Chapter Text
"I don't even know why you're worried. You're super smart, with this suit, you're super handsome, and I know you'll do super good in that courtroom, Trey. You definitely have this!"
Trey Clover looked up at Cater Diamond who was still fiddling with his suit. He eventually grabbed his wrists before chuckling fondly at him.
"Yeah, thanks, Cater. But I'm not going to look super nice if you keep messing with my suit."
"Sooooorry..." Cater rolled his eyes playfully and flicked the pin on his lapel. "Well then. Let's get in there tiger. Your client isn't going to defend himself." They began walking into the courtroom.
"Nor should he." Trey sighed when he thought about his client.
Silver Vanrogue. He'd been accused of killing one of his classmates, Ejiri Araiguma. Silver was apparently found asleep in a room nearby, and the pencil used had his name on it. It was almost signed and sealed.
The sound of the gavel brought Trey back and he looked up at the judge.
"Order, order in the court!" Judge Dire Crowley bellowed out, gathering everyone's attention. "We will now begin the trial of Silver Vanrouge for the murder of Ejiri Araiguma! Prosecutor Flamme?"
Trey took a deep breath and looked across the court at his opponent Rollo Flamme. He had a hard look on his face, glaring at Trey with an unmistakable look of disgust in his eyes. He heard Cater hiss before leaning up to Trey.
"If looks could kill... you, me, Silvy, and the judge would all be six feet under." He whispered.
"Cater!" Trey hissed.
"Ahem. Council."
They both turned to him once more. He was giving them his death glare before straightening out his face and clearing his throat.
"Before I lay out the facts of this case... I believe we're missing something, Judge Crowley."
Crowley was taken aback, as if he wasn't expecting it.
"Ah... you still wish to do that, Prosecutor Flamme?"
"Yes, why wouldn't I?" He glared up at Crowley. "Are you trying to imply something?"
"No, no! Of course not! I was just- uh- checking! Now... if we may all bow our heads in prayer before the trial..."
Trey and Cater looked around while every bowed their heads. They gave each other a look before following suit, clasping their hands together in front of them. They heard Rollo begin reciting a prayer, and it took about 10 minutes for him to properly finish. When he said "Amen", every followed suit before raising their heads.
"I felt like I was back in a Catholic middle school again..."
"You went to a Catholic school?"
"For like, two years, yeah."
"How did I not know that...?"
"I dunno. You never asked, it never got brought up."
"Fair... point. I suppose."
"Council."
Trey and Cater quickly shut up and Rollo nodded.
"Now, the victim, Ejiri Araiguma, was found face down in his history class with a pencil jammed into his left ear. The murder occurred around 1 pm, during which neither the victim nor the murderer had any classes. Another classmate of theirs who was going to go into the classroom next was the one who found the victim. The pencil had been stabbed into him rather deep, being able to penetrate his brain deeply."
"Damn..."
"Cater, don't you dare say anything." Trey sighed.
"And on the end of the pencil, was the defendant's name. If you'll observe here." Rollo produced a small baggie and inside was a blood soaked pencil. It did indeed have Silver's name at the end of it. "No fingerprints were found, as all students are required to have gloves along with their school uniform. Speaking of which..." He produced a similar bag, with a green vest inside.
"What's that?" Cater cocked his head.
"This, council, is the defendant's vest. It was found at the scene. Covered in, as you can see, the victim's blood."
The two pieces of evidence were put up on the stand. Rollo walked back to his bench and leveled a gaze at them. Trey looked at the pieces of evidence that were recently presented.
"The pencil and the vest... those are very compelling pieces of evidence..."
"Yeah, but I mean, it's not an airtight case."
Trey looked over at Cater who was scrolling on his phone. When Trey saw what he was on, it was some Magicam page. Trey was unsure why he was scrolling there, especially since the page he was wasn't even his own, nor was it just the regular homepage. It was someone's specific page...
"We will now call Silver Vanrogue to the stand."
They both looked up and saw Silver approach the stand. He was slightly swaying, and his eyes were lidded. Crowley slightly shrunk back in his chair and he hummed quietly.
"Does there truly need to be a trial for this case?"
Trey looked up at him, crossing his arms. "What do you mean, sir?"
Crowley turned to Trey. "I mean look at that boy! With a face like that, of course he did it!"
Trey turned and looked at Silver, who just had... a bit of frustrated expression on his face. He cocked his head.
"Well... I doubt he has the ability to control his resting face, sir."
"If he wants people to be on his side, he should make an effort not to look so scary!"
Rollo cleared his throat and it shut Crowley up.
"Defendant, name and occupation."
There was no response, with Silver staring straight ahead. Everyone in the court stared at him and Trey quietly cleared his throat.
"Uh... Silver?"
He suddenly snapped up and shook his head. "I apologize. Silver Vanrogue, college student."
Rollo rolled his eyes. "Typical... Now, could you please state what you had done during that day? You entire schedule, during the allotted time frame. And leave no details out."
Cater rolled his eyes. "Jeez, he's like a Catholic teacher."
Trey rolled his eyes before muttering, "Yeah, you're right..."
Silver yawned and nodded his head in an affirmative. "Yes sir."
Trey glanced at Cater once more, who was still scrolling through that same Magicam page. "Why is he so focused on that one page? Is it a celebrity? I don't see a verified pin on-"
"Pay attention, Treyyy."
Cater's voice reached his ears and he snapped back to attention. Right. He needed to listen to Silver's testimony to get more information about what might've happened that day and clear his name.
"Right... that day... I had gone to all of my classes... my classes for Tuesday end at about 12:30... Then I called my father, and that call was around 12... 45?"
"Is the defendant unsure?"
"Uhh... I am unsure... if needed..." Silver pulled out his phone and held it out to Rollo. "My phone has pretty much my entire schedule. And it has all my call records and stuff."
The phone was taken and set on the desk alongside the other pieces of evidence.
"Continue, defendant."
"Um... that's the thing... I don't know exactly what I was doing until I was woken up."
Trey and Cater stared at him, while the people in gallery muttered about the recent knowledge. The sound of a gavel cut them all off, and they could hear Crowley clear his throat.
"Now, now, settle down everyone. Defense, you may begin your cross examination."
Trey sighed. Silver wasn't really giving him too much information, though it's not like he could anyhow. Seeing as though he didn't know anything that happened.
"Ummm, court, can I ask something?"
They all turned to Cater who was raising his hand.
"Yes, co-council?"
"Can I take a little look-see at that phone Silvy presented?" He was handed the phone and thanked the bailiff that passed it off to him. "Alright, go get 'em, tiger."
Trey rolled his eyes and looked over at Silver. "Mr. Vanrogue... you stated your classes end at about 12:30, correct?"
Silver snapped up once more. "Ah... yeah... on Tuesdays, my classes go from 8 am to 12:30 pm. My father suggested it was likely better for me to get used to waking up earlier to help me stay awake. However... that never seems to work." Silver sighed softly.
Trey thought to himself. "Maybe that tidbit about his schedule can help with our case... I should write that down..." He scribbled Silver's class schedule onto a slip of paper in front of him. "So, shortly after your classes, you called your father?"
"Yes. I always call my father after my classes..." Silver nodded before humming quietly.
Trey looked over at Cater. "What time did the phone call happen?"
"Well, Silvy wasn't too far off. Ten minutes off, he actually called him at 12:35." Cater held up the phone. "And it ended at 12:45."
Trey nodded to himself and added that to his slip of paper. "Hm... that makes it difficult for his schedule to be the reason he couldn't have done it. Meaning the prosecution still has a case..."
Cater looked over at the paper. "Yikes... he still had the opportunity, huh?"
