Ace Attorney: Criminal's Masquerade

The Winged Turnabout, Part 6 (Mukuro)

//September 3, 2033. Ahiru Duck Pond, 1:01 PM//

I began pacing he length of the duck pond as soon as I got there from the trial. My chest was rising and falling violently. I wanted to go right down to the detention center and march Aiden out of there. I was so worried about him. He wasn't good for prison! Anything could happen to do with the other creepy prisoners down there!

Another person walked up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. "Um... Are you okay?" asked a small, shy voice. 

I turned to see a little girl standing behind me. She had pink hair and brown eyes. Her outfit was a delicate pale blue with white highlights. A small and fragile smile was on her lips, giving her the charm of a small child. Well, she certainly was small enough to be a child, that was for sure... Of course, I knew that she wasn't a child because of her chest. 

"Um... Hi," I said simply, waving at the girl awkwardly. "I-I'm okay. I think I'm okay. Don't worry about me." I flashed the girl a small thumbs up and an awkward giggle that made me sound like some awkward character on a live action TV show. 

The girl didn't seem to believe me. She took my hand and looked up into my eyes. "You don't seem okay," she said. 

"I'm fine. Really," I told her. "Let's get onto a much more important subject. What's your name there, Ms...?"

"Aya," the girl replied with a smile. "Aya Eve-Fox. What's your name?"

"Mukuro Erikson," I replied. "What are you doing here? This is a crime scene and is still under police investigation."

Aya looked up and met my eyes. "Well... I'm here because I saw something a few days ago around here. It's really important," she told me. 

"What is it?" I asked, tilting my head to the side slightly. 

"I saw a man with brown hair tackled by another guy... The first one was handcuffed, but as he was... The second guy began rubbing his hand on his ankle... It was really weird..." Aya replied, crossing her arms. 

"Did you see anything else?" I asked. I had pulled out a notebook and began scribbling on it. This testimony had to be important to the case somehow. I just knew that it was. All testimony was important. 

"I saw a man floating in the water... It was super weird..." whispered Aya. "There was a lot of blood in the water, so I ran away out of fear... I've never liked blood..."

"It's okay, Aya," I smiled. I placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Did you see or hear anything else when this was going on?"

"As I was running away, I could hear somebody laughing... It sounded like a woman. She said something like... 'I'm glad Zhu Keep is dead. I should have killed him sooner'... I couldn't hear it exactly, but I think it was something similar to that," Aya responded. "I don't know if that's useful, but... I guess there's no harm in telling somebody about it, right...?"

I gasped. Zhu Keep! That had to be it! That had to be the name of the victim! Nobody ad been able to figure out, but what do you know?! We finally had a name! Zhu Keep was the person who was lying in the water!

"Thank you so much!" I exclaimed. I pulled Aya into an unexpected hug. 

She flinched slightly before hugging me back. "Um... You're welcome," she said gently. I could tell that she was confused, but I paid it no mind. 

"This is really important," I told her. "Nobody knew the name of the victim up until this point, but now that you've told us... Thank you. This has really helped me out."

Aya smiled. "I-I wish I had thought to tell you a little bit sooner," she admitted. "I was too scared to tell the police about it... I thought that they had more important things to hear..."

"This is actually one of the most important things I've heard all day," I told her. "It's really important. Now, with this information, I can tell the defense team so that they can help me out...!"

"Defense team?" Aya asked. "Did this... Did this get taken to court?" 

"Yeah," I said with a nod. "The person you saw in the water died. He was murdered not long ago. We've been trying to figure out a few things about the case, but it's been hard, as we didn't have a name for a victim up until now."

"So... Should I go to the trial tomorrow?" Aya asked, tilting her head slightly. "Most of the time, when you see something important, you have to go and testify in court..."

"I think you will," I told her. "It'll really help us all out. Like, a lot. Hopefully, we'll be able to find the real killer. A guy was arrested for it, but according to you, a woman did it and talked about the victim being dead. That has to get him out of the detention center! I now it'll work!"

A smile appeared on Aya's lips. "I'm glad I'll be able to help... But will somebody be able to stand with me at the witness stand...? It's scary being up there all alone," she told me.

I nodded. "If you need somebody, you can bring somebody with you. You can bring whoever you want," I told her. "If you need me, I'll be there every step of the way."

Aya looked up at me, her brown eyes shining gently. "Thank you," she told me. "I'm glad I was able to help you. Can I go home now?"

I nodded once again. "Yeah," I said. "You can go back home if you want. Be at the courthouse tomorrow at 9:45 so that you can testify."

Aya grinned at me before skipping away. "Okay! Bye!" she called out before leaving. 

I pulled out my phone and dialed Chrysalis' number. She was going to love hearing about this sort of clue!

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I forgot aya's stutters up until the last second so we're just going to say that she gained confidence thanks to arena between ftdw and disappearance by death and now

also yes enjoy a kid

-Digital