A short this time around but I figured the flashback deserves it own chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this.

DM77's Ace Attorny Chapter 35

The Class Trial

December 27, 2:11PM, J & Co Law Offices

The mood was solemn at the office which J and Jaden returned to after leaving the Court and the sad mood was due to what Hunter said about his nightmares of a murder.

"What was Mr. Deamonne talking about…?" Jaden asked J sadly.

They flashbacked to earlier where Hunter said "A memory of a crime…that I committed. A memory…of murder."

"Do you really think Mr. Deamonne killed…?" Jaden asked.

J remains silent for a bit thinking on her chair at her desk and said "I don't believe it. Not Hunter. Some painful memory has been troubling him recently…But he'd never take someone's life! Never!" She slams a hand on her desk

"J…" Jaden said looking at her solemnly.

Just then someone bursts into the office making them jump, it was Joey who came in smiling and said "Hey! How's everyone doing? What did you think of my performance today? I had the girls swooning in the aisles! Right, Jaden?"

"S-swooning? What?" Jaden asked confused. "Oh…Oh, yes. I do remember seeing some girls looking faint."

"Oh yeah!" Joey cheers smiling "Tell me honestly, think it was love at first sight for them, right? Right, J?"

"H-huh? Me?!" J asked surprised. "I… uh, well, maybe my Drone heart skipped a beat or two…"

Joey looks at him deadpanned and said "I think you can do better than that! Come on! I saved Hunter in there, pal! Hunty! You guys should be bowing before me! Yeah! Bow before your hero!"

J sighs and said smiling "Joey…You really helped out in the trial today."

"You did!" Jaden said smiling. "If you weren't there, Joey, I'm sure Mr. Deamonne would have been found guilty!"

Joey laughs at that but then immediately stops and said "But, seriously, J. That boat shop caretaker guy is pretty suspicious…But Hunty ain't off the hook yet!"

"Way to spoil the mood, Joey." Jaden said sighing.

"Hey, I'm just a guy sitting in the audience, you know?" Joey said shrugging. "But from where I was sitting Hunty seemed pretty edgy. I mean, can you really know he's telling the truth about that night?" J looks deep in thought.

"J?" Jaden asked

"I don't know." J admits but adds "But…what I do know it…I'm going to believe in you two until the end." This surprised Jaden.

"Us two?" Joey asked confused.

"Hunter and…who else? You mean me right?" Jaden asked J.

"Nah! He means me! Right J?" Joey said smiling.

"Yeah, you, Joey." J said with a nod.

"Not…me?" Jaden said looking upset then asked annoyed "B-but why you, Joey?!"

"Huh?" Joey said confused and thinks on it "Um, actually, yeah. Why me, J?" J remains quiet.

"Hmph. Enough with the silent treatment!" Jaden said annoyed. "J…Why do you trust Mr. Deamonne so much? I mean, he's changed recently, true. But when we first met him, he was kind of a jerk, don't you think?"

J sighs and said to Jaden "You didn't know him back then. Back when he wanted to become a defence attorney."

"Wait…Was that when you two were classmates?" Jaden asked thinking.

"Yes. In grade school…" J said nodding. "They saved me…Hunter…And Joey. They saved me and I'll never forget it. That's why I became a defence attorney, you know."

"Whaaat?!" Jaden lets out shocked. "Hey, hey, Joey. What's she talking about?"

"Huh? Uh… umm…" Joey lets out thinking. "Er, sorry. I kind of forgot."

"Hmph." Jaden said looking down. "Okay, J. Out with it! I'm going to hear this story today, and that's final!"

"Okay, okay." J said nodding. "It's kind of a long story, so hang in there." She clears her mouth "It was the very end of 3rd grade. I was on trial. A class trial."

"A c-class trial?!" Jaden asked surprised.

"You remember, Joey? Spring, end of 3rd grade?" J said to Joey. "A kid in our class got his lunch money stolen."

"Lunch money?" Jaden asked.

"Our school was really small. Every month, kids would bring in an envelope with money for lunch from home." J explained.

"Huh, I see." Jaden said understanding.

"Anyway, this kid's envelope disappeared. With $38.00 worth of Credits still inside." J continued the story

"Oh…Yeah, now that you mention it, I do remember that!" Joey said now recalling it.

"I can see why you'd forget, though." J said nodding. "You were out of school that day. Anyway, the envelope had been stolen during PE class. I was coming down with a computer version of a cold, so I'd skipped PE that day. I was the only one not in class."

"So…they though you, did it?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah. The kids in class said I should be put on trial." J continues the story.

"Trial…?" Jaden asked surprised.

"So the next day we held a classroom trial, with me as the defendant." J said sighing.

We see a flash back of that day. J standing in the centre of the room with the other desks around her, two students stand at the techer's desk with the teacher Miss. Krabappel.

