Chapter Text
The sun was set high in the sky. It cast a glaring blanket of light across the small town - shadows stretched over children attempting to hide from the sun's rays. Greenery streaked across the warm soil lining the cracked and beaten pavement. Trees sprouted from the ground, swirling in random shapes and patterns into the bright blue sky. A boy wearing a loose, colourful tie-dye T-shirt and a pair of pale blue denim shorts cycled speedily up the side of the road. The wind swept through his spiky, surprisingly aerodynamic black hair; he pushed a strand of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes behind his ear. His eyes lit up as he spotted the towering silhouette of a University in the distance - his University.
Eventually he arrived, and he rested his bike against the bike stands, completely forgetting to lock it up. He walked hastily through the wide doorways. As he walked in, his eyes were met with the blazing red of the carpet, the brown, woolen walls, and the pale green fabric of the chairs. A massive grin spread across his face. He was here. He was finally here. He had spent a long, long time studying and working his ass off just to get here, and he did it. Guys, gals, and non-binary pals of the jury, Phoenix Wright was finally going to become an artist.
Phoenix didn't actually have any classes today - he had his first lecture in 2 days, but what's the harm in checking out the Uni beforehand? He was staying on-campus too, so he still had to set up his stuff. He pulled out a map from his backpack and stared at it for a minute. He then scrunched it into a ball and dropped it into the nearest trash can, realising that he had no idea how to read a goddamn map. 'I doubt Google Maps is gonna help me with this one...' he muttered under his breath. He decided to try to ask someone else for a brief tour of the place, so he approached a somewhat suspicious-looking person wearing all black clothes and a hoodie that covered their hair. The person was staring down at their phone and walking slowly towards a staircase. "Hello!!" Phoenix called out, louder than intended. The hooded person jumped, and then turned to face him, pulling their hood off their head.
The two's eyes met, and there was a brief moment of silence, before...
"LARRY?!!"
"NICK!?!?"
They both screamed eachother's names simultaneously, alarming everyone else in the room. They stared and pointed at eachother in complete shock. "W-what on Earth are you doing here?? I thought you moved all the way to Australia!!" Phoenix spluttered. 'Larry' chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. "Ehehe...well, the whole thing with Addison didn't really work out, so I decided to move back here!" He spoke, putting his thumb up with an awkward grin on his face. "B-but!! How the hell did you manage to get in?? They only let people in who pass that really difficult entrance exam! I had to study for almost an entire year!!" Phoenix yelled. People around them were beginning to stare, so he lowered his voice. "And no offence, but you're not exactly..." He muttered, his voice fading out at the end. "Oh, that? It was no problem! I have some 'connections' to the school, so they just let me in." Larry said smugly. Phoenix stared at him in disbelief. "Connections?" He murmured, but Larry either didn't hear, or he just ignored him.
"So anyways!! How've you been, Nicky? Found a girl?" He noticed the look Phoenix was giving him. "Or a guy?" He added. Phoenix sighed. "No, Larry, I haven't 'found' anyone. And I don't need to find anyone, either." He spoke. Larry just laughed. "Sure, sure, whatever you say, Nicky!! So anyways, are you headed to your dorm?" Phoenix raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "And how do you know I'm staying in a dorm?" He asked skeptically. "Oh, uhh...It's your backpack! It looks really heavy, so I sorta guessed you were carrying some stuff for it." Larry replied, averting his eyes. "Pretty good deduction skills, huh?" Phoenix narrowed his eyes at him for a bit longer before sighing and dropping the matter. "Well, I am, but I, uh...have no idea where anything is in this place." He revealed, staring at the ground. "Oh!! Haha, looks like for once you're the clueless one, not me!!" Larry laughed, earning an eyeroll from Phoenix. Larry grinned cheekily. "Well look no further, Nicky! I'm the best tour guide on campus. I'll get you where you need to go!!" He shouted dramatically. Phoenix thanked him, and hurried him out of the building to avoid the questioning gazes of their schoolmates.
~~~
After a short and somewhat questionable 'tour' of the University, the two friends finally arrived at the dormitory. Sure, Phoenix had no clue where any of the art classrooms or lecture halls were, and he didn't even know which building the library was in, but at least he knew where the girls' locker rooms are. He sighed internally - he was going to have to ask someone else for help after he finishes setting up his room.
