Tokyo: Are you even a proper lawyer?

After Rieko Uchida left, Rio Arimura hesitated before speaking to Masashi Akiyama.

It wasn't until Masashi Akiyama couldn't stand the other person's hesitant attitude that he finally asked.

"What exactly do you want?"

Rio Arimura's face stiffened.

She looked up at Masashi Akiyama, bit her lip, and finally decided to speak.

"In court today, Kenichi Nakajima asked, 'What did you do?' I want to know, what did you do?"

"You want to know?"

Rio Arimura nodded.

Let's go back to the day before the court hearing.

Masashi Akiyama stood by the window, his back to the room.

What he was holding was not a case file, but a small silver USB flash drive.

The contents of that bag were what Mikoto Takagi had quietly slipped into his shirt pocket at the Otome Club last night.

Upon returning to the firm, he immediately reviewed the documents inside.

It wasn't direct evidence of a crime, but rather clear records of fund flows and information on several hidden overseas accounts.

Records show that district councilor Kohei Nakajima's assets are unusually clean, but his brother Kenichi Nakajima has several anonymous overseas accounts that are completely inconsistent with his income as a convenience store manager.

Over the years, several sums of money from unknown sources flowed into these accounts.

Furthermore, a more recent fund transfer record shows that just a week ago, shortly after the first court hearing was forced to adjourn, Kohei Nakajima initiated an emergency transfer operation to one of the key accounts.

This explains why Kohei Nakajima was willing to expose himself and even interfere with the judicial process in order to protect his incompetent and troublesome older brother.

It's not brotherhood, it's a bond of interests, a front for dirty money.

For Kohei Nakajima, once Kenichi Nakajima falls from grace, this safe that has been used for many years may be pried open, and the hidden wealth inside will be exposed to the light of day.

No wonder Kohei Nakajima was so determined to protect Kenichi Nakajima.

It's no wonder that after witnessing Akiyama Masashi's difficult nature and the loss of control over public opinion during the first court hearing, he became eager to sever ties and even secretly initiated the transfer of funds.

In other words, he's already prepared to give up on his brother, who's about to be exposed.

Masashi Akiyama made a decision while holding the USB drive: he would go see Kenichi Nakajima again.

Masashi Akiyama pushed open the convenience store door, and the doorbell rang dryly.

Kenichi Nakajima looked up and saw Masashi Akiyama enter.

"Attorney Akiyama," he smirked, "came to see me before the trial? Are you here to show off your victory, or to try and trick me into revealing anything? Save your breath, I won't say a word."

"We're open for business, there's no reason not to welcome customers, right, Manager Nakajima?"

Masashi Akiyama walked straight to the cashier. "I'd like to buy a pack of cigarettes, and I'd also like to chat with you a bit more."

Kenichi Nakajima's face was gloomy, but he still took out a box of the cheapest cigarettes from under the counter and threw it on the table.

"This is all. Take it and get out of here."

As the trial drew closer, Kenichi Nakajima grew increasingly tense. He was impatient to see this guy who was trying every means to send him to jail, so he tried his best to get rid of him.

Masashi Akiyama paid for the cigarettes, opened the pack, but didn't light them.

He simply took out a cigarette and slowly twirled it between his fingers.

His gaze gradually shifted from the iron door of the office behind Kenichi Nakajima to Kenichi Nakajima's face.

"It seems that Representative Nakajima is indeed quite capable," Masashi Akiyama said. "With such solid evidence, he still managed to keep you safe here instead of in a detention cell. Having a capable younger brother can be really convenient sometimes."

Kenichi Nakajima's body tensed almost imperceptibly, and he forced a smile, revealing an ugly grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Kangping just... couldn't bear to see me wronged, so he was trying to fight for my legal rights according to the law."

"Legal rights?" Masashi Akiyama repeated Kenichi Nakajima's words, then smiled.

"What legal rights do you have? Everything you have now is the result of your brother Kohei Nakajima's machinations!"

"You!" Kenichi Nakajima's chest heaved, clearly enraged, but he forcibly suppressed his anger and gritted his teeth, saying, "Say what you want, everything will be judged in court tomorrow!"

Masashi Akiyama ignored Kenichi Nakajima's words and continued talking to himself.

"I've been wondering, why? Why would a promising district councilor risk his reputation to clean up the messes of an older brother who only causes trouble and even has disgusting habits? Is it really just because of brotherly affection?"

Masashi Akiyama shook his head as he met Kenichi Nakajima's strong and composed gaze.

"If it were me?" he said. "I wouldn't be willing to put in even the slightest effort for such a burden, so I thought and thought, and came up with a possibility."

Masashi Akiyama lit the cigarette, and the smoke rose up, blurring Kenichi Nakajima's vision.

He continued, "If I am a seemingly clean and honest member of parliament, but I really can't bear to let the wealth within my grasp slip away, what should I do? Should I find a front man and deposit the funds in his name? This person should preferably not betray me, or at least have some incriminating evidence against me."

"Coincidentally, I have someone like that in my life, with some disgusting hobbies, who harbors some pointless feelings for me. Most importantly, we share the most useless yet most useful bond in the world."

"Family ties".

Masashi Akiyama said.

"Shut up!"

"Shut up!!"

Faced with the outwardly fierce but inwardly cowardly Kenichi Nakajima, Masashi Akiyama slowly took out a folded note from the inside pocket of his suit and gently pushed it in front of him.

The note had no signature, only a few lines of seemingly unrelated numbers and letters, along with the abbreviations of several overseas banks and dates.

The moment Kenichi Nakajima's gaze fell upon that note, he froze.

The color drained from his face in an instant, and even his lips began to tremble uncontrollably.

"What...what is this? I...I don't understand!"

Even at this moment, he is still trying to resist.

"Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, and a few small islands in the Pacific..."

Masashi Akiyama named several place names, and each name made Kenichi Nakajima tremble.

"Have there been any unusual fund flows in those accounts opened in your name but which you've almost never managed yourself?"

"How...how do you know?! You're talking nonsense! Kangping...he wouldn't..." Nakajima Kenichi shook his head and retorted.

"He won't... what? He won't abandon you?"

Masashi Akiyama continued, "Mr. Nakajima, wake up! Your brother is far more clear-headed and ruthless than you think. To him, you were never an older brother, but a tool. When this tool starts to fail, and even becomes a powder keg that ignites himself, what do you think he will do?"

"During the first trial, he could still try to protect you. But now, public opinion is out of control, the evidence is increasingly unfavorable to you, and my relentless pursuit has made him feel truly threatened. Do you think he will still do everything in his power to protect you as before?"

Kenichi Nakajima stared intently at the notepad placed in front of him.

Of course he recognized those account codes; they were secrets known only to him and Kohei Nakajima, and Masashi Akiyama couldn't have made them up out of thin air!

So...it's true?

Is Kohei Nakajima... really trying to transfer that money?

At this time?!

Many details that he had deliberately ignored now became clear and grotesque under the connection of Akiyama Masashi's cold words.

Masashi Akiyama paused for a moment, then continued.

"Tomorrow, in court. You can continue to play the role of that useless older brother protected by his younger brother, watching him squeeze every last drop of value out of you, and then discard you like trash. Once he's safe, the wealth that flowed through those accounts in your name will be completely irrelevant to you. And you will slowly rot in prison, thinking about how he used the money you kept to continue living a glamorous life."

"Or, you can choose to tell everything you know before it's too late."

"At least, before you sink, pull your brother, who used you as a stepping stone and a dumping ground, and let him experience what you once felt."

"If it were me, I would do the same."

Masashi Akiyama said, "This is probably the only small price we people can pay for ourselves."

After saying that, Masashi Akiyama stopped looking at Kenichi Nakajima, who was still standing there frozen. He picked up the newly opened pack of cigarettes, turned around, and left the convenience store.

Kenichi Nakajima slowly, slowly slid down to sit on the floor, leaning against the cold cash register.

He didn't cry or get angry; he just felt cold.

"This winter in Tokyo is so cold," he thought.

The following day, in court, Kenichi Nakajima's suicide attempt was exactly what Masashi Akiyama had anticipated.

As the escorting bailiff roughly grabbed Kenichi Nakajima's arm, dragged him from the dock, and shoved him toward the special passage leading to the prison van, the manic smile on Nakajima's face gradually faded.

Even though the commotion in the courtroom and the cold rebukes of the bailiffs were still ringing in his ears.

Yet, as the center of everything, Kenichi Nakajima's thoughts drifted off into the distance in a strange way.

In a daze, Kenichi Nakajima seemed to smell the moist scent of soil and grass mixed together in the old family courtyard after a summer night's rain.

In my field of vision, there was young Kohei Nakajima, wearing a faded old yukata. He had fallen while chasing a dragonfly, scraping his knee, and was sitting on the ground, pouting as if he was about to cry.

Back then, I was just a teenager, complaining, "So annoying, Kangping, you're such a crybaby," but I still squatted down and clumsily pressed my handkerchief against my brother's bleeding knee.

"Nii-chan, it hurts..."

"Bear with it, you idiot! Watch where you're going next time."

"Hmm... Nii-chan, you're so nice."

A scalding drop of liquid, without warning, welled up from the corner of Kenichi Nakajima's dry, stinging eye.

…………

"Mr. Akiyama?"

Rio Arimura's worried voice came from beside Masashi Akiyama.

"It's nothing." Masashi Akiyama snapped out of his reverie, shook his head, and continued to answer Rio Arimura's question.

"I didn't do anything," he said.

"It's just a mad dog's last struggle."