Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Yes,” Phoenix stated nonchalantly, sliding his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. “I forged this card.”

Apollo felt static in his ears. He honestly couldn’t remember much of the rest of that conversation. All he could remember was how much he was shaking, and the stinging of his fist, and how the man he thought of as an idol for years was suddenly such a selfish, manipulative asshole.

Apollo had just sent his boss to jail. His mentor.

And his former idol was now just a shattered image of what he used to believe in.

His mind wandered, an image of Dhurke briefly flashing through his mind.

Three people that he looked up to. Three defense attorneys. Three liars, and assholes, and people who stabbed him in the back with no remorse.

Apollo had found himself without a job.

Figures, seeing as he had his former boss thrown in jail. No one wanted to hire that guy who got his employer convicted and presented forged evidence to boot. Not that anyone knew that last part, but Apollo knew he was paranoid. He could lose his badge for that literal bloody ace. He could be disbarred, just like his former idol. He could never be allowed to fulfill his dream and help people because of that.

Lose his ability to be a lawyer, just like all of them.

He really needed better people to look up to.

A voice broke his concentration. “Ah… Mr. Justice, was it?”

Apollo blinked, looking up from his small two-seater table at his local coffee shop. “Er, yes? Do you need something?”

A man stood in front of him-- he had gray hair and a maroon suit-- and nodded. “Is this seat taken?” he asked, gesturing towards the unoccupied seat across from Apollo.

“It… isn’t. Feel free to take it if you’d like.”

“Thank you.”

“Mm,” Apollo hummed in acknowledgment and gave the other man a nod. The man looked vaguely familiar, but he honestly couldn’t place his finger on it. Apollo pushed away the line of thought, making a mental note to figure it out later, when he wasn’t running on four hours of sleep and two cups of coffee.

They sat in silence for a few moments, as if waiting for the other person to break it.

Apollo took a sip from his drink.

“... Mr. Justice,” the man said, breaking first. “Are you aware of who I am?”

Apollo narrowed his eyes and stared for a few seconds. “You’re honestly pretty familiar looking, but I’m drawing a blank.”

“Ah. Well allow me to introduce myself,” he started. “My name is Miles Edgeworth. I’m the Chief Prosecutor.”

The defense attorney blinked. “Oh.”

Edgeworth nodded. “Indeed. I’m here to offer you a job offer.”

“Excuse me?” Apollo asked, shock flooding his systems.

“I’m offering you a job, Mr. Justice.”

“I… Okay? But I’m a defense attorney. And no one really would want to hire me right now, apparently.”

“Yes, exactly my point. You see, I know about the bloody ace, as well as Kristoph Gavin.”

Apollo swore under his breath. “You- you know?” His voice cracked, though he refused to admit it.

“About the forgery? Yes. I do.”

His blood felt like ice. This was how he died. Not by a public execution for being raised by the leader of a fucking revolution, but because the Chief Prosecutor knew he presented forged evidence. “I- I-” he stuttered out, unable to properly form any sort of coherent thought.

“Mr. Justice, please breathe!”

Apollo wasn’t sure when he stopped, actually. Probably at some point before the room started to blur, though. “I- I’m sorry I-” he forced himself to take a gulp of air. “I don’t-”

“Justice, please breathe. You aren’t in trouble,” the prosecutor attempted to soothe the younger boy, but was much too awkward for it. “I… I apologize for my lack of thought in my wording. You aren’t in trouble for this, you have my word.”

“I… R-really?”

“I promise.”

Apollo nodded, concentrating on breathing in and out. “O-okay.”

They sat there in silence for a few minutes.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” the red lawyer said. “I didn’t mean to panic on you.”

“Nonsense. I should have… paid attention to my words. It isn’t your fault.”

“Okay,” Apollo nodded, accepting the answer. He took a sip of his coffee, grimacing at the bitter taste as well as the lack of any warmth to it. “You said… something about a job?”

“Ah, yes. I came here with the intention of hiring you.”

“You realize… I’m a defense attorney, right?”

Edgeworth nodded, his arms crossed, one of his fingers tapping his opposite bicep. “I was hoping to convince you to become a prosecutor.”

“...” Apollo mulled over it, taking another sip of his coffee. A prosecutor, huh? Just last month he would have laughed at the offer, back when he was still working for Gavin Law Offices, back when he still believed in the truth and justice of working as a defense attorney. He sighed, glancing at his open laptop on the slightly sticky coffee shop table, his screen dimmed from inactivity, but still able to clearly display his open email. Another rejection. He didn’t really have many options, or any at all, now that he got his boss arrested.

He sighed again, looking up to stare at the Chief Prosecutor, the other man with a questioning yet knowing look on his face, as though he already knew what his answer was going to be.

“I… I’m not sure about this, Prosecutor Edgeworth. I’m a defense attorney. I doubt I can just switch.”

Edgeworth chuckled, shaking his head. “Years ago, there was a prosecutor who was formerly a defense attorney. Things can change.”

“But… I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“I can get you the necessary materials for you to study in order to get your mind to see things from the perspective of a prosecutor. I guarantee that you could become a prosecutor within the month, if you’d like.”

“I… how are you so sure about this?”

Edgeworth smirked. “Because I see great things in you, Mr. Justice. I believe you can help our legal system out of the dark ages.”

Apollo internally whistled. That was some high hopes. “But… You know about the card.”

The prosecutor nodded. “I do. I understand why it was… Why Wright believed it to be a necessary risk in order to incarcerate the correct murderer, however, I am… Displeased by the method he chose to take, especially with your career in line.”

The defense attorney grimaced, looking down at his hands in his lap.

“Don’t worry about it, though. I reviewed the trial.”

“... And?”

“And you never once stated that it was real. You just presented it and let the court make their own assumptions about it. Due to this, I was able to… make sure that the replica was filed correctly.”

“Replica?”

“Indeed.”

For the first time that month, Apollo managed a genuine smile upon his face. “I… Thank you, Prosecutor Edgeworth. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

Edgeworth shook his head. “I understand how it feels to be afraid of losing your badge,” he said. “I also know that it wasn’t your fault. What Wright did… It wasn’t ri-- erm-- it wasn’t something that should have ever happened. Not at the risk of your job.”

“Oh… Well, technically, I did lose my job, but yeah.”

Edgeworth coughed, because he was more dignified than others, and being given a description of choking on his tea would be absurd. “I, right. I see. Well, in any case, I am here to offer you a job. The offer still stands.”

Apollo thought back to Dhurke, to Mr. Gavin, to Mr. Wright. Three defense attorneys. Three people that he looked up to. Three people who lied to him and betrayed him.

The answer was obvious.

“... When do I start?”

Edgeworth smiled.

Chapter Text

It had been a month after that fateful conversation with Edgeworth. Apollo stood outside the L.A. Prosecutor’s office, wearing the same red suit that he wore to his first (and last) trial as a defense attorney, as well as having a shiny new prosecutor’s badge tucked within one of his vest pockets.

He let out a breath, steadying his lungs, praying to the Holy Mother (of which he hasn’t prayed to in years, really,) hoping to all odds that his heart wouldn’t jump up and out of his throat. It was a nonsensical thought, but one that was plaguing his mind nonetheless.

He took a shaky breath. He wished he could steel his nerves, but his Chords of Steel could only do so much.

“I’m fine. I’m Apollo Justice, and I’m fine,” he mumbled under his breath, steading his resolve. “I’m fine.”

The building was quiet when he finally managed to force himself through the front door. There was no one there, not even a person sitting at the front desk.

It wasn’t surprising, considering it was 7:00 in the morning.

It dawned on Apollo that the office opened at 8:00 AM. And it was Monday.

No one was here. No one should have been there, anyways.

Which, okay, fine. He shook himself out of his thoughts. He still had an hour to kill, not to mention the fact that he wasn’t really expected to be in the office until later, but he was so nervous that he decided to show up early. A little too early, apparently, but still. It was the thought that counted.

He decided to go get some breakfast. Maybe with food in his stomach he could actually soothe his nerves.

The Prosecutor’s Office was in an area that Apollo was, admittedly, unfamiliar with. He had known the locations of his apartment, the office he worked at, and the courthouse, as well as the roads in between them, but he hadn’t really explored beyond that. He never had a need to. So that was how he ended up wandering around in an area he didn’t know, before eventually stumbling upon the Kitaki Bakery.

He was hungry, and the place looked unique.

Inside, the shop was small but cozy. Natural light filtered in through the windows, tinted orange due to the sheer curtains that hung over them. There were a few booths covering the left side wall, and the right side had a long counter with glass displays holding a variety of pastries and other sweet treats. Behind said counter was a tall, bulky man with bushy eyebrows-- that covered his eyes completely somehow-- and a bright yellow apron with a cute cartoon fox on it. He had just come out for the backroom, probably due to the bell above the door chiming.

“Hello there. How may I help you, today?”

Apollo crossed his arms, his right hand coming up to press his index finger to his forehead. He hummed in thought. “I'm not sure, really. All of these look really good.”

The man laughed, big and hearty, his entire body shaking with it. “Ah, well I would hope so! I made them after all.”

Apollo blinked. “Wow, really?”

He nodded. “Yup! I'm the proud owner of this establishment,” he raised his arm over the counter. “Winfred Kitaki. It's nice to meet you, young man.”

The newly appointed prosecutor blushed. He had manners though, and Apollo remembered to shake the hand that was in front of him. “Apollo Justice. It's nice to meet you too.”

The handshake ended, and Kitaki nodded. “I can give you some recommendations if you would like.”

"That would be helpful, thanks."

Apollo ended up getting one of the Cherry Danishes, which was cherry red, like him.

It was also delicious, and Apollo didn't hesitate to give the baker his compliments. The man only shrugged it off with a laugh, and Apollo vowed to come back another day.

By the time he made it back to the offices, there was someone behind the front desk. It was a little before 8:00, so he was still early, but at least it wasn’t an entire hour early.

The girl sitting at the desk glanced up at him as he entered the office, giving him a bright smile. She was wearing a simple pink dress and had long brown hair that was loose around her shoulders. A sunflower pinned into her head as well.

“Ah, good morning,” Apollo waved awkwardly.

The girl giggled. “G-good morning! Welcome to the L.A. Prosecutor’s Office. We don’t open for another few minutes, but is there anything I can help you with?”

Apollo blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ah, right, I knew that. I just, uh, start my job today?”

“Oh! You work here now?” The girl asked, tilting her head slightly.

He nodded, grinning. “Yeah! I’m a def-- er-- I’m a prosecutor!”

Her eyes lit up in surprise. “Really?”

“Yup,” he said, putting his hand in his pocket. “I got a badge for it and everything,” he presented the prosecutor’s badge, the light hitting it just so in order for it to blind him in the eyes. Ow.

She stood up and leaned over the desk to get a better look. “Oh wow.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool I think.”

“It is!” She grinned at him. “I, personally, want to become a judge.”

“Really?”

“Yup! I'm studying at Themis Legal Academy right now. This is just my summer internship.”

Apollo put his badge back into his pocket. “That's awesome.”

“You think so? I just… I'm just trying my best.”

“That's all we can do, really.”

She laughed. “Oh, I'm Juniper Woods, by the way.”

Apollo extended his hand. “I'm Apollo Justice. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Woods.”

She shook his hand. “A-ah. You can just call me Juniper. Ms. Woods sounds too fancy and old to me.”

“Okay then, Juniper.”

She grinned. “Oh, if it's your first day, I'm assuming you should talk to Mr. Edgeworth first, yeah?”

He nodded. “Probably.”

“Well he's not here yet unless he got in before me… I'll check, but for now, you can wait for him on one of those couches,” she said, pointing towards one of the corners of the room. There were two beige sofas facing each other in an L shaped pattern with a potted plant in the corner between them.

Apollo sat down and pulled out his phone, idling through social media.

A few minutes later, a voice cleared their throat. “Ehem. Mr. Justice?”

Apollo jumped in his seat; his head whipped up to find Miles Edgeworth staring back. “M-Mr. Edgeworth!” He winced, realizing he was using his Chords of Steel.

Edgeworth grimaced at his volume, and Apollo noticed out of the corner of his eye that Juniper had also been startled by his voice. Great.

The Chief Prosecutor merely adjusted his glasses. “Mr. Justice. Good morning.”

“G-good morning to you too, sir…” Apollo ducked his head, running his left hand through his hair.

“Mm, I see that you have arrived early. It is a commendable trait, but in any case, Mr. Justice, I ask that you follow me.”

Apollo nodded and stood up, following Edgeworth. He waved goodbye to Juniper as he passed, walking toward the back of the building. He was led past the elevators and to the stairwell. The older man hesitated.

“Ah, my apologies. We will be heading up to the twelfth floor, if you would like to take the elevators...” Edgeworth trailed off.

The brunette blinked. “Wait are you walking all the way up twelve flights?”

“... Yes. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Wha- No! No I don’t! I was just, surprised, is all.”

Edgeworth nodded. “I see. Many people are surprised by it, but I prefer to take the stairs in any case. It’s… good exercise.”

Apollo felt his bracelet tighten, and he moved to adjust it. “That’s fair enough.”

“Mm, my office is 1202. Meet me by the door, and I will be with you in a few minutes.”

Apollo wondered how Edgeworth managed to climb twelve flights of stairs every day, assuming that it wasn’t just a one-time thing. Apollo had once lived in a fifth-floor walkup when he was younger, and he thought that was a pain to deal with back then. Twelve floors seemed so much worse; he could barely imagine it.

It took about ten minutes for Edgeworth to finally reach his office-- not that Apollo was counting.

“Ah, Mr. Justice,” Edgeworth said as he unlocked his office door. “Please come in and take a seat. I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Apollo nodded, taking in the room. It was very… pompous. Though, he would never say that out loud. The tiled floors were a bit too loud for his tastes, but the large floor to ceiling windows were gorgeous as long as he didn’t look out of them for too long. He moved to sit at one of the two couches that were facing each other, staring down at the wooden table that was between them.

Across the room, Edgeworth was busying himself by making tea. He probably needed a drink after walking up so many stairs.

“Congratulations on obtaining a Prosecutor’s badge, Mr. Justice. I’m looking forward to working with you here,” the Chief Prosecutor stated, pouring himself a cup of tea. “Would you like some Chamomile?”

“Um, yeah, sure. I mean! Yes please.”

Edgeworth chuckled. “I know it’s your first day, but there’s no reason to be so nervous.”

“Well, I could lose my job again. Or get my boss arrested. Or accidentally present forged evidence in court and lose my badge--!”

“Okay, so you have some reasons to worry,” Edgeworth interrupted, “poor wording on my part. I am just saying that you shouldn’t have to be nervous or catastrophizing everything.”

“Yeah, well, it’s easier said than done.”

Edgeworth placed one of the teacups down on the table before moving to sit on the seat across from Apollo with his own cup of tea in hand.

“It always is.”

In order to avoid his own awkward attempts at conversation, Apollo picked up the teacup and took a sip. It was hot, but he would suffer through the pain rather than try to make idle chatter.

Edgeworth checked his watch. “Ehem, I believe that Prosecutor Debeste is in the office by now. I’m afraid that he might be one of the only ones I trust that is available at the moment.”

Apollo paused at that. He felt like he recognized that last name, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. “... I see.”

“We should go and check his office. It’s down on floor eleven, which is where your office will be as well.”

“I’m on floor eleven?” The rookie asked, placing his cup back down onto the table. When Apollo worked at Gavin Law Office, the building wasn't nearly as large, much less multiple stories, and he definitely did not get his own office. Apollo worked there three years from intern to lawyer, and he never got more than just his shared desk.

Edgeworth tucked a file under his arm. “We shall finish our tea and head over right away.”

Floor eleven was respectable. Sure, the carpet was a little questionable, but it seemed well vacuumed and a hundred times better than whatever was in his apartment hallways. Apollo wasn’t really sure that the doors and walls matched each other or the floor, but it looked expensive and fancy. It’s not like he knew anything about interior decorating anyway.

Edgeworth pointed at the doors as they passed them, as well as who they belonged to. On the right hand side were offices, and on the left hand side were the bathrooms as well as a lounge. “Prosecutor Putt is in 1104, Prosecutor Debeste is in 1103, and you will be in 1102, which is just after that,” he stated as he knocked on the door that was labeled 1103 Debeste. The words were engraved on a fancy gold plate.

Apollo considered asking who was in room 1101, but before he could even begin to form words, the door in front of them swung open.

“Ah, Prosecutor Edgeworth! What a surprise!” The man gasped as he opened the door. He had long brown hair pulled into a low-hanging ponytail, a tailored-to-fit dark gray suit with a pale blue waistcoat over it, and a red coat draped over his shoulders. In his hands was a retractable baton.

“… I told you I was coming earlier today. I both emailed and texted you in advance. It was hardly a surprise.”

“Right. Of course! Come in, come in,” he said, opening the door wider and strutting inside, not even giving Apollo a glance.

That gave Apollo some time to stop gaping. It had been a while since he had last seen Sebastian, though it hadn’t been intentional. When Kay left to do some Interpol mission-- or whatever it was she did-- Apollo had no reason to keep in touch with Sebastian.

Shaking his head, Apollo followed the other two prosecutors into the office. There was a comfy looking couch along the wall to the right of the door with a coffee table in front of it. On the wall opposite the door were giant windows with a desk pushed up against it. A comfortable looking swivel chair was placed behind the desk, and a light pink peacoat rested on the back of it. Papers were strewn across the room, both on the desk and on the floor. It seemed that the only neat part of the room was the folded up blanket laying on the corner seat of the couch.

“Welcome to my office. It’s a bit… messy, but--” he cut himself off, staring at Apollo. The latter could only give an awkward smile as he ran his hand through his hair.

“Er. Hi.”

Sebastian blinked. “A-Apollo? What are you doing here?”

“Um. I work here now?”

“I thought you were a deference attorney!”

“Defense, but yeah, I was.”

“Was?”

Apollo sighed. “It’s a… long story.”

Edgeworth glanced between the two prosecutors. “You two are acquainted?”

“Ah, yes!” Sebastian nodded, clapping his hands together. “We went on a date once!”

Edgeworth seemed to choke on air. “W-wha…?”

Apollo sputtered. “Sebastian! That- it wasn’t--”

“It wasn’t?” The man in question asked, tilting his head slightly. “But Kay said it was.”

“Erm. Well, I mean, I guess it was but--!”

“See! You agree with me!” said Sebastian.

“Well, yeah. But--”

“I was correct in my statement, then.”

“Well, it was one blind date, which wasn’t fair considering we knew each other already.”

“Kay was very insentient on going on the date.”

“Insistent, but I know what you mean.” Apollo determined that Sebastian had not changed much since he had last seen him. Their friendship was brief as Kay was their only mutual friend.

“Ah, but enough about that. You’re a prosecutor now?” Sebastian played with his baton.

Apollo chuckled nervously. “Well, yes, I am.”

Sebastian sighed. “And here I was hoping to be able to face off against you one day! Tis but a fleeing dream.”

“Fleeting, but I guess fleeing could work too.”

The Chief Prosecutor cleared his throat. “You know Miss Kay Faraday, then, Mr. Justice?”

“Yeah, that’s how I met Sebastian, actually.”

Sebastian nodded. “Indeed! Kay thought I needed more friends, so we were introduced. Later we were set up together, but right now we have other things to focus our attention on.”

Apollo put a finger on his forehead. He would hate to start his first day on the wrong foot with his office neighbor. “I suppose,” Apollo contemplated, “now we would be coworkers instead of, well, rivals.”

Sebastian smiled at the thought. “Yes, I think it will be more fun! I like your style. There are others here who are not so… commended to the truth.”

Edgeworth took the opportunity to cut into the conversation. “The word you are looking for is committed. In any case, I’m afraid that he is speaking the truth about our office here, Mr. Justice. There are… Many people here who do not hold themselves to the high standards that are expected of them.”

“Oh, and those standards are…?”

“Dedicating oneself to finding the truth,” he said, simply. “It is one of the main reasons I hired you, Mr. Justice. I see great things in your future, so I hope you will not disappoint.”

Apollo gulped. “I-I’ll try my best, Prosecutor Edgeworth.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great. In fact, I’m looking forward to seeing how you do on your first case.”

“F-First case?”

“Ah, yes. There has been a murder last night. The police are investigating right now, but a man is already in custody,” Edgeworth stated, taking out the file he had been holding onto since they were in his office. “The victim was one Pal Meraktis. An autopsy is currently underway, but we can assume that he died by a single gunshot to the head. The crime scene is in People Park, and the suspect that had been arrested is Wocky Kitaki.”

The prosecutor handed Apollo the file. “The rest of the information that is available at this moment is in this file, however, you should prepare by speaking to the witnesses as well as the lead detective, Ema Skye. She’s on her way to the scene of the crime, but I suggest you wait until she’s done investigating herself before you talk to her. She will most likely be done enough by noon.”

Apollo checked the time on his phone. It was just a quarter after nine in the morning. “I-I see.”

“In the meantime, you can investigate the surrounding areas if you’d like. Most prosecutors leave all the investigating to the detective, but your badge should allow you access to the scene of the crime if you wish to use it that way,” Edgeworth gave him a nod. “Good luck, Mr. Justice. The trial is tomorrow at 10:00 AM sharp. I’ll see you later.”

And with that, Apollo’s boss spun on his heel and marched out of the room.

Apollo glanced at Sebastian. “Well, I guess I got myself a case. I’ll talk to you later…?”

Sebastian nodded and gave the other man a smile. “I’ll see you around, Justice.”

The newly appointed prosecutor grinned as he left. He had a lot of work to do.

Chapter Text

The route to People Park passed by Hickfield Clinic. It’s not an important fact that Apollo needed to know, but one he noted in his brain because that’s where he ran into a teenage girl wearing a silk blue top hat and cape.

“Whoa! Sorry!”

Apollo groaned. “It’s alright.”

“Heh… Wait a minute! You’re… You’re that lawyer!”

Blink. “I am a lawyer, yes,” Apollo said. He noticed that the girl was familiar, but he wasn’t sure just where he had seen her before.

“You defended Daddy in his trial two months ago! I’m Trucy Wright, CEO of Wright Talent Agency!”

“Trucy… Wright.”

“Yup! I’m a magician. Check out our flyer!” She handed him a bright sheet of paper. “So… what’s your name?”

“Apollo… Apollo Justice, attorney at law,” he said. He wondered if he should specify that he was a prosecutor now. He frowned. “You're the one who gave me that bloody ace.”

She flinched. Apollo felt guilt stab him in the chest. “Ahh. Yes, I did. I'm sorry about that, but Daddy would've lost if I didn't!”

Apollo wondered if he would've done the same for Dhurke if he was in that situation. It hurt to think about. “Well…”

“Actually! Apollo!”

Apollo flinched. “Uh, yes?”

“I need your help, Polly!”

Polly…? Well then. “Help with what?”

“Daddy's in the hospital.”

“What?!” Apollo exasperated. Wright seemed like a troublemaker at this point.

“Mmhm! He's right in there,” she said, pointing her thumb at the clinic next to them. “I wanted to go check on him, but…”

“But…?”

“But nothing! You just ran into me before I could go inside,” Trucy grinned, but her eyes were avoiding eye contact. Apollo felt his bracelet tighten, and he twisted it around his wrist with a grimace. Trucy’s eyes followed his hand, locking her gaze on his bracelet.

“I see,” he said. He thought for a moment. “Would you… like some company inside?”

“Well if you'd like to join me, I wouldn't say no!” She giggled.

Apollo nodded in understanding. She probably disliked hospitals, and he couldn't blame her for that. “Sure. Lead the way.”

Trucy smiled, relieved. It gave a sense of validation for his decision to go with her if it made her feel safer. It was bizarre, considering they were basically strangers.

Hickfield Clinic was a small, rundown clinic that looked like something that Apollo would visit if he ever needed to go to the hospital, which meant that it was cheap.

There weren't many people around, just a few people in white lab coats with clipboards in hand shuffling about, as well as a mother and son waiting at the uncomfortable looking plastic chairs in the corner.

"I think Daddy's room is that one. Come on, Polly! Let's go!" Trucy said, tugging on Apollo's arm to drag him over.

"Relax! No need to force me there."

"Hurry up, Apollo!"

"Eh? Visitors are ya? Hmmm?"

Apollo felt Trucy's hand freeze around his arm. He felt a sense of dread fill him. "Uh, yeah. Are you the… doctor?"

"Ayup. Dr. Hickfield's the name. Eh he he."

Trucy smiled, though it was strained. "Good morning, Doctor!"

The supposed doctor smiled, crooked, yellow teeth appearing. Apollo shuddered. "Oh, hiya there, Trucy. Cute as ever! Eh he he."

Apollo took a step in front of Trucy, blocking her from view. "Sorry, Doctor, but we have somewhere to be."

The creepy man ignored him. "How're you, Miss Trucy? Got any places you'd like... examined? Eh heh…"

Apollo clenched his fist. He wondered if he'd get arrested for punching the elderly. He was pretty sure punching him might be worth losing his job, but he doubted he could afford it.

"Doctor… the nurse was looking for you," Phoenix Wright said, appearing out of nowhere and on crutches.

"Why, if it isn't the Daddy o' the cutest lil' thing in town! Hrm. Hrmm. Guess I'll be off then. Eh he? Later, Trucy."

"… Thank fuck he's gone."

Trucy slapped his arm. "Language, Polly!" She shouted, though she honestly looked relieved.

"Good morning. Didn't expect you so soon, Apollo."

Apollo sighed. "Mr. Wright…" He began, searching for what to say. "What happened?"

The older man laughed, maneuvering to sit down on the bed. "Ah, well who could've imagined it? Me, a victim of a hit and run."

"A hit and... You were hit by a car!?" Apollo yelled, his eyes widening.

Wright laughed. "Oh, he tried to swerve, I'll give him that. Picture me tossed thirty feet through the air… only stopping when my head hit that telephone pole."

"You hit a telephone pole with your head!? Are you okay!?"

That only caused Wright to laugh again. "Thankfully, my only injury was a sprained ankle."

"..." Apollo stared at the man on the bed. He knew he was bad at math, Clay always had to tutor him in it to get through high school, but he was pretty sure that 2 + 2 didn't equal 9. What the hell.

"Well, in any case, it's good to see you here, Apollo," Wright grinned. "How about you come work for us?"

Apollo frowned, shaking his head. "Sorry, I'm not sure that's something I can do."

Or want to do, for that matter.

Wright mirrored his frown, and Trucy just pouted.

"But Polly! We have to figure out who did this!"

"Did what?"

"Hit Daddy with a car! And stole my panties! Though, those two might not be related…"

"Someone stole your uh…?"

"My panties, yes."

"O-oh…" Apollo said, trailing off. It was only mildly concerning to Apollo compared to the pile of information that was being dumped on him.

"Oh! And Mr. Eldoon's noodle stand was taken last night too. I was gonna investigate that, but there's only so many things a teenage magician can do! So, what do you say, Apollo? Help a girl out?"

Apollo sighed, checking his phone for the time. "Well, I actually have something to get to…"

"You got a client?" Wright asked. Apollo almost forgot he was there.

"Well, no. I'm not exactly employed as a defense attorney anymore, you know."

"Ah, right. Sorry about that. But you can work for us if you'd want?"

"No thanks. I'm good, really."

"Well if you change your mind, you can always call the office!" Trucy grinned, though she wasn't looking him on the eyes.

"Maybe…” Apollo hesitated, “but I'd like to see what I'm doing on my own first."

She nodded. "That's fair. I'm heading over to the park now, though. See if I can find something about who hit Daddy!"

"The park?"

Wright responded for her, "yup, I was hit right in front of People Park. Should be easy to find."

The prosecutor sighed. "I'm actually heading my way there."

Trucy's eyes lit up. "Really!?"

"Yeah, I guess we can go together and search for clues?"

"Awesome! Let's go!" She said, sprinting off. "Bye, Daddy!"

"Bye, Truce!"

Apollo sighed. He'd have to run in order to catch up with her.

It was going to be a long day.

“So, this is where Mr. Wright got hit by that car?”

“According to this map that Daddy gave me earlier, this is the place!” Trucy said with a grin, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Apollo hummed in thought. “He was hit right outside People Park? What a coincidence.”

“How so?”

“There was apparently a murder in the park last night.”

“Really?! That’s terrible!” Trucy said with a gasp, her gloved hands coming up to cover her mouth.

“Yeah it is. I have to…” He trailed off, his eyes catching a glimpse of gold from underneath Trucy’s glove on her right hand. He blinked. This wasn’t the time to be distracted. “Anyways, I was coming here to investigate the crime scene and anything else that might be relevant to it.”

“Do you think the car that hit Daddy is important to that?”

“Well, I’m not completely sure about that. Do you know what time it happened?”

“Hmm,” Trucy hummed in thought, crossing her arms and tapping her index finger against her chin. “I think Daddy mentioned it happening at nine last night.”

“He did?”

“I think you were too busy freaking out about how Daddy only got a sprained ankle from the incident,” Trucy said with a laugh. “I think he freaks out everyone when it comes to his luck!”

“No kidding. I would at least assume he’d have a concussion if he hit his head.”

She crossed her arms and looked to the side. “Maybe, but Papa always said that Daddy had a thick skull. I didn’t think he meant it so literally.”

“Papa?”

Trucy gasped, her hands flying to her face. “Did I say that?”

Apollo nodded. “Yeah.”

“Oh,” she replied with a frown. She put one of her hands to her chest, her fingers lightly tugging on her cape. “I wasn’t supposed to.”

Apollo blinked. “Oh. Well in that case, um, I didn’t hear anything?”

Her head whipped up to look at him surprised. “Really?”

“I mean, I think we were talking about the hit and run. Maybe the spilled paint all over that gate has something to do with it?”

Trucy grinned and gave him a thankful look. “Do you think this paint was knocked over by the car that hit Daddy?”

Before Apollo got the chance to respond, another voice interrupted him.

“That's right. Feh. And I'm left to clean up the mess.”

The magician and lawyer duo looked over to see the woman who was talking. She was wearing a black kimono with red flowers and a yellow fox design on it, as well as a giant red bow in her hair. She was holding an ordinary broom, though she looked so intimidating with it.

“Hello, ma’am!” Trucy said with a grin and all the confidence that Apollo was currently lacking.

“Hey kid, you want something?”

Trucy crossed her arms. “Hmm, do you know about the car accident that happened here last night, ma’am?”

The woman put one of her hands to her cheek, blowing a strand piece of hair from her face. “Ah, you're talking about that man, aren't you? The one who flew thirty feet and just walked away?”

Trucy giggled. “That’s my Daddy!”

The woman laughed; her whole body shook. “Ah ha ha! I should've known! One of our Capos thought he'd make a great point man…”

“Capo? Point man...?” Trucy wondered out loud.

Although Apollo felt frozen in place and his hands shaking like it was the middle of winter, he managed to let out a high pitched squeak. Both girls turned to look at him. “Don’t mind me!”

The woman shrugged. “In any case, it's been nothing but trouble. I've been cleaning up this mess since morning! Bah!”

Apollo raised an eyebrow. “Cleaning up this paint? Was this paint spilled at the time of the accident?”

“It was around nine last night when I heard a crashing noise. Then, I found your father drowning in a sea of paint.”

“So, you came to his rescue?” Trucy asked, tilting her head.

“You've my husband, the Boss, to thank for that. The car that hit your father knocked over this paint, then turned the corner, and sped away. We're in the middle of repainting our wall, you see.” She pointed her broom handle to the wall behind her. A yellow and green dragon seemed to glare back at him.

Apollo briefly thought about the Defiant Dragons before shaking it off. He didn’t need to think about them.

“I availed myself of the public facilities to get rid of all the garbage. Now there's just the paint on the street to deal with,” the woman said with a sigh, going back to her sweeping. Apollo wasn’t sure how she was intending to clean up the paint with a wooden broom, but he was honestly too terrified to ask her.

“And the worst part? Me, Little Plum Kitaki, the victim of a panty-snatcher!”

Apollo vaguely recognized the last name, but it could just be a common last name in the area. At least, he hoped.

Trucy gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. “What!? So, it wasn't just my panties that were stolen!?”

Plum Kitaki, which was apparently the woman’s name, snarled. “Got you too, did they? Poor thing. Like I said, whoever did this is a hardened criminal,” she said with narrowed eyes before turning to Apollo. “It wasn't you, was it!?”

He flinched, putting his hands up in surrender. “N-No! Of course not! Mercy!”

The woman huffed, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face. “I've heard word that panties have been disappearing lately, and the missing panties all have something in common.”

Trucy grinned. “I know! We'll find your bloomers, too!”

“Great come back with information!” the woman said before shooing off them off.

Apollo gave the woman an uneasy smile and nodded. He quickly turned and pulled Trucy away towards the entrance of the park. “I think she was referring to the trash can over here,” he said, gesturing to it. “I guess we should check it out?”

Trucy grimaced. “A detective’s life sure is a hard one!”

“Actually, I’m a pr…” he trailed off, pulling out a car door mirror, as well as a pair of slippers. “Huh?”

Trucy glanced down at the items he pulled out. “Hmm. Two pieces of garbage with paint on them.”

“These look like those slippers you get at the hospital…”

Trucy gasped. “Wait! Look at this, Apollo! Doesn't this go on a car…?”

Apollo looked at the other piece of garbage he had in his hands. “It's a side-view mirror! Looks like it was torn off when it smacked into something… or someone,” he said, looking at Trucy with one of his eyebrows raised.

She looked at him with wide eyes. “Wait, you don't think…”

“I do. This could be from the car that hit Mr. Wright!”

“Wow, and he took off its mirror? I never knew Daddy was so strong,” she said with a laugh. “Anyways, I only have room in my pocket for one of these, though. Which do you want to take?”

Apollo looked at her with a questioning glance. “You know I also have pockets, right? I also brought my briefcase with me in case I needed to carry around any other evidence.”

“Oh! That’s smart.”

“Thanks, I try to be,” Apollo said as he examined the slippers.

“The bottom is just covered with paint, huh? It looks like a leaf was stuck to the bottom when the wearer stepped in some yellow paint.”

Apollo nodded. “So, the outline was left when the leaf was removed-!” He cut himself off with a yelp, grimacing at his hand. “I got paint on my hand!”

He frowned, looking at Trucy and slowly raised his hand towards her.

She jumped away from him in shock, a look of disbelief on her face. She glared at him. “Apollo! I saw you try to wipe your hand on my cape!”

He chuckled. “Sorry, sorry.”

Trucy huffed, puffing out her cheeks and resting her hands on her hips. “Don’t do that!”

He raised his hands in the air in a sign of surrender. “Okay, okay!”

Apollo pulled out a napkin from his briefcase with his clean hand, wiping away the paint from his other. He took out an evidence bag as well, cramming the slippers inside. There. He looked back over to the gated house, noticing that there was now a girl with light brown hair done up in a bun there talking to the scary woman from across the street.

Trucy glanced over as well. “I wonder who she is.”

“Mm. I wonder if she has anything to do with the case.”

“Which case?” his companion asked.

Apollo looked back at Trucy. “There’s more than one case?”

She crossed her arms. “Well there’s the hit and run, the noodle stand theft, the panty snatcher, and I’m pretty sure you said something about a murder in the park?”

Apollo nodded. “Ah, right.”

“So maybe we should go in there and check it out right now!”

“Actually, I was going to check out the victim’s workplace first. Apparently, the detective that’s investigating the crime scene right now doesn’t like to be interrupted. I was going to come back to the crime scene around noon or so.”

“Oh! So, we have another, what? A little over an hour to kill?”

“Kill might be a poor choice of words, all things considering.”

Trucy winced. “Oh yeah, the dead guy…”

“In any case, I suppose we can always look for the cart or the car or, ah, your thing in the meantime.”

“I think you meant to say my panties.”

“I’m not gonna say that.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Coward.”

“Hey!”

She laughed. “Alright, alright. If you have time to spare, I know where we should go next!”

Apollo couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head. “Okay then, lead the way.”

Apollo looked at the rundown, dingy house in front of him. It reminded him of Dhurke’s old law office, but even that looked better than this place, and that office belonged to a fugitive.

“So… what's this place?” he asked.

Trucy giggled, shaking her head. “This would be Mr. Eldoon's house, silly.”

“Oh, so this is where his stand was stolen from. I can see a piece of evidence lying on the ground already.”

“It’s Mr. Eldoon’s bowl! For his noodle stand.”

“I see that.”

“You know, I’m sure Mr. Eldoon will give us a free meal once we find his stand!”

“Hmm, I don’t shy away from a free meal.”

“Exactly!” Trucy beamed up at him before her attention was caught by the gaudy building next to them. “Huh. There’s a police car over there.”

“You’re right… it’s parked just outside the Meraktis Clinic… Hey wait--!” He gasped, digging through his briefcase.

“What’s wrong, Polly?”

“Meraktis… That was the victim’s name!”

Trucy gasped. “Wait, really?”

Apollo held up the paper with his left hand, his right tucked behind his back. “Yeah. It says it right here under Victim: Pal Meraktis, age 46. I guess that explains the police car.”

She nodded. “I guess so. And here I thought they might’ve been here to find my panties.”

“Huh? How so?”

“That's where the thief went!”

“The thief…?” Apollo asked, crossing his arms.

“The one who snatched my panties! He ran into this clinic last night!” she replied, her hands balled up into fists and raised up to her chest in a determined stance.

“Are you sure?”

“Well there’s one way to find out! Come on, let’s go investigate!” Trucy exclaimed, grabbing Apollo by the arm and dragging him towards the garage door. They ducked underneath it, seeing as it was partly open, and Apollo tried not to think too much about whether or not they should have been doing something like this.

“This is the place! This is where that panty-snatcher ran!”

“Are you sure?”

Trucy crossed her arms before simply shrugging. “Maybe! Let's look for clues! Clues to a panty-snatching! Clues like a pair of panties!”

Apollo sighed. “… Um, Trucy? Could you try not saying “panties” so many times?”

She just laughed at him.

They managed to find a bright pink cellphone under one of the wheels of the car, which meant that the car hadn’t moved since the phone had been there, seeing as the object wasn’t broken. They also found that the mirror they found in the garbage matched the car in front of them, therefore the car was the same one that hit Mr. Wright.

Apollo grinned. “Well… looks like we've just solved a case.”

“So, the car that hit Daddy last night…”

“… Is sitting right in front of us, yep.”

She laughed. “Wow, you put the “pro” in “professional,” Apollo!”

“Gee, thanks, Trucy,” he said, rolling his eyes.

They looked around the rest of the garage, judging the dead man’s tastes. It was probably not very good etiquette or respect for the dead man. However, Apollo was pretty sure the victim was involved in some pretty shady stuff, according to the files he didn’t get a chance to read in full yet.

The most notable things in the garage were the gold painted human skeleton, the ladder (which Trucy, despite claiming it to be a stepladder, had to admit that it was basically just a ladder,) and the cat, which didn’t want to be petted-- the saddest moment in the investigation, for sure.

Apollo sighed, running his left hand through his hair. He felt like they were missing something, something very important.

Trucy glanced over to him, staring at the hand that was in his hair, and Apollo wondered if there was still paint on them or something. He checked, but there was only a little bit of dried white specks on it. (He managed to get the chance to stop and wash his hands earlier).

“Hey, Polly?” She asked suddenly, crossing her arms. “Do you know any magic tricks?”

Apollo paused, dropping his hands to his sides. “Magic tricks? Well, no, not really.”

“Really? Not even any card ones?”

Apollo crossed his arms and pressed his index finger against his forehead. “Well I know some of them require math and counting cards or something like that, but both those things are two skill I don’t have.”

“Huh. Okay.”

“Why are you asking?”

“I was just wondering if you did, is all.”

He felt pressure on his left forearm, like his bracelet was squeezing his wrist. He grimaced. “Are you sure?”

She gave him a look he couldn’t decipher. “Hmm, I am.”

He wasn’t sure he believed her. “… Okay then.”

“Do you really not know math?” She asked. He was pretty sure she was changing the subject, but he decided to just go with it.

Apollo blinked. “Well, I do; I’m not very good at it.”

“But I thought you were a lawyer?”

“Yeah, and a lawyer doesn’t really need to know math, so I’m good.”

Trucy laughed. “I guess that’s fair!”

Apollo grinned, before a thought suddenly struck him. He moved toward the trunk of the car. He wondered…

“You know, I once read a record of a case that Mr. Wright worked on many years ago,” Apollo started to say, crouching down. Trucy gave him a questioning look. “Apparently, there was this car with a piece of cloth shoved into the tailpipe. That piece of cloth turned out to be a vital clue to solving the case!”

“Wow!”

“I remember that case record whenever I'm checking out a car… And I always check the tailpipe!”

Trucy gave him a judgmental look. “Everyone's gotta have a hobby, I guess.”

“Wouldn't it be funny if…” He trailed off, searching the tailpipe. “Hey! There's something in here!”

“What!?” She yelled.

Apparently, Apollo was a genius in finding girls’ panties. Which was a sentence Apollo never would have thought to have ever been said to him in his life. He was glad it all made sense in context, but in all honesty, it only made very, very vague sense if Apollo squinted, tilted his head, and stared for three minutes. He really hoped he didn’t have to present any of this in court the next day. At least the panties turned out to just be a prop.

Trucy winked at him and showed him a magic trick with the prop. Apollo actually felt something akin to childhood glee in him for the first time in years. She really was impressive.

"Wow… how did you do that?"

She giggled. "A magician never reveals her secret!"

They ended up leaving the garage once they decided that there was nothing else to find. It was almost noon after all, and Apollo figured they could probably head over to the crime scene.

He just hoped whoever the detective was wouldn't kill him.

Chapter Text

The officer was giving them a weird look when they walked up to him.

Apollo cleared his throat. “Excuse me, officer, but we need to enter the park.”

“Sorry, kids, but you need to find some other place to play…”

Trucy balled her hands into fists again. “We're not playing! We're um, ‘investigating’! Aren't we, Apollo?”

“Yeah! And wait a minute, I'm twenty two!”

The officer paused, squinting at the lawyer and looking him up and down, as if he didn’t believe that. “Well… Even still, the answer’s no.”

Apollo sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulled out his badge. He pushed down the urge to yell take that and shove the object in the officer’s face, because he was polite and doing so would be rude.

“Oh! I didn’t realize you were a prosecutor, kid-- I mean sir! You’re the one prosecuting tomorrow?”

“Yep. This is my case, so I would appreciate it if I can actually be let into the scene of the crime.”

The guy yelped, stepping to the side. “Right. Just head on in, sir.”

Apollo nodded. “Thank you,” he mumbled as he passed, lifting up the yellow police tape and ducking under it. He made sure to hold it up for Trucy as well.

“Wow, Polly. I didn't know you were a prosecutor,” she said, grinning at him. “You know, I thought you defended Daddy two months ago.”

“I did, but I sorta lost my job after getting myself fired?” He ran his hand over his spiked hair. “Besides, it was time for a career change, anyways.”

“Oh. You weren’t going to stay a defense attorney?”

He shook his head. “It’s not that. I tried looking for jobs, but no one wants to hire the guy who got his last boss arrested, not to mention the fact that I was a rookie.”

“So, you decided to switch to being a prosecutor because of that?”

“Well, that’s not my only reason, but yeah.”

“Well what’s the other--!” She cut herself off with a scream. “Apollo! Look! A c-corpse!”

Apollo whipped his head around to where she was pointing. “What!?” He yelled, before squinting at the “body” that was there. “Hey, it's just a mannequin.”

Trucy put her hands over her chest, trying to lower her heart rate. She sighed in relief. “Wow. It sure got me.”

“Honestly that mannequin might be more terrifying than an actual body would be.”

“Ahem,” a new voice cut in. “Might I ask exactly what it is you're doing here? How did you kids get in here?”

Apollo sighed again. “I’m twenty two. Not a kid.”

“Still doesn’t answer my question.”

“I'm a prosecutor. We're here to investigate.”

The woman squinted at him, adjusting the glasses that were on top of her head. “Got any proof of that, Mister?”

He nodded, taking out his badge again. “Take that,” he mumbled, showing it off.

“Ah. Okay then. You’re the new guy the Chief mentioned was coming in, aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “I am new, though I’m not sure if I was specifically the one he was referring to.”

She nodded. “Fair enough. But I have to ask, why did you bring your sister to a murder scene?” She raised an eyebrow at him, judgement written all across her face.

“Huh? She’s not my sister.”

She tilted her head, a thoughtful look on her face. “Really? You two look alike though.”

Trucy laughed, though it sounded a little off to Apollo. “No, we’re not related,” she confirmed, shaking her head.

“Hmm. Could’ve fooled me,” she sighed. “Well at least the fop isn't on this case. I really don’t feel like dealing with him.”

Apollo crossed his arms. “The fop?”

“Yeah, the glimmerous fop. He’s the prosecutor I’m assigned to, unfortunately. I got paired up with him when he came back to the states like, two months ago,” she said, frowning. “I mean, I guess he has a reason to, and I can’t blame him for it. Because yikes-- that’s shitty, dude, but can you still stop being such a glimmerous fop?”

Apollo blinked. “Right. Makes sense.”

The woman groaned. “Ugh, even thinking about that glimmerous fop makes me just--!” She cut herself off by pulling out a plastic bag full of-- what looked like-- chocolate snacks.

Trucy put her hands on her hips. “What are those?”

“They’re snackoos,” the detective replied, grumbling. She pulled one out of the bag and flicked it straight into Apollo’s forehead.

“Hey--!”

“Don’t ask such stupid questions then.”

“But I didn’t even ask!” He groaned, shaking his head. He sighed. “I’m Apollo Justice, by the way.”

“Justice, huh? How funny.”

He gave her a deadpanned look. “Yeah, I know.”

The woman just shrugged. “I’m Detective Ema Skye. I’m in charge of this crime scene.”

Trucy raised her hand. “And I’m Trucy Wright. I’m a magician!” she said, suddenly (magically) pulling out a flyer for her show. “I’m performing this Wednesday and Friday! You should come see it. You too, Apollo!”

The detective gave her a wide eyed look. Apollo couldn’t tell if it was in awe of the magic trick or something else.

“I’ll be sure to come, Trucy. I’ll even bring my roommate.” Apollo turned his attention onto Trucy.

“You have a roommate, Polly?”

“Yeah. His name’s Clay. He’s all about physics and science and stuff, so I’m sure his brain will be fried by the end of your show,” he said, snickering.

Trucy giggled as well. “I can’t wait to blow his mind then! You can introduce us after. Or before, if you come early.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Wait a minute. Your last name is Wright?” Skye cut in, looking between the investigation duo.

“Yep! Trucy Wright, at your service,” she said with a wink and a grin, one hand on her hip and the other tipping her top hat.

“Erm… Do you know a Phoenix Wright then, by any chance?”

Trucy glanced at Apollo with a flash of confusion on her face before turning back to Skye with a grin. “That’s my Daddy!”

“D-Dadd--!” She cut herself off with a cough. “Oh. I didn’t know he had any kids.”

“You know my Daddy, then?”

The detective munched on her snackoos. “I knew him a long time ago, yeah.” She paused, glancing between them. “Mr. Wright has kids?” She repeated herself.

Apollo frowned. “We still aren’t related, Detective Skye.”

“Still could’ve fooled me,” she said with a shrug.

Trucy didn’t say anything, which Apollo found slightly concerning, but pushed it off for the moment.

“Anyways. This was the scene of the crime, right?”

“Yup. The report came in late last night. The body was found much as you see it now… Except it was a real body,” Skye said, gesturing toward the mannequin.

Apollo crossed his arms. “But… why?”

“Why was a body pulling a noodle stand? If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn't still be here.”

He sighed, deciding to pull out the file from his briefcase. “The victim’s name was Pal Meraktis, age 46. He was a doctor at the nearby Meraktis Clinic, which explains the police car that was stationed there. The suspect in custody is Wocky Kitaki, age 19. Apparently, there was a witness to the moment of the crime. He was the one who called the police.” Apollo really hoped that Wocky wasn’t related to the Kitaki bakery he visited that morning.

Skye nodded. “That sounds about right. The victim died of a bullet wound to the temple. He was shot by a pistol.”

Trucy crossed her arms. “A pistol?”

“Not the easiest thing to come by in this day and age,” Skye said, munching on her snackoos. “Incidentally, I just received the autopsy report.”

She pulled a file out of her bag and handed it to Apollo, who nodded in thanks.

The detective groaned. “I mean, really! What's up with this case!? It's enough to make me want to run off, pulling a mysterious noodle stand behind me…”

Trucy laughed, putting one of her hands on her hips. “Not so mysterious, actually,” she said, grinning. She glanced at Apollo. “We should tell her, Apollo! After all, we know where the stand came from!”

Skye scoffed. “A likely story! I didn't come here to play games, you know.”

“Actually, we do know where the noodle stand came from,” the prosecutor said with a grin, placing his left hand on his hip. “The noodle stand's owner is the proprietor of Eldoon's Noodles, Mr. Eldoon himself!”

“He's famous in this part of town,” Trucy added.

“Not bad,” the detective said with an approving nod.

“You know,” Apollo started, “Mr. Eldoon lives right next to the victim’s clinic, and the noodle stand was stolen before the murder.”

“… So that means that Dr. Meraktis stole the stand and pulled it all the way here?” Skye wondered.

He nodded. “That would seem to be the case.”

She frowned at him. “... But why?”

“Well don't ask me!” He groaned.

Trucy pointed at the ground. “Oh look, a knife.”

“It’s a "shiv" to be precise,” Skye commented.

“Ooh… lingo!” Trucy said with a grin.

Skye fiddled with the ends of her hair. “The defendant, Wocky Kitaki, is the son of known gangsters. The police are assuming this belongs to him.”

Apollo flinched. “Gangsters?” Well shit. He didn’t know that. And why would there be a shiv if the victim died from a pistol? “A-Anyways, look at this, there's a handprint on this shiv…”

Skye whipped her head to look at him. “A handprint? Then there might be a fingerprint. Let's investigate!” She said with a grin, taking out a bottle of white powder from her bag. “This powder is used for detecting fingerprints.”

Skye flicked on her glasses. “Fingerprint analysis is the very basis of modern forensic science! Doesn't just talking about it leave you breathless with excitement?”

Apollo rolled his eyes. “Oh yes. Breathless,” he said sarcastically. Though, admittedly, it did sound vaguely interesting to him.

“Let me know if you find any evidence that might have a print or two, alright?”

Trucy pointed at the darkest of the black dots on the handle. “Is this one that would work?”

“Well let’s try it!” The detective was practically glowing with excitement.

Apollo had to admit it was kind of fun. Unfortunately, the fingerprints belonged to a one Wocky Kitaki.

“So… the fingerprints do belong to the defendant,” Apollo said with a sigh.

Skye fiddled with her glasses. “Yes! Isn't it amazing? Ah, the power of science. It's my life.”

Trucy leaned over, covering her mouth to whisper to Apollo. “Apollo, she's… sparkling.”

His bangs drooped. “And I'm dimming.”

“Chin up, Apollo! Or did you forget that you’re the prosecutor?”

“Oh shit. Right.”

“Language, Polly!”

“What? It was in English.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

Trucy frowned, putting her hands on her hips. “Don’t try to change the subject and distract me!”

Apollo rolled his eyes. “Okay but I’m going to go search the trash can right now.”

“You and your trash cans!” Trucy sighed. Apparently, the misdirection worked. “Go ahead, knock yourself out.”

“Please, can't you see I'm doing my… Huh? L-Look! Another pair of underwear!?”

“Wow, Apollo! You're a genius at finding panties!” Trucy said with a laugh.

He groaned. “Stop saying that. Wait, these aren't yours…?”

She put a hand over her mouth. “Th-They're not mine!” She huffed, crossing her arms and looking away.

Apollo examined the bloomers.

Trucy peered over his shoulder. “These bloomers sure have a… distinct design!”

“You certainly know who they belong to at a glance.”

“That way, she doesn't have to write her name on them! Genius!”

“... I would think writing your name would be easier than drawing a plum blossom.”

“Eh. You’re no fun,” she stuck her tongue at him.

Apollo, being a complete professional, did it back.

They circled back and investigated the inside of the Meraktis Clinic, seeing as the victim worked there. It was amazing the places you can get into if you have a prosecutor’s badge. They found a single pair of sandals by the entrance, and a pair of slippers belonging to the clinic were missing.

“Look, a single pair is missing from the rack here, too. And ours have paint on the bottoms… Which means they were taken out of here on the night of the murder.”

“Right… The paint is from the hit and run, after all,” Apollo stated. “But what were a pair of clinic slippers doing in that trash can? And what were they doing at the scene of the hit and run?”

Trucy shrugged.

“Hey, Polly! There’s a toe print on this sandal… But is there such a thing as a list of toe prints?

“Oh, good point. If there is, Detective Skye didn't give it to us. Which means we can't match this print.”

“This seems like a good time to ask a detective's advice.”

“Yeah, good idea,” he said. “Maybe after we finish looking around here.”

Trucy nodded in agreement. “Look! This door says, ‘Doctor's Office’!”

“Think this is the victim's private office?”

It was, and the door was unlocked as well. Maybe it was a bad thing, but Trucy seemed more disappointed by the fact that she didn’t get a chance to pick the lock. Probably not something she should tell a prosecutor, but Apollo wasn’t a snitch.

He was also a little too attached to Trucy than he probably should have been. She was a good investigation partner, and oddly enjoyable to hang out with. It honestly reminded him of his time with Nahyuta, which left him feeling a little cold and hollow on the inside.

There was a thump from inside the office.

Apollo burst into the room. “A break-in! They left through that window!”

“Wait, Apollo!” Trucy grabbed his arm. “You're too late to catch them now!”

Apollo figured she was talking about her experience as a panty-snatcher chaser. “Well, we should tell the police!”

She grinned. “Let's check out the room, first, Apollo! If we call the police now, we'll lose our chance to investigate first!”

“Or I could just wait for Detective Skye’s team to write me a report,” he noticed her pout. Trucy probably had a vendetta against the police after what happened with Mr. Wright. He exhaled in defeat, “Fine, you’re right. It’ll be faster for us to investigate.”

“I’m always Wright! Haha, get it?”

Apollo groaned.

They obtained a lamp. There was blood on the cord, so to be fair, it was probably relevant. They also broke into a safe. There was a bullet hole in it, with the bullet still in the hole as well, meaning someone shot a bullet into the safe itself. There was also a medical chart, which seemed illegal to take, but fuck it, right?

It was Wocky’s chart. The physician’s signature said Pal Meraktis, but the person who filled out the chart was a nurse named Alita Tiala.

“Who do you think the nurse is?” Apollo asked, pressing his finger to his forehead.

Trucy tapped her finger to her chin. “I’m not sure, but it sounds bad. I guess she’s someone on staff at this clinic, huh?”

“I'd be very interested to find out what this chart says. Do you happen to know anyone who can read all this medical mumbo jumbo?”

“Hmm. Oh! Mr. Eldoon!”

“The owner of the noodle stand?”

“Yeah! We should probably tell him we found that, by the way,” Trucy said. She let out a small groan and tapped the rim of her top hat with her fist, making a self-deprecating noise. “Heh. I forgot to tell you, but he was a doctor once. He could probably read this.”

Apollo blinked. “Well that’s good to know.”

“He’s probably in his house right now! Let’s go!”

Guy Eldoon cried when they asked for his help. Apparently, he was glad that he got a chance to use his doctor and medical knowledge again after so long. Apollo figured it might have been similar to what Wright felt during the murder trial two months before. Lawyer knowledge and all that.

Eldoon informed them that Wocky Kitaki was “ABD” or All But Dead. The boy was shot, and the bullet was right upside his heart. The former surgeon estimated that the defendant only had about a year to live past that surgery, but the operation was six months ago, meaning that he really was on death’s door. The victim had left Wocky to die.

Apollo wondered if he should try and stop the trial then, considering he was a prosecutor and could probably do that, right?

He didn’t know how to do that.

The investigation led the duo back to the park to talk to Detective Skye again, hoping to see if they could do some sort of toe print analysis. Both the sandals they had recently found and the slippers that they got in the beginning of the investigation had toe prints, and with a little help from science, they were able to determine that they belonged to the same person. It was a perfect match and everything, meaning that the same person wore both shoes.

Apollo sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I think I should go prepare the witnesses now.”

Trucy nodded, though her eyes drifted up toward his hand again. “I guess so. Do you know who you’re going to call up to the witness stand?”

“I’m assuming whoever was the witness to the crime. Maybe I can get the defendant to testify as well, if only to see if he knows whoever this Alita Tialita is.”

She frowned at him. “I think that’s one too many itas, Apololo.”

He gave her a deadpanned look. “Whoops. My bad, Trucy-cy.”

She pouted.

Apollo walked into the detention center ten minutes before it closed off to the public. Apparently, the owner of the Kitaki Bakery, Winfred Kitaki, whom he met earlier that morning, was indeed related to the defendant, Wocky Kitaki. The elder Kitaki was the younger’s father, to be precise.

It was an awkward conversation, really.

“So, you’re prosecuting my son here? You want him to go to jail?”

Apollo shook his head. “I- I’m only here to find the truth, sir. If your son really is innocent, then I’ll help prove it tomorrow.”

“... Hm.”

Apollo was sure he was going to die after that whole conversation. He was sure he was going to end up dead, and the Holy Mother would just laugh at his cause of death.

He didn’t die, but he almost wished he had. He couldn’t understand half of what the defendant was saying, and Apollo was fluent in the English language for over ten years. Kitaki was being difficult and unhelpful about the whole thing, but in his defense, Apollo was the prosecutor that was supposed to put the guy in jail.

He sighed. He supposed that he would just have to pray that the witness would be more cooperative.

Spoilers: He wasn’t.

Wesley Stickler was one of the worst people Apollo had ever met. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. It was a rude thing to think, but Apollo was just so done with life after talking to Stickler for a hot second. The witness was twitchy and using more words than were necessary. Apollo wondered if it would be unethical to jab the witness with his pen. It probably was.

Stickler kept claiming things that contradicted each other. Every time Apollo tried to straighten him out, the witness just kept derailing the conversation and trying to avoid the questioning. When Apollo asked him why he wasn’t being helpful, Stickler just said since he wasn’t in a court of law at that very moment, he didn’t have to tell the truth.

Apollo wanted to slam his head into the wall at that statement.

Instead he went home. Complained to Clay. And didn’t sleep that night.

Chapter Text

Apollo didn’t expect Trucy to be in the prosecutor’s lobby when he got to the courthouse.

“Polly?!” She gasped, staring at him with something akin to mild horror. “You look terrible! Did you sleep at all last night?”

“Uh… No?”

She put her hands on her hips and stared him down-- a judgmental frown on her face. “Polly! Don’t tell me you think you can win with bags under your eyes and sleep deprivation!”

“Well first off,” he ran his fingers through his hair, “I’m running off caffeine and adrenaline at the moment. I’m fine,” he said with a yawn. “Second off, I’m not planning to win or lose. I’m just looking for the truth.”

Trucy scoffed. “And you think you can do that in the state you’re in?”

“I’m fine.”

“... No, I don’t think you are.”

Apollo sighed. “Look, you can berate me all you want after this fucking hellscape ends. Right now, I just want to get this over with.”

“I’d say language...” Trucy exhaled, clearly worried about him, “but I think you need a nap more.”

He shook his head. “I think I would just rather be anywhere but here. At least I won’t get, like, publicly executed if I lose.”

She frowned. “Jeez, that’s dark.”

“Thanks, I try.”

“... Though I guess your bags are darker.”

“Rude. My bags carry all the baggage I have. It’s a lot.”

“Yikes.”

Apollo shrugged, deciding to do his voice training. “My name is Apollo Justice, and I'm fine!!!”

Trucy jumped. “Why did you do that?”

“It’s voice training.”

“... That sounds more like a self-mantra than voice training.”

“It puts me at ease.”

Trucy crossed her arms. “I think the trial is starting now.”

Apollo sighed. “I don’t feel very prepared for this.”

“Don’t worry! I’ll be there to help you out if you need it.”

“Huh?”

“I’m gonna be your co-counsel for this, silly!”

Apollo blinked. “... Okay.”

He honestly didn’t have the energy to say no.

Being the one to give the opening statement was weird. He was pretty sure he was going to just word vomit and slur his words together because he was so anxious.

He decided against calling up the youngest Kitaki first. He was pretty sure it would go entirely bad, and he really didn’t want to deal with that. Besides, Apollo would have to bring up the defendant’s medical records to explain his motives, and it wasn't fair to out him to the entire court.

… Apollo wondered if the boy even knew he was going to die soon. Sure, he probably found out about the faulty operation from the family checkup he had, but did he know just how close he was?

Apollo didn’t have time to dwell on that.

Against his better judgment, he called upon Wesley Stickler, who spent so long in stating his occupation in the most roundabout way, Apollo just interrupted it and told the court that the witness was a student at Ivy University. Apparently, he was in the Department of Science and Engineering, which was odd considering the guy seemed to talk like he was an I’m Better Than You English and Literature major. Maybe that was just how the students from Apollo’s old college spoke like.

Stickler claimed that the defendant was the one to shoot the victim and that he saw the whole thing in full.

Well, that’s basically what he said but in more, unnecessary, words. Honestly, Apollo wanted to bang his head into the podium rather than just his fists.

Apollo was so done with the witness. So very done. He objected to the glaring contradiction in the man’s testimony, even though he technically probably wasn’t supposed to.

The witness changed his testimony, because he simply forgot something, and it had to be fixed after the prosecution oh so thankfully helped jog the man’s memory. How nice. Stickler then later claimed he used his phone to call the police, and between then and the ten minutes it took for them to get to the crime scene, he saw no one.

He felt his bracelet pinching his wrist during the witness’ statements, and he couldn’t help but feel like there was something he was missing. Like he could see something that wasn’t right.

He glanced at Trucy, who was touching the edge of her glove with her left hand, staring intensely at the witness.

The judge looked the same as ever. “It seems we've come to the end of the line here.”

Apollo frowned. That couldn’t just be it, could it?

The defense attorney that was across the courtroom looked pale. Frankly, Apollo could not remember what their name was.

“I believe this brings the cross-examination to a close. This court will now declare a verdict for the defendant, Wocky Kitaki,” the judge presided.

“Hold it!”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!” The scream came from Apollo’s left. He froze, afraid of what he would find.

“T-Trucy!?” He stuttered out, staring at the image before him.

The strange figure held Trucy close, a knife in their hand. “Nobody move!”

The judge looked baffled. “Wh-What's the meaning of this? Who are you!?”

“There'll be no verdict in this court…” The stranger demanded. “Not yet!”

Apollo felt ice in his veins. “Wait please!”

“If you don't want to see me give the pretty, little girl a new smile, do as I say! Adjourn the court for twenty minutes!”

“Wh-Whaaat!?” The judge hid behind his gavel. “Th-This court will not bow to pressure from the likes of…”

“Your Honor!”

The judge looked at him funny. Oh right, he was the one to yell that.

“Please don’t-- don’t aggravate them!”

The judge made a weird noise.

“Recess, twenty minutes. Or I promise you, you'll regret it,” the stranger said before disappearing as quickly as they came.

“W-Wait!” Apollo said, panicked. He didn’t know where they went. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest.

A small voice whispered to him. It sounded a lot like Trucy. “Come to the prosecution’s lobby, Apollo!”

The judge looked pale. “I suppose I have no choice but to adjourn for a twenty minute recess! Bailiff! Catch that mysterious man!”

Apollo didn’t hear anything past that. He bolted into the lobby as fast as his legs could take them.

“Trucy! Trucy!?” He cried out, his lungs burning in his chest.

He heard a giggle. “You move quick, Apollo. Good show, good show!”

“T-Trucy!” He whipped his head over to her, staring at her in surprise. “You’re okay! I thought… I--!” He cut himself off with a sob, reaching toward the small girl and tugging her close. His fists clenched tightly into her cape.

“D-Don't cry, Apollo!” Trucy said, her arms awkwardly hovering at her sides before finally coming up to hug him back. Apollo vaguely noticed that one of Trucy’s hands was rubbing up and down his back in a soothing motion.

He growled-- though Trucy would later describe it as an annoyed purr-- into her shoulder. “That- that person who kidnapped you! There are some just some things you just don't do! I'm pressing charges!”

Trucy placed her hands on his shoulders. She gently pushed Apollo far enough away to look him in the eyes. “Wait! Just calm down, Apollo.”

He sniffled. “Why the hell would I do that? You’d just been kidnapped!”

“Wait, wait, wait. That’s not exactly…” She sighed, pulling away from him completely before slapping her left hand against her hip.

Apollo screamed. “Wh-Wh-What the heck is that!?” He stuttered out, his body jerking backward and his bangs falling over his eyes.

Trucy giggled. “Surprised? This is one of my best tricks! The Amazing Mr. Hat!”

The wooden puppet that was much taller than either of them started talking. Apollo briefly noted that Trucy’s left arm was moving up and down slightly. “You look mahvelous, dahling!” The puppet said.

Apollo felt his mouth dry.

He could only vaguely hear what Trucy was saying. He normally would have felt bad for not paying attention, but he was still shocked and mildly upset with her little stunt.

“You mean, you… Trucy!” He used the back of his hand to wipe away at the tears on his face. “There are some things you just don't do! I… I'm pressing charges!”

Trucy yelped. “Apollo! Now is not the time to be threatening me! It's you who's being threatened here!”

“What?”

“You told me you didn’t care about winning or losing. That you were just looking for the truth. Your morale is being threatened because you haven’t found it yet!”

“B-But that testimony was rock solid!” Apollo groaned. “What are you suggesting I do?”

Trucy raised her hands to her chest, which were once again balled up into fists. “Look, once the judge declares a verdict, it's all over. If I can use my talent to stop that from happening, I will!”

“Trucy, no more staged abductions, please…”

Trucy shook her head. “I'm not talking about magic, Apollo. I know when the witness isn't confident… I can perceive what he's feeling! It might not mean anything, but it's all we've got.”

Apollo frowned. “You can see what he's ‘feeling’?”

“Think back, Apollo. Think back to the times when there was a contradiction in his testimony! All the times!”

“All the times there was a contradiction?” He crossed his arms, his index finger pressing against his forehead. “I remember, yeah, but there’s no way to prove it. I’m the prosecution, I can’t just cross-examine him the way the defense can!”

The magician shook her balled up hands. “You just have to call him out on his nervous habit! Use any excuse you can find and bluff your way through!”

“I don’t know if I can do that, Trucy.”

“You have to listen to his testimony one more time! No… scratch that! You have to watch his testimony! Perceive the truth!”

“‘Watch’ a testimony? ‘Perceive’ the truth? The only thing I'm perceiving is that I'm going to lose,” he said, pausing for a moment. “Well, I guess I’m technically going to win but not in the way that I want.”

Trucy frowned, putting her hands on her hips. “That’s not true!”

He blinked, his eyebrows knitting together.

“Daddy told me. He said so! He said you have the power, Apollo.”

“Mr. Wright said that?” He asked, frowning. “And what do you mean by power?”

Trucy crossed her arms. “Well, you have the ability to Perceive.”

“The what now?”

She rolled her eyes like she didn’t just say the word perceive multiple times already. “I don’t have enough time to explain it, but you can tell when someone is lying with your bracelet. If you focus hard enough, you can pinpoint just what it is, and just what it was that made the person nervous.”

Trucy looked to the side. “Daddy said that you could do it. That you could see it, like I can. I won’t be able to call the witness out for you, but if I can get you to see what I do, you can blow this whole case out of the water!”

“You really believe that?”

She nodded. “Yup! I believe in you, Polly. Even if you have bags deeper than the sea and hair weirder than my Daddy without his hat!”

“Wow. Complimenting me and then insulting me right after. I’m really feeling loved here.”

Trucy giggled. “Well, we only have a few minutes left before we have to go back in. Are you okay?”

Apollo hesitated before giving a nod back. “I’m fine! Or, uh, I will be,” he said with a sigh, running his hand down his face. “It’s been a very stressful day, and honestly you gave me a heart attack with your little stunt.”

She had the decency to look a little guilty. “Ah, sorry, Apollo. But I just couldn’t let the trial end like that.”

“I know.”

“Speaking of the stunt, though. I’ll need you to try to cover for Mr. Hat as best you can!”

He groaned. “I need to sit down.”

Trucy grimaced. “I don’t think we have time for that.”

He groaned louder.

Apollo doubted that anyone believed that he actually managed to “settle” with the mysterious figure that was previously holding his co-counsel hostage. He knew he was loud and full of anger, but even with that, it would be difficult to resolve some sort of hostage negotiation.

Either way, he managed to call out the witness for lying. Or, at least, he managed to catch the witness’ nervous tic, which was fiddling with the page of his book.

That opportunity led Apollo to be able to ask for the witness’ phone number. He thought about asking Trucy to call on her phone but sided against it. If he was right about it, then he didn’t want the witness to have the girl’s phone number in his phone.

Instead, Apollo pulled out his own cell phone, handing it to Trucy.

“Try dialing the number he gave us,” he told her, tapping the corner of the paper he hastily scribbled down the numbers with.

Trucy nodded, looking a little surprised by the fact that he wrote down the number with his left hand. “You want me to call Mr. Stickler’s phone?”

Apollo nodded. “Yup.”

She shrugged and punched in the numbers, glancing down in surprise when she felt her pocket vibrate. “H-Hey! My pocket's ringing! Wait, this is the phone from yesterday!”

Apollo grinned, crossing his arms and staring at the witness smugly. “How strange, Mr. Stickler. Can you explain why your cell phone is sitting here in my assistant's hand!?”

The witness screeched, eventually giving in and confessing that he didn’t have his phone that night and had instead called the police from the public payphone. Apollo stated that he found the cell phone in the victim’s garage, but Stickler tried to claim that he couldn’t prove that he lost his phone the night that the victim died.

Apollo smirked. Think again, Bitch.

He pointed out, along with giving evidence to support it, the car accident that happened at nine the night of the murder. Which meant that the car returned to the garage after the fact, and seeing as the cell phone was underneath the tire, it would have been crushed if it had been lost before the car was parked.

Stickler, like all good witnesses, updated his testimony. Because no one got arrested for perjury ever in the past 20 years or something. Still, Apollo supposed that it was better than the policies Khura’in had.

He sighed. Somehow, he also managed to call the witness out some more and proved that Stickler was actually to the north of the noodle stand at the time of the murder.

The judge asked Apollo if he was choosing to accuse the witness of murder.

He shook his head, claiming that the witness was guilty of something else. So, Apollo took a deep breath and presented… panties.

Internally, he was hating himself, but Apollo knew that this was what connected Stickler to his involvement in something that wasn’t murder. On that night, just after nine, the witness stole a pair of panties and fled to the garage in the Meraktis Clinic. While he may not have been a murderer, he was instead guilty of panty-snatching in the first degree.

It sounded cooler in his head, but honestly, Apollo was exhausted with everything. He figured he might as well try to have some fun and theatrics.

But apparently the Holy Mother was really fucking with him that day.

Apollo knew that the “Magic Panties” were, in fact, a prop, but he really didn’t expect that the witness stole them because his brain decided to be imploded by the trick. It was, apparently, in the name of science.

“Objection!” Apollo wanted to jump out a window. Well, a window that was on the ground floor. “Ugh,” he mumbled under his breath before clearing his throat. “Witness. As someone who is friends with a Man of Science, I will tell you that no one should ever steal a teenage girl’s panties for the sake of it.”

Apollo crossed his arms. “And you really shouldn’t have taken another pair of them afterwards,” he said, pulling out the pair that he found in the park’s garbage can.

The court was in chaos, and Apollo was the dog with the coffee mug surrounded by fire, saying “this is fine.” Not that Apollo ever wanted to be in that kind of situation. He honestly was terrified of fire, especially because of the awful burn scar he had on his leg. He could never wear shorts because of it.

“Order! Order in the court!”

The rest of the trial was a blur before Apollo heard something about a verdict being discussed.

Apparently, if Stickler was only guilty of panty snatching and not murder, then clearly, only Wocky Kitaki could be the real killer. Therefore, the judge was ready to pass a verdict.

The defense attorney-- who Apollo absolutely forgot existed, seeing as they barely said much of anything aside from the cross-examinations and it was mostly Apollo himself doing most of the talking-- was pale.

“If there are no objections then--”

“Objection!”

The judge turned to stare at Apollo. “Mr. Justice! And here I was about to hand down a guilty verdict!”

Trucy was giving Apollo a pleading look. He pursed his lips.

“You honor. I cannot, under good conscience, allow the verdict to be passed at this very moment.”

The judge looked baffled. “Why not?”

Apollo shook his head. “I won’t allow the defendant to be declared guilty based on the sole testimony of this witness, who has just been proven to be guilty of a crime more heinous than murder itself!” He shouted, slamming his fists down onto the desk. He was also completely BSing his way through his speech, hoping to the Holy Mother that it would be enough to buy him some time.

The judge nodded. “Ah, I suppose you are right.”

Apollo grinned, crossing his arms over his chest in faux confidence. “At the very least, I would like to call up the defendant to the witness stand. See if he would like to try and help prove his innocence or guilt. After all, we’re here for a fair trial and to discover the truth!”

The judge looked swayed by what Apollo was saying and nodded. “Very well. You may show the defendant to the stand.”

Wocky was entirely unhelpful.

It wasn’t a surprise, but still. Apollo was, after all, buying for time. He also just really wanted to know who the FUCK was Alita Tiala. He had a sinking feeling that the youngest Kitaki was holding the answer to it.

It wasn’t until the defendant mentioned something during the cross-examination that Apollo realized a statement that was probably important.

“Hold it!” He shouted, slamming his fists into his desk. “You mentioned something about your, ah, fallen angel? Could you perhaps enlighten the court to who that is, exactly?”

“Oh, you mean my little imposter! She’s my fiancé,” Wocky said, a lovestruck grin on his face as he played with his hair.

“‘My little imposter’ sure is a strange nickname,” Trucy commented, a frown on her face.

Wocky put his hands up as if to fight them. “It's a clink thang. You wouldn't understand,” he said, before pausing. He put his hands on his hips and grimaced. “D-Did I say "imposter"? I meant "poster"... like "poster girl", 'aight?”

Trucy crossed her arms as well, looking confused. “If you're going to drop part of that, why not drop ‘poster’ and just call her ‘girl’?”

Wocky squawked. “Cause she's so much more than that, G. She's like… She's like an angel. A fallen angel,” he said with a sigh.

Apollo coughed. “That’s sweet and all, but you still haven’t told us her name.”

The defendant blinked, before suddenly beaming at Apollo. “Oh yeah! My bad, G. Her name’s Alita Tiala! She’s great.”

Apollo and Trucy gave each other an identical look, their eyes both widening with surprise.

Even though Apollo had a feeling about all of it… It was still shocking. Not to mention his theory. He just hoped Wocky would not be too heartbroken by what Apollo was going to do.

“Hold it!” Apollo’s fists hurt a little from all the desk slamming, but it was worth it. “I’d like to call up Alita Tiala to the stand. If we ask for her testimony, I’m sure the truth of this crime will be revealed!”

“Hmm,” the judge seemed to mull over the request. “Okay. We can call today’s proceedings to a close and come back tomorrow once we find this Alita Tiala.”

Kitaki grinned. “Find her? My angel is over there in the crowds!” He said, pointing into the gallery. “There she is, right there. Hey angel!”

Apollo glanced toward where the defendant was pointing in the gallery. He skimmed the crowd, noticing Winfred and Plum Kitaki sitting next to that girl he and Trucy briefly saw the day before. They were off to the side, among the nameless crowd, though there was a strange blonde wearing sunglasses indoors there too, which was an odd sight to see.

