Prodigy: New World

10) The Detective's Past

Hino had just finished explaining his daring and dangerous fight with Juno, leaving the Prodigies speechless. At least, Brooklyn and Angela and Yui were speechless. Edward merely scoffed.

"It was kind of stupid, if you think about it." Edward began. "I mean, that guy had more muscle than all of us combined!"

"Yes, well, considering the life he's had so far, he kind of has to be strong." Hino responded, straightening the dents his hat had recieved. "I did promise Saito I'd tell you about him, after all."

"Do you know him or something?" Angela asked.

Hino hesitated before nodding. "Juno Steele is an ex-soldier. He's not talked about as much as he used to be, though."

"An ex-soldier?" Yui replied. "So he's kind of like a genderbent, older me! That's so cool!"

"You could say that," Hino chuckled. "About six years ago, there was this mercenary group. They called themselves the the Deathcloaks. They were outlaws, criminals, gangsters and the like."

"What were they after?" Alpha questioned, adjusting the scarf around her neck.

"Virtually nothing." Hino replied. "They killed for the sake of killing. Their leader planted some weird ideology in their heads. At first, I wasn't interested in them. Sure, what they did was pretty disturbing, but I didn't care about them directly. At least, not at that point."

"I'm guessing something changed your mind." Brooklyn assumed.

Hino hesitated, Alpha noting the slight twitch of his left eye. "Let's just say that Evelyn is an orphan because of the Deathcloaks." The detective said slowly.

"They... killed her parents?" Light gasped. "But why?"

"Like I said, they killed for the sake of killing." Hino repeated. "But, yeah... Brynn, her father, was my brother. Adonia, his wife, was her mother. On that day, I was taking care of Evelyn for them. Then... the Deathcloaks gunned them down."

"I haven't heard of these people before." Jeremy wrote. "What happened to them?"

"A small army was formed to combat the Deathcloaks." Hino explained. "That's when I met Juno; we both joined up. My circumstance, however, was a little different. I wasn't a soldier like the rest of them. Instead, I was their tactician."

"Tactician?" Yui echoed. "Oh, you mean like those people who come up with the plans to achieve things!"

"That's right," Hino nodded. "But I wasn't just an average tactician. I was one of you lot. I was a Prodigy."

"You were just like us?!" Brooklyn gasped. "But... that means you would've just been a kid! Did you really go into wars and battlefields at our age?!"

"My job was very similar to Yui's." Hino said. "So, with our small army, we clashed with the Deathcloaks many times. Thanks to my superior tactic skills, we managed to supress them at their every attack. But, you know, not to brag or anything."

"If you were really that impressive, then why does that Juno guy hate you so much?" Edward questioned. "That does have something to do with it, right?"

"Yes, it does." Hino nodded slowly. "It began as just any regular day. The Deathcloaks were planning to regroup at a bar, our scouts told us. So I planned for our own squadron to hide out, wait for them to arrive, and then ambush them to take them down once and for all. Sounds like a guarenteed victory, right?"

"Of course, especially if they were unarmed!" Yui nodded enthusiastically before stopping. "So... what went wrong?"

"Me," Hino muttered. "I went wrong. I miscalculated. Two days before our attack even happened, we were the ones who were ambushed. We were slaughtered in our beds. Only Juno and I managed to get away with our lives."

"I get it now..." Scorpius whispered. "He blames you for the deaths of your comrades. But... that wasn't your fault. Even the best of us make mistakes."

"But I couldn't afford to make any mistakes, Scorpius." Hino responded. "Our lives were constantly on the line out there. Everyone depended on me. Their futures were on my shoulders, and... and they ended up not having any futures."

The room was silent as Hino pulled himself together, a single drop of sweat rolling down the side of his face. He exhaled loudly as he continued his story. "When that happened, I quit. I gave up my status as a Prodigy and became a detective. I took Evelyn under my wing and told her that her parents had died in a car crash. Unoriginal, I know, but I couldn't think of anything else at that time. Besides, I don't think she'd really be able to cope, knowing her parents were murdered."

Interrupting their conversation, a monitor in the room lit up. As they all expected, Seraphim appeared, face leaning on the desk in front of her. She glanced up at the screen with tired eyes. "Guys..." she groaned. "It's late... Can you go to sleep now?"

"You could've just gone to bed earlier." Edward growled. "You don't have to stay awake."

"But I don't want to miss anything fun and exciting!" Seraphim exclaimed, perking up slightly. "Besides, you'll be getting something nice tomorrow."

"Something nice? Tomorrow?" Saito echoed. "What is it?"

"Telling you now would be a bit pointless." Seraphim replied, rolling her eyes. "Look, just... go to sleep, okay? I've had a real stressful day."

"Saying this feels really bad, but I agree." Scorpius said. "If we want to get out of here, we need to have all the energy we can get."

"Thank you, Scorpius!" Seraphim cried, yawning. "Alright, I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

With a somewhat lazy wave, Seraphim's image disappeared from the screen. A few seconds later, Alpha stood up and stretched. "There's another room similar to this one down the corridor. Us girls can go camp out there."

"You're okay with letting them just leave like this?" Edward muttered to Light as the girls filed out of the room. "I thought you were all about getting the chicks."

Light shrugged. "Of course not. I'm a free-spirited homosexual and I am not afraid to admit it."

Saito raised an eyebrow, frowning. "Homosexual?" he echoed. "What does that mean?"

Light grinned. "Oh, this'll be fun to explain."

"Save it for later, boys." Hino interrupted. "I won't be afraid to hit any of you in the middle of the night if I hear a single peep out of any of you."

~ ~ ~

The next morning, Hino and the Prodigies met up in the longue once again. "How did everyone sleep last night?" Hino asked.

"Horribly." Brooklyn replied dully. "I had to sleep on the floor since Alpha took up the couch."

Hino laughed. "It's better to sleep on the floor than sleep in the trenches, I'll tell you that much."

"Speaking of Alpha," Angela began. "When I woke up this morning, she'd vanished."

"Vanished?" Saito echoed, adjusting the strap of his sword sheath. "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly that. She wasn't asleep on the couch like she had been last night." Angela continued. "I simply shrugged it off and assumed that she woke up early, though."

"And went wandering around that early in the morning?" Edward sighed. "I doubt that. If she did do it, then she must be really stupid..."

At that moment, the door to the longue opened and the Psychologist entered the room, her expression nonchalant. "I was almost worried about you." Hino said.

"Sorry," Alpha shrugged. "But I arrive bearing a gift."

Everyone stared at her with a quizzical expression until she stepped to the side, revealing another person stood beside her. A person with black hair tied into two pigtails and grinning happily at Hino.

Evelyn.

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i had this already typed up so i thought why not publish it

AceAttorneyFan over and out!