Ace Attorney Investigations: Haunting Memories

Chapter Seventeen

April 2 10:35am

Interpol Headquarters ~ Sebastian Walker's POV

It had been two days since Kotoko disappeared, and we weren't turning up anything about her whereabouts. Julia's bad temper got worse with each passing day, to the point where even I was almost afraid to tell her that we still hadn't found anything.

I had been at my desk as usual when I saw Griffin (badly) trying to sneak out when he thought nobody was looking. "Where are you going?" I asked, a singular eyebrow raised. The aqua haired boy shrieked upon hearing my voice, whirling around to face me with a petrified expression. "S-Sebastian-! Hey-! Wh-What's up...?!" He began to lean against the wall. It was my guess that he was trying to look cool and calm, but it was really to support his endless shivering.

"... I could say the same thing to you." I monotoned. "Where are you sneaking off to?"

"Nowhere. Absolutely nowhere." Griffin replied, his eye twitching. "You know me! I don't 'sneak off' anywhere! I'd, I don't know... trip over or something."

"That wouldn't surprise me." I sighed. "Anyway, no going anywhere on your own. I don't want to risk the high possibility of you messing something up. In the mood she's in right now, Julia would punish the both of us."

"Why are you two on a first name basis, huh...?!" Griffin whined. "I'm her amazing assistant, but I have to respect her!"

I was about to respond, but quickly stopped myself before I said something ridiculous. Doing something like that in front of Felix Griffin of all people would be digging your own grave and being pushed inside. "... It's not important." I eventually responded. "Why do you need to know?"

"N-No reason..." Griffin sighed, not hiding the fact that he was now sulking. "A-Anyway... how's the investigation going? Any sign of Kotoko yet?"

I responded with silence, which appeared to give him enough of an idea that my answer was no. "O-Oh..." the aqua haired boy muttered. "Okay..."

"Q!" A voice in my ear suddenly shouted. I jumped, only slightly (let me assure you right now that I was in no way surprised, not at all) before realizing that it was Julia's voice. "Y-Yes? What is it?" I asked.

"I'm at Kotoko's house. I have a feeling she's here." Julia explained. "The door is locked and barricaded with something from inside, all of the curtains are drawn... something isn't right."

"I-I'll be there as soon as possible...!" I assured her before sliding my laptop into it's bag and leaping from my seat.

"Wh-What's going on...? Where are you going...?" Griffin asked, running to catch up to me. "D-Don't go without me...!"

When we arrived at the location, the house's front door had already been broken down. A chair lay broken in the entrance of the house. "This must be the object that was blocking the door..." I deduced. "Juli- um, D must have broken into the house while she was waiting for us..."

"Aw, no fair!" Griffin pouted. "I wanted to see the awesome kick and the door falling with all those crashes and bangs!" He paused for a second. "On second thought... no. That wouldn't be good for my ears..."

I ignored Griffin's comments and cautiously stepped into the house. "D?" I called out.

"So you two are finally here."

The purple haired agent stepped around the corner, her arms crossed and expression serious. "Before you ask, I found Kotoko. She was in the kitchen." Griffin and myself followed her into the aforementioned kitchen to find the girl innocently sat at the table, her golden eyes wide with curiosity. "What are you guys doing here?" she asked.

"Uh, because you were kidnapped...?!" Griffin exclaimed. "What happened...?! Who trapped you here...?!"

"What do you mean 'trapped'?" Kotoko tilted her head slightly. "Am I not allowed to be at home anymore or something?"

"The door was locked and barricaded, and the curtains were drawn. That definitely sounds like a kidnapping to me...!" Griffin argued.

Kotoko smiled and giggled in response. "Your imagination is way too vivid, Fee-Fee. I'm just staying here because Kitoka told me to."

"Kitoka?" I repeated. "Who's that?"

"Kotoko's older brother, if I recall correctly. Julia replied. "But why would he lock you inside your own home?"

"He said something about protecting me, or something..." Kotoko explained. "Come to think of it, he's been acting really weird today. Way unlike his usual self."

"Do you know where he went?" Julia asked with a frown. "We'll need to question him further about his odd behaviour."

"He's been in and out of home all day." Kotoko shrugged. "He doesn't really talk to me when he does come home. Just drops by for about five minutes before leaving again. He's gone for about an hour each time."

"We'll need to keep an eye on suspicious movements all throughout the city." Julia decided. "I have a feeling that this is somehow linked with our current investigation."

"You mean this Kitoka is related to the Nightfall Killer?" I asked, lowering my voice so that Kotoko wouldn't hear. She was too busy chatting animatedly to Griffin, so I wasn't too worried about her hearing us.

"... He could be." Julia replied. "While that's being taken care of, I want to look into the past Nightfall Killer... Shane Driscoll. If the current NK's words are to be believed, then he is not Shane Driscoll. I need to find out what happened to him."

"I-I could do that for you, if you'd like." I offered.

Julia was silent, almost as if she was contemplating my offer. Eventually, she shook her head, her lavender locks flying slightly. "No, this is something I must do. Although... you could come along, if you'd like." She smiled slightly, as if she was amused about mimicking my earlier line. "Griffin could take care of Kotoko while we're gone."

I was about to ask if leaving Griffin to watch over a child was really a safe idea, but I quickly stopped myself. I didn't want to ruin any chances of being helpful to Julia, and chances like these - when it was just us two - were incredibly rare. I wanted to make the most of this, with no bumbling idiots around. So I simply nodded and followed her back to Interpol. Maybe I could use this time to somehow find out if she likes me back...

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I don't have anything to say here for once so

*nyoom*

AceAttorneyFan over and out!