Rei Ryghts: Ace Attorney

The High School Turnabout

By Derald Snyder

Post Trial Wrap-Up

February 17, 10:47 AM

District Court

Defendant Lobby No. 1

"Nice jobs, Rei Ryghts! You showed that Kuyou Suou a things or two, nyoro~!" Tsuruya cheered as she met Rei and Koizumi in the lobby, Yuki not far behind them. Kyon and Haruhi were also there, standing close together.

"Th-thank you," Rei said politely. "I c-couldn't have d-done it without everybody's help, th-though..."

"I was watching the trial discreetly," Haruhi spoke up. "I gotta say, that was an unorthodox way of proving your case..."

"It was a b-bit of a g-gamble, I admit," Rei responded.

"Well, good thing nobody was hurt," John Smith said. "Though I agree with the judge- you deserved that penalty after pulling that stunt."

"Just be glad it wasn't my kind of penalty," Haruhi quipped.

"I d-don't feel like b-being d-doused with g-green slime, th-thank you," Rei shook her head.

"Green slime?! Buahahahaha!" Tsuruya burst into laughter. "That's mega hilarious! I don't cares if you're an aliens, you're good in my books, nyoro~!"

"Thanks, I'm glad you approve," the alien said with a grin. "Never a dull moment with you, I bet..."

"Yare yare, that's an understatement," John Smith sighed. "Though she pales in comparison to you..."

"From what I've heard about her, I'm glad that she never visited Garreg Mach," Sothis muttered.

"I heard that!" Haruhi called out.

"Heard what?" Kyon asked.

At that point, Haruhi saw Rei giving her an intense glare that read, 'not another word or you suffer'. "Oh, uh, never mind. It was just somebody from outside. Don't worry about it." (I want an explanation later,) she thought-cast to Rei.

(Come to Professor Eisner's hospital room later. Preferably alone,) Rei sent back, Haruhi nodding in acknowledgement.

"You knows, there's still one things that bothers mes," Tsuruya spoke up. "Kuyou was supposed to have fleds to the west, but the Computer Club is on the east sides..."

"Ah, that's easily explained," Koizumi replied with a smile. "Being that it was pitch-black inside the school that night, it's very possible Kuyou Suou got herself turned around and lost, especially considering her state of panic... the Computer Club was likely just the first room she found that wasn't locked."

"That makes sense," John nodded. "And the security guard and Nagato were too busy trying to save the professor's life, so..."

"That makes perfect sense, nyoro~," Tsuruya nodded. "Oh wait! You're that alien goddess that tooks John-kun on a world tour, rights? I'm Tsuruya, nice to meetchas!" She said as she walked up and offered a handshake, which the other accepted.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet Kyon's classmates. You can call me Haruhi Suzumiya," Haruhi said with a smile. "Um, Yuki, was it? Congrats on the not-guilty verdict! Though with your lawyer, I don't think the outcome was ever in doubt..."

"Oh, um, th-thank you," Yuki bowed politely. "I-it's an honor to meet you in person, Suzumiya-san. But what about affairs back home?"

"Ah, this is just an avatar she made in case John-kun got in trouble," Koizumi explained. "The real goddess is still back in her galaxy."

"Hey, I'm real enough!" Haruhi protested, pouting. "But yeah, I can only access about 10% of my power with this avatar..."

"Still enough to beat an HDD CPU," John muttered.

"With some difficulty, yeah," Haruhi shot back. "But unlike some goddesses, I'm not so scary once you get to know me..."

"Well, that is good to hear," Yuki nodded. Just then, her parents entered the room, Yuki's mother grabbing her in a hug.

"I'm so glad you've been exonerated!" the NPC woman sighed happily. "I mean, we knew this would happen yesterday, but..."

"Indeed, it's nice to have it made official," Yuki's father concurred. He then spotted Haruhi not far away, taking an abrupt step back and pointed at her! "Wait, a-aren't you the alien goddess from the Animega Star Cluster?!"

"Oh, don't tell me he's another xenophobic fool," Haruhi face-palmed.

"You'll have to excuse my husband," Yuki's mother interjected, "he was traumatized by an alien horror story as a child..."

"You're scared of aliens, Father?!" Yuki looked up at him incredulously.

"N-now see here!" Mr. Nagato's featureless face reddened, "the aliens in that story were monstrosities that drained the victim's vital fluids and preserved their brains for later study! Any child would be scared of that!"

"I'm fairly certain Haruhi doesn't do that," Kyon deadpanned.

"Yeah, I don't need to study brains," Haruhi piled on with her hands on her hips.

"R-right, of course... (ahem) anyway, Ryghts-san, I assume you'll be sending us the bill for legal expenses?" Yuki's father changed the subject.

"Y-yes, I'll g-get right on th-that when I g-get back t-to the office," Rei nodded in acknowledgement.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't you all be heading home soon?" Yuki's mother asked the students.

"Oh yeahs! My driver's probably getting impatients waiting for mes!" Tsuruya exclaimed. "I'll be seeing you all at school tomorrows! Bye!" With that, she promptly ran off.

"Yeah, guess we should be getting home too," John Smith said. "I assume you'll have Arakawa-san drop me off, Koizumi-san?"

"Of course, John-kun, seeing as we drove you here to begin with," Koizumi agreed. "What will you do, Suzumiya-san?"

