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It was late. The cool, pastel yellow moon shone outside Apollo Justice’s window, gently illuminating the dark, blue-tinted room of the office. Usually, he wouldn’t be looking over a case he’d already won at this time of night. Even though he had already won the case, he still wanted to make sure the files were in the right order; it was a big case, after all. Besides, tonight was the perfect night to be doing this. Nobody was going to come in and interrupt him. It was way too late for anybody to even think about-
Click.
Who… did someone open the door…? Apollo looked up from his paper and suspiciously peeked at the entrance. “Hello? Who’s there?” Apollo called, setting the files he had been holding aside. It was mildly- no, very concerning that someone had managed to break into the office. The last thing Apollo wanted was to become a murder victim.
“It’s just me, Polly.” a familiar voice rang. It was Trucy, Phoenix Wright’s daughter. “I just forgot something of mine, that’s all. Aunt Maya drove me here.” Trucy chirped, walking into the room. “Hey, by the way, congrats on the win today!”
The defense attorney let out a mild sigh of relief. At least it wasn’t some crazed serial killer. It was just a crazed young magician. “Thanks,” he said, almost sarcastically. He couldn’t tell if that ‘thanks’ was directed towards the congratulation or the fact that it was only Trucy. Picking the folder back up, he asked, “What’d you forget?”
“Just my wand, is all.” Trucy simply replied, skipping back to the couch where Apollo sat. “I found it, by the way.” the magician slid and jumped on the couch arm. “What are you doing, anyway? It’s like… 8:00 P.M. or something. You’re gonna be tired.”
So much for nobody coming in to interrupt him. Apollo’s eye twitched in slight annoyance. Why was Trucy concerned with what time he went to bed, anyway? He had a schedule that he strictly followed, which included what time he got ready for bed and when he did his Chords of Steel workout, all on a set time. “I’m going over the case once more. I need to get the files in order.”
Trucy sighed playfully and rolled her eyes. “Sure you do, Apollo. You suuuure do.” she said, hopping down from where she sat. The defense attorney in turn rolled his eyes at the comment and let out a sigh. Yes, he had to. No other explanation. It was required.
It was always frustrating when Klavier left flowers or something of the sort. Pretentious and annoying, just like the prosecutor. The way he talked, his stupid confident demeanor, his aggravating, pretty face. It was truly bothersome. Apollo glared at the roses, who had been carefully set in a white vase. Each rose’s thorns had been plucked, leaving but a delicate, vulnerable flower. The defense attorney admitted that it did seem a little peculiar, though he didn’t expect anything less from the rockstar. They were tied together by a thin, yellow string, which had a card attached. On the front of it, it read:
“TO: HERR FOREHEAD
FROM: KLAVIER GAVIN”
On the back of it was some number, which Apollo figured to be Klavier’s number or something like that. He dryly chuckled to himself. Like he’d ever call it. Hopefully, Trucy would leave before she noticed the flowers Klavier had sent.
“Hey, Earth to Apollo!” the 15-year-old magician called, waving her gloved hand in front of Apollo’s face way closer than it should have been. The defense attorney recoiled back into his seat and frowned. Too close, that was way too much movement that was way too close.
“Hey, hey, b-back up a little!” Apollo yelped. Now he really wanted to be left alone. “Shouldn’t you be leaving anyways, Trucy? You got what you neede-” Before he could finish, Trucy interrupted him with the exact thing he didn’t want her to notice.
“Ooooh! Pretty flowers! Who are they from?” Trucy asked, grabbing a rose from the bouquet. “Thornless too! Doesn’t that mean love at first sight?” she said, putting a finger to her chin. It seemed slightly strange that Trucy didn’t even check to see if they had thorns or not, nor did she realize they were de-thorned until after she had picked them up. Apollo wondered what would have happened if they were prickly.
“Look, does it matter? Could you please leave now? I don’t wanna be bothered right now, okay? And I really don’t wanna talk about that.” Apollo snipped, frowning at Trucy. Despite seeming stern on the outside, he was internally panicking. The last thing he wanted to do was get Trucy started on the whole Klavier thing. Oh god, she’d never shut up then.
Unfortunately, to his dismay, Trucy already had the fancy, yellow card in her hand. It was over . Apollo shut his eyes tight, groaning internally as he prepared himself for the barrage of compliments the magician was about to shower the prosecutor with. Uggghhhh. Seriously, how could she even like him? “Ohhh, they’re from Klavier!” she smiled. “He really, really likes you, you know. As I said, thornless roses mean love at first si-”
“I don’t care about the roses! I don’t even like him. He’s so annoying!” Apollo yelped, scrunching his face up and crossing his arms. “He’s so pretentious and full of himself a-and loud, just like his music!”
Trucy looked at Apollo, blinking in surprise. “Well, if you don’t like him like that, you should tell him. Don’t lead him on, y’know? It’s not nice to do that.” L-Leading him on…? Was that what Apollo was doing? Surely not! No, he was just- Klavier didn’t- You could leave roses for friends too, right?
“I never said-” He never said what , exactly? All he and Klavier were acquaintances, right? Because acquaintances don’t think about the way the other plays with their hair while idly thinking, or the way the other laughed when something ridiculous happened, or the way he looked at him with his pale, icy, blue eyes… or the way he smelled like that really nice magnolia soap… or how his voice sounded so wonderfully soothing and sm-
Apollo shuddered. What the hell was he thinking?! Snap out of it! He hated Klavier! There was no way in hell that he ever felt any shred of affection in that sense towards that boisterous son of a bitch. Not once chance was Apollo Justice, ace attorney, in love with the prosecutor.
“Uh… You never said… what?” Trucy suspiciously asked, putting her hand on her hip. “You kinda drifted off for a sec there, Apollo. Then you looked angry all of a sudden.” she chuckled. Her tone sounded slightly confused, but her face harbored a friendly yet mischievous smile (sort of like Maya’s). This was confusing for Apollo; he couldn’t tell if she was happy or confused. There were contradicting facts that he didn’t want to ask about at that moment.
“He’s just an acquaintance. I don’t…” That statement didn’t even make any sense! He’d still need to tell Klavier, acquaintance or not, assuming that Klavier was sending flowers and everything was because he had a crush on Apollo. S-Surely not, though. Otherwise, the prosecutor would have told him, (well he kinda did, but it was still hard to believe, and Apollo was in denial) right? Everything was just so confusing.
Trucy chuckled once more. “You’re so readable, Apollo. Of course you still need to tell him, silly! Whatever your status may be between you and him, acquaintance or best friend, you’d need to tell him that you don’t share the same romantic feelings he does. It saves a looootta awkwardness, believe me.” Like she had ever had something like this happen to her.
Apollo hated it when Trucy assumed what he was thinking. Mostly because she was always right. “Anyways, Aunt Maya told me to tell you to remember to lock up when you leave. If I saw you, of course.”
“Whatever,” Apollo huffed, nabbing the files and standing up. “Alright, I will.” It was about time to go home anyway. “Goodnight, Trucy,” he called, making his way to the file cabinet that was located a bit of a way across the room. He took one final look at the girl, who was already halfway out of the room.
“Night!” the magician chirped back, waving as she closed the door. With a final ‘ click ’, Apollo was alone once more. He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination or what, but the room had become seemingly quieter than it was before. He also didn’t know if that was good or not. Whatever the case was, it was beginning to get past time to leave, and Apollo didn’t want to hang around any longer than he had to.
Thus, he began to gather up his stuff and clean up the office as it was before he came (out of courtesy reasons, of course) and to think about what had gone down moments ago. What Trucy had said--telling Klavier he wasn’t interested--was something he didn’t really consider before then. But… thinking about it now… Why did it bother him? It wasn’t like he shared the same feelings. No, no, no, no, he’d already established that fact. He was not gay for the prosecutor-slash-rockstar. So, telling him wouldn’t be hard, right?
He was only bothered by it out of sympathy. Sure, they were only co-workers, but it was basic human empathy to care for another being’s feelings. That’s all it was, right? Apollo would tell him tomorrow, because he was fine with the thought of Klavier not leaving flowers anymore or asking him to dinner or any of that. He was fine. He was fine.
After adding the finishing touches to the office, Apollo was almost ready to leave. The last thing he needed before he could head out was his copy of Ouran High School Host Club . Now, where did he… Oh. By the flowers, of course. The defense attorney made his way over to the glass table where the two items resided.
What was supposed to happen was that Apollo would grab his manga, then leave without any second thought. Unfortunately, however, that was not what occurred. He did manage to grab his manga, but… something kept him from picking it up off the table. Something had caught his attention.
The flowers.