“A-ah!” The judge’s eyes widened. “I see! Hello!”

Apollo saw the girl wince, before putting on a picture-perfect smile.

“Ms. Tiala!” Apollo shouted. He noticed Trucy recoiled from his Chords of Steel. “I’d like to call you up to the witness stand right now!” Pointing. To make sure to get the message across.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Apollo?” Trucy hissed in his ear. “Are you really prepared for that?”

Apollo shrugged. “Honestly, I just want this whole trial to be over with. I didn’t think my English comprehension was that bad until I met either of the witnesses, so right now I just am full of bad decisions.”

“...That’s fair.”

“I’m a whole fucking mood. Now let’s do this!” Apollo slammed his fists down. “The Prosecution calls down Ms. Alita Tiala!”

The judge nodded. “Alright. You may show the, ah, ‘lucky’ lady to the stand.”

Alita Tiala was a bitch.

Okay, no, that was a rude thing to say.

Tiala was a massive bitch. She was so quick to decide to throw her own fiancé under the bus. She claimed not to have a connection to the victim, so she was a liar too. Just because she quit six months ago didn’t mean she did not have a connection to him. And they had the toe prints. And the fucking chart that meant she knew that Kitaki was dying, that she knew about the failed operation.

Apollo also “Perceived” again, so that was a thing.

He also proved that there was something that happened in the office that day. He had the bullet, so now they could have it analyzed. Rifling marks or something like that.

So, he got a thirty minute break-- in which he laid down on the couch in the prosecutor’s lobby screaming into his hands. Trucy gently patted his back.

The report that arrived after the break read: The rifling marks on both bullets are identical.

Hah. Take that, bitch.

He was so tired.

The youngest Kitaki tried to confess or something to try and protect his fiancé, which was a loyal move, especially compared to the fact that said fiancé was absolutely ready to throw him under the bus in her own testimony.

She broke down in laughter like she was some sort of cartoon supervillain. She was a lying gold digger too, which was fun. Yay.

But to be fair to her, it seemed the victim was also a piece of hot garbage. You’d think a doctor would know whether or not he actually killed someone when strangling them via lamp cord. Did the guy not know how to take a pulse? No wonder he was such a shitty doctor.

Also? The police were incompetent and didn’t even find the chart because they didn’t check the safe, so Apollo really needed to figure out how to tell someone about that.

It was Tiala in the noodle stand with the pistol.

Apollo realized belatedly that he was, in fact, just doing the defense’s job for them once again. They were hardly saying anything! If Apollo didn’t just want to get the trial over and done with, he probably would’ve just let the poor lawyer crash and burn on their own.

But no, Apollo was a good person. And he had just found out the truth.

The victim, Pal Meraktis, strangled the witness, Alita Tiala, with his lamp cord. Thinking he killed her, he moved to get rid of her “corpse,” but because his car wouldn’t start due to his muffler being clogged by the magical prop, he ended up putting Tiala into the noodle stand he had stolen from his neighbor, Guy Eldoon. Meraktis pulled the stand to the park in order to dump her body into the river, only to get intercepted by the defendant, Wocky Kitaki. Wesley Stickler then shouted at them, and during this time, Tila woke up and shot the victim in the right temple after the man turned to face the person shouting at him.

Apollo smirked, crossing his arms and looking at Tiala smugly. “I did say the truth of this crime would be revealed by your testimony, didn’t I?”

She screamed.

The judge took a deep breath and sighed. “I believe we've reached a conclusion of sorts,” he stated. “Prosecutor, erm, Justice, was it?”

Apollo nodded. “Justice is correct, yes.”

“Huh. That’s funny!”

“I know. I know.” Apollo muttered.

The judge shook his head. “Ah, right, I meant to ask, how is Ms. Alita Tiala doing?”

“She's confessed to everything. We're processing her arrest now.”

“Hm. Looks like it’s time to announce a verdict,” the judge paused for dramatic effect, and Apollo felt his knees shake from exhaustion.

“NOT GUILTY.”

Confetti rained down from the ceiling or something, but Apollo didn’t think the defense attorney deserved it. They didn’t do SHIT.

Court was adjourned.

Chapter Text

Wocky Kitaki yelled at him the first chance he got. Great.

Apollo was saved, however, by Winfred Kitaki himself. The man explained why he was going clean with the bakery. It was for his son because he found a doctor who could save him. But the man wanted to use clean money for it.

“I’m glad to have met you,” The elder Kitaki started, looking at Apollo. “I'm not so good with words… But I know you did what you set out to do. Find the truth. For that, I thank you.”

Apollo nervously ran a hand through his hair. “Who? Me? I don't think…”

The baker shook his head. “Someday, I’ll bake you one of our latest, The Kitaki Lime Pie.”

“Sounds delicious. I’ll make sure to stop by the bakery more often.”

The man let out a full belly laugh. “I hope to see you there. I’ll even give you the family discount. You’ve earned it for helping save my son when that lousy defense attorney couldn’t. Be sure to bring your little sister to the bakery with you. Your family is our family.”

Apollo nodded, at a loss for words. He didn’t bother to correct the fact that Trucy wasn’t actually his sister.

Trucy gave him a weird look again. It was like the one she had on when Detective Skye assumed they were siblings as well.

The young magician bit her lip. “Hey, Polly? We should go out for Eldoon’s right now to celebrate! He did offer a free bowl of noodles if we found his cart, you know?”

“I’m pretty sure his stand is still in evidence for Ms. Tiala’s trial.”

She shook her head. “That doesn’t mean we can’t get some noodles. Come on, Polly!”

Apollo allowed her to drag him away.

The noodles were saltier than the ocean. Saltier than Apollo was after he had to present two different pairs of panties on multiple occasions.

He really hoped he didn’t have a heart attack. He didn’t think he could afford a trip to the hospital. Wait. Did the prosecutor’s office include health insurance if you worked there? He hoped so.

They ended up sitting on the steps that led to the Meraktis Clinic, seeing as Mr. Eldoon still didn’t get his stand back. Apollo was going to try and get the paperwork for that after Tiala’s trial. He wondered if he would prosecute her case too or if it would be passed on to someone else since it was an easy open and shut case. She did confess, after all. And Apollo gave all the evidence for what happened too.

“I think I’m getting a headache from all this salt.”

Trucy laughed. “I think it’s probably more due to the whole I Didn’t Sleep thing than the salt.”

“It could be both! Mixed with a caffeine slash adrenaline crash. All around just a terrible day.”

“Chin up, Apollo, you won!”

“... Actually, I lost, remember? I’m the prosecutor, and the trial was marked as a Not Guilty verdict.”

“Oh.”

“Mm. Yeah.”

“Okay, but…” she latched onto his arm, “you found the truth of the case. As it turns out, Wocky was innocent! So, in reality, you really, really won the case. Especially since you did most of the work.”

“Please. I did all of the work.”

She giggled. “Yeah…”

They sat in silence for a while, enjoying their saltwater with a side of noodles. It was comfortable, like that time when Clay first showed Apollo what a popsicle was, and they sat together on the curb just outside the park and shared the melting watermelon treat.

“Hey, Polly?” Trucy asked after she finished her bowl of noodles. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

Apollo hesitated, twisting the chopsticks in his hands. “I don't really like talking about that stuff, but,” he turned his head toward her, “what question did you have?”

She pursed her lips into a frown. “I just… I was wondering about your bracelet.”

“My bracelet?”

“Yeah,” she said, tilting her head to gesture toward his wrist. “It’s… It’s a unique design.”

“I guess so. But it’s just a bracelet.”

“Well, I don’t know about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you Perceived today in court, your bracelet helped you, right?”

Apollo glanced down at his wrist, sunlight catching onto the gold band, making it shine. “It did, I guess.”

Trucy placed her bowl and chopsticks on the ground by her feet. She crossed her arms. “You know, I didn’t believe Daddy when he told me that you had the Perceiving ability.”

“Er… You didn’t?”

“Nope. You see, the thing is, Perceiving is a family trait. It’s in my family’s blood,” she said, sighing. “I learned about how to Perceive from my mother before she… Before she was gone.”

Apollo didn’t understand where the conversation was going. Well, he had some sort of inkling in the back of his mind, but he was terrified of what that meant.

“My grandfather, Magnifi Gramarye, had that ability too. He gave it to my mom, who was his daughter, and she gave it to me. Well, it isn’t like a thing you can give, but because we were related by blood, it was passed down to us,” she continued, her arms still crossed as he gazed across the street in the direction her agency was in. She was clearly in deep thought, as if wondering how exactly to word it. “My mother, she, well, she told me a little about it all before she was gone.”

He gulped, his hands shaking. He quickly placed the bowl on the floor as well, out of the way of his leg so he wouldn’t accidentally kick it. “What… What did she say?”

“She told me how the bracelet she had helped her Perceive. It helped sense when people were nervous, and our eyes would then be able to quickly pick out a person’s nervous twitch. If we were around someone for a long time and knew them super well, then we would be able to pick it out without needing the bracelet, but really it was just a tool to help focus on strangers.”

“Like… My bracelet?”

Trucy gave him a sad smile. “Apollo…” She sighed. “Back then, years ago, when she was still around, she told me something. She only had one bracelet at the time, the one that she gave me, but,” the magician stared down at her hands. “She told me she used to have two.”

“Two?”

Trucy nodded, slowly raising her right hand and peeling off her glove. On her wrist sat a large, golden bangle. It was identical to the one on his own wrist.

“My mother,” Trucy looked pained to even think about her mom. “One time, she mentioned that before I was born, she had another baby,” she kept talking, seeing that Apollo wasn’t saying anything. She pulled her bare hand to her chest. “She didn’t tell me much, but she said that the baby was lost in a fire. She said that she gave the baby one of her bracelets so she could one day find them again, but she never did.”

Apollo’s mouth felt dry-- maybe it was from all the salt. “My father died in a… a house fire. I was the only survivor.”

Trucy winced. “I was afraid of that.”

“I… Why did she leave me?”

The girl shook her head. “I don’t know. She told me that she gave her baby her bracelet, just in case, and then lost them both in a fire. That’s why she gave me her other bracelet. Because, in case she lost me too, I would be able to find her first baby if I saw someone with the same bracelet. But back then I thought she just didn’t want to admit to me that I had a sibling who was dead.”

The lawyer choked at that. Sibling.

She gave him a watery smile. “When I saw you that day in the courthouse, when I gave you that card, I saw it. Your bracelet was just like mine. And then Daddy told me you have the same ability I do, one that runs in the Gramarye blood. I thought-- the only thing you could be is--!” She cut herself off with a sniffle.

Apollo reached toward her, pulling her into a hug.

“I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to scare you off by just telling you immediately-- I didn’t want to- to lose any more--” She was stammering her words.

“I know,” Apollo said, interrupting her. “I know.”

“I felt so bad, knowing the truth while you didn’t. But I had so much fun investigating, and in court, and I just didn’t want it to end. And then you cried because you thought I was kidnapped, and I realized I was being selfish.”

He rubbed her back with one hand, his right going up to stroke her hair. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not! I just kept stalling, telling myself you shouldn’t have something to freak out about during the trial, and then you did the ability and it proved we were related, and I-- and I--!”

“Shhh. It’s okay. Everything is fine. We’re going to be fine.”

“I don’t want to lose you!”

“I don’t either.”

Trucy buried her face into his shoulder, letting herself just cry for a few minutes. Apollo let her.

After what felt like hours but probably just a few seconds, she pulled away, wiping her tears off with her gloved hand. “When Mr. Kitaki called me your little sister, I so desperately wanted that to be true. I wanted you to know. You… You deserve the truth.”

There was only one thing Apollo could say. “Thank you.”

“I-- I know we just met, really, but… I want to be siblings. I want to get to know you, at the very least.”

He placed his hand on her arm. The light reflected off his golden band. “I would love that.”

She grinned at him. “My name is Trucy Wright. I’m your little sister.”

He smiled. “My name is Apollo Justice, and I’m your older brother.”

Unfortunately, they couldn’t just sit there for the rest of the evening.

Apollo eventually had to head back to the Prosecutor’s Building. He didn’t have to file all his paperwork that day, thankfully, but he needed to at least get the key to his office.

Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth had already heard about the outcome of his trial by the time he knocked on his door.

“Come in,” Apollo’s boss said. When he opened the door, Apollo saw Edgeworth standing and staring out his window, a cup of tea in hand. It was a dramatic way to greet someone.

“Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth.”

The man turned around. “You don’t have to say my full title every time you see me, Mr. Justice.”

Apollo was just being polite, but okay. “R-right. Of course, Mr. Edgeworth.”

The other man just looked exasperated. “Mr. Justice. I presume you realized that I’ve heard about your performance in court today?”

Apollo gulped. Welp. He was going to lose another job. “Oh. Well, I do now?”

Edgeworth took a sip of his tea. “Congratulations on your first case as a prosecutor.”

“But I lost?”

“A good Prosecutor isn’t based on win-lose records. It’s based on whether or not the correct verdict was given,” Edgeworth gave him a small smile. “And you, Mr. Justice, have done just that.”

So, he wasn’t getting fired. Sweet. “I—I’ll try my best, sir.”

“Of course. Which is the reason that I believe you’ll be one of my best. This is the reason I sought you out and hired you, you know?”

“For trying my best?” Apollo said, sarcastically.

Edgeworth shook his head. “No, but that certainly doesn’t hurt. I hired you because you search for the truth and are willing to lose in order to reveal it. Whether that means losing the trial…” He pursed his lips. “Or accusing your boss of the crime.”

“I only did that because I believed he was guilty.”

“And that’s a commendable trait,” the man said, putting his cup down. “As you are aware, we are currently in a dark age in terms of the law. I’m trying my best to help fix it, and you’re vital in helping me restore the legal system.”

“You really think I can help a broken system?”

“I know you can.”

Apollo wondered if Dhurke could hear this conversation. Maybe then, he would have thought twice about abandoning him in the middle of a foreign country.

“Thank you, Mr. Edgeworth.”

The chief smiled, before squinting and staring at him, giving Apollo a funny look. “Have you been crying?”

“What?”

“There’s tear tracks on your cheeks. Are you really upset about losing?”

“Oh! No, not really. I wanted the real killer to be put in jail, not the defendant.”

“So why were you crying, then?”

Apollo ran his hand through his hair. “Oh, uh. Stressful day?”

Edgeworth squinted.

“They’re happy tears. Mostly.”

“Mostly?”

Apollo shook his head. “I’m still processing something I found out. It’s good news, really, but my brain hasn’t really caught up yet, and I already looked like shit since yesterday, so.”

His boss laughed. “I see. You should probably go home and get some rest then, Mr. Justice.”

“Oh yeah. I was just going to leave paperwork here so I wouldn’t be tempted to do them all night. Here as in the building. Um. I still need the key to my office?”

Edgeworth actually blushed at that. “Ah, right. I forgot to give that to you, didn’t I?” He opened one of his drawers, pulling out a key. “I meant to give it to you yesterday. Thank you for reminding me.”

Apollo took the key. “Thanks.”

“Ah, by the way… you can change out the furniture in the office if you’d like. If you require help, then just call the front desk to have it arranged.”

“Where does the spare furniture go?”

“Well in the spare rooms we don’t use. Or, if we have too many, we donate them.”

“Huh. Interesting,” Apollo said, turning to leave the room.

“Mr. Justice,” the Chief Prosecutor called out as Apollo was opening the door.

“Yeah?”

“I must admit that I am impressed by how you did, considering it was your first time prosecuting,” he said, tapping the edge of his desk awkwardly. “You could even say that I am… proud of you.”

Apollo felt a smile pull at the corners of his mouth. “Thank you, sir.”

And with that, Apollo left the room.

Apollo was nervous. He wasn’t sure if it was because his nerves were absolutely fried from his long day, or because he never had an office before.

Maybe it was a bit of both.

He looped his new key onto his keychain, but he suddenly realized maybe he should’ve waited to do that after he made sure the key worked. Whatever. He’ll just be mildly inconvenienced later if it didn’t work, is all.

Because the key was on the keychain, that meant he could fiddle with it and jangle it, which was the best feeling. He put his finger through the loop and swung it around his finger. He just hoped he wouldn’t accidentally send it flying. That would be embarrassing.

Apollo’s office-- because fancy prosecutors got their own offices, and Apollo was now a fancy prosecutor-- was room 1102. Directly beneath Edgeworth’s office. Not an important note, but one he made, nonetheless.

When Apollo arrived at the door, he looked at the gold nameplate. “Apollo Justice || 1102” it read. Nice. He smiled as he inserted the key into the lock. He actually managed to turn it before he heard the sound of a different door opening to his left. He glanced over before doing a double-take, staring at the new figure.

The man who stepped out of the other office, room 1101, was tall, blond, and flashy. He wore a purple suit and leather pants-- which no one but this guy would ever be able to get away with, especially at a very professional job. The man didn’t bother to fasten the top buttons on his shirt, and he wore a bunch of shiny rings, as well as a necklace with the giant letter G on it. That, or it was an upside-down magatama, which Apollo doubted.

The worst part was that his hair was in a drill. And because of that, he looked eerily like Kristoph Gavin.

Apollo paled. He didn’t think Kristoph would haunt him so quickly. He didn’t have any spiritual power. He also didn’t think Kristoph would wear that. Or that he was dead. Or broke out of jail.

So, it probably wasn’t what Apollo was thinking, but it still felt like he was looking at a ghost.

“I must say, I’m used to being inspected by the ladies, but this is the first time I’ve felt this way with a man.”

Apollo blinked. “... Mr. Gavin?”

Chapter Text

“Mikeko, get down from there.”

“Aww, but we were playing, Apollo.”

Kay picked up the cat from the bookshelf and placed him down onto the floor.

Kay Faraday was back in LA. Apparently, she planned to transfer from Interpol to a regular LA detective back in April after she heard about Apollo losing his job and the whole thing with Kristoph, but she had to get through a lot of hoops, hurdles, and paperwork. Despite her impulse decision taking two months to fully take effect, she didn’t think to inform anyone, including Apollo, of her plans.

So, imagine Apollo’s surprise when he and Clay walked back into their apartment after Trucy’s magic show to find Kay Faraday and her massive suitcase lounging in the living room.

The girl had just swung her feet over the couch armrest and smiled innocently at him.

Three weeks later and she was still crashing on his couch.

“So a sister, huh? That is so cool!” Kay said, spinning one of the chairs by the breakfast table around and sitting in it like a heathen.

Apollo nodded, moving to sit in the chair like a normal person. “Yeah, I found out just after the State v. Kitaki trial.”

“That was three weeks ago!”

“Yeah, and you didn’t ask.”

Kay groaned. “And you’re going to a Klavier Gavin concert with her tonight? Lucky!”

He shook his head. “Only because Clay has that mandatory GYAXA meeting tonight.”

Clay sighed from the kitchen. “Don’t remind me! I can’t believe I have to miss a Klavier Gavin concert that my best friend got free tickets for!”

“It wasn’t free, dumbass. Prosecutor Gavin sent me them through fax along with a fucking invoice despite the fact that our offices are literally right next to each other.”

“You work right next to Klavier Gavin,” Clay said, his voice filled with awe.

“Hey, no, none of that. Our offices are just next to each other, that’s all.”

“Yeah, but he’s-- he’s so cool!”

“Are you saying I’m not?” Apollo deadpanned.

Clay paused. “No. You really aren’t.”

“Wow. I can’t believe you’ve done this.”

Kay snickered.

The prosecutor shook his head. “I’d offer it to you, Kay, but technically I’m supposed to be watching over Trucy during the show.”

“Eh, it’s gucci. I’m breaking into Edgey’s office tonight anyways.”

“Don’t tell me that?” Apollo said, grimacing. “He’s my boss, you know. I probably have some sort of obligation to warn him.”

“Aw man. But no, really, I need to like, give him some files and stuff. There’s a thing that I have and I gotta give to him, but he’s being all hush-hush about it because it’s a weird issue, and he trusts me not to tell anyone.”

Clay placed three mugs of coffee onto the table. “Well, when you put it like that, I want to know what it is!”

“Nooooo! It’s a secret project that’s super-secret.”

“Spill the tea, bitch!” Clay said enthusiastically as he shook his fists.

“Only if Pollo over here gives me the deets of all the shit he’s been up to.” Both Kay and Clay turned toward Apollo.

Apollo groaned. “I already told you!”

“You told me you lost your first prosecuting gig, and then won the second, but I’ve been busy getting a job here as a local detective. I couldn’t really pay attention to anything else.”

“I mean it isn’t about winning and losing.”

“Fine, fine. You got the real killer or whatever.”

“I think technically the second case was the same case as the first, just against a different person,” Clay commented, sipping his drink.

“Yeah, it was against Alita Tiala the second time around, but she already confessed to all of it, so it doesn’t really matter.”

“Oh boo,” Kay whined. “Give me something interesting at least!”

“I don’t think any of my other cases have been that interesting. It’s mostly been open and shut robberies and assaults and stuff. More paperwork than the actual trial part.”

Clay grinned. “Ah, but Pollo’s now a regular at that gangster bakery.”

“What?!” Kay’s eyes bugged. “Stick in the mud Apollo is visiting a gangster bakery?”

“Where do you think he gets all those tasty pastries from?”

Apollo sighed. “The Kitaki’s aren’t gangsters… anymore. And the pastries are good!”

“They also gave him a discount.”

“Oh, shush you.”

Kay looked between them and then laughed. “Wow. I didn’t realize that. No wonder you always buy those treats. You got a discount!”

“Well yeah, but I also now have a steady job that actually pays me. It’s every Gen Z’s dream future, right here.”

“You’re really living the extravagant life.”

“I know. It’s pretty awesome, actually.”

Kay downed her coffee in one go. “So, you’re not regretting swapping sides?”

Apollo sighed. “It’s not really about sides, just making sure I can find the real truth.”

“Yeah, but, for as long as I’ve known you, you’ve always wanted to be a defense attorney.” Kay placed her coffee mug back on the table.

Clay nodded in agreement. “Yeah same, and I’ve known you for longer than Key Girl over here.”

“Hey! I don’t have a key in my hair anymore.”

“Keyword: anymore.”

“At least I change up my style Mr. Bandages!”

Apollo interrupted them, knowing they could argue for hours and miss both their important meetings if he didn’t. “Guys. It’s fine.”

They whipped their heads to stare at him.

“I was a defense attorney for a few days. I even defended a case. And that’s not even including the fact that I interned for two years, so really, I’m fine.”

“But doesn’t that make it worse?” Kay asked.

Clay nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I mean, you achieved your dream only for a hot second, and then your boss and mentor dude was a murderer. Not to mention that Wright was a little bitch.”

“Wait, That Man was being a little bitch? How?”

“He gave Pollo forged evidence in his first trial! That wasn’t very cash money of him.”

“Seriously?!”

“Yeah! If Mr. Edgeworth hadn’t told Pollo that he wasn’t in danger of losing his badge, I would’ve gone up to Wright and punched him in the face myself!”

“Wow. Makes me wonder what the heck Edgey sees in That Man.”

“Sees in what now?”

“Uh. Nothing,” Kay said, coughing. “Anyways! I heard you’re friends with Sebby now.”

Apollo rolled his eyes, but let Kay change the subject. “Uh, yeah. We talk sometimes in the break room. He’s actually a really nice guy.”

“Enough to date?”

“Ugh, don’t try to set us up again.”

“But last time you said it didn’t work out because you were busy in law school! And Sebby was getting actual studying and learning done at the time too, but now you both are in good places, kinda, so it’s the perfect time to get you both laid! This is just two birds with one stone.”

Apollo facepalmed, ignoring his slightly warmed cheeks. “Please don’t.”

“You need a boyfriend, you stick in the mud. It’s kinda sad that we’re your only friends.”

“Hey! I have Trucy now.”

“She’s your sister, it doesn’t count.”

“... Ms. Woods?”

“You still call her ‘Ms.’ so no. Besides, she’s the secretary, and you only vaguely talk to her.”

“I give her pastries in the morning sometimes! She’s a nice person.”

“She doesn’t count.”

“Fine. Uh, how about Ema Skye?”

“Who?” Clay asked.

“She’s a detective that I’ve worked with a few times.”

Kay frowned. “So not friends, huh?”

Apollo groaned. “I don’t need- I have you guys! Isn’t that enough?”

“No.”

“Clay, back me up here.”

Clay just laughed at him.

“I need a new best friend.”

“HA. So, you admit it!” Kay yelled, pointing her finger at him.

“... Shit.”

Clay kept laughing at Apollo’s misery. “She got you there.”

“Oh, shut up. So yeah, maybe I’m not the best at socializing and making friends or whatever, but I’m getting better! I met new people, isn’t that enough?”

“The three new people you met and are currently befriending are all girls, Pollo! I want you to get a boyfriend, and apparently my only options are Sebby and Klavier Gavin. And while the last one is a total, real option-- Sebby is the easiest target!”

“I’m- no. Stop.”

“Can’t stop, won’t stop.”

“Wait. You’re right!” Clay yelled, slapping the table. Apollo’s arm jostled, making the mug in his hands splash coffee over himself.

Apollo cursed. “Fuck you, Clay.”

The astronaut in training ignored him. “Apollo has a chance to bang Klavier Gavin!”

