Attorney Note

[hawthorned]

[The court house has the kind of familiarity to it that makes Dahlia's skin crawl with disgust. Still, she's been summoned to provide a deposition on her useless boyfriend. This whole situation would've been a thousand times easier to deal with if the fool had just confessed to a crime he didn't actually commit. But that's exactly why Dahlia knows she was never going to be able to count on him.

Smoothing out her dress, she breathes out and makes sure to look appropriately tearful as the prosecutor leads her to a private room. That's how a girl who's upset about her boyfriend being accused of murder is supposed to look after all.]

...um... Mr. Mikami?

Comments

[inordertobelieve]

[ Mikami has seen tearful displays before and he's hates every single one of them. This is already starting to look like a very long half-an-hour. ]

Please take a seat and then tell me what you need to.

[ He gestures to one of the chairs and then takes a seat on the other. Dramatic reveals can wait until he has writing utensils in hand. ]

[hawthorned]

[Dahlia takes the indicated seat as instructed and keeps her eyes on the table. Biting her lip in apparent nervousness, she starts out quietly.]

...but y-you're going to use what I say about Feenie against him, aren't you?

[inordertobelieve]

[ Yes. ]

If Mr. Wright is innocent after all, detailed information is the only way to prove this now. You'd be doing him a favor.

[ And if not... well. ]

[hawthorned]

[Have they gone through enough motions of sadness yet? Probably not.]

...really? [She glances up from the table, half meeting Mikami's eye.]

I- I just don't want Feenie to be in trouble anymore.... he'd never do anything so horrible...

[inordertobelieve]

[ For a moment Mikami has to struggle to suppress a sigh and instead maintain his professional expression. Witness examinations are worse than suspect examinations in some way. He picks up his pen. ]

If you're convinced of that, then there is nothing to lose by telling the truth to the court of law.

But let us start easily... how would you describe Mr. Wright's general character?

[hawthorned]

[A pause. Mikami hasn't even offered her tissues or even a moment to collect her thoughts and by that it's clear enough that he just wants to get on with his job. That much Dahlia can appreciate as well, but she can't exactly seem eager to throw her "darling" under the bus. One way or another, Mikami is just going to have to Deal With This.]

Mhm.. I'll try not to be so scared for him then.

[She takes that moment to collect her thoughts that Mikam never offers though and puts on a brave smile.]

Feenie is really sweet! He cares a lot about me and he's studies law on the side too!

[That's definitely vomit she can taste in her mouth.]

[inordertobelieve]

[ At least Mikami has the grace to just... wait through that moment. At least that. ]

How are his relations to other people? Friends, acquaintances?

[ The victim. But better not rush that part now. ]

[hawthorned]

He's nice to everybody! That's why I like him, he's just so simple like that.

[One way of putting it anyway.]

[inordertobelieve]

[ This is... the most nondescript thing she could have possibly said and Mikami is beginning to think there's more than one simple-minded person in that relationship. ]

Are you aware of any connection between your boyfriend and the victim, Mr. Tim Vic?

[hawthorned]

N-not that I'm aware of.

[Tensing up visibly on purpose, she drops eye contact once again.]

[inordertobelieve]

[ There's a notable pause. ]

Other witnesses have noted that they saw the two of them speaking on several separate occasions. You were left in the dark about that?

[hawthorned]

[She glances up in wide-eyed surprise.]

...ah, s-so you heard about that already...?

[It isn't impressive in the slightest. Good job on asking a couple of questions, Mikami. But feigning a look of abashed humility, she swallows and sniffles delicately.]

I- I'm sorry, I just... I've only heard some awful rumors a-and it's not like rumors are necessarily true, right, Mr. Mikami?

[Rumors are such convenient tools, really. Nebulous little lies that can be used to plant seeds of doubt.]

[inordertobelieve]

[ Well, he could tell many stories about that particular subject if he ever felt so inclined. ]

They're not, but investigating their source can be important. I can only repeat that everything you share with us is going to help uncover the full truth of this case.

So would you mind repeating those rumours?

[hawthorned]

...I suppose that's true. I don't even like thinking about it, but if you promise that this is really important...

[Dahlia takes a deep breath.]

...I've heard that Feenie was being followed by a strange man for the past few days. i'm not sure why...but he was really upset about it. A-and....

[Seeming to hesitate, she shakes her head.]

..even if it's hard, I should still keep going, right....?

[inordertobelieve]

[ Finally something worthy of being written down and looked into later! That's... some small success.

Mikami nods. ]

Yes, please. You can take your time, but I'd like to hear all about this.

[ Don't actually take your time. ]

[hawthorned]

[Now that Dahlia's offered the bait and Mikami is nibblig away hungrily, she's got this deposition exactly where she needed it to be.]


Mm... [Precision reluctance and brow furrowing for a few seconds before she looks Mikami in the eyes.]

Okay. I trust you, Mr. Mikami.

[To get my useless boyfriend convicted of first degree murder.]

A few days ago when I was visiting Feenie at his apartment, I overheard him speaking on his phone. He said "We'll settle this then." ...I've never heard Feenie talk like that before, and it scared me too much to think about it... so I didn't.

[inordertobelieve]

[ Okay, here's a raised eyebrow. ]

If you truly think of your partner as a kind person who would never harm anybody, how come he could scare you this badly with just the tone of his voice?

[hawthorned]

Huh?

[W o w. Stop being distracted by semantics and pay attention to the bombshell, asshole.]

O-oh.. wouldn't you be scared if you heard your sweetheart say something like that? ...and then come to find out that they're being accused of something terrible a few days later...

[A SINGLE TEAR. and the world's tiniest violin.]

[inordertobelieve]

[ Judging by the incredulous look on his face, the idea of being scared by the tone of voice on a significant other is literally beyond the scope of prosecutor Mikami's measly imagination. ]

And yet you still claim Mr. Wright is innocent.

[hawthorned]

[She drops eye contact and looks back down at the table.]

...truthfully, I'm not sure what to think anymore, Mr. Mikami. I want to believe in him... i-is that so wrong?

[inordertobelieve]

Not inherently.

But averting your eyes from an unpleasant truth is.

[hawthorned]

Have you ever been in love, Mr. Mikami?

[inordertobelieve]

.... come again?

[hawthorned]

[Dahlia giggles.]

Love, Mr. Mikami. It's what makes the world go round!

[It's a giant joke is what it is, but hey.]

[inordertobelieve]

[ Don't evaporate his hopes of having misheard! ]

...we're getting off-track.

Let's go back to that call you overheard.

[hawthorned]

Oh...of course.

[Dahlia finally reaches for the box of tissues on the table to dab her face. Since y'know Mikami is apparently just that inconsiderate.]

I've already said everything about that though...