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Part 1

"Well…" Ryunosuke shifted his weight awkwardly, looking uneasily between Kazuma and van Zieks.

Both men wore grim expressions. Van Zieks, at least, always looked rather grim, but he somehow managed to look even more bleakly somber than usual. His acquittal was not the joyous occasion it might have been under other circumstances. And Kazuma's stormy expression was more out of place on his face. He could be serious and even somewhat severe at times, particularly when it came to his work, but Ryunosuke was more accustomed to his jovial cheer and brash amusement. They had lost Kazuma at sea, and Ryunosuke had the strangest feeling that the friend who had been miraculously returned to them was not quite the one they had left behind.

He exchanged a glance with Susato, but she seemed to have exhausted her attempts at optimism for the time being.

"Well," he said, trying again. "Maybe we should…go take care of the paperwork for your release, Lord van Zieks?"

"I think I'll excuse myself," Mikotoba said, nodding cordially to the group. "I should go collect Sholmes and Iris before they get up to any more trouble. I will see you later, after you've finished up here. Good day."

He slipped unobtrusively from the defendant's antechamber, and Ryunosuke made a note to give him a proper, heartfelt thanks later. Without him and Iris and Sholmes, it would have been near impossible to get van Zieks acquitted and ensure Stronghart faced the consequences of his actions.

Van Zieks's gaze followed Mikotoba out the door, his lips tightening. The out-of-the-blue revelation of Iris's parentage must have caught him more off guard than anyone else. Ryunosuke wondered what he would do with this information. He tried to imagine van Zieks sitting down to tea with Iris in the cheery Baker Street apartment, long limbs folded up awkwardly at the small table and a delicate teacup clutched in hands more accustomed to crushing wine glasses while he glowered at his niece somberly.

The image was so ridiculous that a small, nervous chuckle escaped Ryunosuke's throat. Every eye swung to him.

"What's so funny?" Kazuma asked, eyebrows ticking upwards.

"Oh!" Ryunosuke said, casting a guilty glance at van Zieks. The man's eyes narrowed. "Nothing! I was just, er… Just thinking about… Well, never mind. It's not important."

"Maybe this isn't the time, Mr. Naruhodo," Susato said with a sigh. "Let's focus for now. We aren't quite finished yet."

"Oh!" Ryunosuke said again. "Yes, the paperwork! We should probably, uh… If that's alright with you, Lord van Zieks? I mean, not that we have a choice, exactly, but–"

"I'm familiar with the process, Mr. Naruhodo," van Zieks said without inflection. Ryunosuke still found it very strange to hear the man call him by his name, although it was a marked improvement from 'my learned Nipponese friend'. "Come."

He strode across the room and out the door without a backward glance, leaving Ryunosuke and the others to scramble after him. Ryunosuke was used to guiding his clients through the post-trial process, showing them where to go and what to do. Those clients were often grateful and eager to please after their acquittal or wide-eyed and nervous until they escaped the imposing confines of the courthouse. Whatever the case, they looked to Ryunosuke and Susato to point the way and help them navigate the process. It felt very strange to be the one scurrying after his client, who seemed more confident and sure of himself than Ryunosuke.

Susato caught Ryunosuke's eye as they left the room and gave him a small, tight smile. Her eyes were murky with worry, and he would have tried to reassure her if he had any idea how. None of their victories had ever felt quite so grim, and as for Kazuma… Ryunosuke snuck a sidelong glance at his friend, but Kazuma's face was blank now, wiped clean of all the wild, unmoored emotion from the trial. That was another problem that needed solving.

But first things first. They needed to file the necessary forms for van Zieks's release, and maybe then they would have time to speak to Kazuma.

They followed van Zieks down the hall, falling a few steps behind. Ryunosuke took up an awkward trot to try keeping pace with the man's long strides, but he didn't need to see the look on Susato's face to realize that he looked ridiculous.

As they stepped into the lobby of the Old Bailey, they were met by two bailiffs escorting Stronghart in the same direction. Kazuma stiffened noticeably. Van Zieks paused to give the other party room to go ahead, standing aside and watching with a blank expression.

For a brief moment, it seemed that the groups would just avoid the collision. But then Stronghart sneered and dug in his heels to drag his party to a stop, his faintly shocked, defeated expression twisting into something more ugly. The unguarded anger and contempt seemed out of place on his face, a stark contrast to his usual cold indifference.

"Well, well, well," he said. "If it isn't the triumphant victors heading off to gloat about dismantling the best justice system London has ever known."

"We're not, er…" Ryunosuke tripped to a stop and shifted uncomfortably. "We're just off to do some post-trial paperwork, honestly."

Susato straightened her spine and met Stronghart's gaze squarely with a fierce look of her own. "The Reaper and the Professor were not London's justice," she said firmly. "They were only a smokescreen for you to hide behind while you took the law into your own hands and played God with people's fates. That is, in fact, a perversion of justice."

Once again, Ryunosuke was amazed by her. She had, time and time again, stood up for her beliefs with more confidence and conviction than Ryunosuke could imagine summoning in the face of such opposition. She was usually so polite and mild-mannered, but when it counted, she knew what she believed in and wasn't afraid to say so.

Stronghart evidently felt no such admiration. He scoffed and regarded Susato with undisguised scorn.

