I guess this story got off to a pretty good start, as evident in the second chapter. The others might follow suite, if I feel up to it. Let's hope that it doesn't die here, like past attempts.


Maya returned to Kurain Village to place Pearl in the hands of other relatives while she took a break. While she invited Pearl to go with them, Pearl insisted that they spend some 'alone time' together, despite Maya's explanations to their relationship being strictly friendly.

She opened her wardrobe and sighed at her collection. While she was still an acolyte, she was not allowed to wear anything else besides the training uniform, and her selection of clothing reflected such. Everything was standardized, from outerwear and formal wear to swimsuits and underwear.

She packed the clothes into a small suitcase she had bought last year, when she became Phoenix's assistant. Because she moved between the office and the village so often, a spare set of clothes was necessary to bring with her. On the rare occasion she couldn't return to the village, she would have spare clothes, and could use the spare room in the office.

When she finished packing all her necessary belongings, she still had quite a bit of room left in her suitcase, lost of what else to fill it with. Then an idea dawned upon her.

'Wait till Nick gets a load of this!'


Phoenix went home to his own flat to pack. He hadn't gone on vacation for a while, so he had to air out his suitcase for a little, else the old, musty smell would get on his packed clothes. He threw in a little air freshener just in case.

"Okay, now to get out the vacation clothes." It would be a nice change to not have to wear a suit for once. He opened his closet and was greeted by a sea of blue suits and white shirts, with the occasional red tie. "Umm, this might be a little harder than I thought it would..."


"Mornin', Nick!" Maya was dragging behind her a small wheeled suitcase, though still in her acolyte clothes.

"Hello there, Maya." Phoenix carried a travel suitcase at his side and wore a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, looking more or less normal beside his oddly dressed companion.

"Woah Nick, I thought all you wore were suits and stuff." Maya teased, though she still sounded surprised.

"H-hey, I do have a life outside of my law office." Phoenix defended himself. 'But I really did have to dig these out from the back of my closet…' "Let's just go inside. My arms are starting to get tired."

"You're right, we're wasting valuable vacation time out here!" Even, though Phoenix had suggested it, it was Maya who had dragged him inside. Phoenix sighed and let himself be pulled.

'This is going to be a long three days…'


They walked up to the front desk in the lobby, which was being managed by a bored-looking middle-aged woman.

"Welcome to the Gatewater hotel. How may I help you?" She wasn't just bored-looking; she sounded bored too.

"I'd like to check into the room under Phoenix Wright. That's Phoenix like the bird and Wright W-R-I-G-H-T."

She typed something into the keyboard. "It says here that you have a honeymoon suite on reserve." She looked skeptically at the duo. Maya looked back with a smile.

"Yes, that's right. Is there a problem?"

"No, just double-checking. Can I just see some ID to confirm?"

"Oh, sure." Phoenix took out his wallet and took out his defense attorney ID. Though not as flashy as his attorney's badge, it was still vital for him to have, in case anything happened to his badge. It had a photo of him, as well as his ID number and various other important data.

"Hey, Nick, that's a pretty weird picture there." It was indeed. Phoenix's eyes were significantly narrowed, and his mouth had adapted a toothy scowl, nostrils flared.

"…The camera guy caught me just before I was about to sneeze. And he didn't let me retake it either." That was the other reason he kept it hidden.

Phoenix started to put his wallet away, but Maya stopped him, a gleam in her eye. His normally empty and forlorn-looking wallet had miraculously sprouted a few bills.

"Hey Nick, I'm kinda hungry. Can you lend me some money please?" She adopted her best Maya-is-hungry­-and-amazingly-cute look. Phoenix, though not falling for the farce, sighed and reluctantly handed her a single dollar. "Thanks Nick, I'll pay you back later." She bounced happily away to the vending machine. Phoenix knew that was the last he was going to see of that dollar.

The receptionist cleared her throat. Phoenix turned to see her holding out his ID. "Ah, thank you." He hastily put it away before anybody else could catch a glimpse of the embarrassing photo.

The receptionist resumed her typing. "She's young."

It took a small while before Phoenix realized she was talking to him. "Excuse me?"

"Your wife. She's young. She must be a gold digger. Makes sense since you're a lawyer."

"G-gold digger?"

"You know, a girl who marries a rich guy just for his money. Doesn't matter if he's some young gun who struck it lucky in the lottery or some old guy who built his fortune from a company." She stopped typing to look at Phoenix. "Actually, I hear they prefer the old ones."

"N-now wait a minute! She's not my wife." He paused for a second. "And I'm only twenty-five!"

"Hmm? A girlfriend then? You're more or less robbing the cradle there. Though, I don't think your relationship is legal." Maya happily pattered back at this point, holding a half-empty bag of chips. "She doesn't even look eighteen yet."

Maya realized they were talking about her, but not of what. "Hey, just so you know, I turned eighteen three months ago! I can buy a lottery ticket and everything!" She huffed out her chest in pride. "…Though I haven't because gambling is bad, and I want to be a good role model for Pearly." She added, reassuring Phoenix.

"So you two are spending your first night together? How cute."

Maya was confused. "Huh? Nick? What is she talking about? What about our first night?" Phoenix mentally slapped himself.

"Ohh? This isn't your first night together?" She giggled. "You're so naughty…"

Frustrated, Phoenix was barely could contain his anger. "Listen, can you just give us our keys and tell us where the room is?"

"Oh, getting impatient, are we?"

Phoenix opted for silence, the best choice available to him. Any words that he said would cause the receptionist's already over-active imagination to run laps around her head.

She finished typing and two cards slid out of a slot in the computer. "Okay then, you two are in room 425, on the fourth floor, near the elevator on the right." She held them just beyond Phoenix's reach, so he had to move forward to get them.

As Phoenix leaned towards the receptionist, she whispered to him. "Everything you need should be in the bottom drawer of the left-hand bedside table." She gave him a wink. Phoenix went red. He snatched the keys and walked off quickly. Maya, confused for the whole time, quickly followed.

"Please enjoy your stay." The receptionist stated, rather suggestively, after them.

"Hey Nick, wait up!" She caught up to him at the elevator, where the button was already pressed. She wanted to push the button. "You surprised me there. What's wrong, you just suddenly left all of a sudden. Did the receptionist mention anything to you?"

Phoenix recalled what the receptionist mentioned to him. He turned to Maya and grabbed her shoulders. "Maya." He said in a rather serious tone.

Surprised by the sudden action, Maya barely muttered out a response. "Y-yes?"

"I forbid you from opening the bottom drawer of the left-hand side bedside table."


What is Maya packing? What is in the bedside table? Will we even see the room? Not even I know at this point. Yes, it's great to see an author with a sense of direction.