JJK : Death Trade Ch 86 : Guilty Or Innocent ? (Patreon)

The defendant is charged with the murder of Chizuru Hari and Reggie Star." Higuruma shouted.

Without a second of delay, I spoke. "I went to him to ask for his points, just like I came to you. I never intended to kill him. I had nothing but peaceful talk in mind, besides being ready to be attacked at any time. However, Chizuru attacked us first. He attacked Remi, a girl I know, and I moved to save her. If I hadn't, then she would have died. I threw a punch at him to stop his next attack, and next I knew, he was blasted off. I don't know what happened to him next.

As for Reggie Star, we fought until I had no option but to kill him by using my domain and creating a barrier to stop him."

That was a fine line I was walking, a single wrong word and I'm doomed.

As evidence, this time the person who came in was Remi.

Higuruma asked, and Remi answered what happened.

"Hmph... Yami is my knight, it's only natural he protects me. And that bastard is already dead, how weak. Heh... but what can you expect, no one is as strong as my Yami..."

I felt ants crawling at my back the way she was talking, just say he didn't kill him and stop, girl... you might really kill me at this rate.

"So, did Yami Akindo kill player Chizuru Hari and Reggie Star?" Higuruma asked again, needing a clear answer.

"Hmm..." Remi paused. She wasn't actually aware of that. "I know he killed Reggie, but I wasn't there to see it for myself. As for that bastard Chizuru, he attacked me and Yami punched him really hard after saving me, but whether he died or not, I'm unaware."

Higuruma paused for a second before nodding. This time he also had a folder in his hands. He took out the folder and then took out a pen-drive from it. A player materialized to mine and Remi's amazement before whatever evidence was inside the pen-drive was revealed.

It was me fighting Reggie. Not the entire fight, just the last stand where both of us fought. The video was clearly captured by a security camera placed far away.

However, it was blocked the moment a barrier appeared around both of us, and then by the time the barrier was removed, Reggie was already dead...

I'm even surprised that barriers could be seen in recordings.

But then my eyes snapped open in realization.

Can't say anything about a real domain's barrier, which I can only know after testing it out myself. However, this barrier did block the camera because this one was based on the veil which Jujutsu Tech uses to block sights, cameras, and real eyes alike when doing exorcism missions.

'Of course... that's the most basic kind of barrier. They developed that barrier technique entirely to prevent ordinary people from seeing what's going on inside the barrier...'

I felt like my racing heart would burst out at the coincidence.

'Forget any insult I might or might not have sent your way in times of extreme pain. Oh God, I love you...'

I watched Higuruma's expression carefully as the scales settled a third time, dead level, the Judgeman's verdict landing the same as before.

"Innocent."

He didn't stop there, called out another name. "Hazenoki Lori"

The explosion Freak.

"What about him...?" Remi snorted.

"Did Akindo Yami Killed him...?"

"Dud... of course he did." Remi rolled her eyes. And I felt like my heart will cough out of my mouth.

"Self defence... it was self defence." I shouted from my side.

Higuruma rose my eye brow and looked at Remi.

"I mean yeah... he was going crazy, throwing his teeth and eye balls at us, that was gross but if that wasn't enough they explode. He even burn out my knights entire back while he protected me. That bastard even try to throw those bloody bombs on me. Can you believe it..."

Higuruma took a deep breath and asked again.

"Was it in self defence ?"

Remi puased, thought about it and then nodded. "Yes, Yami wouldn't have killed him if he wasn't aiming to explode us to cinders... completely self defence..."

For the first time, something like genuine frustration flickered across his face — not anger, exactly, more the expression of a man watching a carefully built case crumble one pillar at a time.

"...Either you are really as innocent as you claim to be or an excellent liar," he muttered, almost to himself.

'Try absurd luck at both extremes.' I murmured under my breath.

He stopped on a page. Read it twice. And when he looked back up at me, something in his posture had changed — steadier, more deliberate, like he'd finally found the one card that mattered.

"The defendant is charged with the death of one Haruto Shigemo during the Shibuya Incident."

The name landed like a weight in my chest. Memories of that time came rushing in, all the pain and the chaos. A shudder passed down my spine before I regained my composure.

I took a long breath before...

"...I wanted him dead," I admitted, low. "I won't deny that. He deserved worse than what he got, honestly."

"Then—"

"But I didn't kill him." I met his eyes directly. "Mahoraga did. At best I was indirectly responsible for his death, but even that is stretching it too far.

I made the choice that led there. But the blade that actually ended him wasn't mine. If you're asking whether I bear responsibility for wanting it — yes. If you're asking whether I'm guilty of the act itself — no. The one responsible should be Mahoraga or, to be exact, Megumi Fushiguro... he let Mahoraga out to fight off Shigemo. Hell, I wasn't even the target of that monster, it was always Shigemo. I was dragged into it because of that f*cking bastard." I said with complete honesty.

Higuruma held my gaze for a long, silent moment, weighing something I couldn't quite read.

This time around, it was Megumi who appeared in the witness box.

"Akindo?"

"Fushiguro..." I sighed... can this domain really bring anyone here as a witness?

"What's going on?" Megumi looked around. He was in a courtroom, just as confused as everyone else.

"Megumi Fushiguro, the court would like to know whether you did or did not summon a Shikigami from the Ten Shadows Technique called Mahoraga in Shibuya on the night of October 31st against a curse user named Shigemo Haruto." Higuruma asked, still just as calm as always.

Megumi froze at that... his eyes went from Higuruma to me... unsure what was going on, but he still answered.

"I'm unsure who this Shigemo Haruto is, but I did indeed summon Mahoraga in a subjugation ritual against a curse user in Shibuya on that date."

Higuruma nodded and from his folder took out a picture. It was Haruto's image.

"Is this the person...?"

"Yes." Megumi nodded.

Higuruma fell into silence. It wasn't concrete evidence that I was innocent, but just like the earlier evidence, it didn't prove I was guilty either.

Knowing how the subjugation ritual of the Ten Shadows Technique worked due to the limited intel his domain provided... the chances of Mahoraga killing Shigemo Haruto were indeed higher than me killing him.

The Judgeman's scales trembled, swayed harder than they had for any previous charge, tipping first one way, then correcting, then finally settling — not fully level, but not fully damning either.

"...Guilty of intent," the Shikigami intoned slowly. "Innocent of the act. Penalty, without execution."

Higuruma closed his eyes.

The Executioner's Sword, which he was expecting, never came; then the courtroom dissolved into nothing.

Megumi was also gone.

"...I see," he said quietly.

Silence stretched between us, the courtroom holding its breath along with him.

"You know," he said finally, opening his eyes again, "I built an entire strategy around the assumption you were exactly the kind of killer this colony breeds. Someone using survival as an excuse to indulge in something worse."

"And?"

"And every single verdict says otherwise. I still can't know for sure, even the judgment evaluates the case based on evidence and testimonies." He exhaled, something in his shoulders finally loosening after what had clearly been a long, exhausting effort to prove himself right. "But, you defended yourself. You spare who you can. And you didn't kill me when you could have, knowing your track record so far by the evidence... even unwillingly you're quite a killer."

Was that a jab? That last line was entirely unnecessary, right?

"...I've killed people, Higuruma. Never denied it. However, I never killed the innocent, and mostly to save my own life. That number would just increase if law ever considered cursed spirits' lives to matter too someday. But I don't consider myself a killer. I'm not. I will only kill to survive. That's all it will ever be."

"No. It isn't. But that's just me..." He said it plainly, no absolution in his tone. "There's indeed a considerable difference between killing and murder, and you seem to understand that distinction better than most people I've judged in here."

And that seemed to pause the conversation right there. Silence lingered for a while after that until finally I couldn't take it anymore and asked.

"So what now... still intend to come at me now that your death penalty idea failed? Or have you got some other act of law to punish me with that I don't know about...?"

"No..." Higuruma at that just shook his head.

"No?" I gulped.

"I'm done fighting... I can't beat you without my gavel and gaining a death penalty from the Judgeman," he said finally, with the same flat, procedural honesty he'd used for everything else.

"Not through this domain, and clearly not through direct combat either. And I find I no longer particularly want to."

The courtroom around us began to dissolve, darkness bleeding away into the familiar dusty outline of the theatre stage.

A single slip of paper where his gavel was stored vanished the moment his technique—or domain, to be exact—went inactive. Clearly, it was part of the technique, not a real object, and it wouldn't exist if the technique became inactive.

And at the same time, I could also feel a buzzing inside my mind.

As if a long-lost friend had reunited with me.

My technique was back. I felt like my soul got liberated just knowing that. It felt suffocating not having my technique within a fight.

"So," he continued, his voice steadying, "let's discuss those points you were so adamant about. And this rule you're so intent on adding."

xXx

A/N : What you think, did I do Higuruma's character justice ? Of course I had let him ask more question in the domain then he long would have found out the truth, the man is an excellent laywer. But I guess this is the best I could in terms of writing a courtroom scene. What you guys think, tell me in the comments.