"Yeah... Um, Prosecutor Rollo, if I may ask."
"Yes, Clover?"
"If I may ask, do you have any motive for this crime?"
"Yes, we actually do. Defendant, tell them your motive."
Silver sighed. "It's dumb but... he said some things I didn't like about someone that I'm... friends with. And so, I had gotten rather frustrated with him. So much so that..." He trailed off, clearly not wanting to admit his next statement.
"Defendant."
"...I punched him on Monday."
The two on the defense side looked up at Silver with wide eyes. Well, that didn't help their case. Trey sighed softly and dropped his head while Cater patted his shoulder.
"Well... not all is lost... maybe."
"Maybe." Trey sighed. "But it doesn't make it easier... that's for certain." Trey tapped his pen slightly. When he glanced over at Cater, he was once again scrolling on that account.
"Cater, what's that account?"
"Ohhh, just something I'm observing. Carry on, Trey."
Trey looked back up at Silver. "So... you punched the victim earlier in the week, huh?"
"I did, yes..."
Trey sighed softly and pulled up some of the documents up to his face. "Alright... would you call yourself a violent person, Mr. Vanrogue?"
There was no answer, making Trey and Cater look at him again. And once again, Silver was asleep.
"Silvyyy...."
"Mr. Vanrogue-"
"Defendant!"
Silver snapped awake, and looked around. He sighed softly and muttered something to himself while Rollo was glaring at him.
"Do you not respect the courts so much that you feel comfortable to sleep during your own trial? Are you that confident you'll be let off? Or do you simply not care?"
"I doubt he's doing it on purpose, Prosecutor Flamme..." Trey sighed. "As I had previously asked, would you call yourself a violent person, Mr. Vanrogue?"
"Far from it. I can actually stay rather cool-headed in almost all situations."
"Trey can do that and I would still say he's capable of murder..." Cater muttered quietly, making Trey glance at him.
"What was that, Cater?"
"Oh, nothing. Just pay attention, Trey. Jeez, aren't you supposed to be the responsible one out of the both of us?"
"We both should be, but okay..." Trey muttered. He tried thinking of more questions, yet, he came up short. "I'm afraid the defense has no further line of questioning."
"Then the prosecution will bring out our only witness. Defendant, you may step down."
Silver nodded and went to sit where he was previously. Trey watched him as Flamme cleared his throat.
"Witness, join us at the stand."
A man walked over to the stand. His hair was a deep magenta, contrasting against his pale, freckled skin. His ears, mouth, and eyebrows were adorned with piercings of all kinds.
"Wow, he looks scary..." Trey muttered.
"Like a biker..." Cater agreed.
"Witness! You... look... interesting!" Crowley shuddered a laugh. "Perhaps this murder didn't have one perpetrator! There could be a- a- uh-..."
Trey looked up and saw him shaking. "...Accomplice, sir-?"
"Yes! An accomplice! Don't you think, Prosecutor Flamme?"
The witness glared up at him and crossed his arms. "You calling me a criminal, judge?"
Crowley shrieked and shook his head, while Trey simply sighed. Man, he was sighing a lot this trial, huh?
"And it's only your first trial."
Trey looked down at Cater. Was he reading his thoughts or was Trey just that easy to read?
"You're just that easy to read?"
Well that time, he was clearly acting as though he was thinking that. So it would be obvious to anyone who was looking... but Cater was still fixated on his phone. How could he know?
"It's the vibes, Trey. I can feel them without looking at you."
Trey stared at him for a moment before looking up at the witness.
"Witness, name and occupation."
The man blew some hair out of his face and uncrossed his arms. "Mason Hill. Student. Attend Silver's school."
"Now, tell the court about that day."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Trey took a deep breath and prepared for the testimony Mason would give. He looked up and looked him in the eyes. Pick it apart and inconsistencies and things that don’t make sense.