They were staring him right in the face, ever so delicately. The yellow card dangled from their stems, dancing against the small draft carried throughout the room. Apollo gently grabbed it and flipped it over to the number on the back. Maybe… maybe it wouldn’t hurt to take it. After all, Klavier did leave it for him. And besides, he needed some way to contact Klavier to break the news to him. That was all he wanted it for. It wasn’t like the thought of talking to the rockstar in his spare time crossed his mind, no, not at all. Not… at… all…
Apollo carefully tore off the card and shoved it in his pocket. Finally, he lifted the book off the table and put it under his arm. He was ready to go home.
●○•°-°•○●
Awake and restless. That was what Apollo was that night. No matter what he did, he just couldn’t sleep. He had tried reading, exercising, sleeping on the floor, sleeping on the couch, screaming ‘I’m fine’ (which inevitably made his throat hurt), and countless other activities before giving up and resorting to watching Netflix on his living room sofa. He was, in short, frustrated. And tired, to say the least.
There Apollo sat, his OHSHC manga in hand. He had picked the series up out of pure curiosity about a month ago in the bookstore. Originally, he had no intention to keep reading, let alone get hooked on it. Yet, there he was, halfway through the series. Usually, he would only read when he was pulling an all-nighter to prepare for a complex case. This, however, he would read at any chance he got. Even Apollo himself wasn’t sure what drew him into the series that much. Maybe it was the story, or even possibly the characters. It was probably both.
It was quite a simple (and somewhat generic) high school comedy(?) love story. Boy falls for person, boy tries to impress person who isn’t too interested at first, shenanigans ensue. Some parts of it were… iffy, to say the least, but overall, the character development was what stood out the most to Apollo. The boy, Tamaki, starts to genuinely care for the person, and the person, Haruhi, starts to reluctantly open up. It was sweet, and a change in pace from what he regularly read.
Apollo closed the book and sighed. He had gotten to a point where he couldn’t even process the words on page. He set the manga aside, wrapped his blanket around him, and thought for a while. In a way, Tamaki reminded him of Klavier. Annoying and stupid. Well, on second thought, not really . Klavier could be smart… sometimes. More than sometimes. He had a great voice, too… It was soothing and deep, unlike Winston Payne’s voice. God, he hated that man’s voice. But Klavier… no, his voice was nice to listen to. And his lips looked super soft. Klavier had nice lips. Apollo propped his arms on his knees and rested his head. Klavier just looked nice in general . Even his smile was nice. The way he giggled was surprisingly cute (except for the times he laughed at Apollo for being 5’ 4” and unable to reach things that were beyond that), or how he looked at him with his dreamy, blue eyes. Just thinking about it made Apollo smile.
… These were normal thoughts, right? These were completely platonic thoughts, not love or anything.
The man sunk his face into his arms further. There it was again. That one word. He had been thinking about it all night; about how he totally didn’t feel that way towards the prosecutor he was denying it , about how it felt, about… about the way he felt when he thought about the other man, about how his heart fluttered and felt lighter every time he saw him, or how he could feel his face turn a bright red whenever Klavier asked him for dinner, or how he froze up whenever the rockstar flirted with him, or how he wondered about how his lips would feel against Klavie-
Apollo froze. He could feel his eyes shoot wide open. “F… Fuck…” he murmured, furrowing his brows. He almost didn’t want to believe it. But then again, how much longer could he deny it? Surely, this wasn’t… there was no way he could… was this what it felt like? He wasn’t… Oh, man.
He was in love with Klavier Gavin.
This changed everything. Apollo stood up from his seat and ran his fingers through his messy hair. Oh god. Oh, god. With this realization shortly followed his anxiety. His breaths had become shallow and quickened as he began to pace around the room. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine.” Apollo muttered, attempting to calm himself down. This was admittedly a tiny bit of an overreaction, but it wasn’t like he could help it. Being sleep deprived didn’t exactly help his case, nor did the fact that late-night anxiety decided to show up at what was arguably the absolute worst time ever.
What if Trucy was wrong? What if Klavier was being completely platonic? What if the dinner suggestions and flirting were just Apollo picking up the wrong social cues? Each anxious thought only made his breathing shallower than before. Oh, god, what was he going to do?! What if all of his anxious thoughts were correct, and Klavier would reject him, and his feelings wouldn’t be returned? Apollo ran his hand through his hair once more, stopping in his tracks. Okay. He had to think rationally; panicking wouldn’t do him any good, would it? It was only about 11:45, he still had time to think about what he could do. Besides, it wasn’t like he had a legal trial tomorrow. Apollo was fine. He was fine. There was no reason to panic, anyways. This was just something he had to figure out.
