Chapter Text
So, you might be wondering what the heck this is.
Well, my discord friend has this crazy idea of “What if Shingo’s accusations of ‘Yuya’ attacking him were sent to court?” It sounded like a hilarious comedic one-shot over the angst that was going on in my other stories and it would show realistically how Shingo’s accusations were totally unfair, biased and probably would land the Akabas in hot water.
In other words, Shingo gets karma for getting away with Yuya nearly losing his father’s school while he sits in the hospital eating cantaloupe. He doesn’t even apologize at all for his actions; and yet people still like this asshole?! Honestly, I have to pause the video to say "Shut up, Shingo!" every time I watch an episode of Arc-V cause he never improves at all. You can literally have the anime without him and it'd still be bad but at least more tolerable!
So this was made to deconstruct Shingo and Reiji's actions and show that, for all that they became in the future, they got away with way too much for my liking.
For reference, Judge Andersen is named after the actor Harry Andersen who played Harry Stone on “Night Court”. Yuya’s lawyer is named Christine Russell, her name is based on the characters Christine Post and Roz Russell, also from “Night Court”.
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YuyaVision
Doppleganger Court
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Yuya couldn’t believe what was happening.
One minute, he was having a normal day at You Show Duel School, with Shuzo teaching the class about Tribute Summoning. Then Yuzu suddenly piped up with how she suddenly wanted to learn Xyz Summoning before her father went something on the lines of “It’s a difficult method, I don’t know if I can teach you.”
Then the peaceful day was interrupted when Gongenzaka bursted in stating that Shingo Sawatari’s goons were accusing him , Yuya Sakaki, of sending Shingo to the hospital!
That was impossible; everyone at You Show Duel School knew that he had been waiting for Yuzu and Ayu to return with ice cream. But tell that to Shingo and his cronies. Shingo began ranting on how he was going to sue Yuya for assault and that he was going to squeeze every bit of money out of the Sakaki name and run the You Show Duel School down to the ground by suing him in court.
So now here he was, feeling unsure at everyone staring at him at how he was the “coward’s son” all while Shingo looked proud of himself and his groupies were boasting how Yuya had to pay. Shingo didn't even bother hiring a lawyer, bragging how he knew that Yuya was guilty.
Yuya's lawyer, a young woman with curly honey blond hair who went by Christine Russell, had her papers with her, and looked quite calm even though Yuya, Shuzo and Ayu – Futoshi and Tatsuya were with Gongenzaka outside – were shivering. Yoko was also there, eyes narrowed and wearing a white biker jacket.
She was not going to let anyone put her little boy in jail or her name wasn’t Shooting Star Yoko of the Sirens.
“All rise for the honorable Judge Anderson." The bailiff announced.
Everyone in the courtroom rose as the judge with short brown hair and calm blue eyes entered. Yuya swallowed all while Shingo and his father had matching smug grins on their faces. Reiji narrowed her eyes and Himika chuckled in response to Yoko’s defiant glare.
Once Judge Andersen made it to the podium, everyone sat down. The judge tapped his gavel once. “Court is now in session. The case of Shingo Sawatari vs Yuya Sakaki will now begin. Yuya Sakaki, how do you plead?”
“Not guilty, your honor.” Yuya answered.
“Liar!” Shingo shouted only to be shut up when Judge Andersen slammed the gavel down once more.
“Yuya Sakaki,” Judge Andersen addressed Yuya. “You are accused of assault and battery on Shingo Sawatari? Can you please explain what you were doing at the time?”
Yuya was unsure what to say, but a glance at the family lawyer gave him the reassurance he needed. He took a deep breath.
“I was at You Show Duel School, waiting for Yuzu and Ayu to return with ice cream,” he explained. “Everything was doing fine until Ayu arrived and she said that Yuzu was dueling Shingo.”
“What time did Ayu arrive?”
“Er…I think around 6:15?”
“And how long did it take you to reach the warehouse?”
“Well, it was nighttime when I finally made it, so I’d say another twenty minutes.”
“That’s impossible!” Shingo snapped. “You can’t be in two places at – “
“Objection!” Judger Andersen shouted. “Mr. Sawatari, please refrain from accusations until we get all the facts or I will throw you out of court immediately.”
Shingo shrunk in his seat. “Y-yes, your honor.”
