"Objection, your Honor. We have already proven the witness to be completely unreliable. Any further questioning is a waste of the court's time."
The case had been going on for a while now. Hisai as the residing prosecutor in a murder case. The main suspect? The victim's own son. The defense had quite a bit of evidence to clear his name, but Hisai had more evidence he created to send the kid straight to jail.
The judge looked down at the current witness, the accused, scrutinising his being, then slamming down his gavel.
"The Prosecution has a valid point. Witness, you are re-"
"Objection, your Honor! The Prosecution is trying to hide the truth!"
Hisai glanced over at the defense for the first time in the trial. He looked young, yet tidy, dressed in a white shirt and red tie, along with black trousers and polished shoes. He didn't look a day out of Law school, to Hisai.
"Your Honor, may I pose a question to the Defense?"
"You may."
"Mr. Hayabusa, you say I am hiding the truth. Why would I do such a thing?"
The kid slammed his fist against the desk in front of him, tensing with anger.
"I don't know! But I know my client is innocent!"
"Mr. Hayabusa, how long have you has it been since you graduated Law school?"
The kid seemed taken back by the question, stuttering an answer.
"Uh-about four months."
"Four months ... and you haven't learned not to make baseless accusations?Whether it be towards witnesses or a prosecutor, evidence is everything in the courtroom. Do you have evidence that I am, and I quote, 'hiding the truth'?"
The kid fell silent, glaring at Hisai. The silence was broken only by the Judge's gavel.
"Enough. My. Hayabusa, I shall have to penalise you for your outburst towards Mr. Kurushimi. I will not tolerate such actions within my court, do you understand?"
This time, the kid's eyes were on the Judge. He looked ready to object, but thought better of it.
"Yes, your Honor..." he sighed, sitting back down in his seat.
"Good ... now, if there are no further questions, I would like to end the cross-examination of this witness."
"If I may, your Honor..." started Hisai. "...I have a few more questions for the witness."
"Proceed."
Hisai stepped past his desk, standing before the boy in the witness stand. He looked around 14, but it was hard to tell with the look of fear all over his face.
"Mr. Kanbura ... Tell us again what you were doing on 14:19 on Saturday 16th July."
"I-I-I was m-making a sandwich..."
"With this knife, were you not?"
Hisai held-up a kitchen-knife in a plastic bag, labelled 'Exhibit C' and signed by two different people, presumably the police and forensics department.
"Y-yes..."
"However, on this knife there was no trace of anything resembling food. How do you account for this?"
"I-I-I Dunno!"
"Also, there was blood found on this knife. Do you know whose it was?"
The kid said nothing.
"It was your Father's blood. You killed him, didn't you?"
The crowd started murmuring to themselves, just as the defence shot up in protest.
"Objection, your Honor! The Prosecution is putting words in the witnesses mouth!"
"Overruled. Continue, Mr. Kurushimi."
Hisai nodded, turning back to the child.
"You killed him with this knife at the time stated. You had an argument with him earlier, as we have heard through exhibit B, over money and you saw this knife and decided to take the money by force. Worried, you-"
"That's not true!" shouted a woman from the crowd, obviously his mother. "My son would never do such a thing!"
"Ms. Kanbura, please." started Hisai. "This is a court of law. Restrain yourself."
"You should be ashamed of yourself! He's innocent! Innocent!"
The Judge's gavel slammed down once more, three times in succession.
"Order! Order! Bailiff! Remove Ms. Hayabusa from the court this instant!"
A burly bailiff dragged the woman from the room, while Hisai grinned to himself. It was going just as he planned. Everyone in the court must be thinking the same thing. The child killed him. All the signs were there. Time to make it an unbreakeable case..."
"Now, Mr. Kanbura. After the murder, you washed the knife to clear it of blood, but forgot to wipe your own handprints. And you forgot one other thing. The money you stole had both you and your father's fingerprints-"
"Objection! That means nothing! He could have given the money to the witness!"
"Let me finish, My. Hayabusa. The money also had splatters of the victim's blood on it, meaning it could only have been taken during or after the murder. Now, couple this with the weapon, I beleive there is no longer any doubt with this case."
"N-No! I didn't kill him!"
"Silence, Mr. Kanbura." shouted the Judge. "The evidence has spoken. It is clear what the outcome is. I shall pass judgement now."
Hisai returned to his seat, while everyone glared at the boy and then watched the Judge intently.
"By going through the evidence presented to us here today, I am certain that the Jury will not need time to reach a decision, however I shall give the option to the main Juror. Do you need time to reach a decision?"
A middle-aged woman stood up from the crowd, speaking in a stern voice.
"No, your Honor. The Jury has reached a unanimous decision already."
"Proceed."
"We, the Jury, find Mr. Kanbura guilty of murder."
"In that case, I pronounce the defendant, Mr. Kanbura guilty."
The judge slammed down his gavel. Hisai grinned, while the defense attorney looked at a loss for words.
This is perfect. Hisai thought. Now this child and his mother know loss unlike any other. Shinokami's mission must be proceeding as planned, also. This is excellent...
"Court is adjourned."
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Kamoku sat on a wall in a park, watching the day fly past, with a PeT in her hands. She still had to get a Navi for it, as all she really had was a fancy personal organiser. Her parents tried to get one she liked, but the models on offer all came up short on her preferences. She, however, spent her time dreaming and wishing the minutes away.
Her PeT bleeped as something made its way inside. A window popped up on the screen, asking for a yes or no answer, but she was oblivious. At least until a voice spoke out.
"Kamoku Tereya. Please accept my offer."
Kamoku jumped in surprise at being addressed by name, then brought her PeT up so she could see the screen. A Navi was asking to be let inside her PeT and installed as a default Navi, but Kamoku wasn't so sure.
"Um ... " she started. "...Who are you?"
"My name is Shinokami. I am a NetNavi with no Operator and would like to assist you, if possible." he lied, almost too easily.
Kamoku sat for a moment, then tapped 'yes'. A progress bar shot quickly from one side to the other as Shinokami installed himself into Kamoku's PeT, along with the Chip data from Hisai. Kamoku stared at Shinokami for a while after he fully materialised on the screen.
"Is something the matter?"
"N-no ... you look strange..."
"I'm afraid that I'm a second-hand Navi, in a sense. Would you like me to leave?"
"N-no, it's ... it's okay..."
"Ah, that is good to hear ... Ms. Tereya, I would advise heading into the Net to familiarise yourself with NetBattles."
Kamoku was a little worried by Shinokami, though his constant politeness won her trust. She nodded and sent him out into the Net...