This was a request for linkeygirl/RedundantRabbit/LunchTier, which actually happens to be my Moirail: Alanna!
We are currently raving in the Phoenix Wright fandom, and for some reason, I was more motivated to write this one than any of my other fanfics that were not Persona or P.W. related.
So, enjoy this fluffy Narumitsu/Wrightworth Fic! This was my first time writing as both of them, in two slightly altered perspectives, and in an attempt to make sure I got their characters correct.
Phoenix Wright obviously does not belong to me; That belongs to Capcom!
The day had been cold, rainy, and terrible in more ways than one. The trees were swinging back and forth against the winds, and the people that were walking down the streets to get from one place to another were shielding their bodies with the parasols and umbrellas that could be seen from one street to another. To the left you could probably hear some sort of child becoming irritated to the point where they began to burst into tears from the booming thunder, and to the right people would be finishing up coffee from a restaurant that served drinks and orders outside for people to enjoy while they conversed their day away. There were even some that were not done talking yet, and went back inside the restaurant itself to stop the rain from dousing them any more than it had before. Los Angeles was one of the nicest places in California, after all, but even the rain could make it look like some sort of pooling mess.
Today was supposed to be a day of relaxation, whether rain, sleet, snow, or hail.
And today it was going to be like that, according to the well known Defense Attorney, Phoenix Wright.
Sure, in the courtroom he did his best to be as serious as possible – an Ace Attorney was never supposed to let his guard down – but, outside of the area he was nothing more than a carefree guy who had the same intentions most (if not, all) Attorneys were required to have in some way, shape, and form: Choosing what is right from wrong.
Though as bright as he was with his cases, very well capable of proving someone had not murdered another, or just giving advice in general when it wasn't even about cases, he wasn't exactly bright when there was a situation dealing with human psychology. By human psychology, he often meant that he wasn't exactly capable of being able to talk about his feelings – and about 90 percent of the time he meant anything involving a hint of romanticism. If someone was attempting to flirt with him, he wasn't quite sure how to react; or, if someone was confessing to him in some ideal way he wasn't about to have it. He would end up rejecting those who had some sort of romantic interest in him – mostly because he would become flustered and wasn't exactly sure how to take it if someone requested if the two could go on a date at some point in time.
That was Nick for you. Nick had a hard time keeping up with the ladies.
And, if things got to that point, maybe even the men..
Speaking of men, that was another point that often bothered him when he was busy rejecting women who were trying to lay themselves on top of him. As an attorney, he had to be careful on who he would be getting involved with. It got to the point in which he was much more capable of being chased by the media at times like some of the other lawyers and attorneys were whenever they first advertised themselves on the Television. In fact, if Nick thought back correctly, there were a few people who wanted to get him on the whole television marketing; They kind of already did, but it wasn't as bad as some of the others would have it. It was just simplistic advertising that attracted maybe one or two people up to the place to investigate something, or maybe have something involving emancipation of some kind. Whatever the situation was, he would always realize that his brain would cause him to come back to thinking about one guy he would have never expected to think about.
Miles Edgeworth.
Now, if he were to mention this guy to Larry or Maya, he would surely get some sort of odd look from them. They knew that Edgeworth was his rival when it came to any sort of case – and that was mostly due to the fact that he was a Prosecutor who was following his own path when it came to the careers in Law and Order. However, there were some days where he just couldn't get his mind off of him; The sudden disappearance of the guy suddenly boggled his mind more than any other case that he's gone through so far. Edgeworth, despite his appearance looking more like an antagonist rather than a protagonist, was also a childhood friend! It was quite natural for any sort of friend to worry about someone who suddenly left; The only thing that Phoenix Wright himself considered unnatural would be the fact that he would not stop worrying about him! He would think about his work, about his friends, but then his mind would revert right back to thinking about the proper man.
And that is what worried him the most.
Was this what they called love? "But that's impossible," is what he would like to say; However, he was never exactly sure about his feelings. Maybe he crushed on a female or two throughout his days in Law School, or maybe he even crushed on someone back in elementary and junior high. But, were those as clear as day? When he thought about it the result came out to a blunt "no," and he would go back to thinking about the other once more. It's not that he had anything against homosexuality or any other type of sexuality, it was just the fact that he was completely clueless about himself! He groaned in frustration, but realized that he was just standing in the midst of the rain and wasn't aware that other people were staring at him. His face flushed a little, and he walked into one of the establishments to go about and eat dinner – or was it lunch? Well, he couldn't think of some clever word that would substitute like "brunch" would, so he decided not to dwell on it too much.
He took a look at the environment in front of him – pulling off his coat because of how drenched he was, and hanging it about his arm the water would not soak the ground too much. He had the urge to sneeze, but fought it, and would walk more into the vicinity to find a seat. There were quite a few that were open, but none to his liking – nothing being there wasn't a seat that would give him a window to view the outside scenery and space out whenever he wanted to. He heaved a sigh, taking a few steps more into the place until his legs suddenly froze on him.
He had found a sight that just made the whole predicament worse.
That wasn't – no – it couldn't have been him. A maroon jacket that was tailored to perfection simply stuck out like a sore thumb. Not just the jacket, but the pants that went with them – it was clearly a suit rather than a random ensemble on the man's part. His eyes were obviously locked onto the figure, and it wasn't until he saw the trademark bangs in the seemingly foreign man's hair that he realized this man was not no ordinary lookalike.
This man was the Miles Edgeworth.
And by the time he realized this, it was far too late for him to get out of the area.
Edgeworth didn't seem phased at first glance – even when he had realized that this was Phoenix Wright he was glancing at. Though, on the inside, Edgeworth was just as confused as he was. He was irritated, suddenly stressed, and the fact that he had to see this guy again after his losses in court made his heart clench up and disperse into nothing. Why in the name of the court was he here in the first place? This was Los Angeles – the place he could remotely consider his "home," and he wanted to be here alone. He wanted to completely disconnect from the incidents that had happened back then, and wanted to focus on being the best Prosecutor in America. In the now. Apparently, he wasn't going to be doing that for a few minutes or so, and was debating on whether to storm out of the area or actually attempt to talk to the man once more.
Wait- what was he saying. He had no intentions on communicating with Wright anymore!
So what was stopping him from doing so when Phoenix Wright made the stare out to be some sort of invitation to sit across from him at the table?!
"...Edgeworth?"
"Wright."
Simple greeting. Simplistic body language.
At least, that's what they'd like to think.
"Well. I was not expecting to see you again – much less in the same area I am currently residing in." His facial expression was now hardening into a simple glare, but it seems that Phoenix Wright was the only one who wasn't all that phased by it. Maybe he probably was, but he didn't feel phased – if that made any sense; All he kept notice of was the feelings that were just doing nothing else but brewing inside that not-so-vacant little heart of his. "...Are you going to sit, or are you just going to stand there?"
"Oh, uh, right.." He took a chair and sat right across from the other man – placing the coat that was still hanging about on his arm onto the chair next to him, and casually brushing himself off to make it seem like he was too affected by the other. "So... This is where you ended up after all this time?"
"Where did you think I ended up?" Miles rose an eyebrow, picking up the cup of coffee to take a small sip of it while awaiting Edgeworth's response.
Nick didn't answer the question; In fact, he could've sworn his face faltered a little more than it should, which was obviously true once he noticed the slight amount of shock that began to show within Edgeworth's eyes.
"Don't you even remember the note you left?" Nick tried to laugh it off, but he couldn't even bring himself to give off a faint chuckle. "I mean, everyone was pretty surprised to see that you suddenly disappeared, and, well..."
"Did you really think I would even consider such a choice like that, Wright?" Miles merely shook his head – a smirk merely flashing before his hazel eyes did nothing more than narrow, "When I said I had no point in prosecuting anymore, I meant that I would consider ending my career. There was nothing about suicide that I was trying to hint at." This statement caused Phoenix to heave a sigh of relief, which gave the other an opening to pick fun at him.
"Guess your skills in finding evidence aren't quite as sharp as I had expected them to be; How did I even lose to you?"
"Wha- Hey! Watch it," This seemed to make Nick fluster – maybe scowl a little at the edge of his throat, but nothing more than the following actions, "Were you even paying attention to what you were writing? Of course it sounded like you were going to commit suicide. You left without warning, you know."
"Why on earth would you think that-"
"Do you even recall what you wrote in the note?" This caused the Prosecutor to immediately silence himself, as if he could really care of what the Attorney had to say but allowed him to do so anyway. "You mentioned your choice of death, and for sometime now, everyone thinks you've somehow passed away."
This caused Miles to click his tongue, unable to make a comeback of sorts. Even outside of court, Nick wasn't stupid. He should've been well aware that there was a possibility of this happening if he wasn't careful.
Had his skills really vanished into the thin air before him?
"Look, I know you probably hate my guts right now because you broke your streak, but does that give you any right to make those who care for you break apart?" It was Nick's turn to frown; the bright demeanor he always carried with him wasn't as permanent as Edgeworth had thought. He recalled the Attorney making a face like that as a child when they had their "trial" of sorts, but only because he was accused for so long. "I'm not sorry that I broke your streak; I-"
"-Did what you had to do, yes, I'm aware." The bitterness in the voice only made Wright more concerned, "Did you come here to give me a lecture, Wright? As we are both aware, we are men. We are not children that dally around in the garden at school anymore. We both have jobs we need to take care of."
"..But, that doesn't mean I loathe you." He finally turned away from him, not allowing himself to falter anymore than he was now.
"Huh?" Yet, Nick was just as confused as anyone else would be. His thoughts couldn't even comprehend the feelings of the Prosecutor.
"A Defense Attorney's job is to defend a person who was accused of committing a crime of sorts, while a Prosecutor's job is to prove. Despite these two very normal conflicts that go about in the career itself, there is one large goal the two have in common," He cleared his throat, looking right back at Nick and locking eyes with the man, "Can you guess what that is?"
'Judgment,' He thought to himself, 'Each side has some form of judgment against the other; Despite the amount of intensity between the two, both sides want to make sure whoever they're defending is at ease... They want to protect people.'
Only a simple "yes" was heard from the other side.
"Then, there should not be any reason why you think I would have some sort of hatred written all over my face every time I saw you." Although this was a simple statement of truth, Nick could've sworn he meant it in some other way.
And that's when it happened.
Phoenix's eyes dilated in size once he saw the scene in front of him; Several chained illusions appearing in front of the childhood friend before him, and all he saw were five locks clicking themselves onto the chains that practically covered the scenery in front of him. He simply shook his head, which confused Edgeworth at this point in the conversation.
'It sounds like.. he's hiding something,' Phoenix bore his eyes onto him, 'The Edgeworth I know may be secretive, but there's more to it than just that. I have a feeling there's more to it than just a simple loss.'
"Is there any reason why you are staring at me with the oddest face that I could only imagine Butz making?"
"Huh? Oh, u-uhh.." Nick scratched the back of his head, a bit of flush appearing on his cheeks. He was such an awkward child when it came to spacing out, "It's nothing, really; Though, there are a few things that are bothering me... and it kind of bugs me that I don't really know much about them."
"What do you mean?" More simplistic blinking.
"Well, you made it sound like the case itself wasn't bothering you," Nick replied, "You're acting as if your disappearance was just a fluke, and it wasn't anything to worry about but it was; How else do you expect people to react to some sort of death note?"
It was at that point that Edgeworth began choking on the last sip of coffee he took into his mouth, grabbing the handkerchief he carried with him at all times and clearing his throat into it. Nick held back the urge to smile towards his direction, and kept nothing but a straight face on him.
"It was not like I was asking for this sort of attention, Wright; You're blowing this completely out of proportion." His face voiced his words, but his tone said otherwise. It was also during that time, that one of the locks came apart and dropped into the darkness until it disappeared – making Nick reassure himself that this would all work out perfectly within a matter of time. "The suicide note was written specifically for that reason – making it so there wouldn't be a person who would attempt to chase after me because they couldn't fathom the idea of me falling asleep for eternity at my age."
"Edgeworth, that's just being selfish," Phoenix retorted, crossing his arms over his chest, "I am definitely not blowing it out of proportion! Reacting to something such as suicide is not blowing it out of proportion. It's just being concerned about a fellow friend."
"And as I said before, I am not looking for some form of pity or concern. I wrote it with my own handwriting, using my own pen, with my own brain constantly calculating what I should should say before coming out with the five or six words that were written before I took my leave back to Los Angeles." He gave a slight shrug and shook his head, "I don't understand what part of that is so hard to comprehend at this point. Surely you understand, being in your twenties as you are now?"
"I don't understand what is so hard about you telling me how you really felt before you stormed out, but alright." Nick furrowed his eyebrows for quite some time, before dropping anything involving the note, 'Just as I expected, there's more to Miles at this point than meets the eye.'
He lay back into the chair to think of another inquiry, slowly tapping his foot all the while. 'There has to be more of a reason as to why he wrote that, but he won't tell me; In fact, I'm not even sure if delving is the right thing, but it feels like I'm doing the right thing...'
When Phoenix asked him once more about keeping thoughts under more ropes than necessary Edgeworth shut him up, stern tone and all. However, that immediately broke another lock – notifying the Attorney that whatever he was saying must have been triggering the truth and allowing more possibilities to unfold the more he began to converse with the other in front of him.
He had more time on his hands than he needed, so it wasn't too much trouble.
"There haven't been as many interesting cases involving some sort of crime ever since you left, Edgeworth – you'd be surprised at how many cases just seem casual after all that had happened within the past year or so." He immediately changed the subject in an attempt to talk in a roundabout discussion, "Though, from way you're dressed, are you still prosecuting?"
"But of course." He murmured back, tapping his fingers against the table, "I am now one of the top five prosecutors of the United States – the number one being in Los Angeles. If I was going to prosecute in secrecy, I might as well pursue my career as it was rightfully supposed to be pursued."
"Though, I find it quite odd.. How were you able to get the media off of you?" Despite attempting to go a roundabout way to ask him about what types of emotions he felt after losing against him, "Ever since this one news reporter came over to my household, they've never stopped coming around. What surprises me is that even though your withdrawal from the court freaked everyone out, the media hadn't even reported that you were alive and well."
"I have my ways of getting people off my back, Wright; You should know this quite well," Miles wagged a finger in the air, an arrogant smirk appearing at the corner of his mouth, "Of course, it cost quite the amount of money to do so, but it wasn't an extreme hassle. I had to keep my identity shut in one area and one area only – kind of like something you would see in the cinematic theaters."
"So, you basically made it sound like I was just a simple amateur at Prosecution. Little did my opponents know what they were up against, and the Defendant's case owner was usually the murderer from the start." He fixed the bangs that were hiding his eyes away, allowing body language to show as he began to speak more and more about his career, "You could say many of those who appeared in court would be considered 'practice targets' when it came to complicated cases."
"You'd think any sort of person that comes into the court would be a target," Nick pointed out, "But, there's something confusing about all of this if you ask me."
"Hm? And what would that be?"
"If you ask me, the fact that you're talking about your current achievements so far makes all your other cases seem invalid," He replied, checking his jacket to notice that it wasn't all that wet anymore, "Were you really that ashamed at what happened in the midst of the court skirmish?"
"Nng-!"
It was a wonder on how even outside of law, the Psyche-Locks still had their ways of working like charms. Though, how was he even capable of being confident enough to confront him about all this? It's as if his current feelings were suddenly made null and void, and would not matter until the situation at hand was completely figured out. He had a gut feeling about delving deeper into Edgeworth's mind, but at the same time, he couldn't take himself off of it. Edgeworth would have to deal with what Wright was asking, or so help him..
