Better than Burgers
Case I
Set in between Turnabout Sisters and Turnabout Samurai of Ace Attorney.
The Turnabout We Met
Why...Sis...?
Why...did you have to leave me...?
It scares me...
The fact that you're really not there anymore...
It terrifies me to pieces.
But...I want to understand...
I want to try and understand the situation I'm in.
I've always wanted us to be together...
To have our meals together...
To worry together...
To always, just simply, be together.
Ever since Mom left, you were the one to look after me.
I was so afraid, unable to comprehend why she had left us.
I thought I would never feel happy ever again.
But then...you said the words I needed to hear the most.
That it was okay.
And that you would always be there for me.
And all that fear and insecurity...faded far away.
Why would someone like you...want to be with someone like me?
Don't I just burden you?
I really don't deserve your faith in me...
And yet, without hesitation...you tell me that I'm important to you.
That you never want to leave my side.
That's all I ever wanted...
Phoenix checked his wristwatch.
10 o'clock, a few days after a certain incident…
Did he come too early?
…
Nah, he couldn't have.
She did tell him that on no account was he to be late…
He turned the door knob and realised it was unlocked.
Smiling with relief, he opened it and looked inside.
"Hello, Maya? You there?"
"..."
"Huh...I thought she'd be here by now..."
Does that mean he'd forgotten to lock the office last night?
"BOO!"
Phoenix almost crashed right into his desk and broke his nose.
Hopping on one foot to prevent himself from toppling over, he turned himself around to stare into the bemused eyes of his new assistant.
"Wh-what was that for?" he gasped, panting for breath.
"Oh nothing! Just thought we should start our first day working together off with a bang!" Maya Fey bounced around happily and avoided his eyes for a while whilst she removed the spare key he had given her from its lock.
"Grr..." Phoenix straightened his ruffled hair, (well the straightest it could get) and calmed himself down.
How on earth was he going to survive with this bundle of hyperactive energy?
"So my Sis was right...!" Maya spun around on the spot and poked her tongue out at him.
"H-Huh? Mia? What was she right about?" stammering at the sudden mentioning of his chief's name, Phoenix felt his stomach churn uncomfortably.
"She told me that you're a scaredy cat, Nick!"
"H-Hey...! I am so not! I just got caught off guard, that's all!"
"Yeah...right."
"Oi! Don't give me the 'pitiful' look!"
Maya laughed.
"Aww, come on, Nick! You should act more like Sis! She would never…"
She suddenly stopped mid sentence, the smile leaving her face in an instant. It looked like something had lodged itself into her throat.
"..."
Phoenix blinked.
"Err...Maya? You okay?"
"Y-Yeah..." she didn't sound too sure, and gave him the same look she had on the day she found her sister's…
"Oh." He didn't say anything else and remained silent until she murmured quietly.
"I'm...fine."
"You're...sure?"
"O-of course I'm sure!"
And all of a sudden her cheerful self was back once more.
"S-So...um...what should we do now?"
"Huh?"
"I meant if you got any clients yet?" Maya bounced up and down like a rubber ball.
"Ah...nope. Not yet, I don't think." He quickly unlocked his phone and logged onto his account after checking his call history.
"I haven't got any calls...or any emails for that matter..."
"Oh...okay."
"..."
"I know what we can do! We can water Charley!" Her expression lit up and she clasped her hands together.
Maya turned to face and smile endearingly at it.
"Charley? Oh! That potted plant?"
"Yep! We have to make sure we take care of him!" She stroked one of his leaves tenderly with a soft hand.
"He's one of my best friends! And he must feel lonely now that his owner isn't…here anymo…"
"You're...friends with a potted plant?" Phoenix interrupted just in time, worried it would lead to another uncomfortable silence.
"Hey! Don't be mean to Charley! He's much more than that!" Maya pouted, puffing her cheeks up.
Phoenix chuckled, instantly reminded of a puffer fish.
"Alright, alright...I'll go fetch the water pail..."
"Okay! I'll be waiting!"
Now that I think about it, Mia and Maya were really close
Despite their age difference, I do remember Mia getting a lot of calls from her.
I just never found out her name, which is why I didn't know who she was on that night.
"Man...I really need to stop thinking about it." Phoenix reached into the cupboard located in the hallway just beside his office and felt around for the handle of the pail.
"That night...the case...everything that's happened."
His hands touched the surface of something cool and metallic, and he was instantly reminded of a shining jewel that he had seen just a few days ago.
Specifically positioned on the lapel of a certain man's coat.
"That blasted Redd White..."
Next his fingers touched soft cloth…the same feel he had experienced when he had seized her tan scarf in an attempt to wake her.
"And Chief's...'departure'."
She left too soon...I had barely gotten to know her.
Maya must be having a really hard time.
I barely know Mia, but I feel as if a hole had formed in my heart ever since that case.
And to think that Maya's known her all her life.
How can she stand this pain?
"Geez, Nick! Took you long enough! What on earth were you doing?"
Maya's hands were on her hips, her pouting expression positioned back on her face.
"Contacting a spirit?"
Phoenix gaped at her.
"Wh-what? Of course not! It just took me a while to find the pail...t-that's all."
He didn't have the heart to bring up the fact that he had been thinking about Mia.
"Well...!" Maya didn't manage to see through his obvious lie and moved on to her rehearsed announcement.
"Whilst you were taking your time, I had a long chat with Charley...And he thinks that this office needs some sprucing up!"
It was highly worrying that Maya actually thought the plant could somehow communicate with her.
What did it do?
Fan its LEAVES at her?
"Really now? I think it looks fine the way it is..."
"Aww, come on, Nick! This place looks so grubby…! We need to make it look like Wright and Co. Law Offices!"
"Alright...whatever you say."
Phoenix thought it wise not to bring up the thought that it was only 'grubby' because of what had happened.
Mia had always kept it so neat and tidy.
"You can start brainstorming some ideas while I go and water Charley." he mumbled, managing not to voice his concern.
"Roger that!" Maya saluted and grabbed a notebook and pen from the cluttered desk.
Phoenix watched her scribbling for a few seconds and then walked to Charley. He tilted the pail just at the right angle so enough water would drip into the pot at a reasonable pace.
I wonder where she gets all that energy from.
It's like she's not even concerned that's she's lost a member of her fami…
"YO, NICK!"
"GAHHHH!" Phoenix grabbed onto his exploding ear drum and dropped the empty bucket onto the floor.
"Don't...DO. THAT!"
"Hee hee, you really are a scaredy cat…Oh, by the way; I've decided!"
"Oh?" He straightened up.
"What do you propose we do to 'spruce up' the office?"
She pointed out the door with a triumphant look on her face.
"We're going to go SHOPPING!"
A pin could have been dropped just then and even Charley would have heard it.
"Err...Maya. You do know how much I get paid every month, right?" Phoenix waved a hesitant hand over her face, which she attempted to headbutt.
"We won't be able to afford anything expensive..."
"Aww, Nick, get into it already! All we're buying is some flowers."
"Flowers? That's it?"
"And some incense...and paintings...and a blue magatama...And some ramen and burgers!" She read off her list.
"Um. WHY exactly are we buying all of that?"
"Because they're all essential to spirit channeling! I'm a medium in training, remember? I need them in the office to practice with!"
Phoenix groaned.
"Right. And I totally see the significance of buying burgers and ramen for that."
"Aww, Nick. Please...?" She filled her eyes with fake tears.
"For me...?"
Great. She's giving me the puppy dog look.
Guess I have no choice...
"Fine. Let's go." He reached for his blue coat which he had just hung on the clothes rack.
"Alright! Thanks so much, Nick!"
He locked the door behind them and followed Maya down the stairs, her bouncing each step of the way.
Once they had reached the bottom, it suddenly occurred to Phoenix that she had forgotten to clarify something.
"But why specifically a blue magatama?"
She almost fell over and toppled into his arms.
Blushing furiously, she straightened herself up.
"Oh...um. N-No reason…"
She glanced at his coat.
"I-I just thought it would go well...with your suit...and...Yeah."
Phoenix stared at her, and watched her run out of the building, nearly crashing into a passing attorney.
Why do I get the strange feeling…
..that Maya's hiding something from me?
"Hmm...this place looks nice."
He admired the view outside the humongous market with many people entering through the front doors.
It looked more like an exhibition at a museum than a regular shopping centre.
However, being a level headed thinker, he still had his doubts.
"You sure we'll be able to find what you need here?"
"Of course! I'm 100% certain this is the place!"
Maya grinned at him and pulled him to the door.
"After all, I've been here before with my Si...Sitter!"
"Your...sitter?"
Phoenix stopped in his tracks, which pulled the young girl to an abrupt halt.
"Y-yeah!"M-My babysitter! T-That's what I meant to say...yeah!" She spoke way too fast to cover up her mistake.
"You know that my parents don't live with me anymore, so I would have a babysitter for time to time! I just call her 'sitter' because we're so close!"
"Huh. I see..."
He didn't look convinced, but said no more as to not hurt Maya's feelings.
For a made up story on the spot…he had to admit…it was pretty good.
Maya took that as an invitation to revert back to her old self.
"Well, let's get a move on!"
Phoenix would have bet his attorney's badge that her smile disappeared as soon as her back was turned on him.
We bought the things we needed.
Maya seemed too cheerful to me, it looked fake.
That's why I wasn't the least bit surprised when we began walking in the opposite direction from the office when we were done.
"..."
"Come on, Maya."
She fidgeted in front of the police headquarters building and stared with fixed determination at the floor.
"You've been silent ever since we boarded the tram to come here. Can you please tell me what we're here for?"
"You know, you being a lawyer and all…I was so sure you would've figured it out by now."
"Huh?" And for once in his life, Phoenix had no idea what his friend was talking about.
And was shocked thereupon seeing Maya stare at him with tears in her eyes.
"Isn't it obvious? It's...only been a day after all. So...she should still be here."
She looked up expectantly as if the person whom she was talking about would walk in on them right at that moment.
"...What...?"
There was an awkward silence, which Maya broke with the most pained words Phoenix had ever heard her say.
"Th-They...keep the bodies in cooler bags until they're done investigating them, r-right?"
She couldn't keep her moist eyes open any longer, and blinked.
Tears travelled down her cheeks in tiny, salty streams.
"M-Maya...y-you can't be talking about..."
Oh my God.
"Hey, you two, what are you doing here?"
Phoenix jerked up with relief to see Gumshoe standing by the doorway.
"A-Ah...! Detective Gumshoe! I-It's good to see you!"
Maya acknowledged him with a dip of her head, but didn't say anything.
Even with a simple mind like Gumshoe's, he could sense that something was wrong.
"Err...good to see you too, pal." He managed.
"What do you need?"
Maya chose that moment to be assertive.
"U-Um...! You still have...my..."
And once again, the words were logged in her throat. And she could no longer speak properly.
"My..."
"...Do you still have...a-all the...um...material...from...S-State vs Fey?" Phoenix cut in.
Materials? What was I…?
That's…terrible, Phoenix.
Utterly stupid.
And terrible.
Gumshoe, however, seemed to understand.
"Oh...well, um. The forensics just finished with Ms. Fey's body, if that's what you're after."
Maya made a small choking noise and almost tripped over her own two feet.
Gumshoe flinched.
"Wh-whoa! I-I'm sorry, pal! I...should have worded that better."
"...It's fine."
Though his words were polite, Phoenix's voice was laced with frustration at Gumshoe's insensitivity.
"Are we allowed to...take it?"
The detective scratched the side of his head and hesitated.
"Well, we usually have protocol for that stuff…But since you were close to her, and I'm the only one working today for that department...I guess I could allow you to be an exception."
This left both attorney and assistant speechless.
Maya finally managed to whisper her gratitude and bowed deeply at Gumshoe.
"Sure...good to know I was of some use, pal." He blushed slightly as he puffed his chest out.
The gesture didn't last long.
"Would...um...would you like...h-her...um...patched up?"
It was the most awkward thing Phoenix had ever heard the detective say.
"...What...?"
Gumshoe seemed to find it difficult to speak all of a sudden.
Great, is Maya's speech limiting syndrome contagious or something?
"W-Well, she's pretty badly beat up...and um...there's still some dried up blood on her head and..."
Upon seeing Maya close to tears once more, Phoenix interrupted him immediately.
"Yes! Yes, please...do whatever...just hurry."
"Right. I'll get right to it." He mumbled, and left them waiting there in the office.
"...Thanks...Nick."
Maya leaned against him, truly grateful.
"N-no problem."
Phoenix brought up an awkward hand to pat her head weakly.
Too soon, the wrapped up body bag was wheeled out by a truly distraught Gumshoe.
Maya was brave enough to unzip it, much to the two men's protesting and almost doubled over when she saw her sister.
Mia's skin was ice blue, with no sign of circulation left in her.
There were still spots of blood here and there on her work suit, but most of it had been cleaned off.
Maya shakily drew herself close to her sister once Phoenix had helped her back up.
The whole room was silent as she held Mia's hand, and bent over her.
The tears wouldn't come.
And she ended up rocking back and forth with her sister's hand in her own.
"S-Sis…" she croaked, her throat cracking with raw emotion.
"Sis…"
Repeated over and over.
For a long, long time.
Gumshoe was nice enough to give us a ride to where we wanted to go.
To put Maya's mind at ease, I called the nearest funeral arrangment site.
And...um...'arranged a time'
Phoenix wanted to puke in disgust by his choice of words.
There was a sick feeling in my stomach on the way back to the office.
We weren't allowed to keep...her...of course.
She was kept at the funeral site, which seemed to hurt Maya pretty bad.
She left the flowers we had bought there, and then we returned to the office with heavy hearts.
"Well...um...I guess...that went well?"
God. Phoenix.
What the HELL is wrong with you today?
"Y-Yeah...I guess it did." She couldn't smile at him.
Tell him everything was alright.
It wasn't.
It bloody well wasn't and it hurt so much just to LOOK at him.
"..."
"Now you know why we had to go shopping..."
Maya bowed her head and her two locks of ebony hair hung in front of her limply, The purple beads meeting each other briefly before parting.
"I'm really sorry, Nick. I'm so sorry for lying to you."
Phoenix's hands were on her shoulders in an instant.
"N-No...! It's fine! Absolutely fine. I completely understand."
"Also..."
"...Yes?" He asked her gently and sat her down on the client's couch.
"I chose that magatama...because that was the colour of Sis' magatama….It was a l-light, purplish blue."
And then the tears she had been keeping bottled up inside her for so long spilled forth.
And she was heaving great sobs into her hands.
"Oh...Maya..."
Phoenix wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulders.
And waited for her to speak once more.
He knew the time for him to comfort hadn't come.
Not yet.
"I saw it, Nick." she whispered.
"I saw it stop glowing when I was with her that night. It flashed one more time...and then just froze to stone."
She paused to wipe the tears away from her face, though there wasn't much point.
More just flowed down her cheek.
Like an open wound.
Broken open and spilling out clear blood.
"I...had made a promise to my sister." She managed.
"...A promise?"
Phoenix rubbed her shoulder gently, willing her to continue.
He felt cruel and twisted, forcing her to admit everything to him.
But he knew this was something that would console her.
Properly.
Not that silly and almost fake enlightening moment when she had pretended she was Mia on the night she grabbed his hand to join him as his new assistant.
"My sister had incredible spirit channeling abilities." Maya continued, completely unaware of the strings of thoughts looping themselves around each other and forming knots in Phoenix's brain.
"She was supposed to be the next master of the Kurain Channeling Technique. But she handed the position to me. She said I was more suited to it and that she had other things to attend to."
Phoenix realised what she was getting at and helped her finish the explanation.
"I see... Finding your mother, and uncovering the truth behind that incident where she disappeared, right?"
Maya sighed softly and sat up straighter, shrugging his hand off her shoulder.
"Yes..."
Now why did she do that?
"She had to go study. And she encountered so many troubles on the way. But she was always there for me when I needed her. And she would always smile at me and tell me everything was alright."
Maya lowered her forehead to her knees once more and her voice grew more quiet.
If the office hadn't been completely silent, Phoenix would not have heard what she said next.
"There was one night…When Sis couldn't hold it in anymore.
And she started crying. "
Maya whispered the words in a horrified tone, as if she couldn't even bear to imagine Mia shedding tears.
"I was there then, and I tried my best to comfort her.
But she just wouldn't stop crying.
In the end...I asked her if there was anything I could do at all to help her, anything at all. And...she told me that there was just one thing.
"To be there for her."
She looked up and at Phoenix, a dazed and confused expression on her face.
This seemed so familiar.
As if she had told this tale before.
"To keep her smiling in times of strife by simply standing by her side, and cheering her on. I vowed to do more than that."
She continued, waving the previous thought aside.
"I wanted to protect her…But...as it turns out."
Maya reached into the plastic bag they had brought back with them and retrieved the blue magatama.
It was cool and luminous in her hands.
And the exact same colour as the one Mia had worn.
She squeezed it into her fist and nearly yelled out the last few words.
"I couldn't even do that one little thing. Why…WHY AM I SO PATHETIC AND USELESS?"
"Maya…"
"Why…N-Nick…?"
And she was sobbing fitfully now, the magatama slipped from her grasp and fell with a dull thud onto the floor.
She didn't care.
She didn't care about anything anymore.
She just wanted her sister to come back.
She wanted Mia.
Mia.
No one else but Mia.
The only person that fully understood her…
"Maya...!"
She blinked, and realised she was being cradled by him.
She must have fainted out of sheer pain from her heart.
"I-It's going to be alright." His voice was toneless…yet full of warmth.
"I'm here now."
Maya kept silent, and didn't look at him.
After several minutes, Phoenix finally seemed to have regained his speech.
"I...made a promise to Ch...I mean, to Mia, too."
She finally forced herself to look at him and opened and closed her mouth several times before asking softly;
"You...did?"
She realised then that the fallen magatma had been pressed back into her hands.
"Yeah...I promised her that I would take care of you. And, I will." He swallowed.
"So you don't have to worry about anything anymore. Because, this time, Maya,
I'll be there for you."
"N-Nick..."
And then she was crying in his warm embrace.
If anything left in this world was still warm.
He wouldn't leave her…would he?
He would stay by her side.
Forever.
And a day…
…
"Sis…! You're back!"
Maya ran through the fields, her channelling uniform obviously too big for her, and she nearly tripped on them.
Only to be suddenly scooped up by gentle hands and raised into the air.
"You just couldn't wait until I got off the bus, huh, Maya?"
The little girl giggled and held onto her sister tightly.
"Momma told me that you should never let the people you love go!" She said in an all important voice, causing Mia to laugh and bury her face into Maya's long hair.
"Well, that is true…And here's what she told me."
Mia set her sister down and walked with her back to the village.
Hand in hand.
"Once you love someone…they stay in your heart, forever."
"Wow…" Maya gazed up with admiration.
"You make it sound so much better, Sis!"
Mia smiled down at her warmly and then stopped to kneel down to Maya's level.
"You know what the best thing about it is?"
Maya cocked her head onto one side and wrapped her short arms around her sister's neck endearingly.
"That you're the best sister in the WHOOOOOLLEE, wide world?"
She bounced up and down.
"I wish." Mia laughed and kissed Maya's bobbing forehead.
Maya finally settled down and screwed up her face in concentration.
"The best thing about what Momma said is…is…"
Mia held her as close as she could.
"…is that it's true.
the ones that truly love us...never leave, ever."
"Ever?" Maya's big eyes widened.
"Forever and a day." Mia smiled.
"...What does that mean, Sis?"
"Forever and a day...it means something that is even longer than 'forever'."
"Eh...? Then, can we be together for forever...and another forever?"
"Of course." Mia whispered and held Maya gently, smiling as she felt her younger sister happily bury her face into the crook of Mia's neck.
"Forever...and forever."
Phoenix was aware that Maya had fallen asleep.
She still had tears in her eyes and was mumbling something incoherent.
He leaned closer to her to hear what she was saying.
And realised she was calling her sister's name.
Pausing.
And changing to his name.
Over and over.
Like a mantra.
Dedicated to the two most important people in her life.
…
I held Maya in my arms for a long time.
She was leaning against me, weeping in earnest.
I knew then that it wasn't just a simple agreement I had made.
Taking care of Maya had become my responsibility.
And a promise that I would never break.
Case I - The Turnabout We Met - End.