The man made his way back to his living room and sat back down on his couch. He had finally begun to feel the exhaustion setting in. However, despite his body being physically tired, his mind was buzzing. How was he going to go about telling Klavier? Surely, he wouldn’t wait until the two had a case together. No, he had to tell him sooner than that. Maybe tomorrow morning? No, too soon; he’d have a better chance tomorrow afternoon. Apollo pressed his index finger against his forehead and frowned. He could probably call Klavier (later, of course--Apollo figured it was too late and the other man was already asleep by then) and ask him to meet somewhere (most likely the local mall’s food court). Or rather, text him instead, since the rockstar didn’t have Apollo’s number and would probably hang up.
And thus, he had a frame of a plan; something he could work with. All that was left to do was figure out what he was going to say and work up the courage to say it. So… what was he going to say? He couldn’t just walk up to Klavier and clumsily spit out ‘I think I’m deeply in love with you and I’d like to date’, could he? No, he needed to plan out some sort of confession, or something along those lines. Apollo cleared his throat and brushed his hair out of his eyes. “Right… paper…” he muttered to himself, looking around for something to write on. Sure enough, there was a stray notepad on the mini table in front of the couch. Grabbing a nearby pen, he began his speech.
●○•°-°•○●
Soon enough, that night had come to an end, and Apollo had gotten little to no rest. After all, he spent most of his early morning practicing his confession (with the occasional break to practice his ‘Chords of Steel’ workout, as by that point it had been nearing 5 AM). Despite being sleep-deprived, he went on to text Klavier and initiate the meeting, just as he had planned the night before. To Apollo’s relief (but not surprise), the prosecutor agreed.
There Apollo sat in the mall’s food court, idly checking his phone as he waited for the prosecutor to arrive. It was already 9:00, and Klavier was nowhere to be seen. Where in the hell was he? Apollo frowned and let out an exasperated sigh. The man pulled his iPhone out of his coat pocket and looked through their text messages again, just to make sure that he was right. Sure enough, Klavier’s text read, ‘I’ll see you at 8:30 then, ja?’ Apollo scoffed, clicking off his phone and setting it face down on the table. 30 minutes! There are some things that one shouldn’t do, like not show up for 30 or more minutes when someone asks to meet up, or-
“Better to be fashionably late than just late, ja?” Apollo snapped out of thought almost instantly; he recognized that voice. It was Klavier, finally showing up after 30 MINUTES. “You wanted to tell me something, Herr Forehead?” the other man continued, sitting down at the opposite end of where Apollo sat. Weirdly enough, this was one of the only times—possibly the first—that the defense attorney had seen Klavier in completely casual clothes. Usually, he wore a maroon jacket with a dark shirt under it, but this time, he was wearing a black t-shirt with equally black pants (it was unclear if these were jeans or not), and his usual chain necklace which had his band’s symbol on it. Additionally, he had not put up his hair as he usually did; it was completely down.
“You’re just plain late . By 30 minutes, too!” Apollo frowned. “You don’t do that!!” he exclaimed, clearly upset. He looked at Klavier and slumped back in his seat. Until Klavier gave a good explanation, he wasn’t going to let this go.
Klavier, on the other hand, calmly stared at Apollo. “Alright, alright. I’m sorry I’m late. Traffic was a little bad, see? I sincerely apologize.” he chuckled, twirling one of his locks of hair.
Apollo continued to frown at him. “Fine. Apology accepted… I guess.” he huffed. Usually, he didn’t like to settle for ‘good enough’ answers, but he needed to get to the point before Klavier left, or something of that sort happened. That didn’t mean he was going to let Klavier being late off the hook. “Um, anyways… Y-Yeah, I did want to talk to you about something.” Apollo said, relaxing a bit. His frustration slowly melted away, and calmer feelings settled.
“I’m listening.” Klavier smiled, propping his head on his arm. He was now intently watching Apollo’s actions. His disposition was friendly and, strangely enough, bubbly. He was very relaxed, possibly because he was actually able to hold a conversation with Apollo without negativity, or some sort of sarcastic comment.
Never mind. He could feel himself getting nervous. Whatever clam feeling that was there about 5 seconds ago had completely vanished. At least he wasn't panicking .
