Chapter 240: The Verdict of the Trial

In Japan, there is also a concept called "Golden Week" in May, though it has nothing to do with Labor Day.

This "Golden Week" is composed of several consecutive holidays from the end of April to the beginning of May: Showa Day, Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day, and Children's Day on May 5th.

During this period, discussions regarding the case of Onuki Masakazu and Akiwara Yuto also intensified in society.

When the news of the assassination attempt on Akiwara Yuto first broke, the majority of the public felt indignant, viewing Onuki Masakazu as a heinous villain and expressing great concern for Akiwara Yuto's safety.

However, after Onuki Masakazu published his "confession letter" and it was learned that Akiwara Yuto had not been injured, the attitude of many in the public shifted, and they began to sympathize with him.

Because Akiwara Yuto's side had not made any public statements, this viewpoint continued to gain momentum.

Meanwhile, three judges and six jurors were selected; they would together deliver the final verdict on this case.

Furthermore, due to the social nature of the incident, the court, after coordinating with both sides, invited 15 media personnel and 15 members of the public to attend the trial as observers.

May 7th, 9: 0 AM, Tokyo High Court.

Akiwara Yuto attended the trial alongside Watanabe Takumi, while Shi Ban appeared as the defense attorney for Onuki Masakazu.

After the judge declared the court in session, both sides began the dull and solemn process of debate and evidence presentation—including statements from the parties involved, cross-examination of evidence, opening statements from the plaintiff, defense arguments, statements from third parties, and mutual rebuttal.

However, during the defense's argument, a very surprising incident occurred.

At this stage, Onuki Masakazu suddenly assumed a kneeling position (dogeza) and "wept bitterly," saying he was wrong and hoping that Mr. Akiwara Yuto could forgive his mistake.

Furthermore, he hoped the court would grant a lenient sentence so that he could return home to "filially serve" his parents.

Following this, Onuki Masakazu's defense attorney, Shi Ban, presented guardianship consent documents from his parents, as well as a psychiatric evaluation certificate.

This drew the attention of the many media members in the gallery, who turned their gazes toward Akiwara Yuto to see if he would agree to this request.

The result did not disappoint them; faced with Onuki Masakazu's sincere "admission of guilt," Akiwara Yuto expressed his "forgiveness" after a long silence.

This dramatic outcome undoubtedly excited the media.

If it weren't for the fact that photography was prohibited in the courtroom, many would likely have started frantically clicking their shutters with their long lenses and cameras.

Because the case was not complex and both parties had expressed an intention to "reconcile."

There was not much disagreement between the judge and the jury, and the verdict was delivered on the spot—recognizing the "mental disorder" certificate for Onuki Masakazu and handing down a sentence of 4 years with a 2-year suspension.

Faced with this result, Onuki Masakazu wept with joy.

"Akiwara-san, it was a pleasure working with you this time."

After walking out of the courthouse, Watanabe Takumi smiled and extended his hand toward Akiwara Yuto. Akiwara Yuto hesitated for a moment before shaking it.

He looked at Watanabe Takumi's smiling face, feeling as if he were looking at a venomous snake.

When media reports broke that Onuki Masakazu had mental health issues, he had also considered trying to prove the other party's mental instability to force him into involuntary psychiatric treatment.

But after reviewing a large amount of information, he found this to be very difficult, as a judgment for involuntary psychiatric treatment must be approved by the court.

So, when Watanabe Takumi proposed this approach again, Akiwara Yuto suggested another way—spending money to hire a lawyer to set a trap for Onuki Masakazu, forcing him to fall into a "snare" and lose the case in court.

But Watanabe Takumi added further content based on this proposal.

The trap-setting approach was indeed feasible, but Onuki Masakazu himself was not completely ignorant. If it weren't for the sake of the other party's interests, it would be difficult to make him fall into the trap.

Besides that, court judgments have too much uncertainty, and there is no guarantee regarding the time and location of the involuntary psychiatric treatment.

If Onuki Masakazu were to behave well, it is very likely he would end the treatment early and be discharged.

After all, courts generally select public hospitals for involuntary psychiatric treatment, which is difficult to manipulate.

Therefore, Watanabe Takumi formulated a plan: take a step back and let that lawyer "sincerely" help Onuki Masakazu to gain his trust, thereby tricking him into admitting to his parents' full guardianship.

Then, use the handwritten signatures of Onuki Masakazu's parents to send him into a private hospital they were collaborating with.

In such private hospitals, as long as there is enough money, it is often possible to lock someone away for a lifetime.

In this way, Akiwara Yuto would not have to worry about the threat Onuki Masakazu posed to him.

In other words, although they failed in court, they succeeded in reality.

Faced with this plan, Akiwara Yuto was initially skeptical.

After all, no matter what conflicts Onuki Masakazu had with his parents, at the end of the day, it was a blood-is-thicker-than-water parent-child relationship; would they really agree to betray their own "son"?

Out of a half-believing, half-doubting attitude, he had Asano Aiko go and test them briefly.

But unexpectedly, after a check for 10 million yen was issued, the parents eagerly agreed to the request and cooperated in acting out the scene.

This left both Akiwara Yuto and Asano Aiko with complicated feelings.

Although Onuki Masakazu was indeed an "enemy," the fact that such a person would do such things was undoubtedly inseparable from his parents' upbringing.

To be honest, if his parents could have truly cared for and supported him a little more, Onuki Masakazu might not have ended up where he was today.

However, with the cooperation of his parents, Onuki Masakazu would be easily sent to a collaborating private psychiatric facility, thereby living a different kind of life.

This undoubtedly resolved Akiwara Yuto's worries.

Just then, Asano Aiko walked over from the steps and said to Akiwara Yuto in a solemn tone, "Akiwara, the Onuki couple just called; the medical staff from Aoyama Hospital have already picked up Onuki Masakazu outside the court."

Akiwara Yuto nodded heavily.

At this moment, he felt some sympathy for Onuki Masakazu himself.

He wondered what Onuki Masakazu would feel when he left happily with his lawyer, only to discover that what awaited him was not his parents, but a medical transport vehicle from a psychiatric center.

Asano Aiko seemed to notice that Akiwara Yuto was in a bad mood and comforted him, "Akiwara, this kind of thing is unavoidable, isn't it? Didn't you also make many other arrangements for him?"

As the person in charge of the specific operations for this series of events, she understood the situation deeply.

Through financial donations from the foundation, Akiwara Yuto had reached a special cooperation agreement with Aoyama Hospital to arrange a luxury ward for Onuki Masakazu that included a private bathroom, television, and game console.

In addition, they would regularly help order various magazines and manga to be delivered to the ward, and all three meals were prepared by specially hired staff, which was not cheap.

Furthermore, all medications were arranged to be placebos, and the psychiatric treatment was just a formality.

It could be said that apart from lacking freedom, Onuki Masakazu's life could be considered "happier" than before by countless degrees.

"Asano, you don't need to comfort me; I don't regret my actions." Akiwara Yuto shook his head.

His arrangements actually included the idea of turning Onuki Masakazu into a "shut-in."

Under good living conditions, perhaps the other party would give up the idea of continuing to assassinate him.

After all, after learning that he had been "betrayed" by his parents, it was hard to ensure that the other party wouldn't have a motive to kill out of resentment.

Compared to his own life safety, the money spent on improving his living conditions was nothing at all.

But then again, this method of using capital to restrict a person's lifelong freedom still left him with a "complicated" feeling.

On the other side, Watanabe Takumi patted Akiwara Yuto on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Excuse me, I'll take my leave now. Let's work together again if there's an opportunity."

After Akiwara Yuto nodded, he left with a smile.

Tonight, he planned to find his "acquaintance" Shi Ban to have a good meal at an izakaya and celebrate the 30 million yen they had earned together from this case.

Akiwara Yuto watched his back as he walked away, then left the court with Asano Aiko.

If possible, he never wanted to deal with this "lawyer" who could come up with such methods again.

However, since the matter was resolved, there was no need to continue worrying. After all, no matter how much he sympathized with Onuki Masakazu, the other party was an enemy who wanted to kill him.

That point would not change!

But what he didn't know was that his "forgiveness" of Onuki Masakazu during the trial had earned him quite a bit of praise in public opinion and brought him additional benefits...