Ace Attorney: Crashing Fates

The Comedic Turnabout, Part 8 (Kyo)

"Wait," I declared before Chrysalis had the chance to run off now that she called the investigation closed. "We still have to go check up on Chinami back at the detention center. We should tell her about the progress we've made here today."

"Kyo does have a point. Let's get back there before the detention center closes up for the day," Thomas agreed.

"Then let's goooo!!" Sophie sang, taking my hand in one of hers and Chrysalis' wrist in the other. Chrysalis flinched slightly at the action but allowed herself to be dragged along by the girl regardless of what she thought about it.

//September 5, 2031. Detention Center, 3:20 PM//

The detention center was just as drab as I remembered it having been when I was trapped there, but now, at least I wasn't being held hostage by the bulletproof glass. I almost felt sorry for Chinami, sitting there with nothing but a spider and a soulless guard to keep her company.

Emphasis on almost.

"Oh! You guys are here!" Chinami gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Did you make any progress in your investigation that you want to tell me about?"

"Why else would we be here? A formality of some regard?" I asked, my voice lowering into a scowl.

"Calm down, Kyo," Thomas instructed of me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "This isn't the time for going crazy."

I sighed. "Fine..." I mumbled, feeling the anger that had been pumping through me melt away. I never knew somebody like him could do something like that.

"What did you find?" Chinami asked, twirling a piece of hair over her finger. "Please tell me it's something to prove my innocence..."

Chrysalis held up the cravat that she had somehow (she hadn't really explained it) stumbled across. "This was used against Ms. Kuda. The culprit briefly strangled her as a threat, and this is what I think is the weapon," she explained.

"It's the calling of a certain serial killer, one Gentleman Murderer," Thomas explained.

"The... Gentleman... Murderer..." Chinami muttered. I could see the fear cross her blue eyes a thousand miles away. She was thinking of the same thing I had been as soon as I heard about that swimming case from over the summer.

AE-7.

I could tell that Chrysalis didn't seem to particularly trust this, either. Thomas frowned and stared at Chinami. "Okay... You clearly have a past with the Gentleman Murderer..." he began.

"S-so what if I do?" Chinami asked, looking down.

"Does this have something to do with his first appearance nine years ago?" Thomas asked her, a frown creasing his features.

Chinami whined slightly before nodding. "S-so what?" she questioned, fear not at all subtly seeping into her actions.

"AE-7, was it not?" Chrysalis cut in. "Sounds kind of familiar... Where the Gentleman Murderer first appeared years ago and killed sixteen people in a mass car crash."

"Can we stop talking about this now?!" Chinami suddenly yelled, shouting so loudly that the hood from her costume can falling off of her head to show the top of her pink hair.

I gasped upon seeing what was underneath.

A golden hair comb.

"T-that... That was on one of the victims of AE-7!" I realized, eyes going wide.

"I-it was... My parents were killed in the crash... And my mom wore it when she died..." Chinami whispered, taking the comb out of  her hair and beginning to finger it.

I took out my own hair comb. My aunt had worn it when she was killed in the very same car crash. My father's sister was such a great woman... She didn't deserve this fate.

Wait... Didn't her husband have a younger sister?

"That comb... Was it given to you by Tiffany Raine?" I asked her.

Chinami nodded. "Yeah... My aunt... She was really a great woman..." she smiled lightly. I frowned.

"How old was I when Aunty Tiff died?" Sophie cut in, staring up at me with wide eyes. "I don't ever remember meeting her."

"You were only six months old," I replied, tightening my grip on my hair comb. "I remember Mother and Father babysitting you at the time of the crash while Aunt and Uncle were out coming back from a date. You were too young to understand what had happened that day..."

"I bet that they were great! They must have been some of the best people ever!" Sophie chorused, bouncing up and down. "I would have loved to meet them!"

"Maybe I can arrange that sometime," Chrysalis smirked down at her, making Sophie giggle happily. At times like these, I wonder why she investigates murders when she's so young, pure, and innocent...

"What?" I started to question, my eyes hardening. She couldn't just joke about this sort of thing...!

"I'm a spirit medium," Chrysalis explained, shrugging off the rough and jagged stares I was shooting her direction.

"Anyways, I guess that you guys want to get back to work," Chinami told us as she was led away by the guard. "I'll see you later!"

"Let's head back to the agency," Chrysalis suggested.

I nodded. "Let's go."

//September 5, 2031. Morix Law Offices, 4:01 PM//

The agency was normal when we got back. Mr. Morix was reading the newspaper on the couch, but my voice made him look up. "Mr. Morix?" I asked.

"Yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"You were at the pub the night of the crime, correct?" I asked him.

"Could you tell us if you saw anybody, a man, specifically, with green eyes and black hair?" Thomas asked him.

Mr. Morix shook his head. "Sorry, but I saw nothing."

"It's okay," Sophie told him. "But thanks anyways! You're such a nice guy!"

"Thanks for the compliment," Mr. Morix smiled at her, though I couldn't help but feel some nagging feeling pulling at the corners of my mind. I suppressed a frown as best I could, not wanting to be forced into sharing my current thoughts.

"I guess now we can call it a day," Chrysalis declared.

I nodded. "You said that an hour too early before, but now, I think I actually agree," I said, though I really just wanted quiet so that I could search my memory as to why I was feeling so scared about this case.

This was the first time I had been scared in a long time.

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I want to get onto the neck case because of my emotions and foreshadowing.

Okay I think I'm going to run away because my laptop is about to die okay salutations~

-Digital