A few hours later passed and the students had left the school leaving the police, teachers, and Akira on the scene of the crime.
Akira:" ……………………"
Yu:" Are you okay Akira?"
Akira:" …………Oh, yeah I was just surprised that's all. [Ryuji Sakamoto the school troublemaker and my first friend here at Shujin Academy, despite the rumors and label he's a nice guy, even if he's hot-headed. He's been accused of committing the murder and a student I had a short run-in with Shiho Suzui was identified as the Jumper.]"
Yu:" That's some deep thought you're in. So are you going to defend Sakamoto?"
Akira lets out a deep sigh " I don't know. I've been down in the dumps lately."
Yu:" I don't blame you. You get Falsely arrested for assault, getting convicted for said false assault, then you almost lose your right to defend people, and now a murder-suicide all in a span of a few weeks. It sure has been an eventful week."
Akira:" Hmmmm? I doubt he'd want to have me defend him, after all, I'm legally a convicted felon."
Yu:" That makes sense. When this case is over I'll have to launch a new investigation."
Akira:" Hmm, A new investigation? What for?"
Yu:" You mean, to say that you haven't heard? For a lawyer, you suck at learning gossip."
Akira:" I can't say, that I care much about gossip in the first place, but what does gossip have to do with this in the first place?"
Yu:" I overheard this from some schoolgirls before they left. They were talking about how the new student, and how he is a convicted criminal and a defense lawyer."
Akira:" What the hell. That was supposed to be kept a secret! How did it get out?!"
Yu" That's what I want to know. As soon as the trial is over I'll launch it immediately."
Police officer:" Mr. Narukami, we need you to help investigate."
Yu:" Got it. Take this Akira. We'll see each other again."
A note from Detective Narukami was registered to the court record.
Akira:" I wonder what it says."
"As the lead detective in charge, I give Akira Kurusu access to investigate the crime scene at his leisure. —Yu Narukamui"
Akira:" Hmmm. What now? Should I return to Leblanc or should I defend Ryuji?"
Akira is lost in his thoughts and decides to walk through the mostly empty school "Maybe that'll help me decide" Akira thinks to himself. But when he goes past a suddenly a pair of hands grabs him and shoves him against a wall.
Akira:" Woah!"
A girl that looked to be about my age was responsible for putting me in this position. She had blonde pigtails, Blue eyes, a sweatshirt with a Shujin S, a black tank top, red tights, and brown boots.
Akira:" [I'm used to having beautiful women, man- er women handle me but never at a crime scene before] Is there something I can do for you?"
Blondie:" You're the Akira Kurusu right?"
Akira:" You know me?"
Blondie:" I need your help."
Akira:" You need my help?"
Blondie:" Yeah, please help my friend."
Akira:" Help? What can I do?"
Blondie:" Defend him, of course, please. I beg of you".
She looked like she was about to break down soon "This must be serious." Akira thought to himself.
Akira was going to answer but before he could, she cut him off.
Ann:" I'll do anything, anything you name it. Give you money, I'm a model and my parents are famous fashion designers, I'll be your maid, copy my homework, go on a date with you, give you "exclusive" magazines, and strike a deal with you too. Just please help me."
Akira:" [This will get nowhere, I'll need to calm her down first]."
Akira gently grabbed her shoulders and hugged her tightly. She started crying softly into Akira's arms. After a few minutes, she calmed down and looked a lot more relaxed.
Akira:" Alright, before we get to your request let's start with an icebreaker."
Blondie:" Got it. Introductions first, My name is Ann Takamaki."
Akira:" How did you know my name?"
Ann:" I heard about you because of the SR-8 incident."
Akira:" Oh, yeah. I suppose that's where most people would recognize me from. So what did you want from me?"
Ann:" It's my friend Ryuji… he was accused of murder, I know that he's innocent."
Akira:" I will head over to the detention center, and see if he's got a lawyer."
