Yako fidgeted on the cold, hard bench. It wasn't very comfortable, and the noisy crowd of people settling around her didn't make it much better.

"Neuro," he hissed, shooting a questioning look at the demon beside her. "You still haven't told me what we're doing here. Is there a mystery nearby?"

The demon, as usual, was nonplussed by the situation; in fact, he looked thoroughly pleased with himself. "The mystery has already begun to unravel," he replied, not turning to look at her. "All that's left is for the true criminal to come to light."

Yako fidgeted again. She didn't think that Neuro would drag her away from school for a whole day without a good reason—the whole lunch period, perhaps, but a whole day didn't seem quite as cruel—and she supposed this was it. "Is that why we're here? You want me to—?"

"I know it must be difficult," Neuro sharply interrupted, "but do try to use that pitiful brain of yours once in a while. Why do you think we're in the gallery?"

She peered over the railing into the courtroom below. Certainly, it would be difficult to point out the criminal from here.

"We are here to observe," the demon continued. "Leave it to the court this time to expose the culprit."

Yako tilted her head in curiosity. "Why? I thought you usually liked to solve mysteries yourself."

Neuro idly lolled his head to one side, as if mocking her. "It's hard to solve mysteries when your insect of a slave can't find you any in the first place."

"Ah…" She winced. She was well used to these stabs by now, but Neuro had a way of twisting the knife so that it hurt every time. Well, at least "insect" sounded better than "amoeba" or "louse." With that (slightly) comforting thought in mind, Yako decided to look over the courtroom again.

She had never been to a trial before, so she had never gotten such a close look at a real courtroom. She wondered if all prosecutors wore such garishly-colored suits, or if it was just a costume for this one occasion. She thought that lawyers must get awfully tired from standing all day. She noted how unusually excitable the defendant seemed to be. And then her stomach growled.

Yako winced again. She had been so looking forward to the cafeteria lunch at school that day, but Neuro had yanked her away before she could even walk through the school gate. If that wasn't bad enough, she had spotted a rather glaring "No food or drink allowed" sign near the entrance of the court, so she couldn't even take out the snack she had packed away earlier that morning.

Well… It wouldn't be so bad if she went and ate in the lobby, would it?

She abruptly got up from her seat and started to make her way out. "Wow, guess I'm pretty hungry… I'll be right back, I just need to go uwaaaah—!"

Just as abruptly, she was forced to sit again by way of a clawed hand gripping her head and forcing her back down on the bench. "You'll be going nowhere," Neuro remarked nonchalantly. "The trial's about to begin."

Indeed, as she rubbed sorely at where Neuro had grabbed her, the judge took his seat and loudly banged his gavel. The rabble of the crowd in the gallery gradually descended into silence, and even Yako couldn't help but turn her full attention to the court below them.

"Court is now in session for the trial of…"

However, as soon as the judge's voice boomed out over them, her attention blanked. The prosecution began its opening statement, and Yako could only barely listen, as much of her focus was drawn by the prosecutor's oddly magenta suit and frilly cravat. But she managed to absorb some of the basic facts.

"Hey, Neuro," she muttered quietly. "I don't see how this is so much of a mystery. It seems pretty open and shut to me—"

Neuro cut her off with a sharp smack to the head—a playful gesture to onlookers, but a much different experience for Yako herself. "Open your ears and pay more attention," he replied in a whisper that was more of a growl. "If this were an open-and-shut case, we wouldn't even be here today."

"Huh?" Temporarily forgetting her pain, Yako blinked up at him. "Why is that?"

"This trial is a continuation from yesterday. In only one day, the first defendant's guilt was cleared by a startling new accusation, and now the defense has an even greater challenge ahead of it." He grinned toothily, staring intently down into the courtroom. "That attorney—as far as humans go, he is almost impressive."

Yako laughed nervously. Come to think of it, it did make a little sense that someone like Neuro could get so caught up in courtroom drama.

A witness, a short-haired girl in a bright yellow dress, was called to the stand and made her testimony. It sounded fairly exciting, but Yako's focus was dulled by her hunger. She instead directed her attention to the attorney that Neuro had spoken of.

His suit was of a similar hue to that of her abusive companion, but apart from that there were no similarities to be seen. As he carried out the cross-examination, however, Yako noticed that he tended to point his finger much in the same way she did when pointing out a culprit. It made her feel a little self-conscious.

The cross-examination continued on, and on, and on, with the gallery making an excited commotion at every objection the attorney raised. But, despite all this, Yako gradually found herself dozing off. She caught herself before she fell out of her seat, only to discover that the girl on the stand had burst into tears.

She stared. "Er… Neuro, what just happened?"

Neuro had something of a satisfied expression on his face. "That girl down there has just confessed to committing the murder.

"Oh." That was what she had suspected, although the crowd had been taken completely by surprise. But something struck her as odd about her companion's behavior. "Aren't you going to eat her mystery?"

He shrugged in response. "It was a fairly weak plot. The calories are hardly worth it."

Yako frowned. "Then why are we even here in the first place?"

"For one," he said, pointing a finger accordingly, "I had hoped you would pick up some scrap of deduction skills from that attorney below us. And for another…" His smile sharpened. "The true mystery is already on the tip of my tongue."

disclaimer: All characters referred to and/or mentioned by name are the property of Yūsei Matsui, Capcom, and/or whoever else owns the rights to Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro or Gyakuten Saiban, which is to say that they (with probable exception to the nameless witnesses) are not of my creation. and/or, and/or, and/or.

All characters referred to are not my own and are the property of Yūsei Matsui, or whoever else owns copyrights to Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro. Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer.