Tokyo: Are you even a proper lawyer?

At the last second before he was going to be late, Masashi Akiyama barely stepped through the glass door of the law firm.

This is a large law firm with a high reputation in the industry. Many of the lawyers who are now independent started as interns here.

Just as Masashi Akiyama sat down at his workstation, before he could even properly place his briefcase, a slight commotion arose at the doorway.

He looked up.

A woman in a dark gray business suit is walking into the office.

She was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, tall, with long, jet-black hair neatly tied into a bun at the back of her head.

Her face was beautiful, but her eyes held a cold, sharp edge. She was carrying a heavy leather briefcase and walked straight through the office area without looking to either side, heading directly to the largest private office at the end of the corridor.

"Did you see it? Did you see its face?"

"As expected of Takagi-senpai, her aura is just too strong..."

"So cool. I wish I could be like Takagi-senpai someday."

Sayuri, a female intern lawyer who was in the same cohort as Akiyama, rested her chin on her hand, looked at the tightly closed door, and sighed softly.

Kotomi Takagi.

Masashi Akiyama knew her.

There are many legends surrounding the most famous and top-performing attorney at this law firm.

A graduate of the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, he has practiced law without a single defeat in twelve years. The cases he has handled are mostly in highly complex areas such as corporate mergers and acquisitions and intellectual property rights, and his legal fees are staggeringly high.

"Takagi-senpai isn't so easy to get along with."

Fujita, the head lawyer who was sitting at the workstation in front of Akiyama, stood up.

He was a middle-aged man in his early forties, with slicked-back hair and a suit fabric that gleamed cheaply in the morning light.

He walked over to Xiaobaihe and naturally put his hand on her shoulder.

"Instead of admiring Takagi-senpai, how about admiring me first?" Fujita said with a smile, his fingers gently stroking Sayuri's shoulder. "Sayuri, you shouldn't refuse the department dinner tonight, okay?"

"this……"

Masashi Akiyama stood up.

He pulled out a pre-filled application form from the folder and placed it on the table in front of Sayuri.

"Please pass on this message to Murakami-senpai." He picked up his briefcase and trench coat together.

"This afternoon I met with the client outside to organize clues. It might end late, but the fieldwork application has been completed."

"Oh, okay!"

Sayuri immediately stood up and easily shook off Fujita's hand.

"Murakami-senpai hasn't arrived yet, let me put it on his desk for you."

Please.

Akiyama nodded and turned to walk towards the elevator.

"What the heck..."

Fujita pursed his lips and complained in a low voice.

"Just because he's a top student from the University of Tokyo, he doesn't respect his seniors at all. He always has a cold face and doesn't even participate in departmental team building activities. I really don't know what's so arrogant about this kind of intern lawyer."

After he finished complaining, he turned to Lily and tried to put his arm around her shoulder again.

"Little Lily, don't be like Akiyama. With his personality, he'll never get ahead here."

"No, no..." Sayuri mustered her courage to retort, "Akiyama-san isn't that kind of person..."

"Well, young girls like you are easily fooled by pretty boys like Akiyama." Fujita's finger moved closer again. "Only a mature and steady old man like me is worth it—"

"Is that so, Fujita-san?"

A cold female voice came from behind.

Fujita froze, then slowly turned around.

Kotomi Takagi was already standing behind him without him noticing.

"Instead of harassing interns at the firm, why not focus on improving your professional skills? What do you think?"

"As far as I know, you've already lost three cases this month."

Her gaze lingered for a moment on Fujita's slightly bulky suit, her expression filled with undisguised contempt.

"If this continues, you'll probably only have one option left: being laid off."

…………

Masashi Akiyama was unaware of the little incident that occurred after he left.

Even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

Because of financial difficulties, he proactively severed interpersonal relationships in the workplace that required financial transactions to maintain.

He politely declined all social etiquette that is almost universally accepted in the Japanese workplace, such as dinner parties, cocktail parties, and gift exchanges.

This naturally led to exclusion and alienation, but he had anticipated all of this from the day he made the decision.