Ann:" Thanks for doing this for me."
Akira goes to the detention center and sees Ryuji behind the glass.
Akira:" Ryuji. Are you hanging in there?"
Ryuji:" Yeah? Oh, You're here. What are you doing here?"
Akira:" [It seems Ryuji is deep in thought, maybe he's in shock of getting accused. "Can't exactly blame him."]
Akira:" I'm here by request of Ann Takamaki. She wants me to defend you."
Ryuji:" She said that?"
Akira:" Yeah, she seemed pretty desperate. Do you have a lawyer yet?"
Ryuji:" No, they all turned me down."
Akira:" What? Do you know why?"
Ryuji:" No, unfortunately, I don't."
Akira:" [I guess it makes sense that he wouldn't know about that.] "Can you tell me what I remember? Before your arrest?"
Ryuji:" I went to the gym's storage room, and suddenly I heard a loud Thud before I could do anything I was hit in the head, and next thing I know I'm getting accused of murder."
Akira:" I see. [I wonder if the police will investigate that room.]
Ryuji:" I guess I shouldn't wait. Can you please take my case? I don't have much money, but I need it, you're the only one who can help me."
Akira:" Very well, I'll take the case."
Ryuji" You will?! Thanks, man."
Akira:" No problem, consider it pro bono."
Akira:" Before I investigate the scene do you know anything about the victim?"
Ryuji:" Unfortunately no, although you should ask Ms. Kawakami, she knows all the students at the school. I'm sorry for not being more useful."
Akira:" Don't worry about it.[Kawakami. She is my homeroom teacher I should see her after investigating."
Ryuji:" I know something, but I don't know if it's important."
Akira:" Oh? What's that?"
Ryuji:" Well, it hasta deal with your criminal record."
Akira:"…!"
Ryuji:" It was that bastard Kamoshida. He leaked it, he always does."
Akira:" Always?"
Ryuji:" Yeah, he's done that for as long as I can remember. Use his power to destroy people he doesn't like, then he'll spread rumors that everyone eats up and they become outlast."
Akira:" [Is he speaking from experience?]. Hold on a minute, how did he get away with it?"
Ryuji:" Hm, it's because of his Status and the fact he saved the School."
Akira:" He saved the School? And what do you mean by his Status?"
Ryuji:" Well, Kamoshida was an accomplished athlete. He even won an Olympic gold medal."
Akira:" Really?"
Ryuji:" That bastard used it to his advantage. He has the principal as his lapdog, he can do damn well whatever he pleases without having any consequences. He did that with me."
Akira:" Can you tell me about that?"
Ryuji:" Fine. A few years ago, I was a part of the Track team, Kamoshida had been the coach and he had always been a shitty, abusive coach. He was always trying his best to destroy the team."
Akira:" Why would he do that?"
Ryuji:" I don't know. But one day I punched him square in the face and because of that, he broke my leg. He told the Principal, then the track team was forcibly shut down and replaced it with the volleyball team"
Akira:" Despicable."
Ryuji:" Yeah, I hear rumors that he's abusing the Volleyball team members."
Akira:" Really?"
Ryuji:" Yeah, Physically assaulting the male students, Mentally abusing the Female and Male students, hell I wouldn't be surprised if he sexually abused the female students. If you want to hear more, talk to Yuki Mishima you can't miss him."
Kamoshia dossier had been added to the court record.
Kamoshia dossier:" Kamoshida's got the principal on a leash, which led him to abuse his power, Ryuji was a victim. TALK TO MISHIMA"
Akira had moved to Shujin Academy and in the hallway, he saw Yu and the police discussing something.
Akira:" [Yu seems busy I should probably try to sneak past them]"
Yu:" Hey, Akira, stop for a second."
Akira:" Yu, what's up?"
Yu:" Are you defending Sakamoto?"
Akira:" Yeah, I am."
Yu:" Well, you can't investigate the scene alone, even if the charges were Trumped up, you're still a convict after all."
Akira:" Right, what are you getting at?"
Yu:" I'm saying that you can't investigate by yourself, lest we get accused of corruption we don't want a repeat of the "dark age of the law" now do we?"
Akira:" I guess so." "[Ugh, I don't want to hear that phrase again.]"
Yu:" Well news for you, I'll re-investigate with you."
Akira:" Alright, thanks. So what are we going to investigate first?"
Yu:" That's up to you. We can investigate the murder or the suicide scene."
Akira:" How about the murder? That's what I'm defending Ryuji against after all."
Yu:" Got it. Let's go. Before we investigate, here accept this as a gift from me."
Floor plans added to the court record. The plans show the first, second, and third floors. The emergency exits seem to go to another jp path that is near the gym.
Shujin Academy gym.* The two of them enter the Gym and are greeted with an obviously empty room.
Akira:" Well then, let's get investigating."
Yu:" Before we do that, let me share with you what we got the first time we investigated."
Akira:" That would be nice."
Yu:" The previous investigation had resulted in an analysis of the murder weapon and we found that blood was found on the other side of the pipe, the blood also belonged to the victim, there are fingerprints but they're being examined as we speak."
Akira:" Are there any other suspects? Other than my client?"
Yu:" No."
Akira:" Damn. [I should check the storage room.] Did you check the storage room?"
Yu:" Not yet, I was actually discussing what rooms they had investigated with the other officers."
Akira:" [Well, that makes us the first person to investigate.] Let's finish investigating here first."
[Murder weapon] Metal pipe. The victim's blood was found on it, fingerprints were found over the handle, and interestingly enough the owner of the prints wasn't found yet.
The two of them search the dead body up close.
Akira:" Geez, this wound looks pretty nasty."
Yu:" Yeah, it is. I feel bad for the poor victim. Oh, he died pretty much instantly, though the Autopsy writers be live he might have lived for a few more minutes. Here's the autopsy report for you."
[Autopsy Report.] "The victim was beaten to death by a metal pipe, the victim was only hit once. It's believed that the victim died instantly might have lives for a few more minutes. The official time of death was 10:00."
Akira:" He died at 10:00? Isn't that the same time as Ms. Suzui's suicide attempt?"
Yu:" Yeah, we determined that by the other student's testimony."
Akira:" So, the suicide and murder happened at the same time."
Akira:" Have you checked the bleachers yet?"
Yu:" You know it. We found nothing under there."
Akira:" Damn. This really is a locked room mystery. Let's move to the Storage room."
Gym Storage Room*
The two of them see that the storage room is pretty messy.
Akira:" Geez, this place is somehow more of a mess than my office."
Yu:" You mean your Room?"
Akira glares at Yu who just laughs. "It's the same thing."
Yu:" Calm down, Akira. When we wrap up I'll have the forensics team investigate when we're done."
Akira looks around and sees a bit of blood on a sports mattress.
Akira:" Hey Yu, the mattress here has blood on it."
Yu:" Oh, it does. Let's continue the investigation and see who it belongs to."
[Bloody Mattress] "Blood was found on a gym mattress the owner is unknown." Bloody Mattress was added to the Court Record.
Akira:" [ I wonder why there's blood on the side of the mattress. Let's think about it later and continue the investigation.]"
Akira:" Dumbells? That seems to make for a good murder weapon."
Yu:" You think that might be the real murder weapon? We've got absolutely no reason to believe the pipe wasn't the weapon."
Akira:" Maybe, but we can't discount the possibility…… can we?"
Yu:" We can."
Akira:" Oh. Hey, look at that chest."
Yu:" The locks seem to be in perfect condition."
Akira:" Let's open it."
Akira gently touches the locks but they fly off.
Akira:" Woah!"
Yu:" Akira. What did you do?"
Akira:" I swear the locks flew off."