“Stop! No! I don’t!” Apollo groaned, dabbing himself with paper napkins. “He’s just a weird coworker I’ve talked to, like, twice, and the first time I slammed my office door in his face because I thought it was Mr. Gavin! And-- And can you stop saying his name like that?”

“You slammed the door in Klavier Gavin’s face?” Kay gasped.

“Pollo told me what happened, and the rockstar prosecutor was totally flirting with him. Trucy backed me up when she saw him later.”

“Wait what!” Kay screeched. “I didn’t know this! Spill the tea, spill it!”

“There’s no tea to be spilled! Just my dignity, and this coffee, apparently.” Apollo tried his best to salvage his coffee.

Kay turned towards Clay, and she placed her hands gingerly in her lap. “Clay. My space friend, my dude, my pal, my everything--”

“That’s hetero.”

“Shut up. Now tell me all about this flirting that Klavier Gavin did to our precious sunshine over here.”

“I’m right here.”

“Yeah, and you won’t tell me shit about it, so give me the receipts, Clay.”

He laughed, and Apollo resigned himself to death by embarrassment. “Okay, so Apollo told me that the first thing Klavier Gavin said to him was like, something something, 'I’m used to ladies inspecting me, but this is the first time I felt this way with a man,’ and I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty gay to me."

“Holy shit.”

“I know! And Pollo’s a chicken and hid in his office until he left, so, like, rip. Anyways, Pollo saw him a few days later, after you came and crashed on our couch. After that, it was basically Trucy and Apollo going to decorate his own boring new office, right?”

Kay nodded, pulling out a notepad to take notes. Apollo questioned his taste in friends.

“Apparently Klavier Gavin tried to talk to him again, and Pollo said to me that, and I quote--” Clay cleared his throat, making a horrible imitation of Apollo’s voice, “--'Prosecutor Gavin looked like his ego was tossed off a cliff because neither Trucy nor I knew who the hell he was. It knocked that pretty smile right off his face.' You said he had a pretty smile! You admitted it!”

Apollo groaned into his hands. “Shut up.”

“No! You think he’s hot, admit it.”

“Stop!”

“He didn’t deny it,” Kay pointed out.

Clay grinned. “No, he didn’t.”

“Stop it, okay? He might be just a little-- a little!-- attractive, but that doesn’t mean anything!”

“Are you sure?” Clay asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Yes! It’s like-- it’s like how I can admit you’re both attractive, but that doesn’t mean I want to date either of you.”

“Aww, you don’t want to date me, Pollo?” Clay said with a pout.

At the same time, Kay shouted. “That’s just ‘cause we’re both gay as fuck!”

Apollo rested his forehead against the table. “I regret coming home early.”

“Hey, isn’t it almost time to go?”

Apollo looked at the time on his phone and cursed. “I still need to change because someone spilled coffee on me.”

“You spilled coffee on yourself, dude.”

“Shut up, Clay.”

Chapter Text

Apollo picked up Trucy from the Wright Anything Agency, which was renamed from the Wright Talent Agency since Trucy wanted to include him in the agency, even if it was unofficially.

Trucy was wearing casual clothing instead of her typical magic outfit, stating that she was dressing up for the occasion. She wore a light blue and white striped t-shirt along with blue shorts and a dark blue jacket, as well as her regular red scarf and diamond shaped earring. It was fairly casual, so it was more accurate to say that she was dressing down for the occasion, but whatever.

Apollo was also wearing casual clothes, opting for a plain white t-shirt, jeans, and a red jacket. He brought along his backpack, with the new addition of a Mr. Hat keychain that Trucy got him the other day attached to the side. There wasn’t much in the bag except a water bottle and his phone, but once Trucy saw that he had a bag on him, she quickly dumped her own things in it, which was just her phone and a deck of cards.

The two siblings walked to the Sunshine Coliseum, grabbing a quick dinner at Eldoon’s because Apollo really needed a heart attack with salty noodles, bright lights, and loud music.

Apollo finally found himself standing in the backstage hallway of a Gavineers concert on a Tuesday night, and he had work in the morning.

Great.

It was after the concert’s first act when Apollo and Trucy made an escape backstage to avoid the large crowd and get out of that claustrophobic space. Apollo rubbed his temples, trying to ignore his headache along with the dull ringing in his ears.

Trucy was bouncing on the balls of her feet, a grin plastered on her face. “Wow… This is so cool!” She said, her excitement clear in her voice. “Let's head to his dressing room, Apollo! You know, like we're a couple of VIPs. I've always dreamed of being a VIP at a Gavinners show!”

Apollo raised an eyebrow at her. “Um, Trucy… You didn't know who Prosecutor Gavin was before we met him. What kind of fan doesn't know the lead vocalist's name?”

“Yeah, but I'm a girl! I'm supposed to swoon over gods of rock!”

“God-awful, maybe,” Apollo replied, pausing for a moment. “And you don’t have to do that because you’re a teenage girl or something. That’s just being stereotypical and conforming to society.”

“... Detective Skye told you that, didn’t she?”

“I think she said something along those lines in one of her rants. It’s hard to keep track.”

Trucy sighed. “Just because she doesn’t like his music, doesn’t mean I can’t! If I wanna swoon over a rockstar then I’m gonna!”

Apollo shook his head. “Try for one your age first, at the very least.”

She pouted. “But there aren’t any.”

“Oh? Well, that’s a shame. Maybe in a few years there will be.”

She huffed, crossing her arms. “Can we just go into the dressing room now?”

He laughed. “Yeah, yeah.”

The siblings met with Prosecutor Gavin while in the dressing room, where they were introduced to Romein LeTouse, the manager and translator to Lamiroir. Lamiroir was a Borginian singer who Apollo had been a fan of for a while, which was one of the reasons he kind of wanted to come to the concert-- if he had to give a reason.

They also met Machi Tobaye, the pianist. He was a much better pianist than Wright was, not that it was hard to do. Even Apollo was a better pianist, and he only knew the basics.

They chatted for a little bit before the intermission ended. Everyone parted ways to go to where they were needed; The performers on stage, and Apollo and Trucy in the crowd.

Lamiroir sang, Gavin played guitar, Tobaye played piano, and Gavin set his guitar on fire.

What a performance.

The song was beautiful, though. That much was obvious.

Apollo and Trucy went backstage again. Apparently, the whole setting the guitar on fire wasn’t supposed to happen. Apollo should’ve realized sooner, seeing that the prosecutor on stage was freaking out when it occurred.

The man ended up giving the siblings a signed lyrics sheet for the Guitar Serenade, the signatures being from both Gavin and Lamiroir.

It was neat. Clay would’ve flipped out about it. Probably scream. Probably still would after Apollo showed him it.

Apollo decided he would stay backstage for the third and last act. It was a little loud for him, and he honestly was getting overwhelmed by the whole concert-- not that he would admit that to his sister or coworker. He figured he could just stay and listen to the rest of it through the speakers, which were at a volume that Apollo preferred. (That volume being almost nonexistent.)

Detective Ema Skye was in the hallway when he exited the dressing room. Apparently, she was in charge of security for the event, which probably wasn’t a part of her job description, but he just assumed that it was a bonus thing for her.

“Hey, Ema,” he had greeted. “Did Prosecutor Gavin invite you to this thing too?”

“Ugh, no. I’m in charge of security here, ew.”

“Security? Did something bad happen?”

She scoffed. “There's no knowing with that glimmerous fop. Apparently, he's all upset because something was stolen. He wanted security back here during the concert. Where does he get off acting like he's some big rockstar?”

“Technically, he is a big rockstar.”

“Rude! Don’t give me logic, Mister!”

Apollo raised his hands in surrender, but that didn’t stop him from getting a snackoo to the face.

He looked around, examining the clutter in the hallway. There wasn’t anything much to note aside from the weird headset earpiece that was on the ground for whatever reason. Apollo glanced at the other door in the hall, the one that was right next to the Gavineer’s dressing room.

“So…” Apollo glanced back up at Ema. “Where's this door here lead to?”

Ema frowned. “This one? That's Lamiroir's dressing room. Don't even think of going in there unless you want a piece of Snackoos in your face!”

She flicked one into his forehead anyways.

“I won’t, don’t worry. I was just curious.”

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

“But satisfaction brought it back, didn’t it?”

Ema scowled. “You can’t come back from being killed though.”

Apollo briefly thought back to Khura’in and the royal family, which had the ability to channel spirits of the dead. “... Right.”

“It’s science! Once you’re dead, you’re dead.”

“But CPR and defibrillators technically bring people back to life by restarting the heart and all that jazz.”

She threw a snackoo at him again.

Apollo chuckled. “Sorry, sorry.”

“Ugh. Why am I at this event again?”

“I think you mentioned something about security.”

She groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

“Well, you asked me a question, I just answered.”

“Don’t sass me either, kid.”

“I’m not that much younger than you, you know.”

“You need to learn to respect your elders!”

He smirked as he folded his arms. “Are you calling yourself old?”

She threw another snackoo at him.

They talked for a while, swapping banter, and complaining about Gavin a few times. Apollo glanced at Lamiroir’s dressing room door; a bad feeling sunk into the pit of his stomach.

“So, Lamiroir's dressing room--” Apollo tried to make more conversation.

Ema frowned. “If you even think about going in there, I'll--”

BANG!

Apollo flinched, jumping back. He exchanged a look with Ema, their eyes both wide with shock.

Apollo felt his hands sweat. “What was that?”

Another bang resounded through the hallway.

“Was that…” he gulped, “... a gunshot?”

There was a crashing sound.

“Out of my way!” Ema yelled, shoving past Apollo to get to the door.

“E-Ema!”

She slapped her hand against the door. “Lamiroir! Lamiroir!” She called out, a hint of panic in her voice. She reached for the door handle, glancing back towards Apollo when it turned easily. “It's not locked… I'm going in!”

There was a scream. It took Apollo a moment to realize that it was his.

Ema told him to watch the crime scene as she went to call for backup, and Apollo could only numbly nod his head at that.

He ran over to the body, his hands hovering over the man worriedly. “Mr. LeTouse?”

The manager let out a weak groan.

“Mr. LeTouse!” He cried out. “Can you hear me!?”

“... Sh… Shot… I was… shot,” the man mumbled out. Well, no shit, Sherlock. But now wasn’t the time to sass a dying man.

“Who?” Apollo asked instead. “Who shot you!?”

LeTouse moved slightly, giving a weak shake of his head. “... I don't know… Ask…”

Apollo’s hands shook, and he slowly reached down to put what was (hopefully) a comforting hand on the man’s elbow. Just to know that someone was there. “Ask? Ask what?”

LeTouse mumbled some more barely coherent things, and Apollo willed himself to stop trembling. Apparently, there was a witness.

“Hang in there, Mr. LeTouse!” Apollo didn’t want to shake the man, who was clearly in pain, but he didn’t want him to die. “Tell me, who was the witness?”

“The wi… witness… is … si… si… ren…”

“Mr. LeTouse!” He let out a cry. “Please, Mr. LeTouse--!” He yelped, whipping his head around. He could’ve sworn he heard a door close. “Wh-who’s there!?”

Ema’s voice cut through his panicked haze. “What's wrong?”

“Ema! Did you see anyone just now!?”

“Huh? No, I didn’t,” she said, grimacing. Apollo frowned in response. He could have sworn he heard someone. “The concert's been canceled,” Ema stated. “Backup's on its way. Is Mr. LeTouse…” She trailed off, walking towards him. She paused, slowly crouching down to place a hand on Apollo’s shoulder. “He's dead, isn't he?” She asked with a sigh, shaking her head. “That's terrible.”

Apollo’s eyes widened, looking back down to LeTouse. The manager had gone still. Apollo gasped, shaking the body slightly with the hand that he still had on LeTouse’s elbow. “Mr. LeTouse! Please! I…”

Ema gently pulled him away. “Apollo…”

“N-no… He can’t be…”

Ema wrapped her arms around Apollo, and he cried.

The venue was put on lockdown, the crowd of people was let go, and Apollo and Trucy were stuck there, told not to tell anyone of the murder.

Because of course, there was a murder. Who cares about the fact that Apollo wasn’t planning on being traumatized that night? Great.

Just great.

The siblings just gave each other a look and unanimously decided that they might as well have a look around while they were there. Investigation time!

“Oh, it's you. I figured you'd come.”

“You have to let us investigate the scene, please!”

Ema shrugged. “I know you’re a fancy prosecutor and all, but if you aren’t the one on this case, I probably shouldn’t let you do anything, really.”

Apollo frowned. “But no one’s made an arrest yet, right? We want to help make sure that they get the right person!”

“... G-Glare at me all you want; you'll get no snacks from me.” Ema recoiled.

Apollo blinked, only vaguely realizing that he had been glaring.

“Please! Think of poor Lamiroir!” Trucy said with a pout.

The detective seemed to be weighing her options for a moment before sighing. “Hmph. Oh well, I suppose. You did find the body with me.”

Trucy did a double take at that. “Wait, you did?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It was us who found the body.”

The girl gasped, her hands flying to her face. “What!?” She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Hmph. I guess that's what I miss for watching the concert.”

Apollo shook his head. “Hey, I wish I was watching the concert… Anything would be better than this.”

“Well, we know the crime took place during the concert,” Ema pointed out.

He nodded. “And when we heard the shot and entered the room, the killer was already gone.”

“What? But that doesn't make sense! You came in when you heard the shot, and no one was here? How did they leave the room?” Trucy asked.

Apollo shrugged. “I don’t know…” He glanced at the window on the wall. “Hmm, that window is a little too small, isn't it?”

Ema hummed in thought. “There’s also that air vent near the door,” she said, pointing at it. “When we arrived on the scene, the killer had already fled. He or she must have had a way out. And that air vent is one possibility.”

Trucy squinted at it. “But it's much too small.”

Apollo tilted his head. “Hmm… Not if the killer were about your size, Trucy.”

The magician paused, slowly turning her head to look at Apollo. “...”

Apollo stared back. “...”

“I didn't do it!” She broke the silence with a yell, throwing her hands in the air.

“Eh.”

“I was cutting up the dance floor at the time, thank you!”

“I know, I know!” Apollo said. “Of course, I don't think you did it.”

She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “It's hard to tell with you, sometimes, Apollo.”

“I was joking!”

She sighed, shaking her head. “What am I going to do with you.”

“Hey, that’s rude.”

They also investigated the body, which was a little scary. It was a little nauseating too, but neither sibling would admit it. They investigated the rest of the room, noting the important things.

One totally important thing Apollo noted was that he should never leave Trucy and Ema alone in a room with a bowl of plastic fruit. Apparently, they would eat it if no one was there to stop them, even if it could be evidence. Especially if it was evidence.

There was also a revolver on the floor by the body. That was important.

“This is the murder weapon, isn't it?” Apollo asked, gesturing to the gun. “This revolver…?”

Ema nodded. “That's right. A big 45-caliber revolver.”

“Wow. I wonder who brought this in here? I thought only police were allowed to have one of those,” Trucy said.

Apollo looked at Ema.

“Why are you giving me that look!? I didn't do it!”

“I didn't--”

“Listen, I was out in the hall eating Snackoos when it happened!”

Apollo threw his hands up in surrender. “I know, I know! No one here thinks you did it, Ema.”

She shook her head. “It's hard to tell with you, sometimes, Apollo.”

“Why are you both saying that! I know it wasn’t either or you!”

The girls glanced at each other before turning to Apollo and shrugging.

“It’s just hard to tell with you, sometimes.”

“Yeah, Polly! You’re hard to read sometimes.”

He groaned.

Apparently a 45-caliber was one of the deadliest revolvers around. Even the police didn't carry guns that big. It was overkill to shoot someone at close range with it, not to mention that there would be an extremely large kickback to it.

Yet the killer still fired it twice.

It was strange, but there wasn’t much that Apollo could figure out from what they found so far.

Things Apollo totally didn’t steal and put into his backpack include: a fancy broach, a postcard of Borginia, and the keyring that LeTouse had in his left hand.

They totally didn’t steal any evidence. Nope. Not at all.

The detective sighed. “Well, that's about it. I think we've looked at just about everything there is.”

Apollo nodded. “I guess you're right.”

“I know how you're feeling. It is hard to know when to stop investigating, but anything more involved has to wait until the squad gets here.”

Trucy frowned. “Argh… I suppose…”

Ema adjusted the strap of her bag. “I'll go report the evidence. I’d ask you to stay here, but I doubt you will.”

Apollo shrugged and Trucy gave her a shit-eating grin.

Ema sighed. “Well, whatever. Just don’t fuck up the evidence, capiche?”

Trucy saluted. “Okay!”

Apollo gave Trucy a look once the detective had left the room. “You want to fuck up the evidence now, don’t you?”

“Maybe a little.”

He shook his head, an amused smile dancing across his lips. “Well then, let’s go look somewhere else before you fuck up something important here.”

Chapter Text

They ran into Gavin in the wings of the stage. He was ranting about something, waving his hands in the air dramatically. The person Gavin was talking to seemed unamused by all of it, displaying a deep scowl on his face. The man also had a weird hairstyle, and while Apollo knew his own was odd, the one he was looking at was the weirdest and dumbest thing he had ever seen.

Gavin glanced over to the siblings for a moment, before doing a double-take and halting his tirade mid-sentence. “... Hmm? What are you two doing here?”

Apollo grimaced, nervously running a hand through his hair. “Ah, um, hiya?”

The blonde frowned, before quickly plastering on his signature smile. “Ah, we were just discussing the investigation, if you don't mind.”

“Sorry,” Apollo said, before pausing. “Wait… You were what?”

“Listen,” Gavin turned back toward his companion, “you need to confirm that with the Republic of Borginia, Detective Crescend.”

The man, who was apparently a detective, just nodded. “Right. Anything else?”

Apollo tilted his head. “What did he just call him? Detective…?”

“Ah, greetings. Daryan Crescend,” the man said, introducing himself. “Criminal Affairs, Division 3.”

“Uh…” Apollo floundered. “H-Hello.”

Trucy sighed as she rolled her eyes. “Apollo…” She started, placing her hands on her hips and giving her brother a disappointed look. “You really don't know anything about the Gavinners, do you?”

“You know I don’t know shit about it, Truce.”

She shook her head. “They’re two leading members of the Gavinners, Apollo! Klavier on vocals, and Daryan on guitar! They're so cool!”

“Eh.”

“Apollo! I don't believe you! How can you come to this concert and not know about the Gavinners!?”

Gavin gave a low chuckle, cutting into their conversation. “It's not surprising. Why, even our ancestors knew nothing of America's existence once.”

Apollo frowned. “Um… I know America exists,” he said. Though he actually didn’t live in the country until he was ten, it wasn’t like anyone there knew that, so of course he would know America existed.

Trucy put her hands up in fists. “The Gavinners aren't just an average rock band, Apollo. Each member is connected to the police somehow!”

“The Police?”

“The real police!” She clarified. “By day they pack heat, but by night they heat up the stage! By day those lips interrogate, by night they sing songs of unrequited passion!”

“... Um, okay,” he said. He was honestly a little disappointed. He liked The Police. One of Clay’s favorite songs was Walking on the Moon after all.

“They debuted seven years ago with ‘13 Years Hard Time for Love’, then came ‘Love with No Chance of Parole’, and ‘My Boyfriend is the Prosecution's Witness’. The list of hits goes on and on!” Trucy said, cheerily.

Gavin nodded, before throwing his arm out to present the man beside him. “This here's my right-hand man: Daryan Crescend. I make the melodies, and he attacks them with his guitar. He's a bit of a rogue, really.”

Crescend gave a small, condescending smirk. “Heh. And this guy's a bit of a perfectionist. When a performance goes the least bit wrong, he goes into this funk…” He glanced at Gavin, “Just like today.”

The lead singer whipped his head up at that, frustration clear on his face. “The concert today? A disaster! I'll get to the bottom of this and then we'll see who missed a cue!” He stated, flicking his bangs to the side.

Trucy hummed. “The missed cue…” She leaned over to Apollo; her voice lowered. “They were arguing about that before when we walked in you know.”

“They did?” He mumbled back.

She nodded. “It might be important, actually.”

Apollo took a mental note, and Trucy turned back to the members of the Gavineers. She cleared her throat to catch their attention. “What's this missed cue you keep talking about?”

“Ah ha, you heard it, didn't you? From the audience?”

“Um, actually, I didn't notice anything.”

Crescend threw his hands up. “See! No amateur is going to pick up on that!”

“Can you guarantee an entire audience of amateurs? No! Now take a listen to this!” Gavin shoved a strange device in their faces.

Trucy leaned back to actually look at it. “What's that…?”

“A mixing board. We used it to record our concert tonight.”

Apollo blinked. Weren’t they supposed to be investigating a murder first and foremost?

Trucy shrugged at Apollo, as if reading his thoughts. “Well, we've come this far, might as well go all the way! I've always wanted to learn about the recording industry!”

Gavin grinned, and explained how the mixing board worked. Trucy seemed impressed. Apollo was only vaguely paying attention.

“This is how we'll find the criminal guilty of missing his cue tonight!”

Apollo frowned. “I'm more concerned with the other criminal,” he said. “You know, the one who kills people?”

“You want help on the case? Then help me with mine!” The blonde whined. “Let's begin!”

He went into more detail about the mixing board, pointing out the sliders and the mechanics of it like they were playing some sort of minigame in the middle of the investigation.

“Right. Herr Amateur, you will prove my point,” Gavin said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Apollo, bringing him back into reality.

“Huh? Me!?”

“You will find the missed cue! You will tell us which instrument, which part, is the guilty party!”

“But how…?”

“Did I not just explain it? Use these sliders to adjust the volume for each part. Then you will find the part that hopelessly bungles the cue! You'll find it, with your untrained amateur ears!”

Trucy nudged him with her elbow. “Nothing to do but try, Apollo!”

Apollo sighed, reaching for the board. He wouldn’t ever admit it out loud, but it honestly did look kind of fun. It was a little entertaining to mess with the board to find out which person flubbed up their part, but he really wasn’t going to say that.

The song was called Guilty Love and Apollo didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh or gag at it.

Apollo presented track two. “This part is off.”

Gavin glanced down at the mixing board, playing the track for himself to make sure. “Which is that? Hmm… Second Guitar,” he said with a threatening edge in his tone, turning his head slowly to stare at his bandmate that was next to him.

“Ah.”

“It was you Daryan!” The blonde cried out dramatically, pointing at him.

“Ah well, looks like the cat's out of the bag.”

“’Ah well’?” The prosecutor mocked. “That's all you have to say!? That kind of attitude lets killers walk free, Daryan!”

“Here they go again,” Trucy mumbled to Apollo.

He grimaced. “Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to ask about the concert. It's starting to feel like we're just wasting time.”

“It's all experience under our belts! That can't be bad!” Trucy gave a sheepish smile.

Apollo sighed. “Whatever. Hey, Prosecutor Gavin!” He called out.

The man stopped arguing with Crescend once again to look at Apollo.

“You were saying something about your motorcycle not starting?” Apollo asked.

“And something about your guitar case being busted?” Trucy added.

The blonde nodded. “You're well informed.”

“You mentioned it a few times,” Trucy shrugged.

“Ach. Ach! It all happened this morning. It's all this key ring's fault. It's got all my keys on it, ja? My bike key, my car key…” He paused for dramatic effect, “and the key to my guitar case.”

“Wait, so this key ring…”

“It disappeared. I thought I'd put it in my jacket pocket,” The rock star sighed. “I had to come to the concert by taxi. How embarrassing! And in order to get my guitar out, I had to break the lock.”

“Wait, this guitar wasn't the one that…” Apollo made a gesture that he wasn’t sure properly conveyed the word fire, but he was trying.

“The very one,” Gavin confirmed, apparently understanding Apollo’s weird hand motion-- or at least knew enough of the context clues that were given. “Up in flames… And right on stage, too.”

Trucy crossed her arms. “I actually thought that was part of the show.”

“Crazy,” he said with a sigh, fiddling with his bangs. “And to top it off, Mr. LeTouse's life was taken. Nobody told me 'bout days like these.”

“Strange days, indeed,” Apollo said, finishing the lyrics.

Gavin’s eyes lit up, staring at Apollo. “... You think?”

Trucy glanced between the two of them, her arms still crossed. She hummed in thought.

Apollo glanced at her. “What's wrong, Trucy?”

Trucy fidgeted with her neck scarf. “Well, I was just trying to make sense of everything. First this heart-shaped key ring gets stolen. Then a very expensive guitar flares up on stage. Then Mr. LeTouse dies.”

Gavin’s attention pulled away from Apollo. “Yes, and…?”

“Could it all really be just a coincidence?”

“Coincidence? Meaning? Daryan, can you make any sense of all this?”

Crescend made a face. “Hey, don't look at me.”

Trucy turned to her brother. “What do you think, Apollo?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, either Mr. Gavin's having a really bad day,” she glanced up and down the rock star prosecutor, “or all this was planned.”

Gavin frowned. “You aren't thinking what I think you're thinking, are you, Frau Magician?” He asked worriedly.

She nodded enthusiastically. “I am!”

Crescend growled. “What? What!? Hey, don't leave me in the dark with Spike, here.”

Apollo grimaced at him, disliking the nickname.

“Haven't you noticed a connection, Apollo? A curious connection between all of Mr. Gavin's troubles today?”

“Um, well…” Apollo pressed his finger to his forehead in thought. “You know, something was bugging me, too! That key ring, and the guitar, and the body…”

Trucy patted his arm. “Slow down there, Polly. You look a wee bit dizzy.”