Young J cries as she said "I…I didn't do it!"

However the kids didn't believe her and bombard her with insults and accusations and called her a theif while pointing at her.

Miss. Krabappel stops them and said "Now, J, you know you shouldn't steal people's money! It's not right."

"In the end, even the teacher thought I'd done it." Present J said with a sigh.

"Go over and apologize, J." Miss Krabappel told the young drone.

"I…I didn't know what was happening." Present J said. "I was so sad…I couldn't stop crying. Everyone was staring at me like I'd done it…I tried to apologize. I went to where the boy whose money had been stolen was sitting…That's when it happened."

"Objection! He shouldn't have to apologize! The only thing that belongs in trial is evidence! Anything else has no place! You should all be ashamed…Amateurs!" A voice said, and the one who spoke was a young blond hair student in a smart yellow jacket. This was Hunter as a kid.

"H-Hunter?" Miss. Krabappel said surprised at this.

"It wasn't you who stole my money, was it?" Hunter asked J.

"No…" J said shaking her head sadly.

"Then you shouldn't apologize!" Hunter said firmly "Everyone's been shouting you did it, but no one has any proof! That is why, Your Honor, this drone girl is innocent!"

"B-but Hunter, it was your money that was stolen!" Miss Krabappel told the boy. The other students all shout out in agreement and that J should apologize.

"Why don't you all just shut up!" Another voice called out, this one belong to another blond boy with an untucked shirt and leaning in his chair with his feet up, this was Joey as a kid "This is always how it is, everybody ganging up and picking on one person. Just think how she feels! She said she didn't do it, so she didn't do it!"

This shut the other students up who all didn't know what to say, some were looking down in guilt for their actions.

Miss Krabappel sighs and said "Very well. I will replace the money myself. This class trial is over."

"That's how it happened." Present J said smiling "After that, the three of us were the best of friends where we hung out and talked about things like Toa Rangers."

We return the present where Jaden was in tears a bit and said "Wow…I had no idea!"

"Yeah…I had no idea, either! I mean, I forgot." Joey said rubbing his head.

"That's when I learned what it meant to be alone." J explained "Totally alone, without a friend in the world."

"You did a good thing, Joey!" Jaden said nodding.

"Um, yeah, well…" Joey said sheepishly "I was just lucky that I took the day off from school. If I'd been there they would have thought I'd done it! So, I took it kind of personally, you see."

'When something if off, it's usually the Wheeler.' J thinks rolling her LED eyes. "Anyway, Huner and I talked after that class trial. That's when I heard his adopted father was a defence attorney. I remember his eyes would shine when he talked about his father."

She remembers young Hunter's words who said "I'm going to become a defence attorney, just like my father! A famous defence attorney!"

"Then, a few months later, he suddenly transferred to another school." J said sadly.

"The DL-6 Incident…" Jaden said sadly.

"Right. I'm not sure, but the transfer probably had to do with his father's death." J said nodding.

"That's so sad!" Jaden said to that.

J nods and said "It was several years later when I heard Hunter's name again. There was an article about him in the newspaper. The headline was something like 'Dark Suspicions of a Golden Guard Attorney.' Fabricating evidence, manipulating testimonies, covering up facts…The article said he'd do anything to get a guilty verdict. Anything."

"But why?" Joey asked confused. "What happened?! I mean, that's not the Hunty I used to know at all!"

"That's what I thought too." J said with a nod. "I tried to get in touch with him I don't know how many times…He never replied."

"I guess he didn't want to see his old friends…" Jaden said sadly.

"I couldn't just drop it, though." J admits "I wanted to meet him, to learn why he had become who he became. That's when I decided."

Jaden's eyes widen in surprised and said "Wait…You don't mean…? That's why?! That's why you became a defence attorney?! To meet Hunter?!"

"If I was a defence attorney, I knew he'd have to meet me whether he wanted to or not. In court." J said with a nod. "Hunter believed in me, and I believe in him. He's in pain…And no one's on his side. I'm the only one who knows the real Hunter. I'm the only one who can help him."

"Whoa….J." Joey said in surprise. "S-so is that why you helped me out for free?"

"Uh…yes." J said nodding. "I helped you because I believed in you." She however thinks 'Except I don't remember saying I'd do it for free…'

"Awww, J! J!" Joey said in happy tears.

"J!" Jaden called out "We have to save Mr. Deamonne if it's the last thing we do, okay?"

"Right." J said nodding and thinks 'It very well may be…'

"First, there's that rental boat shop caretaker." Jaden said thinking. "We need to find out who or what he is!"

"I'd settle for who." J points out. She thinks 'I guess I can clean out some of this evidence I no longer need…' She removes some of the evidence in the court record and when done said "Okay, let's go!"

J nods and decides to go see Hunter in the Detention Center.

Well that is the story of how J, Joey and Hunter met but time to get down to buisness.

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