This oneshot was inspired by some adorable justicykes fanart. Specifically, the third image. (just remove the brackets [] from this link provided below to see the fanart...yes said image also happens to be the avatar image for this fic, but the link leads to three cute Justicykes fanart pieces as well as a link to the page of the artist who made it is on the page so that way you can check out more of their fanart.)
[angelrin89].[tumblr.]com[/]post[/]171149928548[/]source
a/n: This story takes place after Dual Destines but before Spirit of Justice.
another a/n: I said this already with my other Ace Attorney fic but usually when I want to emphasize a word I just italicize it, but in the games they will have random words in caps, it still feels weird because of that's not how I do it in my writing style so I'm trying to find a perfect balance with how I would do things in my writing style vs how Ace Attorney does things because I don't want to ignore it completely as I love making these Ace Attorney fics feel as close to how they do dialogue in the games as possible, while not completely abandoning my way of dialogue writing style. But I hope it's a good marrying of my dialogue writing style with Ace Attorney's dialogue style.
Enjoy!
Athena thought she was so funny, teasing Apollo by how he had such little endurance as he gasped for air while jogging. She obviously had plenty of stamina to spare. She pestered him relentlessly! She started jogging mini laps around him, and even did a couple of cartwheels around him just to rub salt in the wounds.
"You have absolutely no stamina Apollo! You're gasping like some old man during a stress echo heart exam!" She taunted and then started running backwards as she made laps around him, "That or someone whose diet only consists of fats, sugars, carbs and never exercised a day in his life...you have the be the skinniest, out of shape guy I have ever met!"
He wiped the excess sweat off his forehead as he glared at her.
"Excuse some...of...us...who don't...obsessively run...like twenty miles...eight times a day." He panted practically between every other word.
"Please don't exaggerate. I only run in mornings and at night, occasionally after lunch if I have the free time. And it's more like three miles a day, that's combining the whole day by the way." She shrugged then continued her backwards laps around him.
"Well some of us...don't have nearly...as much free time!" He started panting again, quickly grabbing the water bottle in his hand to gulp the last of the cold liquid down before he continued, "I'm always either...keeping the office tidy...or helping Trucy with a show...or organizing files..."
"Oh, please Apollo! Don't give me that. I've seen you use your free time to read those graphic novels—"
"They're...called...manga!" He continued to gasp between breaths but still had it in him to correct her.
Athena just rolled her eyes.
"What are you trying to be Simon all of a sudden? Who cares? It's the same thing. Anyways, you have free time to do plenty of other things, you're not always a stick in the mud, and don't deny it! I've offered you several opportunities to come jogging with me and Trucy and only now do you take us up on it! Maybe if you took us up on it more often you wouldn't be so tired. After all, the more you run the more endurance you build up! Plus, it's good for cardio! And Trucy is far busier than both of us right now with her shows and school yet she seems to find time! Just admit you're a bit of a wussy with stamina that would make even Mr. Wright embarrassed!" She snickered.
("Compare me to Blackquill of all people?! And really...wussy?! That's just juvenile, Athena! Also, I don't think our boss would appreciate you throwing him under the bus too! He's probably more reasonable when it comes to physical fitness compared to you anyway!") He thought as he growled under his breath.
She made it worse by picking him up, like he was a blushing bride or a helpless baby. There was a huge mischievous smirk on her face.
"Here, let me help you, old man. Wouldn't want your poor, tired little self to faint." She snickered.
Apollo felt a blush inflame his cheeks as a couple of people on bikes went past them, all staring at him. A woman with her dog jogged past them going the opposite direction and was also staring at him. A man and woman sitting on the bench raised their brows at them when Athena jogged by with him in her arms as she laughed at how tired he was already. He became increasingly flustered. He covered his face in shame. He felt so humiliated.
Well that was the last straw! He'll show her! She thought she could tease and embarrass him in public like this then he hoped she'd like to see how she'd like it!
If he stopped and thought about what he was about to do in that moment then he'd straight up punch himself. But he ignored whatever sensible voice that was usually in control to the back of his mind. That voice right now was blocked, abolished, exiled...banished, not until his damaged self-esteem was given justice from this humiliation. He was far too agitated and shamed; he wanted revenge.
