Tokyo: Are you even a proper lawyer?

You were wearing a blue dress that day.

Masashi Akiyama's voice boomed like thunder in the courtroom.

He pulled a photo out of the folder and showed it to everyone present.

The photo shows the clothes that Ayaka Fukuda was wearing that day, as captured in the surveillance footage.

It was a blue, sleeveless dress.

"It has no sleeves."

He stared at Ayakako Fukuda, uttering each word slowly and deliberately:

"Ayaka Fukuda, that day happened to be the school's dress code day, and you can't even remember what you wore that day. Your so-called 'victim story' is completely fabricated!"

Ayaka Fukuda suddenly raised her head.

Masashi Akiyama caught the fleeting anger in her eyes and continued to escalate the situation.

He took a light blue diary out of his briefcase, the cover of which was printed with cute cartoon patterns.

"I wonder if Ms. Fukuda remembers this diary?"

Ayakako Fukuda's eyes widened suddenly. Her body began to tremble violently, and her face turned from pale to ashen.

Then, she abruptly turned her head and glared angrily at Rieko Uchida in the witness stand.

"Uchida—!!" she screamed, standing up and trying to rush forward, but was forcefully pushed back into her seat by the bailiffs maintaining order.

Rieko Uchida shrank back in fright, but Masashi Akiyama stepped forward and stood firmly in front of her.

"It seems that Miss Fukuda recognizes this diary."

"The owner of the diary is none other than the woman in front of me—Ms. Ayakako Fukuda."

"It says inside—" Masashi Akiyama opened the diary and read the words aloud in a calm voice, "'Mom is taking me to see that old man again. How annoying, how disgusting. Why does she have to do this?'"

"Mom said that only by pleasing these uncles can we live in a big house."

"It hurts so much, it hurts so much... How can I get them to let me go?"

"Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting!"

"Did you write these words?"

"No! No!" Ayakako Fukuda screamed, waving her hands. "I didn't write that! You forged it!"

"Forgery?"

Masashi Akiyama produced another document—a handwriting analysis report.

"The forensic report shows that these words were indeed written by you. Should I read the forensic results aloud in court?"

Ayaka Fukuda's screams stopped; her lips moved, but no sound came out.

Masashi Akiyama stared at her and continued to press for answers.

"You orchestrated all of this, deliberately framing Mr. Suzuki Kento, not because you were being bullied, but to gain attention, to escape the control of your mother, Fukuda Runa, and to flee those disgusting deals, didn't you?"

"I didn't! I didn't!"

Ayaka Fukuda screamed hysterically, clutching her head with both hands, her body trembling violently.

But Masashi Akiyama did not stop.

He sighed, a soft sigh that everyone in the courtroom could hear clearly.

"Let me speak for you."

"You and your mother, Runa Fukuda, once came from a wealthy family. But an accident took your father away. You went from being high-class young ladies to being at the bottom of society, unable to even afford a rented apartment."

She looked up, her eyes blurry with tears, at the audience seats.

There, Fukuda Runa still covered her face with a handkerchief, her shoulders trembling slightly, like a heartbroken mother.

She had no idea what would happen next.

Ayaka Fukuda looked at her mother with a strange gaze, as if she were looking at a monster.

"Your mother had no choice but to work as a waitress. You studied desperately, trying to pull her out of that quagmire. But at some point, the mother you remembered who loved you and held you tenderly changed."

"She started bringing men home frequently. The way those men looked at your mother disgusted you. What's worse, they looked at you the same way they looked at your mother."

Ayaka Fukuda's body began to tremble violently.

"You cried, you begged, you said you would work and you could support the two of you. But what you got in return—" Akiyama Masashi paused, his voice even softer, "was that one day, she sent you to the beds of those old men."

"Stop talking! Don't say anymore... Stop talking!!!"

Ayaka Fukuda covered her ears and shook her head frantically.

Tears and snot streamed down her face, and her carefully styled long hair was disheveled and stuck to her face, making her look as pathetic as a broken doll.

Masashi Akiyama sighed inwardly.

As a human being with normal emotions, he sympathized with her plight and understood her determination to struggle in her desperate situation, even though the methods she used were completely wrong.

But as a lawyer—

Answer me!

Masashi Akiyama's voice suddenly rose in pitch:

"Are you deliberately framing Mr. Suzuki Kento? Is it to escape the control of your mother, Fukuda Runa?!"

Ayaka Fukuda's psychological defenses completely collapsed at this moment.

She slumped into the chair, panting heavily, like a fish out of water.

Her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. After a long while, she let out a heart-wrenching cry that erupted from the depths of her soul:

"Yes... I did it on purpose! I framed him!"

She looked up, tears blurring her vision, her voice filled with endless pain and despair:

"My mother doesn't love me at all! She only sees me as a cash cow! She forces me to see those disgusting men and forces me to sell my body for money!"

"I tried... I tried to accept it. I told myself that my mother was only doing it for our own good, that she had no other choice. I treated those men like wallets, I tried to squander their money, I wanted to fill my life with lots of love and lots of envy—"

Her voice began to choke, and she could barely continue speaking:

"But I can't... I can't stand it! I can't bear those dirty, dry fingers, like tree bark, roaming over my body... This is the only way I can think of! Even if it's just for a day, or even just for a while, I don't want to do this anymore! I just want to escape for a while!"

"Why did you expose me! Why did you force me! I was so close, so very close to succeeding! I just wanted a chance to catch my breath!"

Every word was like a heavy hammer blow, striking the silent courtroom.

It struck everyone's heart.

In the audience, Fukuda Runa suddenly ripped off the handkerchief from her face, her face ashen white, her lips trembling, but she couldn't utter a sound.

Reporters frantically pressed their shutters, the flashes illuminating the courtroom as if it were daytime.

Fujita's face was ashen, and he slumped in his chair like a lump of mud.

Maki Suzuki covered her mouth, tears silently streaming down her face.

Kento Suzuki closed his eyes and let out a long, long sigh.

And Masashi Akiyama—

He stood there quietly, watching Ayaka Fukuda cry her heart out.

Sunlight streamed in through the high window, falling on him and gilding his entire body with a golden edge.

He pushed up his glasses, his eyes behind the lenses calm and undisturbed.

Then, he turned to the judge's bench and bowed slightly:

"My questioning is over, Your Honor."