The fieldwork application submitted to Xiaobaihe was not entirely a way to get out of trouble.

He did indeed have an appointment with Ayakako Fukuda today.

As for Maki Suzuki, she sent a text message this morning, subtly inquiring about the progress of her brother's case.

Masashi Akiyama used carefully chosen words to smooth things over.

He still hasn't decided whether to destroy the toy bear or submit it as evidence to overturn the verdict.

He will not meet with Maki Suzuki until he has sorted out his thoughts.

But it's Ayakako Fukuda.

After being teased like yesterday, the fact that he would take the initiative to invite her today made Akiyama wary.

However, as the attorney representing the client, he should try his best to meet with them if they make a legitimate request.

The meeting place was set at "Bamboo Grove Park" near Kiyosumi-Shirakawa in Koto Ward.

When Akiyama arrived, it was already 2 p.m.

Ayaka Fukuda and her friends had clearly been waiting for a long time.

"Akiyama-san~!"

Ayaka Fukuda waved from afar.

She was dressed exceptionally youthfully today, wearing a pale yellow knitted cardigan, a plaid mini skirt, white knee-high socks, and her chestnut hair was tied into high pigtails, swaying from side to side as she ran and jumped.

His face was beaming with a smile, showing no trace of yesterday's setback.

She jogged up to Qiushan and stopped in front of him, tilting her head slightly and blinking.

"I thought it was just a normal client meeting." Akiyama stopped and glanced at the group of girls behind her. "Fukuda-san, you didn't say you brought a friend along."

"Oh dear~" Fukuda put his hands behind his back and swayed slightly. "I don't think there's any problem. My friends want to meet you too."

She turned and waved to her companions.

"How is it? Isn't Akiyama-san handsome?"

The girls gathered around, laughing and joking.

There were about five or six people, all wearing similar private high school uniforms.

"Wow, really! Such a mature adult!"

"Hey, Akiyama-san, forget about Fukuda, let's go on a date!"

"What?! She's clearly on a date with me!"

"Akiyama-san seems like the kind of person who's very gentle... Can I be your girlfriend?"

They surrounded Qiushan, chatting amongst themselves. Some of the bolder ones had already reached out, trying to link arms with him.

Akiyama's gaze swept over the group of girls, and he spotted a familiar figure among them.

Rieko Uchida.

She was among them, but the moment she saw Masashi Akiyama, she immediately lowered her head, gripping her backpack straps tightly with both hands, wishing she could shrink herself into a quail and minimize her presence as much as possible.

Ayaka Fukuda was clearly quite dissatisfied with Rieko Uchida's retreat.

She walked over quickly and gave Rieko Uchida a hard shove.

Rieko Uchida staggered half a step, her head drooping even lower.

"Uchida, what are you doing?" Fukuda leaned down, bringing his face close to Uchida's. "Didn't you say you admired lawyers? Why are you so quiet today?"

She drawled, "You—you're acting strange today."

Rieko Uchida shuddered and hurriedly shook her head:

"N-no... I just fell yesterday, and my knee still hurts a little..."

"Is that so?" Fukuda straightened up and nodded. "Then there's nothing we can do."

She turned to look at Akiyama, her voice becoming light and cheerful again.

"Akiyama-san~ I have a friend here who isn't feeling well, could you please take care of her for a bit?"

Akiyama followed her gaze.

Rieko Uchida kept her head down, her shoulders trembling slightly.

"Don't you still have these friends? They can help take care of things too."

"Oh dear—" Fukuda clasped his hands together, making a pleading gesture.

"Uchida-san isn't feeling well, so I need to take my friends to buy her some medicine. Please, please, just for a little while, we'll be right back after we buy the medicine~"

She winked at Akiyama playfully, and before he could respond, she turned and waved to her companions.

"Let's go, let's go buy medicine!"

The girls laughed and cheered, crowding around Fukuda as they walked towards the park exit.

In the end, only Masashi Akiyama and Rieko Uchida, who kept her head down, remained.

"You...you're the Akiyama-san that Fukuda mentioned?"