So Athena thought carrying him around and teasing him for his low-endurance was amusing? (And not even paying attention that she was doing it in front of so many strangers in public too, to boot). He wondered if she'd find it so amusing now. With his fiery need for justice spurring him on, he moved without giving it a thought as his spontaneous revenge plan immediately went into action. He...really should have thought it through. But he was more concerned with his need for justice; nothing else mattered as he recklessly acted on his thirst for revenge.
He grabbed her by the cheeks, and before she could ask him what he was doing...he kissed her.
It must have stunned her good because she dropped him flat on his butt. He was triumphant for a moment until he actually looked into her eyes. She was frozen in shock. Now for some reason...he was frozen.
Suddenly, what he did finally sunk in on them both at the same time as the two turned bright red. They continued to just stare like a couple of petrified deer.
But then Trucy caught up to them.
"What are you guys doing just lollygagging around? How come you're on the ground Polly?" She asked.
Apollo immediately scrambled to his feet as Athena insisted they were doing nothing as she started jogging ahead.
Apollo also insisted that nothing was going on so Trucy would run on ahead. Internally he was screaming. He walked the whole way back to the office completely mortified.
("Why the HELL did I DO that?! What is WRONG with me?! For the love of all that is holy, WHAT ON EARTH WAS I THINKING?!") He panicked mentally.
He scrambled through his mind but could find no reason what would possess him to think that, that...was a remotely "brilliant" idea for revenge. He knew he could be sometimes reckless when it came to bluffing and scrambling for every chance he could to turn a case around like Mr. Wright before him...but that? What the heck was that about?! And what would Mr. Wright think?!
He was thankful the running hid how his perspiration was now from nervous cold sweat breaking out as opposed to the previous physical exertion. That would at least make for a convincing lie.
But how was he supposed to look Athena in the eyes now that after that happened?
He felt so embarrassed and guilty. He wasn't sure why he chose to do that for revenge, but that was too far. He'd need to find a moment to apologize to Athena in private. That is, unless she told Trucy what happened to counter his revenge—in which case if Trucy knew, he was doomed with endless tormenting and teasing...though he doubted it. Athena would probably be too embarrassed to talk about that. Plus, she'd more likely confront Apollo himself about it. Unless he made her so upset she'd end up telling her big bad samurai "brother".
That thought made him involuntarily shiver from head to toe as his blood ran cold. If she snitched on Prosecutor Blackquill for his beyond stupid revenge plan, then he'd be lucky if it was just his head being chopped clean off his shoulders. More likely Blackquill would cut him into tiny little pieces then feed those pieces to his blasted hawk. The man was willing to be accused of murder and be locked up for years pretending to be a vicious killer all to protect the daughter of his mentor whom he was fanatically loyal to. Who was to say the crazy samurai prosecutor wouldn't be willing to kill—or at least seriously maim—any who hurt or humiliated "Cykes-dono's treasured daughter"? Yeah, he wasn't an actual killer but he certainly didn't want to be the first person to cause Blackquill to snap and kill for real. True, it was now paranoia taking over but he definitely needed to apologize as soon as possible.
He made it back to the office and it appeared she hadn't said anything. Mr. Wright and Trucy were acting normally. Pearl also showed up too and if Trucy were told, she would have definitely told her best friend and he'd not only get constant torment from Trucy, but constant squealing and fawning from Pearl because she was quite the romantic zealot.
He was told she was quite worse when she was younger. But she still had a tendency to freak out like she's watching a fairy tale and be very insistent to help play matchmaker if she thought two people were in love. Just a little over a month ago she obsessively tried to get Mr. Edgeworth to ask out a waitress at the pastry shop they all met at for breakfast to celebrate the victory over the Phantom case. She assumed the woman was in love with Mr. Edgeworth because the waitress said he was "their favorite customer." Pearl apparently didn't seem to understand Mr. Edgeworth was a frequent customer there because they made his favorite type of pastry as well as brewed his tea exactly how he loved it. Not that that stopped the girl from constantly trying to set them up with all sorts of crazy schemes until Mr. Edgeworth demanded one of them to set the girl straight. Thankfully, Mr. Wright was able to gently explain to the girl the only relationship Mr. Edgeworth had with her was simply a customer and a server.
