Tokyo: Are you even a proper lawyer?

The night wind tousled her long hair and dried her tear stains.

She simply gripped that hand tightly, as if it were the only real driftwood she had grasped when she escaped that magnificent cage.

Masashi Akiyama was pulled along by her for a while, until they were far enough away from the village house that the shouts and chasing sounds behind them could no longer be heard, and then he stopped with a little effort.

"Arimura," his voice rang out from the quiet street, "that's enough, they haven't caught up."

Rio Arimura then stopped and released her grip as if waking from a dream.

The sudden emptiness in her palm and the coolness of the night breeze brought her back to her senses.

She turned to look at Masashi Akiyama, while Rio Arimura's chest was still heaving violently.

Her face was flushed from running and excitement.

"I'm so sorry, Attorney Akiyama!" she gasped, her words incoherent.

"I...I was too impulsive! I shouldn't...I shouldn't have dragged you out like this...and held your hand...I'm sorry! I...I just...I..."

Seeing her panicked, flushed face, and a mixture of excitement and unease as if she had just escaped a disaster, Masashi Akiyama remained silent for a moment.

Everything that happened tonight was indeed beyond his expectations.

He looked down at his hand, which she had just held tightly; the tips of his fingers still seemed to retain the warmth of the girl's sweat and a slight tremor.

Then, he looked up at Rio Arimura's eyes, which shimmered with a watery light under the streetlights yet were surprisingly bright.

"No need to apologize," he said. "You did what you wanted to do, and as your friend, I'm happy for you."

Rio Arimura was stunned.

"I..." She opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

A mix of excitement, grievance, lingering fear, and the ecstatic joy of breaking free from her cage caused her nose to sting and tears to well up uncontrollably.

"I...I really ran away..." she murmured.

"Hmm." Masashi Akiyama responded, looking up at the sky and then at his surroundings.

"It's hard to get a taxi here. Should we go out and get back to the office first?"

His tone was so ordinary that it was as if he had just ended an unpleasant but ordinary meeting. This unusual calmness strangely soothed Rio Arimura's chaotic emotions.

"Okay, okay." She nodded quickly, wiped her tears haphazardly with the back of her hand, and then tried hard to calm her breathing.

Once outside the confines of that mansion, the world seemed to return to normal.

The two hailed a car together.

They got into the car, and the driver turned on the heater; the enclosed space gave them a sense of security.

Rio Arimura fastened her seatbelt and secretly glanced at Masashi Akiyama beside her.

He closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, looking completely normal, as if nothing had happened.

But this normalcy only made Rio Arimura more uneasy.

She didn't know what Attorney Akiyama was really thinking.

Do you think she's too naive and impulsive?

Will I regret letting her stay at the firm?

Do you think she's a nuisance?

"Attorney Akiyama..." she said softly.

"Um?"

"I'm so sorry about tonight. My father... please don't take his words to heart." She lowered her head, her fingers twisting the seatbelt.

"No." Masashi Akiyama kept his eyes closed. "I've heard similar comments many times. I'm used to it."

"But……"

"Arimura," Masashi Akiyama interrupted, "Your father has his own perspective and considerations. Although I don't agree with his methods, you've made your choice, and that's a problem you two need to resolve. As for me..."

He said, "I'm just your employer. In the firm, you're Attorney Arimura. That's enough."

But the employer...

Lawyer Arimura...

Rio Arimura's heart sank slightly, a sense of inexplicable disappointment washing over her.

But then, she felt a warmth rise in her heart because of the title "Lawyer Arimura".

Yes, at the firm, she is an independent individual, a paralegal striving to grow, not "the young lady of the Arimura family".

"I understand," she said softly, taking a deep breath to temporarily suppress her chaotic emotions.

"Thank you, Attorney Akiyama. And... thank you for not shaking off my hand earlier."

Masashi Akiyama's fingers, which were placed at his side, twitched almost imperceptibly, but he still did not respond.

Silence fell again inside the carriage, broken only by the low rumble of the engine and the faint sound of airflow from the heater vents.

The car drove smoothly on the road back to Lianma District.

The city lights outside the car window rushed past, just like the world she had just resolutely fled, which was being quickly left behind.

Rio Arimura leaned back in her chair, gazing at the flowing night view outside the window, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

She knew that tonight's escape was just the beginning, and her father would not give up easily.

But at this moment, holding onto this newly earned, brief freedom and feeling the strange sense of security brought by the person beside her, she was filled with courage.

At least, she took that step.

At least, she wasn't alone.

Time slips by quietly amidst the interplay of busyness and tranquility.

Masashi Akiyama's office continues to handle all sorts of administrative commissions.

After that nighttime escape incident, Rio Arimura became more proactive and dedicated to her work.

Throughout these networks of relationships, some close and some distant, Maki Suzuki has always maintained a unique and stable presence around Masashi Akiyama.

She is one year older than Masashi Akiyama and considers herself a mature working woman.

Maki Suzuki has always believed that her relationship with Masashi Akiyama has long surpassed that of an ordinary lawyer and reporter, or a lawyer and his client's older sister.

But recently, this connection seems to have undergone some extremely subtle and elusive changes.

The change seems to have begun at a chance gathering.

Kenta Suzuki was the first client of Masashi Akiyama to be successfully exonerated after he started practicing law independently. After experiencing that nightmarish wrongful imprisonment and a long period of mental recovery, he finally found his direction in life again.

Kenta Suzuki resigned from his high school teaching job, which had brought him endless pain, and with his solid knowledge, passion for education, and the full support of his sister Maki Suzuki, he founded a small college entrance exam preparation agency.

Surprisingly, the organization is operating quite well, and even its economic situation has improved significantly.

To express his gratitude and to celebrate the start of his new life, Kenta Suzuki hosted a dinner at a stylish Italian restaurant near his workplace, inviting his sister Maki Suzuki and Masashi Akiyama.

The atmosphere at the dinner was harmonious.

Kenta Suzuki sincerely toasted Masashi Akiyama, thanking him for his loyalty and unwavering support, which gave him the opportunity to have everything he has today.

Masashi Akiyama simply responded calmly that it was what he should do.

Maki Suzuki sat beside her younger brother, a gentle smile on her lips, her gaze occasionally sweeping over Masashi Akiyama's calm profile.