“Are you all right, Apollo?” the other man asked. He had stopped playing with his hair and was watching even more intently, though this may have been out of slight concern. Even if he didn’t mean that statement in a bad way, it had only made Apollo even more nervous. One would think that with Klavier’s chill and friendly energy, the whole room would be happy. That, however, was not the case for Apollo. With every thought about actually saying what he needed to say, he only got more nervous. He hadn’t been this nervous since his first trial, really.
On top of that, he was frustrated. This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all! This wasn’t like court where the unexpected was the expected, this was a love confession! He had planned what he was going to say, but he wasn’t saying it! All the words were stuck in his head, and practice was only as good if one could say the lines they memorized!
“I-I’m fine!!” Apollo yelped. “I’m fine, I’m fine!” He needed to take a minute to collect himself. This was completely freaking him out. Apollo’s fidgeting only got more hurried as time went on.
The rockstar sat up in his seat and blinked. “You don’t have to yell, Herr Forehead. I can hear you fine.” he said, his tone still seemingly friendly. “Are you… sure everything is okay?”
Under his breath, he murmured, “Yes, I’m fine. I’m fine… sorry.” He continued to mess with his bracelet. His eyes were everywhere but Klavier. He couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact; he was already nervous as was. “I… uh… how do I say this without giving it away? W-Well, we’ve um, known each other for a while n-now, and…” Apollo straightened up in his chair and glanced between the other man’s face and the golden bracelet he had been fretting with. “... I… I feel like I should tell you this because it’s important that I do, and it’s something I feel the need to get off my… erm… ch-chest.” Klavier remained silent. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he should just-
“You’re acting really strange, Justice. Whatever it is, just say i-”
“I-I R-REALLY LOVE YOU AND I WANT TO S-ST-ST-START DATING!!!” Apollo yelled, practically shooting out of his chair. He shut his eyes tight and pressed the base of his palm against his sockets in embarrassment and frustration. Whatever that was, it certainly was not supposed to happen. What was done was done though, and he most definitely couldn’t take it back then.
There was an unbearable silence between the two for what felt like ages to poor Apollo. Why was the other man being so quiet?! Usually, it seemed like he never shut up, but the one time that counted is the one time he wasn’t speaking! “P-Please, say… something…” Apollo squeaked, uncovering his eyes hesitantly to see what was going on and sliding back down in his seat.
Klavier, who continued to be speechless, had leaned back almost completely in his chair. Oh god Apollo probably offended Klavier oh dear god he felt so embarrassed this was a mistake. He slid downwards in his chair and slumped over in utter defeat. He felt absolutely pathetic; almost everyone in the food court was giving him bizarre looks because of his accidental outburst, which only made him feel like crawling under a table even more.
After another minute or so of complete silence, Klavier finally opened his mouth to say something. “I…” he spat, snapping his fingers and looking to the side. He let out a nervous chuckle and smiled, “Well, I was expecting this to go ein oder zwei ways, but I wasn’t expecting something so… sudden.”
“Is that all you have to say to…” Apollo muttered, crossing his arms and frowning. All that suspense for a simple remark?! He expected something more… Well, flashy from Klavier. Not… whatever the other man managed to say.
“Nien. I just had to think for a moment. You really did catch me off guard, Herr Forehead,” he smiled. “You know, I’m… I feel the same way, and I have for a while. I’m glad that we share the same romantische gefühle, ja?” Klavier’s smile only got wider as he spoke. The tense air seemed to fade away almost instantaneously.
Now, it was Apollo’s turn to be shocked. “H-Huh!? Really?!? You… You mean that?” he exclaimed, immediately shooting upright in his seat. He almost couldn’t believe it. “You’re not- you’re not lying to me, are you? If you’re lying to me, I’ll never speak with you agai-”
Klavier just simply laughed. “Herr Forehead. I wouldn’t lie about something like that, ernsthaft. I love you with all my heart, and I mean that.” He was still smiling as he was before.
Apollo was practically gleaming with excitement. He was completely overjoyed, and, god, he felt like he could have jumped up and down, or run around punching the air. He could barely contain himself. However, he kept himself in his seat and smiled back. What could he even say at that point other than happy squeaks? Actually…
“Hey, um… About that- about that dinner you asked me for a while ago..” he said, rather confidently.
“I’d love to, Apollo. I’d absolutely love to.”
☆☆☆ END ☆☆☆