He and Larry walked up the steps, their feet thudding on each metal step. They made it to the second floor and checked each of the doors, eventually finding the one labelled "Room 204". Larry began fidgeting with the doorknob. "What're you doing?" Phoenix asked, feeling the strap of his backpack drop off his shoulder and hit the floor. "Aw man, it's locked. I kinda wanted to open the door dramatically and surprise you with how awesome your new room is, y'know?" Larry pouted, letting go of the doorknob. Phoenix raised an eyebrow at him once more. "Really? According to you, you didn't even know I was staying in a dorm until like 15 minutes ago. How do you know what my room's like?" He spoke. Larry opened his mouth to speak, but Phoenix interrupted. "You even told me earlier that you weren't staying on campus! How do you explain this glaring contradiction??" He shouted passionately. Larry stood in shocked silence for a second, staring at the finger Phoenix was pointing in front of him. "H-hey Nick, you're pretty scary when you do the whole 'contradiction' thing. You sure you don't wanna be a lawyer or something?" He whimpered, slowly backing away. Phoenix chuckled, lowering his hand. "Nah. That stuff's not for me." He spoke, waving his hand dismissively. He then dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small silver key. He placed it in the keyhole in the door and turned it, slowly pulling the door open.
Larry wasn't wrong - the room was pretty awesome. Well, for a dorm room, at least. Silver lined the circular benches, which were so clean that Phoenix could quite literally see his own face reflected in them. Guess I won't be needing a mirror, then...He thought, before realising that with his level of cleanliness, the benches would probably be coated with dust within a day. The walls were covered with a soft, blue sheet of wallpaper. Phoenix noticed a small window on the back wall and looked through it. He was met with the sight of a dumpster - the one at the back of the dormitory. "What a nice view to wake up to..." Phoenix muttered, and Larry chuckled. Phoenix stepped towards a door on the other side of the room and opened it. It led to a short hallway, with two doors. One was labelled 'toilet and bathroom', so he could kind of guess what was inside. He opened the door anyways, and took a look around the fairly ordinary-looking bathroom; there was a toilet, a shower, and a sink. Not super interesting, but at least he wouldn't have to walk all the way to the classroom buildings to go to the bathroom.
He opened the other door, and immediately noticed something was off. It was a bedroom, with a quaint floral curtain covering a small window, and two beds. "Hey, Larry? Do you have any idea why there're two beds in here?" He called out, reaching his hand out to feel the fluffy pillows. "Well, yeah. You know you're getting a roommate, right?" Larry replied from right behind him, scaring the life out of him. "What?!! A...A roommate?" Phoenix shouted. He had never had a roommate before, let alone someone he had never met. He most certainly did NOT want to share his living space with a total stranger. "Why did no one tell me about this??!!" He yelled, spinning around to face Larry. Larry covered his ears with his hands, waiting for Phoenix to quiet down. "Chill out, dude...I'm pretty sure they told you on that form you got when you signed up to stay on campus." He whined. Phoenix stared at him in bewilderment for a second before running out into the living room. He grabbed his backpack and reached into it, pulling out the slightly scrunched-up form he got back from the school a few weeks ago. He unraveled it and scanned the page for anything mentioning a roommate - eventually he found it, at the bottom of the page, in tiny print. 'Please note that these rooms are to be shared between two students.'
"Damn fine print!!" Phoenix groaned, throwing his head back. He heard giggling coming from the bedroom, which he assumed was Larry. "Shut up!!" Phoenix called out half-jokingly. He stared at the form in annoyance. He wasn't looking forward to having his privacy intruded on by a stranger. Well, maybe they'll be nice, and we can become friends or something...Phoenix thought to himself. As loud and talkative as he was, he wasn't the type of person who enjoyed meeting new people, which often surprised people. Oh well, he thought. Nothing I can do about it, I guess.
~~~
Later that day, after Phoenix had unpacked all his stuff (making sure to leave room for his roommate to put their things), he found a group of students who apparently noticed he was new and offered to give him a tour of the University. The tour was much more thorough and useful than Larry's, and Phoenix realised the place was a lot easier to navigate than he originally thought.
He ate at the Uni's cafeteria, and decided to drop by his dorm room one more time before heading home. Who knows - maybe he would even get to meet his new roommate.
He walked up the stairs and found the door to his room.
He pushed the door open.
As it swung open, Phoenix was met with the back of someone wearing a burgundy-coloured suit, with something white wrapped around their neck - a scarf, maybe? The person had grey hair, with long bangs slightly visible from behind. They had broad shoulders, and were about the same height as Phoenix, if not slightly taller. They wore clean, expensive-looking pants, and had shining, jet-black shoes. The person appeared to be pulling things out of their bag and placing them on the counter; cutlery, plates, wine glasses, and a fancy coffee maker.
Phoenix was in complete and utter shock - his arms dropped to his sides, and he just stared at the person, his mouth agape. "Edgeworth?" He whispered, making the other person jump. They slowly stood upright and turned to face Phoenix. As they locked eyes with him, their face morphed into one of surprise and...horror? "P-Phoenix Wright." The person, Edgeworth, stammered. Phoenix gulped. This was definitely going to be an interesting year.