how to grow up in three-and-a-half difficult steps

by festiveruin

A window into the lives of two orphans from Khura'in in Los Angeles, California. /au where apollo and nahyuta grow up in america together as brothers

3. Sub-Adulthood (2020 - 2026)

Mr. Gavin was a strict teacher, but relatively hands-off. The first thing that he did was pull Apollo out of school to begin homeschooling so he could move through high school more comfortably and have more flexible time to help with real cases. It seemed a bit questionable when the resources that Mr. Gavin provided were more extensive than Apollo ever dared dream he could have. People liked Mr. Gavin, and they tended to extend that feeling towards his new protégé.

The degree to which people liked Mr. Gavin was nothing short of impressive. Even if he didn't know someone, he usually would befriend them and invite them to his home for dinner. On average, he would entertain guests about twice a week, usually making them dinner and then a few rounds of Canasta over a glass of scotch before sending them on their way. Most of the people that he knew were involved in law to some degree, usually from either the court or the police station, so it wasn't uncommon for him to get information on cases that the defense wasn't normally privy to. Being his case manager, Apollo could follow his email chains, and he was continuously surprised by the amounts of plea deals he would coax out of attorneys after getting dinner, or lunch together. Sometimes, the opposing counsel was Miles Edgeworth, a legendary prosecutor in his own right, and he still agreed to extremely generous deals. Prosecutors were usually the most interesting house guests, but they were typically the most noxious personality types.

Apollo caught onto things quickly, even surprising Mr. Gavin sometimes, and he understood now why Clay seemed to always be so impressed with him. His new, focused studies were intense, but Apollo managed. He was never as much as a perfectionist, or the same kind of genius that Nahyuta was, but Apollo was still damn good at what he did. It was especially nice and extremely motivating when he didn't need to directly compete with his brother anymore. For the first time, it felt like he was finally in his element and doing his best—and he was rewarded for hard work, without any sort of glass ceiling blocking him off.

"You're doing incredibly well," Mr. Gavin said during one of their meetings. He was sitting with his legs crossed in the living room with a cup of tea in his hands and a pleasant, half-smile on his face. It was polite, but Mr. Gavin sometimes made Apollo feel like he was just amusing him rather than expressing genuine interest. He wasn't about to agree with Nahyuta's interpretation of his character, but sometimes, he leaned too far into corporate-speak. Apollo had to remind himself sometimes that he scouted and recruited him, and so by his very nature, his interest had to be real. He wasn't a little kid that needed reassurance either, so it was just something he would need to adjust to.

"Thank you, sir!" Apollo said. "You're a great teacher," he added honestly.

Mr. Gavin chuckled and took a sip of his tea. "Oh please, Mr. Justice," he said. If anyone could "titter," and seem polite and also masculine, it was him. "I only help you as much as you let me. Everything you've done is your own. I should count myself lucky to have such a talented student." He glanced up at him from his teacup.

"Talented?" Apollo repeated with a blink.

"Yes." He set his teacup down on the table. "Not many young people are capable of what you're doing now. Earning your Bachelor's at nineteen, then potentially becoming an attorney at the young age of twenty-two? I was never that successful. My brother is on a similar path to you, but he had a head start, compared to you."

"O-Oh. Well thank you, Mr. Gavin!" Apollo ran his hand through his hair, feeling his face flush at the praise. And a bit because of his mentor's flinch at his volume. His Chords of Steel training perhaps was not as useful since he was no longer shouting over unruly middle schoolers. He'd never had such lavish praise in his life, and getting it from someone as esteemed as Kristoph Gavin was more effective on him than he would like to admit. His whole life, he had no idea what he was missing.

"It truly is such a shame your parents won't ever get to see your success," Mr. Gavin said with a shake of his head.

The warm feelings of praise vanished just as quickly as they appeared. "Huh? What do you mean?"

He was looking at him with a strange look in his eye, watching him carefully as though attempting to gauge his reaction to his next words. It was a little bit like when he was asking a prosecutor about a case they were both working on. "I only mean that it's tragic they will never see the success of their child." He took another sip of tea.

"I guess so," Apollo said slowly. "I never met them."

"Hm," Mr. Gavin acknowledged evenly. He set his teacup down on the table then folded his hands neatly in his lap. "What is your relation to Nahyuta Justice?"

Considering how curious he was about everything else, Apollo shouldn't be surprised by his questions about him, but he still felt blindsided by them. Logically, he knew that he meant it as casual conversation, but it didn't feel like it. And he wasn't sure whether it was because Mr. Gavin was acting suspiciously, or because of how apprehensive Nahyuta had been about him.

"His dad took care of me for a while," Apollo answered eventually, vaguely.

"Nahyuta's father?"

"Yeah."

"In Khura'in?"

"Yeah."

His brow furrowed deeply. It felt like it was the most intense that he'd been all evening. Was this still casual conversation to him? Or was Apollo being too cagey about this? It was still a sore spot for him.

"How did you end up in Khura'in?"

"I'm not really sure." Apollo squirmed in his chair. "Dh—" he caught himself before he invited a new string of questions that would be much worse than the current one, "Nahyuta's dad didn't know anything about me. He met my father, but then he died the same night and that's how I ended up with them."

At some point, Mr. Gavin had leaned forward onto the table and Apollo hadn't noticed until he slowly withdrew and picked his teacup back up. "My apologies," he said, looking down into the cup. "I don't mean to pry. I thought I recognized your bracelet from somewhere else and was curious." Another sip. "If it makes you more comfortable, you have my permission to ask whatever questions about me you'd like." He gave him a strangely catlike smile.

Apollo instinctively twisted his bracelet around his wrist, wincing at how it felt like it was tightened around him. "I don't really talk about myself a lot. I'm not used to questions like that." He paused. "Wait, you know someone with my bracelet?"

"I did."

"Who? I always heard it was a gift from my real parents."

"I can't remember, I'm afraid," he said dismissively, swirling his tea around in his teacup. It seemed like he had completely lost interest in the conversation again.

Apollo's bracelet felt like it was tightening even more. It felt like it was cutting into his wrist and he twisted it around some more hoping it would loosen. Was he really feeling this nervous from something like this?

He remembered how nervous Yuta used to be when he was younger, and once threw up because he'd been so anxious. At the time, Apollo thought he was being a giant baby; since getting older, he had a better idea of how crippling anxiety could be, but now he was starting to feel it himself.

"I see." Mr. Gavin's cold, analytical gaze was the very worst look he had gotten from anyone his entire life. It almost looked like he could shatter the teacup and saucer from the way his hand was turning white around the handle.

"S—So you said you had a brother?" Apollo asked hastily, trying his very best to look away from his tensing hand.

He couldn't understand why this would upset Mr. Gavin so much. Did he feel that Apollo was not appreciative of his efforts? Did he feel as though he was hiding from him and didn't want to be honest? Was he suspicious of him for something related to the bracelet?

Mr. Gavin's intensity slowly left his body as he took a sip of tea then delicately set it back on the table. "I do," he said, another smile creeping on his face. Seeing it was reassuring and Apollo felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest.

"Currently, he lives in Germany with the rest of my family, but he spends a great deal of time in America," he continued pleasantly, as though the past minute hadn't happened at all.

"That's cool," he replied, forcing his body to relax. Even if he didn't feel the immense anxiety from earlier, he could still feel his legs starting to cramp. "Does he ever spend much time with you?"

"He works on his music hobby while here," he answered easily, "and is otherwise quite busy. I don't have the opportunity to be as close to him as I would like, unfortunately. Or perhaps fortunately?" He chuckled at his own joke, finishing his tea and setting the saucer down.

For the rest of the evening, Mr. Gavin told Apollo about his background growing up in New England and making frequent trips to Germany to see his extended family. He got the impression that the Gavins came from money, but hearing about all the things he got up to as a teenager made him sound like royalty. Apollo couldn't imagine what it would be like to have that much luxury so available to him, but maybe his time in the sun would come soon. Lawyers were supposed to earn the big money, and he wouldn't even have to struggle with paying off his student loans.

Mr. Gavin was a little strange and intense, but Apollo made a good choice. Everything about it was too good to be swayed by just a few quirks of his mentor. He just hoped that Mr. Gavin wouldn't start interrogating him about his familial history like that again.

---

Shortly after Apollo is adopted, Ms. Rector finds a replacement and decides to move to New Mexico where more of her family lives. It means that Nahyuta's assumption was right; she had only been staying to try and look after him and Apollo. It means a lot to him.

"Make sure that Apollo gets it too," she says to him, a pointed look on her face. She's given him her personal phone number on her last day and seems to have every intention of staying in touch. Nahyuta hopes for that too. She's crossing her arms and he has grown almost a foot taller than her, so she isn't as intimidating anymore, but he's relieved she hasn't let that stop her from trying to look after him.

"I will," he promises, but he's fairly certain that she's going to be sending him a long text message in her own time anyway.

He thinks she's crying when she leaves; it gives Nahyuta a similar feeling of abandonment when he'd realized that he's not going to go back home. It's not as stark a feeling as with Dhurke, but he will probably miss her more than Datz. He hopes that good things await her in New Mexico too. She'd been wanting to go back there for years and now she finally can.

Her replacement is a man with a young family, and a practicing Roman Catholic. He redecorates what used to be Ms. Rector's office with crucifixes: graphic depictions of capital punishment from Carthage (and Rome and Persia) that scare the younger children, and he promptly leaves at 5:30 to attend mass, usually taking the Catholic kids at Sunflower with him. Nahyuta thinks that he's a family friend of Ms. Rector, and it's confirmed when he finds online that they'd gone to high school and college together.

