Despite the issue with Chinami's ex-boyfriend on monday, there was good news to be had. When I called Chinami later at night, she told me she would come to take the science and math exams, since she knew I would fail them if I took them.

"I do plan to return to college once you obtain my pendant back," she said. "I enrolled in pharmacology on a whim, but it turns out I have natural talent for it."

Even though she refused to take the English exam as well, that was at least a positive outlook for the amount of studying I needed to complete. I still had 250 words to memorize, and as if that wasn't enough, I had to learn how to construct sentences with them.

For the rest of the week, Ryu-chan and I met up in the library to study. I wasn't sure that was an efficient study strategy, given he spent part of his time making sure I wasn't falling asleep with my eyes open, but he insisted on it and seemed to enjoy the time despite the imminent catastrphe that were the exams that were rapidly approaching. When we took breaks in between, Ryu-chan spoke to me about the plans for his summer.

"I applied for internships last week, and one small law firm accepted me," he told me. "I'll have to go there everyday as if it were a job."

"What? Does that mean we won't be able to hang out?" I blurted out. Since I had virtually no plans, other than the few that Tomoko apparently had planned for me, I had assumed that was the case for everyone.

"Maybe not so much during the week, but we can still meet on the weekends."

"That's good, I guess."

I was feeling a little disappointed, but Ryu-chan chuckled for some reason. However, when I asked what he had found funny, he shook his head and said it was nothing.

"Do you have plans for the summer?" he asked instead.

"Well, none of my own," I said frankly. "However, Tomo-chan told me she wanted to do a lot of things with Nanako, Hitomi and me. I don't know, shopping, beach, amusement park? That's I think what she had in mind, if I remember correctly."

"Sounds like it'll be a fun summer, once we get through the exams," he said. "Now, let's get back to work so that we can enjoy summer without crying over our exam scores."

On Friday, after studying in the library until 7PM, Ryu-chan asked me if we could stop by the convenience store on our way back. He said he had ran out of groceries and wouldn't go shopping until the next day, so he needed a quick fix in the form of a bento box*. I didn't mind a trip to buy myself some side dish to complement dinner as well, so we went there together.

The convenience store was surprisingly empty. Other than a woman reading a magazine and the shop clerk, we were the only ones inside. While Ryu-chan was deciding on which bento to buy, I quickly grabbed a tray of teriyaki chicken and a bag of soy sauce mayo flavored potato chips. I had only tried these potato chips since I arrived in Tokyo, but they quickly became my favorite.

"Hello, miss. Did you find everything you needed?" the shop clerk asked me at the register.

"Yes, thank you."

"And is that young man over there your boyfriend?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered without thinking, but then considered the oddness of his question. "Wait, what?"

I looked at the clerk and he had a wide smile. However, in the next moment, he was making a scary face.

"Naruhodo, you traitor," the clerk shouted.

Ryu-chan almost dropped his bento box from being startled, but still looked surprised when he turned around to look at the clerk.

"Yahari (Butz)? What are you doing here?" he asked, coming towards the register.

"What else do you see me doing," Yahari-san said. "As you can see I work in this convenience store as a part-timer."

"... What happened to your other part-time job in a fast food restaurant," Ryu-chan asked, but Yahari-san brushed the question away.

"More importantly," he said. "Why didn't you tell me you got a girlfriend? It's unfair that you got one before I did."

"That's because I knew you'd get jealous if I did," Ryu-chan smiled mischievously.

"Jealous? Me? Nonsense, nonsense. I could get a girlfriend anytime, but was waiting until you got a girlfriend so you wouldn't feel jealous."

Both of them laughed. Ryu-chan noticed that I probably had a large question mark scribbled on my face, and took a moment to introduce me to his friend.

"Chii-chan, this is Masashi Yahari. He's been my best friend since grade school," he said. "And Yahari, this is Chiii-chan. She's a first year pharmacology student in Ivy University."

Masashi Yahari... That name rang a bell as I bowed my head towards him. I gave it further thought, and remembered that Ryu-chan had talked to me about him when he told me his motivation to become a defense attorney.

"Yahari-san. Ryu-chan, you told me about him before, if I remember correctly."

"She's cute and remembers me even before meeting me," Yahari-san said, grinning. "If you ever feel lonely, you know you can depend on me."

"In your dreams, Yahari," Ryu-chan said and shoved his bento box into his hands. "Here, do your work instead of idly chit-chatting with your customers."

"Tch, I don't like aggressive customers," Yahari-san pointed his lips as he scanned the barcode on the box and charged Ryu-chan.

"I'll talk to you later. Don't slack off," Ryu-chan said to him as we left the store.

"I'm going to quit this lame job," we heard Yahari-san shout before the doors slid shut behind us.

On our way back home, he told me that Yahari-san used to get in trouble all the time as a child and his affinity to bring trouble hadn't decreased as he became an adult.

"But even though he's a magnet for problems himself, he did jump to my defense when I was in trouble myself," he recalled.

"He seems to be a pleasant person, despite his loud voice," I said without meaning to offend.

"Pleasant isn't the descriptor I'd use," Ryu-chan laughed. "But I'd even say I never spent a monotonous day when Yahari was around. Listening to Yahari and Mitsurugi talk with each other was especially funny, since they were on totally different wavelengths."

I listened to Ryu-chan as he vividly told me stories of their childhood. He talked about Prosecutor Mitsurugi's Pomeranian and how they three had once tried to confront the ex-owner, who had just left him out in a cardboard box, despite being just a group of 10-year-olds. He talked at length of young Mitsurugi's creativity not just pertaining to schoolwork or model-courtrooms, but also in small details like using dog food as a trace to know the way back home. It was clear that even after all these years, Ryu-chan's admiration of Prosecutor Mitsurugi had not worn out one bit.

"Let's hang out, you and I, and Yahari, one of these days," he said when we arrived to my apartment building. "Let's do it after exams. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," I said with a smile, and waved as he walked back to his home.

*Convenience stores in Japan sell ready-to-eat food in disposable containers.

- Characters -

Ryuichi Naruhodo = Phoenix Wright

Ayame Hazakurain = Iris

Masashi Yahari = Larry Butz

Reiji Mitsurugi = Miles Edgeworth

Chinami Miyanagi = Dahlia Hawthorne

Kikuzou Nonda = Doug Swallow