A/N: The criminal is…! Please don't hate me for this.

Disclaimer: I still do not own any of the characters portrayed here, call it a 'loan'.

--Chapter 9: Trial's Start--

He still hadn't come. It was nearly time for the trail, and Neuro was still no where to be found. Yako herself was pacing back and forth in the little room she was waiting in. The curtains were pulled shut across the windows to block out the prying eyes outside, all trying to take a peek at her. Occasionally, the curtains would turn a brighter for an instant; the work of the flash of a camera. Undoubtedly, it was the work of a news crew. Earlier, Yako had to push her way through the crowds, some jeering and yelling slanders at her, others trying to catch a glimpse of what a supposed 'killer' looked like. She could take those people, but the no good news crews she could not. One had even grabbed her and asked, "Miss, miss! Can you tell us how it feels to know you're going to jail?" That was probably the stupidest question of the day, the others asked about nervousness, maybe this person was callow or something. "I'm not going to get arrested!" she told herself firmly.

Half an hour. That's all Neuro had to get here. To vent her frustration, Yako kicked the poor wall, though her poor toe took the brunt of the pain. "He's supposed to be here to go over the case with me! Tell me what to do in certain situations! Or at least BE HERE at all, at least then I'm somewhat more confident!" Unfortunately, it seemed Neuro + helping her self confidence haha, not going to happen. More pacing. That helped a little. Just a little.

Tick tock. The clock kept moving forward, time relentlessly continued to flow. Couldn't it take pity on her just this once and slow down? Ten minutes was not enough time for him to get here—"Hello there, cockroach."

Yako didn't need to turn, since Neuro just punch-n'-arced her back, bending her spine enough that she could see him, relaxed as can be. "I couldn't even hear you come in here," she said in a strained voice.

Neuro responded by taking her by the throat and swinging her into the wall. "You just don't listen very well."

This is double torture! A few more rounds of Yako-bat into the wall, and Neuro set her back on her feet. "What took you so long anyways," she said, rubbing her neck, "The trial's in ten minutes!"

"Oh, a few last minute…things, I needed to take care of," he answered evasively.

Scenes of torture flashed across Yako's head, some of them including her. "O-okay." The clock read 5 minutes before the trial. "By the way," she took a few steps back, bracing herself for the pain she knew was going to come, "Why are you wearing those clothes again?"

Neuro looked down at his glaringly bright, blue suit. "What?"

"I don't know, couldn't you have chosen something more…professional looking?"

"But that lawyer in the video game wears this color, and I don't hear anyone complain about that."

"That's a video game!" Yako argued, "Not real life!"

"Well it had to have basis in real life, doesn't it?"

"Oh sure, 'basis in real life,' why don't you just go and yell 'Objection!' really loudly out there today?" she said sarcastically.

"Okay."

"WHAT?!"

The door opened a crack. "Err, excuse me," the young man at the door said, "But the trial is going to start soon, and you need to be in there right about now."

Yako nodded and followed the young man as he walked down the hall. Strangely, most of her nervousness was gone, replaced by fear; likely due to Neuro's promise that she begged to any god(s) he wouldn't actually go through with. Too bad considering that it was Neuro, he would most definitely do it just to harass her. Logic stinks.

"Oh yes," Neuro said, breaking Yako from her thoughts, "One quick question. Did you notice any police cars that could've seen you that day?"

"Police cars?" Yako repeated, baffled.

"Yes, police cars," he turned to her with the overly innocent expression she knew by now meant a sadistic act in the making, "If you'd like, I could clear your head for you. I've heard a few good blows to your head works well."

"Or kill my brain cells," muttered Yako.

"You had none to begin with."

The young man gave them a confused glance. After all, what kind of lawyer demeaned their client like that?

Police cars…police cars…were there any? "I…heard sirens," she said slowly, "As I was getting out of the taxi."

A smug grin spread across Neuro's face. "Perfect."

--x--x--x--x--x--

"What a crowd," Andrew Sixon thought as he observed the various people filing in the benches. There were no children, but that was to be expected; who would bring their children to a murder trial? There were, however, several aging seniors slowly shuffling in. One female reporter was arguing about something with the cameraman. Preoccupied, the man didn't notice how narrow the gap between the benches were and dropped half his camera equipment. His mouth shaped words that suspiciously resembled cursing. A woman with long, violet hair walking by stopped to assist the two reporters in picking up the equipment. A buzz of talking covered the room, some excited, and others eager to take a glance at the accused. Half of the jury were especially keen on that idea, and stretched out their necks to see over the small crowd of heads surrounding the defendant's table.