Yu:" Relax, I'm just messing with you. So the locks were broken, but they looked like they were in good condition?"
Akira:" That is a true Mystery."
The empty busted chest was added to the court record. A chest in the gym's storage room. The locks were broken despite looking to be in good shape.
Akira:" [Drats]. Well, this looks like everything in here. C…."
Yu:" Already, two steps ahead. So where do you want to investigate next?"
Akira:" How about the roof?"
Yu:" You got it."—
Shujin Academy Roof.*
Akira:" So this is the roof?"
Yu:" Yeah. The scene of the suicide attempt. I wonder, what caused her to attempt suicide?"
Akira:" [He sounds like he's going to cry. It does make sense. I should try to assure him.]"
Yu:" Yeah. I feel like you could somehow connect them together."
Akira:" Uh, thanks. [Was that supposed to be a compliment?] We should continue, we don't have much time before the trial."
Akira looks under the table.
Akira:" Damn, there's nothing under here." Akira decides to search the bottom of the Table also to be greeted with nothing.
Yu:" Yeah, we already searched there."
Akira goes to examine the school fence. "Man, that fence seems to be fucked up."
Yu:" Yeah, we believe it was forcibly cut open by Ms. Suzui before she jumped."
Akira:" I see. Do you have a weapon she could've used?"
Yu:" No, no we don't, it's also worth noting that we don't have any footage from the security camera up there."
Akira:" I see."
The Broken Fence and Security Camera were added to the Court Record.
"The fence around the edge of the wall was destroyed. It's thought Ms. Suzui was the culprit. The security Camera didn't record anyone cutting the fence open."
Akira checks the Security Camera and sees something interesting out of the corner of his eye.
Akira:" What is that?"
Yu:" Hmm? What is what?"
Akira:" Give me a lift."
Yu decides not to say anything but goes along with it and lifts Akira up giving him a better view of the roof.
Akira:" A wig? What's that doing up here? [Why does it look familiar?]"
Yu:" A wig? Did you find anything else up there?"
Akira looks around but sees nothing, so he decides to get off of Yu.
Akira:" There's a wig up there. But why?"
Yu:" ………… I don't know. The killer couldn't have thrown the wig up there, nor do I see a reason why they'd do that in the first place."
The wig. It has black hair tied in a ponytail, has a pink hair band, and one grey hairpin. It looks very familiar but I don't know why.
Akira:" I think that's all we could find here."
Yu:" Yeah. Let's head to the suicide scene. That's the final scene to search."
Shujin Academy Courtyard*
Akira goes to the White body outline. "Poor girl. I'll make sure that we find out who caused her to do this. Lawyers honor."
Akira checks the bush and notices something, it's a grey hairpin. "What is this? A hairpin, why is it in a bush? Could it have fallen off when she jumped?"
The Hairpin was added to the court record "A hairpin. It was found in a courtyard bush near the attempted suicide scene."
Akira:" There's nothing here. Damn."
Yu:" Well, we've finished the investigation I'm off. We'll see each other tomorrow in court."
Akira:" Right."
Yu walks away.
Akira:"[I should Talk to Ann, Ryuji, Kawakami, and then try to find out where Mishima is.]"
???:" Oh, you're still here? Are you defending Sakamoto?"
A woman with dark brown hair that looked to be unkempt, brown eyes, a permanently, sleepy-looking face, she was wearing a long-sleeved yellow shirt and a blue skirt.
Akira:" Oh? Ms. Kawakami. For your information yes, yes I am. [I should ask her about the crime.]. So did you witness the crime?"
Kawakami:" I did."
Akira:" Can you tell me what you witnessed?"
Kawakami:" No. I was told to keep quiet until tomorrow."
Akira:" Damn. [ So she's a witness tomorrow. I should try getting more roundabout information out of her."]
Akira:" Could you tell me about the victim?"
Kawakami:" His name was Daisuke Takanashi. He was hated by a lot of the students."