He absolutely did not need Trucy's tormenting or Pearl's matchmaking.
He tried to find a moment to ask Athena to speak privately, but she was avoiding him constantly. That made him feel worse for his stupid vengeance move. Apollo started to clean the tables and cabinets since Athena was avoiding him.
Trucy walked over to her dad, who was filling out paperwork at his desk behind Apollo.
"What's with those two?" He heard Mr. Wright whisper to Trucy.
"Dunno, I think they had a fight or something. We were jogging and Athena and I made several laps around him, Athena especially because Polly doesn't have much endurance. I know she was teasing him a bit earlier, but it wasn't too bad. She did run way ahead of me later though to find Polly on our next lap. By the time I caught up to them, they both insisted nothing was wrong. Should we say something?" Trucy whispered back.
"No, if something is wrong and they want to talk about it, one of them will eventually say something. They're both old enough to figure it out for themselves, if this keeps up longer than necessary then we can ask what's going on." Mr. Wright whispered to her.
He wasn't sure they intended for Apollo to hear them, but either way he was grateful that Mr. Wright was allowing them to sort it out themselves. That took a bit of pressure off. But Athena was still actively avoiding him; he supposed he should just leave her be for a bit, he owed her that much at least. It was probably better if he gave her a little space, as he'd probably screw up his apology if he tried to expedite it. He'd give Athena her room and he'd just try to cool down, let them both reflect. Patience was a virtue as they say. The more he thought about it, the more leaving Athena alone for now made sense. So he'd respect his co-worker's wishes for now until it was a more appropriate moment to apologize.
They said nothing to each other for the whole day. Apollo momentarily forgot his anxiousness of approaching Athena with an apology as he threw himself into his work with all the cleaning and filing he did. Time flew by and the day had already ended. It was his turn to stay behind and lock up the office. He kicked himself for letting himself get sucked into the cleaning and organizing to distract himself that he forgot to find a moment to speak with Athena privately to say sorry.
That is, until Athena came storming in—irritation on her face and Widget glowing a bright red, anger evident on its little digital face. Though considering it reflected Athena's true feelings, that wasn't exactly a surprise...especially because she hadn't tried to hide her anger either.
"Alright Apollo, just what the heck was that?!" Athena stomped towards him.
"What?" He put the stack of files down.
"Don't play dumb with me!" She exclaimed, her irritated expression remained but her cheeks were very lightly tinged with pink, "You—You know exactly what I'm talking about!"
His cheeks became a little bit rosy as well, but he rather lamely retorted, "O-Oh yeah?!"
"Y-Yeah!" Her angry tone slightly faltered but she still fixed him with a glare.
"Well—uh—you thought embarrassing me was fun so—I uh...gave you a taste of your own medicine!" His ears were turning pink now too.
This had to be the most awkward pair of people trying to argue, it would of been hilarious to watch if he wasn't half of the two embarrassing people.
But he didn't want to argue with her, he wanted to apologize. Her storming in threw him off a bit. Plus the awkwardness came back in full force, reminding him exactly what he did again. His entire plan of how to approach her was out the window and all he was doing was reacting with emotions. So stupid.
"Your best idea of getting even...was SMACKING LIPS?!" Athena exclaimed incredulously.
("Yeah it wasn't EXACTLY the most well thought out revenge scheme! No need to rub it in!") He thought as he felt his pink ears were getting pinker.
He awkwardly coughed then scratched the tip of his nose as he momentarily avoided eye contact with Athena. He felt his toes start to fidget inside of his shoes uncomfortably as she stared him down.
"Look I um—admit that was...um—not my best call." His nose was now turning pink too to match his cheeks and ears.
"Well no kidding! That's really RUDE, Apollo Justice! I thought you had better manners than that! Kissing a girl without warning or asking?! Not to mention in public! There were other people at the park! That's so embarrassing, you big dumb jerk!" She shouted with agitation despite her rosy cheeks.
"I was out of line but—mocking me relentlessly wasn't exactly nice of you either! And how do you think I felt when you kept hounding me constantly?! Showing off how you're obviously so good at fitness while I'm pathetic! And yeah, we were in public! How do you think I felt when you picked me up and carried me around like a baby with all those people I saw staring at me like some pathetic weakling?!"
They both stood in silence, their cheeks finally turning to normal colors. He noticed the sad emotion appear on Widget as Athena stared at the floor instead of him. He felt extremely guilty. She had a point; and he admitted he was out of line, but he meant it. That was no way for someone of his age to react...especially not for some immature payback.
"I'm sorry for embarrassing you...it was rude. I...I wasn't thinking, Athena. I was so embarrassed and uncomfortable, and really mad. But that's no reason to behave the way I did or be so immature and getting even in such a stupid way. That was disrespectful and uncalled for." Apollo said sincerely.
He let out a heavy sigh through his nostrils as he rubbed the back of his head with his right arm. He felt extremely ashamed for his stupid, impulsive, and downright immature reaction to Athena's mocking. She wasn't right to treat him like that...but that didn't remotely justify his ill-mannered behavior. No gentleman would behave such a way.
"I suppose...I know I'm not the most physically fit person, but you constantly kept asking me so I wanted to see why you enjoyed it so much and finally took you and Trucy up on your offer. I was kinda wanting to spend time with you also outside of the office, well and Trucy too! I mean the only time I ever spend with either of you is usually involving our work or Trucy's work." Apollo admitted.
"We do hang out when we go out to eat though, and when Trucy wants to watch a new TV show or movie." Athena pointed out but still kept her head down.
"No, I mean...well besides when being Trucy's test subject or as she calls it...assistant at her magic shows...well, I wanted to do something that you guys liked. You especially because I've known Trucy for a bit longer, so we have hung out at times that weren't work related. But I haven't hung out much with you since you're still the newest one among us here. I felt so lame, I wanted to hang out and here I was gasping like a fish on dry land. Not exactly the best way for the senior member to try and look presentable and cool to the younger members, you know? I was so embarrassed I couldn't keep up with either of you despite being older than both of you...and yeah, you added salt to the wounds, a lot...but that's no excuse. I'm older so I should know better. That was really stupid and rude! Man! Athena, please hit me! I deserve it!" He practically begged.
Athena finally looked up at him, "I don't feel like hitting you, okay? And..I um...I'm sorry for teasing you so much too."
"Huh?" Apollo blinked dumbly.
"Dummy, don't act so surprised. Yeah what you did was stupid and out of line, but you at least feel bad and are trying to make amends. But I took my teasing too far earlier; I didn't realize I upset you so much. I thought it was just harmless fun but I took it past that, getting caught up in the mischief. So yeah, that was dumb and extremely ill mannered and didn't justify it, but I could have been nicer still. I can hear emotions after all but I was ignoring it. So, I'm sorry." She explained.
He felt himself sigh in relief.
"And Apollo?"
"Yeah Athena?"
Athena smirked, "You can be a big dummy and a real dork sometimes...but just know that both Trucy and I think you're still cool despite that. So, don't think you have to prove yourself or something to us."
Apollo felt a half smile curl onto his lips. He then held his hand out for her to shake it.
"Truce?" He gave her a full smile.
She grinned, Widget brightly shining its usual color along with a smile also. She took his hand but yanked him towards her and pulled him to an embrace instead.
"Truce." She giggled.
He smiled a bit bigger and hugged her back.
Athena pulled away, but still hanging onto him lightly on his shoulders.
"So, uh—what about—um..." Athena trailed off with light awkwardness.
She was getting a little fidgety. Her feet were bobbing up and down as she bit her lip. She was also blinking far more than usual.
"Athena?" He asked with slight concern at her change in behavior.
"Are you um—are you sorry about...that, you know?" She asked sheepishly.
"Huh, I already said I was—"
Athena cut him off, "No, not for trying to embarrass me or going about it without warning...but..."
One of her hands still lingered on his shoulder but the other let go and began to fidget with her hair. The rosy color returned to her cheeks.
"You know for...for your quick...well...the macking, as it were, itself. " Her cheeks turned an even brighter pink.
Even the normally blue colored Widget almost looked like it had blush stickers on its digital cheeks.
That only caused heat to rise to his cheeks. He didn't have a mirror, but the amount of heat felt somewhere in between burning hot to lightly warm. So if he had to guess, his cheeks were probably somewhere in between red and pink.
