Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Pathetic,”

he says to himself, walking down the street, stepping in puddles as he goes. “She never tells me anything.” He runs a hand through his hair the moment he sees the grand doors of the courthouse. Taking a deep breath, he enters.

 

23rd October, 8:50 a.m. Supreme Court of Judicature, Defendants’ Antechamber 4

 

Ryunosuke Naruhodo sits bitterly, waiting for his judicial assistant, Susato Mikotoba to arrive. Usually, she isn’t this late; which makes him nervous. What makes him even more nervous is that she knew everything about the case. Meanwhile, he didn’t.

It didn’t help that his client was standing across from him, not saying a word.

His client was a French model by the name of Theia Noire, living in Japan, who was accused of murder two days ago. She was thin, wearing a simple white dress, with a black neck corset. She had light brown, shoulder length hair. She also had dark sunglasses. ‘Perhaps she is blind,’ Ryunosuke thought.

Her height stood at around 166 centimeters, around the same height as Ryunosuke himself. She was a very beautiful woman, there was no wonder she was a model. Even the way she stood seemed like people were taking photographs of her.

He decides to clear his throat, which catches her attention. “Yes?” She replies, with her noticeable accent. He awkwardly runs a hand through his hair. “Ah, my name is Ryunosuke Naruhodo, I’m your lawyer…” He says in English. She gives him a curious look. “I see. You were very… quiet. I didn’t notice you were there.”

He gives her an awkward chuckle. The room falls into awkward silence again. Ryunosuke wonders if Susato is even coming to the trial. Which, of course, makes him more nervous than he already was— his leg bouncing against the floor. Noire takes notice.

”Are you alright, Monsieur Naruhodo? You don’t think I’m guilty, do you?” He puts a hand up in defence, though she doesn’t see it. “Wh— no, of course not! Just nerves, is all! I mean, you must be nervous too, right..?” She hums, whether that be in agreement or not, looking calm.

She then gives him a weak smile, speaking once more, twiddling a newspaper in her hand. “Theia Noire. I assume you know me.” He hums in agreement weakly. He technically hasn’t learned of her until today, as Susato was the one who convinced Ryunosuke to accept her case.

A few more minutes pass, and the bailiff by the door speaks. “Court is about to begin. Proceed to the courtroom at once!” Ryunosuke nervously stands up, freaking out internally. ‘Bloody hell, Susato…’ Noire follows suit and makes her way into the courtroom– having dropped the paper from her hand. Ryunosuke opens his mouth to tell her, but she’s already inside. He picks it up, saving it to give it to her later… Hopefully.

 

23rd October, 9:00 a.m. Supreme Court of Judicature, Courtroom 3.

 

Ryunosuke is more nervous than ever, standing alone in court. Taketsuchi Auchi, the prosecutor, stands across from him, a smug look on his face. The judge speaks up, everyone’s eyes on him. “The court will now hear the trial of Theia Noire.” Auchi bows slightly. “The prosecution is ready, Your Excellancy.”

“The defence is ready as well, Your Excellancy.” The judge nods. “Now, kindly state before the court the name of the victim in this case. “A-Ah, the name of the victim. Yes.” He realizes he doesn’t even know that, checking the court record. He looks it through, finding the victim to be a man by the name of Omi Scient. He continues, “…Omi Scient is the victim's name.”

Auchi chuckles, tapping his fan on his head. “Well, at least you remember that, counsel.” Ryunosuke ignores him, continuing what he was saying. “Mr Scient was a journalist, studying the, ah, model company.”

“And, just how was this journalist killed, counsel?” “He was electrocuted by faulty wiring in the defendant’s dressing room…” Ryunosuke trails off, slowly realizing how his case will be quite hard to prove. Auchi gives him a cocky look, not saying anything, but it’s obvious what he’s thinking.

The Judge clears his throat, “I feel this is an obvious case. Prosecution, bring in our first witness for today. Ryunosuke practically groans at the fact that the judge is already on the other side’s favor, but he chokes it down. “Right away, Your Excellancy. Bailiff!”

Two men approach the stand. Ryunosuke only recognizes one– that is, an inspector named Satoru Hosonaga. What surprised him the most was that he didn’t have any sort of disguise on, only a normal looking suit. He was a tall, slender man with dark hair and glasses. His hair had gray streaks, despite only being thirty. He was very pale, and always had a sad look in his eyes. He is a visibly sickly man, but the inspector likely doesn’t realize that himself. Next to him was a man that Ryunosuke didn’t recognize.

The man had tanner skin, and wore a smug look on his face. He had brown locks, somewhat long for a man. He was shorter than the inspector he was standing rather close with, but he did look more muscular. Baton shaped earrings swung any time he tilted his face. Ryunosuke wasn’t sure if they were just rods, but they certainly looked like batons from his perspective. Perhaps he was watching too much theater.

“Please state your names and occupations to the court,” the Judge says. Hosonaga clears his throat. “Inspector Satoru Hosonaga, I work at (non-existent-station-lmao).” “Inspector Kogoro Akechi, his–” the inspector coughs aggressively, nudging Akechi. “...partner,” Akechi continues.

The Judge nods, and Auchi speaks up. “Now, inspectors, tell me what you concluded that night.” He tilts his head up, showing respect; though he probably couldn’t care less. Hosonaga gives a nod, and Akechi adjusts his tie. “Of course, good sir.”

“As the defence said,” Akechi starts, “the victim was killed by faulty wiring at nine-twenty-five o’clock that morning. The burns appeared on and around his neck, as shown in this photo.”

Akechi showed the court a photo of the victim, leaning against a table, his neck completely burnt. His face was contorted in utter anguish. Next to him was a puddle of water, the shown ‘faulty wiring’, and a knife clasped in his hand.

He continues, “The fact is, it couldn’t have been an accident– with the placement of the burning and where the wires were.” Hosonaga speaks up; “The victim and the accused were the only ones around– until someone found the body thirty minutes later.”

“Yes!”

Ryunosuke shouts, “Even though the accused was there, there's no proof she did it…!” Auchi snorts. “There you go running your mouth, counsel. Won’t you listen for once?” Ryunosuke staggers, “Uah, umh…” “Witnesses. Go on to explain to this imbecile why the accused is accused in the first place.”

“Right away, sir.” Hosonaga says, adjusting his glasses.

 

Witness Testimony

 

“The accused Ms. Noire was found wandering the agency around twenty-five minutes before the body was found.” Akechi begins, “what caught her coworkers eyes was the fact she was drenched.” “There were puddles forming from her dressing room to the path she was taking; which one of her coworkers found suspect. The same coworker discovered the body.” “We later found a stab wound matching the knife the victim was wielding on her.”

Thus ended their testimony. It was simple, and Ryunosuke couldn’t deny that his case would be hard to prove. He didn’t even know what his case was yet. All he could do was press what was said.

Cross Examination

“--Hold it! You say she was wandering. Where exactly… to?” Ryunosuke interjects. Hosonaga is to answer, “the people who found the body claimed that she usually is accompanied by her makeup artist everywhere, due to her blindness. But she wasn't there for her at the time, and they just found her blindly wandering around.” “Where was her, ah, makeup artist at the time?” Ryunosuke asks. Hosonaga begins to speak once more, but Akechi has a weird look in his eye, and he then whispers something to him.

“Right!” Akechi crosses his arms. “It wasn’t her shift during that time, of course! Knew that!” Ryunosuke can’t find anything contradicting, so presses the next statement. “Drenched in water, you say?” “Yes,” Akechi nods, “her dress was wet when she had been arrested, along with her shoes. There was even blood near the rims of her dress. Here, look for yourself!” He grins, showing the dress to the court.

“Who… ah… found the body?” Ryunosuke says, trying to remember the order of the testimony. Akechi whispers a quiet: “Who was it, again..?” to Hosonaga. The man next to him whispers back. Akechi grins once more, pretending he knew that the whole time. “Of course! It was the defendant’s cosmetologist herself, named… ah….” Hosonaga leans over and whispers again. “Mackenzie Ige!” Hosonaga corrects him, “Illage.” “Illage.” He repeats.

Ryunosuke presses the other two statements, but finds nothing of importance. He nervously looks at everything he has; the post-mortem report, the photo of the victim, the dress, notes on the wiring, but nothing comes to mind. Well– he does have that newspaper. He hastily inspected its contents.

His hands are shaking. He has an idea, but it’ll be hard to bluff for so long. “Inspector Hosonaga, could you repeat what you said about her makeup artist?– Her, ahm, wandering without her?”

“The defendant’s makeup artist did not have her shift yet, and only came after the murder.” He rephrases calmly, pushing up his glasses. Ryunosuke soon finds his voice, and yells out,

“OBJECTION!”

He… doesn’t say much after that, losing his voice. Auchi flicks his fan. “If you have nothing to say, counsel, then keep your puny mouth shut.” Ryunosuke chooses to ignore him, finding his words. “This newspaper here, if everyone can, ah, look at it,” he starts to read from the paper, “‘Journalist Omi Scient speaks with cosmetologist Mackenzie Illage this morning about their company.’ It states…” He pauses, realizing that Auchi was looking at him as if he were stupid. He then thought he was stupid himself. “...uhm…” The prosecutor snorts. “Defendant, for the counsel’s sake, just where was the interview?” Noire, sitting down, peaks up. “It was at his office.” Ryunosuke wants to get swallowed whole.

“I don’t even know where you were going with your bluffs, but I fear it just blew up in your face… boy.” Auchi remarks. Ryunosuke can’t find his voice, just standing there. ‘God, there’s no proof. I have nothing… I guess this is it– sorry Susato…’ he thinks, burying his face in his hands, slouching over the desk. The Judge announces. “Well, I find no need to continue this trial any longer–”

The courtroom doors then fly open, and an ever familiar man walks in. “My apologies for the interruption, everyone… I fear I’m late. I’m the defence’s partner for today.”

It was the ever famous consulting detective, Herlock Sholmes, here, in Japan. “...SHOLMES?!” Ryunosuke practically yelps. Herlock stands next to him behind the defence desk. “Shh, my boy. I have the evidence you need. No need to fret about my appearance now, we can catch up after we win this trial.”

Auchi immediately sucks up to the sight of an English gentleman, clasping his hands together, blabbering out poor English about how much of a pleasure it is to see a man such as him. The judge speaks up.

“Well, if you’re a part of the defence, you may show your evidence, mr..?” Herlock tilts his deerstalker hat up, smiling. “Sholmes.”

“Now, let’s see here…” He takes the newspaper from Ryunosuke, flipping through the pages. Peeking over at him, he speaks up, “You’re aware of the heavy rain from this morning, my dear fellow?” Ryunosuke nods. “...yes?” Herlock gives him a smile, and he seems to catch on.

“That dress is quite drenched to be formed by a mere puddle, yes?” “Are you saying that it was from the rain? But it was raining at 5am today, why would she be up, Sholmes? The blood as well?” Herlock smiles, knowing something he doesn’t. Standing up straight, brushing against the other’s shoulder for a moment, he speaks to the Judge directly.

“May I request a witness to come up, Your Excellency?” The Judge takes a moment, before nodding. “Just who do you request?”

He does his stupid pose that he always does, putting his hands up, looking away, before looking at the judge directly. “The defendant’s makeup artist, of course. That is, Mackenzie Illage.”

Chapter Text

The trial had been at recess as cops went to find Illage, and Herlock had refused to say much to Ryunosuke. Something seemed off about him. He still had his stupid smile and his stupid “dear boy”s, but… something in his eyes seemed off. Almost bitter. He doesn’t bother to ask what’s wrong, as Herlock would dismiss it in any way possible.

Ryunosuke himself didn’t feel great today. He felt as if he was being watched the whole time– he always felt that way. Most people, even Susato, tell him that he’s just being paranoid.

Soon enough, Illage had arrived, and everyone gathered back in the courtroom. The Judge slams his gavel. “Court shall reconvene for the trial of Theia Noire.”

A tall woman with literal red hair stands at the stand. She has two lower pigtails that also seem to be in a bun at once. Ryunosuke doesn’t know how to describe it. She has a beret, a blazer, and a long skirt– and a warm, yet eerie, look in her eyes. She then speaks, a smile on her face, “bonjour. Ai am Mackenzie Illage… but, call me Mac, deariez. Ai am, air waz, ze defendant’z cozmetologizt.”

‘Mac Illage…’ Ryunosuke thinks, glancing over at Herlock, who has an odd look on his face.

Auchi sucks up to her immediately, and exclaims, “yes, Mac, please explain to us the terror you had to experience that day!” She gives him a warm smile, pulling out some sort of makeup, “right away.”

Witness Testimony

“Ai started ze morning with an interview with ze victim,” she began. “It was around six ai’clock then. Ai got to work at nine, and ai found ze body a bit after ten. Theia waz wandering about a bit earlier. Ai didn’t pay much mind to her being wet, as it waz pouring earlier. It waz terrifying, that body– how he waz lying on his back…” she trails off, a sorrowful expression on her face.

She faces the judge, ending her testimony. The judge gives a curt nod, allowing Ryunosuke to press the woman.

Cross Examination

“Hold it! What was the interview about?” “It waz about my experiences at ze company, and ze company itself. He waz a very nice man, it’z a tragedy that he passed…” Mac replies. He continues, “You say you didn’t mind Noire’s wandering? Even when she’s, well, blind? Do you not accompany her everywhere?”

Mac raises an eyebrow, thinking about something. “Now, who started that? Ai understand that she’z blind, but Ai’m not her azziztant. She haz her cane, does she not? Ai suppose we are friendz, and Ai spend time with her, but I don’t follow her ‘everywhere’, az you say.” Ryunosuke adds that to his memory. “Ahem, anyway-”

He pauses, thinking back to her testimony. ‘“On his back”, she said…’ he suddenly remembered, looking back at the photo.

“OBJECTION!”

The woman flinches, clearing her throat. Ryunosuke began immediately, “on his back, you say? But, this photo here shows him on his stomach!” The crowd began to murmur, seemingly intrigued that the trial’s finally turning around, albeit slowly.

Mac’s composure falters slightly, before standing up straight. “Ah, yez, Ai had forgotten!” She lets out a hum, remembering her testimony. “Could Ai correct that, then?” Ryunosuke worries that this won’t get anywhere.

“When Ai walked in, he waz still alive, on his back. Ai tried to help him up, but that waz when he fell to hiz stomach, and… he pazzed.”

Herlock leans over to Ryunosuke, which catches him by surprise. “My dear boy, the timing doesn’t sound too great, doesn't it?”

“Does it not, Sholmes?” “The victim died at 9:25… but she found the body at ten, did she not, lad?” “Ah, you’re right!” Ryunosuke grabs the post-mortem report, and fiddles through it. “O–”

“OBJECTION!”

Mac flinches once more, rubbing her arm. “Oh my, what did I do wrong now…” Ryunosuke slams the table. “Miss, ah, Mac! So you found him while he was still alive at ten o’clock, yes?” She nods. “Correct, sir.” “That’s where you’re wrong, ma'am. The victim clearly died at nine-twenty-five! Your testimony is full of holes!”

She starts to sweat. “Oh-Uah… Ai see, sir… uhm… hm.” She trails off, her fingers stimming. The crowd begins to talk.

“Is the woman truly guilty?”

“Mama, I’m confused…”

“Perhaps the legal system is wrong!”

“ORDER, ORDER IN THE COURT! I must have order!” The Judge yells, slamming his gavel over and over again. The crowd goes silent, and he speaks again. “Miss Illage, please, do explain the inconsistencies in your testimony right now!”

She quickly regains her composure as soon as she loses it. “Oui… oui sir. Ai fear I haven’t been entirely truthful… Ai waz actually there much earlier than ten ai’clock. Ai’d say, ten minutez after nine. B-Before you go throwing thingz around, Ai have a reason! It… it’s hard to say…”

Auchi speaks up for the first time in a bit. “Oh, my dear, I believe you! I’m sure a young woman like yourself must be so hurt from the murder–” He suddenly gets interrupted by… laughing?

“Pfft– Ahahaha!!” The cackling comes from beside her on the stand. It was Mr Akechi, laughing hysterically. Hosonaga, next to him, seems concerned, but not surprised.

“Hahah– oh, please! I think it’s painfully obvious by now– pfft!”

Every single person in the courtroom looked at him, confused. Though, something Ryunosuke notices is a look of contempt on Herlock’s face. His face was a scowl that seemed more annoyed than anything.

“If– ehe– everyone could look at this photo here… pfft– aha! And this as well.”

Akechi pulls out a tub of lipstick and a photo, showing a more close up photo of the victim. The side of his neck that wasn’t burnt had… lipstick marks? “Now, I know that this photo is in black and white, but this lipstick matches the lipstick found on the man, ehe– I think it speaks for itself!”

Mac freezes up at the sight of both the things Akechi holds. “My lipztick! Where did you–” she immediately covers her mouth, realizing what she said.

The judge slams his gavel, a tad flustered. “Miss Illage, please! Testify at once...!”

Witness Testimony

“F-Fine! Me and him might have had something going on! He asked if he’d want to write about me, and we went to my work together. And, a bit after he died, I walked in. So like, nine-thirty! Oh, the lipstick, yez, we… were doing that before we went to work, okay?”

Cross Examination

“Hold it! I don’t want to sound, ah, nosy, per say, but for how long?” Ryunosuke Mac has calmed down by now. “Yez, for around a month now.”

“Mister Naruhodo,” Herlock whispers in Ryunosuke’s ear, causing him to flinch. “Y-Yes, Mister Sholmes?” “Remember that newspaper, read that for me, will you?”

Ryunosuke cocks an eyebrow, but obliges.

“‘Journalist Omi Scient speaks with cosmetologist Mackenzie Illage this morning about their company. Both him and his wife claim that Mackenzie is a–’” He stops, sighing.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it, Sholmes, I–” he freezes, looking back at it. “Wait. His… wife?” “Exactly, my boy. That certainly causes suspicion on her and Mr Scient, doesn't it?”

Ryunosuke clears his throat. “Mac, both you and the victim were there, at the crime scene, before his death? Then you left, right? Did you see Noire pass you? Realistically, that would be when you saw her?”

Mac bites her lip. “Ahm… no. Ai saw her afterwardz.”

“So, realistically, why would both you and Scient be there at the same time at his death? Miss Noire, could you tell Mackenzie was there at the time? As in, was she there?” Ryunosuke chose to be direct. Noire stands from where she is sitting. “No, she was not there.” Herlock senses where the other man was going with this, and doesn’t intervene. Ryunosuke, speaking clearly, “then, wouldn’t that mean that Mackenzie was there at the time of the murder, not Noire?!”

The crowd begins to murmur excitedly. Auchi immediately tries to deny his statement. “I mean, Noire is blind! Just some woman! Mac could’ve been there, right, miss?!” Mac, for the first time, is silent. She isn’t like the other killers Ryunosuke has faced.

“You’re right,” the woman began.

Herlock, for one, is shocked. “P-Pardon me, ma’am?”

“Ai am ze murderer.” She says, a laugh escaping her. “Ai found out Ai waz the other woman, and killed him. He waz a disgusting man, Omi.”