Crescend scoffed. “He's bluffing. He hasn't figured it out. Fess up if you're a man. You're as clueless as I am!”

Apollo was a little dizzy on his feet, both a mix of excitement at figuring it out and nausea from remembering the body being a thing. “Huh?”

Gavin shook his head, pressing a hand against his bandmate. “No, no, give Herr Forehead a chance. Let's see your evidence of the connection, shall we?” He said, giving Apollo a wink.

Apollo refused to admit that the wink was attractive. “Again with the Herr Forehead? Are you still insisting on giving me that nickname? Where did it even come from?”

Gavin shrugged. “Don’t worry too much about it, Herr Forehead. I just find it very fitting.”

Apollo groaned.

Trucy bounced on her feet, nudging Apollo with her elbow. “Enough of this flirting! C'mon c'mon c'mon! Let's see it! What's the connection between all of Mr. Gavin's troubles?”

He sighed, ignoring her first comment. He took off his backpack and rummaged through it before pulling out the lyric sheet. “It’s this, isn’t it?”

“A lyric sheet? The Guitar's Serenade? What's that got to do with anything?” Crescend asked.

Gavin snapped his fingers. “It has everything to do with everything. Though I wouldn't have believed it if Madchen hadn't pointed it out.”

Crescend scowled. “What are you talking about, man? Enough with the riddles!”

“Maybe it is a coincidence, or perhaps it means something. Don't you think, Frau?”

Trucy nodded. “I do. Everything that's happened to Mr. Gavin today is predicted in the lyrics to this song!”

“Wh-Whaaat!? No way!” Crescend exclaimed, blinking owlishly.

“Look, just think about everything that's happened to Mr. Gavin. Let's list them in the order that they occurred,” Trucy started, moving to point at the paper. “While reading this lyrics sheet!”

They examined the lyrics, finding out that the events did seem to line up.

Gavin sighed. “The criminal could have based his crime on the lyrics.”

Apollo frowned. “But who would go through all that trouble?”

“Someone who moves in mysterious ways, no doubt. I believe you've stumbled upon something quite vital and quite annoying, Frau Magician.”

Trucy grinned, a pleased look on her face. “Eh heh.”

Apollo suddenly remembered he found a heart-shaped keyring in LeTouse’s hand. Shit.

He fished it out of the depths of his bag. “Um, I was wondering if you knew anything about this?” He asked, presenting it to the other prosecutor.

The blonde looked at it with shock. “Th-That…!”

“Does it look familiar?” Apollo pressed.

“Familiar! It's mine! That's my key ring! I've been looking all over for it!”

Trucy gasped. “Whaaaaaat!? This is yours, Mr. Gavin!?”

Apollo sighed. He knew it.

“Apollo!” Trucy hissed out, slapping him in the arm. “How can you make that ‘I knew it’ face!? This is the key ring that was--”

“Yeah, I know.” Apollo curtly finished for her.

“Thanks, anyway,” Gavin said. “So, where did you find it?”

“Erm, actually, the victim was holding it. Like he was trying to keep it from the killer. Even if it meant his life.”

Gavin stared at him for a moment, his mouth hanging open with surprise. He screeched. “What!?” He glanced between the siblings, as if trying to see if they were telling the truth. “The victim… you mean, Mr. LeTouse had my keys?”

Apollo nodded. “Indeed.”

The blonde grumbled. “Hrmm… When will my trials be over?”

“Speaking of trials, I've never heard Mr. Gavin whine in court like he has been today,” Trucy commented. Apollo wondered when she had seen the man in court, but figured it was a trial video or one of the small cases that the man had taken in the past month.

“Ema was right about the fop, I'll give her that.” Apollo laughed at his own comment.

“Apollo!” Trucy berated. “Mr. Gavin, maybe we can help. Tell us about your troubles today.”

The singer shook his head. “I really don't think that's--”

Trucy cut him off. “Tell us, and we'll keep mum about the key ring for now.”

“Are you,” Gavin hesitated at the notion. “Are you blackmailing me, Madchen?” He asked, looking at her in disbelief.

“Nope! I dunno why you’d think I’d do something like that, silly.”

Gavin gave Apollo a questioning look. Apollo only shrugged back.

“Anyway,” The blonde said, moving on. “Thanks for finding this. If you'd found it under different circumstances, I'd be even happier,” he said with a sigh, holding up his keys.

Trucy tapped a finger to her chin. “I wonder why Mr. LeTouse was holding it?”

“Maybe he was trying to tell us something? Maybe that Prosecutor Gavin is the killer?” Apollo teased, grinning at the other prosecutor.

“Ach! Herr Forehead, save your wild accusations for the court. I do so enjoy the penalties.”

“I don’t even know if I’ll be prosecuting this case!”

Gavin shrugged. “Maybe. But even still, I was up on stage at the time of the murder, ja?”

“Yeah, yeah I know.”

“Polly, what’s with you and accusing all your friends of murder?”

“Hey! Clay and Kay aren’t here, so I didn’t accuse any of my friends, thank you very much.”

Trucy gasped dramatically. “Am I not your friend!?”

“You’re my sister, it doesn’t count.”

“What about Ema or Mr. Gavin?”

“I mean I guess I’m friends with Ema kinda.”

Gavin pouted. “Wait are you saying you’re not friends with me?”

“I mean this is the longest conversation we’ve ever had,” Apollo pointed out. “So really we’re just coworkers right now.”

Trucy elbowed him hard in the side.

“Ow!”

“Polly!” Trucy hissed. “You made Prosecutor Gavin sad!”

It was true. Gavin did look a little like a kicked puppy.

“Erm…” Apollo ran his hand over his horns. “I mean, maybe we could be friends later one day…?”

Gavin perked up at that, like he really was a dog. “Ja, ja. Maybe.”

Crescend looked between the two of them. “Anyways, I'm going to get cracking on the biggest crime here. I'm going to talk to the Borginian Embassy about this Mr. LeTouse.”

“Ah, right,” Gavin nodded. “Thanks, Daryan.”

“I'll leave the pondering of mysteries to you. I'm outta here,” the man said as he turned and left the building.

“A foreign national, Mr. LeTouse was killed,” Gavin rubbed his temples, clearly stressed. “It seems like that would have to be the ‘point’ of all this. But they did more than that. They left us with not only a murder, but a mystery.”

Trucy frowned, mumbling. “Mr. Gavin sure is irritable today.”

“Maybe this is the real Prosecutor Gavin we don't get to see elsewhere. It’s not like we’ve talked to him all that often,” Apollo mumbled back.

Gavin turned to the two siblings, not showing any signs that he overheard their conversation. “I've had enough, frankly. If you find any more mysteries, do me a favor and keep them to yourselves, ja?”

Apollo nodded numbly. “Ja…” He said without thought, not even noticing his slip. “Prosecutor Gavin, do you know where Lamiroir is now?”

“Ah, I had her go to my dressing room. With that pianist, Machi Tobaye, of course. She seemed rather shocked by Mr. LeTouse's sudden passing.”

Apollo nodded again. “The Gavinners's dressing room. Got it. Thanks for the help!”

“Anytime, Herr Forehead!”

Trucy giggled and tugged on Apollo’s arm, pulling him away.

Lamiroir was… unhelpful.

To be fair, Apollo wouldn’t tell her anything about what happened to LeTouse either. But they weren’t allowed to mention the fact that the man was murdered. Apollo was pretty sure Gavin said that in reference to Lamiroir, specifically.

But Lamiroir was the Siren that LeTouse was referring to. The witness. She had also confirmed that the broach they found in the dressing room was hers, which was suspicious.

She also could speak English, which, okay, fine. A little surprising, but he supposed that celebrities had their shticks that they were supposed to, well, stick to. Like Klavier Gavin, the Rockstar Prosecutor who sang about law puns and had a fake German accent and was a chick magnet or something like that.

Apollo tried asking her about why LeTouse said to “ask the witness” and that “the witness is siren”, which he could only assume was referring to her, but she wouldn’t say anything else.

He sighed and figured that was all he was going to get from her.

The hallway was in chaos when they entered.

Apparently LeTouse’s body had disappeared. As in his entire body. What the hell.

Probably should have had someone looking over the crime scene at all times, but technically Apollo and Trucy should’ve been doing that. Should've, being the key word, because really, Ema knew not to expect much from them.

“Ah… Prosecutor Gavin,” Apollo said as he entered Lamiroir’s dressing room.

“From your vacant stare, I gather you've heard the news,” Gavin said, nervously fiddling with his bangs.

“I heard Mr. LeTouse's body has gone missing.”

“Look for yourself. Quite the pickle. Quite. The. Pickle,” the blonde said with a terse smile.

Ema groaned. “How can you just stand there!? We have to start the investi--”

“There's no need for alarm, Frau Detective. All entrances and exits have been sealed. The body will not leave the building. So, I suggest we go find ourselves a cadaver. There will be plenty of time to ponder the ‘whys’ later.”

Trucy put a hand on her hip. “Well, you seem pretty sure of yourself, Mr. Gavin.”

“Oh, we'll find him. I'm rather enjoying this.”

Apollo gave the other prosecutor a dumbfounded look.

Trucy just hummed in thought before giving a noncommittal shrug. “Well, you heard the man. Let's get searching!”

Crescend spoke up suddenly, and Apollo just noticed that the man was even in the room. “Hey, I don't know if this's exactly the right time, but…”

Gavin sighed. “Yes, Daryan?”

“See, Geeter's gone missing. It was in the dressing room.”

Trucy looked bewildered. So did Apollo, in all honesty. “Geeter? Who's Geeter!?”

“That's what I call my guitar!” The man said, stroking his hair. “You like, man?”

Gavin blinked. “Your guitar… was stolen?”

Ema sighed. “This hasn't been a good day for guitars or geeters.”

The blonde prosecutor shook his head. “Okay. Body first, then guitar. And if someone finds that guitar, please bring it to our dressing room.”

Crescend frowned. “Geeter's like a missing person, not lost 'n' found, man,” he said with a grumble.

Apollo and Trucy paired up, splitting up from everyone else. They headed for the stage, seeing as no one else was heading there yet.

The stage had a raised platform that wasn’t there previously.

Trucy looked up at it. “That stage there must have been lowered before.”

Apollo grimaced as he looked up at it. That was pretty high. “That's the tower that Lamiroir and Prosecutor Gavin were singing on.”

“Someone must have raised it,” the magician said, glancing around the room. “Hmm. I don't see a way to control it from here. Apollo, what about that ladder there against the wall? We could use that to take a look up top.” She gestured to the extendable ladder.

Apollo gulped, nausea pooling in his gut. “Maybe we should get Ema,” he said, after a moment of hesitation. He felt his head spin.

Trucy frowned, putting her hands on her hips. “What are you talking about? We have to see this sort of thing for ourselves!”

Apollo shook his head. Was the room spinning or was that just him?

She balled her hands into tiny fists. “Stop whining and start climbing!”

The prosecutor let out a pained sound.

“Polly! No time for complaining, up you go!”

“Er. Can’t you climb it instead?”

“Nope! I gotta hold the ladder, you know.”

Apollo gripped his wrist. “I really, really rather not.”

“Why not?” She asked, crossing her arms.

“I don’t… do well with heights. At all. I think I might pass out right now at the thought of going up there.”

Trucy blinked. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah. My legs feel like Jell-O right now.”

She gave him a worried look. “I’ll go get Prosecutor Gavin and see if he knows how to lower the stage. You go, ah, sit down, okay?”

He nodded, stumbling over to sit down on the piano bench.

Trucy patted him on the shoulder before bolting out of the room.

Apollo glanced down at the grand piano, reaching his arm out hesitantly. He knew he probably shouldn’t, but he did so anyways, his hands hovering over the black and white keys. He paused, staring down at them, his mind thinking back to the last time he played on the piano. It wasn’t a bad memory, which was probably the worst part about it.

It was tainted. He didn’t want to think much of it, and yet he still wanted to reach out and touch it.

Apollo pressed down on a few of the keys, only to recoil when an awful sound emitted from the instrument. Maybe something was stuck--

A voice interrupted his train of thought. “Ah! Do you play the piano, Herr Forehead?”

“Don’t call me that,” he said off instinct. “And no, not really. I know a little bit, but…”

“But?”

Apollo turned to fully face Gavin, giving him a wary look. “But nothing. I only know how to vaguely read and play sheet music. I’m no professional. I barely even listen to music.”

The other man had the audacity to smile and wink at him. “I got that much, seeing as you never even heard of me before.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Trucy cut into their conversation. “Okay but what was that noise earlier? When we walked in?”

Apollo frowned. “Oh yeah, it was weird,” he said, pressing down on some of the keys to get the sound again. “I think something is in the piano strings.”

Apollo stood over the piano, looking into the instrument and pulling out a device that was in it. “This was stuck between the strings. It looks like some kind of switch…”

Trucy tapped her finger to her chin. “Did someone throw that into the piano?”

“Seems like it,” Apollo said, putting the switch in his pocket. “What do you think that thing was doing in there?”

Trucy frowned. “Throwing things inside pianos can't be good for them.”

“They really aren’t,” Gavin said. “Whoever did it must pay for their crimes! Why would they hurt such an instrument like that?”

Apollo ignored the dramatics. “Mm. Not to mention you wouldn't be able to play whatever notes go with the strings it was on.”

“Ach. But the concert was going fine before, ja? I heard the notes myself, there was nothing off about them.

Apollo tapped his forehead. “That must mean it was thrown in here after Machi played, right?”

“So maybe someone threw it in here after the second set?” Trucy offered.

“But who would do such a thing?” Gavin wondered with a frown. “So many questions, ja? And could you not steal evidence, Herr Forehead?”

Apollo squawked. “Right, right. Sorry,” he said, taking out the switch. “My bad, here you go.”

“Are you prosecuting this case, Mr. Gavin?”

“Perhaps. We still haven’t even arrested anyone yet, Madchen,” the singer said, flicking his bangs out of his face. “Ah, but you’ve called me here for a reason, ja? What is it?”

“Right! Well, that stage platform over there wasn’t lifted when we were talking to you earlier. Do you know how to lower it?”

“I see. Hold on.”

Gavin found what he was looking for and lowered the stage. Before the platform fully lowered, they could see a glimpse of what was held on top of it.

Trucy screamed, springing back and knocking into Apollo. He could hardly blame her, feeling the sense of dread and nausea hitting him all over again, although it wasn’t due to his fear of heights that time.

They had found two things we were looking for, along with one thing they never expected to find: The body, the guitar, and the pianist. Also known as Romein LeTouse, Geeter, and Machi Tobaye.

Fuck.

Chapter Text

“Wow, that concert last night sure went south in a hurry!” Apollo said, shuffling some papers that were on his desk.

Trucy sighed dramatically, moving to sit on the couch by the windows in Apollo’s office. “No kidding. Why did they arrest Machi!? Why!?”

He could only shrug. “Don't look at me like it’s my fault!”

She pouted. “I can't believe such a cute little boy could do something so horrible!”

“You know he’s only a year younger than you,” Apollo pointed out, literally pointing at her with his pen. “And I guess they had proof of some kind.”

Trucy huffed and crossed her arms. “What proof could possibly prove that!?” She whined, draping herself over the couch.

The duo had gone home after refinding the body. They also saw Machi Tobaye be arrested for the murder. Both had tried to protest the action, but it wasn’t like they had any other suspect.

Trucy ended up arriving at Apollo’s office in the morning to complain about it.

“I don’t know, Chief,” Apollo said, resting his elbows against his desk. Even though Trucy wasn’t his boss, nor Chief Prosecutor, he had ended up calling her Chief from time to time. She seemed to enjoy it, though, so he never found a reason to stop it. It wasn’t as though he would ever speak to Edgeworth so informally either.

There was a knock on his office door frame.

“Mornin',” a voice called out.

Apollo glanced up, opening his mouth in shock. “P-Prosecutor Gavin?”

Gavin gave a lazy grin, leaning up against the door frame. “What a night, eh? I apologize for being so upset…” He looked away and played with his hair, seeming a little nervous.

Trucy jumped up. “Mr. Gavin, do you know what's going on? Why did they arrest Machi!? Why!?”

“Don't look at him like it's his fault either,” Apollo said, pointing his pen at the girl again.

“It was tough for me, too. We performed together that night, after all. Yet…”

“Yet?” Trucy pressed.

“The powers that be say that, given the circumstances, it could only have been him,” Gavin said reluctantly.

Apollo tilted his head. “What do you mean by the "circumstances"?”

Gavin stood up, his hands moving to play with his rings on his fingers. “Lamiroir was invited from Borginia as an ambassador of goodwill. It is vital that this case be wrapped up swiftly. That's all the powers that be want, really.”

Apollo frowned. “Well those are circumstances, alright. But what makes Machi the only possible suspect?”

The man frowned. “Herr Forehead… I don’t know if I can disclose that.”

“But I’m just a fellow coworker right now, trying to help you out with your case.”

Gavin sighed. “Yes, but…” He trailed off, looking away.

“Please, Prosecutor Gavin! We-- There’s gotta be something we can do to help!” Trucy said, her hands in fists.

“There’s nothing much that can be done, unless you can get an actually competent defense attorney.”

Trucy glanced at Apollo.

“Hey! Don’t look at me like that, I can’t exactly just switch back.”

Gavin sighed. “No, you cannot. It’s a shame, really. I would’ve loved to face you in court, schatz.”

“... Shots? What’s that--”

Gavin coughed, his face bright red. “Ach. Don’t worry about it, Herr Forehead.”

“Were you insulting me? In my own office?”

“Nein, nein. I wasn’t, I promise.”

Apollo squinted at him. “... Fine, sure, whatever,” he said, waving it off. He could worry about it another time. “And why would you even want to face me in court?”

“You have a certain… Energy.”

“Energy?”

“Ja. You seek the truth, even as a prosecutor. It would be fun to see you flip the case on its head in person, you know?”

“Are you saying you wanted to lose against me?”

“Ach. I suppose it sounds like that.”

“Huh. Weird.”

Trucy’s eyes widened, and she looked like she had just come to a giant revelation. She gasped. “Prosecutor Gavin are you hitting--” She interrupted herself by slapping her hands over her mouth.

“Truce?” Apollo asked, wondering what she wanted to say.

Gavin looked a little red.

“Nevermind me!” She said with a grin. “Anyways though, are you sure you can’t let us help at all? Form a little mock trial here?”

“Mock trial?”

“Yeah! You be all prosecutory, and Polly can play defense and destroy all your arguments!”

“Whoa, whoa. I did not agree to that.”

“Oh come on Polly! At least do it to go over the case. The basics. Make sure that Machi isn't just going to be jailed in a foreign country for no reason.”

Apollo sighed. “Alright, alright. But only if Prosecutor Gavin is okay with this.”

Trucy looked expectantly at Gavin.

“Ach. I suppose I cannot deny the Madchen, ja? So what did you want to go over?”

Trucy grinned, sitting on the couch. “I’m the judge! So, ah, opening statements?”

Gavin cleared his throat. “First, to review the victim in this case. Romein LeTouse, age 35. The global manager for diva songstress, Lamiroir. The cause of death: blood loss due to being shot by a large caliber revolver,” he said, before reaching into his briefcase to pull out a file. “This report has all the details.”

Trucy cleared her throat. “The court accepts this evidence.”

“I don’t think you can do that, Truce.”

“I’m the judge now, Polly!”

“Ah, right. I don’t think you can do that, Your Honor.”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

“I’m in charge, I do what I want. Now! Givey thy autopsy report!”

Gavin chuckled. “Here you go, Your Honor.”

He handed it to Trucy, who promptly tossed it to Apollo. “You read it.”

“Wow, thanks.”

Trucy hummed. “So 45-caliber… It’s super large and really powerful, right?”

Gavin nodded. “Ja. A direct hit can knock a man off his feet. However,” he started, snapping his fingers, “the bullet struck him in his shoulder. The damage to his body was slight… death was not immediate. Sadly, his blood loss was such that he could not be saved.

The blonde pulled out a photograph. “This isn’t for the faint of heart, you two. Be careful while viewing it.”

Apollo scoffed. “I literally found the body.”

“Ja, but still. Fair warning, to those who wish not to view a dead body, is all.”

Trucy smiled. “Thanks, Mr. Gavin!”

He nodded to her, before continuing his opening statement. “Two shots were fired. One shot missed, the other penetrated and passed through the victim's shoulder. Both bullets were found in the wall at the scene. Observe the diagram…” He pulled out a diagram of the room and pointed at it. “This is where the bullets hit.”

Apollo crossed his arms and pressed his finger to his forehead. “Since it’s a 45-caliber revolver, we’re assuming that the killer was used to the weapon, right?”

Trucy tapped her own finger to her chin. “Really?”

He nodded. “Yeah, apparently, weapons that size have a powerful kickback. If, say, the judge tried to fire one, it'd break every bone in his body.”

“I don’t think the judge would’ve liked that comparison, Polly.”

Gavin glanced between them. “... As I was saying, the victim was shot backstage, in a dressing room. This dressing room has only one entrance: this door,” he pointed at the diagram. “However, there were witnesses who heard the gunshots.”

Trucy looked at Apollo. “He's talking about you and Ema, huh.”

Apollo nodded. “Yeah.”

“Yet when the witnesses entered the room, it was empty, save for the victim's body, of course.”

Trucy frowned. “But how was that possible? I mean, unless the killer was a magician, of course,” she said with a wink.

“I thought you said it wasn’t you?”

“Apollo!” She frowned. “Stop accusing me!”

He laughed. “Sorry, sorry.”

Gavin snapped his fingers, bringing the attention back to him. “Aside from magicians, this murder was impossible…” he paused for dramatic effect. “For all but one person, that is.”

Apollo sighed. “And that person is…?” He asked, setting up the other prosecutor.

“That is, of course, the defendant, Machi Tobaye.”

Trucy huffed. “Really? You’re blaming cute and innocent Machi?”

Gavin grimaced. “Well… It's quite simple. The circumstances of the crime scene make it clear.”

“How so?” She asked, still frowning.

“Ach. Well this is the part where I’d call up Frau Detective to the stand to give a testimony of the events.”

Trucy crossed her arms. “What would Ema’s testimony be, then?”

“Just the basics of what happened and how only the defendant could do it.”

“But that door was the only way out of the room, right?”

Apollo nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.”

She frowned. “Then I don't get it. How can they say that Machi did it?”

“Looks like we need a bit more information. Prosecutor Gavin, would you care to explain that part?”

Gavin nodded. “Ja. There was only one exit to the room: the door. The window is small and barely opens, and you and Frau Detective were standing in front of the door. There’s only one way the killer could have fled the scene: the air vent.”

Apollo frowned. “But that air vent was too small. Who could possibly…”

“Achtung! Exactly,” the blonde smirked. “There’s no way wor or I could get through. The only one who could would be, well, a child.”

The horn haired lawyer sighed. “A child…”

“Remember that only certain people were allowed backstage to begin with. And of all the people involved with the concert…” Gavin paused once again for dramatic effect, snapping his fingers. “Only one is small enough to be considered a "child".”

“You mean Machi, huh…” Trucy said with a frown.

“The pixie of the arpeggio flitted up toward the sky… and disappeared from the scene of the crime.”

“Objection! That’s just conjecture, Prosecutor Gavin.”

“Oh?” Gavin asked, tilting his head slightly. “There was no other way out of that room. You were there. You should know, Herr Forehead.”

Apollo recoiled. Shit.

“Besides, there is another vital piece of evidence.”

“Evidence…? What is it?”

“They found marks on the air vent grill. Traces that it had recently been opened.”

Apollo and Trucy both gasped at that.

The blonde prosecutor only nodded. “There was also something else there. The defendant, Machi Tobaye's fingerprints.”

“... Shit.”

“Polly! Language!” Trucy chastised, putting her hands on her hips and frowning at him.

“English.”

“Seriously?” She groaned. “This joke again?”

“What? I could curse in like, three other languages if it makes you feel better.”

“You know three other languages?” Gavin asked, his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“Well, I mean. I don’t need to know the whole language to know the curse words.”

Trucy stared at her brother. “Wow, Apollo, what a role model.”

Apollo’s face flushed, and Gavin chuckled.

“Anyways,” Apollo coughed, clearing his throat in embarrassment. “Prosecutor Gavin, you should continue.”

The man in question nodded. “Where was I… Oh, right. That air vent was the only way out of the room!” He asserted, snapping his fingers together and extending his arm to point towards Apollo. “The defendant's fingerprints were found on the grill! Well, Herr Forehead? What fairy tale does this suggest to you?”

The temporary defense attorney groaned.

Gavin took it as a sign to continue. “Only one could pass through that vent, that 'doorway to heaven', and that one is our pixie.”

Apollo just turned to face his sister.

She made a face. “Why are you looking at me, Apollo?” She asked with a pout. “Hey! I was out whooping it up in the audience!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But his case is really solid. The judge will most likely call for a verdict at this point, if this is all the defense would be able to get from the testimony.”

Gavin nodded his head. “Ja. Unfortunately, we have no direct witnesses. Fortunately, the criminal left decisive evidence for us. That will have to be enough.”

Trucy frowned. “It can't already be over just like that!”

“Unless the defense has no contradicting evidence, then the trial would probably be over just like that tomorrow. Sorry, Chief, but I doubt whoever Machi gets as an attorney would actually have anything. I bet the lawyer would probably give up by that point.”

