diff --git a/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/annotated-table-cell.md b/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/annotated-table-cell.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5bbe9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/annotated-table-cell.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# Review
+
+## Count by severity
+
+| Severity | Count |
+|----------|-------|
+| CRITICAL | 0 |
+| HIGH | 1 (H-R3-1: gate bypass) |
+| MEDIUM | 2 (M-1, M-2) |
+| LOW | 0 |
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/declaration-with-annotation.md b/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/declaration-with-annotation.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9f3f1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/declaration-with-annotation.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Review
+
+## Count by severity
+
+- HIGH: 1 (H-R3-1)
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/prose-historic-quote.md b/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/prose-historic-quote.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8af8043
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/prose-historic-quote.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# Review
+
+## Count by severity
+
+| Severity | Count |
+|----------|-------|
+| CRITICAL | 0 |
+| HIGH | 2 |
+| MEDIUM | 0 |
+| LOW | 0 |
+
+Note: the earlier bug reported MEDIUM=404 seen on 2026-09-13.
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/suspect-derived-lower.md b/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/suspect-derived-lower.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..314b3c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/suspect-derived-lower.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Review
+
+## critical
+
+There is a serious problem described here, but this section does not
+follow the declaration-line or table conventions the parser expects,
+so no severity value can be extracted from it.
+
+Further prose continues without any line starting with a severity word.
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/suspect-derived.md b/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/suspect-derived.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f2f53a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/review-loop-run/suspect-derived.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Review
+
+## CRITICAL
+
+There is a serious problem described here, but this section does not
+follow the declaration-line or table conventions the parser expects,
+so no severity value can be extracted from it.
+
+Further prose continues without any line starting with a severity word.
diff --git a/tests/test-review-loop-run.sh b/tests/test-review-loop-run.sh
index 2d7d9c4..0435a59 100755
--- a/tests/test-review-loop-run.sh
+++ b/tests/test-review-loop-run.sh
@@ -80,6 +80,36 @@ assert_exit "no count block derives, exits 4" 4 "$rc"
 assert_contains "no count block counts" "CRITICAL=1 HIGH=2 MEDIUM=0 LOW=0" "$out"
 assert_contains "no count block marked derived" "(derived)" "$out"
 
+echo "review-loop-run — counts (CR-7/CR-8/CR-9, bug 5352fe72)"
+if [[ "${CR789_IMPL_READY:-0}" != "1" ]]; then
+    echo "  SKIP  CR-7/CR-8/CR-9 counts tests (set CR789_IMPL_READY=1 once implemented)"
+else
+    out=$("$SCRIPT" counts "$FIXTURES/annotated-table-cell.md"); rc=$?
+    assert_contains "counts annotated table cell" "CRITICAL=0 HIGH=1 MEDIUM=2 LOW=0" "$out"
+    out=$("$SCRIPT" counts "$FIXTURES/annotated-table-cell.md"); rc=$?
+    assert_exit "counts annotated cell exits 4" 4 "$rc"
+
+    out=$("$SCRIPT" counts "$FIXTURES/prose-historic-quote.md"); rc=$?
+    assert_contains "counts prose historic quote ignored" "CRITICAL=0 HIGH=2 MEDIUM=0 LOW=0" "$out"
+    assert_exit "counts prose historic quote ignored exit 4" 4 "$rc"
+
+    out=$("$SCRIPT" counts "$FIXTURES/suspect-derived.md"); rc=$?
+    assert_contains "counts suspect derived zero marks suspect" "CRITICAL=0 HIGH=0 MEDIUM=0 LOW=0 (suspect)" "$out"
+    # companion handle (not in spec matrix): asserts the negative -- no (derived) marker on a suspect result
+    [[ "$out" == *"(derived)"* ]] && { printf "  ${RED}FAIL${NC}  %s\n        unexpected: (derived) present\n" "counts suspect derived zero not marked derived"; FAIL=$((FAIL+1)); } || { printf "  ${GREEN}PASS${NC}  %s\n" "counts suspect derived zero not marked derived"; PASS=$((PASS+1)); }
+    out=$("$SCRIPT" counts "$FIXTURES/suspect-derived.md"); rc=$?
+    assert_exit "counts suspect derived zero exits 4" 4 "$rc"
+
+    out=$("$SCRIPT" counts "$FIXTURES/suspect-derived-lower.md"); rc=$?
+    assert_contains "counts suspect derived zero case insensitive" "CRITICAL=0 HIGH=0 MEDIUM=0 LOW=0 (suspect)" "$out"
+    assert_exit "counts suspect derived zero case insensitive exit 4" 4 "$rc"
+
+    out=$("$SCRIPT" counts "$FIXTURES/declaration-with-annotation.md"); rc=$?
+    assert_contains "counts declaration line annotation rejected" "CRITICAL=0 HIGH=0 MEDIUM=0 LOW=0 (derived)" "$out"
+    # companion handle (not in spec matrix): exit-code check for the same declaration-line-annotation-rejected case
+    assert_exit "counts declaration line annotation rejected exits 0" 0 "$rc"
+fi
+
 echo "review-loop-run — status"
 printf 'x\nexit=0\n' > "$REVIEW_LOOP_RUN_DIR/t-r1-stdout.txt"
 out=$("$SCRIPT" status --name t 2>&1); rc=$?