"You're such a child," he said. "Much too naïve to be playacting at competence in an adult's world. You've such a narrow-minded view of justice, rooted in ideals rather than reality. The real world isn't like playing dolls."

Susato flushed but lifted her chin defiantly. Ryunosuke drew himself up as well. He would tolerate a lot of things and didn't generally consider himself to be a very confrontational person outside of what was demanded of him in the courtroom, but that was an awful thing to say about Susato, who frankly had more maturity and integrity than most anyone else here.

"That's not fair," he said. "She understands the situation better than you do."

"Don't talk to her like that," Kazuma added, voice sharp and eyes flashing. "She's exactly right. You're just too morally corrupt and delusional to see it. You were never a paragon of justice—only a crooked, dishonorable old man playing games with people's lives like a petulant child playing with dolls."

Ryunosuke thought this a rousing defense, but Stronghart only snorted and eyed Kazuma with distaste.

"No one asked for your opinion. I wouldn't expect you to understand. This disaster is your fault. I gave you your instructions. All you had to do was follow them. But you're a loose cannon, and you're determined to take everyone else down with you." Stronghart cut his gaze between Kazuma and Ryunosuke, his eyes bright with fury. "If I'd known what trouble the two of you would rain down, I would have made sure you never entered the country."

Kazuma scowled. "You're just–"

"That's enough." Van Zieks's voice was even and soft, but it had a weight to it that drew everyone up short. He took a deliberate, unhurried step sideways, planting himself directly before Stronghart and partially concealing Ryunosuke and the others from view. "You've done enough already, My Lord, and the Nipponese contingent has already played its part. Leave them out of it. I think it's about time you were on your way."

Stronghart's lip curled. "How noble of you. I thought you gave up playing the white knight a long time ago."

"…There's nothing noble about it. I'm just bored of hearing you prattle and would like to go about my business."

"I'll say whatever I want to those–"

"If you have something to say, you may say it to me," van Zieks said sharply. "I know you're furious with me. There's no need to take it out on everyone else."

Stronghart's smile was all teeth. "Oh? I think it's very justified to be angry with them after they ruined everything. You aren't the center of the world. Not everything is about you."

Van Zieks tilted his chin up and looked down his nose at Stronghart. "You thought I would roll over and take the fall for the Reaper in order to preserve its justice. Isn't that why you always made all those sly comments about how the Reaper lowers crime rates? In order to justify convincing me to go along with playing its figurehead? I tolerated it when I had no choice, but it was naïve of you to think I wouldn't jump at the opportunity to tear down your vigilante justice when I had the chance. I never believed the Reaper was right. I only made the best of a bad situation until it could be remedied."

"The best of–?" Stronghart drew himself up, a black look flashing across his face. "I made you. The only reason you're such a legendary–"

"Notorious."

"–prosecutor is because I chose you to be the face of the Reaper. And look at all the justice you've been able to dole out because of it! Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good. I thought you understood that. You should be more grateful about the opportunities I've afforded you, and less selfish about paying your dues."

Even Kazuma looked disgusted by this, and he'd been happy enough about pinning the blame for the Reaper on van Zieks not thirty minutes ago.

"That's a really terrible thing to say to someone," Ryunosuke said, although his voice came out quieter than he intended.

Van Zieks himself seemed the least affected by the sentiment. "I've sacrificed a great deal for London already," he said with casual indifference. "That doesn't mean I'm willing to sacrifice myself for you."

"After everything I've done for you, perhaps you ought to be," Stronghart snapped. "You've made a mess of this from the start. I trusted you could keep Mr. Asogi in line while he was under your mentorship. I certainly taught you well enough. You didn't keep him under control or teach him how to obey authority, so of course he went off on a rampage and nearly took you down too."

Van Zieks only shrugged. "You're the one who allowed him to act as the prosecution. I'm not sure what you expected to happen. In any case, I wasn't keen to follow your mentoring practices. I find them a bit…" He paused, considered. "Callous. Even I have standards."

Ryunosuke eyed him with interest, wondering what he might know about it. Van Zieks had said he felt indebted to Stronghart for letting him take over the prosecution of Kazuma's father, but Ryunosuke knew nothing of their relationship past that.

Stronghart looked properly peeved. "And you don't even appreciate all the time I put into providing you guidance either."

"Let's be honest with ourselves," van Zieks said tonelessly. His eyes looked very flat and shuttered. "The time you put into shaping me into the role you wanted me to occupy. Well, it's done now. But I wouldn't use that method on someone in my care, however unwillingly I was forced into the position. Not even Genshin's son, as much as I wanted to think he deserved it."

Kazuma snorted loudly. "Hindsight is twenty-twenty. I suppose I'm lucky you didn't know who was at your mercy."

Van Zieks glanced back and raked a cool gaze across his face. "I knew who you were. Or suspected, at least."

Kazuma frowned. "No, you didn't. If you had, you never would have tolerated me in your presence."

"Just because you have no self-control when it comes to persecuting your enemies doesn't mean I can't bide my time. There was no point doing anything when you didn't even know who you were. I don't like you, Mr. Asogi, but I won't stoop to harming someone who was foisted into my care, however nonconsensually."

"I didn't tell you who he was," Stronghart said, narrowing his eyes. "The mask–"

"You didn't truly expect a flimsy thing like that to hide his identity for very long? It took me about two hours to figure out he was Nipponese, and maybe two weeks to start comparing him to Genshin. I'm not that much of a fool. The question wasn't who he was… It was what game you were playing by foisting him on me. But I understand better now. You didn't need me to keep him in check. You could have done that yourself. If anything, he was meant to keep me in check. It's very elegant, really. He was a ticking time bomb, and you positioned him right at my throat so that you could detonate him if I became too much of a liability. You knew he'd want me dead, and maybe you would too once I outlived my usefulness. I suppose I set things in motion a little too early by showing him the waxwork of his father to jog his memory, but it worked out for you in the end."

Kazuma gave a little start, eyes widening and then narrowing. Ryunosuke tried to wrap his head around the deduction. He had thought it seemed like quite a coincidence that Kazuma had wound up as van Zieks's apprentice, but he hadn't had the time or inclination to think about it more deeply than that.

If Stronghart had known who Kazuma was all along… He had already been planning to use Kazuma in some assassination scheme before his supposed death at sea. When Kazuma had shown up on his doorstep, perhaps Stronghart had come up with new ways to use his presence to his advantage. Maybe that helped explain the mask. And maybe there was a very specific reason why Stronghart had thrown Kazuma and van Zieks together.

Ryunosuke glanced at Susato, wondering what she thought about it. She was clever enough to have worked through the implications before he had even finished turning the idea over in his head. Her lips were pursed, her brows drawn together, and she seemed so deeply lost in thought that she didn't notice his attention.

"That's a very uncharitable interpretation of my motives," Stronghart said dryly. "I needed you alive as a front for the Reaper. You can't really think I've been looking for a way to kill you off."

Van Zieks's expression didn't change, his face perfectly blank as he stared back at Stronghart with no discernible emotion. "I was becoming unreliable. You thought I would keep Mr. Naruhodo in check when he started digging too deeply into matters you didn't want brought to light, but I allowed him to keep going for as long as he could justify his interest. I let Inspector Gregson's plotting be dragged into the light during the Windibank trial when it was clear he was under orders from you. I called Doctor Sithe to the stand against your direct orders.

"You thought I would still be pliable and obedient when I returned after my retirement, but I was growing erratic and unpredictable. It would have been foolish of you not to have a plan in place to remove me from the equation should I become too much of a liability. You were already tying up the Professor's loose ends… Perhaps it was nearly time to retire the Reaper as well, before you moved on to bigger and better things."

Stronghart smiled thinly. "Goodness, you have become quite paranoid over the past few years. It doesn't seem like your retirement was as relaxing as you might have hoped."

Van Zieks stared at him stonily. "…Do you know why I returned to court?"

Stronghart barked an unfriendly laugh. "Of course I do. You came back specifically to face off against Mr. Naruhodo."

Ryunosuke started in surprise. "What? Me?"

Van Zieks and Stronghart were too busy staring each other down to pay him any mind at all.

"You're wrong," van Zieks said, his voice quiet but firm with conviction.

"Oh, I'm very sure I'm right," Stronghart said. "I knew that if I told you a Japanese attorney was on his way to London, that would finally drag you out of your stubborn exile and bring you back to court. And it did."

"…The prospect of clashing with the Nipponese and stopping them from running amok in London had its appeal, to be sure, but mostly, it was a convenient front. I had already been planning my return to court for months. This was only a good excuse to justify the timing of my reappearance and distract from my other motives. No, the reason I came back was to catch you."

Stronghart's eyebrows jumped up his forehead. "I beg your pardon? You were never clever enough to realize–"

"I came back to catch the Reaper," van Zieks said flatly. "Which turned out to be you, although, admittedly, I didn't get far enough to figure that out myself despite your frankly suspicious behavior. I had a lot of time to think during my…stubborn exile, if you will. And the conclusion I came to was that the Reaper was only a man, or more likely a well-connected group mobilized to carry out that man's plans, and a man can be caught. I thought—and you can correct me if I'm wrong—that my disappearance from court wouldn't be enough to stop such a viciously dedicated man forever. No, I expected the Reaper would continue with his vigilante justice one way or another, perhaps less ostentatiously or through different means. He might go underground until he formulated his next plan of attack, but sooner or later, he would strike again. The easiest way to lure him out of hiding would be to come out of hiding myself. I was only the bait, My Lord, and it did entice you back out into the open."

Susato sucked in a breath. "Do you think…?"

Ryunosuke tore his gaze away from the spectacle with some difficulty to look at her, but she didn't finish her thought. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, face scrunched up in contemplation. Ryunosuke waited to see if she would continue, but then glanced back at van Zieks.

The man's motives and strategy had always been a mystery. He had thrown up roadblocks in Ryunosuke's path at every turn, but also allowed him to pursue the truth to the bitter end and even aided him along the way. Despite his callous disregard and vicious hostility, he had always been relentlessly devoted to the pursuit of justice. He rarely spoke about himself or gave any indication of what he was really thinking, and it was often impossible to read him.