"..." He sat in silence, covering his mouth with his hands now and reminiscing on what was just asked of him.
"Edgeworth?"
"So I was, and what of it? I bet most of you were ridiculing me by the time my loss had come into play," He growled a little bit, and resisted the urge to huff at this explanation, "When you came into this building and saw me at first glance, were you holding the urge to laugh? I can assure you, that my tolerance in any sort of tomfoolery of the sort has increased since the last time we've met."
"What-?! No, not at all! I'm legitimately curious about what happened after you decided to disappear!" Though if there was one urge Phoenix Wright was holding back, it was the urge to immediately slap himself across the face in frustration. Why would he even think that? Did he suddenly forget the days of childhood? Every time Edgeworth said something like this, Wright wanted to glance back at the clock to see how many more minutes of brutality he could take from the Prosecutor at this point. "There's no point in hiding it anyway, Edgeworth; From what you have told me so far, it's quite obvious that you are still disappointed. At least you're doing better in the cases you have now."
"Yes, well..."
The Attorney's blue eyes took notice of the lock that was dangling; was another piece of truth about to appear before his very eyes?
"There's more to it than what I've been telling you," Edgeworth flashed a wry grin in his direction and looked back up to the ceiling as he tried his best to find words that would best suit his explanation, "And, seeing as you somehow won't cease to pester me about it – what with your points that are quite apt at this rate – I suppose I should tell you the whole truth, rather than just the 'half-truth.'"
'It's about time..' was all Nick could think about before focusing carefully on Edgeworth's story.
"... Though, Prosecution is my duty, it has also been quite a hassle – ever since I've disconnected any contact with the likes of you or the others," He cleared his throat, asking the waitress that finally came by in the pause for a refill of coffee and a cup of coffee for the Defense. It really didn't matter at this point that the time was a tad late for any sort of coffee fix. "It has not been the cases themselves, but what happens within the cases."
"Huh? How so?"
"...Well. You see..." He pointed a finger at the one sitting directly across from him, "You tend to appear in almost any conversation within court or in my sub-conscience."
"H-Huh? Me..?" Well. Nick had a good streak.
The moment Miles mentioned that, Phoenix had instantly felt his cheeks become a bit warm. He was in a bit of a daze – his vision on the lock blurring once it had shattered and left one more within his reach – and then the eyesight coming right back to him after affirming the statement he just made. Edgeworth wouldn't admit it, but what he had just admitted to the man in front of him made the conversation sound a bit more awkward than it should be. There was a moment of silence before Edgeworth continued with his story once more.
"Yes, you," He retorted – tone obviously faltering for a slight second, "Whenever I had to prosecute for another, I've had numerous flashbacks involving you and the case we fought against each other in. As much as I did not want to go back into that area of the past, it still came across and hit me like a brick. Your strategies in court not only helped yourself, it has also helped me whenever I needed to turnabout the case onto a whole new level to look for more evidence."
"I suppose it wasn't all luck after all.. You really are an odd Attorney to come across, Wright."
'More like an oddball in general, from what I'm hearing...' He chuckled lightly, mostly at his own thoughts but then also at Edgeworth's.. "compliment" of sorts, "Please, Edgeworth, save the compliments for another time. Though, I'm surprised it would help someone like you out here. You've said it yourself, we're two different people with similar goals."
"Meaning, we're two sides of the same coin; Also meaning that you shouldn't allow the compliments to fill up that petty little head of yours." He tapped his temple, ensuring that his jokes were as classic as they always have been, "That is, if you haven't let them get to you already."
The final lock: Why wasn't it budging?
As much as Wright had found what he had just said funny and embarrassing, he still wasn't capable of breaking down that last lock that was set directly in front of Edgeworth's heart. He needed to unlock that last one, because though he obtained many answers to his questions he still felt awkward just leaving one there to only be cluttered with several locks all over again. Though, what was it that he was hiding? What was the secret – the secret that he's come so far not to just slip through his fingers so quickly – that the Prosecutor was hiding all of this time?