Akira:" Why?"
Kawakami:" He was a bully and an extra vicious one. He picked on almost every student here."
Akira:" I see. [It seems we've got a possible motive.] Do you know where Mishima is? I heard of something, and I need to talk to him about it.
Kawakami:" Unfortunately, you'll have to wait till tomorrow when school opens again."
Akira:" You mean that the School is re-opening tomorrow in spite of the murder and suicide attempt?!"
Kawakami:" Yeah, the Principal insisted that we open as soon as possible for the "safety of the students."
Akira:" That's such obvious bull!"
Kawakami:" I agree, however, it's not my choice."
Akira: "[No Mishima today, how about Takamaki-san?"]
Akira:" Do you know where Takamaki-san is?"
Kawakami:" She left a while ago, so You might want to check the nearby hospital."
Akira was surprised" [Hospital? Was she hurt badly?]"
Kawakami:" Before you get worried for her, she's fine. She's checking on Ms. Suzui."
Akira:" I see. There's something I want to ask you then, it's about Kamoshida I heard some rumors about him and the students."
Kawakami suddenly looked nervous and like she wanted to leave" W-What about them?"
Akira:" The rumors were of how Kamoshida was abusing students."
Kawakami:" Oh, I see, so that's what Sakamoto-kun is doing."
Akira:" What do you mean?"
Kawakami:".…… He's slandering Mr. Kamoshida, Mr. Kamoshida would never abuse a student… never."
Akira:"[I've heard a lot of lies over my career. Her words, they're hollow, she must be lying. But I can't prove anything."]
Akira:"… I'll head over to the hospital now."
Akira had arrived at the Hospital with a bouquet of Flowers, he ran to the room she was kept in, however, before he entered the room he saw Ann crying into her shoulder.*
Ann:" *Sniffle*… Shiho… I'm… s-so s-sorry… please wake up soon."
Akira[" Should I go inside? It looks like she hasn't noticed me."]
Ann:" I talked to your parents… although you'd probably say "They're my step-parents."
She just laughs bitterly and turns around. Her eyes widen when she sees Akira at the door.
Ann:" Oh, Why are you here?"
Akira:" I was going to talk to you but on the way, I suddenly decided to give Suzui some flowers to pay my respects. I didn't want to interrupt you."
Akira walks over to Shiho lays the bouquet down, and Looks at Ann. "Can we talk? It's about the case."
Ann:" Sure, let's go."
Ann and Akira go to an empty diner.
Akira:" So, you're a model right?"
Ann:" Yeah, why are you asking?"
Akira:" There was something I found on the roof." Akira hands Ann the wig "Do you know where this is from?"
Ann looked incredibly surprised "You found this on the roof?!"
Akira:" Yeah, I thought that you'd know about it."
Ann:" This wig, it's pretty much the exact same as Shiho's hair."
Akira:" What?!"
Ann:" The only thing it's missing is a hairpin."
Akira:" You mean this?"
Ann slides the hairpin next to the other one.
Ann:" It's a perfect match."
Akira:"[ I'd better update the wig in the court record.]"
The wig was updated in the court record. [The wig is exactly the same as Suzui's, but why was it on the roof? And why does it look like Suzui's?]—
Akira:" There's something else I want to ask you."
Ann:" What is it?"
Akira:" About what you said earlier, what did you mean by "You would have wanted to strike a deal with me too?"
Ann looks nervous as her eyes are now wandering around everywhere and she starts sweating.
Ann:" D-Did I-I s-say t-that?"
Akira:" Why does she seem so nervous all of a sudden?"
Ann:" I-I can't say."
Akira gently grabs her hands " Takamaki-san, you need to tell me, it could be important to the case."
Ann:" Sorry, but I-I won't, not unless you can prove that it is important."
Akira:" [For her to be so reluctant, it needs to be extreme, but I can't force her to divulge that information.]
End of investigation. Court day 1.