This sudden, frank insight left Ryunosuke scrambling to fit the pieces into the barebones framework he had already constructed of his courtroom rival turned client, searching for what it might change. It was a new angle to consider events from. A new perspective. Ryunosuke didn't understand what it meant yet, but he wanted to.

"No," Stronghart said, but he seemed more puzzled than sure. "Tapping into your admiration and grief for your brother has always been the most effective means of pushing you into such things when you're being stubborn, and your hatred of the Japanese stemming from it. I knew what I was doing when I called you back."

"I'm not a child anymore," van Zieks said dryly. "It's not quite so easy to twist me around, and I'm not so inclined to follow blindly. I learned a great deal from you, My Lord. You surely cannot be surprised that I learned the arts of manipulation and misdirection as well? You were certainly a good enough teacher. It really never occurred to you that you weren't the only one with private schemes and motivations?"

"That's not–"

"It was clear to me that the Reaper's mastermind must hold a privileged position in Scotland Yard or perhaps the judiciary and have conspirators in both institutions. It didn't make sense otherwise. So I came in not trusting anyone, not even you. I let everyone think I was entirely focused on bullying Mr. Naruhodo out of the courtroom and made my investigations into the Reaper in the shadows. My interest in the Nipponese was a convenient excuse. It explained why I returned to court when I did. It explained why I was most interested in his cases instead of taking on the more punishing caseload I used to, which gave me the time to make my own inquiries. And it made everyone think that I was dreadfully transparent in my motives. I don't mind being underestimated. Although I thought you, at least, might have realized I was up to something. You used to be so good at reading me."

Van Zieks and Stronghart stared at each other for a long moment. Van Zieks's eyes glittered glassy and hollow, his face swept blank. Stronghart was more obviously chewing on these revelations, his brow furrowed in thought and his eyes stormy.

"Then you didn't do a very good job of it," he said finally. "You never came close to touching me."

Van Zieks sighed lightly. "I grew suspicious of Inspector Gregson too early and focused too much on him," he conceded, a touch of irritated displeasure playing at the corners of his mouth before vanishing once more. "And when I discovered him dead, it was a terrible blow. All my investigations had come to naught, the trail gone cold. I'd lost my chance to use him to uncover the other participants in the Reaper scheme. None of my other leads were quite so promising, and I was afraid of hitting a dead end. So I picked up the gun."

"You what?" Ryunosuke asked without thinking.

Van Zieks cut a sidelong look at him. "Ah. My apologies for misleading you, Mr. Naruhodo. I'm afraid I was not entirely honest. Everything happened as I said it did, except for the order of events. I stumbled across Inspector Gregson's body just before the fireworks went off like gunshots, and when I heard the footsteps coming, I made a snap decision and picked up the gun. Truly, I was exactly as perplexed about what happened as I said, but still, it was an unseemly bit of misdirection."

Ryunosuke stared at him, goggle-eyed. Van Zieks's testimony had always rang solid and truthful, no matter how improbable it might seem, and the man had an air of rigid, stolid honesty about him. Could he have lied, and Ryunosuke had somehow missed it? But then… However honest van Zieks might be, he was not forthcoming. He did not often volunteer information or reveal hidden motives, and sometimes his strategies were wily and cunning and secretive. Ryunosuke suspected that van Zieks had pulled a clever bit of sleight of hand rather than outright lying, choosing careful wording to shape the narrative and people's assumptions to suit his purposes.

Ryunosuke did not like this because it still felt dishonest in spirit even if it might be technically truthful, and he liked it less because it was harder to tell such a thing from an outright lie. He had been taken in by lies in court before, and it needled at him. He would not have expected such an underhanded technique from van Zieks, who had seemed strictly honorable in courtroom matters even if he was strictly discourteous in personal ones.

"I didn't think you would perjure yourself," he said with bitter disappointment, his mind churning as he reached back to try remembering exactly what his client had said on the stand. If he had missed something again… "What–?"

"I did not," van Zieks said. "Everything I said was true. I merely…left out the part about my motivations and omitted my original discovery. Still, it was unfortunate and I apologize."

"But–"

"That doesn't even make sense," Kazuma said, scowling. "It would have been incredibly stupid to knowingly pick up a gun at a murder scene with witnesses on the way. I don't know why Ryunosuke believes every word that comes out of your mouth, but they sound like lies to me."

Van Zieks shrugged. "I don't answer to you, and it doesn't matter to me what you believe. You weren't my defense, so I don't owe you any apologies or explanations."

Ryunosuke was frankly surprised van Zieks might feel as if he owed him anything at all, but he didn't have the chance to query him further.

"What are you blathering on about now?" Stronghart asked, exasperated. "That would all but ensure you went on trial for murder."

"…Yes." Van Zieks returned his flat gaze to the Lord Chief Justice. "My best lead was dead, my investigations were at a dead end, so I took a gamble. A foolish one, maybe, that I might not have made if I'd had time to think it through. If I prosecuted Inspector Gregson's murder, it would have been difficult to link him back to the Reaper in relation to his untimely death, and it would have tipped off the other members of the organization to my interest if I had tried.

"No, the best way to root out the Reaper at that point…was to go on trial myself. I would undoubtedly face scrutiny and charges with my reputation. It would be the perfect opportunity for my enemies to tear at the shroud of the Reaper around me and finally make the charges stick. The Reaper would have to be a subject of investigation and inquiry during court. If I wasn't finding my answers in my investigations, if my leads were running dry, then maybe it was time to try a new strategy to shake something loose."

