Makoto glanced over the tabletop at her sister. Sae stared back.

"You first."

Makoto swallowed.

"No, no." She said. "I'm sure your news is more important. Let's hear it."

"You're younger than me." Sae stressed. "Tell me now so I can tell you already."

Makoto shook her head stubbornly. "No, I-"

Sae leaned forward, her expression furrowed.

"Keep going like this and we'll be at it all night.' She said.

They looked at each other, and at once in unison-

"I have a boyfriend!"

They looked at each other in surprise. Makoto's shock gave way to a strange flush as Sae stared at her with incredulity. There was a hefty silence.

"Do I know him?" Sae asked cautiously, as Makoto returned to her dinner.

"Yes." Makoto said stiffly. "Do I know yours?"

"Don't change the subject."

"I could say the same to you."

Sae gave her a look, and then rolled her eyes.

"His name is Miles Edgeworth." Sae soft, her voice soft. "He's a district prosecutor… and a very successful one at that."

Of course he is. Makoto thought to herself. She had always known that her sister would end up with another prosecutor. "I have heard of him.' She said cautiously. "He's in the newspaper all the time… He exposed that Zheng Fa smuggling ring a while back…"

Sae nodded, looking pleased. Clearly the fact that her boyfriend was known to the public was pleasing to her. "Yes, that was impressive. I only wish I had worked that case…"

Is it a relationship or a business partnership? Makoto wondered.

"But enough about me." Sae said. "Who are you-"

"It's Joker."

Sae's expression warped into a scowl.

"Please tell me you're joking."

"I'm not." Makoto said, a little bit defensively.

"Makoto, he's-"

"I know." She interjected. "But I… love him."

"You haven't even graduated college yet."

To Sae the idea of being with someone she had met in high school was ludicrous. And yet… Makoto knew in her heart of hearts that she would never meet anyone like Joker again.

"I know." Makoto said heavily, shaking her head. "But I've put a lot of thought into it and I've realized that this… is what I want." She spoke with a tone of finality.

Sae was still staring intently at her. She sighed, and then shook her head. She returned to her meal, and Makoto felt herself relax somewhat.

Good, she didn't blow up too badly.

"What college is he going to?" Sae said suddenly. "What's he majoring in? What are his career plans?"

Makoto once again felt herself tense up.

…

"Oh, Mr. Edgewooooorth-"

Kay Faraday came barging into the office, all smiles and rainbows. She spun around and struck a pose.

"In the dark of the night when no other bird takes-"

She stopped. She turned around, and looked at the woman standing behind the desk. She straightened herself, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"You're not Mr. Edgeworth." She said, half accusingly.

"No." Sae answered. "I'm another Prosecutor… My name is Sae Niijima. And you are?"

"I'm Mr. Edgeworth's Assistant, Kay.'

"Miles told me he doesn't have an assistant."

Kay frowned.

"Well, that must have been some other Miles, because Mr. Edgeworth-"

"Never has officially recognized you as my assistant."

Kay jumped. She turned around sheepishly as Miles Edgeworth walked into the room behind her. He was holding a number of files in his hand.

"Hello, Sae." He said. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." Sae said. Miles nodded, and then walked past the desk. Kay automatically followed him. Sae gave her a dark look.

"Miles, who is this girl?"

"I told you already, I'm his assistant!"

"Self-proclaimed assistant." Edgeworth corrected her, as he set the file neatly in his drawer. "I've never hired you."

"Come on, we both know you want to do it! I've done a lot for you, you know."

"Against my wishes."

Kay scowled at him. Before she could respond, Sae NIijima stepped forward.

"Should I have her removed from the building, Miles?"

"H-hey-"

"That won't be necessary." Edgeworth said dismissively. "She would just sneak back in anyway."

"You bet I would." Kay snickered, looking pleased with herself. "I've been practicing breaking the locks and everything."

"What?" Niijima asked, a little bit sharply.

"She's joking, Sae." Edgeworth said smoothly.

"No I'm not." Kay said cheerfully. "Anyway… Sae? Nice to meet you." She held out her hand to her. Sae gave her a condescending look, and then glanced at Edgeworth.

"She's around a lot, you'll get used to her." He said. Sae rolled her eyes, and then took Kay's hand.

"A pleasure."

"Clearly." Kay said, sounding amused. "Are you two working a case together, Sae?"

"No, we're dating."

Kay's mouth fell open.

"Huh?"

Her eyes darted towards Edgeworth. "You like girls?"

"Of course I do." Edgeworth said.

"Huh." Kay said, as she turned back to Sae with a newfound respect. "Never seen him take an interest in anyone we've met on cases." She leaned in closer to get a better look at her. "So you're his type, huh? Tall, professional… and a prosecutor. I should have known."

She smiled.

"I'm happy for you two."

Sae couldn't help it. She smiled back.

"Did you drop by for any particular reason, Kay?" Edgeworth asked.

"Nah, it's nothing important. I just wanted to see you." Kay said. She rubbed her head sheepishly. "I, uh, started thinking that maybe my memory hasn't come back yet."

"You seem alright to me."

"I do, don't I?" Kay said, crossing her arms. "I feel alright… but I don't know… maybe there's some deep dark secret I never told you that I completely forgot about."

"Memory?" Sae repeated, puzzled.

"Kay here was involved in an accident some time ago and lost her memory." Miles told her. "I mentioned it to you, at one point."