"You mean...you mean the uh—the kiss?" He asked bashfully.
"Yes...that..." She started to fidget with her hair more.
"W-wait, but I thought you said—"
"Yes, I was mad you did it without permission and I'm happy you apologized about that but...are you...do you regret kissing me? Or...did...did you want to kiss me or something?" Athena's flush on her cheeks brightened as she asked that.
His cheeks were probably as red as his vest now. Having Athena this close to him, her cheeks looking so rosy...her hair shimmering still in the dimmed lights of the office...the way she was biting her soft, pink lips that he now remembered how they briefly felt against his and suddenly his entire face went red. Especially because he realized he still had both hands around her waist.
He pulled himself away from her completely, like a good six feet, and started to fidget with his tie.
"Yes, I uh...I uh..." He stammered.
It hit him suddenly as he began to remember both all the memorable moments he spent with her over these several months, and taking in her appearance yet again as he started to actually really look at her this time. That was now compounded with the memory of that dang kiss as well.
He knew he could sometimes be oblivious.
He apparently didn't realize Athena's friend, Juniper, had developed a crush on him. He felt extremely guilty for turning her down as he wasn't interested in her that way, but he tried being as gentle as possible. She actually took it rather well and seemsedto be doing okay from what he heard after checking in with her two friends at Themis Academy last week.
He was thankfully oblivious to the fact that Clay's co-worker, Prosecutor Blackquill's own older sister, was apparently hitting on him! That thought was...extremely weird and made him uncomfortable thinking about it. He couldn't recall exactly how old she was again. If he remembered correctly she had to be somewhere close to almost fifteen years older than him...apparently, she liked younger men. Trucy brought that up during their New Year's party offhandedly and laughed at him for how he didn't notice a woman closer to Mr. Wright's age had been hitting on him. He was honestly mortified thinking back, but she wasn't a bad person, just...he wasn't exactly into older women.
However, in his defense, he was caught up in his grief after what happened with Clay so he could at least be forgiven that he didn't notice Juniper's adoration or Aura's flirtation.
But this obliviousness was something else entirely. Athena started working with them April of last year. It was now into the first week of February. They almost had known each other for a year. All this time working side by side with her on cases or cleaning the office together or when the whole gang would go out to eat...it entirely slipped his notice despite all the time he'd been spending with her. Especially because he'd actually spent plenty of alone time with her.
Athena...was actually pretty cute. She was really cute. He'd been spending a lot of time with a girl that was extremely cute.
Why did it take him this long to realize how utterly cute Athena was?! And he just kissed a cute girl out of revenge without even thinking about it!
("Clay is probably up in the stars laughing his butt off at how stupid I am.") He mentally grumbled.
Well he wasn't thinking about it at the time but the more he thought about it...he wasn't actually sorry for kissing Athena. He was sorry for embarrassing her but he'd never do that again...unless she actually wanted it, he was sorry for doing that without asking her...so unless she was cool with it he wouldn't...he immediately stopped his train of thought.
He could swear steam was rising out of his skin from that thought. They were co-workers and friends and now he was hoping she wanted to kiss him. He had lost his marbles. Well, he had to answer her question. He couldn't ignore it or deny it...she can hear his emotions anyway. He sadly had no choice but to admit the extremely embarrassing truth.
"I uh...I um—that is to say—I uh...I don't...I don't regret it." Much to his shame, his voice cracked.
He then tried to cough, unfortunately rather awkwardly, to try and clear his throat.
"Oh..." Athena breathed out.
Suddenly he noticed Widget turned pink.
("Weird, it's never done that before.") He thought.
"Um...m-me too." She nodded with a shy smile.
Her ears burned the same color as her cheeks and she was doing that thing that was so unbearably cute with her ponytail, when she played with it when she was bashful.
("Jeez, how have I never noticed this?! She's extremely cute! Wait...did she just say 'me too'? As in—she didn't MIND the kiss?!") He shouted in his head.
Yep...he was definitely losing his marbles.
He took a couple of steps closer trying to calm down but his heart was beating as if he ran a marathon. His face was hot, red as a tomato. He refused to make eye contact, far more interested undoing and re-buttoning his vest over and over like some kind of slack-jawed idiot.
"S-So um..." He squeaked out.
When he finally caught a glance, he noticed Athena was extremely fidgety too. Bobbing forward and back on her heels and toes, she was still messing with her hair with one hand and playing with Widget with the other. Widget was glowing a brighter pink but had bright red blush stickers under its eyes, matching Athena's face somewhat.
"Y-Yeah uh..." She stammered out.
They were a mess.
His heart was beating so fast he was probably going to have a heart attack right there and die. Athena would then get arrested for his death and Mr. Wright would have to defend her then the kiss would be revealed in court then she would die from embarrassment there. Then they'd meet together in the afterlife and the cycle would begin anew.
"Apollo, I—uh..." She said before biting her lip again.
Athena was then fiddling with the hem of her shirt.
"Y-Yeah Athena?" He nodded nervously.
"I was uh—I was wondering...wondering if..." She stammered.
He rubbed his palms against the back of his vest; he didn't want her to see how clammy they've become. Especially because he was pretty sure she was trying to ask him what he thought she was trying to say...he thinks...maybe?
Suddenly Widget turned bright red as Athena had balled both hands into fists like she was ready for a fight. She was still blushing like mad but a determined expression had still glinted in her eyes.
"OH—THE HECK WITH IT!"
And so, she charged him.
She tackled into Apollo, sending him off his feet. One hand on his shoulder while the other gripped his tie tightly and yanked him towards her as they were falling. She shoved her lips onto his own lips as her forehead smacked hard against his. They fell backwards but thankfully onto the sofa, the back of his head smacking against the armrest. Their legs were tangled almost like pretzels.
That had to be the most awkward and unromantic kiss in the history of awkward unromantic kisses.
She pulled away and bit her lip for the third time, her blush increased in redness and spread from her cheekbones all the way down to her jaw line, her eyes widened like saucers. They just stared for a couple of seconds as Apollo awkwardly rubbed the sore spot on his forehead where she crashed her head earlier.
Suddenly their stunned silence was interrupted.
"Yeah! Get some!" The little device exclaimed around Athena's neck.
"W-Widget!" Athena squeaked as her blush increased tenfold.
Apollo couldn't fight it; he let out a snort, which turned into a chuckle. Athena's blush finally died down as she grinned and started to giggle. Their laughter increased in volume with each passing second. He threw his head back against the armrest as he laughed and laughed. Athena collapsed against him, her head resting on his chest as she was dissolved into her own fits of laughter. They just continued to sit there laughing as he untangled his legs from hers but besides that they remained in their spots with her on top of him, just laughing their heads off.
His laughter became chuckles again as he lifted his head to look at the snickering girl laying on top of him and it began to dawn on him that Athena wasn't just cute. She was downright beautiful.
He was blind, he had been gifted with amazing eyesight and he was so ridiculously blind.
How had he not noticed his newest friend and co-worker was so...so incredibly pretty. Her eyes, her long bright orange hair, her smile, her laugh, her boundless optimism, her wit, her courage...heck even her lips and nose looked so pretty to him as silly as that might have sounded. And he was...well he didn't have much dating experience but he did go on a couple of dates in high school and college, he had the usual crushes on girls he met here and there in his adolescent years. This felt a little similar to those feelings yet was still quite different. It felt...bigger somehow. Maybe because she was his friend too?
Suddenly all those memories came flooding to him of the time spent with Athena. Each memory filled with more and more adoration and fondness for the girl still in her giggle-fits lying on top of him. Then clarity truly hit him.
Clay's death hit him harder than anything he'd ever dealt with in his life, but then...his reaction to his doubts and fears started to become clearer. He was truly in a dark place. He didn't feel like himself, he was so lost. It wasn't just because he lost Clay, though that was definitely the biggest part of it...but it was because he was so terrified Athena was the one who did it. He kept trying to deny it. Kept trying to find ways to keep himself from seeing her as the suspect. But his ability to perceive...then the more evidence and clues he kept finding that kept pointing to her. And she was behaving so differently than she normally did. He truly was in the deepest pits of despair. It was why he was so desperate. He didn't want to believe it. Even when it was evident she was lying about something around him constantly, even when the evidence pointed strongly against her, even when he met Aura who had strong arguments why Athena was the culprits for both Clay and Metis's murders...he still wanted to believe otherwise. He couldn't, too much of it was overwhelmingly strong. And he felt so guilty, he wanted to be like Mr. Wright taught him—to believe in your clients till the very end...but he was so lost and so miserable. He felt like he was trapped in a darkness he would never be free from. It was why he begged Mr. Wright to prove him wrong. He knew Mr. Wright could do it, if anyone could create a miracle it was him. And thankfully he did miraculously find the truth.
But his own doubts and anxiety and misery...the darkness that swallowed him...it made sense why he shut down, even shut out Trucy and Mr. Wright.
He was in love with Athena. He didn't realize it until now but he was probably in love with her that whole time but didn't even see it.
It all was so clear to him now. That's why he took her supposed betrayal so hard. He didn't want to believe the friend he'd grown to love was the culprit, and it was eating him up until the despair pushed him over to shut everyone out. It was why despite the pain of everything he'd gone through in that short week, he could finally feel like himself again. He felt so free, like a crushing weight had finally been lifted from his chest. Because Mr. Wright proved without a shadow of a doubt to the world that Athena could have never betrayed him like that. He still felt guilty for doubting her...but she still forgave him because she admitted it wasn't his fault what with everything that has happened, and she had been keeping a lot of secrets.
That only moved him more, that she could move past what he did and resume their friendship like nothing happened. She was truly incredible.
But how in the world had he not noticed there was this thing brewing between them? Was there this thing that had been growing between them this whole time but he was in his own world not even realizing he was actually developing feelings for her? It must have been developing, as he had no explanation for why his impulse earlier today thought kissing of all things made for good revenge!
("Yeah, Clay is definitely laughing at me from the stars. Probably calling me an idiot too...I'm inclined to agree.") He thought to himself with a quiet snort.
"That was...pretty awkward." Athena finally started to catch her breath.
"Yeah." He nodded.
He couldn't help but smile at her. His heart felt almost as if it was swelling inside his rib cage. She was practically glowing with her infectious cheerful aura.
He felt his cheeks getting slightly hot again as he reached forward and pushed some of her strands of her hair behind her right ear. They made eye contact and just held each other's gazes. They remained like that in silence for a good couple of seconds until he shook himself out of it. His hand, he realized, was frozen in place holding the side of her head.
"It uh...doesn't have to...uh—be awkward." He said shyly.
A flush of pink returned to Athena's cheeks.
"Oh...yeah?" She flashed him a small smile.
He nodded and swallowed a lump in his throat.
"Y-You know what they say...um well—you know uh...third time's the charm." He tried to stammer out.
His attempts to sound smooth had failed, hampered by his embarrassment and awkwardness. He wasn't exactly an expert in the romance department. Thankfully Athena understood. Her smile grew as she nodded. She closed her eyes, a silent invitation for him to lean forward.
He took a deep breath as he nervously moved his other hand to be around her waist, pulling her up closer as he leaned down. He hesitated soon as he got close enough to where their foreheads were touching. His heart was racing in double time again and his breathing started to get shallow.
("I need to calm down. It's just a kiss. I'm Apollo Justice, and I'm fine!")
With that resolve he closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against hers.
He hoped his lips felt as good as hers did. They were so soft, like a pillow...they were so warm too. He pulled away and they both opened their eyes. She smiled with a little giggle.
"Third time is definitely the charm." She said playfully while still blushing.
He chuckled at that comment. She leaned a bit closer and just rested her forehead against his.
He could smell her. She had a tropical fruit scent that he inhaled in. Some new body spray or perfume or whatever it was she and Trucy decided they wanted to try. It smelt nice. Usually he hated a lot of perfumes, their scents way too strong. But this one was nice.
"Athena I..."
She made a shushing sound as she smiled more warmly.
"You don't have to say it Apollo. I can hear your heart loud and clear. And I feel the same too." She said softly.
He let out a breath he didn't realize he was momentarily holding. Of course she felt the same, it was stupid to be worried about that. After all, she did initiate the second kiss and let him kiss her again for the third one...she wouldn't had done that if she didn't have feelings for him. But still...it was good to hear it from her that she loved him too. He could only wish he could hear her heart the way she could hear his. At the very least he could see her the way she can't see him, so he supposed it evened out.
"What do you say...maybe four times will be even better?" Despite her blushing she managed to be smoother than him.
He just nodded as both her hands moved to cup both sides of his face. He moved his left hand from the side of her head to the back of her neck. His other hand on her waist moved to the middle of her back and pulled her into a tighter embrace.
She pressed her lips into his once more. The kiss lasted a bit longer. She pulled away to take a deep breath but then pushed back to come in for seconds, thirds, and fourths. She certainly was someone with too much energy, not that he really minded. He also noticed how Athena's lips tasted a bit like the orange juice she drinks way too much, but he was okay with that.
Apollo felt like he was in a trance. He forgot everything. Like the fact they were kissing in the office when he was supposed to be locking it up for the night. He was on cloud nine, though. He felt light-headed and his heart was pounding, but in a good way.
He was in such a daze he didn't even notice the door behind them creak open. Two gasps broke his thoughts as he and Athena pulled away.
They looked to the source: a hat-less Trucy was standing there with Pearl.
Apollo then remembered he noticed Mr. Hat was left in the office as he was cleaning up the last of the files before Athena stormed back in to confront him. It seems Trucy and Pearl came back to come get it.
"BUSTED!" Widget cried out.
Pearl's expression morphed into complete excitement. Her eyes were twinkling, a blush on her cheeks. She placed both hands on the sides of her face and she swayed back and forth with a wistful glee like she was watching some kind of chick flick.
Trucy on the other hand...Apollo gulped...mischief was the only thing in her eyes and smile.
("Oh, we are so doomed.") He thought with a wince.
"I. Knew. It!" Trucy jabbed her index finger towards them, mimicking her father's pose in the courtroom.
"How romantic!" Pearl chirped with utter delight.
The two teenage girls dashed off before they could explain themselves.
"DADDY! DADDY YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS!" Trucy's loud voice echoed through the halls.
"OH MY GOODNESS IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL, MR. NICK!" Pearl's excitement had also echoed through the halls.
Both girls footsteps sounded like they left the hall completely. Apollo shot up and grabbed Athena by the wrist.
"Run for it!" He exclaimed.
Apollo would die a thousand deaths before he allowed Mr. Wright to witness him in such a compromising position with Athena in his boss's office!
Don't worry Athena and Apollo don't get in trouble with Phoenix. Just mild teasing. He figured he'd go easy on them sense he knew Trucy would be absolutely merciless with her teasing which would be more than enough cruel and unusual punishment for unprofessional conduct when alone in the office with a coworker then running away after getting caught and not remembering to at least lock up. Also, if that wasn't enough with Trucy they'll never hear the end of it from Pearl either. Oh yes, Phoenix feels that is definitely reasonable punishment enough lol.
Why are Apollo and Athena such losers? I swear it's like a requirement for anyone affiliated with the Wright & Co./Anything Agency to be a human disaster...except for Trucy technically. Even Mia isn't immune! I remember your inner monologues in those flashback cases Mia during T&T! You're just as much as a dork as your protege and his two proteges!
Gosh they're like a bunch of dumb babies I swear! WHY DO I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH?!
Lol anyways...
I know I said I'd get the next chapter for my other ace attorney fic done much sooner, I apologize, I recently started a new job (that I really grew to hate very quickly and am trying to find a new job as soon as possible to replace it before I quit this current one). And it's eating up so much of my time and I get home way too exhausted that I barely get any writing (or drawing or much of anything else) done. Please bear with me readers of The Great Dual Substitute Turnabout, I promise I'm trying to get it out as soon as possible!
Hope you guys enjoyed this cute funny little oneshot I wrote on a whim! I actually had most of it done as I wrote most of it for the fun of it and sent it to three friends (I tend to do that with so many things and less than one percent of any of those prompts or au ideas actually make it into fanfic form lol.) But one of them convinced me that I should actually publish this oneshot so you can all thank daughterofhecate for this justicykes oneshot being published!
Please leave me a comment and let me know what you thought, they add like 8 years to my life every time I read one, even the short ones, I promise! Also, it gives me more energy and motivation to write, I transfer each review into energy that I absorb into my being and it helps me be productive! haha
Anyways, thanks for reading and have a nice day :)