The girl's name was 'Yako', if he remembered correctly. She looked small, surrounded by all those people, and the fact that she was hunched up in her chair didn't help. Her demeanor was still rather composed, seemingly unbothered by the fact that this was her trial. Andrew had to admire that.

Her lawyer, however, looked more than just composed. In fact, he almost seemed happy. There was even smile on his face, though it appeared to be rather hungry or all things. And the clothes he wore, it was flamboyant, and the buttons weren't even circles (they were triangles)! However, it wasn't just the clothes that surprised Andrew, it was the face. Some thing about just wasn't right. From that smile and calm to the strange glow that seemed to be in the back of his eyes, something about that 'lawyer' made him uncomfortable.

More people poured into the room. Some more reporters, and a few policemen; one of whom he recognized as his buddy who went to England in the old days for overseas training, Usui. Andrew smiled and waved. Usui scowled and mouthed, "Be impartial, you're a judge." Sh-ha-ha-ha! Yes, same old Usui. And there was Tsukushi, still silent, still playing the reliable helper very, very well.

Satozaki Toshio, the prosecution lawyer, soon stalked in, face still drawn in an ever-present scowl. Andrew often wondered what happened to him; he always had the air of someone who saw something that deeply displeased him. Well, Usui technically always saw that, but even he didn't have that kind of expression on 24/7.

As the last of the crowds trickled into the court room, the doors were shut. The low thud it made the girl jump slightly. It looked like she was finally getting even more nervous. A low buzz of chatter still covered the room.

Andrew struck his gavel. The noise diminished in seconds. Reporters adjusted the angle of their recording devices to better capture the sound.

And so, it was trial's start.

--x--x--x--x--x--

The opening statement for the defendant was short. Andrew almost got the impression he had no idea how to even give one. Honestly, all he said was, "Miss Yako is most definitely not guilty. I can prove it." A few people even snickered. 'Miss Yako' herself paled and gave an annoyed whimper.

Satozaki was as aggressive as usual, proclaiming every bit of evidence that was against the girl and put it in a way that left little room for doubt of argument. He was intimidating, but persuasive as well. It was obvious who was convincing the jury more based on the groups' faces. Satozaki looked satisfied. 'Nougami' (really weird name, meant brain-eater if he remembered correctly, but hey, it was written on the paper) still looked satisfied and hungry. The girl looked disgruntled.

Near the end, as Satozaki drew towards his conclusion that clearly there could be no doubt the girl was guilty, Nougami suddenly stood and shouted, "Objection!"

"What?" Andrew wondered.

"What?" said Satozaki, confused.

"Oh, it's nothing," Nougami said perkily, "But Miss Yako just insisted that I say that for some reason."

A bitter smile was on the face of nearly everyone in the court room, Andrew and Satozaki included. Nougami, meanwhile, stood there with blank expression, and Andrew thought that he seemed so bright and happy that there seemed to be sparkles hanging around his face. The girl pulled on the scarf of Nougami so that his face was inches from hers. She hissed something at him, and he replied cheerfully. Although for some reason the girl's expression turned rather fearful and she shrank down, as though trying to just disappear in her seat.

"Okay…" From the expressions on every person's face in the room, that was what they each thought. And who can blame them?

--x--x--x--x--x--

"There's no use denying it, I know that you were under severe pressure," Satozaki said as he questioned Yako, "And then that pressure pushed you beyond your breaking point. You were driven, maybe even a little crazy, to kill him, right? No girl your age would a debt that large; you would want to get out of college, and then leave fresh, ready to go out in the world on your own terms. It must've been a tough choice, but eventually, it got to you and you did the deed."

"I don't even have a debt anymore, thank you," Yako replied.

Satozaki looked taken aback, but regained composure quickly. "Do you have proof of that?"

Yako hesitated. Hisanori wasn't exactly here, so was there proof?

"If you don't mind me interrupting," Neuro suddenly said, "Will a signed note do?"