'Ah, yes." Sae said immediately. "So you're the girl from that case…"

"You've told her about that, Mr. Edgeworth?"

"In passing." Edgeworth said. "We were just discussing strange cases ,is all."

Kay groaned.

"Is that all you do on dates? Talk about work?"

There was an awkward silence.

"Well, I suppose you've found the perfect match…" Kay said. "Uh, you're not heading out together, are you? I wanted to see you…"

Miles cast a glance at Sae. She pursed her lip, as if in deep in thought.

'We were going to go back to my apartment-"

Kay groaned-

"But we were going to meet my sister and her boyfriend there." She said. "But she just let me know that he can't make it. Why don't you come along instead?"

"Is that okay, Mr. Edgeworth?"

"Of course it is." Edgeworth said. "If you're going to be my assistant… you and Sae are going to need to get to know each other."

"Excellent." Kay said, beaming. "A pleasure to work with you, Miss Niijima!"

"Likewise." Sae said. "Shall we head out?"

…

"I can't believe you told Makoto you were studying."

"I am studying." Joker responded, as he perused the game manual. "Fighting game moves."

The cat swished his tail back and forth. "You know, you shouldn't lie to your girlfriend. You just didn't want to go."

"I'm not in a hurry to meet Sae." Joker said. "I'll have to speak to her alone about Makoto."

Morgana snickered. "What, you scared?"

"No, I just don't want to talk about it in front of her boyfriend."

"You're leaving Makoto out to dry, you know."

"They've talked about it already, it's no big deal. If I go now it'll be awkward."

"It's more awkward that you didn't show up."

"Hey… I'm studying."

Morgana bared his teeth and sat up.

"You should treat Makoto with more respect."

"I told her I couldn't make it." Joker said. "Respectfully."

"Don't expect me to cheer you up when she dumps you."

Joker sighed, and adjusted his glasses.

"Look." He said. "I don't like the idea of meeting Sae's boyfriend. Considering his position, and his reputation, it's very possible he'll see right through us and figure out we're the Phantom Thieves."

"Assuming Sae hasn't already told him."

"Surely she hasn't, otherwise they would have come for us by now."

Morgana shrugged in his way, taking on a cat stretch pose. "That's quite the assumption. Wanna back it up with any evidence?"

"See, this is why I don't want to go to dinner with two prosecutors: they're going to make us tell them something we don't want them to know."

"You're going to have to meet him eventually. If you marry Makoto and he marries Sae-"

"No one would want to marry Sae-"

"Then he'll be part of the family."

Joker's phone went off. He checked it. It was Futaba. "When's the wedding?"

"Futaba, don't you have anything better to do than to spy on us?" He asked, annoyed. "I can't be alone with Makoto at home because of you."

She next sent him a winky face. He sighed, shaking his head, and placed the phone face down on the desk.

"We really should call a team meeting soon." Morgana said, anxiously. "If we wait any longer the Phantom Thieves might lose a lot of their edge."

"There's no target worth going after." Joker said, his voice grim. "We can't just give up on our real lives and just be Phantom Thieves all the time… we have to get started on our every day lives. That goes double for you, Futaba."

His phone rumbled again, but he ignored it. He crossed his hands in front of him and considered their next move. The fighting game manual lay forgotten beside him.

"There's more to saving society than just being a Phantom Thief." Joker said. "I just don't… quite know where I want to go. A part of me feels like I'll be in high school forever."

Morgana looked up at him, his tail swishing back and forth.

"You should talk to Makoto about this." He encouraged him. "Next time you see her."

His eyes narrowed.

"Which should have been tonight!"

Joker smiled and shook his head.

"Yeah, you're right.' He said. "I'll go next time. I just… didn't want to go tonight. That's all."

He picked up the fighting game manual, and again began to study it.

…

Makoto felt herself feeling a little bit apprehensive as she stood in her apartment. She had set aside a rather nice black dress and heels for the occasion- in part because she wanted to look intelligent and sophisticated, but also because she was hoping that Joker would like the look.

And unfortunately… he didn't show..

He had claimed he was studying, but Makoto was sure that something else had come up. Something with the Phantom Thieves, perhaps. Perhaps he and the others were hot on the trail of some new target, and she had not been invited because she had already made plans with her sister.

She was being silly- surely Joker would have told her if that had been the case- but it made more sense to her than Joker 'studying' without her. He was incredibly sharp and kept to an excellent schedule. The idea that he would make plans with her, and then back out, was rather unlike him. She was certain that something was wrong.

The door opened and she turned to the door. Sae stepped inside, followed by a man, about her own height. She stepped forward to greet them- only to see a third person step in behind them.

"Wow, Sae, this is a nice place!" The girl said. She darted her head all around, looking left and right, before settling on Makoto herself.

"Oh wow. So you're Makoto, huh?"

"H-huh?" Makoto said, taken aback. "Who are- huh?"

"Did you not get my message, Makoto?" Sae asked, as she hung up her jacket. "Miles wanted to invite his assistant to have dinner with us, and I agreed. You did set the table for four, did you?"

"I, uh…" She had, under the impression that Joker would be joining them… but had put it away when he had told her that he would be not. "I'll get the plates."

"Thanks." The girl chirped, as she bounced further in to the room.

"Careful, Kay." The man behind her said. It suddenly dawned on Makoto that she had not introduced herself yet. She looked behind her shoulder to look at them.

"I'm Makoto Nijima." She said. "Please, make yourself at home."