“Tsukasa, you’re talking too loud… Some people from your office might be here,” I warned.
“Last I checked, there were no Ps or Bs from work around.”
“P” meant prosecutor, and “B” meant barrister.
“Work” meant the courthouse.
We often used this code while eating out.
“Oh, you already checked?”
“But if anyone who seems related comes by, let me know. Oh, thank youuu!” She thanked the waiter who brought her cocktail. “A judge is as good as dead if they’re not taken seriously, after all.”
That had become one of her credos since becoming a judge.
I thought back to the trial I’d watched today. The plaintiff had argued, “What could a young person like you understand about my situation?”
Tsukasa was the youngest person in history to become a judge, and that came with a lot of challenges. She constantly struggled with not being taken seriously. No matter how well she did her job, people looked down on her or refused to listen.
“Man, I really feel like getting drunk today.”
Gulp, gulp, gulp!
Her pace was much quicker than usual.
Growing worried, I asked, “Did something happen?”
“This might be the end for me… Damn HR…” Tsukasa slammed down her glass and continued, clearly irritated. “They said they’re gonna transfer me to the Ministry of Justice.”
“You mean…”
Having a judge in the family made me pay attention to news about the courts. I’d gathered that the general courts were part of the judiciary branch, but the Ministry of Justice was a different department and part of the executive branch of the government. Exemplary judges were sometimes moved up to the latter.
“Hey, you’re moving up in the world. That means people have recognized your talent, right?”
Tsukasa had always been good at classroom learning, maybe because she was descended from a famous scholar. She could read, memorize, and comprehend texts faster than anyone I knew. My comment was meant to be a compliment with that in mind. I thought she’d be great working at one of the national ministries.
“I don’t care about moving up, or talent, or any of that!” She shouted right in my face, spraying a bit of her drink at me. “I won’t be able to judge actual trials anymore!”
I wiped my face with a damp cloth. And she’s off again.
For some reason, Tsukasa nursed a strange obsession with presiding over actual cases in person.
“I swore to you that I’d ‘make the world a better place through righteous judgment.’ And I remember you told me it was cool.”
“When did I say that?”
“When you were three, and I was fifteen.”
How could I possibly remember that…? “That was a long time ago,” I replied.
“The chief gave me an earful about it,” she said with an angry look on her face, gliding past my comment again. By “chief,” she meant the judge supervisor.
“He told me, ‘Wagatsuma, you need to consider if the convictions you set for yourself in high school are still worthwhile.’”
“That’s pretty harsh.”
“Whatever… He could make me fifteen again…and I still wouldn’t change…hic!”
“Tsukasa… You drank too much.”
She wasn’t making sense anymore. She was super drunk.
Still…
I agree with Tsukasa, but I do get what the chief meant.
Tsukasa had done nothing but study growing up, as if to reject a normal girl’s life.
She’d never gone on a typical outing with a man (besides her brother), much less dated somebody.
As her brother, I couldn’t help but worry that her extreme way of life created difficulties in dealing with those around her and gaps in personal experience.
“Excuse me, check, please.” I put on a fake smile for the waiter passing by, trying to make it clear I didn’t want to trouble anyone. After paying, I cleaned up the table.
Hopefully they won’t kick us out for her behavior if I’m polite. I guess I’ve gotten pretty good at this kind of damage control. What a joke…
Spending so much time with Tsukasa had forced me to pick up a lot of useless skills.
As I moved an empty beer glass to the edge of the table…
“Uuuggghhh… I wanna be…fifteen again…”
…my sleep-talking stepsister grabbed my arm.
“Isn’t there a magic spell…that could do that for me?”
I couldn’t help but smile a little at this administrator of the law’s silly wish.
She must be pretty stressed.
I brushed some of her hair away from her mouth, taking care not to wake her up. “You did good today.”
But what if…
An idea flashed through my mind.
“If only there were some fantasy world…,” I whispered before sighing.
I’d always loved the idea of other worlds.
If only we could travel to a fun, new world with magic and stuff…
While musing on this idea…
…something that looked like a pink spell circle entered my vision.
The pub walls and table began to blur. I started seeing double.
Maybe my eyes are tired from playing too many video games.
I rubbed my eyes, but when I opened them again, everything had become pink.
“What is this, the blue screen of death, in pink?”
The color had bled into everything. In particular…
“Wha—?! Tsukasa!”
My sister lay face down with her large boobs under her.
“You’re glowing pink!”
She was giving off a bright aura like something out of a magical girl transformation scene.
“Wh-wha…?”
Everything was dyed pink.
All I could see was that light rosy color.
Then I heard a voice.
“Make the world a better place through righteous judgment…”