The Judge's Date with Death

(3) Knocking on Death's Door

Sae Niijima was a strong woman. She handled cases that most others dare not take for fear of failure or demeaning, but not her. Sae Niijima was a relentless prosecutor and a deadly defense attorney. Sae Niijima didn't back down from a challenge. That being said...

Sae Niijima was nervous as hell.

She'd told Makoto about her date soon after messaging Takemi for the first time. To say her sister was happy for her was a great understatement. Makoto texted her sister every chance she got to ask how things were going between the two. It had calmed down as the day of her date with the doctor approached, as Makoto was busy with college exams throughout that next week, but her sister still took time to help Sae with any nerves she was having. Sae, though embarrassed she was asking her 'baby sister' for dating counseling, was still thankful for her sister's listening ear.

Her conversations with Takemi herself were also going very well. Thanks to Ren, Sae had gotten quite the wealth of knowledge surrounding the doctor. How she'd been testing her custom medicines with him to help a young girl and how her superiors had tried to blacklist her from the medical world entirely. Sae was dumbfounded at the seeming incompetence and pettiness of the medical staff at Takemi's former workplace. Thankfully the phantom thieves helped her with that some, but much of the medical world still thought of her as 'the plague.'

As Sae learned more about Takemi, the more she grew to appreciate her skill as well as her initial appearance of her. The doctor didn't seem it, but she was actually a very sweet, caring person. That didn't mean she was innocent or naive by any means, as Rem had told her of the numerous clinical trials he'd been through to help her with the medicine. Partnof her didn't agree 100% with Takemi's methods from a solely legal standpoint, but she had looked over a lot in regards to the phantom thieves, what was one more thing involving her date.

Right, Sae thought as she laid in bed, my date.

Despite the coaching from Ren l, Makoto, and even some of her close coworkers, that didn't stop Sae's nerves from shooting through the roof as she stood outside Takemi's clinic. Despite being 25 now, Sae still felt nervous about the doctor. However, she'd gone this far and talked with her enough to get this far, might as well see how far it went from here.

"Hello Niijima-san," Sae heard. She turned down the street and saw a figure walking up to her.

Sae was embarrassed to admit she was amazed by the figure who approached her. Tae had forgone her simple short dress and lab coat for a lighter blue dress with spider web designs along it, her long milky legs covered now in ripped black leggings and admittedly cute boots. She still wore her necklace with a pill dangling from it, the accessory digging close to the dark-haired woman's chest.

'K-keep it together Niijima. Just a simple date. Nothing more. Not like this is the first date you've been on in like 12 years or anything!'

"O-oh, g-g-good evening Dr. Take-Tae! Good evening Tae-san!" Sae was mentally slapping herself for stumbling so much. Even if she didn't prefer men, the ones she had been with had never made her feel as giddy as the punk doctor before her did.

"Well good evening to you too cutie," Tae responded with a wink. Sae could feel the familiar blush starting to grow onto her cheeks at the doctor's comment. She shyly looked away before going back to thinking about it all.

'Ok, ok, don't panic, you're okay. Yes you may be a bit overdressed in your normal suit and yes she does look incredibly attractive, but focus!' Sae took a deep breath and looked back. Tae was looking at her with the same kind smile, though the former prosecutor could see a hint of concern in her beautiful brown eyes.

"You have very nice eyes." Sae found herself saying the comment before she could register what was coming out of her mouth. Her hands quickly came to slap themselves against her lips as the hintest signs of a blush could be seen on Tae's cheeks.