He is less hands-on compared to Ms. Rector and focuses his efforts on raising money and doing events, leaving day-to-day details to volunteers and long-term staff. Over the course of one year, he repairs a great deal of the building's quirks that Nahyuta has grown used to being there. Like how more than four showers can't run at the same time, or how the rightmost dryer catches itself on fire sometimes, or how the door for Room #302 sometimes sticks and can sound like a yowling cat, usually at two in the morning. He's started a relatively successful community garden in the front and has turned his attention to replacing the cigarette smoke-soaked walls.

The smell bothers him, which seems a little ironic since he's such a big fan of incense. Of course, that thought itself is ironic coming from Nahyuta, but dramatic hypocrisy has been his preferred form of irony for a while. Within a few weeks after his first day, he catches some middle schoolers with weed vapes and cigarettes and makes it a point to be stricter than Ms. Rector had been.

It puts Nahyuta on edge and he spends far too much of his time worrying. He has improved, compared to even six months ago, but he doesn't think that Mr. Strickland would be impressed by it, or Clay's extremely soft accountability partnership.

Since Ms. Rector has left, Nahyuta's nightmares and headaches have persisted. They've degraded too much to be considered premonitions anymore, but they are still about people he knows. Sometimes, they are about Apollo, but other times they are about his father or other family members that he knows that he doesn't have. Sometimes, he worries that he is just hallucinating instead, and he uses smoking as a form of self-soothing. Regardless of how bad an option it is, it helps, and he's refused harder chemicals.

It's how Nahyuta justifies it to himself when he starts routinely picking the lock of Mr. Strickland's office and going through his files to make sure that he's not been either reported on or written up in any way. Datz had been a good teacher, and Nahyuta is a good listener. Apollo had been a better student than he'd been, so he can probably still pick locks and sneak in and out of places too. Thankfully, Nahyuta doesn't need to be particularly stealthy, because all he needs to do is wait until he leaves for evening mass.

This time, when Nahyuta enters, his and Apollo's binders are on the desk. Furrowing his brow, he gingerly steps behind the desk and flips them open. Going through his own, it looks the same as usual except for his history folder being in the very front, but Apollo's binder looks like it has been shuffled around and reorganized completely. Many folders have gone with Mr. Gavin since Apollo was formally adopted, but other things that should be there are missing, such as the formal reports searching for his birth family, his genetic tests, and known history.

The Sunflower laptops all have the same password, so Nahyuta opens it and looks through its emails before rummaging through every single locked door in the desk.

He sees an email from Kristoph Gavin after not a lot of looking, and it's not difficult to imagine what happened to Apollo's binder.

If all Kristoph Gavin wants is a protégé, then he should have no reason to look so deeply into Apollo's history. And why would he ask about Nahyuta's?

It's the first thing that Gavin has done specifically to make him suspicious of his intent, but it makes him angry instead of happy that he'd been right. Gavin had no right to snoop behind his, or presumably Apollo's, back. If he wants to know more about them, he shouldn't have any issue with asking one of them his damn self—not go into private records that Mr. Strickland is too comfortable with giving away to anyone who asks. He has half a mind to steal his and Apollo's binders and burn up everything inside them, but he thinks better of it. Even if it would make him feel satisfied now, he doubts Mr. Strickland would react very positively.

Nahyuta slams the laptop shut and leaves the binders open when he locks and closes the door behind him. While he looks for the closing time for Gavin's law office, his stomach swirls and he swallows the bile at the back of his throat.

Is this bothering him more than it should?

No. Of course not, a voice in the back of his mind says. You're allowed to be concerned about someone who's suspicious.

---

"Welcome to Gavin Law— Nahyuta ?" Apollo felt like his heart jumped to his throat when he saw his brother, who he hadn't seen in two months, walk through the front door of the office.

"Apollo," he greeted tersely and just a little too coolly.

God, this means he's pissed.

"Uh… Can I help you?" Apollo asked slowly.

"Can I speak to you in private?" He asked flatly.

"Uh—now?" He stammered. "I'm kind of in the middle of working, so—"

"You don't close at five?" He said sharply, glancing at the clock on the wall behind Apollo.

"We do, but I still need to close…"

"Can I help you?" He said, tonelessly as ever. Being with Mr. Gavin had made Apollo far used to such a mechanical way of speaking, but now he remembered why it had put him so much on edge at first; because Yuta only spoke that way when he was simmering with wrath.

"I—I don't think that Mr. Gavin would approve of it—"

"I came here about him, actually," he interrupted. "I wanted to ask you if you know his motivations for requesting our private files at Sunflower."

Apollo stopped, suddenly grateful that Nahyuta hadn't spoken a single word in English the whole time he'd been there. On the off chance that Mr. Gavin was listening, he wouldn't be able to understand him. "He—he did what?"

"Are you going deaf from your Chords of Steel training too?" Nahyuta said impatiently. "I wanted to ask you what would prompt him to request private files about us at Sunflower."

Apollo's mind flashed to the conversation from last week about being questioned about his history and reminded himself not to let his brother know about it. He didn't think that it was going to make the situation better when he was already so incredibly upset. For some reason. Because he hated Mr. Gavin and he was too cagey about some things.

Apollo bit his tongue as he tried to swallow the urge to return Nahyuta's attitude tenfold. The very last thing he needed was for Mr. Gavin to come out of his office to hear him and Nahyuta having a shouting match in a language he'd probably never heard before.

"I didn't know that he did that," Apollo replied, gritting his teeth and curling his hands into fists, restraining himself from standing. "Why are you getting so mad at me?" He demanded.

"Why is your mentor trying to dig into our past?" Yuta snapped. "Why would he be going behind your—and mine—back to seek out information?"

Apollo threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know, Nahyuta! Why are you coming in here and getting mad at me about it?! What did I do?"

Instead of getting angrier, Yuta thinned his lips and looked away. Apollo could hear him breathe in, then back out slowly. When he turned back to look at him, he didn't look any less upset, but his tone had returned to his earlier simmer . "I don't mean to blame you, but—"

"What are you being blamed for, Apollo?"

Apollo spun around his chair, feeling like the air had been knocked out of him while his heart began to race. Was he going to get in trouble for this? Going to lose out on his invitation to sit down with the Chief Prosecutor this weekend? "Mr. Gavin! I'm sorry for the noise! I didn't mean to—"

He held up a hand in a calming gesture and Apollo saw Yuta stiffen out of the corner of his eye. "It's fine, Mr. Justice. No need to apologize," he said, then looked past him and to Nahyuta. "I didn't know you would be having a guest today." He smiled at him, an expression the former did not return.

"I didn't either. Yuta decided to come here unannounced." Apollo spared a glance at him, but he seemed otherwise unaffected.

"I see." He seemed amused. "If you would like a chance to catch up, I would be happy to close up for you," he offered.

Before Apollo could think of how to respond to him, Yuta said, "Actually, I was here to speak to you, Mr. Gavin."

"Oh?" Mr. Gavin feigned surprise, turning his attention to Nahyuta. "How can I help you, Mr. Justice?" It almost seemed mocking, but Apollo couldn't be sure.

Apollo began to sputter, "Nahyuta was just curious about something we do here, I can help him—!"

Yuta ignored him and spoke over him loudly—an impressive feat that Apollo rarely experienced. "Why did you ask Mr. Strickland for mine and Apollo's personal files?"

Mr. Gavin chuckled, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "I'm not surprised that you came here to ask that," he said. "You don't need to be so nervous, Mr. Justice," he scolded lightly, turning to Apollo, then back to his brother. "I thought you would come here to ask about that. The files I was looking through are public information—I wouldn't be able to petition for classified ones, if that is what you were worried about. Nonetheless, I apologize for my…" he drifted off, searching for the proper word, "… overexcitement . It isn't often I'm given a puzzle like you and your brother."

Nahyuta didn't say anything in response, but the severe look on his face softened. At the very least, it helped the knot in Apollo's stomach loosen just a bit.

Mr. Gavin must have noticed the change to, so he continued, "I asked Mr. Justice about his background, but he was understandably unwilling to share so much information about himself. I made the decision that understanding where he—both of you—come from will help me become a better teacher. And help me decide the best ways to utilize his skills, of course," he added. After a moment, he said, "I realize now that I should have asked you before performing an independent investigation. You know Mr. Justice better than perhaps anyone else, but I know that you're suspicious of my motives, no?"

Apollo frowned. "Hey, no need to talk about me like I'm not here!" He protested and glanced at Yuta who was wearing a painfully neutral expression on his face. Very few people could stump him like that, but it wasn't like Mr. Gavin got his reputation for being the coolest defense in the west by doing nothing.

As usual, Nahyuta simply ignored Apollo. "I understand your logic," he said slowly, "but why would you also look through my files?"

Mr. Gavin spread his hands and wore an apologetic look on his face. "That was my curiosity getting the better of me. You both have a fascinating story to tell just by being here in America."

"I suppose," he answered flatly. He didn't have much else to say; Mr. Gavin had de-escalated everything and even left him lost for words.

Hope I get to learn that one soon, Apollo thought dryly.

Mr. Gavin suddenly straightened and crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side with a smile. "Well Mr. Justice," he turned to Apollo, "Why don't you two use this opportunity to catch up? I can close for you."

Apollo sputtered, "N-No, I couldn't let you do that, Mr. Gavin! I—"

"I insist. Take your time, and I won't deduct it from your pay." He was already walking to the cabinet behind the desk where they kept the cleaning supplies and "closed" sign.

"But—"

"You could just wait with me at the bus stop," Yuta put in. He was giving him a look that said we need to talk .

Apollo sighed. Maybe one of these days he would stop listening to him all the time as though he had real authority over him, but… That day was not today. And it probably wouldn't be tomorrow either, for that matter. Oldest child privilege, I guess, he thought. Maybe the privilege became more powerful since they didn't have parents.

Nahyuta politely thanked Mr. Gavin as they left while the latter returned the pleasantries, unfazed as ever while he closed the office. He was probably happy to do it himself since he could wipe down surfaces as thoroughly as he wanted to without needing to explain in detail again why Apollo was such a terribly sloppy cleaner.

The walk to the bus stop was quiet, but when they finally arrived, Apollo said, "Okay, what the hell? What was that all about?"

"His explanation doesn't make sense," was all Nahyuta had to say in response. "He dresses it up to sound legitimate but—"

"Don't just ignore me! Why—what you did is completely inappropriate and unacceptable!" Apollo threw his hands up into the air.

He frowned, a bemused look on his face. "Why does it matter so much to you that I don't upset Kristoph Gavin? It has little impact on your relationship with him and I don't care if he has a distaste for me. A lot of people do."

"You'll make me look bad!"

"How?"

"Just—" Apollo groaned in frustration. "God, just respect what I want, for once !"

Yuta's eyes narrowed, and Apollo braced himself for a reprimand, but instead he gritted out, "Fine." He swallowed, probably whatever defense he had for himself. "Whatever you want, Apollo. I didn't want you to come here to argue with you."

"Then why did you come in trying to argue with me?"

He blanched, his face wrinkling. "I'm sorry. I should not have taken my frustration with Gavin out on you."

"…Thank you," Apollo said after a moment of mulling over his apology, searching it for any potential backhanded remarks. After he couldn't find any, he sighed and felt his shoulders loosen, marginally. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

He licked his lips. "I just want you to remember to be careful," he settled on. "I know that you aren't in any sort of danger right now, but some reticence never hurt anyone."

It sure has made you difficult sometimes, he thought, making sure that his face didn't betray what was on his mind. "I will be," Apollo promised. He wished that he would give it up about Mr. Gavin. At this point, he didn't think that it was a matter of pride (for once), but because he was genuinely convinced that Mr. Gavin would kill him or something.

"Did he really ask you about where you came from?" Nahyuta asked.

"Yeah. A little," he admitted. "He mostly wanted to hear about my parents."

"Hm."

"I guess he was just trying to learn more about me. Smalltalk, I guess?"

Yuta looked disbelieving. "It must have been enthralling for him to want to hear so much more than he petitioned Sunflower for more."

Apollo ignored the sarcasm. "I learned about his family too though. A lot of them are from Germany so he travels in the summers to see them. He has a little brother too."

"Fascinating," Nahyuta deadpanned.

He made a noise of annoyance. "Look, we do have a pretty weird and mysterious history. Mr. Gavin is a curious person and doesn't like knowing things—like you! Maybe he got a little intrusive, but that doesn't make him evil. What's the problem with being a little nosey?"

"Fair enough." He sighed again, beginning to relax his posture. "How have your studies been? Are you enjoying them?" Yuta asked instead.

Apollo quickly made the executive decision that the change in topics was a safer course for the next ten or so minutes. "I think they're great, even if they keep me busy. I might even become a full-fledged attorney at twenty-two!" He added, feeling full of pride, and searching his brother's expression for some kind of reaction. Ideally surprise, followed by barely concealed envy. "Mr. Gavin thinks I'm really talented at this kind of thing."

He got one of those reactions, which was practically the same thing. "That's very impressive, Apollo," he said; it was a glowing endorsement, coming from him. "I'm glad that he's made you work harder. And that he's so impressed with you," he added.

Apollo bristled at it. In a vacuum, it would have been a compliment, but it was from Yuta, and something like that would never fail to have a degree of backhandedness to it. Why couldn't he just be happy for him? Deciding to be the bigger person, he said, "Yeah, he's a good teacher. He knows how to make me interested in the important stuff."

"I'm glad to hear it," he said honestly.

"What about you?" Apollo asked. "What is the new Sunflower director like? I haven't really gotten the chance to talk to him."

The corners of Nahyuta's mouth pulled back, ever so slightly at the mention of him. It was hard for Apollo to see without as much light, but he had good eyesight and could notice things like that.

So he doesn't like him very much, Apollo thought wryly.

"He's a good businessman," Yuta said. "Sunflower right now may have more financial support than it has since it was founded."

"Wow," Apollo deadpanned. "Of course they start improving it after I leave and you're about to."

"Yes, that's usually how it goes," he said, echoing his dry tone. It was moments like this that Apollo was surprised that they didn't get mixed up more often because of how similarly they spoke sometimes. Maybe it was only in Khura'inese.

"You don't like him then?" Apollo asked, amused.

"It's complicated," he said vaguely. "I'm glad that we had Ms. Rector as children and not Mr. Strickland, even if evacuations were messier under her."

Apollo cringed at the memories of Ms. Rector's poorly handled evacuations. His first experience for one was one of the most terrifying two days of his whole life.

But on the other hand, Ms. Rector had practically passed Spanish class for him. So maybe it was a net neutral at the end of the day.

"Me too," Apollo said. "I don't think I ever would have learned to stumble through a conversation in Spanish without her."

Nahyuta snorted in amusement. "You were never appreciative enough towards her," he said.

"Yeah, well I am now," Apollo said dismissively. "Oh—Clay told me that you're looking for a job now?"

"Sort of," he said. "One of the teachers at Oakwood said that their cousin is looking for someone to work the summer and I said I might be interested."

"That's cool," Apollo said, suddenly realizing that he didn't know where else to take the conversation. He had hoped the space between them would have put them back to how they'd been before Mr. Gavin, but it kind of had the opposite effect. "Do you know what it's for?"

"I just know that it's at the police station," he answered easily, his expression starting to glaze over. He was becoming disengaged with the conversation too, but it was only going to be bothering Apollo so he wasn't going to do anything to make it more interesting.

"You should tell me about it if you get it."

"Of course," he replied easily. "I'll hear back and then we should catch up soon."

Apollo brightened. "We should!" He agreed. "Soon," he repeated. "I'm looking forward to it!"

---

Even though Apollo got used to America, he still didn't think he liked California very much. He didn't like all of the earthquakes, or the droughts, or the wildfires, and he hated the air pollution. He felt like it had made him sick all the damn time when he came here for the first time, and it also made it so he couldn't see the stars.

Even after hiking up a mountain, it wasn't the same. He could still see the lights from the city below and the sounds of the hustle and bustle of traffic somehow made its way to the top of a mountain. It wasn't anything like that shack on the top of a mountain in Khura'in, but then again: nothing in America was like that—it was an entirely different country. Even still, Apollo didn't think anything would be able to match the wonder of being ten years old and staring up at a cloudless sky, never failing to beat Nahyuta in their races to spot the most constellations while Datz made up his own and Dhurke told stories.

It made Apollo sad that Clay had never seen stars like that; he loved them so much, but he'd never experienced something like that before. Telescopes were great, and so were the planetariums that they'd been to, but they weren't the same. Not at all.

"How can the stars be that different from here?" Clay challenged as he sat in the chair at Apollo's desk in his bedroom at Mr. Gavin's house. The whole time that Apollo had been here, he hadn't seen Mr. Gavin's house and he wanted to and Apollo was bad at saying no.

"They just are," Apollo said from his bed. "Have you even left California before?" He asked, frowning.

"Yes!" Clay scowled.

"When?"

"When I was four and went to my grandmother's funeral in Florida."

Apollo crossed his arms. "That barely even counts."

"Where am I supposed to see the stars then?" Clay challenged. "We should make a trip out of it."

Apollo made a face at the idea of driving for hours with Clay behind the wheel, then laughed at his reaction. "Away from a city," he answered. "Or any civilization would be ideal."

"I've definitely been hiking with you before," Clay said. "And Yuta too."

He shook his head. "It's different. We need to get further away from everything. Like…" he named the first middle-of-nowhere state he could think of, "North Dakota."

Clay crossed his arms as he considered his words, spinning in his chair. "It could be worth it," he said. "You've never left California either, have you?" He asked.

"I have," Apollo said sourly.

"What states have you been to?" Clay spun the chair back around to face him.

"Well…" Apollo flushed when he realized that Clay had been to more states than he had. "I've been outside the country."

"Oh, I forgot about that," Clay muttered. "Oh—why don't we go to Khura'in instead?" He asked. "Then you can show me all the places you used to go!"

"Absolutely not," Apollo said, not even considering the suggestion.

"Why? Don't you want to go back at some point?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I…uh…" Apollo struggled to think of something. "I just don't," he settled on. "That part of my life is behind me."

"So? Doesn't mean you can't visit a country for fun."

"I don't want to," Apollo snapped, then cringed at his tone.

Clay had tensed and was looking at him in surprise, his eyes wide. "Okay, we don't have to," he said. "You don't need to get mad about it." He leaned back in the chair again, stretching.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, pollo. I didn't know that it was still a sensitive subject for you."

Apollo could feel his face burn. I didn't think so either.

"When we're eighteen, we should celebrate by going to North Dakota," Clay said. "Or maybe Washington instead. It's closer."

"Yeah, maybe."

"So I can see what real stars are," Clay continued.

"Maybe I'm just being nostalgic," Apollo admitted. "Yuta and I used to stargaze as kids with some other people so maybe it's not that much different." He hoped that Clay would catch on to the "other people" part.

From the way his expression shifted, he did. He was perceptive like that. "I don't think so. I think that it was probably that good. Wish I coulda known you back then."

Apollo laughed ruefully. "That could've been fun," he said, but he wasn't sure how much he meant it. Looking back at his childhood, it wasn't exactly the safest situation to raise children, and Apollo wouldn't have wanted Clay to risk getting shot at. Of course, Dhurke handled it in possibly the very worst way he could, so Apollo still did not feel like being charitable to him.

"Those other people are gone now, but Yuta's still around, and you have other people to still stargaze with," Clay continued. "We should do it so the idea of being alone on a mountain isn't so depressing to you anymore."

Yeah, except Yuta may as well be a different person, Apollo thought but didn't say. He knew what Clay would say to that. Clay would disagree—he'd tell him that they were both pretty different, and that Apollo was too negative.

"We should appreciate the time we have," Clay continued, suddenly looking awfully nostalgic himself. "I wish I did more stuff with my mom while she was sick. I think Dad thinks so too."

Apollo swallowed. Clay never talked about his mom. "She still wanted to do more things while she was around. Maybe she would have died earlier but I would have had better memories of her after she died."

"Yeah," he said lamely.

"So we should do fun things before we die," Clay concluded. "Hopefully we're here for a long time, but I want to have a good time, either way."

Is that why you started smoking weed with a girl to get her attention? Apollo almost said, but firmly locked his tongue away behind his teeth. The last thing he wanted was for Clay to tease him for sounding like his brother—the best gotcha that he had over him.

"Good time and a long time," Apollo affirmed.

"Exactly."

---

Apollo didn't see Nahyuta again until the latter's seventeenth birthday, months after the events at Mr. Gavin's office. Usually, neither of them did much to celebrate their birthdays except for a card with a dollar for each year. It was a tradition that Dhurke started, Yuta continued after they came to America, and Clay and Mr. Starbuck wanted in on it years later.

Clay's birthdays were the most exciting since they were either at his aunt's or the Space Station, but Yuta's were simple and about equally enjoyable, even if it didn't involve overpriced food; he usually just wanted to hike somewhere in upstate California and this year was no different. When Apollo made it to the Home on his bike, he frowned when he saw what was on Yuta's lap.

"Did you find another stray?" He asked after catching his breath, squinting at him through the harsh sunlight. It was curled up in Yuta's lap and looked young but despite its size, he could hear it purring from where he was.

"It followed me back here from school," he replied from the bench. It had always reminded Apollo of the benches at animal shelters to feel out a new pet except for children, and it didn't help that a lot of animals would show up there to eat the piles of scraps kids would leave for them.

"That's a long way for it to follow you." Apollo walked his bike closer to Yuta and propped it up against the tree overhanging the bench. He sat down next to him to pet the cat on the head.

It raised its head in surprise, then began purring again as Apollo began to scratch its chin. "Do the kids feed it or something?" He asked.

"Not very often. Mr. Strickland doesn't like to attract animals around here."

"Do you?"

"She just likes me," he replied simply and stroked its back. "I obviously can't keep it here but I wanted to see if you or Clay could take her with you."

Apollo gave him a surprised look. "Are you serious? Why this one?"

Yuta stirred the cat slightly to make her chirrup in annoyance. "She's deaf," he explained. "I don't think she will make for a very good stray."

"Prob'ly not," he acknowledged, pulling away from the cat and leaning back on the bench. "I don't know if Mr. Gavin would be okay with it but I guess I can ask." Apollo turned his head and added, "You mean Sunflower won't let you keep a birthday cat?" He teased.

"I'm afraid not," Yuta said wryly, encouraging the cat to settle back into his lap. "I know that Clay's mother used to like cats so maybe he will be sympathetic to my cause."

When Clay finally arrived in his aunt's car, he did not seem sympathetic to the cause at all. While on the drive to the trail head, he explained, "I don't like cats that much," he said, then added quickly, "You're lucky that you're still allowed in the car after holding one for so long."

"I didn't know that you were so anti-cat," Apollo said. "I thought you'd be okay with pets since you like yours so much."

"Fish are very different from cats. And keeping a whole biome of sea life is its own hobby that happens to feature fish," Clay said. "Catherine still tries to get into the tank, even in her old age."

"She's still alive?" Apollo asked in surprise.

"My dad still likes her," Clay said with a frown. After a beat, he continued, "When did you two become such cat people?"

Yuta said from the back seat, "I like cats as much as I like any other animal. This one needs more help than most other ones I see and simply taking it in would be the best way to help it."

"I'll ask Mr. Gavin about it," Apollo said. "Maybe he'll be nicer to the deaf cat," he added pointedly.

"Maybe we should have brought it here with us on a leash to see if it would be useful for something," Clay shot back. "…Maybe my dad would like another cat for when I go off to school though," he fudged.

Apollo frowned. "You're going to go to school somewhere?" He asked.

"Oh, I forgot to say!" Clay twisted around to get a look at both Apollo and Yuta. "I got accepted into GYAXA's school program this week! I'll be starting right after Christmas!"

Apollo felt like his mind stopped working in response to the news. "R—Really?" Was all he managed out. "All the way in Washington?"

"That's excellent news," Yuta said over Apollo. It was probably for the best. "I didn't know that you would be allowed to apply for it so early."

"Yeah—Mr. Starbuck found a loophole that let me!"

HONK!

Apollo jerked his head to the window where he saw that Clay had drifted into the other lane—on the precarious cliffside. "Watch the road!" He shouted, feeling like his entire soul left his body in the moments it took for Clay to avoid the incoming traffic then re-align himself in his lane.

"Sorry about that." Clay glanced at Apollo, giving him an apologetic look. "I needed to see the looks on your guys' faces. I've been looking forward to it all week."

Apollo leaned back in his seat, waiting for his heart to slow down, and his blood pressure to come back from the stratosphere. A part of him wanted to listen to Clay and Yuta's conversation, but he couldn't truly bring himself to care enough to try and focus.

While sitting in relatively pleasant company, he let his mind drift off and listed a to-do list in his head.

He needed to remember to bring Nahyuta's birthday card he'd prepared before coming. He and Clay worked on it, and they could give it to him after getting wherever the end of the hike was going to be. He promised that he would ask Mr. Gavin about the cat, and he wouldn't say no to having a companion. Mr. Gavin was out of the country a lot of the time these days so having another warm body in the house for that time didn't sound like a bad idea.

It would be an honest birthday present as far as Yuta was concerned too; it had been a while since he'd given him a real present.

"…know about this?" Clay prodded his side. "Apollo?"

"Huh?" He stared at him dumbly.

"Your driving must have been so poor that it gave him brain damage," Yuta said dryly. "It was only a matter of time."

"Ha ha."

Apollo ignored them. "What did you say?"

"Did you know that Yuta started working part-time at the police department?" Clay repeated.

"Oh. I didn't know he took the job." Apollo blinked in surprise and turned to look back at Yuta. "Why didn't you say anything?" He asked. "Is it the same job you told me about a couple months ago?"

He suddenly averted his gaze, uncrossing his legs and held his hands in his lap. "I just started last month and it's in the records room," he explained. "They needed someone to check people in and out. There's been an ongoing problem of exhibits being tampered with or stolen."

"So you're the muscle?" Apollo asked, not hiding his amusement and trying to picture Yuta acting as the bouncer for the evidence room.

He snorted. "Hardly. People are much less likely to do anything when they know someone will be watching them on a camera the whole time they're in there."

"That's what Mr. Starbuck says too," Clay put in. "He said it's why he's always checking in on people's computers."

Yuta's expression turned pained at his words. "I never knew that Mr. Stabuck was such a micromanager."

"You'd better be careful down there," Apollo told Yuta. "One time, Phoenix Wright got tased trying to get old records. And someone else got stabbed in there."

Yuta frowned. "I didn't know that," he said slowly. "To my knowledge, there have not been any recent assaults in the evidence room, but—"

"Those were probably special cases," Clay said. "I doubt that happens there that often."

"Twice in the span of less than a year is pretty bad," Apollo ignored him, not looking away from Yuta's face.

He caught on to him quickly. "Very amusing," was his response.

"It really did happen!" Apollo insisted. He wrinkled his nose when Clay reached for an empty soda bottle and hit him on the head. "I'm just saying to be careful!" He insisted.

Yuta sighed. "Inside voice, Apollo," he said.

"Excuse me for caring," Apollo muttered under his breath.

"Do you think that you'll start going to the evidence room for Mr. Gavin soon?" Clay asked.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Yuta's hair fall across his face in the way it did when he tilted his head in place of asking a question.

"He's started going to the evidence room before trials," Apollo explained. "He doesn't like when the prosecution has all of the evidence and sometimes they keep it at the police station instead of their personal records."

"That makes sense," Clay said. "I don't know why anyone would go defense attorney when the prosecution gets all the help from the police all the time."

Apollo frowned. "I like trying to help people who need it," he defended. "They need it when the police and the entire court's going against them."

"That's true, but with any luck, that should be changing soon," Yuta said vaguely.

Apollo furrowed his brow and turned to get a better look at him. He had moved from one side of the car to the other to get a better look at the mountains, but it made it harder for Apollo to see him. "What do you mean?" He asked.

He looked surprised and straightened to look at him. Thankfully, he scooted to the center seat to get a better look at him. "The system as it is can't stay in put for much longer, so both the Prosecution's Office and the police force are doing what they can to weed out the worst of the justice system." He gestured vaguely with another tilt of his head. "And that's the reason they wanted to hire someone to look after the evidence room."

By hiring a community college student, I guess, Apollo thought.

"They are trying," Nahyuta said sharply.

Did he read my mind or am I just that obvious? Apollo sputtered, "Uh—I mean—"

"And besides, it's more than they were doing before."

"It—it definitely is," Apollo agreed. "Maybe I'll see you there sometime soon," he said, hoping that his tactic would prove successful. "What days do you work?"

Since Yuta had moved again to sit directly behind him, Apollo couldn't tell if his attempts were successful, but the rest of the conversation was comfortable, much needed catching up. Yuta talked about the people who went through the evidence room and why, Apollo explained some of Mr. Gavin's more interesting cases, and Clay tried to make astrophysics make sense to lay people before telling stories about his cousins.

It was different, but Apollo could get used to this more distant but still more cordial relationship. Maybe it was how they could still stay in touch without wanting to attack each other, and Clay could fill in the empty space between them. Thank the Holy Mother for Clay, Apollo thought, not for the first time and certainly not for the last. If this was how it had to be with Nahyuta, but he could still keep contact with him, Apollo would take it.

When they finally got to the trailhead, it was made obvious why neither Apollo or Yuta had decided to not pursue a future in the stars. Even with all his eccentricities and apparent polymathy, Nahyuta did not understand or appreciate space in the same way Clay did. Apollo would miss Clay while he was at school, but he was about to have all his dreams come true and Apollo had to encourage him to shoot for the moon or whatever the saying was. He'd continued to be his biggest supporter, so it was only right to return the favor.

…

Nonetheless, a pet to keep him company sounded nice. They were all growing up and had their own directions in life. Even if they weren't leaving each other behind, it would be a little lonelier as they continued.

---

The stray that Yuta had found was accepted into the Gavin household and Apollo named her Mikeko. He didn't think that Mr. Gavin really cared at all, just that he made her stay out of his office, the kitchen, and off the living room furniture. It proved to be a lot easier than he expected—Mikeko didn't like leaving Apollo's bedroom, except when she would seek out the afternoon sun beneath the dining room table.

Mostly, she liked to sleep in Apollo's lap or on his bed, and she generally did her job of keeping him company, but the rest of the year went by in a blur. Christmas was spent upstate with Clay's family before his dad and his aunt's family vacationed in Washington until Clay would leave for space school. It meant that he wasn't around for Apollo's sixteenth birthday on New Year's Day, but he tried to make it work. Nahyuta came to visit for the evening, and they watched the dubbed-over episodes of the Steel Samurai in Khura'inese that Apollo had gotten for his eleventh birthday, before he'd been able to follow American TV shows. Mikeko still seemed to like Yuta more than him and spent the entire time curled in his lap, the traitor.

As winter changed to spring, Mr. Gavin started getting more clients more often, to increasing levels of fame. Since he was present to a greater extent than before, Apollo was quickly beginning to understand that Mr. Gavin was not just detail-oriented, but obsessive. In just two months, he had hired and fired a receptionist for stapling the wrong files together and oriented in "the wrong direction." He felt sorry for her, and it made him wonder if he would have been fired too if Mr. Gavin wasn't legally obligated to him. They had since hired another receptionist, and she wasn't doing much better, and Apollo was pretty sure that she was going to be let go soon too.

Since starting to work for him, Apollo had made worse mistakes than stapling the wrong thing, and he knew that Mr. Gavin had been irritated, but he had no idea it was to the point that he would fire someone over it. Apollo liked to pride himself in being able to read people well, but Mr. Gavin was still able to completely mask whatever was still in his head. Most of the time, it was cool, if Apollo were to be honest with himself, sudden triggers aside. He hoped that he would be able to be as smooth-faced and even-keeled as Mr. Gavin and keep the prosecution on their toes just as much.

But since he learned how picky Mr. Gavin was, it made Apollo feel like he was walking on eggshells, worried that he'd finally do something bad enough to send him into a horrible rage and un-adopt him or something. Probably not if it hadn't happened yet, but the discomfort was still there.

Over the course of the next year, Apollo heard through the grapevine that Yuta had been transferred from the police to the courthouse as some kind of paper pusher-slash-judicial assistant. It apparently paid enough for him to pay for an L.A. apartment with one of his co-workers that Apollo never met. They were supposed to meet for dinner soon, but he was starting to think that it would fall through the cracks again.

Text had turned into the only way that they stayed in touch, which seemed to have been the way he and Clay had become so close. Most of the time, they complained about work or other work-adjacent things, but they talked about movies and TV shows that they were watching too. Nahyuta sat through an entire anime just so Apollo could talk to him about it, and it was his way of showing that he cared since he couldn't demonstrate that by micromanaging his entire life anymore.

Apollo kind of missed fighting with him about everything, but maybe it was just the loneliness talking. Or missing his brother. For more of his life than not, he'd always been his closest friend but that had changed drastically since they came to America. Clay had become, and remained, his closest confidante, but he was further away than ever. With any luck, Clay would finish his astronaut school or whatever and come back to L.A. soon to work for Mr. Starbuck. At first it felt like an accomplishment being the youngest person in the room, but the novelty wore off and all his peers were still in high school instead of a case manager for Kristoph Gavin.

All of that together is why it meant so much for Mr. Gavin to go to a movie premiere with him on Thursday at midnight. Yuta had been planning on it, but something at work made it so he was going to need to stay late and needed to go in early the next morning.

"Are you sure?" He'd asked, when he offered.

Mr. Gavin shrugged. "Of course. It's been a while since I've gone to a midnight premiere for a movie." He smiled. "I used to do it with Klavier while we were in school."

Does that mean he sees me like his little brother? was the immediate thing that came to mind, but he didn't want to think that about his boss. The one thing Clay and Nahyuta agreed on about Mr. Gavin was that despite being his legal father, Apollo needed to maintain a professional relationship with him and Apollo tended to agree but how was he supposed to do that when Mr. Gavin was the only one around for him?

Apollo, admittedly, did need more friends, but he felt touched that Mr. Gavin cared about him enough—personally—to do this with him. Maybe, after Apollo wasn't working for him anymore, they could develop a more personal relationship. Since he was so personally intertwined with Apollo's personal life, it was almost impossible to separate him from that. Legally, he was responsible for him completely, so he would always know what he was going to be up to. He usually knew things before anyone else, and was the emergency contact who came running when Apollo had a heatstroke over the summer. It wasn't strange for mentors to play such a developmental role in their students' professional lives, but he was becoming an extended family member too.

In her own way, maybe the Holy Mother was looking out for him. Even if Apollo hadn't found biological family in America, he found families—first the Terrans and now Mr. Gavin—willing and able to welcome him into theirs. His whole life, he hadn't had a traditional family, so his new family in America wouldn't be that way either. The closest thing he had to "real" family in Nahyuta was never around anymore either, so Mr. Gavin's deeper investment in him was coming at a perfect time. And it didn't hurt that he was legally his father either.

---

Apollo started law school at nineteen and almost all of it was remote. He had two evening classes, and the rest of his time was spent working at the Gavin Law Offices. At some point, Mr. Gavin had given up hiring help, and made the decision for Apollo to remain his sole employee since he wouldn't need to bother with training someone else..

Most of the time, Mr. Gavin did enough work so that working for him wasn't a full-time endeavor, but sometimes he would get an influx of cases with a lot of witnesses and exhibits, and it made Apollo feel like he'd cut down an entire forest with how much paper he would go through.

"You're going to burn out really soon," Clay said pointedly after he found out Apollo was still planning to work full-time for Mr. Gavin while going through law school.

He was probably right, but Apollo was ready to be done with school and he couldn't afford to miss out on three years of work. Once he was done, it would feel like a break, finally, and he was determined to get there as soon as he reasonably could. It sounded much better in his head than when it tried to justify it to Clay. Nahyuta had the right idea when he dropped out of community college for technical school instead.

"You keep moving the goal post," Clay said with a frown.

"My whole life feels like a moving goalpost."

Clay huffed. "Hey—I'm busy too, but at least all my work is for my school."

"My work counted for an internship," Apollo defended. "Besides, how much free labor are you expected to do for GYAXA?"

Clay grimaced. "It's more evenly distributed."

"I'm at least being paid."

"Yeah, yeah," he sighed. "I like it a lot though. It's a lot like the stuff we did at those space camps as kids."

Apollo paused in his numbered tab sorting as he remembered the sheer amount of time he spent there. He didn't thank Mr. Starbuck enough for covering his fees to go. "That's good."

"I bet I'll make it to space before you become a full attorney," Clay said. "All the faculty are impressed with me."

"Sure," Apollo drawled, nonetheless feeling a smile pull at his expression. "You're on. But I won't lose easy! Mr. Gavin's honor is on the line!" He pointed his finger at him.

"I have more school than you do, but I could still make it to space as a student. There's no way you can become a lawyer before passing the bar," Clay said, shoving Apollo's hand out of his face. "For all you know, I could beat you next week."

"I'll have to finish even faster then," Apollo retorted smugly, crossing his arms. "You'll see to not challenge Apollo Justice, ace attorney! …Almost," he added, looking back down at the binder he was still filling with notes. "Eventually."

"We're doing great," Clay closed the binder in front of him, knocking his textbook to the floor. "A lot better than we could have imagined as kids probably. Let's take a walk to get away from all the work. What else are school breaks for?"

---

Miles Edgeworth is the only person Nahyuta has ever met that makes him think twice about how frowning so much will give you early wrinkles. Most of the time, it looks like a frown is permanently etched into his face; it doesn't help his case that he'd greyed early and that he seems to enjoy fashion from an entirely different century. He has a bizarre mixture of an English and German accent too, which is a little funny, and something Apollo and Clay like to mock whenever the three of them are together.

Nahyuta sees him comparatively less than the other prosecutors employed by the state, but he has one of the most ornate offices in the entire building. He doesn't take many cases either but has historically made a habit of assisting the investigation of international ones, and usually prosecutes them too. Why he's still employed at the Prosecutor's Office, Nahyuta isn't sure, but Gaspen Payne shouldn't be allowed within a fifty-mile radius of a courthouse, so why not have a prosecutor who rarely prosecuted while they are at it? The entire prosecutorial division is a pit in the ground for taxpayers to throw money down anyway.

The biggest issue that Nahyuta has with him is how particular he is. He wants every piece of evidence organized and written in a certain way and sends him his own records so Nahyuta can input evidence based on his notes. Detective Dick Gumshoe usually signs off on his discovery reports so Nahyuta has no business rejecting them either. California has extremely lax evidence laws, so if the police had reviewed Edgeworth's investigation, it is in Nahyuta's proverbial court to decide whether it is relevant. It usually is, but all of Edgeworth's cover letters are handwritten in cursive, which Nahyuta hadn't ever learned how to read. The judge he works for has a soft spot for Edgeworth, so he lets him get away with not providing a typical format for cover letters. Truly, more proof that the Dark Age of the Law is a legitimate threat to their legal system.

It makes Nahyuta want to pull out his hair and put Edgeworth's letters through the Mother-damned shredder. This time, it's Edgeworth and Kristoph Gavin of all people who are giving Nahyuta nothing but grief. Gavin is even more particular about evidence, but it's about the most inane things that he doesn't have an explanation for.

After seeing the counsels on the case, Nahyuta had immediately requested that the State v. Wells case be transferred to a different JA, but it's then that he learns that Prosecutor Miles Edgworth petitions for Nahyuta specifically to input his findings. And Prosecutor Miles Edgworth always gets everything he wants so Nahyuta is, in other words, SOL; one of Clay and Apollo's new favorite terms.

When Nahyuta notices a new email from Gavin's Law Office, he grimaces and opens it. Is Gavin going to ask him to re-order the entire evidence binder now? Because the color doesn't match his suit in the right way?

Mr. Justice,

Mr. Gavin objects to the placement of Paragraph 17 on Exhibit EH; please move it to between Paragraphs 19 and 20 on Exhibit EG.

Sincerely,
Apollo Justice | Case manager to Kristoph Gavin, Esq.

Nahyuta scowls. Respectfully, tell Mr. Gavin to change it his damn self, was what he would have said, but he wasn't about to be fired by Judge Verity Gavèlle after another surprise review of the county's judicial assistants.

Apollo,
The format of Exhibit EH was specified by Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. Please consult with him for any requested revisions. Please remember that no further revisions can be made end of day.

After attaching his signature, Nahyuta hears his phone buzz a minute later. It's almost certainly Apollo asking him to do a personal favor. He glares at his phone and tosses it in the desk drawer. It's unfair that the court has to organize the lawyers' own evidence anyway.

Nahyuta needs a new line of work. He'd dropped out of community college to finish his court reporting school, but that hadn't worked out. He still lives with roommates he found online and they smoke so much weed, he can barely stand to be in there for more than a couple hours. His new, preferred, line of work doesn't include being the middleman between two lawyers; park ranger is an incredible option, but he needs a Bachelor's degree for that and he's not eager to fork over the money for it.

During his lunch break, Nahyuta scowls down at the cracks in the ground, while he breathes out cigarette smoke. Clay would be disappointed he'd broken his two month streak but he doesn't care right now. He's probably going to be bringing the damn binder back home with him to finish it while continually receiving revision notes from both counsels. He'd just been paid too so it's going to be a while until he sees the fruits of his overtime wages.

He should pray for patience; temperance can come after, and then he can make another half-hearted commitment to giving up smoking. He needs the patience to find new roommates, or find somewhere new to live, even if it is in abject poverty. It's better than having all his eggs taken again. Or to have his incense borrowed as a prop for their LARP-ing. He'd been angry about that one, and should have been more patient. All the same, he needs to find a new hiding place for it soon, even if he doubts that his stoner roommates will use it again.

"Nahyuta?"

The familiar voice snaps him out of his daze, and he feels like his heart had just jumped out of his chest and through his throat. "Apollo," he manages out, hastily dropping his cigarette into the disposal. He swallows. "Weren't you at the Gavin office?" He asks.

"Mr. Gavin told me to talk to you in person since you weren't picking up your phone," Apollo says with a frown, looking down at the disposal. "What were you doing?" He asks critically.

"I was on my lunch break," Nahyuta answers, his tone clipped.

"Since when do you smoke?" Apollo demands, crossing his arms. "Who are you?"

"What do you want?"

Apollo wrinkles his nose. "Ugh. That smells so bad."

"Apollo," he says sharply.

He gets the hint and tries to smooth his expression, but his lips are still pulled back in disgust. "Mr. Gavin wanted to know if it was too late to file a plea."

Nahyuta gives him a dirty look. "For the trial tomorrow morning?" He asks.

Apollo runs his fingers through his hair, at least having the decency to look apologetic about it. "Yeah," he says.

"Yes," Nahyuta lies, lighting another cigarette. He still feels ill, especially since his dirty secret's out, and (ironically), he wants it to calm his nerves. He doesn't know how much it really does for him anymore, but it still makes him feel better, regardless of whether it was because of the nicotine or purely psychological.

"Hey," Apollo says, irritably. "Don't light another one." He makes a swatting motion towards him, trying to knock it out of his hands.

Nahyuta twists out of the way, peeved and leaning away from him. "Since your question has been answered, begone, you red pepper."

Apollo makes another grab for the still-unlit cigarette. "C'mon, hand it over," he says. "You're gonna die from lung cancer!" He shouts, right in his ear as he still reaches over him. Nahyuta can feel the individual hairs inside his ear react to the noise and he grimaces. If it were possible, Apollo has gotten louder since the last time he saw him.

"Don't yell at me," he says to him harshly, shoving him off. "I don't smoke enough to get lung cancer from it." Probably. Nonetheless, he holds out the offending cigarette for Apollo to take. "But if you insist, I will stop for now."

Apollo snatches it from him and grinds it into the ground with his heel. He looks back at him with a glare. "Isn't it against the law for you to lie to attorneys about court proceedings?" He adds, crossing his arms. "Who are you, and what have you done with Nahyuta Justice?"

Nahyuta huffs. "I'm not on the clock," he says, "and it wasn't a lie if I knew you would know. It was so I feel better," he adds with a slow breath in, then out. He wishes that he hadn't been so quick to throw his last one away. Both he and Apollo are adults now and there is no reason to fear him discovering his bad habit anymore.

Apollo presses his lips together in a frown. "Yeah…" he admits. "I'm sorry Mr. Gavin's so picky, Yuta," he says truthfully. "I know he can be difficult to work with."

"He is, but Prosecutor Edgeworth is worse, in some ways." Nahyuta leans against the side of the staircase leading back into the courthouse. He begins to pick at his fingernails to give himself something to do since he can't fiddle with a cigarette anymore. "I've been getting emails from both of you telling me to make changes that take hours to make, on top of the other cases that I'm working on."

Apollo offers him a sympathetic look. "You need a different job," he says, then asks, "Is that why you took up smoking?" He frowns.

"No. But it's why I started again. You both have both been making this a nightmare to deal with."

"What can I do to help?"

Nahyuta's eyes flash as he looks up at him. "Tell Gavin to get over himself and stop measuring the distance between the edge of the page and my hole punches."

"…Yeah…" he looks sheepish. "If it makes you feel better, he doesn't actually measure, he can just tell."

He looks at him plainly. "It makes me feel worse, actually."

"Mr. Gavin likes you too," Apollo adds. "He says that you're basically the only judicial assistant in this county that he trusts."

"That's what Edgeworth says too."

"You should ask for a raise!" Apollo encourages. "Are you still living with your coworker? You should earn enough to live on your own with how much work you do."

Nahyuta scoffs, looking down at his hands. His fingers are beginning to hurt from his picking. "You would think that, wouldn't you?"

"So you should ask," Apollo tells him, his frown audible in his voice. Nahyuta is almost certain that he got it from him, and he doesn't like having his own tone of disapproval used against himself. "What's the worst that they could do other than say no? I bet I could even get Mr. Gavin to write a letter for you, he likes your work so much."

"Hm." He lets his hands fall to his sides. He stares off at the furthest tree he could see; apparently it should be good for his eyes and prevents needing glasses as he ages. "I should," he acknowledges.