(A part of Reiji was starting to question why he trusted Shingo again)
Judge Andersen then turned to the little girl with red hair. “Miss Ayukawa, right?”
“Y-yes, sir…I mean, yes your honor!”
“Can you confirm Mr. Sakaki’s statement?”
“Uh, can I…con…fi…”
Judge Andersen smiled a little. “Is what Mr. Sakaki said correct? Was he at You Show when you arrived?”
“Yes! Yes!” Ayu said. “When I told him everything, he told me to stay behind with everyone else. He didn’t know anything about Shingo until I told him!”
“Wait what?!” Shingo shouted as Reiji also looked surprised. “What do you mean he didn’t know?”
“Mr. Sawatari,” Judge Andersen stated. “Outside of ‘the attacker looked like Yuya Sakaki’, you didn’t even provide a sketch of the person who attacked you.”
“I didn’t need to –”
“Could you at least describe his hair and eye color to confirm it was Mr. Sakaki?”
“I don’t have to,” Shingo stated. “I mean, there were four other witnesses involved.”
“...I’m sorry, but in your report, you said only three people were with you when you were attacked – Ootomo, Kakimoto and Yamambe. Where is this fourth one?”
“Over here, your honor!” Yuzu said, hand in the air. “I was never interviewed even though I was there when it all happened. All because I was a girl or something!”
Judge Andersen narrowed his eyes at Shingo. “You lied to the police about your report on another witness?”
Shingo shivered. “W-well, she would’ve been biased! She and Yuya Sakaki are always together; so if she said anything, she would automatically defend him!”
“I would NOT!”
“ORDER!!!” Andersen slammed his gavel twice. He then snarled. “You, Mr. Sawatari, are on thin ice for lying to the police about the number of witnesses.” He then turned to Yuzu. “Miss Hiragi, please approach the witness stand.”
Yuzu nodded and with one firm nod to her father and Yuya, she left to the witness stand and stood up. She inhaled; this was all a performance, nothing more. She had to smile, face the audience and take a step forward!
“Care to reveal your side of the story?” Judge Andersen inquired.
“It’s going to be the same as what Shingo and his cronies have already revealed, your honor,” said Yuzu. “But after they left, the mystery man also vanished when Yuya arrived!”
“So Yuya never saw the mystery person at all?”
“No.”
“Do you have a clear description of what said ‘mystery man’ looked like? Did he look like Yuya?”
There was a pause as Yuzu recalled every single detail she saw. “Yes. I could say without a doubt that he looked like Yuya, but he wasn’t Yuya. Like, he dressed differently and he used a different deck.”
“A different deck, huh?”
A deck is like a fingeriprint to a duelist. Just like fingerprints are different for every person, so is a deck.
“Yes. He used a strange archetype called Phantom Knights and he Xyz Summoned too!”
Lawyer Russel then stood up. “Based on camera footage from You Show Duel School, the recent duel Yuya had against Strong Ishijima and Shingo Sawatari, and records from Leo Corp., we know from a fact that Yuya Sakaki uses neither Phantom Knights nor Xyz Summoning.”
“Objection!” Shingo shouted. “Yuya Sakaki could’ve purchased those cards before he came to me.”
“Objection!” Lawyer Russel retorted. “In order for Yuya to even obtain this archetype, he’d had to place a personal order from Leo Corp. himself. Reiji Akaba, does your company even print Phantom Knights?”
Reiji paused before shaking his head. “This is the first time I’m hearing this little detail.”
“But…but what about the dark dragon?” Shingo stammered. “Dark Revel something – “
“That also would’ve had to been cleared by Leo Corp.” Lawyer Russel added.
“We still need a description of the mystery man,” said Judge Andersen. “Yuzu, please continue.”
“Well first off, he had grey eyes along with lavender and grey hair,” Yuzu explained. “His Duel Disk looked quite different than the usual model that many duelists in Maiami City use. He wore an olive shirt, black tie, black pants and a tattered coat like a cape.”
“And what reasons did he have to ‘attack’ Shingo?”
“He had a pin that only LDS students carried and he was asking Shingo about ‘Academia’. But when Shingo didn’t give him the answers, they continued the duel, the spear hit Shingo to drop Shingo's lifepoints to 0 and then he just…vanished in a burst of light. Seconds later, Yuya arrived.”
The claim made the judge do a double take. Everything had otherwise made some semblance of sense. And Maiami City was pretty big; dopplegangers wouldn't be that out of place.
