A Special Day
I came up with this a few days ago, and I just had to get it down.
I mean, who doesn't like fanfics about mini Edgeworth and mini Franziska when they were kids?!
I love them, for one. :D
So, I hope you'll enjoy what I've written!
It will be around three chapters long, so stay tuned for the next installment and please, please review! :)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Phoenix Wright saga, Miles Edgeworth (*sob*), Franziska von Karma, Manfred von Karma or any other parts of this fanfiction that belong to CAPCOM. I only take credit for the plot and any of my own characters I choose to add in. :D
Miles Edgeworth stood outside the mahogany door of Manfred von Karma's office, looking up at the ceiling as he took a deep breath.
This is it, Miles.
Miles looked back at the door, staring nervously at the carved decorations adorning it. It seemed to be towering over him, making a chill creep down his spine and his hands start to shake, but Miles quickly shook his head.
You have lived here for four years, you are thirteen years old, you are planning to become a prosecutor, a man who gallantly presents the facts and intimidates even the most strong-willed of defence attorneys- and you're scared of a door, of all things? How pathetic!
Miles winced. The stern voice in his head that didn't seem to belong to him and yet felt like his had a point; Miles had lived here for four years. However, there was still one thing he knew for certain.
I'm certainly not scared of a door, but what if I told you I'm scared of what will happen behind it?
Miles shook his head once more, dismissing his original thought. After all, asking your mentor a favour wouldn't be too hard, would it?
Yes, but this isn't just any mentor. This is Manfred von Karma we're talking about here, and…
Well, what if he refuses? Am I to just walk out with no regret? Shrugging my shoulders, saying to myself, "At least I tried." and silently practising chess like every other Saturday morning?
…I can't let that happen.
Sighing, Miles reached up, his fist clenching and about to knock on the door- but he hesitated, a cold sweat starting to run down his face. It felt like he was in a mental courtroom battle with his gut instincts, each side objecting to anything and everything the other said in whatever manner possible.
As childish as it seemed, Miles could imagine it clearly.
"Objection! The prosecution has no excuse to be nervous! He has known his mentor for over four years now!"
"Objection! What if his mentor says no to his request? The said mentor can be very intimidating at times!"
"Yes, but it has been four years!"
"That is completely irrelevant! Your Honor, I…"
A loud cough from inside Manfred von Karma's office made Miles nearly jump out of his skin and realise that he had been standing outside his mentor's door daydreaming for a whole five minutes.
It also confirmed that Manfred von Karma himself was busy filing paperwork, sipping extremely high-quality green tea (a personal favourite of Miles' that he would often drink on stressful days of revision), reading a case report cover-to-cover or something else productive.
Miles considered giving up his pursuit and returning to his room; after all, he really didn't want to disrupt von Karma while he was working. However- in that little courtroom battle inside his head- he won, and suddenly Miles found himself knocking thrice on the door, the sound resonating throughout the hallway.
After a while, Miles heard von Karma shuffling his papers into a file and placing them to one side of his desk.
"Come in," a disgruntled voice answered, Miles' heartbeat going that little bit faster at the reply from inside the office.
…I'm ready.
Pushing open the door to the office slowly and carefully (as to not damage it in any way), Miles walked in, stopping in front of the desk and bowing curtly.
"Good morning, sir."
"Good morning. Miles, I trust that you are well?"
Miles nodded politely. "Yes, sir."
"And that your work up to now has been nothing less than perfect?"
"Yes, sir."
"So why are you here? I am in the middle of a very…demanding piece of work, and I thought that I told everyone not to disturb me while I was working."
Miles swallowed hard. He should have known that his mentor would have said that; after all, Manfred von Karma was always assigned the toughest of cases. Manfred never complained, though, telling Miles that it was 'a sign of great reputation in the prosecution field' and that when Miles was officially a prosecutor he should attain such a reputation and make sure that no incompetent amateurs were able to reach such high a level that was only worthy of a von Karma. Naturally, Miles had agreed, even if he did consider himself an amateur in the current state of things.
"Sir, I would just like to notify you that it is Saturday."
Manfred immediately became angry and banged his fist on the desk, creasing the edge of an autopsy report he had been looking over.
"Have you only come here to tell me what I already know, Miles? Because I certainly can tell what day of the week it is myself, thank you very much!" he barked, causing Miles to step back a little.
"Well?"
"N-no, sir! It's just that today is a…very special Saturday, sir, on which a special event is taking place."
A bemused expression appeared on Manfred's face in an instant.
"Oh? I was never notified of this…event. Just what, pray tell, is it, and how is it so important that it concerns me and yet I have not even heard of it."
Miles felt a lump form in his throat, and a cold sweat return to his face. He felt unusually nervous, almost to the point where he felt like running out of the room, down the corridor, and into his father's waiting arms.
It didn't help Miles' nerves one bit when he remembered that his father was dead.
If anything, it worsened them.
This is it. You can do it, Miles.
It's just one small favour, right…?
It won't be too bad.
It can't be too bad…
"Sir, it is my thirteenth birthday today."
Silence. Complete and utter silence.
"So? What does that have to do with me? Age has no relevance to prosecuting, or the case I prosecuted two years ago that you should be studying at this moment. If it wasn't for this, you could have finished your study by now."
Miles felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. How could Manfred von Karma just forget his birthday and not bat an eyelid?
Of course; he's Manfred von Karma. He strives for perfection, and my birthday isn't that important or 'perfect; to him, I see…but Franziska's birthday was quite important, wasn't it?
"I was wondering if…if…" Miles stuttered. This was beginning to get harder than he originally thought it would be.
"Get on with it!"
"If maybe I could take the day off studying to relax? I have been working hard on various assignments throughout the past few days, and I would really appreciate it if you could do this for me. Perhaps we could all eat lunch together- you, Franziska and I- not unlike what we do on Christmas Day and what we did for Franziska's seventh birthday earlier this year."
Another silence filled the room as Miles looked hopefully at Manfred, his eyes gleaming and fingers crossed as tightly as was physically possible.
Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes, please say-
"No."
That single word of disagreement pierced through the silence like a sharpened knife through an innocent victim, a sinking feeling in Miles' stomach. Miles knew that this was probably going to happen the moment he had mustered the courage to ask his mentor, but he hadn't expected such a blunt answer.
It was as if Manfred didn't care at all.
"No?"
Manfred sighed, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Look, Miles. The days you are allowed to take off are…?"
"Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, December 28th and Father's Day."
"You are allowed to relax on the former two because…?"
"They are days that we should spend together as a family, and they are also the most important public holiday dates."
Manfred frowned, crossing his arms. It seemed like he did not want to carry on talking about this subject; but a von Karma was perfect, as was said and demonstrated many times, and therefore a von Karma always finished what he had started.
"And I trust you know why you are allowed to take the latter two off?"
Miles almost felt like crying at this point; with his ever-increasing nerves threatening to make him freak out anytime soon he certainly didn't need to be reminded of his father and what happened to that great man many people had once admired.
"Y-yes, sir," was all Miles could manage to say back.
"Now, you know full well that a von Karma is perfect in every way. So, combined with a lunch break you get every day, don't you think that any more holiday could affect your progress?"
Something clicked inside of Miles at that moment. In that small passage of time Miles had had enough; enough of perfection, enough of having to study case files every single day, enough of having an adopted sister who hit him with her riding crop every second, enough of this so-called 'von Karma way'.
It was quite scary, really.
Miles just wanted to rush back in time, to his father, to his home, to Phoenix and Larry, to everything he had left behind that day in that blasted elevator.
"But, sir, I'm not a von Karma, am I? My last name is Edgeworth, and therefore I belong to that name." he muttered under his breath, so that no-one else could hear- if there wasn't silence, that is. Manfred's face contorted in an almost inhuman fashion as he raged violently.
"Get. Out. Now." Manfred hissed through clenched teeth, so intensely that Miles practically sprinted out of the room in less than a second, slamming the door shut behind him before the great Manfred von Karma could see tears starting to fall down his face.
Happy birthday, Miles, he thought bitterly, wiping away tears with his knuckles as he raced to somewhere he could be alone, with no-one to judge him or tell him what was perfect and what was a blatant disgrace.
Happy birthday.