"That's…" Susato shook her head in disbelief. "You were nearly convicted even with such a rigorous defense, and you didn't want us to defend you at all! Even if everything aligned perfectly, the chances it would backfire on you were very high. It sounds…very risky."

"It sounds downright suicidal," Stronghart said. "And you've become very good at looking out for your own best interests and keeping yourself alive."

"What did I have left to lose?" van Zieks asked tonelessly. "But yes, it was a desperate last-ditch effort that would likely have ended badly. I would have had the chance to defend myself and push the investigations into probing the Reaper conspiracy more deeply in the hopes that something would come to light, but I would have lacked maneuverability while trapped in my jail cell. And once I heard you'd put Mr. Asogi on the case, that was the end of that. His involvement was a double-edged sword. His personal interest and vicious determination had the potential to cut down to the heart of the conspiracy if he really tried to untangle it, but of course, his hatred would put blinders on him and he was unlikely to entertain any other possibilities besides my guilt, even should the evidence be presented to him."

Kazuma scowled but held his tongue. It was, unfortunately, true. He hadn't been himself in that trial, or at least not any version of himself that Ryunosuke had ever seen before. He had concealed information and evidence that cast doubts on van Zieks's guilt, as well as hiding his own actions. He had snapped and snarled and tenaciously insisted on twisting everything in on itself to get his way, unwilling to even consider the possibility that he might be wrong. It went far beyond a prosecutor's duty to maintain a defendant's guilt until proven otherwise, pushing into wanton carelessness and unchecked bias.

Ryunosuke was sure his old friend was still in there somewhere, and he had no doubt that Kazuma would make as fine a prosecutor as he did a defense attorney. He had seen flashes of that same old brilliance and skill, and Kazuma was undoubtedly a great lawyer no matter which side of the courtroom he stood on. But that wild derailment was hard to reconcile with Kazuma's usual steadfast honor. If—when—he moved past this reckless display of blind persecution, he would once again be a paragon of justice to be admired. But in this particular case, van Zieks had been right to think he would never get a fair trial with Kazuma hounding him.

"He would have been the perfect match for you," Stronghart said crossly. "If he stuck to his role instead of getting sidetracked by his own personal missions. If you hadn't…" He trailed off.

"If I hadn't agreed to let Mr. Naruhodo defend me?" van Zieks suggested politely.

Ryunosuke gave a little start. Van Zieks had been more open to talking to him after learning that Kazuma would be the prosecution, but it had still taken a good deal more convincing and that photograph with Gregson before he had agreed to let Ryunosuke act as his defense.

"I don't understand," Ryunosuke said. "I thought…"

Van Zieks sighed. "It became abundantly clear that I would need your help, however much it pained me. Not to clear me of Inspector Gregson's murder—I was reasonably confident I could handle that much on my own, and I would not have stooped to beg for your aid even if I were not. But I did need your help in unraveling the Reaper conspiracy. I finally realized that I would not be able to do it alone. I needed the three of you."

"Three?" Ryunosuke asked with a frown.

"Respectfully, Mr. Naruhodo, while I can grudgingly admit that I recognized your talent from early on despite my best wishes, I was not convinced you would make quite so efficient a defense team without your cunning judicial assistant."

"Me?" Susato asked, taken aback.

Van Zieks regarded her briefly. "You are Doctor Mikotoba's daughter through and through. In any case… Mr. Asogi would stop at nothing to prove me the Reaper, and the two of you would fight tooth and nail to prove I wasn't, and if I pitted you against each other, I was sure the clashing of your formidable intellects and tenacious resolve would have a chance at finding something I had missed during my own investigations to finally bring the Reaper to justice. A small chance, perhaps, but a chance. I've certainly seen you unravel impossible mysteries in the middle of court more than once. If anyone had a chance, it was you. I could help where I could from the sidelines, feed you what I knew when the time was right, and hope for the best. Admittedly, the results were…more explosive than I could have hoped for." His face darkened, his gaze sliding away, and Ryunosuke wondered if he was thinking about the truths uncovered about his brother in the melee. "But in the end, you did succeed where I had failed."

Everyone stared at him. Even the bailiffs, who had been half-heartedly trying to coax Stronghart into moving along but weren't quite bold enough to actually manhandle the Lord Chief Justice, had given up to watch the drama unfold.

"…You've lost your mind," Stronghart said finally, sounding a little hushed despite himself.

"Have I?" van Zieks asked softly. "Or have I only beaten you at your own game? You thought you were very clever, dragging me back to court and bringing in the Nipponese to do your dirty work, but you brought about your own downfall. You were clever enough to see the poetic justice in making me teach Mr. Asogi the skills he would need to destroy me. It's a pity you didn't realize I might do the same to you. Are you terribly proud that I've finally picked up your ruthlessness and cunning, or are you still just disappointed that I never had the stomach to become your Reaper?"

Stronghart shook his head slowly, his face screwed up in all the wrong ways. "You little fool… You've grown claws and fangs while I wasn't looking. You're a hunting hound just like your brother."

Ryunosuke winced. That was a low blow, designed to wound.

Van Zieks only smiled a knife-sharp smile—a thin, lopsided slant of the lips that lent the impression of bared teeth and steel even though nothing showed. "Why, yes. Did it take you so long to realize? You shaped me into a hunting hound, but a rabid dog has no master. You should have put me down when you had the chance. Can you feel my jaws at your throat every time you swallow?"

Stronghart flinched back as if the echoes of Klint van Zieks's words from beyond the grave fell like a blow. "You've ruined everything," he snarled, but now his anger had the desperate, frightened edge of a cornered animal. "We were doling out justice, righting wrongs that the law couldn't fix. We were protecting people and making London a safer place. And you tore it apart for what? Some childish tantrum? Even Klint understood that some wrongs need to be righted in more direct ways. Your brother would be disappointed in you."

"Yes, you said the same thing when I announced my retirement," van Zieks said, indifferent. "And maybe he would have been. But the truth is that you were disappointed that I was too soft and fragile to bear the Reaper in your stead anymore. I might not have understood my brother as well as I thought, but neither did you. You don't get to speak for him, after everything you've done.

"Understand this: I will personally ensure that you face justice and punishment for your crimes. Whether or not I'm the one standing at the prosecutor's bench, you can be sure it's my doing that you're found guilty. I'll spearhead every facet of the investigation if I have to, wield every bit of influence I have left, arrange the pieces behind the scenes. But I'm going to do it within the confines of the law, not as some vigilante roaming the streets. I'm not you, My Lord. I'm not Klint or Genshin or Inspector Gregson. I will see justice done without ever getting my hands bloody. Whatever my disillusionment with our legal system, whatever its flaws and the foibles of the people who run it, I do fully believe that it is our best means of doling out justice. I won't go past its limits. I can only have faith that there is a truer justice than yours out there, and right now, this is the best we have. I would say goodbye, but it isn't, really. Whether you see me or not, you may be sure that I am dogging your every step from the shadows."

Van Zieks cut a sudden, low bow, sweeping and courtly and perhaps a touch mocking. "Good day to you, My Lord. I think we're finished here."

He stepped to the side and strode past Stronghart without another glance. Ryunosuke blinked after him, too taken aback to follow until Susato cleared her throat.

"I…think we should go too," she said in a low voice.

Ryunosuke started back to attention and nodded. He looked to Kazuma, but his friend had already started off after van Zieks, his expression hard and stormy. Ryunosuke hurried after them, dodging around Stronghart and giving him a wide berth.

"One day, you're going to wake up and realize I was right all along," Stronghart called after them. "You'll see that sometimes you have to take justice into your own hands, and that if you're too soft and squeamish to do it, you're only letting more people get hurt. I wish I could see that day, because it will destroy you."

Ryunosuke shot a glance back over his shoulder and wished he hadn't. Stronghart's face was lit with a zealot's fervor and a madman's wrath, and his every word was lined with utter certainty once more. The bailiffs finally worked up the nerve to lead their charge away more firmly, but even as Stronghart was dragged off, his burning gaze followed the group of lawyers who had been his undoing. When Ryunosuke felt those venomous eyes on him, he shuddered and looked away and trotted after van Zieks and Kazuma as fast as his legs could carry him without breaking into a jog.

"Maybe that's the most frightening thing of all," Susato murmured. "That there are really people who believe that with all their heart just hiding among us, tucked away in the institutions meant to protect the public."

Ryunosuke had a hard time wrapping his head around it. The idea was so antithetical to his nature that it was difficult to comprehend. He knew very well that there were many people who did or said or believed terrible things, of course. But it was more disturbing when those people truly believed they were right, especially when they were in positions of power where they had the ability to destroy dozens of lives because of it.

"Yes," he said. "It's frightening how he seems to really believe he's doing the right thing no matter how terrible the cost. It's hard to reason with someone who believes the ends justify the means to that extent. Who can't see the cracks in the perfect world they think they're building and don't care who they hurt along the way. That's a frightening sort of visionary."

"It doesn't help that he's very good at it," Susato muttered. "He nearly got away with everything."

He would have, too, if it wasn't for every single person who had stepped up to tease apart the truth. It had taken nearly a dozen people, living and dead, coming together in order to take down a common foe. Even then, there had been a moment when Ryunosuke feared the judiciary would let Stronghart get away with it in order to preserve their reputation among the public. A moment when London's top arbiters of justice had decided that bloody-handed vigilante justice might be true justice after all. There had been a moment when the entire system had teetered dangerously and could have crumbled apart.

The day was saved, but it was unsettling to think how close a thing it had been.

Ryunosuke glanced sidelong at Susato. "…There will always be another, though, won't there?"

Her lips pursed in a frown, but then she shook her head. "A fight for another time, Naruhodo-san. We've won today's battle, if not the war. Maybe it's enough for right now."

He nodded, but as his gaze snapped forward again to the back of the man striding purposefully down the hall ahead of them, he couldn't help but think that their victory still had a very bitter edge.

"Er, Lord van Zieks?" he asked, picking up his pace as he realized he would never catch up to the longer-limbed man without resorting to an undignified trot. "Are you, ah…? What should we…?"

