid playing games on him, but he dismissed the thought when he heard Norihiko’s voice; it sounded appropriate for his age, but it carried an air of maturity. Tetsuya inspected his restraint once more; he immediately knew he was not getting out unless he got help.

“You know, I have rather caring associates; I doubt they would sit idly by while I am missing.”

Norihiko did not look up; he kept flipping through the documents of the file but answered, “I know that; they are all on their way right now.”

Tetsuya saw his name and face many times in the document Norihiko is going through; he also recognised the images in each one. “How do you have that?”

“Just as evidence isn’t that hard to forge when you have money, it also is not that hard to get when money is involved.” Norihiko sorted out the documents. “Since we have a small party, I shall act as both the prosecutor and the judge, and you as the defendant.”

“Is this some kind of game to you? Why are you doing this?”

“Well, that’s easy, because I hate you with every fibre of my being. Now I could always just throw you off this roof, but the moment I decided to become a judge, I promised myself I would not take actions into my own hands before giving the defendant a proper trial.”

“Is this what you call a proper trial?”

“For me, a proper trial is a fair and unbiased one, and trust me, I am going to make it fair, so drop the act and show me your real self.” Norihiko said he threw all the documents to the floor so they were all visible to Tetsuya. “As you can see, your verdict is already set in stone.”

Tetsuya did not know what to make of it; on the ground is documented evidence of all the crimes he had committed. He looked up from the documents and at Norihiko, who smiled back at him. This kid, how does he have all this? I always delete the evidence; I make it a point to check the dead bodies of all witnesses, so why the hell does this exist…does he exist?

“So, you want to come clean now,” Norihiko said, “or do you need even more evidence?”

Tetsuya laughed. “You are quite dumb, aren’t you? You know all this, and you still decided to pull this stunt. I control the underworld in this country, and you are just another person I have to erase.”

“BANG!” There was a bang on the door to the roof, “BANG!” and another, but Norihiko did not pay it mind. He is more interested in Tetsuya's words.

“So you admit to your crimes?”

“I see no point in hiding it; you are going to be dead any second now.” The banging on the door stopped for a while, then grew louder.

“Well, that does make things a whole lot easier,” and here I was thinking I would get to have a fun trial. Norihiko was a little disappointed but got up nonetheless and dragged Tetsuya’s chair to the edge of the roof.

“What are you doing?”

“Delivering my final verdict as the judge. Tetsuya Wakazaki, you are guilty, so I am going to throw you off this roof,” Norihiko said, tilting Tetsuya’s chair with his leg at an angle such that if he lets go, Tetsuya would fall off.

Tetsuya was terrified, but he did not move; Norihiko’s hold was not strong, so he knew the slightest movement would most likely be his immediate demise. Tetsuya did not feel any murderous intent from Norihiko; that is, until Norihiko declared him guilty, so he had been complacent, thinking Norihiko had no intention of killing him. I underestimated him; this boy might actually kill me. “I like you, kid; you got spunk. Why not come work for me?” Tetsuya tried to get out of his situation by coming to an agreement with his kidnapper.

Norihiko responded by making his already little hold on the chair even littler. “Not interested,” he said in a single breath.

The door finally burst open, and in came a group of armed men who all aimed at Norihiko and were about to fire when the one in front held out his hand. “Do not shoot,” he said.

“At least someone among you is smart enough to know shooting me will inevitably kill your boss.”

“When I got the news that the boss had been kidnapped and all his escorts were dead, never in a million years did I expect the one behind it to be a kid.”

“What can I say? When you have money and you know the right people, a lot of things are possible. With that said,” Norihiko turned his attention back to Tetsuya.

Tetsuya saw Norihiko’s eyes and immediately realized he is a dead man, so he asks a final question, “What’s your name?”

“Norihiko Hojo”

“Hojo, huh… That does explain things.”

Norihiko let go of the chair and turned to the armed group, checking the time on his wristwatch as they all aimed their guns at him, ready to kill him. Yes, this is satisfactory.

Before the men could fire, a timed bomb behind the roof hatch struck zero. Norihiko saw his life play out before his eyes.

Norihiko's dad, who married into the Hojo name, had died before his birth from sickness, so he only ever knew his mother. He had seen how caring and loving his mother was, so he decided to follow in her footsteps. He had always wanted to become an attorney like his mother so he could help innocent people and also bring justice to the guilty ones.

Norihiko told his mom about his decision. She encouraged him and told him he would make a great lawyer, even better than she is. Their happiness days did not last long, however.

One day, his mom did not come back. The news announced his mom’s body was found at a local river. Norihiko did not recover for a month.

He knew the kind of job his mom did and how risky it was, but he decided he is going to finish her last job and get revenge on her murderer no matter the cost.

Norihiko went through all his mother’s last files and finally found a name, Tetsuya Wakazaki. He wanted to take matters into his own hands and murder Tetsuya by any means when he saw a gift pack.

Norihiko remembered his sixth day had been three weeks ago, a week after his mom’s death. He slowly opened the pack to reveal a shoulder bag and a note. The note read, “Judge before you take actions.” Thank you mother. With that, Norihiko’s mindset changed; he decided to do it like how his mother would have.

He studied all his mom’s books and got involved with a lot of shady people in order to carry out his plan. Now he is just glad it has all paid off.

Rest in peace, Mother. Norihiko closed his eyes. I am satisfied.

“You liar,” a voice behind Norihiko said.

Norihiko opened his eyes, his death had not arrived. The entire scene has been paused, and everyone remained still, like time had frozen. When he turned around to see the source of the voice, he saw a girl floating in midair smiling at him. She had blue hair and blue eyes and looked to be around the same age as Norihiko.

Norihiko had so many questions, so he summed it up into one: “Who are you?”

“I am the prettiest goddess you will ever meet, Astrea, the goddess of justice,” she said.

“Can you run that by me again?” Norihiko said, her words only aiding his confusion.