Keep It Cool | Ace Attorney (Kristoph x reader)

[2] Coolest Defense in The West

[2022 - 9:00 AM - Artist Studio Apartment]

'Turnabout Terror, also known as Phoenix Wright disbarred for presenting fraud evidence!'

That was the headline for nearly all of the papers back in 2019. [Y/N] truly looked up to him. The news completely broke them. Even someone who didn't know their existence betrayed them.

Humans weren't exactly made to be perfect, everyone had flaws. [Y/N] believed it to be a misunderstanding and that he would regain his attorney badge as soon as possible.

Days turned weeks, weeks turned months and months turned years.

3 years later, they completely gave up all hope for his return and abandoned their dreams of working under Wright and Co. Law Offices thus resulting in their secondary dream, arts.

[Y/N] passion for the law never faded but was never pursued. They read the news every now and then but never indulged in crime documentaries and such anymore. They were more focused on being a painter and making a living from it.

One day they sat down for morning tea with a smartphone in hand to read the news.

'Coolest Defense of The West, Kristoph Gavin has won another murder case'.

Pfft, boring. Wright had won impossible cases before and no one celebrated those. [Y/N] swiped down to the next article revealing yet another Gavin article, they were getting annoyed with the man at that point so they kept on scrolling while taking sips.

However, they stopped after seeing the image of him. This wasn't Kristoph Gavin. After a quick swipe back up, it was revealed that his brother, Klavier Gavin, became a famous rock singer with his band, The Gavinners.

Phew, [Y/N] rolled their eyes. They thought another Gavin was gonna get involved in law and make things worse.

Setting their phone down, they finished the rest of the tea and put it aside. [Y/N] grabbed the cup labeled 'paint water, do not consume' and dipped their brush in before continuing where they left off with their painting.

'Law... Justice... Truth...' they pondered. All of them were important yet clashing. You couldn't get to the truth solely through the law but you also couldn't do justice to people if you don't know the truth.

It's a really faint line and [Y/N] could barely see them. Could one really gain all of those at once and be satisfied? Maybe arts was a good idea after all. It did hurt their family pride though but [Y/N] would rather be happy with what they do rather than cause emotional pain.

...

-----

"How did you know there was only a single set of fingerprints?"

The defendant is silent. They are unsure of how to answer and afraid they will get cornered by the prosecution.

"..."

Edgeworth crosses his arms and taps his fingers. "Defendant, please understand that you are suspected of the murder of your own friend. Failing to answer this will only worsen your case," he glares.

Kristoph can do nothing but watch as it unfolds. He mirrors Edgeworth by crossing his arm and pushing his glasses back, creating a shine. His face is unreadable.

[Y/N] looks over to their attorney, unsure of how to proceed. Kristoph simply smiles and nods to assure them it will be alright. They hesitantly continued.

"Well... I had to wash the plank because I injured myself when I was installing the canvas..." They pause.

Edgeworth closes his eyes to process the information as [Y/N] continues, "It happened two days ago when it just arrived, I was going to begin my project so I had to install it first."

"... That's it."

The gallery once again goes quiet. Everyone thought it was a normal excuse.

Both the defense and prosecution think otherwise.

Edgeworth asks, "did this injury cause blood?"

"... Yes."

"Interesting. That would simply be impossible."

The judge widens his eyes in confusion, "what do you mean, Prosecutor Edgeworth?"

The man in red simply laughs and shakes his head. "If we refer back to the murder weapon, the wooden panel obviously has fingerprints of the defendant..."

"... But there is not even a single trace of blood detected."

His Honor has to squint his old eyes to look at the image. "Oh! You're right. Usually, the detective would've informed us of this," he says.

"Precisely. Now tell us, defendant. How did this blood magically disappear out of trace from forensic detectives?" he inquires.

[Y/N] once again looks over to Kristoph. They ask him directly this time, "Is it really okay for me to say it?" They were starting to be nervous with all the evidence towards them.

Kristoph smiles warmly and reassures them it will be fine. He tells [Y/N] to answer Edgeworth.

[Y/N] takes a deep breath. "The plank didn't have any traces of blood and is impossible to detect because I used bleach to erase it which contains hydrogen peroxide..." They look down, not daring to look into anyone's eyes.

"Mx. [L/N], how do you know this technique to wipe off the trace of blood specifically?" Kristoph asks.

"I, uh, I just thought bleach would get rid of it the best at the time so I soaked it in a bucket full of it," they think.

"I assume this bucket is still at the crime scene as we speak?" He inquires.

[Y/N] nods, "supposedly, yes. It's in between my working space and the freezer."

The judge then speaks, "is this bucket crucial to the case at hand?" Kristoph swiftly affirms which makes the judge order bailiffs to retrieve it from the studio.

"We will have a 30-minute break for them to get the evidence."

Saved by a pinch... for now.

----

[E/N]

Revised. The case is a bit tacky and imbalanced, sorry about that.

Thank you for reading!