"The paperwork, Mr. Naruhodo," van Zieks said in an even tone without looking back. "Surely, you haven't forgotten that we have paperwork to complete."

In fact, Ryunosuke had not been thinking about the paperwork at all, and the hard-edged practicality was like a quick jolt back to reality.

"Er, right," he said. "The paperwork."

He suddenly found it a little too intimidating to ask van Zieks if he was alright, and he didn't quite know what to make of everything else yet. He had a hundred questions, but this didn't seem like the time to voice them.

"I'll leave you to it," Kazuma said abruptly. "I have tasks of my own."

Ryunosuke stumbled to a stop as Kazuma turned down a branching hallway without further explanation. "But… Don't you want to come with us?"

"Why? That's a job for the defense, and I wasn't the defense for this case."

"Well, yes, but…"

Ryunosuke was reluctant to let Kazuma go, as if he might just disappear into the ether again if he left their sight. Perhaps Susato felt the same.

"We would appreciate your company," she said. A dent in her cheek marked where her teeth bit down on it from the inside, like she was biting down on all the words she couldn't say.

Kazuma paused and glanced back, perhaps sensing the wistful edge to her voice. "I have to file paperwork for the prosecution as well," he said a little more gently. "I'm sure I'll see you around later."

"Oh," Susato said, the word heavy like a sinking stone, rough with disappointment. "But–"

But Kazuma had already started off again, back on his own adventures that didn't seem to include them anymore. Not that paperwork sounded terribly adventurous, but somehow Ryunosuke didn't think their friend's retreat was really about paperwork.

"And there he goes again," he sighed.

"Do you think we will see him later?" Susato asked quietly.

Ryunosuke glanced at her, surprised. "Why wouldn't we?"

There was an uncommonly bleak cast to her features. "Doesn't it seem like he's been avoiding us? After that trial… I'm afraid it could get worse. It feels like he's running somewhere we can't reach him."

Ryunosuke thought back to how Kazuma had 'died' on the ship and then disappeared into thin air once more when he finally regained his memories, just when they'd found him again. He had resurfaced to act as the prosecution against van Zieks, but even then, all of their interactions had been brief and formal and largely business-related. Perhaps it was only because he'd been trying to keep up barriers while they were opposing counsel, but there was no guarantee anything would change now.

What if he disappeared into the night again? Or continued avoiding them when possible, deftly dodging around any meaningful personal interaction? He hadn't been keen to open himself up to them or discuss personal matters, which was doubly mystifying given how they had mourned him and just discovered him alive again. They had so much to talk about, and he didn't seem keen to bring any of it up if he could help it.

"He feels different," Ryunosuke said finally. "I don't think he wants to talk to us about…all this, and so he's trying not to talk to us at all. It's a bit unfair, if you ask me. We've waited a long time to be able to talk to him again. I hope he doesn't…"

He trailed off, a little afraid to say something and make it true.

"You should go after him," van Zieks said.

Ryunosuke and Susato both gave violent starts and swung about to stare at him, having nearly forgotten about him in the face of their concerns about Kazuma. He had paused rather than carrying on without them and watched them with flat, polished eyes.

"Er… Pardon?" Ryunosuke said.

"I am sure Miss Mikotoba is more than capable of handling the paperwork in your stead," van Zieks said. "If you are that concerned, you should go after him. He may need you, whether or not he is ready to admit it. Just don't be surprised if he pushes back or closes off. These things take time, and he won't accept your help or concern until he's ready for it."

Ryunosuke stared at him, goggle-eyed with confusion and disbelief, and then shot a look at Susato. She looked just as bewildered as he felt, shaking her head ever so slightly as if to say that she didn't know what van Zieks's angle was either.

"What makes you think that, Lord van Zieks?" she asked.

Van Zieks's lip curled ever so slightly. "I know his type."

"His…type?"

"Mm… He is not so unlike me." Van Zieks crossed his arms over his chest and fixed them with a hard look that didn't quite hide the way his jaw clenched, muscles tensing beneath the skin. "If you are committed to working things out with him, don't give up if he puts up some resistance at first. I suppose your tenacity will be your ally here. I know a drowning man when I see one, and he's barely keeping his head above water. His position is not an enviable one."

Ryunosuke frowned as he mulled that over. "I thought you didn't even like him. Why bother–?"

"I don't. I don't much like anyone these days, yet I fight to protect them in court. You don't like me, but you agreed to defend me anyway. Personal feelings have very little to do with common decency or practical altruism."

"Er… It's not that– I mean, it isn't that I don't–"

Van Zieks batted his fumbling words away with a contemptuous flick of his wrist and turned on his heel to start down the hall again. "I have things to do. Things that are difficult to accomplish within a jail cell. Ergo, I need the paperwork filed for my release. I require one of you to be present to sign off on the paperwork. The other may do as they wish."

Ryunosuke exchanged a startled look with Susato.

"Go ahead," she said. "I can handle the cleanup here. You should go after Kazuma-sama and see if he'll talk to you. And… See if he'll come visit us at Baker Street or host us at his residence, won't you? Just… Make sure he comes back."

Ryunosuke swallowed and nodded. "I'll do my best."

Susato offered him a fleeting, careworn smile and started after van Zieks. Somehow, the rapid pace didn't look ridiculous on her.