"Ah, there was something I wanted to talk with Rei about in private," Haruhi said quickly. "Once that's done, I'm heading back home as well. Don't want Neon to worry, after all."

"Well, before we go, how about I give you my cell phone number?" John suggested. "That way, next time you think I'm in trouble, you can call first instead of just warping here and stalking me..."

"For the last time, I wasn't... oh, forget it," Haruhi sighed in frustration."Fine, go ahead and give me your number." This Kyon did, the goddess swiftly memorizing it. "All right, got it. Now if you'll excuse us... Come on, Rei." She put a hand to the CPU's back, gently escorting her out of the lobby.

"Sayonara, Ryghts-san, Suzumiya-san!" Yuki called after them. "And thank you both again!"

February 17, 11:22 AM

Lowee City General Hospital

Patient Room 1205

Byleth was busy reading a book when Rei, Sothis and Haruhi entered the room. "Oh, Miss Ryghts! This is a surprise, I wasn't expecting to see you here. ...And who might this be?" So Rei made introductions... "The Animenga goddess?! I could have mistaken you for a North High student..."

"Yeah, who would've thought my usual outfit perfectly matched with that school's uniform for girls," Haruhi shrugged. "Aaaaaaanyway, Rei here was just telling me about your ghostly companion, Sothis..."

"Sothis?! So you can perceive her?!" Byleth gasped, nonplussed.

"Child's play for me," Haruhi said smugly. "Rei's able to see her too, being a goddess herself and all..."

"Yes, sh-she helped p-point me in the right d-direction during my investigation," Rei nodded.

"Come now, why do you think I was beside her at the defense's bench?" Sothis snarked as she floated over Byleth's bed.

"Oh, right... now that you mention it... guess I was still a bit out of it from my stab wound," Byleth mulled. "But anyway, what brings you two here?"

"Well, given Sothis' unique situation, I thought that there might be a way I could help her out a little," Haruhi explained. "Looking you over, I can tell you have deep mana reserves. That's perfect."

"But I have no talent for magic," Byleth pointed out.

"Don't need to. I can take care of it. Hell, any second-rate magus could pull this off," Haruhi stated. "Okay, Sothis, if you could come over here..."

"What are you plotting...?" the ghost girl said warily, even as she did as asked, Haruhi then taking her hand.

"Just hold still," Haruhi instructed, closing her eyes... then she declared. "By the will of Alaya, I summon thee! Caster!" Sothis was engulfed in a blaze of light, and when it faded, she was sitting on the ground, rubbing her rear end.

"What the... what did you do?!" Sothis demanded as she stood up, leaning on the bed frame. "I feel... solid. Almost like I'm alive again..."

"Well, not alive, but I did give you a corporeal form," Haruhi smirked. "This summoning ritual was originally meant for a war between mages, using summoned spirits from the past to do battle for them. I dunno how much you have in the way of combat ability, but that's not important. At least now you can interact with the physical world again, though you can go back into your spirit form at any time if need be."

"R... Really?!" Sothis gasped as it finally began to sink in. "So... everyone can see me now?!"

"In theory, yes, but let's test that," Haruhi said, snapping her fingers, a familiar face suddenly appearing in a flash of light, falling on her rear.

"Huh...?!" Yuki Nagato looked around shock. "Ryghts-san? Suzumiya-san? Professor?! What am I doing here?!"

"I teleported you here," Haruhi said bluntly. "Don't worry, this won't take long, and then I'll send you back home. Can you see that girl with the green hair over there?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, I see her," Yuki nodded. "But who is she?"

"The ghost that's kept you up at night, from what Rei told me."

"Huh?! Y-you're the g-ghost?!" Yuki gasped in disbelief.

"Yes, it's me," Sothis sighed with her hands on her hips, marching up to the bespectacled student. "You can call me Sothis. Nice to meet you," she put out her hand.

Yuki hesitated for a moment before tentatively reaching out and grasping the other's hand... "Oh! I can touch you!"

"You can thank Miss Alien Goddess here for that," Sothis said as she shook Yuki's hand firmly. "I bet I'm not so scary now that you can actually see what I look like, right?"

"N-no, you're not," Yuki admitted, pulling back. "I feel like I owe you an apology..." She promptly bowed from the waist in remorse.

"Don't worry about it," Sothis gave a dismissing wave. "You should see this one girl from the Black Eagles house back at Garreg Mach... she's such a shy scaredy-cat, she won't even leave her room except for classes!"

"S-speaking of which, how will P-Professor Eisner explain y-your p-presence when y-you return?" Rei pondered.

"That's easy," Haruhi spoke up, "just say she's an orphan you found and took pity on while you were teaching over here. And the reason no one saw her is because she was sick and you were nursing her back to health at your apartment or wherever you're living."

"...That could work," Byleth nodded slowly. "Of course, you're going to have to behave yourself when we get back... no more pranks like when you were a ghost. We don't want any students there putting two and two together, understand?"

"Yes, yes, I suppose I can try and restrain myself," Sothis sighed. "At the same time, however, I do have to act my apparent age, so be prepared for some mild mischief, at least..."

"...As John Smith would say, yare yare," Byleth groaned, facepalming. Both Rei and Yuki couldn't help but giggle at that, Haruhi laughing outright.

*The End...?*