Ace Attorney Investigations: Moonlight

Chapter 4

- November 2nd -
- Sebastian's apartment -
- Sebastian Walker's POV -

Kotoko dragged her little suitcase into my apartment, the cats running in behind her. Griffin was nowhere to be found, and Julia would kill everyone in Interpol if Kotoko had nowhere to stay.

"Have you got everything, Kotoko?" I asked her as I began to set up the sofa bed for her. "I'm sorry you have to sleep on this, but it's the only thing I have right now..."

"I didn't need much, anyway, Mr. Q!" She replied, giggling at me. "I've never been here before... but at least I get to cuddle with the cats!"

I started to look through my kitchen, hoping to find something that a little girl could eat. "How about we have some pizza? What flavour do you want?"

"Pepperoni!" She chirped, pointing to the pizza box. "Julia likes healthy things, so we don't eat pizza much."

"Pizza's great!" I started to get the pizza ready for us. "But you're not having a late night. Julia would kill me."

"I'm tired, anyway... I keep worrying about Fee-Fee..." Kotoko started to stroke my cats out of comfort. "... He's gone completely. I haven't seen him in ages, and he's usually fine with taking care of me."

"I wouldn't worry about him. He's probably overslept." I sighed, "Besides, I don't mind taking care of you. I don't know why Julia asked me in the first place, to be honest."

"I think she doesn't want to burden you. She thinks that you're always busy!" Kotoko pointed to the cats. "You know... with the cats. Since you talk about them so much."

"It's true I'm always on standby... but so is she." I said, patting her head. "We're busy at Interpol... it's just how it is."

Kotoko shifted awkwardly in her seat. "It sucks how you two can't be around... it would make Julia happy..."

"She's happy with you. Trust me." I smiled at her, "She's been a lot happier to get home when she took you in... other times, she'd just hang around work, waiting for something to happen."

I grabbed the now-cooked pizza and gave half of it to Kotoko. "If you want more, just tell me." I took the other half and sat down with her. "You should go to sleep after this, though."

"But, Mr. Q-!" Kotoko whined at me, stuffing a pizza slice in her mouth. "I wanna stay with you! It's lonely on the sofa bed..."

"What about the cats?" I asked her. "I'm sure they'll stay with you. O-Oh, but... if you get a nightmare or something, my room is just down the hall."

"The cats will sleep with you, though." Kotoko said, pouting. "I wanna sleep with the cats! So I'll have to take your bed!"

"I'll take the sofa bed, then." I finished off my part of the pizza and put it away. "You'll love it. It's the one thing I bothered to splash out on."

"I couldn't take all of your bed, Mr. Q!" Kotoko gasped, "If it's big enough, then there's no need for the sofa bed. It'll probably be much comfier, too!"

"Just watch out for the cats." I grinned, "They might fall asleep on you. And they don't like it if you move, I'm afraid..."

"I'm sure I'll manage... they're too cute to do any harm!" Kotoko jumped up and ran to get her suitcase. The scratches on my arm said otherwise.

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- November 2nd -
- Italy, Florence -
- Julia Kirigiri's POV -

I was waiting outside the Piazza della Signoria, eyeing a man in a black suit. He had been letting other people in for a while now, but only by examining a ring on their finger. I knew this was the entrance to the Moonlight meeting.

Getting the ring out of my pocket, I approached the man and showed him it. Surprisingly, he let me in, despite my predictions. Why would Moonlight have such relaxed security protocols?

The doorway led to a large, open room. I was standing on a balcony, overlooking a large table, with a hint of importance around it. Everyone around the table was wearing masks, making identifying them difficult.

A woman was at the head of the table. She appeared to be giving orders to the rest, whilst the people on the balcony just watched.

"Darlings... after our previous attacks, despite the failed one in Mexico..." She began, "... one of our colleagues has been found dead. His job still needs to be done, though."

There were murmurs around me as people discussed Mr. Ricci's death. I peered closer, trying to get a good look at the woman.

"Zeke Mystere must be eliminated." She said with a slight giggle. "Will anyone make the trip to Totegan? Scotland is supposed to be lovely this time of year."

A man stepped forward. Unlike the others, I could see his face clearly. "I'll send my best men. We will make no mistakes, I promise you that, Mom."

I frowned at the weird name drop. This man wasn't young enough to be this woman's son. Was it a weird cult thing?

"Good... off you pop." The woman gestured. "I have another special guest here today... don't get too excited, dears!"

The group looked around, wondering what she meant. My blood ran cold as she took her mask off and looked directly at... me.

"Julia Kirigiri... it's so lovely to see you at last!" The woman smiled at me. "What took you so long?"

I backed away, everyone's faces glaring at me. I bumped into one of the security guards. They tried to grab me, but I quickly bolted for the door.

My feet slammed down on the pavement outside as I dialled Q's number. I was almost out of breath by the time he picked up.

"Q, they're related! Those attacks... it was all Moonlight!" I said between gasps, "I need you to find out something..."

"A-Alright, I'll try not to wake Kotoko up..." He sighed and shuffled about, trying to grab his laptop. "... What name do you need?"

"Zeke Mystere. They're after him, though I don't know why." I slammed myself down an alleyway, grazing my arm. "There was a woman... oh, you'll find the footage in my eyeglasses... w-wait, Kotoko-?!"

"I-I'll explain later-!" Q said in a hushed tone. "Right now, you need to get out of there. I'll update you as I find things out."

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o damn julia gon die

- hatty