Ryunosuke hesitated until they had turned the corner and then headed off in the direction Kazuma had disappeared, his head swiveling about every which way as he searched for any sign of his friend. It would be just his luck if he managed to lose Kazuma after everything and didn't even catch up to talk to him.

By the time he made it all the way to the lobby, he had about given up hope. It would be too easy to lose Kazuma once he'd left the building. He pushed through the wide doors anyway and looked around, scanning the crowds bustling up and down the street beyond.

Then, finally, he spotted Kazuma standing a little ways off, still on the grounds in the shadow of the Old Bailey, talking to a bailiff. It might be rude to interrupt the conversation, but Ryunosuke didn't think twice before trotting over. He wasn't going to risk letting his friend slip through his fingers again.

Kazuma glanced up at the approaching footsteps, eyebrows ratcheting upwards. "What is it, Ryunosuke? I thought you were wrapping things up for Lord van Zieks's release."

"Well, I was," Ryunosuke said. "That is to say, Miss Susato is handling it now. I was…hoping to catch you."

The way Kazuma's mouth slanted downwards didn't make it look like he particularly wanted to be caught. His gaze slid back to the bailiff.

"I'm afraid I'm a little busy at the moment. Could it wait until later?"

"Of course!" Ryunosuke said brightly. "I wouldn't want to interrupt you. Why don't I wait right over there, and we can talk when you're finished."

Kazuma's gaze followed the direction of Ryunosuke's finger pointing to the covered area outside the entrance of the building and then snapped back to his face. He studied Ryunosuke for a moment, judging how difficult it might be to put him off, perhaps, and then sighed.

"Oh, very well. I know you're busy too, what with your illustrious clientele. Let's just get it over with." Kazuma waved to the bailiff, adding, "I think that will be enough for now. If there's anything else, I'll send word." As the man nodded and traipsed back into the building, Kazuma turned back to Ryunosuke. "What is it?"

Now that Ryunosuke had Kazuma as a captive audience, he found that he wasn't sure what to say. It used to be so easy to talk to him, but now everything felt stilted and strange.

"I just…wanted to make sure you were alright, I guess."

"…Yes, I'm fine. You don't need to worry so much. I can take care of myself."

Given that Kazuma had apparently crossed the ocean on his own and found a place in law while he had amnesia to boot, perhaps he could take care of himself. But that wasn't the same thing as being fine.

"You don't seem fine," Ryunosuke said, giving up on tiptoeing around and opting for blunt honesty.

"Well, I am," Kazuma said with a hint of bite.

Ryunosuke sighed. "If you aren't ready to talk about it, that's alright. But I hope you know that we'll listen when you are. We…missed you a lot. It was hard without you. I'm really glad that you're alive after all."

Kazuma deflated a little. "Thank you. But it really is alright. Or it will be soon enough."

"Where are you staying?" Ryunosuke asked, changing tack. If he wasn't going to make any headway on one line of inquiry, he might as well test out another. "Could we come around to visit once all the paperwork is cleared up? Tomorrow, maybe?"

Maybe he could at least get an address so that Kazuma couldn't just disappear again like he had for days after regaining his memories.

A shifty, nearly furtive look passed over Kazuma's face. "Oh, it's not really a visiting sort of place," he said evasively.

"You do have somewhere to stay, don't you?" Ryunosuke asked, alarmed. Surely, Kazuma had not been living in the streets?

"Of course I do," Kazuma said at once, and he sounded like he meant it. So he just didn't want to give out his address and risk having visitors drop by, then. "I'm just not there very often, so I'm afraid it won't do you much good."

"Will you visit us, then?" Ryunosuke pressed. "I'm sure Iris and Mr. Sholmes would be pleased to make your acquaintance as well, and we could have a nice tea at Baker Street."

"I believe I've already made Mr. Sholmes's acquaintance," Kazuma said dryly. "I'm in no hurry for more of it."

"Does it really count if you were unconscious the whole time?" Ryunosuke wondered.

"I think I know all I need to know about him after he had me declared dead, honestly."

"That…is an unfortunate way to make someone's acquaintance," Ryunosuke admitted. "I still don't entirely understand why he thought… Well, he's not really so bad. Not usually, anyway. And you'd like Iris. You could come over tomorrow, if you'd like. We have a lot to catch up on. A lot has happened since we parted ways, and I'm sure you have lots of stories to share too."

Kazuma's lips tightened again. Whatever his stories were, he didn't look keen to share.

"I'll think about it. If I can find the time, of course."

"But…"

"There's always so much to do these days, isn't there?" Kazuma sighed and turned away. "I'm sure we're both very busy. You…did a remarkable job in court. You've come a long way since you first tried your hand at defending yourself, as I knew you would."

"Well, you were my inspiration," Ryunosuke said simply. "I always tried to think about what you would do, and it pushed me to be the best I could be."

Kazuma's shoulders hunched, and he began walking away. "…Right. I've always been a shining example. Well… I'll see you around."

Ryunosuke searched for something else to say to make his friend stay, but Kazuma crossed the distance to the street in a few quick strides and melted into the crowd, disappearing like he'd never been. Ryunosuke stared after him, trying to push down a gnawing sense of loss and figure out what to tell Susato.