Unfortunately, they weren't able to convict Cayden. Arata returns home with Clemence and Selena. He takes note that she didn't talk once during the trial, the poor girl was too afraid to even move. She just sat there sweating for the whole duration. Arata steps in her direction, reaching out to Selena's shoulder.
"Hey, are you okay? You seem on edge. Today was hard. Good job, when Cayden refused to shut his mouth, he made the defending attorney's life hell." Arata gives a warm smile before they meet Madam Kovalenko inside.
"Oh, finally, you guys are back, come back to the staff room for some dinner. I was surprised to see Arata. Maybe being a lawyer is your calling? Clemence had really drilled those skills into your brain, huh?" Madam Kovalenko comments as she begins to chuckle to herself.
"She was in the audience? I didn't even notice?" Arata comments in confusion.
Selena, explaining to Arata, "She waved to me during the trial, I- I was watching around the room since I didn't want to be in that moment up with you and Clemence. I felt the eyes of Cayden on me." She begins to shiver further, a tear drops down her face as she can barely hold it in.
"Hey Clemence, we've got everything we need for day two prepared already. After dinner, could you accompany Selena to her room for the night? I don't know what it is, but I have this strange feeling for her safety," Arata explains, pleading to Clemence, although she would've done it without question.
What could be for dinner? No… are you KIDDING ME!
"I made rabbit stew for the night. Clemence, why don't you be a dear and call the rest of the girls in before opening hour?" Madam Kovalenko requested, then poured out a bowl each for everyone.
Arata looks down at his bowl, slowly picking up the spoon as he takes his first bite. He chews slowly and hesitantly since he gets bad memories of rabbits. He slowly eats, taking note of the salt, meaty umami, and a layer of fattiness. This dish is surprisingly delicious!
Forget about rabbit trauma; delicious food is hard to come by in this world. I'm in heaven. "Man, the girls here really are eating well. This is some good rabbit meat." Arata comments, sending his compliments to the chef.
Clemence looks at Arata with confusion, "This is chicken, though? What's rabbit?"
Madam Kovalenko chuckles, explaining, "My, thanks dear, you must've been taught well by your mother to show gratitude to a lady. Gratitude… in the red light district, you learn it's been taken for granted. Giving the girls a meal like this is the least I can do."
No, I heard Madam Kovalenko say rabbit, am I going insane? Tasting the broth, which definitely tasted like chicken, though I've never eaten rabbit to confirm.
Madam Kovalenko began to rant a little, "Being a prostitute isn't as easy as throwing yourself at a man; some can be hurt by such uncomfortable arrangements. People confuse the Baker's era of security with one free from hardship. Some are safe from the demons but unhappy with their lives. Selling your body means that people will treat your body like an object, disposable, marginalized and the target of discriminatio-"
The Baker? I feel bad for not listening to the rest of that rant, but I wish I could know more about him.
"People think they can push others around, demanding that a young woman humiliates herself since she needs to survive in this world. Coercion, domestic abuse and then they use their disgusting actions as a means to isolate one person from others. To them, they believe no one would go out of their way to fix a broken tool; they're designed so that you can just get a new one." Selena comments out of nowhere, seemingly having gotten a little emotional as she clenches the spoon in her hand. She begins to eat as several girls enter the room with Clemence.
Selena… she's a victim of circumstance, too, in a way.
Arata decides to speak up, "The world can sometimes leave you feeling isolated. I find it's hard to help others strike a balance. If you're too desperate, you can be manipulated, yet if you never reach out, you'll miss out on what can sometimes be vital help."
At times like these, he thinks back to Ren, recognizing that Ren was the one who reached out first. The reality was a lot more varied than what he had contributed to the conversation. Maybe Ren had shaped me; I had initially reached out to Selena for no reason myself.
"Hey~ is that the new man of the hour? Can one of us have him for tonight, Madam Kovalenko?" A blond girl begs, the others chuckling to each other.
Clemence gets surprisingly upset, pointing out, "Hey, he's still got the trial to focus on. He needs to sleep. Besides, he's still an innocent boy… even though he's already quite old to be a boy. He's a boy in spirit."
One of them whispers about making Arata into a man, which makes him just want to step out of the room. Things have gotten way too awkward. What would Raphael say, watching back over the events of tonight in the theater?
Arata chuckles, asking, "Madam Kovalenko, if I may be excused, I will try to get to bed early for the trial."
Madam Kovalenko chuckles, "Ahaha, you're reaaaalll funny, you're not a kid anymore so you can just head back up."
Raphael will have material to throw at me for a while, won't she? Just great.
The storage room, now that he didn't feel like collapsing, he realized, the bed was much harder to sleep on, barely any support, and the room was filled with dust. At least the temperature was good. That, however, did nothing to justify the noise that quickly picked up, thumping, lots of it. The noise grew louder.
Yet Arata realized it wasn't from the bedrooms but rather outside. The moon was red, it was like a pearl… until the moon moved with a leap. A giant black rabbit was outside the building, peering into Arata's location. Letting out a squeak as Arata was driven insane.
Loud, too loud to sleep, shitty rabbit. Is it annoyed I ate its kid in the stew? I wanna go out and kill it! No, thinking back to that taste, it was chicken, and this thing should've crushed the buildings beneath it. Am I going insane?
It peered in yet again, bearing its fangs, but an invisible force repels it, and the rabbit jumps away with a screech. Hopping away into the night, that same invisible force lulls Arata to sleep.
Arata awakes to a horrifying scream of a human, a girl, on the floor in a pure white room.