Disclaimer: Phoenix Wright is still property of Capcom. Imagine that! And I still owe lots to Garnet17th, my super-mega-awesome beta-reader!
Diego Armando turned the keys in the ignition of his car as he tossed a smiling glance at Mia, who just sat there in the passenger seat, hands awkwardly placed on her lap.
"You really didn't have to do this, Diego…" she finally said before looking out the window.
"Nonsense, Kitten." he replied cheekily as he began driving. "You would of had to pay a fortune on a cab, besides, won't your sister be more impressed being picked up in such a nice car?"
Mia couldn't help but shake her head ever so slightly. Of course Diego was the proud owner of a red sports car with full leather interior, heated seats and the typical myriad of dashboard buttons. Grimacing, she just couldn't help but find it all unnecessary. Then again, it wasn't surprising that the Hispanic attorney wanted to show everyone just how well off he really was.
"We aren't big car fans in my family, as long as it starts and has locking doors, we're happy." She commented while looking back at him. "Personally, I'm just shocked that your car's interior doesn't smell like coffee!"
"Oh for crying out loud…" Diego failed at sounding miffed as he just ended up chuckling. "I don't drink THAT much!"
"Oh no?" Mia took that as a challenge as she crossed her arms over her chest (not that Diego was looking there to begin with…) "That cup you were drinking before I left the office, what was it? Your twentieth?"
"Eighth." Diego replied dryly, reaching for his cupholder instinctively only to realize it was empty, grumbling ever so slightly as his hand retracted back to the steering wheel. This made Mia giggle, which made the embarrassment all worth it for him. It was just too beautiful how her face lit up like…
"Red light! Red light!" Mia's yelling made him snap out of it just in time to slam on the break and avoid a possibly ugly collision with the car in front of them.
"Eight cups of coffee is a perfectly healthy number." Diego continued the conversation as if nothing had happened, shifting his gaze to his passenger only to realize that the sudden halt almost made Mia's head crash into the glove compartment!
"How did you not see that?" she asked as politely as her slightly rattled nerves allowed as she straightened back into her seat, flicking her disheveled hair out of her face.
"I'm sorry, Kitten. Just when I was about to point out you were actually enjoying yourself, too."
"Shall we rule this one as a lack of caffeine?" she couldn't help but joke again.
"Whatever you say, Kitten." Diego agreed, halfway in his notorious grin just as she spoke again.
"Could you… please stop doing that? At the very least for today?" she asked in an awkward, vague way.
"Stop what, Kitten?" he asked her, jaw frozen in a half-grin that slightly resembled an animal baring it's fangs.
"Exactly that… calling me Kitten. I… I don't want Maya to get the wrong impression."
"Is there anything to misinterpret?" Diego dared to ask, which caused Mia to sink back into her seat, the thought of vanishing into thin air obviously very appealing to her as she looked the other way to hide her flushed face.
Uh-oh. Too soon. Back up, back up!
Diego hurriedly cleared his throat and laughed nervously all while gluing his eyes to the road, never blinking or diverting his attention elsewhere until that last statement was forgotten. The fog of awkwardness was probably too thick to see through anyway. "How old did you say your sister was?"
"Thirteen." Mia replied, slowly easing back into a normal sitting position as she continued answering Diego's question. "She started her spirit medium training a while back now, this is actually the first time she can visit anyone since I moved out of Kurain."
"Sounds harsh." Diego commented with slight uneasiness in his voice. "I think I read about the Kurain Spirit Channeling Technique in an article somewhere… are you a medium yourself?"
"Oh no, not me!" Mia smiled dismissively while looking down at her feet.
"Not a believer?" he asked her off-handedly, to which she seemed hesitant before replying:
"It's not really for me. I do share in its beliefs though!"
Diego was convinced that she was not being completely honest, but made no sign of it as he continued the conversation. "You mean like your Magma-kami necklace?"
"Magatama." Mia corrected him with a bit of a laugh. "And yes, it's related to Kurain beliefs."
"How big of a village is Kurain, anyway?"
"Really small! Let me put it this way, just going to a Burger King is going to be one of the biggest highlights of the weekend."
"Really now?" Diego couldn't help but chuckle yet again as he took a left turn at an intersection. "And where in your weekend schedule were you going to smuggle that in?"
"It was supposed to be tonight, actually…"
Maya scrambled to her feet and towards the front of the bus as soon as the driver had announced they were approaching the Los Angeles terminal. The short girl let her shoulder length black hair hang naturally except for the bangs tied with purple elastics on each side of her head and sported the traditional purple robes of Kurain. If little Maya noticed the odd glances fixed on her as she planted herself right next to the bus driver, she chose not to pay any attention to them as she began shifting her weight between the tip of her toes and the balls of her heels.
"You're not supposed to stay standing in the middle of the bus while it's still moving." the driver told her without even moving his head, which freaked Maya out a little bit. How did he know she was there?! Was he psychic? Or was he just a man with a drivers license and a keen ear for the sound of sandals on the floor?
Some questions were best left unanswered, at least that's what the grown-ups kept telling her back in Kurain. This had to be one of those questions!
"I don't wanna sit anymore." Maya answered him, looking out the large glass doors just to have a one up on his keeping his attention on the road.
"I know the ride's been long and boring, but you really need to get back to your seat." The man continued in his neutral tone.
"What does it matter if I'm here or sitting down?" Maya asked pleadingly, already losing patience at this 'Not Looking at You' game. "It's not like I'm being loud or giving a strip-tease or something."
"I'm sorry, but those are the ru- wait, did you say strip tease?!" the bus driver was downright shocked out of his train of thought as he finally glanced back at Maya. "How old are you and how do you know about that kind of thing?"
