Meihua figures out the reason for Sumi’s sudden vanishing, and tries to lend a hand.
Characters:Â Meihua, Hira, Maya
Warnings: N/A
Wordcount: 1,072
Vibe:Â bootleg ace attorney
local guy finds time to write their own MB stuff in the midst of the queue being flooded ASDFGHJ. which is to say this isnt very revised sorry. who cares
this was for an ace attorney homage prompt.. but i treated it seriously bc im #silly
It was worth a shot.
Meihua didnât know Hira too well â and Sumi didnât speak much of her, despite the two being sisters.
But⌠Sumi missing one appointment turned into Sumi not returning calls, or even being home. Meihua was worried about her, having jumped to the worst case scenario that Sumi had finally gone off the deep end of her conspiracies.
So⌠Hira was sort of a last ditch effort.
Dial the rotary, wait for the connection, andâŚ
âHello? Who is this?â
Oh, thank god.
âUhm⌠hi, my name is Meihua, Iâm one of⌠Sumiâs friends? Is this Hira?â
Meihua never had impressive phone confidence â the invention was still new, and it just felt like just an extension of public speaking to her.
âOh, right. Yes, youâre speaking to Hira.â the voice on the other side of the line responded, her affect flat.
âYouâre wondering where she is, arenât you?â
âYes! Iâve been really worried after she didnât show up suddenly, sheâs usually always on time andâŚâ Meihua started to trail on, but was promptly cut off by Hira.
âShe got arrested for trespassing. I was called for testimony, but her lawyer seems completely incompetent.â
Meihua stared blankly at the phone receiver in silence.
Arrested?!
âSo⌠youâre just not going to do anything about it?!â
âIâm a busy woman, and Sumiâs not a little kid anymore. If she causes big girl problems, she has to deal with them.â
âBut⌠sheâs your sister! If her lawyer sucks⌠thatâs just more reason to step up to help!â
âYou attitude is⌠admirable, but itâs a lost cause.â Hira sighed.
âThe man was so obsessed with bragging over his fancy law degree and attorneyâs badge that it fell right off of his tie and under some heavy centerpiece. I can only imagine how someone like that would preform in court⌠though I doubt theyâd even let him in, now that he lost his proof of certification under a crevasse.â
âYouâre⌠an espeon, right? Canât you use telekenesis to-â
The line on the other side was abruptly cut with a slam.
Meihua mustâve figured that Sumiâs strange nature had to run in the family⌠but, she was at least able to get a lead as to what happened to Sumi.
The following day, Meihua was free after classes and decided that thanks to how close everything was in downtown Lively, it wouldnât be too much trouble to visit the law offices.
She was worried itâd be difficult to pin down Sumiâs lawyer in such a large complex, especially given that Hira didnât tell her what kind of pokemon he was at all⌠but thankfully, that wasnât the case.
It wasnât a moment after Meihua was directed to the defense wing that she found⌠the slightly disheveled luxray, pawing at the tight gap underneath a statue. He looked exhausted, and didnât look like he was getting anywhere.
â…Er, excuse me?â Meihua spoke up, clearing her throat.
The call-out caused the luxray to jump up, and his frantic gaze fell on Meihua.
âYes! Hi! Defense lawyer, thatâs me!â he said, voice sounding slightly disjointed.
âI am very much a real, licensed attorney! Itâs just⌠my badge! It fell under here, and I have a case in an hour, and they wonât let me in if I canât grab it, andâŚâ
âOkâŚ! I get it!â Meihua interrupted, having the gut instinct that if she didnât stop the luxray, heâd ramble on forever.
âCan⌠I help?â
The luxray looked at Meihua blankly.
âEr⌠I donât intend to be⌠rude, per say, but⌠youâre kind of, wellâŚâ he started, but his words trailed off into nothing.
Meihua knew exactly what he wanted to say, unfortunately. Sheâd heard it far, far too many times before.
âIt⌠itâs no big issue, really! Iâm⌠stronger than I look, I promise!â
There was doubt in the luxray lawyerâs eyes, a sense of doubt that didnât make Meihua feel any better.
Regardless, this was about Sumi. It was the least she could do to try.
With a big stretch and flexing of her paws, Meihua went and grabbed the base of one of the sides of the statue, and gave it her best lift.
The statue was a solid, marble-like material⌠which was to say, it was heavy. She tried, and wasnât getting anywhere, and she could feel the lawyerâs judgmental glare, andâŚ
âHere, let me help with that!â
The chipper womanâs voice came out of nowhere, but suddenly, Meihua could feel the weight easing a bit, as someone now seemed to be lifting the other side of the statue.
With the teamwork between Meihua and the owner of the mystery voice, the statue was able to be lifted up just enough for the luxray lawyer to swipe his badge back up.
Upon his verbal cheers of confirmation that heâd retrieved it, Meihua let go, and the statue thudded back down.
Her arms were sore, and her brow was sweaty, but the luxray did seem genuinely overjoyed.
âThank you, oh thank you! Iâll do my best at this court case, I promise!â he cheered.
âI mean, it should be a one and done deal, considering how obviously rigged the arrest was.â
Meihua was still catching her breath, but gave a weak nod.
Suddenly, the chipper voice piped up again.
âGo, go! You donât have any more time to dawdle, then!!â
The voice seemed to match its owner quite well â she was a small lillipup, and chased the lawyer a bit until he got moving.
Once he did, she turned to Meihua with a huff.
âTwas kind of you to help deal with that! I was already getting annoyed of his whining, but I knew I wasnât strong enough to lift that thing on my ownâŚâ she sighed.
âBut I guess thatâs what teamwork is all about!â
âI guess, yeahâŚ!â Meihua said between breaths.
âThank you for that, as well. I didnât want to make a total fool out of myself just now.â
âYeah, no worries!â the woman smiled.
âMy nameâs Maya, by the way! Iâm a student intern here! What brings you around, are you studying too?â
Meihua shook her head.
âNo, no, Iâm⌠still figuring out subjects right now. I was just told that the luxray was handling the case of a good friend of mine, butâŚâ
Meihua paused.
âThe things he said about it⌠how it was âobviously riggedâ⌠what could that even meanâŚ?â
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