“Ughhh, let’s see… I was walking by and heard them arguing. Took a peek in and saw that Silver guy stab the Ejiri with that pencil. So, I ran to find a phone booth.”
The gallery murmured and Trey thought about the testimony. It seemed airtight. …Was it airtight? Did Silver do it? Is this just a useless, futile attempt to defend him?
“I thought you were stronger than this, Trey. Come now, surely there’s something in there that doesn’t sound right.”
Ah… that must’ve been him. Trey nodded to himself. He was right, he just needed to find what wasn’t right, and that way he could accomplish his defense.
”Suffice, council?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah. Very.” Trey picked up some sheets of paper. “So Mr. Hill, do your classes end around 12:30 as well?”
“Eh? Nope, they start at 1 on Tuesdays.”
Trey scribbled that down, nodding along.
“I don’t mean to interject…” Cater raised his hand, “But, like, don’t you have a cell phone? Why would you need to use a phone booth?"
Mason blew his hair out of his face again. "My phone was dead."
"And there was no one else around?"
"Uh, no. It was pretty much cleared out at that point. Either everyone had finished all of their classes or people were on their way to said classes. So, no other cells were nearby. Happy?"
Cater held his hands up and Mason tossed his head back getting the hair out of his face.
"So... Cater." Trey looked over at Cater who looked back at him. "Silver gets out of classes at 12:30. At 12:35, he calls his dad, and the call lasts until 12:45, correct?"
"Yep."
"Then, the murder happens at around 1. Because of this, while Mason is passing by, he witness-..." He pauses for a second before looking up. "Mr. Hill, may I ask something?"
"What do you want?"
"Do you often arrive late to your classes?"
"Eh? Hell no, my teacher would get on my case and kick me out."
"Then how'd you see the murder?"
Everyone went silent and Mason tugged at the tip of his ear.
"Ah... that so, e-eh?" He hummed quietly. "I... hadn't realized. Whaddya mean, exactly?"
"Well, if you're never late to your classes, and your class began at 1 pm, you wouldn't be able to see it as the murder was committed around 1 pm."
"Well... I was running a little late. And they were arguing beforehand. So, while I was hearing them talking and stuff, I checked in. And that's when I saw."
Trey and Cater rolled their eyes simultaneously, but Trey still wrote it down as a note. Cater scoffed quietly and leaned over to Trey, dropping his voice into a low whisper.
"I know this is a little irresponsible to say, but do you think he was a little more involved with this situation? I mean, if he was around... and if Silver didn't do it, wouldn't that mean it could only be him?"
Trey nodded. "I was thinking the same thing." Trey wondered how he could find more information about that... it wouldn't be easy, especially since no people would easily admit to such an action. "Alright... Mr. Hill, this conversation had happened at around 12:55-ish, let's say. And it was so interesting you stayed there for several minutes, despite your class beginning at 1?"
Mason crossed his arms and tossed his head back. "So?"
"I was merely asking."
"...Yeah. Ejiri was talking shit, and Silver was getting a little frustrated, so I was interested, my teacher be damned."
"And that's when you witnessed the murder?"
Mason leveled a glare at him. "Yeah. That's when I saw Silver stab Ejiri."
Trey nodded and watched him for a moment before writing something down. Cater cleared his throat while he wrote down the note.
"Uhhh, sorry." He raised his hand. "But can I bring something up? Not to be rude or anything..."
"What is it council?"
"Well, I was going through Silvy's phone and saw after the phone call, he exchanged messages with a friend of his."
"And?"
"And these messages from from 12:58 to 1:01."
Trey turned to him and looked at the phone. Sure enough, that is what the texts read. There were even two messages from Silver sent at 1pm. His eyes widened and he looked up at Cater.
"Is this what you were looking for?"
"Yeep. I wanted to see if Silvy had any posts, but it turns he was tagged in a post at about 1:06. It was a screenshot of these messages, and well, I went to confirm them. And they are so real."