Ryunosuke can’t tell if he wants to laugh or scoff. He glances at his partner, silently asking for his opinion. He isn’t convinced, keeping silent. Ryunosuke, not getting anything out of him, glances back at Mac. He tries to speak up, but nothing comes out of his mouth. The Judge speaks instead.

“You?...You are the killer?”

“Correct, Ai pushed him down along with ze vase and burnt his neck with those damned wirez.”

Silence overfills the courtroom.

“OBJECTION!”

Ryunosuke is stunned, as he wasn’t the one who objected; it was Herlock.

“...Mac, ma’am. I believe you are hiding quite a few things from the court. I cannot deny the possibility of you being the killer, but what about the actual defendant in this case? We must speak with her in mind. For example, why would the two of you meet in Noire’s meeting room without her? When could the victim stab her? Was she ever stabbed at all? Then who did he stab? We can not end this trial with a flimsy confession!”

Herlock goes quiet, every person there looking at him. “Mac, testify AT ONCE.” He continues, slamming the desk as Ryunosuke would have. He didn’t even know Herlock could be this smart, with how stupid he acts. I mean, it wasn’t necessarily smart, just observant.

The Judge coughs. “Right, yes, sir. Mac, please give testimony.”

Witness Testimony

“Yez, um… Noire waz supposed to show up in her room. Ai mean, that’s where Ai work, yez? Should be obviouz. Next, the… stabbing… that, Ai do not know when she got stabbed. Contradicting, Ai know. He did not leave my side.” She suddenly lifted up her sleeves. “Ahah…” “Cough, cough…” “Ai do not have any woundz. It’d be obviouz.”

Cross Examination

“EXCUSE ME!”

Ryunosuke scratches his head. “Mr Akechi, Mr Hosonaga– are you alright?” “Hm…?” Akechi hums, while Hosonaga coughs harder. He slams his partner’s back to get him to stop his coughing. He coughs even harder, but it works in a way, as he stands up straight and wipes the blood from his mouth.

“Yes, quite alright, Mr Naruhodo.” Hosonaga says calmly, as Akechi struggles to hide another laugh.

The lawyer scratches his head once more. “...Right, uhm, is something about her testimony… triggering to you?” Akechi starts to giggle. “...you’re starting to laugh,” Ryunosuke continues.

“Ahaha! Alright, I’ll talk, lawyer man!” Akechi gives him a grin, as Hosonaga sighs beside him. “Okay, ma’am. I’ll give you my ‘deductions’. First of all, the makeup you continuously put on. You use your right hand, which would make it seem you’re right handed, but you clearly struggle with putting it on. A cosmetologist should be great at it, but, not trying to be rude, it looks terrible. So, wouldn’t you use your left hand? Unless it’s hurt, of course. You also could’ve easily covered the cut with your makeup skills.”

Herlock grumbles something about “how his deduction was too brief and fast” under his breath. Ryunosuke puts no effort into listening to it. Mac simply scoffs. “What, so becauze Ai use my left hand, it meanz I got stabbed?”

Hosonaga clears his throat (albeit causing him to bleed out his mouth more), and speaks as well. “Everything you try to convince this court is filled with inconsistencies. If Theia was out of the room during the murder, Scient would’ve still had to stab someone–”

“...aHEM!”

Herlock shouts once more. All of a sudden, he’s got some weird invention in his hand, and is walking away from the desk, towards the stand. “Mac, was it? Yes. Show me your wrists.” She hesitates, but ends up lifting her sleeves. Again. He pushes and flips the odd mechanics off the machine. A soapy substance squirts on his hand. He scrubs the soap onto her arms, like a mother scrubbing her child.

Nothing happens, of course. Perfectly clean, no cut.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I do not know where anyone got the idea that the stab was on her.” He says sweetly. Akechi and Hosonaga realize their mistake. “Aha! Knew that!”

“In fact, has Mr Scient ever stabbed anyone? The only signs of Mac having an injury was using her left hand… Noire, my dear lady, I must ask you to tell me something.”

Noire sits up straight. “Hm–?” He walks over to her, “when did you enter your dressing room?” “Oh, I’d say… after Mac found me. So…” “Nine-thirty?” Herlock answers for her. “Yes,” she replies.

“If Scient died at 9:25, and Noire entered five minutes after– she, realistically, would have seen Mac. What killer, in the heat of the moment, leaves the crime right away? If you killed someone, and an outcast walks in, what do you do? Get them to not talk, of course.”

Auchi speaks up after a while, “just what are you insinuating, council?” “That Mac was the one to stab Noire, of course. That would explain the blood on her dress, as well.”

Here’s Herlock, solving the case without a huff. Scient was having an affair with Mac, and they went to Noire’s dressing room. Mac found out she was the other woman, and killed him by pushing him down, using the faulty wires next to him to electrocute his neck. Noire walked in, likely noticed something was amiss. Mac stabbed her, causing her dress to get bloody. Noire left, in shock. Mac discreetly left as well– and acted that she found the body herself.

Herlock found out all of that, and Ryunosuke barely did anything. Ryunosuke just feels stupid. Like an obsolete outsider to his own case.

Meanwhile, Mac just looks downward, before she snorts. “Pfft— AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!”

It’s easy to say, she’s laughing manically. Akechi and Hosonaga stand awkwardly beside her. She takes a moment to catch her breath. “Oh, oh dear… hah… yeah, you got it… Herlock… It'z funny, you know? You solved it all like the caze was ze back of your hand…. While ze lawyer standz like an obedient puppy. I wonder if that’z what all your cases are like, hah.”

She chuckles once more, her resolve slipping. “You don’t want to know the wrath Ai felt when Ai found it out. Ze ring he forgot to take off. It waz clear he took it off often, the inside of it was clean. It waz a pretty ring, too. Ohh… how Ai loved him. And Ai killed him. Ai would’ve admitted the crime right away, but…” She trails off. “Ai waz too guilty of killing him, and hurting Theia. Ai’m sincerely sorry for the trouble Ai cauzed.”

Auchi is brought silent, and the Judge has to find his words before speaking, “...well, I think this case is set in stone. I believe the prosecution agrees?”

“...yes, Your Excellency..!” He yelps.

“I shall declare Theia Noire-”

“NOT GUILTY.”

The crowd cheers. Auchi is defeated. Mac is morose. Herlock is smug. Theia quietly smiles. Ryunosuke, meanwhile, has absolutely no idea how he feels. He won the case, but he feels empty. He didn’t do much of anything. He wants to call Herlock selfish, but he knows that he has no reason to call him that.

The bailiffs bring Mac out of the court room. She follows without complaint, so they only keep an eye on her. “Well… goodbye, Herlock Sholmes.” And then, she's dragged out.

Ryunosuke nudges Herlock. “Do you… know her, Sholmes?”

“I know no one by the name of Mackenzie Illage.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before he realizes it, he’s in the defendant’s antechamber, Theia thanking him and Herlock over and over again. Ryunosuke blocks it out, as Herlock was doing all of the talking anyway. He notices a familiar figure nearby. “--Ah, Susato!”

Susato Mikotoba, in her kimono like always, approaches him with a smile. Next to her is Rei Membami, whom he’s only met once. Supposedly they’re great friends. “Great job, Naruhodo-san! You’ve solved yet another case, and Mr Sholmes is here too!” She goes on to blather to Herlock, clasping her hands together. Rei stays where she was standing, giving Ryunosuke a polite smile.

“My dear boy!” Herlock leans against him, invading his personal space. “Us five should go out, should we not? I wonder if Inspector Hosonaga could still work at that restaurant…”

“Oh, no, it’s fine, truly, I’m not hungry–”

“HI-YAH!!”

In true Susato fashion, she flips Ryunosuke over in a Susato Takedown. “Mr Sholmes has come all the way from Britain and you dare not give him the pleasure of lunch? Truly impolite, Naruhodo!”

“...fine, fine, I’ll go…”