Author's Note: Woah! An update almost exactly 24 hours after I posted the first part of this story? Yeah, that's right. Why? Because I had a lot of stuff planned out for this story, which has been bumming around in my mind for a while, and I just had to get to work on this sort of thing.

Also, there was a mental image that simply wouldn't leave my head until I put it into the story, so there it is. I hope you like it as much as I liked it.

Without further inane blabbering to myself and only myself, here's the story! Read, enjoy, and review! (second step optional)

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Minamo stepped out of her car and shaded her eyes against the curiously strong morning sunlight. She made her way down the familiar walkway to her friend's house, feet tracing steps they'd made countless times before. Politely, she rang the doorbell and waited for it to open and reveal a familiar figure.

"Hello, Mrs. Tanizaki," Nyamo said to the woman in the doorway. She bowed politely, and continued. "Is Yukari home?"

"Oh, Minamo, dear, there's no need to be so polite," said the cheerful woman in the doorway. "Come in, come in! Yukari's getting ready, so it may be a while."

"Thank you for your hospitality," replied Minamo, rising up and walking into the Tanizaki household. She sat down on the familiar chair, and waited for her friend. Looking over to the older woman, she grinned and tried to make some light conversation. "That's odd, isn't it, Mrs. Tanizaki?"

"What is?"

"Yukari actually getting prepared for something, I mean."

"Oh, yes, yes. It's strange that I didn't have to go in and wake her up for you."

"Stranger still that she's actually preparing. Most of the time she'll just throw on a few clothes and we'd be on our way."

"I wonder what she's doing in there. Any theories?" asked the older woman.

Minamo paused for a second, giving the question some actual thought. "Yeah, what could she possibly be prepa-"

"I'm ready, Nyamo! Heaven or Hell, let's rock!" shouted Yukari in an excited manner that was not at all suited for the relative calm of the morning hours.

Minamo's only response was to stare at Yukari blankly. The elder Tanizaki's response was similar. Between the two of them, they created an oppressive wall of quiet.

Yukari, however, was well trained in breaking down such walls. "What're you two staring at?"

"What," answered Minamo, "exactly are you wearing, Yukari?"

She said this all the while staring at the bewildering getup that her friend had actually managed to scrounge together. The English teacher wore a vivid purple-red overcoat, with matching pants. Under the overcoat she wore a jet black dress shirt. That in itself, while appalling to the eye, was not the most shocking part of Yukari's outfit. The piece of attire that tied the entire getup together was this absolutely bizarre piece of fluffy white cloth that seemed to be tied around Yukari's neck, sticking out front and center, drawing a ludicrous amount of attention to itself. Part of the reason for Minamo's silence was the fact that she could not figure out if it was a collar or simply an extremely large handkerchief that Yukari was wearing.

"Oh, that? It's important for today, you know."

"What? How?"

"Put this on!" said the English teacher, grinning at her friend. In her hands, she held a blue business suit, complete with white dress shirt and a bright red tie.

"Yukari… I'm not going to put that thing on."

"But you've gotta! I even got the badge and everything, see?"

"I'm not putting it on."

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"Yukari…" Minamo muttered irritably.

"Yes, Phoenix?" asked Yukari, ignoring the

"Stop calling me that. I still don't know how you convinced me to put this thing on."

"Obviously, because it fits you to a tee! You're trying to prove Kimura's innocence, so of course you're going to be the defense attorney!"

"And you?"

"I'm the prosecution, of course!"

"You do realize that we're just investigating, right, and that this isn't a courtroom case or anything, right?"

"Yeah, I thought of that. You said that Kimura only pretends, right? So obviously he would act perverted if he knew that we were watching…"

"Yeah, you've got that right."

"But he won't act perverted in front of Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth!"

"This is probably the single worst idea that you've ever had ever."

"Really? What about that one time, with the chocolate and the whip and the gerbils?"

"This is worse than that by a tiny amount."

"I happen to think this is a brilliant idea!"

Realizing the futility of the argument, Minamo focused once more on her driving. Spotting an opportunity to change the subject decisively, she decided to take the initiative in the conversation. "We're almost there."

"Are we? Uh… where exactly are we going?"

"Kimura's house, of course."

"Right to Kimura's house? So quickly? That kills all of the suspense! What exactly are you planning on doing?"

"Asking a few questions, of course."

"He'll get suspicious. You obviously have no idea how to do this sort of thing."

"Oh, and what would you suggest?"

"Your puny gym teacher mind couldn't possibly comprehend the brilliance of my plan," answered Yukari, flashing a wan smile at her friend.

"It's not 'Lie like a dog,' is it?" asked Minamo, parking the car.

