The Prosecutor

Chapter XI

Sae wrapped her jacket tightly around her body; this police waiting room, for some reason, had to turn up the air-conditioning to the max. She particularly found the fact that she was let out of a police station yesterday, only to be in another one again the very next day quite irksome. At least she wasn't being incarcerated this time. Taki and Akira were on either side of her, teeth chattering in the freezing waiting room. At last, a guard walked out and announced that they could see Shoji. Sae didn't even want to refer to him as 'uncle' anymore. This man was the one who ordered her family's murders. There was no reason for anyone to think of him as part of any family, save for the most twisted.

Sae got up from her seat, feeling entirely numb from the cold. Taki and Akira followed suit, straightening their clothes and walking at either side of her like bodyguards. She noticed that they'd grown far taller than her. It seemed to be only yesterday that Taki and Akira were barely in their teens, playing monopoly with her and Mika. Both she and Mika had also been a bit taller than them as well. As they walked past the cells, a couple sulky inmates glared out of the bars of theirs at them. Sae stiffened, and quickened her steps to almost match that of the guard. Taki and Akira made pathetic attempts to glare back, but failed miserably and had no other choice but to keep close with Sae and the guard.

They finally arrived at a cell which contained a man sitting on the bed, his head in his hands. He was dressed plainly in a blue polo shirt and slacks. His face wasn't visible, but Sae, Taki and Akira could recognise the greying hair and receding hairline anywhere. It was none other than Sae's uncle Shoji, as well Taki and Akira's father. The guard jangled the bars and he raised his head to look at his niece and sons. Having gotten his attention, he stood to the side, keeping an eye on Shoji, who smiled unpleasantly at Sae.

"My, my, Sae. Back in Japan so soon? And here I thought they'd already went through with your death sentence in China."

Sae clenched her teeth. "Yes."

"Well, aren't you a clever little mouse. Always escaping everything and never owning up to your own mistakes. No wonder your parents favoured your sister."

Sae wanted to fly into a rage right there and then, but she managed to keep from losing it. "I have nothing to own up to. You were the one who killed them."

"Even so, you've got to admit you're probably the most pathetic offspring the Kanashiro family ever produced. Why your mother didn't throw you out once she realised you were nothing but a failure puzzles me even to this day."

Sae's face remained calm, but a slew of insults were starting to come to boil within her very being. Taki realised she was about to blow a fuse, and laid a hand on her shoulder. Bending down, he whispered to her.

"Don't let him get to you."

Shoji turned to look at Taki, but his gaze held no fatherly emotion. It was hard and steely, jabbing through both his sons. Sae recognised that look. He always wore it when he was especially furious, or Taki and Akira were about to get a harsh scolding. However, Taki held it head-on, showing no signs of intimidation. Akira however, wasn't so composed. He'd stiffened, but managed to keep a straight face like his brother.

"Taki and Akira Kanashiro." He chuckled humourlessly. "I don't suppose the both of you are proud of putting your father in jail?"

Taki narrowed his eyes. "You may be our father, but the murder was unacceptable. In the end, justice is what we truly work for."

Akira nodded, his eyes never leaving his father's face. Sae was glaring daggers at him, wanting to hurl every single insult she could think of at him, the man who presented himself as a warm, friendly man to her, only to argue with her parents with that nasty wife of his behind her back. All those fights, all those arguments... When her father finally cut ties with the rest of the family, they'd been out of their lives. But for some strange reason, their relatives pursued them endlessly, vehemently. Tears of rage and resentment stung at her eyes, but she forced them back. No way in hell was she going to cry in front of this sorry bastard. Through all her fury, one big question burned bright. The very moment she received that call from Yuuki, to the interrogation, to now, she had been wondering: Why were they killed? Why, even when their part of the family didn't want to put up with everyone else anymore, did their relatives come to pester them? What debt so large to her relatives her father hadn't paid back?

"I've wondered before... Why were you always coming to bother us, even when we wanted none of it? Why was my family killed?"

Shoji stared at her like she was some sort of scummy creature about to be crushed under his shoe. "Again and again we've told you. You're all pathetic morons who only know how to run away from their problems."

"What does this have to do with murdering them and framing me for it, then?"

"It was to teach you all a lesson. You've all gone down in Kanashiro family history as the biggest cowards on the face of this earth!" He then laughed, an unpleasant cackle that echoed through the cell and sent shivers down Sae's spine.

"You murder an entire family... And not only that, you push all the blame on someone so they could be punished for a crime they didn't even commit, only because you wanted to humiliate us?" Sae stared at the uncle she no longer knew, tears threatening to pour out of from her eyes. "Are you even human?"

"Oh Sae, poor Sae. Originally, the plan was to kill all four of you! But you just had to leave before things could fall into motion! And then your sister's stupid little boyfriend had to ruin everything!"

"Yuuki? What's he got to do with this?"

"Well, he was a huge part of the plan. But then he had to go and chicken out when he saw Mika murdered." He glared at Taki and Akira hatefully. "I wouldn't be in this situation if that moron hadn't blabbed to them!"

Sae's gaze hardened. "This is the least a monster like you deserves. I... Burn in hell, just burn in hell!" She raised her voice suddenly, startling the guard standing by the cell. She took a deep breath and turned to Taki and Akira. "Come on, we're leaving. I can't stand to even be in his presence."

Shooting nasty looks at Shoji, Taki and Akira turned their backs on his cell and followed Sae back to the waiting room.