Tokyo: Are you even a proper lawyer?

"Akiyama-kun."

Little Lily stood on the porch, holding an exquisite gift bag in her hand.

Today she was wearing a light beige knitted cardigan and a knee-length skirt, her long hair loosely tied back, with a few stray strands brushing against her fair neck.

Upon seeing Masashi Akiyama, a gentle smile spread across her face as she held up the gift bag in her hand:

"I heard you started your own agency, congratulations! This is a gift."

"Thanks."

Masashi Akiyama accepted it naturally.

The bag was light, wrapped in a pale beige paper, tied with a light blue ribbon, and adorned with a small sprig of dried baby's breath at the knot.

He stepped aside to let Sayuri into the house, casually asking, "Your information network is really impressive. You even knew I opened my own firm?"

Little Lily looked around the dusty old apartment with curiosity, and subconsciously answered:

"Of course not. I overheard Murakami-senpai and Ms. Takagi chatting. So I asked Murakami-senpai for permission to visit Akiyama-kun..."

Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly realized she had let something slip, and hurriedly covered her mouth, her cheeks flushing red.

When she lowered her hand, her tone was clearly one of embarrassment and annoyance.

"Akiyama-kun! How could you trick me like that? If Takagi-san finds out I told her, she'll be furious!"

Masashi Akiyama placed the gift bag on the low cabinet in the entryway. A thin layer of dust settled on the cabinet surface, and a faint mark was immediately imprinted on the bottom of the bag.

"Don't worry. Ms. Takagi has no interest in me." He paused, then added, "Or rather, she should be quite annoyed with me."

After all, during their last meeting at the firm, he had directly rejected the offer from that top lawyer.

Given Takagi Mikoto's proud, sensitive, and extremely proud personality, it would be more accurate to describe her as "holding a grudge" rather than "paying attention."

"No!"

Sayuri immediately retorted, "Ms. Takagi actually pays a lot of attention to you. Although she never says it, I can tell—you have a pretty good impression on her."

"Who made a good impression?"

A crisp voice suddenly rang out from behind Little Lily.

Masashi Akiyama tried to stop him, but it was too late. He almost instinctively raised his hand—

"ah--!!!"

Little Lily let out a short, sharp scream.

She sprang up like a startled rabbit, her handbag falling to the ground with a thud.

Xiaobaihe's face turned deathly pale instantly, and she stopped breathing.

Rieko Uchida had quietly circled around behind her at some point and was now tilting her head to look at the other person.

Masashi Akiyama lowered his hand and sighed softly.

Five minutes later.

Four people gathered on the bare wooden floor on the first floor. The afternoon sun slanted in through the west window, cutting long, diamond-shaped patches of light on the floor.

Rieko Uchida knelt on the floor, her back ramrod straight, but her head bowed low, like a puppy waiting to be scolded for doing something wrong.

Maki Suzuki sat opposite her, her expression serious.

"...You shouldn't suddenly appear behind someone like that, it'll scare them. Uchida-san, you should apologize properly."

She took a thermos from the huge canvas bag. As she unscrewed the lid, warm steam rose in wisps.

Maki Suzuki poured a cup of dark brown barley tea and handed it to Sayuri, who was still somewhat shaken.

"Uchida is still young and sometimes acts rashly. I apologize on his behalf."

Rieko Uchida also turned her head and looked cautiously at Sayuri, her voice soft.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to."

Xiaobaihe took the teacup and held it with both hands. The warmth of the ceramic pottery gradually calmed her still slightly trembling fingertips.

She took a few deep breaths, and her complexion finally regained some color.

"N-It's okay... I was just too timid."

She paused, then suddenly covered her face and buried her head in her knees.

Little Lily's voice was muffled, leaking out from between her fingers.

"How embarrassing!"

Her ear tips were so red they looked like they were about to bleed, and even the back of her neck had a faint pink tinge.

Maki Suzuki tried to comfort her, whispering "It's okay" and "Anyone would be scared," but Sayuri just shook her head and curled up into an even smaller ball, as if she wanted to hide herself in the cracks of the floor.

