Sorrow & Mercy: a Great Ace Attorney AU

Wound

"Miss Mikotoba...I was not anticipating your presence."

Susato stood in the doorway of Barok's office, her head lowered and her fingers interlaced.

She had been mourning for days now. She had cried nearly constantly when awake and had thrashed against terrible nightmares in her sleep. Horrible thoughts consumed her every moment, a confusion of memory and fact. She kept trying to deny the truth or else sank beneath its weight, knees buckling, sobs overtaking her. She had no energy for anything, but all the walls of Baker Street were sinking in on her, sodden with memories. So she had left the apartment without a clear destination in mind, needing fresh air, needing distance. But her emotions were so immensely snarled that the tangle continued to rest heavy in her breast, to push down on her lungs and stomach and heart. And somehow that pain had driven her here. To his presence.

Susato slowly lifted her head. Barok was staring at her unreadably.

"Did Professor Harebrayne make it home safely?" she said, voice thin and small.

"I suspect he will soon. He left some days ago," Barok said.

"I pray his voyage will be safe."

Silence stretched between them.

"...Where is Kazuma-sama?" Susato said.

"I have not seen him since that moment in the Old Bailey," Barok said.

"...I see."

"Miss Mikotoba."

"...Yes, Lord van Zieks?"

"Genshin Asogi was executed shortly before your departure. Yet you act as though you had no knowledge of any of these events."

"Because I had no knowledge of them!" Susato said. "I was told he was gravely ill. But I had still hoped...that day...the day we left...I had hoped he would be there. That we would all go home together. Yet all I was given was his sword..."

"You truly had no suspicions at all? Is that what you want me to believe?" Barok said.

"I never even considered it a possibility."

"Not even once?" Barok pressed.

"No. Of course not," she said.

"How could you not have known?"

"How could anyone think someone they love capable of such a thing!" Susato snapped, tears wetting her cheeks.

Barok blanched. He closed his eyes. His fingers flexed over his Prosecutor's badge as his throat pulsed with a heavy swallow. Susato could not fathom this response. Confusion stumbled through her grief.

"...What, exactly, happened after Klint's death?" Barok said, meeting her eyes once more.

"I...I was escorted to my father's side. By Genshin-sama. And I was told...that I could not see you. So I waited and waited in that room. Hoping to see you both. But...I never did see either of you again..."

"Genshin told you to stay away from me, did he?"

"No. My father did. He insisted that I not seek either of you. He said it was far too dangerous. He knew you had been attacked that one night. He said he saw you at the hospital."

"...So, your father was not only willing to allow you to stay, but he was truly that concerned about your safety? Even though he loathed your presence," Barok said.