"And you should ask Mr. Edgeworth for a letter too, if he likes you so much."

Nahyuta meets his gaze. "Apollo," he starts, "have you ever met Miles Edgeworth?" He asks. "He's known specifically for writing negative reports on essentially everyone he works with. If it were up to him, half of the entire courthouse staff would be fired."

"I…have heard that," Apollo acknowledged. "Mr. Gavin fired a receptionist one time because she stapled something backwards."

Nahyuta scoffed. "Ridiculous," he says dismissively, in English.

"But since he likes you so much, I'm sure he can give a glowing recommendation for you," Apollo continues. "I'll have him send it over with the proposed motion."

Nahyuta looks down at his phone, tapping the screen to check the time. "Just get me the plea as soon as you can," he says tiredly. "And don't forget to include Edgeworth. Save me a few minutes from needing to fill him in."

"Okay," Apollo agrees, checking his own phone. "I should probably go, but before that…" he holds his hand out to him.

"Did you forget your wallet?" Nahyuta asks flatly, looking down at his outstretched hand then back to him with only his eyes.

"No, give me the pack of cigarettes." Apollo flexes his fingers expectantly. "C'mon."

It's for the best, Nahyuta tells himself as he fishes out the pack and drops them gingerly in his palm. "Don't smoke them yourself."

"I'm going to throw them in the trash," he says shortly. "Mr. Gavin would send me home early if he caught me with them."

"Of course he would," Nahyuta mutters under his breath, feeling his lighter between his index finger and thumb in his pocket. He feels ashamed that handing it over to Apollo can't even stop him because he keeps a pack at his desk. Perhaps I'm not doing as well as I think I am, he thinks, then decides to toss them out independently once he goes back inside. He will not be controlled by drugs wrapped in pieces of paper.

Apollo shoves the pack in his pocket and gives him a look. "How long have you been smoking?" He asks suspiciously.

Nahyuta huffs. "I need to go back to work," he says dismissively, walking past him.

Apollo follows after him. "Was it after I moved out?" He demands.

"Yes," he lies.

"Ugh. You're so annoying."

Nahyuta turns to him and smiles as pleasantly as he can, holding his hand out to him. "I will see you in court tomorrow, Mr. Justice. I'm glad I was able to help."

Apollo snorts. "Yeah, see you tomorrow, Yuta," he says, shaking his hand. "I will get Mr. Gavin to write a letter for you though," he promises.

Nahyuta's smile eases, feeling more natural than before. "I'll look forward to it. After the plea."

"After the plea," Apollo agrees. "It was nice talking to you. See you tomorrow," he repeats as he began to walk back down the steps and towards his bike. "Bye, Yuta."

"Bye, Apollo."

That could have gone a lot worse.

Then again, he and Apollo's habits have become largely inconsequential to each other, which have upsides and downsides. Mostly downsides, but the boon of having such a mild reaction to his cigarette habit was certainly something to be appreciative for.

Thank the Holy Mother for her patience and grace, he thinks, then considers it is a sign that he needs to extend that same patience and grace to Edgeworth and Gavin.

Temperance is next. He can do it too. Just…maybe he needs more practice with patience before moving on to temperance.

---

Clay Terran: Congrats on the promotion!

Nahyuta Justice: It's more like a new job, but thank you

Apollo Justice: New job?

NJ: After learning that I was looking to move up, Miles Edgeworth asked me if I would rather work for him exclusively at the Prosecutor's Office

AJ: I thought you couldn't stand working for him

NJ: It pays a lot more than what the courthouse can offer.

CT: that'll do it

NJ: I have also gotten used to the way he likes things done. If I am only working on his files, then it won't be as bad.

AJ: That works out then. You could be opposing counsel for me and Mr. Gavin soon

CT: Very dramatic

AJ: Not really

NJ: He's been my opposition since he was born

AJ: No, just since middle school

NJ: Fair enough

CT: You guys are really moving up in the world. Don't leave me behind!

AJ: You're gonna go to space, you'll leave us behind

CT: Guess that's true

CT: I'll get there eventually

CT: I better not die before that happens

NJ: What would possibly happen?

CT: idk

AJ: I'll figure out how to get a spirit medium to channel your spirit so then you can go to space that way

CT: are spirit channelers really real?

AJ: A lot more than you say they are

CT: hmmm…..

NJ: Most people who claim they can communicate with the spirit realm are not truly capable of it.

CT: So you are?

NJ: No, of course not. Men are incapable of it.

CT: right sure of course why would I think otherwise

AJ: It's real! I've sent you videos from Kurain Village

CT: fake

NJ: If Apollo ever has your spirit channeled, then you can give a second opinion.

AJ: With the Kurain Channeling technique?

NJ: No.

CT: ok, whatever u 2 lol

---

In the moment, Apollo didn't think that much about catching Yuta with a cigarette, but the more he thought about it after the fact, the more it upset him. It either meant that he was one of the worst hypocrites that Apollo ever met, or it meant that he actually had grown into someone that he didn't want anything to do with.

He'd always been under the impression that Dhurke's hatred of smoking had been passed to both him and Nahyuta, but it clearly hadn't. And it wasn't just about the smoking either; Apollo wasn't that crazy, but after thinking back about the exchange, Nahyuta had implied that he'd been using cigarettes for a long time, probably while he was still in high school. It sure made all his milk box talking about Mr. Terran a lot worse upon reflection. And his controlling, preachy speeches about how Apollo was ruining his life by getting a B- instead of an A, when he was smoking underage. And it didn't even seem like he felt bad about it.

Apollo thought he'd gotten over Nahyuta's bad attitude as a high schooler, but the knowledge that he was probably smoking cigarettes the whole time was a type of hypocrisy that he couldn't stand.

It made him not want to be around him, so Apollo spent a lot of the next two weeks staying in with Mr. Gavin and Mikeko. Clay was visiting while he was on break, but that wouldn't be for another month, and Mr. Gavin liked to chat. About anything, and everything, and he always had a related story about everything, no matter whatever Apollo wanted to bring up.

One evening, Mr. Gavin surprised him by starting the conversation himself.

"What do you think about the magicians from Troupe Gramarye?" He asked casually.

"They were cool," Apollo said. "I liked them when I was younger and they were popular."

"Isn't it interesting how many of their members either died or disappeared?" Mr. Gavin continued.

Apollo frowned. "I didn't hear about that," he said. "I didn't follow them very closely. I just watched some clips of their shows online."

Mr. Gavin nodded in acknowledgement. "So I get the impression that you never saw them in person before?"

"No," Apollo said with a laugh. "Those kinds of tickets were too expensive for me. Or too expensive for Sunflower to pay for the whole children's home to go."

He nodded again. "That certainly makes sense." He stared into the gas fireplace. It wasn't on—it rarely was—but it was still fitting for Mr. Gavin to have in his house.

"It's too bad that they're disbanded now," Apollo said. "I used to want to always see them in person as a kid, but that's kind of impossible now, huh?"

He took a sip of his tea. "Indeed," he agreed. "Although, it is a shame. I wish that Zak Gramarye had not disappeared before justice could be done. It was a disappointing end for my brother's courtroom debut."

I'd imagine so, Apollo thought. He hoped that his eventual debut would be better than that, even if it felt a million years away. "Maybe they'll catch him eventually," he said. "Then your brother can have a second chance at it."

"That would be ideal, wouldn't it?" Mr. Gavin agreed. "Perhaps one day you can start helping me find him."

"That sounds cool." Apollo agreed immediately. The idea of being able to wrap up an old case that had been left open by Mr. Gavin's younger brother sounded great. Maybe he would prove to be a better younger brother for Mr. Gavin and then him and Nahyuta could trade out and everyone would be happier that way. His smoking habit would mix well in the world of rock and roll anyway. Maybe he could try cocaine while he was at it so he could condemn people even faster.

Apollo grimaced at the route that line of thought took. Maybe that's a little far. Knowing himself, he wouldn't have it in him for something more than passive aggressive remarks, and Nahyuta didn't rise to the bait most of the time anyway. Like everything else he did, Apollo would have to just accept it as another one of his brother's annoying (terrible—possibly his worst) habits and move on with life because he wasn't allowed to openly criticize him.

But helping find Zak Gramarye of all people would be a great jumpstart to his career and set him up for after he was on his own. He would probably even get media attention for it too. Or maybe he wouldn't have to go out on his own because Mr. Gavin would offer him a job and Apollo wouldn't refuse—not if working for him continued to be as nice as present day.

After Apollo agreed to help, Mr. Gavin smiled owlishly at him. The way the light from the lamp shone on his glasses, it blocked Apollo from being able to see his eyes. It wasn't an expression that Apollo had ever seen from him before, and it made his skin crawl, despite himself; despite his earlier thoughts about wanting to continue working for him long-term. "It's a deal then," he said. "I know that you don't know your parents, but I'm sure they'd be proud of you now."

Apollo blinked in surprise. Back to this? "Uh… Yeah, I'm sure," he said. "But I'm not sure if I would have been able to work for you like this if they were still around, so maybe this has been karma working its way back around."

Mr. Gavin's smile shifted to be closer to what Apollo was used to. "Yes, that is true," he said. He crossed, then recrossed his legs. "I should count myself lucky that I was able to find such a talented protégé."

