CH.18 Pressing Pursuit PT.1
In the prime timeline, at DEM headquarters, Isaac is clapping and applauding his partner for a gift that he has recently been given. He is a very happy mood as he expresses his gratitude.
"Hohoho, Shinra, my friend, I can't not express how happy you've made me today."
Shinra merely adjusts his mask and smirks as he responds.
"It was nothing. But now, to the topic at hand. We may need to deploy some more units soon. I would like to test my gifts to you, if that's okay?"
Isaac shrugs.
"Sure, sure, I've got no problems with it. Besides, Ellen hasn't fully recovered and it would be a problem if she died before the others."
Shinra snaps his fingers and orders Kokoro to send some more of his "gifts" to Shido and his group.
In the Shiori timeline, Shido's group who are still aboard the Bifrost, Hiro, Akane, Kotori, and Kurumi; are still watching the trial and are equally shocked at the reveal of Miku being Shiori's pianist in disguise. Akihiko and Ellen arrive back on the ship with some new evidence that they have uncovered at the studio. Upon witnessing Miku's appearance, Hiro now has a better idea of what is really happening. The others have an idea as well, but Hiro has the best understanding of it. So he gathers some pictures from the Bifrost's database from when it was monitoring the group members in the city. He explains his plan to the others.
At the courthouse, the trial is starting to get more interesting. Shido has figured part of Saori's plan, but what's bugging him is.
"Why is she doing this? Why is she after Miku?"
Miku is still at the witness stand. She is still determined to take the blame for her daughter. With everything settled down, Saori then starts making more statements.
"Now I think we get it. This woman murdered her daughter's manager with malicious intent; for why? I don't know, but I don't personally care."
Objection!
Shido slams his hands on his desk and proclaims.
"But even if the witness DID, and I'm not saying she did, kill the manager; she's already given a reason. She was only trying to protect her daughter."
Saori smirks again, and proclaims.
"Okay, then Shiori murdered her manager, so Miku is trying to take the fall for her daughter. Either way, someone in this room is the murderer without any doubts."
The Judge has a look of disapproval since he doesn't like the course of this trial.
"I must say, this turn is making me feel uneasy. I am grandfather, and a father, so I can empathize with the blight of this woman standing before me."
Shido doesn't know what to do, again. So he looks at Mana, and she has an uneasy look on her face as she tells him.
"I don't know…I feel for her, I do. But I don't what to say either."
Hold it!
Hiro bursts through the courtroom door dressed in a red suit, with a white cravat, and black shoes. He announces.
"I am here to assist in this trial. I am….Hiro Naruhodou, the defenses brother, and legal aide. Everyone is surprised at this, as Hiro's entrance and sudden outburst has left everyone speechless. Hiro immediately makes his way to Shido and Mana to tell them about his idea. So, he takes Mana's place at Shido's side. Moreover, he takes the stead; as he silently tells Shido.
"Shido, let me handle this."
Without any more ideas, Shido lets Hiro take the stead. Hiro first states.
"Miss Miku, I would like you to tell us about the events leading up your supposed murder. I want what time you arrived at the stadium, and your actions prior."
Miku seems uneasy being ordered by a man, but she goes with it, and no one is disagreeing. Saori is so confident, so she says nothing.
Testimony
-What I did before—
"Before I went to stadium, I gave my other children a couple of kisses and hugs, and kissed my darling husband goodbye."
"I put on my disguise, and walked to the stadium."
"I arrived at 6:30, and then murdered Hibiki."
"After trying to hide the evidence, I waited until my time to go on stage."
"That's all there is. So let my daughter go, she's innocent!"
End
Hiro is standing with his arms crossed, as he finishes listening to Miku's new testimony. Shido doesn't have anything, so he asks Hiro.
"Did you hear anything strange? Because I didn't."
Hiro then puts on a more confident smile as he responds.
"No, but I'll find something. I just need to press her on certain details. Then I'll get Saori before too long I won't let her get away with this."
Cross examination
-What I did before—
"Before I went to stadium, I gave my other children a couple of kisses and hugs, and kissed my darling husband goodbye."
"I put on my disguise, and walked to the stadium."
Hold it!
Hiro points at Miku and asks.
"About how long does it take to put on your disguise, and how long does it take to walk to the stadium with it all on?"
Miku thinks and explains.
"Well the wig only takes a couple of minutes, my glasses about six seconds, and my corset takes about ten minutes. The walk is about a half hour when I'm wearing all of my stuff."
Hiro takes a note of this and thinks.
"So, she had to have prepared herself starting at roughly 5:48 to even have a chance of pulling this off, but it's still possible. What time did you arrive at the stadium again?"
"I arrived at 6:30, and then murdered Hibiki."
"After trying to hide the evidence, I waited until my time to go on stage."
Hold it!