"...I find it quite funny that you've been quite irritating to me, Wright, but I'm still not capable of telling you to get away from me and actually mean it."
This made him stop focusing on the lock for about five minutes.
"..?"
"You're an odd one, Wright, an odd one indeed. I still wonder to this day on how I befriended both you and Larry, but at the same time, I can only understand why I befriended you." Edgeworth shuffled in his seat, but only to fix himself to drink the coffee that had come just a few minutes ago though had not made enough noise for him to thank the actual lady that gave the two the coffee. It seemed to be the same way for Wright, as well. "It surprises me that fate has a twisted way of pitting people against each other – specifically on the lines of law and justice, and involving the two of us to fight at some point in time. Though, it surprised me quite a bit when you were capable of getting through all the evidential blocking I tossed at you in the case itself."
"Ah, well..." Nick was speechless; How was he supposed to respond to that? What was it even supposed to mean, he wondered?
"You frustrate me to no end, you have the power to ultimately make me loathe your existence, yet for some reason I cannot. You have the capability to ridicule me until I break, yet you won't allow yourself to because of how your morals work. You work yourself up with nothing but lucky streaks, yet when I think about them carefully, I feel as if they weren't part of luck. You have more determination than most Defense Attorneys I have met back here in L.A., and what bothers me is that you were the only person to have bested me with a challenge." Edgeworth stood up from his seat – nearly spilling the coffee over the table, and looking back outside to take notice that the rain was coming to a slow while he took his case file into the suitcase he was carrying with him, "You are quite ignorant in one place, but excel in the other, and the worst part is..."
Nick watched intently as he walked over to the side that he was sitting in, doing a few double takes before leaning down and giving him a small kiss on the cheek.
"I think I'm in love with you, Phoenix Wright."
Immediately after the kiss was placed on his face, Nick began to gawk at his childhood friend for the showcasing of his feelings. He could've sworn the final lock broke, but he didn't exactly hear it – all he saw were the chains come loose and the scenery revert to normal once more. He could have sworn Edgeworth was blushing, but he couldn't tell because of the faint feeling that was slowly coming over him. The feelings he had been experiencing before – the fact that he could not stop thinking about Edgeworth, could not stop talking about Edgeworth, and ultimately could not stop staring at Edgeworth just made him ten times more uncomfortable with himself than before. If Wright could take every single feeling Edgeworth was experiencing and somehow flop them over in a "vice-versa" maneuver, he would be pretty sure that he felt the same exact way in a sense. He had slowly, but surely, began to realize that these feelings he felt around the other weren't going to go away any time soon.
Nick went back to the hotel that night and everything else was a blur to him.
'I, uh, I think...'
Well. Not really. He was pretty sure he responded with similar wording and a small kiss on the lips.
'I think I'm in love with you too, Miles Edgeworth.'
At some point in time the next day, Miles and Phoenix were walking around L.A. discussing how their feelings had come about after such a long time. Edgeworth had mentioned that he was not used to "love"," or any sort of "complicated feelings" such as what he was experiencing now. In return, Wright had mentioned something about feeling extremely awkward when it came to thinking about him in a romantic sense – mostly because in his whole life, he considered himself to be completely heterosexual. The two would go on and on about how they thought the other would feel, but would have their conversation cease once they bumped into Maya Fey – who saw everything from Edgeworth and Wright holding hands, to the two (at some point in time) giving each other a chaste kiss in public.
Needless to say, Maya Fey wasn't going to let them live it down, but she was going to do one thing.
When Nick and Maya returned to their duties as Attorneys, Maya had kept the secret of both Edgeworth being alive and the two being in a relationship together.
And in the meantime, Wright and Edgeworth had been in contact with each other through computer, phone, and letters.
If there was one case Phoenix Wright couldn't solve, it was the case that involved him, Edgeworth, and quite the amount of romanticism. He made sure to arrange flights every once in awhile to go see Miles whenever the man wasn't busy.
And, in the end, that did not matter once Edgeworth had made his entrance during a case once more...