Yukari's only answer was to step out of the car and start walking towards the doorway.

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Minamo caught up with her only a short while afterwards, but not before Yukari had managed to ring the doorbell. "What are you doing?" she asked. "How do you even know this is the right house?"

"Mailbox."

"Fine, I'll give you that. But what's your plan?"

"Follow my lead. It'll ease the strain on your miniscule brain."

"Stop that! Follow your lead?" Minamo asked angrily. "This was my fu-" she caught herself as she noticed the doorway opening. She looked at the person greeting them, and took a few seconds to recognize the face.

Mrs. Kimura!

"Oh, hello! Good morning to you, and god bless."

Yukari leaned over to her friend and whispered, "See? God bless! Five thousand yen says that my hyper-Christian theory is true."

"Yukari, she's staring at us."

"Aha, Mrs. Kimura! Good morning to you too!" said the English teacher, completely ignoring the fact that she'd been completely ignoring Mrs. Kimura. Luckily for her, Mrs. Kimura seemed to be perfectly happy with ignoring the fact. "I'm Miss Tanizaki, and this is Miss Kurosawa. We're your husband's colleagues, and we decided to pay a visit to his house today!"

"Oh my, you must have been trying to make such an impression!" exclaimed the woman happily. "You've both dressed up in such interesting suits!"

"Thanks, we try." Yukari answered, casting a sidelong glance at Minamo.

"Oh, would you like to come in?" Without waiting for an answer, she started back into the household.

"Ready to cross the threshold?" asked Yukari.

"What?"

"Should we hold our breath?"

"Just go in."

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The two teachers sat together on a large couch, and across from them sat Kimura's wife.

"Ah, Mrs. Kimura," started Minamo.

"Please, call me Mai."

"Er, Mai, where is Mr. Kimura?"

"Oh, Masaaki isn't home right now. He took Nanako out to the park today, so he's not going to get home for quite some time."

"Nanako?"

"Nanako is our daughter." Mai answered, motioning to a picture of her, Mr. Kimura, and a young girl.

"She looks so smart!" Minamo whispered to Yukari.

"Yeah, I noticed." Yukari glanced to the picture and looked back to Mai. She reached up and adjusted her ridiculous collar a little bit, and then smiled pleasantly. "So Mr. Kimura's a pleasant family man, is he now? That's nice to know. You three look like such a happy group together."

"Oh, you're too kind!" answered Mai, smiling pleasantly. "Ah! Look at the time! It's already noon!"

"Hmm? Noon? Really? Wow!" Yukari said, glancing over to her wrist.

You're… not wearing a watch at all, Yukari, thought Minamo. This isn't a game! Stop messing around!

"Yeah! It's amazing how time flies! Would you like to stay for lunch?"

Kimura really is a lucky man. His wife, she's so pretty, and furthermore she's got a personality like an angel! She's really too kind!

"Sure, we'd love to!" answered Yukari.

"That's wonderful!" exclaimed Mai happily. "I'm afraid I don't have anything more sophisticated right now, so you'll have to settle for some of my homemade ramen."

"Oh, don't worry about us, we'll be just fine!" said Yukari, smiling reassuringly.

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The two women sat quietly in the room, simply listening to Mrs. Kimura hum to herself as she prepared lunch.

"Yukari," Minamo whispered furiously, "what the hell were you thinking?"

"What do you mean?"

"Accepting her offer, I mean!"

"I heard free food. What did you expect me to do?"

"Politely turn her down, of course!"

"I think it would've been rude to turn her down, really."

"Really now, Yukari, you've got to stop thinking with your stomach. We're going to get painted in a bad light in her eyes, you know. Besides, I've followed your lead, and we have gotten exactly zilch in the way of information so far. So what, exactly do you have to show for all your efforts?"

"Okay, so far we've talked to Mrs. Kimura for a short while, right?"

"Yeah, and so far we've accomplished… not much at all."

"What are you saying? Oh, never mind, you're so simple-minded Nyamo! All of that time we spent talking with her and you think I was just having fun? No, no, conversation's always based off of information, so we just have to look through it and figure out what she told us without kno… Oh, hello Mrs. Kimu… er, Mai!"

"Sorry it took so long! Lunch is ready, ladies! I'm sorry that it's so plain."

"Oh, you're too kind," Nyamo answered.

"Waah! It's delicious!" exclaimed Yukari, diving into the meal with far more gusto than was necessary for polite dining.

"I'm glad you like it," said Mai, smiling.

Follow my lead, she says. So far, she's just been eating. Then again, I have no idea what she expects to get out of this, and I guess it's not like the situation can get too much worse. I'll just sit back and let her do her thing.

