#A dream of Night City; a dream of Ōsaka

[arasakas-ronin]

I’ve been redecorating the Loft, because everything is better with shoji walls. (They do not have a cat.)

Mods: Top, kimono

Thanks to @pinkydude for showing me that pose mod tutorial I’m much more unstoppable now than I used to be. :>

[elizabethbarbour]

June 9

June 9th - Free Day/Osaka

After a fun night last night, we had a slower morning today. We got up around 10 and took the train to Osaka. It was about an hour until we arrived but I got to nap a little on the train. The city itself was very pretty and had a blue-green river running through. The sun was shining and the water was twinkling. We followed Lily, our navigator, to the Osaka Castle. On one of the signs there was a pine tree where a famous monk hung his robe. Obviously, we had to go see it for ourselves. After about 30 minutes in the heat, wondering around for the famous pine tree we finally found it. However, there was an entire gondola built for this tree which turned out to be two pieces of what looked like drift wood. Needless to say, we were all very shocked and laughing in our disbelief. Then, we headed over by the actual castle but instead of going in, we all got shaved ice and delicious fried chicken. Next, we made our way to a market known for its street food. A few of us were already worn out by then and decided to take the train home. Once back in Kyoto we got pizza to go and then watched old music videos.

Academic Reflection

Prior to coming to Japan, I watched a Netflix show called Street Food on street food (I know shocking) from various Asian countries and cities. One of the episodes was on Ōsaka. The episode focused on the culture and within that the food. They discussed how Osakans were much more laid back than the rest of Japan. They have what I would relate to a beach town culture. The video featured 3 genders that specialized in various types of food from, takoyaki to broiled tuna cheek.

One of the main venders in the show was Izakaya Toyo. This man had a lifelong dream of opening his own shop and making a family. However, life was unkind to him at times and hindered him from making all his dreams come true. Instead, he has his street food shop and a family of wonderful employees who he gives an inspirational talk to every evening. In his words, “better to be head of chicken than tail of bull.” Toyo had a unique method of cooking. To speed up the process, he took a blow torch directly to the meat. He would dip his hand in water before putting in under the torch to flip the meat. His whole process was mesmerizing to watch. He was also able to take the part of a fish one normally throws out and turn it into his signature dish, broiled tuna cheek.

The other vendor was Umai-Ya. Their specialty was takoyaki. The little fried batter balls filled with squid are an iconic street food in Japan. The shop featured on Netflix has been making and selling takoyaki for generations, and is also the second oldest takoyaki shop in Japan. The family recipe had been passed down, perfecting it along the way. Umani-Ya’s takoyaki is said to have 5 different textures, making them little bites packed with flavor and deliciousness. Like Izakaya, watching them make their specialty was very cool as they have to rotate the batter in the molds as it cooks and forms.

Since I heard about the media reflection blog post I have wanted to do mine on this Netflix show and Osaka’s street food. I love food. I love trying new food. And I love exploring cultures through their food. I wanted to seize the opportunity to try street food for academic motivations. *wink* I dragged my friends to a market known for fresh produce, souvenirs, and most importantly, street food. Walking through, I immediately smelled and saw all the incredible options. However, my goal was to try something similar to what I saw in the show. Unfortunately, we did not go to any of the venders in the show, but I do not feel too upset about it considering how incredible my food was. The first thing I tried was crab leg. The man took the crab on a stick and set in on a grill and proceeded to use a blow torch! While it was not as extreme as Izakaya’s bear hand under open flame, I was still shocked to see my food cooked this way. The crab was very good and had a sweet glaze drizzled over it. Sadly, I realized I really only like crab with butter and gave it to Kadeen, who liked it very much.

There was takoyaki stalls that looked tasty but I was weary about buying any. On one of the first days I tried takoyaki and was very surprised and somewhat disappointed with it. The little batter balls were much more doughy than I expected and would have been much better if they were more crispy. Instead, we walked down to a place selling okonomiyaki on a stick. This was truly incredible. It even had a fried egg on top and the magical Japanese mayonnaise that is so so much better than the stuff back home. After devouring that, I got orange juice in an orange as I have been desperate for fresh fruit. Then, I finished off my day of food with soft served cookies and cream ice cream. The place was also selling melon with ice cream on top and had even been featured on tv! In these past four weeks I think I have eaten more soft served ice cream than I have in my pervious 20 year combined.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my day of eating and am so happy to have stumbled across the Netflix show so that I had an excuse to eat my way through Ōsaka.

[arasakas-ronin]

It’s been forever since I posted an update, and writing feels like pulling teeth from a jellyfish at the moment. I hope it passes. >.<

Chapter 128: Out of water    

“At first, this market was located on Nihonbashi,” Goro tells his young wife. They are in Tsukiji, making their way through already-crowded streets towards the inner market. “But after an earthquake destroyed much of the city, it was moved here.”

“Mhmm.”

The early hour explains her sullen mood: it is not yet five in the morning. He would never have asked this of her, but the trip had been her own suggestion. When he had mentioned the famous tuna auctions, she had asked him if he wanted to go. And when he had failed to answer in the negative, she insisted — and invited herself along. This is why they are currently heading for the warehouses of the Inner Market, heading towards a signal on his tracker.

“Shoulda stayed awake,” she yawns, blinking into the neon lights.

“Forgive me for making you fall asleep,” he apologises.  

read on

[arasakas-ronin]

Chapter 126: From the well to the river     

Since his thief has wisely restricted smuggling to things that will not explode on impact, Goro can shove the suitcase out of the elevator, where the small wheels soundlessly move across the polished wooden floor. That taken care of, he turns around to pick up the woman he loves and carry her into the genkan: the tradition of her homeland dictates that it is bad luck if she stumbles. Even though there is no threshold worth mentioning, it is better to be safe than sorry.   

read it here

Chapter 127: Lovesong 

Thanks to the endoskeleton, the samurai has less underware to take off than she does, and maybe she got a little distracted by ogling him, but he’s already down to his birthday suit while she still fights her body armor. That’s probably another attempt at letting her save face, as if he hadn’t literally fed her, back when the meat was still new: instead of giving her a hand, he picks up her scattered threads and folds everything in a neat pile right next to his own. It seems rude to throw down stuff in front of him, so she hands over the padded onesie, trying to keep her eyes on his face.

read it here

[arasakas-ronin]

Chapter 125: You and I     

“All this, it’s Chiba, yeah?”

A nod is his only answer while he waits for her to elaborate.

“Is it far to where you grew up?” she spills the beans. “Can we… take a detour?”

Her question takes him by surprise, evident by the way his face turns blank. “It is not a place worth visiting,” he replies, and she can’t read the shape of his eyes.

read on

[arasakas-ronin]

Chapter 79: Transience

“I’ll survive a few hours without you, samurai.” She cranes her neck to kiss him on the lips. “Have been on my own before.”

Chastened, he lowers his gaze. “If you wish to leave the apartment—”

“Only if the skyscraper’s on fire.” Her myomer-coated foot rubs along his thigh. “Tōkyō’s a million miles outside my comfort zone, and I’m not gonna explore without my local guide to make sure I don’t piss off the natives.”

While Marunouchi with its security forces is one of the safest areas in Japan, Goro feels a spike of anxiety at the thought of his thief bracing the city on her own. From how she buries her face against his neck, she seems to share his feelings. “You could accompany me,” he offers. “It will not be very interesting, I fear, but you could come.”

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Chapter 80: Broken Pieces

“Wake up, corpo bitch.” Imaginary or not, Johnny pulls back the blanket, exposing her back and ass to cool air. “We’re home alone, let’s gear up.”

“Fuck off, terrorist,” she groans, sitting up to fish for the blanket. The bedroom door is ajar, and her enhanced ears pick up sounds from outside. “That coffee I hear? Go look.”

“Stop bossin’ me around,” he grumbles, “I’m not your input.” Regardless, he glitches away, only to report back a second later, confirming what her enhanced nose already told her. “It’s coffee alright, and now move your skinny ass outta bed. I wanna take a look around without Arasaka breathin’ down your neck.”

“I like ‘im breathin’ down my neck,” Vee mutters, but gets up and pads over the tatami floor towards the kitchen’s black tiles. The coffee — and Johnny — are waiting for her, the former steaming hot, the latter… looking like Johnny.

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Chapter 81: Come Alive

The Transcontinental touches down in San Jose. The airport staff has been lying in wait, but instead of mugging him, they reunite him with his luggage without even checking his passport. Not ten minutes later, Vik is in an AV towards Night City.

This kind of luxury is nothing he wants to get used to.

It’s just over a hundred miles. With public transport, this would have taken him all night, but his ride sets down close enough to the Coyote that even the taxi fee won’t be a problem.

read on

[arasakas-ronin]

Today is the minus-57th wedding anniversary, because the 14th of May 2079 is an auspicious day. So I’ve dropped a big update containing said day, which means we get a new banner showing them next to the chōzuya. 

I’ve poured a bunch of research into Shintoism (and no doubt gotten things wrong anyway, so please point out anything you noticed in the comments, as usual), so here’s a Shinto wedding, as authentic as they can forge it in Night City.

Enjoy!

Chapter 100: Livin' On A Prayer

The happy couple is visiting Casá Welles for an extended brunch with Vik and Lupe before the final prep.

“Hey, come in,” he greets them, trying to clear the door. The kid catches him in a hug instead, and he awkwardly pats her shoulders. She doesn’t feel fragile anymore, although that’s probably due to body armour. “Did you have a good flight?” he adds.

“Just preem,” she replies, letting go of him, and Viktor gets out of the way to let her in.

Her husband follows her across the threshold like a shadow; he nods as a greeting. “The journey went well until we arrived in Night City,” he grumbles, taking the kid’s jacket to hang it on a peg.

“No place like home,” Vee replies, her smile turning it into a joke. “Something blew up in our hotel, so we’ll crash at my old place.”

read on

Chapter 101: Everlong

Vee tries on a wedding gown and calls Rogue.

“Come, there’s something I want you to have.”

“What’s it?” she asks, equal parts touched and curious: unlike her son, who’d blown money at the same rate he earned it, Mamá is a law-abiding citizen. She doesn’t have the cash to throw around — the only thing that she’d ever given Vee was a padded vest, threadbare even then.

She still has it.

“Come.”

read on

Chapter 102: Obeying the Village

Together with Viktor-san, Goro visits a strip club. It is not so bad.

By the time he has ducked inside, the ripperdoc is already deep in conversation with the barkeep. The woman is gesturing exuberantly, a wide smile on her face, and she repeatedly touches his arm while pointing towards a table. Her street patois and the music make it impossible to understand her words; but moments later, they sit in front of the stage while the young woman atop it pours whiskey for them both. She moves with the languid grace of her trade, every motion rehearsed to appeal, entice and arouse: a blank canvas for men to project their fantasies. Since the dancer’s eyes fell on Viktor-san, they are no longer tired.

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Chapter 103: Ragged Old Flag

A few glasses in, Viktor and his companion are sharing anecdotes from the front lines.

“… the VIP and I had taken cover.” A few glasses ago, Takemura started sharing anecdotes, even if they’re heavily censored, and their quality increases with the alcohol in his bloodstream. “The vehicle was already burning, but had not yet exploded — the second-worst place to be.”

“The second-worst?” Viktor takes his cue, reaching for his glass.

“No cover would have been worse,” the narrator explains matter-of-factly, sipping whiskey to give him time for his chuckle.

read on

There’s 11 more chapters, but if you’re still here, check them out yourself <3 

[arasakas-ronin]

Viktor is just setting up the breakfast table in the living room when the phone rings. Just like the two of them, it’s a few decades out of date, the type with multiple handhelds, and Lupe answers the call in the kitchen.

“Vee!” she exclaims. “Oh, disparates, why would I be asleep at this time? No, we were just about to have breakfast!”

A brief silence, the kid’s turn now.

“Si, who else?”

Even in the kitchen, he can hear the laughter in her voice and smiles to himself, needlessly straightening out the cutlery.

“Of course you can.” Another pause, and when she speaks on, her voice is even warmer, more gentle. “Oh, of course it would be alright, mijita.” And then, as if he and the neighbours didn’t already know, she calls: “Viktor! Cariño, pick up, it is Vee!”

He takes the vibrating agent from his sleeve to join the conference call. “I can hear you, no need to shout,” he grumbles before he smiles for the holo. “Hey, kid. How’re you? How’s your man?”

read on

[arasakas-ronin]

Vee eats a vegetable, gets a phone call, and volunteers for a field trip.

They’re almost forty minutes out of the bathtub, and the samurai is still prepping food — cooking. He’s in the middle of some complex alchemy. With nothing but different kinds of glop from unlabeled containers, he turns tap water into something that makes her mouth water despite the fact that it contains a vegetable.

Who’da thought garlic could smell that fucking delicious?

read on

[arasakas-ronin]

POV: Cooking with thief wife

(Thanks to 86maylin for the tank top mod <3)

[arasakas-ronin]

Chapter 32: Secrets and rumours

Goro and his thief receive an unexpected gift.

In front of the heavy door waits a shape that does not belong in the corridor. By the time it is fully revealed, Goro has already removed his thief from the potential line of fire. Only then does he identify the drone as Hanako-sama’s messenger.

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Chapter 33: Amore

It’s paper flowers all over, and part of the meaning unfolds.

Goro looks like he’s afraid that the gift will explode in his hands, looking after the drone while it lets itself out. He remains tense until the door shuts behind it.

“Paper flower thing?” she asks, brushing away the feeling of deja-vu to put her hands over his.

“Hai.” His hands aren’t chilly, but his voice is hoarse, and he’s fallen back into Japanese, so this is serious. “But I do not know which flower.”

read on

[arasakas-ronin]

Chapter 60: Slow, Love, Slow

Vee goes sightseeing, whether she wants to or not.

Even Goro’s patience wears out at some point, which she can’t blame him for. “I am taking you to Takamatsu,” he informs her, the tone of his voice allowing no discussion. “We will go sightseeing there.”

“Sure,” she relents after a look at his face: he’s cooped up with her, and by now he’s exhibiting symptoms of cabin fever. “What sight’s there to see anyway?”

“We could head to Shikoku Mura,” he suggests, getting up and straightening his already immaculate suit. “It is a… museum village? Yes, I think that is the word.” His outfit tells her he’d meant to go out today: where other people stay in their PJs, Goro has a comfy indoors kimono that he doesn’t sleep in. Vee, by contrast, has a set of indoor silks that regularly end up on the bedroom floor. Not that she’s complaining; the thing comes off easily and is smoking hot. The kimono, that is. “The houses there are over a hundred and fifty years old, many of them even older.”

Well, so is Saburo, and he’s not much to look at.

read on

Chapter 61: Winning from the outset

Walking with his thief in the gardens of Tamamo: Not as Goro thought it would be.

“Think you can make that jump?” his irreverent gaijin wife dares him, walking towards the pavillon where the moat is narrowest.

Following her, Goro is already calculating: perhaps four ken in distance and three more in height…? “Easily,” he replies, “even carrying you. This parking lot has all but ruined the sea as a northern defence.”

“Rude.” She laughs, studying the castle’s wall. Cautiously, she keeps well away from the water, only relaxing once he stops next to her. “Guess they didn’t plan for city planning, yeah?”

read on

Chapter 62: Just Give Me A Reason

Sometimes, all it takes is a change of perspective. That is, Vee just needs to pull her head out of her ass.

“This gig is literally a walk in the park,” Johnny heckles. “Get a grip on yourself, baby bitch.”

Breathing into her stomach, she smiles at her samurai, whom she loves. He’s standing close to her, brown eyes warm with affection, his smile wiped away by concern once again. And he’s brought her back from the dead, didn’t he? She’s crossed the Blackwall and lives, crossed the.…whatever they put between life and death, but it sure is a wall, too — so she could come back to be with him, she can put up with a bird-infested castle garden.

Glass.

read on

Chapter 63: Sea Bream

Another thing does not go like expected, and it hits Goro's thief like a thunderclap out of a blue sky.

Even with the road and quay, the castle still maintains a pleasant breeze from the sea. Even in the worst heat of summer, this garden, the glade behind them, will be a shelter from the oppressive heat. Right now, in spring, the shadows are almost chilly.

In the sunlight, he walks next to his young thief across the open space in front of Hiunkaku and enjoys her curiosity. Still wary, she is nonetheless paying more attention to the offered goods than the tourists.

read on

Chapter 64: Raining

Between her imaginary friend and her samurai, there's no reason to mope, not even this one.

Coming back from the dead changes you, and like a gunshot victim, you’re completely dependent on the person who picks you up. Vee is lucky — she ended up with the sweetest, most patient samurai in the world. Johnny wasn’t so lucky. He all but fell to the scavs—

“Hey, that’s a bit steep, even for you,” he drawls. “Never even tried to get a piece of Silverhand, corpo bitch.”

read on

[arasakas-ronin]

Chapter 58: Until

Vee wakes up to an old chrome junkie truth: post-surgery is pre-surgery.

When Vee wakes after surgery, she can smell both Vik and Goro before the filter kicks in, and the tension in the room isn’t even tangible. Relieved that the guys didn’t start anything while she was under, she pulls up her dash against the dark of her eyelids for a quick diagnosis, finding everything right where it’s supposed to be — limbs, speedware and scissor hands, kidney booster and blood filters, eardrums and her extra.

“Hey, kid.” She can hear Viktor’s smile even before she opens her eyes, his familiar face illuminated by his monitor. “How do you feel?”

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Chapter 59: What is useful

Goro helps his thief picking options for her hands and feet.

“Lemme get that straight.” Vee looks at him. “You’re tellin’ me that your haetorigumo legs can jump up to fifty feet?”

Goro checks the calculations again: fifty shaku, 15.15 metres. “I rounded up,” he has to confess. “It is 49.7 feet.”

She laughs about that far more than he intended. “Wow, that’s… mine cap at fifteen!”

read on

[arasakas-ronin]

Chapter 91: In The Clear

It's time to plan the most important gig of their life, and Vee's first job is to call Misty.

“Before you get all excited… the ceremony’s gonna be at the Shinto shrine in Westbrook. That a problem for ya?”

“Why’d it be a problem?” Misty’s hair is bobbing even on the holo. “I’ll sacrifice to the spirits before I go, purify myself, and—”

“Listen, that thing’s a once-in-a-lifetime gig, and the priests are runnin’ the show.” She makes eye contact with the phone avatar, or tries to. “Even if their aura is outta whack or whatever.”

It earns her a giggle, and a chirped: “The Shinto people have a good grip on their auras, don’t worry.”

read on

Chapter 92: Three Piece Suite

Vik wants to buy a suit for a wedding, but people are treating it like it's full-body cyborg conversion.

As a ripperdoc, Viktor has contacts all over — in every layer of Night City’s social strata. Most of them wear suits only for con jobs; but every now and then, a member of the upper ten thousand has to rely on a ripperdoc rather than their Trauma Team Platinum contract. It leaves him a bunch of people who can help with this current problem, and he sends out a dozen emails.

Half of them are ignored. Two are answered by the secretary. The other four are all saying the same thing: if he wants a good suit, he needs to see a tailor.

read on

Chapter 93: Thick Skin

Two days before departure, Vee spots an elemental part of prep that didn't make it on any of Goro's lists.

Vee suffered various maintenance jobs on her meat — new nail implants, although the old ones were still good, skin care, hair care, and more such nonsense than she could have imagined. All the while, her husband kept himself at the sidelines, all but fading into the background: a vigilant shadow who tries to read every wish from her eyes, finding more than a few that she never had. He didn’t even join her for a haircut when she tried to include him. ‘I can do it myself,’ he had told her, and his face didn’t invite a discussion. ‘I would much rather watch you.’

Well. His presence sure made it easier to tolerate the stranger with sharp objects so close to her neck — easier for her, that is, not for the hairstylist. But tense work environment or not, they worked something close to a miracle: her hair looks as if it’s fluffy on purpose.

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Chapter 94: Shade

Whether Goro wants to or not, he is taking a break from preparations

By the time they have reached the bathtub, Goro’s chest is fully exposed. At his thief’s insistence, he also has cancelled every single one of today’s appointments via text message. “Will any gods be pissed if we don’t do that?” she had countered his feeble attempt of protest. She had applied the same logic to every single item left on his to-do list, and so, he had to resign himself to an idle afternoon and evening — only three days before their wedding ceremony two thousand and two hundred ri away.

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Chapter 95: Symphony of Life

Time to fuss over the samurai for once.

The samurai rests his head against her leg, long hair spilling over her knee like silver-streaked darkness. Water is pouring over it, making it seem almost-liquid. Fascinating as it looks, it doesn’t hold a fucking candle against the rest of him. Compared to Night City, he’s gained so much weight that his muscles are padded rather than clearly defined. He used to look like a bodybuilding ad, but he’s more… real now, in a healthy way. As if to counter that, the indirect light turns him into a statue of himself, the kind that’s too expensive to steal. His face is peaceful — serene, lit from within by his smile.

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Chapter 96: The river’s current

I’m a razergirl now, his thief had joked when he gave her back her katana — on the second day of their relationship, or the third? No matter what the street would call her, Goro trusts her with more than just his kamisori.

She dips it into the bathwater before placing it on the tub’s rim, and he sets himself a reminder to oil it later. Then, she embraces him again, lacing her fingers through his.

“I feel much more relaxed already,” he tells her, leaning into the shelter of her arms.

read on

[arasakas-ronin]

Spring 2079:

Vee is no longer dying, at least not faster than everyone else (except for Saburo, but she's trying not to think about him). All that's left is to fulfill Johnny's last wish: “Go be a cliché.” Living happily ever after is gonna be a piece of cake — right?

*

Goro's thief wrests one life from nine deaths, and this one she will not lose. He will spend it at her side, help her through recovery into whatever life she will chose. She wants him to, after all. Being a bodyguard: he has a lifetime's experience in this. Being a husband? He has none.

[arasakas-ronin]

Chapter 47: Flowers

For the first time, his thief walks in the world of the living again, and Goro is with her when she sees her first glimpse of his homeland.

Every now and then, Goro has to steady his thief while they head down the footpath towards the village. When she is not apologising, she complains about ‘gonk meat’. “With my other legs, we’d be there already,” she grumbles. “Don’t know what sucks more, the road or the meat.”

When she almost falls, he stops until she has regained her footing. “Should I carry you until we have reached even ground?” he asks.

She looks to the side, a flush of copper on her cheeks, and the afternoon sun paints her in gold. His heart skips a beat: she is alive, with him — and beautiful. “Exercise though,” she mutters.

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Chapter 48: Box of Stones

In a village straight from a fantasy flick, Vee enters the spirit world.

At the side of her samurai, Vee walks past a shoulder-high stonewall that’s overgrown with ‘ganic stuff into what passes as civilization around here. On top of it are more plants, and she keeps her attention mostly on those, rather than on the bike-sized road ahead of her. ‘Cause below her — half-hidden below the green, green trees — lies a village straight out of a fairytale. The house to her right even has a roof made of shingles, and as if that wasn’t absurd enough, it’s bending up at the corners!

“Wow,” she makes, brushing her fingers past its wall. “That ‘ganic wood?”

Goro nods. “It is wood,” he replies. “I do not know if it is organic. But it is old — perhaps it predates cloning and synthesis.”

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Chapter 49: Cormorant Feathers

Goro shares a legend of his country with his young wife.

Perhaps his thief has eaten the food of the dead, for she appears to be more at ease on the other side of the gate. “It’s always in the last place you look, yeah?” Her smile is crooked when she looks at him. “Did she like ‘im? Yamasachi, not the fish.”

A princess and a son of Amaterasu herself — and all that Vee cares about is her consent. Goro wants nothing as much as to hold her and feel that she is alive; he wants her closer than that. Here in Japan, such a behaviour is disgraceful, would shame both of them. It would confirm peoples’ worst prejudices about them: an old fool and his gaijin mistress. ‘And are they wrong?’ the voice of Obasaan inquires. It is a rhetorical question, yet he answers it: ‘They are. You are. She is my gaijin wife.’ “According to legends, they were in love, yes,” he tells the woman he loves, averting his eyes while regaining his self-control.

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Chapter 50: Dreaming Light

There's so much to see in this village, and by now, Vee is a little tired. Imaginary Johnny doesn't help.

They keep heading up, and Vee starts to feel a little tired, but the samurai doesn’t seem to be in a hurry, and she doesn’t want him to carry her again. There’s people around — all of them Asian, of course — and although they’re discreet about it, they keep both eyes on the strangers. Except for the guy with the eyepatch, of course, unless he has a top-shelf optic hidden in there.

The woman who blocks the road in front of them now isn’t discreet. Despite the heat, she’s wearing some kind of bathrobe over cargo shorts and a colourful shirt. She looks them both up and down, then smiles and says something in Japanese.

Goro shifts his position; just like that, he’s no longer walking next to her, but walking with her. He bows slightly before responding, and during that time, the stranger checks her out again. And whatever he tells her, it sways the jury immediately: in the woman’s eyes, she can see that the verdict is guilty.

But she hides behind the mask of a smile, says something else, then bows to them both and fucks off.

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