Satozaki looked just a bit disgruntled as he took (as in nearly ripped) the piece of paper from Neuro. His expression didn't change as he read it. "And why couldn't he come in person?" he asked gruffly.

"Oh, I tried to convince him," Neuro replied, completely unperturbed, "Yes, I tried very hard to," Yako almost felt sorry for Hisanori, "But in the end, he was too busy."

"Smile?" Satozaki said skeptically, "They named the company, Smile?"

"Smile Ltd.," he corrected.

"Right," Satozaki handed the note to the judge, "Can this be counted, your honor?"

The judge read over the note a few times, "It'll need to be verified later, but other then that, I think it can be." Had Yako not wanted to draw attention, she would've jumped up in her chair and cheered.

As he turned, Yako caught a scowl on Satozaki's face. "I call Aya Aizawa to the stand."

Yako went back to her seat at the table with a small bit of relief. Even though Neuro did do something…stupid (to say the least) at the beginning, things were starting to look up.

Aya rose from her seat and sat back down in the box.

"Tell me, why did you go up to check on the Katsuragi family?"

"I heard noises, of course," Aya replied calmly.

"And around what time was that?"

"Around 1:30, in the morning, I believe, although, don't quote me on that. I wasn't actually looking at a clock."

"And how was Katsuragi Yako when you first saw her?"

"Sleepy," a few people in the crowd giggled, Aya herself smiled just slightly, "I think she heard the noises though."

"Right, right," Satozaki said, nodding, "About how much time do you think passed between your arrival in their household and when you first heard the noises."

Aya thought for a few moments. "Perhaps two minutes, more or less."

"Two minutes," Satozaki repeated, facing the jury, "Two minutes is enough to go run and kill someone, no? And just how hard is it to act sleepy?" He said a few more statements, and then, it was Neuro's turn.

"Please don't mess up," Yako begged silently.

"Since Miss Aya has already given her testimony, I don't think there's any further need to question her," Neuro turned to Yako, "Miss Yako, please come back to the stand." Why did that sentence sound so strange? "Just repeat what you told me," he said, referring to the first night he came (from out of nowhere, thank you).

And Yako did repeat everything, although, she did cut out the part where she and her father were discussing her hate for Shirota. After all, that couldn't have been particularly…helpful.

Neuro nodded approvingly and called up a man bearing the last name 'Maguri'. As Maguri walked up, rather proudly in Yako's opinion, Neuro said, "Miss Yako's times are quite accurate, please do remember them."

He then turned to Maguri and asked, "You were the one who hosted the party the night that Katsuragi Yako's father died, were you not?"

"Oh yes," he said excitedly, "It was grand thing, I called up the police to come and every—"

"You hired Shirota Masahige to cook, correct?" Neuro said, cutting in. Obviously, he didn't want to hear more, and Yako was doubtful that the rest of the people here wanted to either.

"Err, yes," Maguri answered, slightly taken aback, "A wonderful cook. Shame he…you know, died."

"Is it true that he always wore gloves when he cooks?"

"I think one of his assistants mentioned that to me, yes."

"Good, now then," from seemingly out of air, Neuro conjured up a knife; one from Yako's kitchen, "Do you recognize this knife at all?"

Maguri's face contorted in concentration, "Isn't that the knife Shirota was using?"

Neuro seemed very happy, "Indeed it is!" he put the knife away, "Now then, as Miss Yako had told you about that day, Mr. Katsuragi had loaned a dozen of these to Mr. Shirota, who said that his were broken. However, only 4 were returned, including the one I had shown Mr. Maguri. What happened to the other four? I believe, stolen. Stolen and then used to stab Mr. Katsuragi. Of course, since Mr. Shirota always used gloves while cooking—and I'm sure that he would've urged his assistants as well—the only fingerprints that would've appeared on the knives would've been Miss Yako's and her father's. Conditions perfect for framing someone." A low buzz of murmurs rose in the courtroom. The judge struck his gavel for silence.

"Do you still remember any of the policemen you hired? Are they in this audience?"

"Err," after a moment's pause, Maguri raise his hand and pointed, "Him, him, and there was a woman, but she's not here right now."

"Mr. Sasazuka and Mr. Ishigaki? Thank you."

Maguri stepped off the stands, looking slightly confused. "Mr. Usui, could you please come up?"

