A.N: Hello again, everyone! Here is Chapter Thirty of this story, which is another milestone! It takes place in-between the last two chapters. I hope you like it!

Chapter Thirty: The Kirigiri Axis

Kyoko held a note and stared at it. Her eyes darkened as she went over it for the umpteenth time.

"May those responsible accept the truth. Once upon a time, Hope's Peak Academy was a sanctuary of hope, but you perverted it. Upon seeing what has happened because of your selfish intentions, it is only righteous that we take action. Never again will your greed and evil cause such disasters. Today is the day when things change, and the Future Foundation falls from its self-made pedestal.

Fear not, as those who have not been able to prevent such an easily preventable ending shall not be spared either. Ultimately, the Kirigiri axis might not have caused The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History, but it has failed to prevent it when it should have been its one and only mission. Junko Enoshima's plans would never have come to fruition if father and daughter had shown competence worthy of the Academy of Hope. Indeed, you shall disappear along with the Agents of Despair, whatever the cost for that might be.

Class 79th of Hope's Peak Academy, the Unremembered Ultimates."

The Former Ultimate Detective scanned every detail, read every word again and again, inspected the penmanship of every letter… But the note still mocked her. She clenched her fists in anger, trying to decipher whatever the hidden meaning of this note was.

There's got to be something! Think, Kyoko, think!

"You probably shouldn't focus on this letter too much, Kyoko. It's only going to harm you."

Division Fourteen's Director looked up and noticed Kizakura there, standing next to her temporary desk. A handgun rested in a holster that made the Former Talent Scout look a lot more intimidating than usual.

"But I've got to, Kizakura! We read through that file together, and there was nothing!" Kyoko exclaimed, banging her fist on the desk. "This note has to be hiding something!"

The two Division Directors had been gone for two days now. Kyoko couldn't help but wonder how things were going for her friends and subordinates, but she also knew that she couldn't let it distract her. Right now, she had made one of the rooms of the helicopter her office, where she spent countless hours trying to find a lead on the Unremembered Ultimates.

"Well, that's our hope, at least," Kizakura said with a shrug. "If there's nothing, either we search on the whole globe, or we stop there. I don't think Vice-Chairman Munakata would be happy about that."

"No, that's out of the question," the young woman said with resolve. "I said I would get to the bottom of this case, and I will. After being… insulted like this… this has only furthered my will."

Koichi chuckled as he took out his bottle. "I can see that, yeah. But honestly, don't let the contents of this note bother you, Kyoko. I remember your investigation into the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy, and you were doing a heck of a job."

Kyoko sighed. "But it wasn't enough. We wouldn't be here otherwise. I must have failed to figure out Junko's role as the Mastermind."

"Hey, no one's perfect, Kyoko. Besides, you would probably have died if you had kept at it for too long," Kizakura reasoned. "Junko had her sister as her bodyguard, and she could have harmed you."

The lavender-haired woman's purple eyes darkened into a glare. "I hope you're not insinuating that I couldn't have defeated Mukuro Ikusaba in a fight, Kizakura."

"I'm just saying," the blonde said with another shrug. "Your old man took you out of the investigation for your safety. Maybe you would have cracked it with more time."

"W-Wait…" What did he just say…? Kyoko wondered, giving her father's friend a curious look. "Did you just say that… my father is the one who took me off that case…?"

"Hm, yeah, that's what I just said," Koichi told her, confused. "Why?"

So that is how it was, is it…? Kyoko took a deep breath. Didn't you trust my abilities, Father? Did you think that I wouldn't have been able to do it? She looked at the darkened skies through the window. How much did you trust the title you yourself gave me, Jin Kirigiri? "Nothing. Do not worry about it."

"If you say so…" it was clear Kizakura was far from convinced. "So, are you gonna take another look at that note?"

"Yes. I won't rest until I've inspected every nook and cranny of that note, Kizakura," she told him, turning back towards her desk. "Not finding the clue hidden in it would be proving them right."

"Alright. Do you want a hand? I might be an idiot, but maybe I could help?"

"You are an idiot; that much is true," Kyoko smirked at him amusingly. "Although… I suppose they do say that the more, the merrier."

Kizakura laughed as he took a seat next to Kyoko. "Haha, a wise decision, Detective Kirigiri! Let's do this thing!"

There are literally no odds that you'll find anything when I didn't, Kizakura… The young woman sighed. At least, he was enthusiastic. "I've tried everything. I counted the number of letters to see if it made any sense. Does the number 971 ring any bells?"

The scout brought a hand to his chin in thought, running his fingers through his goatee. "Nothing that comes to mind, I'm afraid. Maybe the number of times I got rejected by women, but that's it."

"I said 971, not 971,000," Kyoko mocked, making Koichi sweatdrop. "More seriously, perhaps 170 is more familiar? That is the number of words in the note."

"Nope, nothing either."

As I thought, the basic tricks won't work… The Former Ultimate Detective stared at the note once more, recalling all the secret messages she had had to decipher in her past cases. But I just can't see it… Could they really have left a note without another meaning? If they wanted to test me, that seems unlikely…

"Hey, I was thinking… Isn't it possible that there's a link with only certain words or letters?" Kizakura suggested suddenly, fiddling with his fedora. "I mean, you've been looking at the note as a whole, but maybe the whole picture isn't actually the whole picture? Maybe we need to think outside the box."

