chapter two

american dream

So, it turns out that one cannot simply book a flight from Toronto to Sannoh. Planes didn't directly fly there.

I would have to fly to Tokyo, then get on a much smaller plane and fly to somewhere known as the "W District" and walk to Sannoh from there.

And it was seriously going to cost me.

I stared at the yellow leave form in front of me. The next flight I could catch out to Tokyo was about four days from now, no way that Judge Cheng would go for it. I was her best clerk: she needed me. The plane tickets were still loaded on my computer screen. Taunting me. The answers were within my reach, but still so far away.

"Hey, Wagner!" A voice called from behind the table. "Do you have the jury lists for voir dire this morning? I think my desk ate mine."

I chuckled, moving my stocking-covered feet from on top of the stack of papers on my desk before turning to look at Kiana Shepherd, her elegant black braids falling down her shoulders.

"I really need to clean out my desk." She said, gesturing the the barely noticeable metal desk buried under stacks of papers and folders

"Kie, you're a wreck." I chuckled, pulling out an extra copy for the jury lists in connection with a homicide case Judge Cheng was trying later this week. Kiana always got the juicy cases, whereas I found myself often taking the more amusing ones, such as the drunk and disorderlies and the divorces. But I couldn't resist the occasional murder trial myself.

She chuckled before nodding at my computer screen. "Going somewhere?"

I turned to look at the screen. "My stepdad's hometown. But I doubt I'll be able to get the time off." I flopped dejectedly back into the spinning desk chair. "I just got back from bereavement leave and now I'm asking fro time so I can go to Japan and hunt down some people who might know about Yuki's past life? I'd sound crazy."

I swiveled around in the leather chair, reaching for my pink wireless mouse "Check this out." I clicked around a few times, a large color-coded map popping up on my screen. "The area where he lived, the entire District is broken up into five territories. There's the two main townships, Sannoh and Oya, and then there's this place called the Nameless City and two other territories referred to as 'W' and 'D'. Each area is controlled by one organization, which makes up an acronym that people commonly use to refer to the area." I clicked to another tab. "It's called the S.W.O.R.D District. Sannoh and Oya are pretty self-explanatory, but the Namelss City is controlled by the Rude Boys, the 'W' District is the White Rascals and the 'D' is for Daruma Ikka."

Kiana looked at the computer screen, confusion etched on her face. "I don't get it."

"The area wasn't broken up like this when Yuki lived there. From what I've read, this motorcycle club he used to be a part of was mainly responsible fro keeping the peace. All of this happened about six years ago, after one of the leaders of Mugen died, which is why Yuki went back."

"What does this have to do with those letters you found?"

I shook my head gently, twirling the ballpoint pen between my fingers "No clue. But the people I need to see likely still live in Sannoh. I can't bring mom with me, she's still way too fragile."

"What about you?" Kiana asked, taking my attention away from the monitor. "It wasn't all that long ago when you relapsed."

My sobriety. It had been in shambles right after my stepdad died. All it took was one sip of a stupid fruity vodka drink to send me spiraling.

"I'll be fine, Kie. I'm sober again."

Kie hesitated. "I know you're trying to be strong for your mom. I get that. When my Nana died, my mom needed me more than ever. But you still have to think about you, Gilly."

I sighed, eager to change the subject. My sobriety was a touchy thing, something I rarely ever talked about.

"In the letters, this Tatsuya guy mentioned the Hyuga Family. I looked them up. They were some hot shots within the yakuza, they challenged Mugen's rule more than a few times. Lost a couple guys along the way. Then they got kicked out of the yakuza. The youngest son, Norihisa, the trail runs cold after he got arrested a few years back for biting a chunk of flesh out a man's thigh."

"The yakuza?" Kiana's expression darkened. "Are you sure this is a trail you want to follow, Gillian. You're gonna get yourself killed if you mess with these guys!"

"This is something I need to do. I need to find out why his motorcycle club was even mixed up in this stuff. He never talked about Japan, Kiana. This is a part of his life that my mom and I never truly knew."

"I can't stop you, can I?"

I grinned. "I'll bring my work abroad with me, tell Her Honor that it's a family emergency. I think some time away would be great."

"Tell Her Honor that what's a family emergency?"

We wheeled around, shocked to see Judge Cheng standing in the doorway to her chambers, staring at the two of us with an amused expression.

"Your Honor." I said quickly, sliding my feet back into my shoes and standing up for the Judge. "I was just wondering if I could have some time off to go to Japan. It's about my stepdad. I can bring the work with me."

Judge Cheng chuckled. "Gillian, Gillian, Gillian. You've been through so much lately. Of course you can take more time off. If you weren't ready to come back, you should have said something."

I smiled. Judge Cheng had the biggest heart of anybody I knew. Everybody in the office loved her, and she treated us all like family. Outside of the courtroom, she was a huge softie. Almost like a second mother.

"Thank you, Your Honor. I'll bring most of my work with me, I can still work on jury lists and transcripts from Sannoh."

"Of course. Kiana, are you okay covering Gillian's cases in person?"

Kiana nodded curtly. "Yes ma'am." She said with a smile

"Alright then. Gillian, go book your flights, Kiana, you're with me, we have voir dire in twenty." Judge Cheng smiled, turning to look at me "Eat some homecooked omurice for me, will you?"

"And bring me back some of those Pocky stick thingys, in some flavour they don't have over here!" Kiana added, gathering her files and giving me a quick salute before following the judge out to the courtroom.

I laughed, slumping back into the chair and reaching across the marble desk for my wallet. This was really happening. I pulled my credit card out of the wallet, wincing when it knocked one of my A.A chips to the floor, the sound of the metal hitting the tile seeming to reverberate.

I reached for it under the table, running my finger over the inscription.

One day at a time.

That's right, Gilly, I told myself. One day at a time.

NOTES!!

here's chapter two-

dw we'll get to our favourite group of dumbasses real soon!

also how awesome is that header gif that I made yesterday because i got bored ?