Chapter XXI – Different Points of View

"You used to live in a village?" No matter how many times Mia said it, Diego found this hard to believe.

"Yes, it's called Kurain and we're nearly there." She sighed and leaned into the car seat, barely able to keep her eyes open due to weariness from all the recent events.

"Well, I certainly hope so as we've been driving for about an hour now."

"It's been over an hour now, actually."

"…I rest my case."

Even up until now, Diego was still gathering his racing thoughts in his head and trying desperately to calm them down.

I'm spending a vacation with Mia at her hometown…

Me.

…And I didn't even get a say in this?

He straightened up and positioned a hand on the steering wheel to turn into next street.

Ah well. It can't be too bad, right?

"I guess the only thing I'm worried about now is the fact that they might not accept me." Mia's words broke through his train of thought.

"…What do you mean? They're your family, aren't they? Why wouldn't they accept you?"

"My aunt."

"…Oh."

"Heh…" Mia brought up a hand to ruffle her short fringe and brushed it to the side.

"I never knew I could quieten the great Diego Armando with two words."

"Don't push your luck, Kitten." And at once his usual teasing self was back.

"It'll take a lot more than that to shut me up."

"So, you got to her in time then, Bambina?"

"What did you expect? That she would somehow sense that I would come and then…flee?" Lana sarcastically remarked as she stormed back into the office.

She was very surprised that Jake was still exactly where she had left him.

"Where's your brother?"

"Oh, he was on the trail of a stray mustang so I won't be expecting him for at least another hour." Jake replied.

"A stray…mustang?" Despite the fact that Lana had spent quite a period of time in the working field with Jake, she still couldn't quite get the hang of his Texan metaphors that he had made a hobby of tossing into his sentences.

"By that I mean the case that he was looking into. I heard that he bumped into a freshman detective as well."

"Ah, you mean Dick Gumshoe?" Lana sat herself down behind her desk and stared at the huge pile of work in front of her with distaste.

"That's the one. He seemed pretty fired up about something."

"Isn't he working under the new prosecuting prodigy, Miles Edgeworth?"

"Not too clear on the details, Bambina. It's likely though since my brother told me that he kept mentioning his name and…"

"Sir!"

Jake turned his head casually to face the new comer who seemed to have trouble holding a stack of paper work in his arms.

"Officer Meekins, you're still here?" He asked bemusedly.

"Yes, sir! I'm here to file the report for Terry Fawles' case, sir! I was told it was of the utmost importance to do this immediately, sir!"

"You've got the wrong room."

"And importance is my…what, sir?" Meekins' eyes suddenly glazed over in confusion at Lana's remark.

"If you want to file away case files or reports, you need to see Chief Gant…not us." Lana explained patiently, though her eyes never looked up from her work.

"You couldn't find him?"

"No. The last place he was sighted was in Mia Fey's apartment, Ms. Tigress."

Her blue eyes appeared even more cold and calculative in the pale moonlight.

"How could you have lost him? He shouldn't know that we are tracking him and…"

"Actually he does know, Ms. Tigress." Shi Chi dropped from the tree branch she was balancing on and leapt lightly by the assassin's side.

"He was the one who… 'put us in a tight spot' whilst we were in the middle of questioning Diego Armando."

"Oh? Is that so?" And to everyone's disbelief, Midnight Tigress smiled.

"Well then, if he was so keen on saving the life Diego Armando…then our next step is to find that senior attorney."

"Hello there, Marvin! Swim much lately?"

Grossberg jumped up at the familiar hearty greeting he was always given by Daemon Gant and managed to dip his head respectfully.

"D-Daemon…to what do I owe the pleasure?" Try as he might, he couldn't stop flushing to a deep shade of red and sweat profusely to this untimely arrival.

"Well, I've come to speak to one Ms. Mia Fey."

"…Ms. Fey?"

"Yes." Gant's eyes narrowed slightly behind his ever present pink shades.

"I head she had a case recently? State vs Fawles is what I believe it was called?"

"Yes, but…"

"And she's one of the first to tarnish your name, is she not?"

"T-Tarnish? Well I hardly think that…"

"And now she's on leave with your budding senior attorney, Mr. Diego Armando?"

"Well, yes…but…"

"I don't mean to cut in…but I think Detective Gant has this situation narrowed down quite nicely."

Robert Hammond chose then to stand from his work desk with a smirk clear on his features.

"Robert! It's been ages! Have you been swimming?" Gant's demeanour instantly became cheerful.

"Not so much these days, with all the work I've been given, and…"
"Well, that won't do!" Gant tugged on his white, lightning bolt-shaped like strand of hair and tutted.

"We need to get together sometime, Marvin, and organise a group session!"

"Erm, yes…" Grossberg replied sheepishly, confusion clear on his features as he tried to work out why exactly the conversation had taken a sudden turn.

"D-Daemon…I thought you were in charge of overseeing the prosecutors, and not the defense attorneys?"

"Ah well, there's the catch line!" Gant clapped his gloved hands together and threw his head back to laugh.

And then lowered his head unexpectedly to scrutinise Grossberg's shaking form.

"There's a case I've dug up which I believe needs solving. And do you know who the sole witnesses to that case are?"

Grossberg blinked several times and gulped whilst Hammond stroked his chin, the answer ready on his lips.

"Ms Mia Fey and Lana Skye?"

"You know, Pearly. I'm really glad that Sis is coming back and that nothing horrible's happened to her." Maya was sitting with her baby cousin on her knees and fashioning a daisy bracelet around Pearl's tiny arm.

"Hor-ri-bble?" Pearl repeated hesitantly and smiled happily at the flower petals being carried by the wind and into the air in the field around them.

"Yeah…something happened when she went to high school… I think it involved a lot of people…and…" Maya screwed up her face in concentration to recall what Mia had told her, and didn't understand why she felt the need to tell her cousin at this point in time.

"And…?" Pearl tugged on Maya's sleeve, thinking that this was a bed time story and curled up to her.

"Well…somebody died."