"Hm…" To think outside the box… Things are usually not as complicated, but… Think, Kyoko… You're close, and you know it! She focused on the note, rereading parts of it. What would *she* do if she had to find something…? What would Grandfather do…?

Wait… Kyoko's analytic purple eyes stopped suddenly. She turned towards Kizakura. "Get the pilot and tell them we're leaving right now."

"I… I don't know what to think right now."

Jin stared at the screen with a worried look in his eyes. He felt a soft and warm hand on his, making him relax a bit.

"Dear, it is alright for you to be worried for our daughter," his wife assured him. "But our Kyoko is really good at what she does. Besides, your good friend Koichi is there with her."

The deceased Headmaster of Hope's Peak allowed a smile to appear on his lips as his body released some tension.

"You're right… Koichi might not look like it, but he can be reliable when he wants to be…" Jin chuckled after a sigh. "I just wish that there weren't Ultimate students I never even got to know that want our daughter's death, Ayame…"

"Jin…" she took his second hand and looked at him in the eyes. "Let's not be pessimistic, alright? Our princess is going to be just fine. She has her friends' hope with her, remember? Also… she has our hope with her."

The dark-haired man nodded. "Yes, you're right, darling. I would never have expected this mission I gave to Koichi to lead to this, but if anyone can make things right, it's Kyoko."

"Indeed. Kyoko is the Ultimate Detective, after all," Ayame smiled when Kizakura smirked at her daughter in the world of the living. "I know you were not on good terms with your father, and while I wish he had opened Kyoko to the world more, he did make her a wonderful detective."

"That's because she inherited your brain, darling," Jin laughed. "The Uzuchi name would fit Kyoko's intellectual and physical abilities much better than the Kirigiri name, believe me."

"Oh, do not say that, Jin. Your family is as worthy of being Kyoko's family as mine is, and you know that," she told her husband, giving him a disapproving look. "We all had a part to play in raising her, even if I will forever regret that I could not see her more than I did."

Jin sighed remorsefully. "I do, too. However, I had a chance to, and I wasted it. I don't think I will ever be able to make peace with this part of me, especially now that I have learned about this note."

"What do you mean, dear?" the deceased woman asked, a curious look in her eyes.

"Well, these Unremembered Ultimates have clearly incriminated me as being partly responsible for letting the Tragedy happen. And while I know that I could not have done much, I should have least tried," he explained, getting up and going to stare through the window. "I let the Steering Committee hand the world over to Junko on a silver platter, and I forbade Kyoko from possibly solving the mystery."

"You did it to make sure she would not get hurt-"

"I didn't believe in her enough, Ayame," he cut her with force. "I admittedly didn't think that she could solve a case that was getting so out-of-hand back then. I was probably wrong, and the world paid the price. Deep down, this must have been something that crossed my mind."

"Jin, our daughter is alive and well. This might sound uncharacteristically selfish coming from me, but this is what matters the most," she assured him. "The mistakes you might have made do not matter as long as they didn't put Kyoko in harm's way."

"She had to go through a Killing Game, Ayame!" the deceased Headmaster exclaimed. "And if she wasn't born a genius, Kyoko would probably not have survived! I've told Junko that I would never totally forgive her for that, but I'll never totally forgive myself either."

There was a moment of silence inside the room. Only Kyoko and Kizakura's voices could be heard from the other side of the screen. At last, Ayame sighed.

"I have one certainty, Jin, and it's that while there are people responsible for this Tragedy other than Ms. Enoshima, you and Kyoko aren't among them," she said, her voice naturally soft. "These Unremembered Ultimates wish to avenge the future that was taken away from them, but neither you nor our daughter are responsible."

"What we think does not matter, Ayame. If they believe that Kyoko had a role to play, she'll be one of their targets, anyway," he said, pacing around the room. "And while I trust her and Koichi to solve this case, the mere thought that some people blame my daughter for something she did not do angers me to no end."

"I can certainly see that you are angrier than you usually are," Ayame agreed. "And I have to admit that this idea doesn't fit well with me, either, but let's believe in our daughter to bring this case to its best conclusion, alright?"

There was another silence. Jin went back to his seat and shook his head. He glanced at the screen before turning back towards his deceased wife and smiling at her.

"You've always been the wisest one of us two, haven't you?"

"Let's just say that I don't let myself be swayed by my emotions as much as you do."

She grinned at him, making Jin's heart melt. He didn't know how he had managed to spend so much time apart from her. He still loved her as much as he did on the first day, back when they were young adults, back when they were still alive.

They shared a passionate kiss, and the deceased Headmaster let his worries dissipate in his wife's love for him. He truly believed that she had always been the better parent. Their daughter had always been so happy around her mother, and Jin recalled these moments with fondness.

Now, all he could hope for was that their reunion would take place in as long as possible, even if the Former Ultimate Detective had (involuntarily) made some potentially dangerous enemies.

To be continued…

A.N: So, will you be able to understand the hidden message of this note, hm? I'd be curious to have your guesses in the review section! Anyway, for those who don't know, Kyoko's mother is named Ayame in this series because this is the Japanese name of two Ace Attorney characters I love a lot, Iris and Iris Watson from DGS.

Well, I hope you liked this chapter! Please leave a review, and I wish you all a nice day! :)