Usui complied, although he seemed rather disdainful at the fact that he was being questioned. The look on his face clearly said, 'hurry up and be done with it.'

"Just a few questions, Mr. Usui," Neuro said, "First off, in the morning, were any policeman dispatched to just look around the area?"

"Yes," Usui replied curtly, "Most of the investigation department was."

"Mr. Sasazuka's group included?" Usui nodded 'yes' as a response. Neuro appeared pleased, "Next question, Mr. Sasazuka was the one to question Mr. Shirota that night, correct?" a nod, "Alone?" another nod from Usui, "Could you describe a bit how Mr. Shirota looked when he came out?"

"Pale," Usui said immediately, "He seemed nervous about something."

Neuro's grin curled even more. "Thank you Mr. Usui. And now, Mr. Sasazuka, can you come up?"

Yako's expression was slightly clouded with confusion. Just why was Neuro asking all those questions about Mr. Sasazuka? It made no sense…right? Sasazuka himself threw Yako a confused look as he walked to the stands, which she returned. Yako forced herself to stop thinking about that, she would just have to trust that Neuro knew what he was doing.

"Just a quick question," Neuro said immediately after Sasazuka sat down, "How long have you known the late Mr. Katsuragi?"

"I'm not sure, I…can't remember," Sasazuka replied, hesitating a bit.

"Forgot?" Yako wondered, "Well, dad did say that they had known each other for over 16 years, maybe it's not that unusual he forgot."

"I see, well then, do you remember this? 12 years ago, your family were killed by Kaitou X, am I right?"

The crowd gasped, and some of the jury started to whisper heatedly to each other. One whisper echoed Yako's thoughts: Just where was he going with all of this? Sasazuka seemed to tense, his eyes suddenly slid from focus. "Yes," he said with a distant sort of look.

Neuro's next questions came from nowhere. "Alright, and you were one of the guards at that party, correct?" Slowly, Sasazuka nodded. "Do you have a car?"

Sasazuka blinked, surprised out of his distantness from before. "What?"

"Do you have a car?" Neuro repeated as if it were completely normal. Yako stared. Again, the crowd echoed how she felt when someone yelled, "What the heck?"

"I…use the police cars?" he said, still unsure of what Neuro was doing.

"So you do not have a personal car?"

"No…"

"It does take 10 minutes to drive to your house from Miss Yako's, right?"

"Yeah, but if you're getting to asking for where I live, you can just ask Yako or take another taxi."

"How about a house phone?" Neuro continued, ignoring Sasazuka with yet another random question.

"No, I almost never home anyways. So I just use my cellphone."

The annoyingly arrogant grin on Neuro's face was creeping upwards to new levels of self-righteousness. "Oh? So where were you when Miss Yako called you?"

"Sleeping at my house, her call woke me up."

Neuro's smugness meter reached an all time high when he heard this, in fact, Yako could've sworn she heard him laugh. He turned to the jury. "Miss Yako called Mr. Sasazuka at around 1:54 in the morning, I'm sure Miss Aya can ascertain that if you really want me to go back and ask her. Mr. Shirota arrived sometime after that, however, within about a minute after Mr. Shirota's arrival, the police came. Miss Yako said that she saw Mr. Sasazuka running down the street, headed towards her house around the same time. Nothing wrong yet. But now, recall that Miss Yako also said she heard the clock chime 2 o'clock as the police and Mr. Sasazuka came. Also recall, Miss Yako saw Mr. Sasazuka running down the street." Neuro paused, waiting for the words' meaning to sink in. Yako felt the strange numbness she had experienced both times she had seen those red rooms. Numbness brought on by the phantom hand that reached into her and froze her insides. Mr. Sasazuka's expression remained blank, he wasn't saying anything. "It can't be…"

"Interesting, isn't it?" Neuro said, facing Sasazuka again, a gleam in his eyes suggested that of a predator that had caught its prey, "Your house is a 10 minute's drive from Miss Yako's home. However, you don't even have a car for personal use, so it should take even longer; even if you tried to take a taxi. So just how did you—that is if you really were at home that night—reach Miss Yako's apartment in 6 minutes?"

--x--x--x--x--x--

A/N: Please don't hate me. –ducks under desk- I had it planned like this for too long, even before the anime reached episode 10!