ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜᴇ || тѕυккιуαмα ||

31

~~~

I slowly strode down the unfamiliar court room, sticking close behind Tsukki and Akiteru.

There weren't many people there. A few officers, two lawyers talking to the judge, some random people in the seats, the jury and... my mom.

I made an immense effort to avoid looking in her direction.
As we reached the table, suddenly Tsukki was placed in handcuffs. He looked irritated beyond belief and I almost giggled at how much he was hating this.

I'll have to tease him about that later...
That is, if we can prove his innocence.

Akiteru kept reassuring me every few minutes not to worry, and to breathe.
My entire body was shaking more than usual when we sat down on the table.

"Yamaguchi..." Akiteru whispered and I quickly looked at him. "Breathe... it's okay. We'll take care of everything." He reassured, placing a palm on my shoulder.

I nodded unevenly and took in a sharp breath.

The lawyer swiftly walked up to me and I flinched unintentionally. She was short and had sharp edgy features. My hand was suddenly gripped into a hasty shake.

"Yamaguchi Tadashi. Nice to meet you, my names Ito Yumi..." she talked quickly and articulated her words firmly. "I've been talking with Tsukishima Akiteru and Kei and I can confidently say, we will find you justice."

Her determined features seemed to calm me down a bit, but before I could say anything, she turned to Akiteru—flipping through a stack of papers he handed her.

I felt a warmth brush up beside me and turned to face Tsukki sitting against the chair, looking like he was about to murder everyone in this god-damn court room.

That's not the expression to have right now.

I lightly chuckled at my own thoughts and Tsukki glared at me.

"What?" He scowled. "What are you laughing at?"

Oh, man! He's seriously on edge.

I quickly stopped giggling, as much as I could at least, and watched his face form a light pink hue and turn to glance in the opposite direction.

I followed his gaze, regretfully so, and saw her.

My moms face had sunken in and she looked older somehow. The sharp features I was used to seemed to soften up and pull downward. It almost looked as if she already accepted defeat.

I felt guilty—of course I did.

"Yamaguchi." My attention was brought to the short lady to my left. "Do I have permission to use you as a witness?" She asked.

I nodded quickly and fiddled with the hem of my shirt.

Things went pretty smoothly for the first half.

I watched as my mothers claims against Tsukki were read aloud and they presented the evidence of a few gashes in her head and legs from being thrown down the stairs.
Then there was a photo of the broken down door and glass shattered on the floor.
And her bruised fingers from being smashed down.