"Heads up!" called Arceia. She threw a latter at the girl in question, who had apparently been buried in her computer. Just like always.

"New case?" asked the girl.

"Looks that way. This one's hitting pretty close to home though. We gotta be professional here."

"Let me see."

"Sam... I already threw it at you."

An awkward shuffling about later, Samus took the letter in hand, and unfolded it. It was well typed out, so clearly whoever this was knew how to operate a computer. Still, it didn't have any calling cards of any specific personality type- It was as generic as a business letter could get. But the contents...

""

"That's something alright. Looks like the kid had somebody else type it out though- Either that or they don't really know how to handle this themselves."

"Sam, the girl is also on her way here. The number she left? I called it and asked her to swing by. We need more info than this to work with it, but I also really want to meet her."

"Arcy..."

"I promise. It's all business. But even you can't deny, she might need somebody to talk to more than anything. We've both been there."

"I know. Alright, we'll meet her. But we really should try and get an official office- Doing all this out of the apartment is starting to look bad for business."

"Maybe when the wedding is over."

Their conversation continued to be senseless rambling until there was a knock at the door. From there, they greeted the young lady, and discovered she was only thirteen. She was also relatively normal aside from the family. She chose not to really tell too much about her personal life, and kept right to the facts. It was very, very vague on who she was as a person, but it was made clear on what kind of people her parents were. The information leaked in slowly at first, but as Arceia and Sam revealed their own pasts, the girl seemed to open up more. It was still tough to identify her personality, though- Probably due to how this situation was affecting her. It was all quite a lot to take in, but it did start to piece itself into a standable case.

The three of them met for lunch every day while the girl was in public school before the hearing. Arceia made a point of visiting the school itself to get an idea of how the school handled the girl's situation, and found out that they didn't seem to know anything about it. Sam' own investigation actually came from consulting her old friend and previous lover, Daiyu. The two discussed matters relating to the arranged marriage idea, and its unethical presence. Though that wasn't really for any reason other than Sam wanted Daiyu back. Their conversation about abuse was a lengthy one though- The two of them went over a lot of factors that needed to be dug up, and that there were many definitions for abuse. This was a case type that Sam was unfamiliar with, but she would indeed keep trying. Each day they met, Sam gave more examples of abuse, while the girl would say yes or no to having experienced. Arceia was there mainly to keep track of the information and to comfort the girl- recording everything that was said and offering a shoulder to cry on when needed.

The hearing being only a week away, Arceia decided to loan the girl her phone. Just in case her parents wanted to make a problem out of things- After all, they had to be informed of the hearing eventually. It was only right. So, with all of the information in play and with the girl only a phone call away from them coming to pick her up if she needed it, Sam began to work on her statements, evidence, and all of the other details she would need- She was a defense attorney, not a prosecutor. This would not be easy, even with all of the convincing evidence.

The day of the hearing had arrived.

Arceia picked the girl up early that morning so they could go over the case information. The trio shared one more lunch together before the fate they'd waited on would start to unfold.

"Sam, you do realize that no matter what kind of result comes out of this, she won't be safe, right?" asked Arceia.

"I know..." Sam sighed. "Even if we lose, she has to go home to that- And they'll be even more horrible to her now that she's done this. We need to win. No matter the cost."

"Right. I'll keep her next to me while you deliver. I'm not sure what will happen after we win, but I'm sure of what will happen if we don't, and it's not an option."

The baliff saw them into the courthouse, and the trial began. There was a full jury- One of them actually being Daiyu. So, some moral support after all. That was good... Well, hopefully it would be enough to give her the confidence to deliver. How ironic though- Technically Daiyu couldn't be here, because she was one of the ones helping the trio come to their conclusions. But, if she was required to show up by law...

Well, it may not be ethical, but sometimes one sword keeps another in the sheath. Sometimes, to get the right thing done, you have to do a few wrong things. It seemed Daiyu understood this as well, because she didn't speak up on the matter.

"The court will hear miss Drystan's opening statements now." came the voice of the judge. Sam took in a deep breath and started the motions.

"What we have today is not even a case- It is an outright crime!" she began, dramatically slamming her hand on the table as she made her way up. "What we have here is a young lady who sought protection from the system, on her own accord! She came to me, and presented some information that I think you'd all agree makes this entire case more of a delay to punishing these two heathens than a debate."

Arceia was impressed. She hadn't ever actually sat in on one of these cases- Just helped with the paperwork leading up to them. But, the girl might have needed her company, so she stayed close. Sam in the courtroom was much more dynamic than outside of it. As she continued to give out the evidence, it became obvious that she had done a lot of extra research. Maybe it wasn't just business for Sam either- Emotion might have definitely been getting expressed here. Arceia made a mental note to remember this, and give her Hell for it later. When they were all celebrating victory. It just had to happen.

There were literal hours passing by as the case raged on. Lots of convincing evidence, lots of witnesses, and it seemed that the jury could not be swayed. The parents had a glare about them like they were ready to kill something, and Sam picked up on that right away. Part of any good courtroom drama was to find what bothered your opponent and exploit it- not the best legal practice, but certainly a flair for the dramatic was needed. So, Sam would occasionally pick at the topic of the parents' personal lives, which set them into fits of glares and angry huffs. Eventually, she had prodded them o far that the father lashed out and cursed at her- Which got him removed from the courtroom.

That was all it took to show to the jury exactly what kind of man he was.

"I don't mean to be rude, but... If that was his reaction to hearing just words from a stranger, imagine how strongly he might react to somebody he knows. Or, perhaps, what I said hit a little too close to home, hm?"

Sam took her seat.

"Prosecution is put to rest, just like this case will be in about five minutes."

Somehow, miraculously, she was right.

The three of them made their way into the ice cream shop on Astraea Hill to celebrate, and in tow was Daiyu. It was great for Sam to catch up with her, and great to see them concluded so well. Sam seemed to be reconciling her feelings, but it was hard to tell with her- That case was the most emotional she had ever gotten over something. Arceia on the other hand simply called her fiance and told her the good news. Another case won.

Another case. Was that all this was? Sam and Arceia had to ask themselves this the whole way home. The young lady was placed into selective care of the government and would probably remain there a while.

Unless...

"So, um... Don't kill me?"

"You adopted her, didn't you?"

"Sam... Orphanages are brutal. You and I both know what that's like. I don't want to just abandon her, especially when it's partially our fault."

"No, Arcy. Her parents are to blame, not us. We did the right thing... I'm sure of it."

"So let's keep on doing the right thing! We can't just let her go to one of those awful places, and God only knows what type of foster home the system would place her in!""

"I know, Arcy, I just... We're already taking care of Hideki. Are you sure we could handle this?"

"Hideki is an infant. This girl is thirteen, and she came directly to us herself. She did the research to find you. She put all her faith in us getting her out of her home. We've come this far, and she seems to really like us."

"Look... I know how you feel. I don't want my childhood or yours for even that scumbag that took Daiyu from me... But there's a limit on what we can realistically do about this. There are legal procedures, paperwork, lots of preparation..."

"I've got it covered."

"And what do you plan on doing?"

"I'm going to send her to Astraea Hill. At least this way she'd get a solid education, and I'll be teaching there soon- She'll have me to watch her back."

"And where are we going to get the cash for that?"

"Did you forget that the Amaterasu family and I are best buddies?"

"... Fine. But I swear, Arcy, sometimes you're just far too impulsive."

"Thank Chiyo."

"I know, I know. You drive a hard bargain. Now, where were we?"

"Something about reservations for the wedding. We should probably also send out the invitations soon too."