"I'm thirteen. Shocking I know vocabulary like that, isn't it?" Maya asked gravely, clasping her hands together behind her back as she tilted herself a bit to the left. "That's what you get when you punish your kids by making them copy parts of the dictionary. They learn to curse like a sailor. And I don't even want to be a sailor!"
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call what you did swearing…."
"Please, don't patronize me." The lithe medium in training interrupted him with a raised hand. "I already know what a courtesan is when I should still be playing with Steel Samurai action figures. My youth is tainted forevermore."
The maybe/maybe-not psychic bus driver just sat there looking at her with a blank face before finally opening the doors of the bus. "We're, uh… we've reached the Los Angeles stop."
"REALLY?!" Maya made a 180 degree spin in the middle of a jump as she gawked in wonder at the sight of the large crowd of people before her, which was staring at her in hopes that she'd stop blocking the entrance to the bus.
"Bless you for the safe journey, Mr. Bus Driver!" Maya turned back to the bus driver with a bow before jumping out into the bustle of the big city for the very first time. "And remember, dictionaries forevermore-"
"-tainted your youth. I know, I know…" the man finished her sentence as he rolled his eyes, obviously glad she was finally off on her way.
Maya was however far from done on her journey to her sister's side, what with the tidal wave of people she had to wiggle through just to reach the actual Terminal's exit. However, at that exact moment, she saw her older sister standing there in her fancy work clothes like a holy apparition in the middle of the desert, the light at the end of the tunnel, a hamburger at the very end of the table…
Alright, so Maya was never really good with metaphors, but who cared?! She found Mia!
"Maya?" the brown haired woman asked as if she already didn't know the answer.
"MIIAAA!" the girl cried out as she literally charged at her long-lost sister with outstretched arms, managing to avoid slipping on her sandals as she reached Mia just in time for a frantic, high-pitched babbling sister hug!
"OhmygodMayaI'msohappytoseeyouI'msosorryIdidn'tcallasoftenasIsaidIwouldIgotcaughtupinworkandmentalpituresofthistoycoffeecupMuggyandyoursomuchbiggernowand-" Mia practically forgot to breathe as she rambled on almost tearfully in conjunction with Maya who was giving a similar speech:
"LookatyoualldresseduplikealawyerladywiththeheelsandthescarfandyoukepttheMagatamaIgaveyouandthebusdriverIthinkhe'spsychicbecauseheknewIwasstandingwithoutevenlookingbehindhimand… and…"
Maya paused her dialogue, peering over Mia's shoulder to notice the complete stranger that had been standing there just looking at the two of them hugging. Yeesh, not even two hours in the city and already some creep was hounding them. The most troubling fact was that he didn't look like a creep; healthy tan, red dress shirt, white vest, fancy schmancy business man pants… but he didn't fool Maya for a second. Those two piercings on his left ear were dead givaway!
"Um, Mia… don't freak out but I think that Mexican behind you is staring at us." Maya poorly whispered to Mia. "Just act casual… and when I say the code word Peanut Butter Puff, we run for it!" The man, who had obviously heard the whole thing, couldn't help but laugh very loudly at that.
"Now Mia!" Maya panicked as she began pulling on her sister's arm. "Peanut Butter Puff! Peanut Butter Puff!"
"Maya! Maya! Hold on!" Mia struggled against Maya's tugging until she managed to get her arms around the child to keep her still. "It's alright, this is just my co-worker Mr. Armando. He's driving us around because my car is in the garage today."
"Couldn't you just get a taxi like normal people?" Maya blurted out, to which Mia furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at Armando, who was chuckling once more.
"That would be my fault, kid." He said before extending a hand towards Maya. "And you can call me Diego. It's a pleasure to meet you, Maya. Now I see where Kitten gets her good looks." Mia shot him a venomous glare while Maya was busy shaking Diego's hand.
"Wow, you're really a scatterbrain if you realize why your pet cat is good looking in the middle of an introduction." Maya commented as she let go of Diego's hand. "So does this mean you work with Mr. Coffee too?"
A very low moan of frustration could be heard escaping from Mia's lips as she slapped her forehead in an attempt to hide her eyes from the unravellings of this unfortunate turn of events.
Diego just blinked a few times, his mouth eventually etching itself into a low smile. "Can't say it's the first time I've been called that." He commented before looking at Mia.
"Oh! You're Mr. Coffee?!" Maya gasped ever so slightly, the embarrassment she had just caused her sister not seeming to register all that well.
"Mia Fey, do you tell your sister everything?" Diego asked the other adult with his trademark grin.
"Yup!" Maya proudly affirmed with a firm nod of the head. "Like how you only act confident to hide the fact that you're a-"
"Heeeeey, who wants hamburgers?" Mia interrupted with exaggerated enthusiasm with the only thing she knew would stop Maya from finishing her sentence.
"HAMBURGERS!" Maya echoed cheerfully as she grabbed both Diego and Mia's wrist as she attempted to lead them… well, she wasn't too sure where she was taking them to be honest. The prospect of a well-earned hamburger was hampering her geographical skills.
"Hold your horses, Maya! Don't we need to get your baggage off the bus first?" Diego asked between laughs.
"Bag…gages…?" the little girl looked up at him, clearly dumbstruck.
"You know, with your changes of clothes and your toys."
"Oh, I already have my two spare robes folded in my backpack." Maya replied, taking off a purple backpack so thin that there was no doubt that it hadn't gone noticed until now.
"I know in Kurain we only take the bare essentials with us," Mia started a little worriedly. "But didn't the other nuns make you pack anything else at all?"
"Nope!" Maya chimed in a surprisingly happy manner before beginning to pull at Diego's wrist again. "Let's get going already! I'm only here for a few days, so let's get out of here!"