Darkness swallowed the theatre whole, and my hands finished the seal a half-second too late. His domain had already expanded.
Unsure what kind of sure-hit effect was inside the domain, I didn't risk exposing myself to his domain's sure hit while I tried to pull off my own domain.
In seconds, Domain Amplification snapped into place around me on pure reflex, curse energy folding inward to choke down whatever technique was about to hit me.
I waited for a heartbeat...
Nothing happened.
No pressure released. No resistance pushed back against my curse energy. The nullification just sat there, useless, humming against a threat that apparently didn't care.
That doesn't make sense. Even Domain Amplification only nullifies a major part of the sure-hit effect inside a domain; it can't completely remove the sure-hit effect of a technique. The feeling I got right now was like there was no imbued effect in this domain at all...
'...the hell's going on?' I wondered.
When the darkness cleared, I wasn't standing on a ruined theatre stage anymore. I was standing in a wooden booth, waist-high railing in front of me, the unmistakable, oppressively formal architecture of a courtroom stretching out around us both.
Higuruma stood behind a raised bench across the room, his suit not soaked anymore, gavel in hand, entirely at home. Behind him stood a big Shikigami unlike anything I'd seen — completely black, almost faceless, and holding two weighing scales in both of its outstretched hands.
A feeling of déjà vu hit me...
It was like I was looking at an alternative version of my own domain... it was a deeply uncomfortable feeling for a reason entirely unknown to me.
I felt the Domain Amplification slowly die down around me, as it too was being suppressed.
"Don't bother, inside here no lethal force is allowed." Higuruma didn't even look up from arranging papers on his bench. "It goes both ways..."
I blinked...
And I got where that uncomfortable feeling originated from... this was a non-lethal domain I was standing in. Normal anti-domain techniques wouldn't work here.
'F*ck!'
There are basically two kinds of domains, either the sure-hit-and-kill kind, which are harder to pull off and are lethal to the enemies, or the rule-based kind like Death Trade, which uses rules and concepts to fight, thus a non-lethal kind.
My own domain worked the same way at its core — non-lethal in its base rules, even dressed up for combat. It made sense an actual lawyer would build his domain around the same principle, just applied to an entirely different purpose.
I considered, briefly, whether my own domain could function inside a non-lethal space like this. Worth testing... but I wondered if the act of expanding a domain itself would be seen as an offensive move?
Perhaps, I should have directly opened my domain after all... sigh!
"This is how it works, Akindo. I will bring charges against you. You may confirm the charge, deny it outright, or offer a partial defense. Lie if you'd like — that is your choice. Once both sides have made their case, the judge reviews the evidence, and a verdict is rendered." He said it like that should be obvious.
"...You're telling me lying is an option, in court."
"Naturally. This isn't so different from an actual courtroom, in that sense." He said it without a hint of irony, entirely serious. "If people always told the truth, why would there be any need for courts in the first place?"
I decided not to push on that, mostly because I genuinely couldn't tell if he was joking, or was serious.
"And the evidence?"
"Sealed until both statements are heard." He tapped a manila folder resting closed on his bench. "Neither of us knows what's inside until the hearing concludes. Only the Judgeman does."
The towering Shikigami beside him tilted its head slightly, scales swaying, saying nothing. Its eyes were stitched closed, perhaps indicating that the law was blind; it only heard proof and saw evidence... nothing less.
Couldn't say exactly what that indicated. I didn't have much knowledge of Japanese law...
Wait... which law will this follow?
"Fine." I gripped the booth railing. "Let's hear it, then."
Higuruma cleared his throat, straightened his papers with theatrical precision, and looked directly at me.
"On the night of October 31st, during the Shibuya Incident, the defendant did knowingly and without consent remove the uniform of Second Grade Sorcerer Megumi Fushiguro while the victim lay unconscious, leaving him partially undressed on the pavement. The prosecution charges the defendant with defamation, malicious intent to inflict psychological distress, and—" he paused, glancing down at his notes like he wanted to make absolutely sure he read it correctly, "—sexual harassment."
I stood there for a solid three seconds in complete, blinking silence.
"...I'm sorry, what?"
"You heard the charges."
"Out of everything I've actually done, you're leading with the time I stole Megumi's clothes?"
"The prosecution finds the charge compelling."
"Great... just great. Of all things, that one prank comes back to bite my ass after all this time." I grumbled with irritation.
"Let's assume I did that, which is just hypothetical of course,... what if I had a really good reason behind it? Like, a really good one?"
"Personal motives do not change the outcome of the hearing."
'F*CK... Damn you, Megumi...'
"And just for the record, there was nothing sexual about this! I like girls, very much, exclusively—"
"The prosecution's charges stand as presented."
I dragged a hand down my face, genuinely uncertain if I was more insulted by the charge itself or by the fact that this was apparently the hill Higuruma's domain had chosen to die on first.
"Fine." I straightened. "I deny it."
Made the most sense, tactically. No telling what evidence he actually had — if any survived that night at all — and admitting to something with an unknown penalty attached felt like a worse bet than just betting the evidence wasn't strong enough to stick.
Higuruma nodded slowly, entirely unbothered, and reached for the sealed folder.
"Very well. Denial noted." He broke the seal, flipped through several pages with unhurried precision, and stopped on one in particular. "Then let's review the evidence."
He turned the page toward me.
An entire dossier. My face, my known techniques as observed, dates, locations — an actual file, compiled by someone, tracking me since Shibuya. Someone had been watching a lot more closely than I'd ever realized.
My mind went to Jujutsu Tech... must be someone from there. Has to be. It kind of made sense they would want to have a record of an unknown element.
But since when had those people started doing paperwork?
"...Who the hell made this?" I asked nonetheless.
"Irrelevant to the current charge." Higuruma tapped one specific line on the page, reading it aloud with the flat, procedural cadence of a man citing statute. "'Subject Yami Akindo was found unconscious wearing the uniform belonging to Second Grade Sorcerer Megumi Fushiguro on the night of October 31st, later confirmed by the medical staff, Shoko Ieiri, of Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical College.'"
I stared at the page like it had personally wronged me.
"For God's sake, these people had to do the paperwork the one time they weren't supposed to..." I pressed both my hands against my head and cursed under my breath.
The Judgeman's scales shifted, tipping decisively to one side.
"The judgment is passed." Higuruma said, setting the folder down with an air of complete, undeserved solemnity.
The Shikigami behind him stayed silent for a whole two seconds before shouting very firmly...
"GUILTY."
xXx
A/N : Hahaha... this one hilarious when I came up with it.
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