They both high-fived, and they heard a scoff from across the courtroom. They both looked over and saw Rollo was shaking his head.
"You two, you two... you're still a rookie. So easy to overlook things. Mr. Hill, could you continue?"
"Yeah, sure. I've got more to say to my piece, you know."
They both faltered and turned to face him. Crowley tapped his gavel.
"Then continue your testimony, Mr. Hill."
"Glady." He blew his hair out of his face before playing with the tip of his ear. "So, I said I watched the whole scuffle right? Well, what I saw was them talking, then it turned to arguing. Silver was gonna take the high road, and he turned around. I saw him texting someone, and then Ejiri opened his mouth again and sealed the deal. Silver snapped, pulled out that pencil and then stabbed him. Hard. Managed to get him in the neck, and then next thing you know, Ejiri was bleeding out. Pretty gross if you ask me. Went back to typing too."
They both stared at Mason after he said that and Trey dropped his head, sighing loudly. Cater cocked his head and slammed both his hands down onto the table.
"Why'd you leave that out?! That's like, really important!" Cater snapped, leaning over the table.
"Cause, I didn't think you would try to say I was wrong."
They both fell silent and sighed simultaneously.
"Dammit..."
"Well, council? Anything to say to that?"
Trey slightly looked up and he was considering throwing in the towel. Mason saw it. He knew he saw it and if Trey kept digging his heels into the dirt, he was going to trip up somewhere and then he'd-
"What? You'd what? If there's something wrong, you point it out. If there's something vague, you press and get more information. Who cares if it's odd? You need to ask for more information on what you're presiding over. Ask questions, and point out things that are wrong. Simple."
Trey stood up straight and straightened out his suit and nodded to himself. Riddle was right. Ask questions, point out when things looked wrong. To start back at his testimony...
He saw him texting, then Araiguma said something to set him off then Silver stabbed... He looked down at the phone Cater was still holding. He took it from his hand, making Cater squawk indignantly.
"Trey-!"
"This was the phone he was holding, right?"
Mason peered over at it. "Uhhh... yeah? That's his phone, isn't it?"
"And yet not a single blood stain on it."
"...So?"
"So, if he really did stab the victim, wouldn't you think there'd be blood on it?"
Mason rolled his eyes. "Hey genius, people have two hands. Like Silver. Silver has two hands."
"But if someone stabs a person near an active vein, the blood will begin spraying. And surely you would've ran around then, so how would you have been able to see him pull his phone out again, if you ran away."
Mason cleared his throat and began playing with the tip of his ear. "I... I didn't. And... he must've cleaned off his phone afterward, which is why there's no blood."
Trey and Cater exchanged a look with each other.
"Riiight."
"Hey, aren't you missing something in your questioning, Trey?"
"Huh?" He thought about the testimony.
"Silver snapped, pulled out that pencil and then stabbed him. Hard. Managed to get him in the neck, and then next thing you know, Araiguma was bleeding out."
"Ah! Right!" Trey smirked. "You recall during this past testimony you said that he got stabbed in the neck."
Mason narrowed his eyes at him. "And?"
"And that's incorrect."
Mason slowly let his arms down and placed them on his hips. "Oh... really?"
"Yeah, see, Mr. Hill, he was stabbed in the head through his ear."
Mason took a step back before tugging on his ear. "Ah... is that... what I said?" He turned away and muttered, "Dammit... that's what happened..."
"What was that?" Trey and Cater cocked their heads at Mason who shook his head.
"Nothing."
Trey looked back down at the papers while Cater walked up and grabbed the bag with the vest inside. When he walked back he and Trey put on gloves together and gently removed it. And upon looking at it...
"Uhhh, Prosecutor Flamme..." Cater looked up at him, and Rollo glared at them.
"What is it this time, council?"
Trey cleared his throat. "What's Silver's vest size?"
"...He's a medium?"
Trey looked at the tag. It also said medium, and yet... it was incredible long. "I don't think Silver would be able to fit this. In fact... someone on the way taller side would..."
They both slowly looked up at Mason who was looking away from them. Trey's eyes widened and he slammed the vest onto the counter in shock, making Cater jump back, but smile at him.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yeah... Mr. Hill! You killed the victim, didn't you?!"
Mason crossed his arm and tapped at his arms, humming quietly, before tugging his hair once more. "Wow. That's a pretty heavy claim. I murdered some nobody freshman, huh? Sure, that makes sooo much sense. And what exactly is your evidence, I must ask."
Trey and Cater both blew out air softly.
"Well, Silver's vest is far too small for the one found at the crime scene. It fits someone more of your stature. Not to say it was you, however... it becomes very suspicious that you were the sole witness."
Mason looked away again, huffing quietly.
"Also, not to mention the witness getting where the victim was stabbed wrong!"
"Yeah, plus I heard what you said."
Mason took a step back and began to pull on his ear a bit harder. "O-Oh yeah? Well, what did I say, then?"
"You said 'that's what happened'. And you sounded a little disappointed too." Cater had a smug expression on his face."
Rollo rolled his eyes. "That's hardly an admission of guilt. Besides, why would Mr. Hill even want to kill Mr. Araiguma?"
"Yeah! Why would I have?"
Trey put his hands on his hips. "Well, I thought that was obvious?"
"Huh?"
"You hate Silver."
Mason and Rollo stared at him, and Rollo shook his head.
"If Mr. Hill hated Silver, why would he kill Mr. Araiguma? If anything, Silver would enjoy that."
"It wouldn't be the action of killing itself. It would be the reason. He used Silver's pencil, he used the advantage of the fact that they both wear size mediums with a slight difference, he used the advantage of the school uniform gloves. Those two last pieces of evidence can point it to anyone, but it's the specific use of Silver's pencil that would seal it. It would point directly to Silver."
The court was silent, and Rollo was glaring down at Trey, while Mason was staring at the witness stand. Cater looked around and held up his hand.
"I'd like to add onto that, and this might be his nail in the coffin, but..." He held up a strand of hair. It was deep magenta, just like...
"...Dammit.
Trey crossed his arms. "Is that an admission of guilt?"
Mason covered his ears, silently. Everyone watched him, leaning in slightly closer to see or hear what he would say next. Crowley quietly tapped his gavel, and cocked an eyebrow.
"...Witness?"
He groaned loudly and tugged at his earrings. "DAMMIIIIT!" He tugged them out, before throwing them against the stand and slamming his hands down.
Everyone stared at him, wide-eyed. Crowley then cleared his throat. "Bailiff, take the witness out and down the police precinct..."
After everything was cleared up, Crowley tapped his gavel, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Well then. In the trial of Silver Vanrogue, this court find him not guilty!"
Trey and Cater sighed in relief together, and Cater clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Nice job! You actually managed to defend him and get a not guilty!"
Trey nodded. "Yeah... I actually did."
They stepped out of the courtroom, and Cater stretched out, feeling his bones pop in several places. While they were decompressing, two people walked over to them. Silver and a man much shorter than him.
"Thank you for defending him, you two."
They both cocked their heads and the man nodded at them, chuckling softly while he did.
"Right, you might not know me by my appearance. I'm Lilia Vanrogue. Silver's father. Thank you for helping him. Silver is thankful as well."
"Yes, thank you."
Trey smiled at him. "It was no problem. I'm glad to see you can walk free."
Lilia nodded. "May your career be fruitful."
They walked away and Trey let out a breath.
"So... wanna go get drinks?"
"I just won my first trial, and your immediate suggestion is that we go drinking?"
"My treat."
Trey smiled softly. "Fine, your treat."
Cater fist pumped the air. "Nice! Let's go!"
Trey followed after him and nodded to himself. It was a good trial. This could be the start of something amazing.