Rei Ryghts: Ace Attorney

The High School Turnabout

By Derald Snyder

Prologue

Date: ? Time: ?

Location: ?

"I'm here, as we agreed."

"Yes."

"You said you had information?"

"Yes... but I require... payment."

"What payment...?"

"Your sword... and your heart."

"What?! -Gaaahhh!"

"How dare you! Begone, you vile creature!"

"KYAAAAAAA!"

A security guard comes running, his flashlight illuminating a prone male figure on the ground, and a young bespectacled woman hunched over him...

"Huh...? Ah, no, wait! I didn't do it! It wasn't meeee!"

*Two days earlier...*

February 13

Samson & Co. Law Offices

Front Desk

(Another day of no legal work...)

Rei Ryghts sighed as she leaned back in chair, bored out of her horned skull. (After that excitement with the aliens making First Contact and whatnot, it almost seems too peaceful now...) Glancing at the calendar, she couldn't help but grimace. (Friday the 13th... guh. I really hope no misfortune comes my way... but knowing me...) Just then, a knock at the door brought her out of her reverie. "Oh! Ah, the door is open!" She promptly straightened up as said door creaked open...

"Yo, Miss Ryghts." The customer appeared to be an average-looking high school student with short, slightly mussed brown hair, wearing a blue uniform with a white undershirt and red tie.

"Ah! Um, Kyon Smith, was it?" Rei tried to recall.

"John Smith," the student answered. "Ah, this isn't anything serious, but a friend of mine has a problem, and I thought maybe you could help if you weren't busy with legal work..."

"Oh, well, certainly!" Rei nodded. "W-we are having a b-bit of a lull in legal work right now... I-I'm sure Mr. Samson w-won't mind t-too much... ahem."

"Still have that stuttering problem, huh?" Kyon observed. "Well, I know that you probably have to do investigations and footwork for your clients due to detective incompetence and evil prosecutors, so I'm basically asking for your sleuthing skills this time..."

"S-so what am I sleuthing f-for, exactly?"

Kyon heaved a sigh. "Well, to be blunt... it's a ghost hunt. At my school. I know, I know, it's probably just stupid rumors, but my friend's a bit scared of ghosts... I just want to put her mind at ease."

"...Oh." Rei blinked at that. "W-well, b-better ghosts th-than vampires, if you ask me..." One hand subconsciously went to her neck, though the bite had healed long ago.

"...They weren't the kind that sparkled, were they?"

"NO. He was a traditional vampire- ominous castle, formal suit with a cape, wineglass, the whole bit."

"Okay, good. Just checking." Kyon then cleared his throat. "Anyway... would it be possible for you to, um, disguise yourself? I'd rather not cause a ruckus at school..."

"N-no, I understand," Rei nodded. "I have a pink hoodie and sunglasses, would that work?"

"Only if you can hide or get rid of your horn somehow," Kyon glanced at the segmented horn protrusion on the right side of Rei's head.

"R... right," Rei sweat-dropped. "Umm... I can remove it, b-but... i-it's k-kinda p-painful to d-do... maybe you c-could help me with that...?"

"...Yare, yare. Maybe I should ask for a legal waiver so I don't get sued due to injuries incurred," Kyon snarked.

"Th-that won't b-be necessary, I p-promise," Rei sighed.

A few minutes later, a *crunch!* and a pained scream echoed through the entire building...

February 14, 9:31 AM

Lowee North High School

Front Gate

The next day, Rei approached the gates of Kyon's school, dressed in the 'Yuu Kobayashi' disguise from when Neptune had taken her to a college robot exhibition in Planeptune awhile back... (Can't believe it took almost a whole day for my head to stop throbbing...) She resisted the urge to rub that still-tender spot on her head, adjusting her sunglasses instead...

Fortunately, she didn't have long to wait, as Kyon walked up with a female student in tow... She had short, lilac-colored hair and brown eyes behind a pair of large glasses, dressed in a sailor-suited uniform with a blue skirt, Kyon standing quite a bit taller than her. "H-hello there!" Rei waved. "Um, I'm Yuu Kobayashi, it's nice to meet you!"

"Huh?" the girl said, confused. "John, I thought you said-"

"She's in disguise, Nagato-san," Kyon sighed. "For obvious reasons..."

"O-oh, right." The student faced Rei and bowed politely. "Um, Kobayashi-san, I am Yuki Nagato, president of the Literature Club. It's good to meet you."

"N-nice to meet you too," Rei bowed back. "Um, s-so what about this g-ghost...?"

"W-well, some students are saying they hear a young girl's voice, but they turn and there's no one there," Yuki began. "Also, sometimes objects appeared to have moved in the classroom, though no one claims to touch them..."

"S-so when d-did these rumors s-start?" Rei inquired.

"A couple weeks ago," Kyon spoke up. "It was about the same time that substitute teacher started here..."

"Y-yes, my history teacher contracted a serious illness, and is recuperating at the local hospital," Yuki explained. "The substitute teacher is actually a professor from an academy south of here..."

"A military academy," Kyon expounded. "Apparently he used to be a mercenary along with his old man... and you can tell, by how well he's built and stuff."

"Wh-why would a military academy p-professor substitute f-for a high-school history t-teacher?" Rei couldn't help but ask.

"Good question," Kyon averted his gaze. "There's rumors that somebody pulled strings with the administration... but no one knows who or why."

(Did he just look down and to the left?!) Rei realized. (He knows more than he's letting on! But why...?)

"...anyway, that's not important. The point is, the ghost showed up the same time that professor did," Kyon stated.

"H-have you asked him about th-these rumors?"

"I..." Yuki shook her head. "I-I've tried, but I always lose my nerve when he stares at me... with those cold blue eyes of his..." She shuddered involuntarily.

"Yeah, I tried asking him, and he just blew me off," Kyon sighed. "To be fair, he had a point, about having more important things to concern himself with..."

(So that's why he asked me for help...) Rei mused. "W-well, b-before we confront him, how about we see what th-the other students have t-to say first?" she suggested aloud.

"Sure, if you wanna get a general idea of the rumors," Kyon agreed. "I'm gonna warn you right now, though, they're gonna be all over the place..."

"Right..." (That's usually what happens when people speculate with little or no evidence... but I'm a lawyer, and my job is to find the truth.) "W-well, let's go, then... and try t-to not g-give me away, p-please..."

"Understood," Yuki nodded as the trio headed into the school proper...

*To be continued...*