"My apologies, Mister Faraday, but if the boy wants nothing to do with you, he wants nothing to do with you." A young blonde woman reiterated in a stoic voice. She seemed annoyed to still be having a conversation with Byrne; they had been going on about their topic for a while now.
"The boy needs proper love and care!" Byrne shook his head, arguing heatedly. "While I don't question the methods of you and your orphanage, it's quite obvious the child is miserable and desperately yearning for a stable parent in his life!"
"You saw him one time…"
"And wouldn't that be enough to at least look into the boy's situation more? I saw him when he was at his most vulnerable; when he was alone. He didn't even know that I was present until I was right next to him."
The young woman remained unimpressed by Byrne's arguments.
"And yet, for all his misery and woes, he survives. Mr. Faraday, surely you must realize that Souta Sarushiro is no different from any of the other orphans that live here. They have all lost their parents in some shape or form. Like all the others… He is content in our little Home."
'At last. A name.' Byrne couldn't fight the victorious smirk that made his lips curl up.
"Your orphanage is the only 'home' he's had ever since he lost his father. For the past week, I have seen no other children interact with that boy. If he came to live with me, he would have me and my daughter to look after him. Perhaps he is safe and secure here, but he's not happy, Miss Miwa."
Mari briefly considered Byrne's words. While it was true that there was almost no one besides herself that would interact with Sarushiro, there was one exception that Faraday didn't seem to know about. Yet it remained troubling that this man would observe the boy so closely, hanging about her establishment as if he had any right to do so. On top of which, a certain plan was supposed to be set in motion soon, so she had to make Faraday scarce as quickly as possible.
"And you could personally guarantee this 'happiness'?" Miwa scoffed. "For all your persistence, all I've heard from that boy is how much he wants you to just go away. To be honest, your obsession could be suspected as pedophilia. Why not let the boy go where he wants?"
"Because every child deserves to know that someone knows and cares about them. Not all children are wired the same way; Souta might not even know how to approach someone in order to be adopted." Byrne knew he was grasping at straws now, but quite frankly this woman was testing his patience. He was definitely not impressed with what he had seen so far; the facility itself was in tatters in many aspects – though that may have been partially due to a lack of real funding given the area of the city they were in – and there was just something about this woman that rubbed him the wrong way.
Letting out a disgruntled sigh, Miwa finally settled on a compromise. Byrne had to be far away from the orphanage by the time February tenth rolled around, and it was now the twenty-eighth of January. Faraday wasn't going to back down anytime soon, but at the same time, Miwa knew she had to pass off as a loving and doting caretaker, so she couldn't just let Faraday win the argument so easily either. He might suspect something if she gave up out of the blue.
"Alright, Mister Faraday, here's what we'll do," Mari licked her lips delicately as she chose her next words carefully. "We're dealing with a child's life here… But he's a child under my care. Given that Souta doesn't seem to like you very much at this point in time, I will give you one week to begin to change his mind about you. As we both know, you would need much more time to actually have an impact on the boy, but if he would rather be anywhere except with you, then what would be the point of allowing you to adopt him, hm? If you manage to positively affect the boy in some way in the allotted amount of time, the boy is yours. However, should you fail to make any difference at all, I never want to see you around here again. I don't need you or your ilk scaring the children, no matter how well-meaning you are."
Byrne scowled slightly at the blonde woman's proposal, but couldn't really object to any of the points she brought up. She was giving him a chance, and that was more than her previous, obstinate refusals. On the other hand, a week's time was hardly enough for him to interact with the boy at all. Despite how much he cared, Byrne couldn't just stay away from the office for a week, let alone the courtroom. He could always ask Tyrell to step in for him, but the man had his hands full as well. Plus, Souta would likely have a similar, negative reaction if another adult approached him…
And just like that, a metaphorical lightbulb went off in Byrne's head, and a weary smile crept onto his face as he shook Miwa's hand.
"I accept your terms, Miss Miwa."
I know I said that we'd most likely be jumping all over the place with these drabbles, but these first few are really just setup for later drabbles. I'm not quite sure how many characters will be involved in the grand scheme of things, but truthfully, I don't have this huge overarching plan, like I do for some of my other stories. This one is more for fun, and to explores any number of possible changes in the plot for the Ace Attorney series, in addition to being a test for penning smaller scale stuff, because I really need experience in that aspect of writing. So easy to draw up huge plots and slowly fill in the details as I go along, but not so easy to write out tiny, tiny things, at least for me.
On the topic of names of Ace Attorney Investigations 2 characters, I did say I would change 'Souta' to 'Simon' if people wanted, but at the same time, I'm aware that there might be 'canon purists' in a case like this because 'Gyakuten Kenji 2' never localized anywhere outside of Japan, and so those hypothetical 'purists' may not acknowledge the English fandub name. I'm aware I can't please everyone, so I might just change the Japanese names to English fandub names later on if I ever feel like it personally. Sometimes it just feels unnatural, really, though I'm neutral on this topic in general.
On a lighter note, we'll definitely be seeing Kay next chapter. True, she'll be like five years old, but for fans of that future Great Thief, that should bring some joy, eh? We might also see Horace Knightley sometime in the next few drabbles…
Anyway, thanks for all the favs and alerts! And of course the Reviews.
Review Replies:
Integras: Thanks! You'll most likely be seeing Horace sometime in the next two or three drabbles; really depends on how Kay and Souta's interaction pans out. Not sure how I want to introduce him yet, but he's definitely planned for a 'near-future' debut.
White Weasel: Thanks for the review! I did take your advice about the summary's spoiler warning. and your idea sounds interesting, too. Hope it goes well!
Zerkon Terona: Sounds good! Given the unplanned nature of this fanfic, I'll try and publish these chapters when the ideas form completely. I've been sitting on this one for a while, but I wasn't too happy with how it was turning out a couple months ago. Partially has to do with my indifference towards Mari Miwa's character, but fortunately she won't be seen again for a few chapters, so the next few might come out quicker. Depends on school, too. Thanks for the review!
ivyclan moonblossom: Heh, you made my day yesterday. I was thinking of updating this thing relatively soon, so here this is. Maybe it's not much, but we'll be returning to the 'cuteness'/hear-warming stuff next time. Everyone so far seems to prefer Simon, but I think I'll keep it as Souta for a little while longer. I sort of like both, and am just used to referring to him as Souta ever since watching the English Subs when they came out a few years ago. Then the English Dub came out, having wrapped up this past summer, and I've just been sad I can't seem to get ahold of the game, but all the same I've enjoyed watching a playthrough on Youtube. So wish they would've localized…
