The Judge's Date with Death

(2) The Wild Card

"Makoto, no. I don't want to call him about this." Sae knew what her sister had been insinuating. She wouldn't have told her how she and Amamiya had gotten together if she didn't have the idea already in her brain.

"Come on sis, it'll be fine. He knows Takemi-san and has experience in this kind of thing."

"Yes, yes, I know. It just feels...off, you know? Asking my little sister's boyfriend how I can ask out his former doctor isn't something I'm very happy with doing."

"I know sis, but it'll be fine. Ren's a good guy, you know this. Yes he can be teasing at times but he'll want to help you, especially after what you did to get him out of juvie."

Sae considered it. In the short time she'd gotten to know Ren Amamiya, the boy had surprised her at every turn. Shed written him off as nothing but a problematic transfer student initially, someone she didn't want her little sister interacting with right before she went to a good college. But after the last year and all the drama surrounding his actions as a phantom thief, she'd come to see the boy as a very respectable, kind young man, one who she wasn't all too pleased to learn was dating her sister for several months before she found out herself. Thankfully, that too dissipated over time. Sae sighed in defeat and looked back to her sister as she sat back down.

"Ok Makoto, alright. I'll call Amamiya-kun and see what he can tell me about Takemi-san." She didn't like the idea, not one bit, but she was desperate. Makoto smiled and walked over to her sister, pulling her into a light hug.

"Thanks sis. I promise you won't regret it." Makoto smiled once more before picking up her bag and brushing her clothes down with her hands. "I think I'm going to head out now. I've got some material I need to review for my next exam. I'll see you in a few weeks?"

"Of course Makoto, and...thanks for the help." Sae hugged her sister back as she escorted Makoto out the door. They waved goodbye as Sae closed the door. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and looked down. What am I doing?! She had called her sister to just meet up and relax, yet it had devolved into her venting about her crush on a person Makoto didn't even know all that well. She recalled what Makoto had said earlier about asking Amamiya-kun for help in her endeavors. She and the boy weren't the closest, but she couldn't deny she held a great deal of respect for the kid. She even considered him something of family since learning of his relationship with Makoto. She shamefully looked at her phone and called the boy. Thankfully, the sunday meant he didn't have any classes and would probably be free to talk, even if she didn't want to.

"Hello Sae-san! What's up?" Rern asked. Sae looked around and walked towards the armchair resting in the corner, her hand resting on her forehead.

"Good afternoon Amamiya-kun. How are you?"

"Oh, well I'm doing alright Sae-san. And you can just call me Ren if you'd like."

"Well that's good. And I suppose you can call me Sae then. I'm not your attorney anymore."

"Haha, yeah. I suppose not. Anyways, how are things? How's Makoto doing? I heard from her the two of you were meeting up today."

Sae sighed and smiled to herself. Of course he'd ask how Makoto was doing. "She's doing alright, she just left a few minutes ago. It's been nice being on better footing with her again. I suppose I have to thank you again for that."

"Oh it's no trouble Sae. Just doing what we did best after all." Sae sighed. She could almost feel the snarky grin plastered on his smug face right now.

"Of course. Anyways I...needed to ask you something. I asked Makoto earlier and she told me that you would be a good source of information about this." Keep it together Niijima, Sae thought to herself. Just tell him what you need to.