It seems that language is no longer effective.

Maki Suzuki looked up helplessly and cast a pleading look at Masashi Akiyama, who had been sitting silently to the side.

Rieko Uchida, who was kneeling, also quietly raised her eyes, clasped her hands together on her knees, and looked longingly at Masashi Akiyama, mouthing the words:

"Please, please..."

Masashi Akiyama sighed.

"Alright, Lily. They won't laugh at you."

"I know..." Sayuri's face remained buried between her knees, her voice muffled, "I just feel...so ashamed."

"So what? I've seen much more embarrassing things. I remember the first time we met, you were at the firm..."

"Okay! I'm all better!"

Xiaobaihe, disregarding her shyness, abruptly raised her head and interrupted him.

"Akiyama-san, I'm completely healed, please stop talking!"

"I see..." Masashi Akiyama mischievously dragged out the last syllable, and seeing Sayuri's nervous expression, he nodded. "Alright then."

Xiaobaihe breathed a huge sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping.

"Eh—what's going on?" Rieko Uchida leaned closer. "What secret do Masashi-kun and this lady have?"

"Oh, it's just a thing of the past." Sayuri waved her hand, trying to make her voice sound natural. "Akiyama-san and I are just colleagues."

"Just simple colleagues..." Rieko Uchida nodded thoughtfully, her gaze shifting back and forth between Sayuri and Masashi Akiyama.

"Yashi-kun, won't you introduce him to us?" Suzuki Maki spoke up at the opportune moment.

Masashi Akiyama nodded and pointed to Sayuri: "This is Sayuri Irie, my former colleague at the firm."

Sayuri immediately sat up straight and bowed slightly to Maki Suzuki and Rieko Uchida: "Nice to meet you, please take care of me."

"This is Rieko Uchida, a witness in my previous case."

Rieko Uchida nodded to Sayuri with a sweet smile: "Nice to meet you~"

"This is Maki Suzuki, the older sister of the client from the last case."

"Now, Masashi and I are good friends," Suzuki Maki added with a smile.

"So she's Mr. Suzuki Kento's older sister." Sayuri looked surprised. "This case has caused quite a stir in the Tokyo legal community. Thanks to this case, Akiyama-san is quite well-known now."

"I also want to thank this case," Maki Suzuki said with a smile, her gaze lightly sweeping over Masashi Akiyama. "If it weren't for this case, I wouldn't have met Masashi-kun."

"Me too!" Rieko Uchida raised her hand defiantly. "Thanks to Masashi-kun, I was able to get out of those terrible things."

Little Lily looked left and right, then smiled gently.

"Akiyama-san, it seems you've made a few good friends. That's wonderful."

"I don't just want to be friends with Masashi-kun," Rieko Uchida immediately replied. "I want to be someone more important to him."

The air fell into a subtle stillness for a moment.

Suzuki Maki picked up her teacup, took a sip, and then spoke slowly and deliberately.

"She's like a little sister, isn't she? Then Uchida's wish will come true."

"No, that's not true."

Rieko Uchida muttered something.

Just as this subtle silence began to spread—

"Ding-dong."

Masashi Akiyama stood up.

"My pizza has arrived, I'll go get it."

He walked towards the entrance, leaving the three women sitting in the sunlight and dust.

When he returned with the delivery, Masashi Akiyama keenly noticed that the atmosphere in the lobby on the first floor had changed.

Rieko Uchida's face was deathly pale, her lips were tightly pursed, and her fingers unconsciously tugged at the hem of her skirt.

Little Lily sat there helplessly, looking at this and that, her eyes full of confusion.

Maki Suzuki held Masashi Akiyama's phone. The screen was still lit, the cold white light reflecting on her face, making her expression look somewhat serious.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up and stared straight at Masashi Akiyama, who was holding a pizza box.

"Mr. Yashi, news has come from the detention center—"

She paused, then said, word by word:

"Ayakako Fukuda wants to see you."