Hiro again.
"What did you do during that time frame?"
Miku now has a smile as she explains.
"I listened to my Shiori sing her heart out. I love hearing her sing, I love all of her songs, and I just plain love her!"
Hiro's eyes then look more determined as he then asks a question.
"Exactly, what was the fourth song she sang? I tend to forget things like that."
Miku then appears to get irritated as she responds.
"It was Lovely World! Her third hit in the country and top charting song in Italy."
Hiro smirks as he says.
"Indeed, if only that were the case. But as it stands, you are the incorrect one, Miss Miku!"
Objetction!
Saori pounds her desk with an irritated look as she shouts.
"I object to this fool's foolishly foolish line of foolish questions!"
Saori realizes it as well, but Hiro wags his finger at her as he says.
"I disagree, my questions are fair, my statements are very valid, and this will prove it!"
Take that!
Hiro presents the program for the concert and re-illustrates something to everyone.
"It's true that in the program Shiori was planning on singing Lovely World, what really happened is that the song played around that time was changed."
Everyone then remembers that earlier, Tohka mentioned that the fourth song, Lovely World, was changed at the last minute, and the song, Guilty Love, was the song that was sung at the time. Hiro then adds.
"Miss Miku would never mistake something like that. As she has shown us, she is devoted to her daughter could probably recognize any song that she would sing."
The Judge then looks at Hiro and asks.
"But what does this have to do with the case?"
Hiro then shakes his head and shrugs as he explains.
"It's simple, Your Honor, Miss Miku was never actually at the stadium until around 7:20, when she was scheduled to be on stage!"
Que Cornered or pursuit!
Miku then appears to have a shocked expression and Saori pounds on her desk as she tries to regain control.
"It's possible that she left the stadium and came back, but missed the song."
Hiro is now the one with the constant smile as he wags his finger in front of his forehead.
"I beg to differ. Because her story has it made clear that she was at the stadium during the entirety of the incident. Plus, there is one more thing she has neglected to mention. And this is that something."
Take that!
The Judges eyes widen as he proclaims.
"That is….what does this have to do with this trial?"
Hiro has presented the medicine bottle to the court.
"This bottle is covered in bloodstains, and yet, Miss Miku has never proclaimed to know that this bottle was in the dressing room of her daughter. I'm betting that the reason is because…she was never in there at any time that night!"
Objection!
Saori regains her composure and chuckles a little.
"Really? Then how do you explain the hairs from her wig, that were found on the defendants bed in her dressing room?"
Hiro, still confident, gives his answer.
"Clearly, you didn't pay attention to what I said. I said: she wasn't in there THAT NIGHT; most likely, Miss Miku probably didn't enter the dressing room until after the incident was reported, and the medicine bottle was already taken away by a girl named Enfer Rimbaud."
The Judge then adds his own opinion.
"If this, Enfer Rimbaud took the bottle, then shouldn't she be a suspect as well?"
Hiro shakes his head.
"No, Your Honor, as fate would have it, I happened to attend the concert myself, and remember Miss Rimbaud with my own eyes being there in the audience."
Miku starts acting more desperate.
"Enough! Just give Shiori a not guilty verdict! And take me to jail!"
Objection!
Neither Hiro, nor Saori shouted that. Rather, Shido did with his arm extended and his finger pointed at Miku. He is serious as he tells her.
"Mrs. Itsuka, that's enough! It is clear that didn't do anything, except try to defend your daughter. But let me ask you this. What about your other children?"
Miku then regains her composure as she silently says to herself.
"My…children…"
Shido continues.
"Do you want them to grow up motherless!? Do you want to be taken away from them!?"
Saori, on her end, takes these words herself and thinks.
"Motherless….."
Shido continues.
"Your husband would be a victim of your arrest as well. I believe in Shiori's innocence as much as you do, but this isn't the way to do it."
Miku thinks for a second and nods, and starts tearing up a bit.
"You're right…I…I don't want to put them through that…my darling children, and my Darling."
Shido nods his head and gently tells her.
"Miku, from what I've seen today, you love your daughter very much, and I bet you love you're other children just as much. And I promise that I'll get Shiori found innocent, no matter what it takes."
The Judge interjects.
"This is all well and good, but what do you think of this, Prosecutor Mitsurugi?"
Saori gathers her thoughts about this situation.
"Your Honor, I…."
Objection!
Hiro slams his hand on the defense's desk, and proclaims.
"Your Honor, I request that you hold Miss Mitsurugi in contempt of court, for biases against the witness."
Shido whispers to Hiro.
"Hiro, what are you doing?"
Hiro looks at Shido and responds.
"Shido, don't be an idiot. It's clear that Saori has contempt for Miku."
The Judge looks at Hiro, and tells him, in a serious tone.
"This is a very serious accusation. What proof do you have of this?"
Saori is showing no signs of retaliation; rather, she is simply standing in silence. Hiro then prepares to show his evidence.
"Your Honor, this is my evidence of Miss Mitsurugi's bias."
Take that!
Hiro presents a simple picture of Miku that was taken of her from the Bifrost's camera (he claims it to be from paparazzi). Naturally, the Judge asks to what he is trying to show. Miku is lost in thought about her family at this point, so she remains silent. Hiro points to the red mark that was on Miku's face yesterday, and explains.
"Miss Miku was assaulted yesterday…by prosecutor Mitsurugi!"
Objection!
Shido objects, and confronts Hiro.
"No, I refuse to believe that. Saori wouldn't…."
Hiro looks at Shido and retorts.
"Shido, she got that mark right after she met with Saori yesterday. I haven't known her that long, and even I can sense her malice."
Shido grimaces at Hiro's words because he realizes that Hiro is correct in his accusations. Then Shido's looks at Saori, and sees that she has her head lowered. Saori then merely utters.
"It's true; I assaulted that witness."
The Judge looks absolutely stunned at this revelation.
"P-P-P-Prosecutor Mitsurugi! I am beyond words. You are hereby removed from this trial, immediately."
Saori, with her head down, simply walks away from her stand. The Judge looks bewildered as he is clearly disappointed. He then says.
"Without a prosecutor, I don't know how this trial will continue."
Hiro then proclaims.
"I will take the prosecuting side now, Your Honor."
Both Shido and the Judge look surprised. Shido whispers.
"What are doing?"
Hiro answers.
"If I'm the prosecutor, then Shiori has a better chance to get declared not guilty. But I'll fight back to make it look good."
"But your better than me at this, man."
Hiro simply smiles.
"You've get everything you need. Remember what Miku revealed?"
The Judge has no objections to Hiro taking the stand since no one else can do it. Hiro then makes his first statement as the prosecutor.
"Since it has been established that the witness had no realistic ties to the actual crime, I request that she be dismissed."
The Judge nods, and Miku walks off the stand and out of the room. The Judge then adds a statement.
"This isn't looking good for your client, Mr. Naruhodou. And I don't know of any witnesses that we haven't questioned yet."
Shido is now alone on the defense, and doesn't know what to do. He is getting nervous, but takes a deep breath and thinks.
"What Miku revealed…What she revealed….Wait, I got!"
He gathers his thoughts and says.
"Your Honor, there is one more thing that we've overlooked."
Everyone looks at Shido with expecting eyes, which makes him nervous, as he explains.
"Remember when Miku revealed an Email that she saw? Well there is something that isn't right with it."
Hiro smirks.
"By Jove, He's got it."
The Judge, of course, asks.
"What is strange about the Email?"
Shido reads the Email to everyone.
"I'll give you $500, American, for the pictures."
Shido emphasizes the word American, because of his next statement since everyone noticed that.
"Isn't weird that the victim would be offered American money? Considering that she wasn't American to begin with."
Hiro points at Shido with a casual look as he asks.
"What are you getting at?"
Shido, with his hands at his sides, announces.
"This can only mean one thing. That an American person would be the true photographer."
The Judge looks confused.
"But what does this have to do with this case?"
Shido continues.
"Everything, Your Honor. I think that the victim found out about the culprit, confronted them, and was killed to keep quiet about them."
Objection!
Hiro objects, and says.
"You should know that there weren't any known Americans at the stadium that night, Souka."
Shido confidently shakes his head.
"And YOU should know that there was one person who was…You, Axel Gibeson, you murdered Hibiki Keieisha!"
Axel suddenly reappears on the witness stand with a surprised look on his face. Hiro smiles again since he is on Shido's side and already knows how to end this. The Judge gets more serious as asks.
"I assume that you've got proof of this?"
Shido now has nothing else to say, but utters.
"Of…course I do..hehehe."
Hiro is here to back up his friend and says.
"Your Honor, I request that we take a brief recess so that I can fully immerse myself with the facts of this case."
The Judge complies, but adds.
"I will allow it, but you should have done so before coming here today."
Shido sighs heavily since Hiro has come through for him again.
Outside the room, Shido talks with Shiori while Hiro talks with Ellen, who had entered the courthouse recently with an envelope. Shiori is overcome with emotion as she has a clearly upset look on her face.
"I can't believe that Axel would…."
Shiori pulls out a hanky and blows her nose in it. Miku has already made her way home to watch the rest of the trial on television. Shido, upon seeing Shiori again, begins to wonder.
"If what Akane told is true, then why hasn't Shiori's power awakened yet?"
Author's Note- This chapter is not complete, but I don't want my readers to think that I have stopped. I am just dealing with a tedious schedule. I promise to keep this going, and I deeply thinking you all for supporting my work even though I am being much slower.