"Hah! Finished!" exclaimed Yukari happily. "Ah, it was delicious!"

What? Already?

"Oh my, you eat so fast! I wish I could convince Nanako to eat like that. Ever since she was a little girl she's given me such trouble feeding her. She's picky, extremely so, and she's so small. Masaaki and I have always been worried about our little Nanako. She's not so bad anymore, but I still wish that she had more of an appetite."

"Oh, really? That's so sad to hear," Yukari replied sympathetically. "At least she's grown up by now, so at her age you should be more or less in the clear. Speaking of which, how old is she?"

"Oh, Nanako? She turns nine in a little under three months from now. Would you like to come to her birthday party?"

"A party? That would be splendid, we'd love to come. Perhaps we can invite some of the girls from school as well. There's a group I'm thinking of right now who have made friends with a 12 year old prodigy at the high school, so they'll probably be very friendly with your little girl as well."

"Oh, really, that sounds wonderful."

Yukari glanced down at her wrist one more, pretending to check her watch. "Oh dear! Look at the time!" she exclaimed, feigning shock. "I'm afraid that Kurosawa-sensei and I have got some other business to attend to today, so we really must be going now. I'm sure it won't be half as pleasant as this, though. Perhaps we should get together another time for a girl's night out, yeah?"

"Maybe sometime down the line," answered Mai.

"Come now, Nyamo, we must be going." Yukari said, tugging Minamo to her feet and towards the door. "Sorry to leave in such a fluster, but it really is some unpleasantly urgent business."

"Oh no, I understand! Have a nice day!"

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The two women sat in Minamo's car again, driving off with no particular destination in mind.

"So, Yukari, what exactly did you figure out with your brilliant detective's mind? What exactly did we gain from that whole conversation?"

"You mean I actually have to spell it out for you?" Yukari looked at Minamo, shocked.

"You didn't find out anything, did you." Minamo frowned, and turned back to the street.

"No, no, we did find out a lot of information. I guess I simply overestimated your pu-"

"Don't say it. Just tell me what wonderful information you supposedly gleaned from that."

"Okay, what have we learned about Kimura? He's not at home right now. He's at the park with his daughter, Nanako. Speaking of which, he seems to be quite the family man, given what Mai Kimura has told us. His daughter is eight years old, and furthermore there were some complications with her appetite and possibly her health while she was a little girl."

"Okay, anything else?"

"She seems to still be fairly infatuated with Kimura, despite their marriage having gone on for nearly nine years now. She's either been blind to all of the things that Kimura does at the school, or she knows something that assures her that none of that is anything to worry about, and that perhaps it's even a noble sort of thing to her. Oh, and Mrs. Kimura at least believes in a god, if not the Christian god, so my hyper-religious theory still holds water."

"You know what I think?"

"You're a gym teacher, Nyamo. You don't think."

"I'm going to ignore that for now. I think that that whole bit right there was just a waste of time. You and her just chatted back and forth, but we didn't actually learn anything relevant to the investigation. What did we get out of it? Nothing but some free ramen, although it was admittedly delicious."

"Yeah, that was some really good ramen."

"What I don't get is why we had to leave before I finished my meal."

"We had to give off the image of being flustered, of being in a rush, you know? If not, we could get stuck at Kimura's house, chatting with Kimura's wife instead of making some progress on our investigation."

"Which we haven't so far, as I've already said."

"Nah, that's totally wrong. All information can be beneficial. The more you know, the clearer the truth becomes. Therefore, any bit of information we can get about Kimura can help us figure out exactly what he is."

Minamo sighed, knowing full well that Yukari would never agree to having wasted their time. "Okay, so if we had to blast out of there to make progress in our investigation, I've got to ask you, where are we going to make progress in our investigation?"

"You mean I actually have to tell you?" asked Yukari exasperatedly.

"Just say it Yukari. No lip."

"Well, we got a lot of information, but there's only one bit of information that we can actually act upon. To the park, Mr. Wright!"

"Stop that."

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Author's Note: Whee. Yukari loev videogames. This story's actually fairly fun to write, which makes me glad. I don't actually have an estimate on how many chapters it'll take, mostly because I've already had to split up what I intended to be the prologue into more than one chapter because it flowed better that way. I still doubt that it'll be even as long as Endeavors, though, so it should be over fairly quickly.

Oh, and there are probably going to be video game references in various places made by everyone's favorite English teacher, so if you catch them, have a cookie. Good luck.

Yadda yadda, I can't really think of anything else to say, aside from the standard sort of thing like "THIS IS DELICIOUS STORY, YOU MUST REVIEW IT. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW"