Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Railgun Cold Game (section)

===Part 20===

'''(judgment)

The twintail girl arrived at Loophole’s waiting room. A gloomy young glasses man, presumably the court-appointed attorney, tried to keep her out, but Innai Chigiri stopped him.

The pretty boy invited her inside and laughed.

“Oh? You aren’t the usual prosecutor. I’m ready to go at any time. ''Just say the word and I can go save the frozen girl''. Now, let’s resume the trial and have the case dismissed.”

“If she had seen you in person, she probably would have punched you, so I am relaying the message as a member of Judgment.”

“Are you raising the white flag without even beginning the war of words?”

“Quite the opposite. The trial will resume shortly. And you will be punished for your crimes as normal.”

Innai Chigiri’s eyes widened somewhat.

Then he began observing her, perhaps to determine whether or not she was bluffing.

“Do you really think the judges and lay judges are in any mental state to continue the trial? The computer meant to assist them is still malfunctioning, isn’t it?”

“Did you think that would give you an advantage? Do not worry. People are not as weak as you seem to think they are. Because this is so hard for everyone, they say they must ensure a good precedent is set today.”

“There was a fire in the temporary evidence storage room and a gallery member supporting the prosecution set foot inside without permission. The evidence has already lost all impartiality.”

“The plastic-packaged evidence did not get any soot or foam on it, so worry not. And you seem to be claiming that my Onee-sama tampered with it, but the plastic packages were sealed by melting the plastic itself and a testing kit can easily determine whether or not they were opened. In other words, that method will not work.”

“Loophole continues to release videos on the internet and quite a few people support the idea that the charges against me are false. Public opinion will not allow the trial to continue.”

“I asked the judges just to be certain, but it seems trials are governed by the law. This is not a TV show trying to gain popularity, so they intend to solemnly pass judgment no matter how much the people outside protest.”

“What about the cold sleep case? Without me and my method, you can’t save Asajimo Saemi. Or are the judges, lay judges, and prosecution going to let an innocent victim die?”

“Yes, I wonder what happened with that.”

It was now Shirai Kuroko’s turn to smile.

It was an ephemeral, lovely…and callously teenage smile.

Most likely, the boy was only so talkative because he was trying to hide the panic in his heart. If he was absolutely confident in his victory, he would not even need to respond. He would not have had to shake the other person’s emotions in an attempt to draw out information.

“Not even I expected this, but it seems my Onee-sama actually did it. So I can throw this all in your face with no bad aftertaste whatsoever.”

“What are you-…?”

“There is no need to give up on this world quite yet. That is what I mean. Now, how do those words sound to you, as someone who the world is about to give up on?”

With that, Shirai Kuroko grabbed the remote to the waiting room’s TV.

The LCD screen came to life and voices came from the speakers:

“The university hospital has just released a statement. A medical examination has confirmed Asajimo Saemi-san’s survival after being freed from cold sleep. I repeat, Asajimo Saemi-san’s survival has been confirmed!”

“We are in front of the hospital where it all happened. The crowd that had gathered to leave flowers in her memory cannot hide their confusion, but it seems the unfreezing has been safely completed and you can just feel the tension fading from everyone here.”

“That was being used as a bargaining chip by Boy A, aka Loophole, so what will happen with the trial now? Let us ask the experts for their impressions.”

“………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………”

He had no more words.

From the look on his face, you would have thought the flurry of camera flashes was occurring right in front of him.

He was an unprecedented serial killer with a dark charisma and a rusty allure. He was an intellectual criminal who acted all-knowing and all-powerful while using his crimes to highlight society’s deficiencies. But that Loophole was no more. There was only a puny mass of emotion trembling in fear of the verdict that would soon be given to him.

He did not even have some power wrapped in an unnerving veil of mystery.

There was nothing there but a zero.

“Society needs me.”

“Does it really?”

“This changes nothing. Everyone will break under the pressure of responsibility and fail to pass judgment. I will still escape with a dismissal! The trial will end and the laws against double jeopardy will protect me!!”

“Now, I wonder if you’ll have changed your tune five minutes from now.”

Innai Chigiri suddenly turned toward the gloomy young glasses man.

But the court-appointed attorney provided no real support. He was simply paid from the people’s tax money. Unlike a private attorney, his remuneration was not influenced by how he did his job. He had no reason to step out onto the thin ice here.

Loophole’s mouth flapped wordlessly for a moment, and then…

“This isn’t over. Even if I’m found guilty in this court of first instance, there’s always next time. I’m not going to just sit around in the juvenile hall. I have countless followers. They’re everywhere. Listen, you’d better live in fear. I know what you look like!!”

“We live a society of mass consumption. It can be shocking how readily people move onto the next thing once something stops being interesting. You had better hope your share of fans holds out for a while longer.”

To finish it off, an announcement played over the speaker.

“I apologize for the long delay brought on by a variety of circumstances,” said the presiding judge. “But the recess will now end and the trial will resume. All related parties please report to Court 103!”