“Based on the evidence, we can conclude that Yuya Sakaki did not attack Shingo Sawatari!” Lawyer Russell concluded.
There was murmurs from the audience as Shingo and his father started to shrink, all while Reiji could’ve fired lasers from his glare.
“You didn’t even remember what he looked like ?” He hissed.
“I was panicking!” Shingo exclaimed. “He tried to kill me that I must’ve forgotten!”
“Which reminds me,” Judge Andersen said aloud. “Shingo Sawatari, Dr. Liscio gave us footage of you while you were getting treated at the hospital.”
“And you’ll soon see that – “
“You were making mountain out of molehills. If I can direct everyone’s attention to the monitor...”
The black monitor began to play footage of Shingo being examined by a fair-haired doctor with blue eyes that were rolled in annoyance.
“Oh the pain! The agony!!!” Shingo wailed, clutching his shoulder..
The doctor took one look at the overacting drama queen in front of him and knew Shingo was not actually suffering. Checking his vitals, the doctor observed, " Well, his heart rate is elevated, but that may just be excitement and stress rather than anything wrong with him."
“But I got pierced in the shoulder!” Shingo bawled. “I could see my life flash before my eyes!”
The doctor removed the boy's jacket to check for bruises and cuts, quickly finding a small one on his shoulder. Right where the spear had nearly impaled his arm. Any deeper and it might have hit something vital! If the attacker had done so, the boy would not be standing in front of them at the moment.
“Please tell me you can fix this!” Mayor Sawatari pleaded. “Please oh please can you…”
The doctor silently placed a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol on the wound causing Shingo to screech. Then, said doctor slapped a bandaid on the cut and rolled his eyes at the sheer overacting on display over such a minor injury.
“All better.” The doctor stated camly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other patients that need actual medical help. Please pay at the counter and make sure not to go Action Dueling for a day or two."
The footage was paused and Himika was ready to tear Shingo’s blond bangs apart with her bare hands.
“Reports of your injuries were highly exaggerated,” Judge Andersen muttered.
“I panicked!” Shingo exclaimed. “You try calming down when a giant black dragon is staring back at you!”
“Was this dragon an Xyz summon like what Miss Hiragi stated?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember its name?”
“Uh…Dark Revel something. But it had ‘Xyz Dragon’ at the end.”
“And again, Reiji Akaba,” Judge Andersen could see the sweat forming on Reiji’s face. “Has Leo Corp. produced an ‘Xyz Dragon’ card before?”
Reiji was never nervous, but the Judge’s glare was giving him shivers. “N…no?”
Lawyer Russel smirked. “Since all evidence points to the assailant not being Yuya Sakaki, then the charges cannot be invoked!”
“Yes!” Yuya cheered, and so did Yuzu. Mayor Sawatari was mourning on how his election campaign was ruined while Reiji was about to strangle Shingo. But Shingo, stubbornly or otherwise, wasn’t going to let this end.
“You don’t know that Yuya, or the mystery man, wouldn’t have killed me! He can be a very violent person!” Shingo complained.
“If you mean violently make us go into fits of laughter, then yes. He’s very violent.” Yoko remarked, the first one she made the entire session.
Shingo growled as Judge Andersen continued.
“In case your memory deceives you, there is also security camera footage that you and Yuya Sakaki dueled in Leo Duel School almost a week ago. And when you decided to steal his cards, he did not lay a single punch on you.”
“I didn’t steal his cards!” Shingo corrected. “He handed them to me!”
Judge Andersen turned to Yuya. “Is this correct?”
Yuya nodded his head sadly. “Y-yeah he just wanted to have a peek. I was unsure, even though Tatsuya, Ayu and Futoshi said it would be harmless…and then he snatched them up before I knew what hit me.”
“And then he used your cards in your duel. A duel that could’ve endangered four children had those magicians not save them in time.”
Gasps filled the crowd and Reiji’s eyes widened.
“Shingo’s testimony of Yuya attacking him for ‘revenge’ in their duel made us go through the footage from Leo Duel School’s central court. And we found severe negligence in the audience.”
The monitor replayed the moment Yuya used his Spell Card to return Timegazer and Stargazer Magician to his side and they raced to save Yuzu, Ayu, Tatsuya and especially Futoshi from uncertain doom.
“W-well that’s their fault for getting involved!” Shingo shouted.
“No, that’s your fault for not being concerned.” Judge Andersen retorted.
Shingo gulped as a dozen pairs of eyes glared at him. He tried to calm his nerves before he blurted out, “W-well it’s not like Reiji was concerned about how I lost even though he told me to take Yuya’s Pendulums from him!”
The entire court gasped. Yuya almost fainted. Yuzu glared daggers at the young LDS CEO.
Shingo immediately covered his mouth in horror as Yoko raised an eyebrow. “You want me to take the shovel away from you before you dig yourself into a deeper ditch?” she asked.
The lawyer turned to Reiji. “Mr. Akaba, did you or did you not request Shingo Sawatari to steal Yuya’s Pendulum monsters?”
Reiji began to sweat. “I…I…"
“Don’t weasel your way out of this!” Shingo exclaimed. “You told me to take the cards and use them to see how they worked!”
“Did you also watch as four students of You Show Duel School could have fallen to their deaths and did nothing to stop it?” Lawyer Russel added.
“Um…”
Shuzo’s knuckles turned white while Yoko began cracking her knuckles. Lawyer Russel snarled. “So you're telling me that you had Mr. Sawatari attack and antagonize Mr. Sakaki, while there were minors present and in clear danger? And there were three other witnesses who did nothing but gawk and stare instead of trying to get the children to safety? Did you not ask Mr Sawatari to stop the duel when it was clear they were in peril, or have them leave the area before the duel to prevent them from getting hurt?
“I uh, no…?” Reiji whimpered.
“So you, the CEO of Leo Duel School, allowed four minors to be in clear danger and didn't think to step in? Or simply tell Mr. Sawatari to stop the duel until the children were out of danger?”
Yoko looked ready to pound Reiji’s face in. Shuzo cracked his knuckles and silently glared.
“You are responsible for those who enter your school, whether it be your students or even guests.” Lawyer Russel contitinued. “But all that mattered in the end were two cards?! Are you that petty?”
“No, I–”
“Four children could’ve been dead or critically injured that day! Did you apologize to them? Did you call their parents to apologize for how you endangered their lives? Did you even compensate for the danger you put them in?!”
“Not a single Yen was given to us!” Shuzo exclaimed.
“And you call yourself a CEO,” The lawyer muttered. “And technically, you’re only 16! Legally, you shouldn’t even be a CEO!”
There was now an uproar as Reiji realized what was going to happen next.
Judge Andersen slammed his gavel. “Order! ORDER! From what I can tell, it seems that there is another case that is involved in just Shingo trying to hide the blame for this deal. I hereby decree that Yuya Sakaki is Not Guilty – “
“YES!” Yuya pumped a fist in the air.
“And we will be taking a fifteen minute recess as we prepare the new case that has fallen into my lap.”
With a final slam of the gavel, Yuzu raiced out of the witness stand and practically tackled Yuya in a hug. Shuzo was sobbing loudly at how this “hot-blooded” trial was over and hugged Ayu. Yoko smirked all while Himika growled at how everything had gone so wrong.
“This isn’t the end!” she snapped. “Your husband’s school will be torn down after the talk we had with Shuzo Hiragi.”
“Oh, it is the end,” said Yoko as she led everyone out of the court house. She was the last to leave, and she turned around to give Reiji and the Queen of Hearts one mre look. “Oh, and next time you want something to do with my son, or try to buy out my husband’s school, you should talk to me first not Shuzo.. After all, I’m the co-owner of You Show Duel School. Shuzo’s just the principal. And I’m going to make sure to file a huge Cease and Desist at Leo Corp in the following days. After all, I have a lot of time around the house. It gets lonely so maybe you could give me a call.”
Himika’s mouth was open like a sea bass as Yoko closed the door behind her. Meanwhile, Reiji could only slump in his seat as he realized what he had done and Shingo was wailing at how the great ‘Sawatari’ was ruined. Ruined, he say!
For all of Reiji’s planning, he didn’t consider the legal repercussions.
For all of Reiji’s planning, he didn’t consider Shingo to be so…incompetent.
And for all of Reiji’s planning, he failed to realize that Yuya wasn’t the only Sakaki in the family associated with You Show.
Reiji Akaba, CEO of Leo Corp., could only place his hands over his face as he realized what has happened.
He messed up. And no amount of money or dark contracts could fix this.