Sorrow & Mercy: a Great Ace Attorney AU

Violent Grief

He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to turn her back to the study. She was faintly aware that she was now staring at Genshin. But his face was hazy in her sight.

"Susato."

She tried to speak, but all that came out were voiceless huffs of breath.

Genshin pushed some of her loose hair away from her eyelashes and tried to gather her unfocused gaze. "Susato. Go upstairs. Get dressed. Pack your things. We must go."

"K—K—K—" Was all she could manage. The syllable clicked in her throat.

"I know. I—I know. Come, Susato. I have sent a servant to call for the Yard. We must go," Genshin said.

Susato's knees buckled. Genshin knelt down, catching her as she hit the ground, and carefully helped her stand back up. He kept his arms around her, and ushered her towards the stairs.

She could not feel it as Genshin escorted her through the manor. Her body was weightless and oddly detached from her thoughts, from the mist in her head and the painful thundering in her chest and lungs and throat. All the manor seemed to twist around her, a haunted, slanting nightmare, collapsing on itself.

Then suddenly, she was in her room.

As Genshin rushed around her, packing up her things for her, Susato simply stood there. Everything was still, too still. She listened for the sobbing, but nothing reached her senses.

Susato touched her throat. She had not been able to see much of the body, but a horrible, grisly image flashed through her mind. Klint slumped against the desk, throat ripped open, blood—

Hands on her shoulders.

"Susato. I have readied your things. Get dressed," Genshin said, and he hauled her bags out of the room and shut the door.

Susato glanced down absently at herself. Her hair was loose and she was in just her sleeping kimono.

You can't go out like this, she thought. And it was so absurd, so mundane juxtaposed to Klint's corpse and Barok's mourning that it forced her out of her shock.

Susato stepped backwards. Tried to sit on the edge of her bed, but missed. Instead, she sank to the floor. Her vision wavered and a sharp pain lunged into her temple. She sobbed uncontrollably.

Genshin was there again. Susato hadn't even heard him knock. Hadn't seen him enter. He levered her to her feet and placed her coat around her shoulders. She tied it around herself with numb hands, breath snagging wetly in her throat. Then he steered her out of the room.

When Susato realised they were back on the ground floor, she pivoted. She needed to get back to the study. She needed to see that it wasn't just a nightmare. She needed to go to Barok. Sensing her intentions, Genshin took hold of her shoulders and gently pushed her along, and Susato had no energy to resist.

They made their way to one of the side doors, which opened out to the stables.

After closing Susato up in the carriage, Genshin set about loading in her bags. Susato stared out the window without really seeing.

Then Genshin was seated across from her and they were moving.

The carriage passed through the waiting mouth of the gates. And as they wound their way down the road back towards London proper, Yard carriages hurtled past. Susato watched them mutely.