She shook her head. “No! That can’t be it. You gotta think of something, Apollo!”

“You do realize this isn’t the actual trial, right?”

“But it might as well be! You said it yourself, if this is how the trial goes tomorrow, Machi is toast!”

Gavin nodded. “The prosecution has presented our proof, clear and plain. If you have contradicting evidence… it'd better be clear and plain.”

Trucy yelped. “Apollo! We'd better come up with something quick!”

“I know! I know!” He said, waving her off. “We would either need evidence, or a witness, that can prove Machi is innocent beyond a doubt. Otherwise…” He trailed off with a grimace.

“Well, Herr Forehead? Do you have any contradicting proof?”

“... The only thing I can think of is to call a witness,” Apollo said. “And, admittedly, if I was the defense attorney and this was a real court? I’d bluff.”

Trucy gasped. “You shouldn’t just admit to that!”

He shrugged. “Why not? It’s true. I’d be faking confidence and just bulldoze my way to what hopefully is the truth.”

“What an odd tactic, Herr Forehead.”

“Well it works. But, uh, anyways. Pretending this is a real court…” He slammed his arms against his desk. “Prosecutor Gavin, you claim that there were no witnesses to this crime. Are you absolutely sure?”

Gavin opened his mouth before suddenly snapping it shut. “If this was the real court right now, I’d probably say that it was, and even swear it on my career as a prosecutor… And on my million-seller hit song 'Atroquinine, My Love'.”

Apollo crossed his arms and smirked. “Well that's too bad, because there was a witness,” he said, grinning. “Also, I have no idea what that song is, so I don’t care.”

Gavin put a hand over his chest and staggered backwards. “Ach! I’ve been killed and betrayed, how dare you!”

“Yeah, Polly! How can you not know that song?” Trucy put her hands on her hips.

“Jeez, relax, it’s just a song. I don’t listen to much music, I told you.”

“Clearly.”

“Yeah, obviously.”

“Ugh. The case? Remember that?”

“Right. The witness, ja?” Gavin snapped his fingers. “You mentioned that fact to me yesterday, about what Mr. LeTouse said.”

Apollo nodded. “Were you just not going to mention that in court?”

“It's my policy to fully investigate everything I deem relevant. I have found no one who could be this witness.”

Apollo blinked. “Oh! You don’t know?”

“Know what, Herr Forehead?”

“The witness is Lamiroir, the Siren of the Ballad. Lamiroir was only on stage for the second set, and she had access to the backstage area. She could have been a witness!”

“Ach, I’m afraid to admit that I was going to question Lamiroir after this… mock trial,” Gavin said, snapping his fingers together.

“Then… Do you know that she speaks English?”

Gavin blinked. “Well, yes, I know she knew some. That’s how we collaborated on the song we did together.”

“Okay, okay. Actually do you have to get going soon? When were you supposed to meet her?”

The man checked the time on his phone. “Ach. The meeting is in half an hour.”

“Oh, you should probably go then.”

He nodded. “Probably, ja,” Gavin gave Apollo a wide smile. “This was fun though. We should do this again sometime.”

Apollo nodded. “If you want more advice or help after your talk, I'll be here all day filing paperwork, and my door’s always open.”

“Thanks for the offer. I suppose I’ll see you and Frau Magician later then?”

Trucy shook her head. “My show is tonight, and I’ll be heading over to prep for it later. Polly has his work and I have mine, so he’ll meet me at the Wonderbar for my show and not the prep stuff, unfortunately.”

“I’ll be helping you prep for your Saturday show. You know I can’t actually help much on the weekdays, Truce.”

“Yeah, I know,” she whined. “But it’s just sad! I could always use the help!”

“Mm. On days you actually need the help, I’m sure I can leave an hour early if you really need it.”

“Yay!” Trucy beamed. “So yeah, anyways, I might not be here when you get back, Mr. Gavin. So if not, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow?”

“At the trial, silly! We’ll be in the gallery.”

Apollo gave her a confused look. “We will?”

“Yeah! Duh.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, okay, I can ask to go watch. I’m still just on paperwork right now, after all.”

Gavin grinned. “Wonderful. I might actually see you tonight at your show, Madchen.”

“Really?!”

“Ja. Unless something pressing comes up from the case, I’ll be there.”

“Yay!”

Gavin grinned. “Good luck on your paperwork, Herr Forehead. I'm off to question Lamiroir.”

Apollo nodded. “R-Right. Later!”

The rockstar left the room, and all Trucy did was give Apollo a funny look.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Chapter Text

“Good evening, Herr Forehead.”

Apollo looked up from his paperwork to find Klavier Gavin standing at his doorway once again. “Hey, Prosecutor Gavin.”

“Ach, please. You can call me Klavier, you know.”

Apollo hummed in thought. “That’s unprofessional, though. We’re coworkers, and I should probably address you properly.”

“But how about outside of work, hm? Will you still call me ‘Prosecutor Gavin’?” The blonde asked with a tilt of his head, moving from the door to stand on the other side of the desk.

“I mean, probably. I did do that at your concert.”

“Ach. You wound me, Herr Forehead,” he said, pouting.

“Sorry?”

“You could heal me by calling me Klavier,” Gavin said, teasingly. He leaned forward, looking down to the paperwork on Apollo’s desk. 

Apollo rolled his eyes. 

“Oh? You know that many Gavineer fans would kill to personally call me Klavier.”

“I think they already do. My roommates call you by your full name every single time they refer to you.”

“You talk about me to your roommates?” He asked, grinning. 

“Oh shut up. We were talking about your concert. Clay wanted to go to the one on Tuesday but had a meeting, so I kinda was forced to go.”

“Ach. Don’t say it like it was such a bad thing.”

“... Someone died . I pretty much regret my entire existence right now.”

“Ah,” he, at the very least, had the decency to look bashful. “Sorry about that.”

Apollo shook his head. “Not your fault, not unless you were the one to kill Mr. LeTouse.”

“I wasn’t, I promise. Swear it on my song ‘Guilty Love’.”

The brunette rolled his eyes. “You and your songs.”

“But we’re off topic! My fans may call me by my first name, but that’s not very personal, now is it, ja? It’ll mean more coming from a friend,” he said, his expression softening. 

Apollo stared at the other man for a moment, shock written clearly onto his face. “Oh.”

The rockstar nonchalantly shoved his hands in his pockets, though the action seemed to be dictated more toward nerves than anything else. “Sooooo?”

“Well generally this is a street that goes two ways,” Apollo said, tapping his pen against his chin in thought. “If I were to call you by your first name, you should also be calling me by mine.”

“But nicknames are more fun, Herr Forehead ,” he said, teasingly.

Apollo scoffed. “Oh shush,” he said, rolling his eyes. “But fine. I suppose you win this one, Klavier .”

Klavier’s face flushed red. “Ah… Good, good.”

Apollo laughed. “Are you okay over there, Mr. Rockstar Prosecutor?”

“Ach, I am perfectly fine,” he said, spinning one of the rings on his finger. Apollo’s bracelet tightened just slightly, but he ignored it. 

“Are you sure?”

“Ja, ja,” he nodded. “Just… I’m very intrigued by you, Apollo.”

Apollo suddenly understood why Klavier blushed at being called by his first name. It felt strangely intimate, and Apollo wasn’t sure if he liked that feeling.

“Heh. You’re a little red yourself, schatz ,” Gavin said as he gazed at Apollo’s cheeks

“I still don’t know what that means,” Apollo grumbled back.

“Don’t worry about it then, ja?” Klavier winked. “Though I do wonder why you seem to… dislike the concert and the Gavineers in general.”

“Ah, well, your whole loud rock music isn’t really my thing. I prefer music like the Guitar Serenade, actually.”

“Really?”

Apollo laughed. “Well yeah. I guess that song kinda made me think you didn’t write total garbage.”

“Hey! All my songs are fantastisch , thank you very much.”

“Maybe to other people, but not me.”

“You dislike the Gavineers, then?”

“Like I said, they’re not my taste in music, really. Besides, I honestly prefer you as a prosecutor than a rockstar.”

“You… do?” Klavier asked, his expression showing pure confusion.

“Uh, yeah. It feels… I dunno, somehow more genuine? Though it’s still a little showy.” 

“Oh. You really think so?” He said as he ran his hand through his bangs.

“Well I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.” 

“Ahhh. Okay.”

Apollo squinted at Klavier. “Are you okay?”

The man had the audacity to pull out a fake smile and wink at him. “Never been better, Herr Forehead.”

Apollo winced, glancing down at his bracelet. He decided to let it go. “Er, okay. Anyways. How did your talk with Lamiroir go?”

Gavin looked a little relieved to be changing the subject. “It went alright. She apparently suffers from amnesia though, so I don’t think I should call her up tomorrow.”

“Amnesia?”

“She doesn’t remember anything from before the time she started singing on stage.”

“So what did she see?”

“She told me she saw nothing.”

“Nothing?” Apollo asked. “But Mr. LeTouse said that she was a witness.” 

“Ja, I know… But, ach, there’s something that you should probably know,” Klavier admitted, playing with his rings nervously. 

“What is it?”

“Ach, this is difficult. You see, this is something that isn’t my secret to tell, however…” He looked at Apollo, a guilty look on his face.

“... However?”

“I think… It could help reveal the truth of this case. I’m not sure. It could mean nothing, after all.”

Apollo frowned, biting his lip. He paused to think for a moment, contemplating what to say. “I… As curious as I am, if it isn’t your secret to tell, then don’t tell.”

“And if it could be important to the case?”

“Then it’s important to the case,” Apollo stated. “You don’t have to tell me.  After all, it isn’t actually my case. If you need to mention it in court, then you do, but if you don’t, then you don’t.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“It is. Or well, it can be, if you looked at it that way.”

“But if it could clear the defendant’s name?”

“Well we’re prosecutors. Technically that isn’t something we want.”

Klavier chuckled. “Ja, I suppose…”

Apollo sighed. “Look, Klavier,” he started, briefly registering the flash of pink dusting the blonde’s cheeks at the use of his first name. “What happens in the trial tomorrow is up to you. Whether or not you believe Machi did it doesn’t matter, but you have the power to decide the boy’s fate.”

The brunette paused, gathering the words he needed. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I won’t try and convince you to do what I would do, or what I think should be done. What I think doesn’t matter here, it’s about what you do that is.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. I can’t say whether or not I believe Machi did it. I don’t know if he did or did not, and there’s a very good possibility that it really was him. I don’t know. But in the end, it’s not in my hands to find out if he did.”

“So it’s mine?”

Apollo shook his head. “Not really yours, either. There’s no obligation to finding the truth, nor one that forces you to get a guilty verdict no matter what. It’s about… following what you think is important, not whatever someone else tells you.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I won’t force you to prolong the trial. And no one is forcing you to end it, either. Well, end it with an instant guilty verdict, I mean. What you do is your choice, and I won’t judge you for whichever one you make.”

Klavier fiddled with his bangs. “Ach… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand you, Herr Forehead.”

Apollo quirked an eyebrow. “Is that a bad thing?”

He shook his head. “No, no. I just realize I have so much to learn about you, schatz ,” he said with a wink.

Apollo laughed, shaking his head. “Again with that nickname, huh? I have a name, you know.”

“Of course I know,” Klavier said, a genuine smile stretching on his face, “ Apollo .”

Trucy yanked on Apollo’s arm, dragging him into the prosecutor’s lobby. “C’mon, Polly! We should see how Prosecutor Gavin’s doing!”

Apollo could barely keep up with her. “I know, I know. Please slow down, I wasn’t going to run away or something.”

She didn’t slow down until she shoved open the door with her shoulder and entered the lobby. “Mr. Gavin!”

Klavier turned to greet her. “Ah! Frau Magician, Herr Forehead! It’s lovely to see you both!”

“Hey Prosecutor Gavin,” Apollo said, lifting up his free hand to give a small wave. 

“I can’t believe you made it through to the second day! I mean, I really thought Machi was toast!” Trucy said, her eyes wide.

“Technically I’m supposed to make him toast, but ja, ja.”

Trucy tapped the edge of her top hat with her fist. “And I can’t believe Lamiroir was actually blind! And that Machi isn’t!” 

“I’m assuming that's what you were referring to last night, then?” Apollo asked.

Klavier nodded. “It wasn’t my secret to tell, especially if it wasn’t relevant to the case, but…”

“It was.”

He nodded again. “It was,” he echoed.

Trucy glanced between the two prosecutors. “Hmm. So what’s next, then?”

“Next?” Apollo repeated, his eyebrows knit together in confusion. 

“Yeah! We should all go figure out this case together, you know?”

“Oh. I guess there is a lot we’re still confused about. Who could’ve guessed that Mr. LeTouse was actually an undercover Interpol agent? I mean… What a mess this all is, huh?” He said, running his hand through his horns. “And we don't have any idea what he was investigating.”

Trucy nodded, mournfully. “Well, true, but we know who shot him now!” She said with a grin, breaking out of her funk. “Lamiroir told the whole court!”

“Ja,” Klavier said, grimacing. “She accused Daryan and everything…” He trailed off.

Apollo frowned. “She has to be wrong this time, though.”

Trucy tilted her head slightly. “Wrong? Why?”

“I mean, look… Those gunshots were right during the concert!”

“That’s right! I was burning up the dance floor at the time.”

“Right… Did you happen to look up on stage? Maybe… at Daryan, even?” Apollo asked.

The magician nodded. “You bet I did! He is one of the Gavinners’s guitarists after all! He’s so cool!” She grinned, before frowning at the realization. “Oh.”

“Right. All the Gavinners have a rock-solid alibi. He couldn’t have shot Mr. LeTouse backstage.”

“But… Lamiroir heard him, didn’t she? She heard Daryan backstage… Right…?”

Apollo glanced at Klavier. The other man was silent, an odd, contemplative look on his face. Someone had to be very wrong, or lying very badly, and Apollo wasn’t sure which one it was.

“How about we head back to the office? There’s always more paperwork to be done,” Apollo said, not really knowing what to do.

“Really? Paperwork?”

“Yeah. Being a lawyer isn’t about just the trials and investigating, you know.”

“Aww.”

Klavier looked up at them, shaking his head, as if he was trying to clear his thoughts. “Ah, would you two like a ride to the office, then?”

Apollo was glad that the change in topic worked, but… “A ride?” He asked, confusion clear in his expression.

“Ja. I took my car to court today, Herr Forehead. No need to be so confused.”

Apollo blushed. “O-oh, I see.” 

Klavier chuckled and Trucy laughed at him.

“So… this is it. The Gavinners’s head office.”

Apollo sighed, shaking his head. “It’s not the band’s office. It’s the prosecutor’s office. And you’ve been here before, you know.”

“Yeah, but not this office! This one, specifically!” Trucy said with a giggle. 

They were in the corner of Klavier’s office, just chilling, waiting for the blonde prosecutor to finish up his phone call. The man’s burnt up guitar showed up on his office “desk” (which was just a giant speaker, wow,) when they had arrived, and there was some weird plastic blob that was put in a little glass display case sitting on a tray on his chair. Klavier went to call someone to ask about it, letting the siblings stand awkwardly in the corner of the room. 

Apollo tried not to look out the window.

“Yeah, so that’s why I am asking, what is this creepy thing… object… whatever,” Klavier said into his phone. 

“Honestly, we probably could’ve just waited in my office.” Apollo whispered to Trucy.

She nodded. “I guess we should’ve just come back later… But his office is soundproof, and we won’t know what’s going on if we go,” she whispered back.

“... That’s eavesdropping,” Apollo pointed out. 

“Why? We’d just be waiting. Quietly. So he didn’t notice. What if we heard something scandalous about the band!?”

He just sighed. 

“What?” Klavier asked, still on the phone. “A ‘replica’? So why was he after it in the first place? Yeah, LeTouse!”

Apollo’s ears perked up when hearing the victim’s name, sharing a look with Trucy.

“Look, don’t talk to me about those Borginians, okay? Just get me that report, chop chop,” the prosecutor said, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth to emphasize his point. “And stop leaving mysterious objects in my office, okay?”

The phone call cut out. 

Klavier sighed, running his hand through his bangs. “It’s times like this when I start to miss Daryan…” He trailed off. 

He turned around and his eyes caught onto Apollo’s. He jerked away, his eyes widening for a fraction of a second before changing his expression to his normal, flirtatious look. “Ah…”

“Erm, hiya!” Apollo said, internally cursing his own awkwardness.

Trucy giggled, though it was more of her just saying “Tee hee!” than actually laughing. “We just decided to wait for you to finish your call over here, I hope you’re not mad…?”

Klavier paused for a moment, his fingers halting in its motion towards the papers on his desk. He shook his head. “How could I be? There’s not enough "tee hee" in the world, in any case. Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the one chair in the office. It was a massage chair, actually. 

Weird.

Trucy elbowed her brother. “Watch and learn, Apollo!”

“Bitte, I seem to have forgotten that you were here… So, who have you come to see?”

“Huh?” Trucy asked, confused.

“Klavier, lead vocalist for the Gavinners? Or Prosecutor Gavin, scourge of the courtroom?”

The girl frowned, her eyes moving to give her brother a questioning look. “What do you think he means, Apollo?”

Apollo tilted his head. “I think he’s giving us a choice. We can either ask him about the concert… or the case.” Odd.

“Huh. Well which one would you like to speak to, Polly?”

“Prosecutor. Hands down, any day. Except… We’re probably supposed to ask both in order to find the truth of this case, huh?”

They ended up talking about both the case and the concert. They talked about the guitar, the broken device that was in it, as well as the weird lump that was in the glass jar. Apparently the device was a replica of something, and it was found in LeTouse’s bag.

There were only so many hours in the day, though, and they both had their own jobs to get back to.

“I’ve been thinking, Herr Forehead.”

“Don’t hurt yourself.”

Klavier chuckled at that. “We encounter many incidents in our lives, all of us. Not all of them simple.”

“... Especially not the ones where people are killing to song lyrics.”

“That is why I try to at least remain simple inside. And I keep a simple goal: to discover the truth.”

Apollo didn’t know what to say to that. It was a sentence he wholeheartedly believed in, but it wasn’t one he expected Klavier to admit to. 

“That's why I chose to let this case go on another day… That is all.”

Apollo ignored the faint pinching on his wrist. “... I can live with that.”

“Um… Mr. Prosecutor?” Trucy asked, a small frown on her face. Apollo wondered if she noticed the lie too.

“Yes, Madchen ?”

“Can I ask you why you sing in a band?”

“Ah,” Klavier gave her a camera worthy smile. “Because I want women to turn and look when I walk down the street.”

Apollo and Trucy both reached for their bracelets.

“That’s pretty simple, too,” Apollo said instead of pointing out the ring that Klavier was spinning.

Trucy shot him a confused look, and he just shook his head.

“Now if you'll excuse me, I’ve got work to do. Another time, perhaps.”

So as it turned out, the murder actually happened during the second act, Machi Tobaye was involved in smuggling Borginian cocoons, as was Daryan Crescend, and the Chief Justice was also involved in said smuggling operation because he wanted to save his son.

Crescend was the real killer. And Klavier was the one to convict him of it.

Well, shit.

Apparently there was this whole thing with the smuggling of the cocoons. LeTouse was an interpol agent in order to find the smugglers, Machi did it for the money, Crescend… who knew what he was doing it for. And in Borginia, smuggling the item was punishable by death.

It was harsh. It kind of reminded Apollo of Khura’in.

Machi eventually did confess to his crime, because being tried in America meant that he wouldn’t, you know, be executed for it.

But the truth was out. 

That’s the part that mattered in the end.

Chapter Text

“Thanks for helping me set up today, Polly!”

Apollo shook his head. “I told you, it’s not a problem, Chief. I like helping you,” he said, moving another box. “Besides, I help you set up every Saturday.”

“Hmm, still! It means a lot to me, you know,” Trucy said, dumping an entire bag of glitter into one of her props for who knew why.

His expression softened. “I know. And I’m happy to help out my sister.”

The magician giggled at that. “And I’m happy that I have a brother to help me.”

Even after a few weeks of being siblings, it felt new and exciting. It warmed Apollo’s heart to be able to spend so much time with the sibling he never knew he had. He always got along with the younger kids he knew when he was in foster care, but he lost touch with them after going to college. It was nice having a sibling relationship that would actually last.

“I’d also be really happy with my brother as my beautiful assistant!” 

Apollo groaned. “Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“Pleeeease?” She whined, clasping her hands together in a pleading gesture. “Please!!”

Apollo frowned. “Truce--”

“You already act as my unwilling assistant sometimes when I call for volunteers! And you know some sleight of hand! Pleeeeaseeee!”

He sighed. “Fine,” he finally conceded, sighing. “But only on the Friday or Saturday shows when I don’t have work the next day.”

“Yay! Can I dress you up?”

“Uh. Maybe another time, okay? I don’t think I’m all that ready for such a, well, stage persona.”

“Hmph, fineeeee. But I’m only agreeing right now cause I don’t have your costume yet in general. One day we can wear matching outfits and be a duo!”

“Ah, but you’re the star of the show here, Trucy. I’m not going to take that away from you. Besides, I’m not a big fan of being center stage.”

She crossed her arms. “I guess so… You’re just not as flashy as Prosecutor Gavin, that’s for sure!”

“Hey, I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said, jabbing his finger at her. 

“Ah, but I know you like his flashiness, don’t you?”

“Wh-what!? What gave you that idea!?” He shouted, his face burning red.

Trucy cackled. “You’re so red, Polly! Just like a fire truck! And you know those are for putting out fires, not your face, right?”

He growled, hiding his face in his hands. “I’ll have you know that I do not like him!”

“Aww, but I thought he was your friend? Are you not friends now?”

“Gah! That’s not what I meant-- I just-- We’re friends! That’s all!”

Trucy just kept laughing at him. “You seem too embarrassed right now to be ‘just friends’ with each other.”

Apollo threw a plastic flower at her, hitting her in the shoulder. “Oh shut up! We should go finish setting up your show right now instead of just trying to gossip about me or something.”

“Hmm, gossiping? I don’t know her, so that certainly wasn’t what I was doing,” Trucy said, faking innocence.

He rolled his eyes. “Please stop.”

Trucy just laughed.

The siblings managed to get everything up and ready for her performance by the time the evening crowd started coming in. Apollo had already reserved one of the front most tables (though off to the side a little) for himself, as well as Clay and Kay, who both managed to get time off inorder to come to the Saturday show. 

Phoenix Wright, on the other hand, was thankfully busy that day, probably still doing something with his whole secret project that he wouldn’t tell Trucy anything about, (he also didn’t say anything to Apollo, but he wasn’t actually expecting anything from that man anymore). 

“Clay, Kay! You both made it!” 

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world, Miss Magic!” Clay said, swooping Trucy into a hug that lifted her off her feet. 

“Clayyyy!” the girl whined, laughing all the while. “Don’t mess up my outfit before my performance!” 

It didn’t really surprise Apollo that Trucy and Clay became fast friends with each other. No, that seemed like a foregone conclusion. What did surprise him was just how terrifying they would be together. 

The two of them got along like a house on fire. And he meant that quite literally. They once actually set fire to their kitchen-- albeit, accidentally, but it was still a horrifying accident. It was such a train wreck and it honestly made Apollo fear for his life so much that after he dosed the flames with the fire extinguisher, he left the building entirely and ended up doing paperwork for four hours on some random bench in People Park, which overlooked the river as well as the scene of the crime where Dr. Meraktis was murdered. For his troubles, he treated himself to a danish from Kitaki’s (which he admittedly did quite often, but he deserved treats okay?)

Surprisingly, he got a lot done that day.

Once they let go of each other, Kay took the opportunity to give the younger girl a hug of her own. “Good luck on your show!”

Trucy giggled. “Thanks! But I don’t need luck when I have magic on my side!” She said while pulling out a giant bouquet of roses from behind Kay’s ear, all without breaking a sweat or her sentence. 

“Whoa!” Both of Apollo’s roommates awed in shock and wonder. 

“How did you do that?”

“Oh c’mon, guys! You know that a magician never reveals her secrets,” she said with a wink, cocking her hips and placing her free hand on it, the other waving the bouquet in the air. “Oh, and have these flowers that you can throw up on stage after my performance ends!” 

They both nodded, and Apollo rolled his eyes. “Very subtle, Chief.”

She laughed. “I never said I was trying to be. Now off I go! The show’s about to start!”

Apollo waved her off, reminding her that he would be bringing her her usual post show drink (which was just a tall glass of iced apple juice with a cute little fancy umbrella on top) after she was done.

The show was spectacular. It was also physics breaking and mind breaking, both of which hurt the logic brained minds of the three roommates, with Clay being the loudest, the astronaut crying on his Physics PhD. All in all, it was a fun night.

“How did you DO that?!” Kay shouted as Trucy got off the stage and sat down in the free seat at their table. 

The teen just laughed, putting her finger over her lips. “A magician never reveals her secret!” She winked.

Kay and Clay groaned.

Apollo shook his head at their antics, sliding Trucy her post show drink. She grinned at it, quickly snatching it and taking a long sip. A satisfied hum escaped her lips.

“Oh by the way, before I forget,” Apollo said. “I just remembered that the party is next week.”

“Party?” Trucy asked. “What for?”

The prosecutor grinned. “Winston Payne’s retirement party, of course.”

“Holy shit! That old hairball is finally retiring?!” Kay exclaimed, her eyes widening.

“I know right?” Apollo said with a laugh. “I heard a rumor it was because of my shitstorm of a case when I, well, defended that one time.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah. The whole ‘turning on my boss as the true murderer’ thing kinda made him decide he was done with prosecuting. One of the interns actually thanked me for that, which I don’t know how to feel about.”

“Was this Payne guy really that bad?” Clay asked. 

Kay nodded, scrunching up her nose. “Yep. He was whiny and annoying. Not that corrupt though, so admittedly he wasn’t the worst prosecutor I’ve met.”

“But anyways, the party is happening next Friday if you wanna come.”

Trucy finished her drink, pouting a little at the fact that it was now empty. “Who’s that directed at, Polly?” 

“All of you, though technically I’m only inviting Clay as my plus one or whatever.”

Clay made a heart with his hands. “Awww, I always knew I was your favorite, Pollo.”

“Ha ha, no that’s not what I meant,” Apollo said, deadpan, slapping Clay’s hands lightly. “I just meant that Kay is automatically invited because she’s a detective, and Trucy also has an automatic invite through the fact that pretty much all of the office loves her.”

Trucy giggled. “I’m just so lovable! It’s my adorable charm!”

Clay pouted, sniffling. “Oh, I see how it is. I guess I should just show up to your office more often to gain some clout.”

“What-- Why--” Apollo sputtered. “What the fuck, Clay.”

“What, Pollo? Everyone you’re friends with now are connected to the law! I should just become a detective too.”

Trucy tilted her head. “Why a detective? Why not a lawyer?” She asked, not even denying being connected to the law. Apollo supposed that an investigative partner slash court co-counsel made her-- what? A legal aide? Or something to that effect. Either way, it counted, even if it was unofficial.

“Because I saw Pollo go through law school. It wasn’t pretty.”

“Hey!”

“What? It’s true! You survived purely off spite, anger, and caffeine! You passed out in the middle of the floor because you forgot to sleep for four days straight multiple times! It was a nightmare for me, and I wasn’t even the one going through it.”

Apollo groaned, resting his forehead against the table. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”

Trucy winced. “That sounds horrible…” 

“It was. It was awful, and I regret that I did all of that only to switch my whole specialized career path after my first case… But then again, I don’t think I hate that I’m a prosecutor now, at least not that much.”

The girl just nodded solemnly. “Oh! But on that thought, how did the whole ‘becoming a detective’ thing go for you, Kay?”

Kay tilted her head in thought. “Hmm, well I worked as an assistant with Gummy for Edgey for like, a few years. We had some fun ass adventures, and thennnnnn I think I went to like, a two year training program and through connections and shit I ended up moving to interpol and doing stuff there! Admittedly, I think my qualifications came through experience and not at all through whatever the fuck I did in school. I didn’t… even… go to most of high school…” she trailed off, a weird look on her face. “Holy shit, I didn’t finish high school.”

The other three at the table gave her incredulous looks. 

Apollo frowned. “I thought you took online classes to get your GED at some point?”

Kay squinted. “I vaguely remember that. But honestly? Fuck school. Just learn the shit you need to on the fly. Fucking wing it.”

Apollo pointed at Trucy. “Don’t do that. Don’t listen to her.”

Clay laughed. “Okay, well, she’s not entirely wrong.”

“You got a fucking PhD, Clay!”

“Yeah, and I didn’t need it. Nor do I need to use it as a prior knowledge in my job. They would teach me whatever I need to know later on…”

“You’re not helping.”

Trucy crossed her arms and hummed in thought. “So should I drop out of high school then?”

“NO!” Apollo yelled, using his Chords of Steel. At the same time, Kay said “Fuck it, sure” and Clay said “Be who you wanna be, Barbie Girl.”

A few people still lingering in the bar looked over at their table, startled by Apollo’s shout. They quickly lost interest, though.

Apollo flushed red. “No. No dropping out of high school.”

Trucy pouted. “Aww…. But do I really need it?”

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, fighting off a migraine. “Maybe, maybe not. You don’t even really need to go to college or anything, but no dropping out of high school.”

“Cool, I don’t have to go to college.”

“That’s not what you were supposed to take away from what I said!”

Trucy shrugged. “Too bad, Polly. You gave me permission not to go to college now, cool.”

Apollo groaned, slamming his head into the table again.

“You know these tables aren’t that clean,” Kay said.

“Yeah, they really aren’t,” Clay agreed.

“Let me die from this then.”

“Awww, don’t die! We love you, Polly!” His sister said, shaking his shoulder.

“Too late. Bleh. I’m deceased now.”

The other three just laughed at him. Rude.

Chapter Text

Winston Payne’s Retirement Party was on a Friday evening. It was after work hours ended, though most people worked past five anyway. Apollo figured he could use the break, not to mention the fact that Clay and Trucy would both skin him alive for overworking.

Clay did end up coming to the party, ditching work in order to mingle with a bunch of prosecutors and detectives he didn’t even know. Well, he didn’t ditch work, but he did leave early for the day in order to be at the party. He deserved a break in any case, and it was nice to know that Apollo would have a ride home. He didn’t really want to bike back in the dark, or trust Kay’s questionable acquisition of a car. He wasn’t even sure that she drove to work that day.

Kay was with her detective coworkers off in another room. She had arrived with Ema after they did some actual productive work, catching up on their lives after not seeing each other since they were both teenagers. Apparently they were old friends, proving that Kay really did know everyone working in law in some weird, nonsensical way. 

Trucy had the rest of the evening off, her show getting canceled because the Wonderbar was closed for the rest of the week due to construction. Apparently there was some sort of safety hazard that caused the building to temporarily close for the week. There was bad flooring or something along those lines, which wasn’t concerning at all. Nope.

Apollo agreed to spend the entire weekend with his sister after that, seeing as she was free from her job. Trucy mentioned introducing him to one of her best friends, who apparently lived in a village that was two hours away by train. The name escaped Apollo, but he was pretty sure it was something along the lines of a gem. Ruby maybe? He wasn’t sure. 

In any case, he was meeting the girl the next day, so that was, in fact, a tomorrow problem.

The current, ‘today problem’, was social anxiety. It wasn’t exactly something that hindered Apollo on most days. He was nervous and shy during his school years, but that was mostly due to being an orphan who had an accent at the time. He was fine now. Absolutely, totally, fine.

He still didn’t enjoy large crowds and bright lights. At least it wasn’t as bad as that one Gavineers concert, though that might’ve sucked more because of the dead body.

“Herr Forehead!”

Speaking of the Gavineers.

“Prosecutor Gavin,” Apollo said in lieu of a greeting.

The man pouted. “Ach, you could act more happy to see me, you know,” he said with a snap of his fingers. “And did you forget that you can call me Klavier?”

Apollo only shook his head, unable to hide the small, amused smile from his face. “It’s not professional--”

“But work hours are over!” Klavier whined. 

He laughed. “Maybe so. Maybe I just purposefully did it to see you complain about it.” 

“Cruel. You are so cruel.” 

“Guilty,” Apollo said, lazily raising his hand up. 

“I suppose I’ll have to arrest you now, Liebling .” 

Again with the German nicknames. Apollo had half a mind to look up whatever Klavier said, but he was too lazy to bother. That, and ignorance is bliss. 

“Ew, enough flirting, you two! Like really? In front of my salad?”

“You don’t have any salad, Clay,” Apollo said, ignoring the burning on his face. 

“Pffft,” Clay scoffed, sliding over and tucking himself at Apollo’s side. “Still doesn’t mean I’m not right, because I totally am,” he said, reaching one of his hands out. “Hey, I’m Clay Terran, future astronaut! And you must be that hot german prosecutor Pollo has talked soooooo much about!”

Klavier gave Clay a wide eyed look, his cheeks turning a light pink. They both ignored how Apollo squawked in the background.

The rockstar cleared his throat and shook Clay’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Herr Terran. I’m Klavier Gavin.” 

Clay vigorously shook their hands together, his grip tight enough to leave marks from Klavier’s rings. Clay was holding back a laugh. “Wow, you really look like a kicked puppy right now. Did you really think I didn’t know who Klavier Gavin was?”

Klavier cleared his throat, extracting his hand from Clay’s and rubbing it in pain. “Ah, so you’re a man with tastes then, ja? Herr Forehead didn’t exactly recognize me during our first meeting.”

Apollo rolled his eyes. “Sorry I bruised your ego, Klavier.”

Clay gasped. “So it’s true! You really do call Klavier Gavin by his first name! No way!”

Klavier grimaced. Apollo just shook his head in exasperation. 

“Clay, you know I love you, but what the fuck.”

“What?” Clay said innocently-- and even without his family magic lie detecting powers he could tell it was total BS, “I didn’t do shit, Pollo.”

Apollo shot him a look. “Stop fucking fangirling to him. It was weird enough doing it when he wasn’t here, but to his face?”

Klavier perked up at that. “Oh? Do you talk about me when I’m not here, Herr Forehead?” He crooned. 

He groaned. “Ugh. No thanks.” 

Clay gasped again. “Don’t tell me you insulted Klavier Gavin to his face!”

“You’re literally right here in the conversation. You saw me do it,” Apollo said, an irritated look on his face. “And stop calling him by his full name! It’s weird!”

The astronaut stuck out his tongue.  “You’re weird.”

“Wow. So mature.” 

“More mature than you!”

“Objection!”

“Wow. Nerd.”

“Says the guy with a P-h-fucking-D.”

“Wow. All that proves is that I’m smarter than you, dumbass.”

“Oh shut up!” 

The two friends bickered, elbowing each other’s sides. 

Klavier looked between the two of them. “You two are… very close?”

They both halted their movements, whipping their heads up to stare at the rockstar. Klavier looked awkward and a little nervous by their stares.

Clay recovered first. “Ha! We’re the closest,” he said with a smirk. “Bestest of friends and all. Knew each other for over a decade! It’s like we’re brothers you know?” He said, winking at Klavier.

“What was with that emphasis on brothers, Clay?” Apollo asked, his expression clearly displaying his annoyance at his friend. 

Clay ignored him. 

Klavier fiddled with his bangs, confusion written all over his face. “I… don’t quite understand what’s going on.”

“Just ignore Clay, he’s a weirdo.”

Clay just loudly sighed. “You’re both hopeless. And I may be a weirdo but so are you. Embrace it, Polly Pocket.” 

Apollo groaned. 

“Ah, Prosecutor Justice and Gavin,” a voice called out, striding over to the trio. “It’s good to see you both, as well as…” The man paused. “Wait, who are you?”

Clay blinked and then grinned, eyeing the newcomer up and down. “Oh me? I’m Clay Terran, future astronaut!” he said, extending out his hand.

Apollo side eyed his friend. “Oh jeez, I’m getting deja vu.” 

“Oh shut up Pollo, I’m just introducing myself!”

Sebastian cleared his throat. “I see… Well I’m Sebastian Debeste, current prosecutor,” he greeted, shaking their hands together.

Clay’s eyes lit up. “Oh you’re awesome, I love that.”

Sebastian’s face warmed, his voice cracking as he pulled his hand back. “I-- O-okay? That’s, um, very nice of you.”

Apollo rolled his eyes and mumbled to Clay. “Your gay is showing.”

His friend just elbowed him harshly, not even bothering to spare him a glance. “Fuck off, bitch,” he hissed back.

Apollo responded by putting up his middle finger, purposefully moving it into his line of vision.

“Do you two hate each other so much to be fighting like this?” Sebastian asked, worry etched on his face. He bit his lip as he looked between the two friends, nervously bending his baton in an arch.

“Don’t worry about them, Herr F clef!” Klavier reassured, though his eyes darted between the two friends curiously. “This is normal for them.”

“A-are you sure?” He asked, tears welling in his eyes.

“Shit-” Apollo cursed under his breath. “Hey, Sebastian! It’s okay! Seriously, like, Clay and I talk like this all the time out of love and affection. You’ve seen how Kay and I interacted before.”

Sebastian blinked, but then slowly nodded. “I do remember your… weird friendship, yes.”

“Wait, you know Frau Faraday?”

Sebastian frowned. “You know she became one of my best friends after my whole thing with my fath-”

“No, I knew that,” Klavier interrupted, shaking his head, “I meant Herr Forehead.”

Apollo and Clay glanced at each other. The former cleared his throat to answer. “Oh yeah, I guess I never mentioned knowing her, huh.”

“Does she know everyone?” Klavier asked, running his hand through his bangs.

Apollo laughed. “I know right? Wait, how do you know her?”

Klavier sighed, twisting one of his rings around his finger. “Ach. She tried questioning me about my work after… Well, after my first trial. I’ve also run into her a few times over the years.”

“Ah, I see,” Apollo said with a nod. “I met her a long time ago in the courthouse library. I think she was running from the police.”

Klavier and Sebastian looked at him with shock. 

“Wait, what?” Klavier asked, incredulous. 

Sebastian merely hummed in thought. “I mean I guess she is a thief…”

Apollo grinned. “Yeah, but that time was because she stole a bag of confetti from her friend. She asked me to hide under the table I was working at.”

“Did you agree to it?” Sebastian asked, frowning.

“Yeah, I did. I just let her dive right under the table and lied to the guy that came looking for her without even realizing what was going on. I mean, it turned out to be a prank between friends, but I didn’t exactly know that at the time.”

“But you went along with it anyways?”

Apollo shrugged. “I mean, why not? I became friends with her that day.”

Clay laughed. “I thought you became friends after she called you out for that murder we saw.”

Apollo elbowed his friend. “Clay!”

Klavier looked bewildered by the entire conversation. “You saw a murder?”

“Oh first of all: it was just an assault. No one died. Second of all: Kay was investigating it for whatever reason and recognized us.”

“We were witnesses! Kinda. Apparently the middle school we went to was really corrupt. We saw the principal attack some dude and Kay wanted to confirm that the principal was, in fact, a super shitty guy,” the astronaut explained.

“Spoiler alert: he was,” Apollo cut in.

Clay smirked. “Yeah, and Apollo figured it out and punched him in the face!”

“I did not!”

“You totally did dude. You offered to give Kay a distraction so she could break into his office and went up to him and punched him! It was awesome.”

Apollo looked away, his face red. “Oh shut up.”

“The best part about it was that Apollo didn’t even get in trouble cause the dude got arrested! It makes me wish I punched him too.” 

Apollo just shook his head, trying to hide his fond smile. “Anyways, that’s how we befriended Kay.”

Sebastian chuckled. “She sure bursts into people’s lives…”

“No kidding,” Klavier mumbled. 

Clay snickered. “Like how she burst in and crashed our prom?”

Apollo groaned. “Don’t remind me. Literally do not,” he said, slapping his hand over Clay’s face.

“Ow- Pollo, Pollo please get your hand off me, I will lick it.”

Apollo jerked his hand away. “Ew, don’t be weird.”

“We already established that I am weird, dude!” 

Sebastian looked between them, before blinking in surprise, clapping his hands together. “I’ve had an effigy!”

“Do you mean epiphany?” Clay asked.  

“Right! An epiphany!” He pointed at them with his baton, moving back and forth between them. “You two… are, uh, dating?” He said, though it was more like a question. He started out confident, but it slowly tapered off into an unsure statement.

Clay and Apollo shared a look.

“Hah. No,” Apollo said bluntly at the same time Clay said, “nope, I’m straight.”

“O-oh. Hm, I-I see,” Sebastian fiddled with his baton, embarrassed. 

“Wait, Clay, you-- what the fuck?” Apollo gave his friend an incredulous look, before shaking his head. He turned his head to Sebastian, giving the other prosecutor a reassuring pat on the arm. “Also it’s fine that you assumed that, Sebastian, considering everyone thinks that we’re dating after seeing us together for whatever reason.”

“It’s because we’re best friends and we love each other and we’re both ridiculously hot, so why wouldn’t we date?”

“Aw, you think I’m hot?”

“Yeah, but no homo.”

Apollo snorted. “Fuck you, Clay.”

Clay shook his head. “Sorry, I just came out as straight, so no can do.”

Apollo choked on a laugh, slapping Clay’s arm. “Oh shut up! I hate you so much.”

“Drats, there goes one of my points. Two out of three isn’t so bad though.”

“Die.”

“Hey! That’s illegal! You can’t do that to me!”

Sebastian frowned as the two friends kept bickering. He leaned over to Klavier. “Are they… always like that?”

Klavier shrugged. “I just met Herr Terran today but… I suppose so?”

“...” Sebastian grimaced. “That is… worrying.”

“A bit, ja.”

“Well! I’ll assume it’s… fine. Probably.”

“Probably,” Klavier echoed with a sigh.

Apollo groaned, stepping away from Clay. “Ugh, sorry about that,” he said, turning towards the other two prosecutors. “We probably shouldn’t be fighting at, uh, the retirement party for… our coworker.” 

Klavier smirked. “You forgot Herr Payne’s name?”

“You have no proof if I did or did not, Gavin.”

“Ach, back to last names now, Herr Forehead? I’m wounded,” he said, pressing a hand against his chest.

Apollo rolled his eyes. “Shut up,” he said, wincing at how whiny he sounded. 

“Oh, by the way, I’m very gay and very single,” Clay inserted into the conversation, giving a big exaggerated wink toward Sebastian. 

“Uh-- me too?” 

“Really?!” Clay perked up, before coughing slightly into his fist. “I mean-- nice.” 

Apollo elbowed his friend. “Really? In front of my salad?” He joked, rolling his eyes. 

“Ouch, how the tables have turntabled,” Clay said with a sigh.

“Stop being gay on main.”

“No you.”

Apollo shoved his friend away. “Shut up.”

Clay stuck his tongue out. “No. But maybe I’ll just steal away Sebby over here and be gay not on main. Happy?” He asked, taking Sebastian by the elbow and pulling him away.

“Yep,” Apollo said dryly. “Have fun, dumbass.”

“I will!” He called back, before turning to the other man and asking if he was okay with being pulled away, only fully pulling him to another room after gaining permission.

“And then there were two,” Klavier said, leaning forward into Apollo’s personal space. 

Apollo moved his gaze to the other man, their eyes locking. “... Klavier,” he started, speaking softly as he watched the man in question gain a pinkish hue to his cheeks.

“Ja?” He whispered back, as if speaking too loudly would break whatever moment they were having.

“Are you okay?”

Klavier pulled away. Apollo tried not to show his disappointment. Not that he felt disappointment or whatever. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” He asked, twirling the ring on his ring finger with his thumb.

“Gotcha ,” Apollo mumbled under his breath, his eyes tracking the movement. “Klavier… You just saw your best friend get arrested just last week. It’s okay if you’re still upset by it.”

“But I’m not upset about it, schatz. As you so often say, I’m fine."

Apollo shook his head. “You really aren’t, Klavier. You play with your rings when you’re nervous, and you were spinning your ring whenever you said that you were fine. It proves that you aren’t, and it’s okay to be upset, you know?”

“Ach, I really can’t lie to you, huh Hase?” Klavier sighed. “And perhaps I’m not fine, but I will be. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I think I’d be worrying about you no matter what.”

Klavier’s whole face flushed. “O-oh? Well you don’t need to concern yourself with me--”

“But I want to, Klavier. I-- whether or not you want me to, I’ll worry about you,” he said, his face also tinged pink, but he refused to look away.

“I…” Klavier trailed off, but found himself unable to look away either. “Apollo I should tell you that I--”

“Polly!” 

The pair broke apart, springing back away from each other to turn toward the new voice.

“H-hey Trucy!” Apollo called out, laughing awkwardly. “What’s up?”

The girl ran up to the duo, glancing between the two of them. “... Did I interrupt something?”

Klavier shook his head. “Ach, don’t worry about it, Frau Magician. Did you need Herr Forehead for something?”

She gasped. “Oh, right! Yeah! Pa-- erm, Mr. Edgeworth asked me to come get you?”

Apollo frowned. “That sounds like a question.”

Trucy shook her head. “Oh no, he definitely did ask me to get you. I just might have, uh, jumped the gun on it a little bit?”

“Huh?”

“Wellll, he basically said that he wanted to speak to you at some point, and I decided to rush over and get you…” She trailed off, pressing her fingers together with a grimace on her face. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you two.”

“It’s okay, Truce. I’m sure I can talk with Prosecutor Gavin later, right?” Apollo asked, turning to the other man.

Klavier flashed him a strained smile, fiddling with his bangs. “Of course! I’ll look forward to our next meeting, Herr Forehead,” he said with a wink. 

Apollo chuckled. “And I’ll look forward to it, as well, Mr. Rockstar.”

Trucy gave Apollo a look as the siblings left the room together. “Are you sure you two aren’t dating?”

“No!” He scoffed, his cheeks flushed red. “I mean-- we definitely are not . Shut it.”

She just laughed at him.

The Chief Prosecutor had apparently asked for Apollo in order to discuss his part in the secret project. One that Apollo didn’t know he was a part of until that moment, actually. 

That part didn’t matter, though. He had time to worry about it at a later date. The part of the conversation that was more important was the fact that blindsided him. One that absolutely did not compute in his brain.

“Wh- wait, Truce, did you just call Mr. Edgeworth your dad?”

Trucy winced slightly before plastering a smile on her face. Edgeworth just continued to make a pained face. “I dunno what you mean, Polly! I didn’t call Mr. Edgeworth my dad.”

His bracelet didn’t move. It wasn’t as though she was lying, either. 

“You’re right, you said the word Papa, not dad,” Apollo corrected with a sigh. Trucy was a really good liar-- she knew just how to circumvent the Perceive power by being careful with her wording. If he didn’t know it was a lie of omission beforehand, he wouldn’t have suspected anything.

She pouted. “Maybe so.”

“Aren’t you a little too young for that meme?”

“Hey!”

Apollo frowned. “No, like, really. Did that meme happen before you were born?”

“...” Trucy crossed her arms over her chest, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I don’t know.”

“Yikes, I feel old now.”

She giggled. “You’re not that old! You’re not even the oldest person in the room!”

Edgeworth made an offended noise that both siblings ignored.

“Yeah, but my old creaky bones cannot deal with this BS, Chief,” he said with a weary smile, before grimacing. “Wait, I’m getting off topic.”

She sighed. “I was hoping you would forget.”

Apollo just shook his head. “I didn’t. Though… I guess now I know who you were referring to, back then.”

“Back then?”

“Er, yeah. But I didn’t hear anything back then, so I suppose I didn’t hear anything now.”

Edgeworth furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

The magician bit her lip. “Oh, right. You did do me a solid back then, huh?” She chuckled. “Though, you’re my brother now! Well, I guess you were back then too, but I wasn’t too sure about it at the time…”

“You really don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, you know,” Apollo said, placing his hands on Trucy’s shoulders. He didn’t want to pressure her on it, even if he was curious about it.

“Well…” Trucy trailed off, looking to Edgeworth for guidance. “Can I tell him? He’s my brother, so he’s also my family, too, you know?”

Edgeworth merely sighed, moving his glasses off his face in order to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I… Suppose this was inevitable, considering your close relationship. He is your family, and although he is my subordinate I do trust him… The only reason I am a little wary is due to who your father is.”

Trucy hummed in thought. “Well… I don’t think Daddy would mind me telling Polly! I think it’s just your reputation that would take a hit, if anything,” she said, giggling.

Edgeworth groaned.

Apollo just looked between the two with confusion and mild curiosity on his face, his hands slipping off his sister’s shoulders.

“Well, anyways! The truth is, well, it’s that Mr. Edgeworth is my Papa.”

He kinda figured, considering she slipped up and called him that just now. And also did it once before. “... Okay then.”

“Mmm, and that happened because Daddy adopted me, and Papa and Daddy are, ah, together?”

Apollo mulled that over in his brain. So his current boss was dating (or even married?) to Apollo’s sister’s adoptive father, who was his previous defendant, who gave him forged evidence and could have cost him his badge. Or, also known as one of the men that was his idol and inspired him to be a defense attorney, as well as one of the men that drove him to change his profession.

Great. Okay. Whatever. Not weird at all.

“... Right, okay.”

“That’s it? Just okay?” Edgeworth asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

“Well, uh, yeah. I’m kinda processing the information right now, but… It doesn’t have to be a big deal. It’s…” Apollo trailed off, not sure about what to say. “I guess I’m just honored you told me, though I think I kinda pressured it into happening which, ah, sorry about that.”

“It’s quite alright.”

“Yeah, Polly! It’s okay! I know you aren’t the biggest fan of Daddy, and that’s okay, even if I wish it were different…” Trucy said with a sigh. “But I know he did something that hurt you, and that’s not okay! You’re both my family, but you don’t have to see each other as family right now. Maybe one day, though!”

Apollo nodded. “I… I’ll try to talk to him more, I guess. I don’t think I hate him that much anymore, but I can try to get along with him better. For your sake and your sake only, okay?”

Trucy cheered. “That’s fine! I’m just glad you’ll try.”

He gave her a soft smile. “Mm. Of course.”

“And I know it’s a little weird, since Papa is your boss, but we’re family! And I’m just glad I can tell you about him more. I don’t really like keeping secrets from you, so now I can say whatever I like without any worry or consequence!”

“Maybe a little consequence, Truce. I don’t want you spilling state secrets or something.”

She winked and grinned. “I’m glad that you recognize that I definitely have state secrets up my sleeves, Polly.”

Edgeworth recoiled. “Wait, you have state secrets?!”

The siblings looked at each other and laughed.