Apollo blushed at the praise. He didn't usually lay it on so thick; he must be in an abnormally good mood today. "Thanks, Mr. Gavin. I won't let you down," he promised.

---

Working for Miles Edgeworth is difficult, more so than his work as a judicial assistant, but the work is more rewarding now that he doesn't need to tell attorneys for the umpteenth time to revise their formatting.

He had suspected as much, but Edgeworth is a perfectionist who can fall into micro-management. He is almost always present at all of the investigations for his cases, personally taking part in the investigation process and chatting with detectives. It's admirable and explains why he had always been so particular about how his evidence was filed—he'd been writing and finding things out on his own. Most of the time, he brings Nahyuta along so he can handle evidence for him. That isn't the official reason, but it is usually what it meant. Edgeworth typically does not use Nahyuta's notes on the case, even if he demands that he take them anyway, "just in case."

Even though digging through the trash and handling evidence before the police officially registered it isn't one of Nahyuta's favorite activities, he enjoys piecing together cases with Mr. Edgeworth. He enjoys listening to Edgeworth's questioning and helping him prepare witnesses, something that he'd only had inklings of but previously, but had never seen in person. There had, in fact, been a reason Edgeworth is paid so much, even if he doesn't take on the same number of cases as the rest of the office. He doesn't work to maintain a record like he'd used to, but solving murders and wrapping them up quickly is more impressive.

He is a bright spot in the legal world, which is rare. He is a good man that Nahyuta respects, even if he still can't read his handwriting.

"Did you not learn cursive in school?" Edgworth asks one day while Nahyuta sits on the couch in his office, stumbling through one of his opening statements to revise and align with the Court Record. "I know that English isn't your first language, but I had hoped that you would still be taught cursive." He starts to pour himself a cup of tea while he speaks.

Nahyuta looks up from the papers spread over the floor. "I needed to learn the Latin alphabet before cursive," he says.

"I see," he intones. "You're Khura'inese, correct?"

"Yes."

"I have a friend from Kurain Village," he tells him. "I assume you've heard of it, at least."

"I am." Nahyuta avoids making a face at the mention of the village. "Is that one of the reasons you hired me?" He asks carefully.

Edgeworth scoffs. "No. Of course not." He takes a sip of his tea. "I hired you because you were familiar with my methods and amenable to them." Another sip. "It certainly helped that you generally have a reputation within the courthouse for being unwilling to accept bribes."

"Ah." Nahyuta leans back on the couch and crosses his legs. He isn't done speaking and waits for him to continue

"It does not hurt that you reminded me of myself, some," he admits, looking down at his cup. "You are not the first young person in law that I've tried to help and you certainly are not the last; but you remind me of myself the most." He traces the rim of his teacup. "Even though the circumstances of my time in Germany were difficult, it has made me who I am, for better or for worse. I did not have a good mentor when I was your age, and I…" he chuckled ruefully, "I wanted to do better for those who come after. Make things closer to how they should be."

Edgeworth takes another sip of his tea, then sets the cup back on his saucer. "But I don't mean to be sentimental," he continues. "I've become more so in my old age."

Yes, the incredibly old age of thirty-two.

"Do you believe in karma?" Nahyuta asks.

"No," Edgeworth replies plainly. "I don't. If you'll forgive me, I believe it to be trite."

Nahyuta tilts his head. "From the way you speak, it sounds like you do. Or could be amenable to it."

"I suppose so," Edgeworth acquiesces. "Or, I could simply be forward-thinking instead. That is not particularly strange for me."

"No, I suppose not."

"Are you a Khura'inist?" He asks curiously.

"I believe that the Holy Mother exists, and that she blesses certain people with her power."

"Are you one of them?"

Nahyuta's lips quirk. "If I was, I wouldn't be working for you." His words have a double meaning, but he doesn't think that Edgeworth will catch on to them.

"You would have stayed in Khura'in?"

He's wrong. He does. It shouldn't surprise him at this point.

"It was dangerous for me to stay," he says truthfully, answering past the question.

"I would like to open up our courts to international prosecutor exchanges," Edgeworth says, leaning back in his chair with his cup and saucer in his hands. "Perhaps that would be an opportunity for you to go back home but under our protections."

Nahyuta stares distantly at the bouquet of flowers on the windowsill; they are probably from Wendy Oldbag. He has to sign for them often. A lot more often than he should need to for a typical fan. "Perhaps," he says. "It would be difficult to refuse a journey home, however temporary."

"Perhaps Khura'in would be agreeable to it in the coming years. I don't know how much longer their legal system can exist in its current state before imploding on itself. They are not a very stable country, politically speaking."

"I suppose we'll see," Nahyuta replied, wistfully.

Later that evening, Nahyuta thinks that Miles Edgeworth may be the first person to take notice of him. Him, and not ignore him in favor of someone else. In favor of Apollo.

Edgeworth cares about more than what Nahyuta achieves, even if that had been what he'd noticed first. At first, it had made Nahyuta eager to continue carrying out Edgeworth's hopes for him, but it also helps him realize that it had taken his whole life to be seen by someone.

Everyone has always cared for Apollo over him, and the knowledge of it gives Nahyuta mixed feelings. Apollo has always been babied by the people around him, himself included, and Nahyuta has struggled and fought for everything for as long as he can remember. Apollo has not had an easy life, but he doesn't know what it's like to never have someone always looking out for him. As his older brother, he knows he should feel glad that Apollo has had that, but as his peer, Nahyuta wishes that he'd had it too.

It's not Apollo's fault, but he still feels jealous for it and intrusive thoughts are usually at the edge of his mind whenever he's around him, making up his brother's worst possible intentions. It puts him in a bad mood whenever he's around him, and it's become a poison to their relationship. It makes his mind wander when he tries to sleep at night but can't, and it's usually about their father—because it's always about their father, even when it isn't, with the two of them. (It makes sense; their shared father is the only thing that connects them these days.) Nahyuta wishes that he learned why Dhurke wanted so desperately to keep Apollo safe, but had not seemed to show the same amount of care for him. Neither of the answers he can come up with are good either and make him feel worse.

At least Apollo is finally making something for himself now. It means Nahyuta no longer worries about him so often, but it also means that he doesn't spend as much time around him as he used to. Even though they were so distant now, he thinks he understands him better than when they were young. He'd forgotten what it's like to have someone want the best for him, and so he understands Apollo's loyalty to Gavin a little better, even as loath as he is to admit it. The man has been good to him for years and (at least according to Clay) offers some good life advice to Apollo when Mr. Starbuck isn't around. Something that happens all too often nowadays, Nahyuta thinks, considering how many of Gavin's habits Apollo has adopted over the years.

Nahyuta grits his teeth at the thought. I suppose that's what abandonment for two children who don't know better will do to them.

He doesn't like the knowledge that so much of his personality came from things like that but he doesn't think it will ever leave him entirely.

---

Apollo took no small amount of pride when he texted Clay, I win, complete with a screenshot of the results from the California Bar.

He wasn't sure how he should tell anyone else, but he needed to tell Clay as soon as possible—to make sure that he won their bet, of course.

Like usual, he texted him back almost instantly.

CT: Already? Congrats dude!

Apollo felt like his hands were tingling when he texted Clay back.

AJ: Thanks! I wasn't really expecting to pass on my first try.

CT: With how much you were studying your ass off, of course u did

AJ: Now I don't really know what to do next

CT: do you give friends and family discounts?

AJ: Are you planning on getting accused of a crime?

CT: for legal reasons, I cannot say a thing

AJ: Client confidentiality is taken very seriously here at Gavin law offices.

CT: Well…rivalle space station has some really nice computers… it would be a shame if something happened to them

AJ: Sure would be

CT: So when's your first case?

AJ: I'm not sure I'm going to start taking Mr. Gavin's cases so early

AJ: right now, he's still comfortably handling all of them, and I'm not sure when we'll get another one

CT: Hopefully it's soon! I want to watch you in action whenever it happens

AJ: Yeah! You'll be the first to know

CT: Thank u for remembering me, mr. apollo justice, esquire

AJ: Oh, I have to change my signature now!

CT: ur such a nerd lol

AJ: Let me be happy for once. I've been working for this since I was 15

CT: okok ,change your signature lol

---

To celebrate Apollo's milestone, Mr. Gavin took him to a sushi restaurant—one that Apollo had always wanted to try, but never wanted to pay for.

As usual, Mr. Gavin ordered a bottle of alcohol, this time sake. Just a little bit to drink now, and then keep in his wine cellar to not ever touch again. "You have done better than I could have ever hoped," he said as he was carefully pouring himself a cup of sake.

"I—really?" Apollo asked.

"But of course. Even with your background, it's incredibly uncommon for attorneys to be as young as you are."

"I guess so," Apollo ran his hands through his hair, trying not to beam too much from the praise. He wanted to hear more, but he didn't like how much it still affected him because of how increasingly rare it was becoming. He was raising the bar for himself so it seemed there was less and less for Mr. Gavin to be impressed with.

"Soon I'm sure you can start accepting new cases on my behalf," Mr. Gavin continued, screwing the cap back onto the bottle.

Apollo jolted in his seat, his heart feeling like it had just tripped over itself. "Already?" He stammered.

His wise mentor shrugged. "Why not? Passing the bar means that you're ready to represent someone in a court of law. If the state of California believes that you're competent enough to do so, that's enough for me."

He could feel his face get redder, embarrassingly so. "I guess that makes sense, huh?" He said. "I'm not sure which of your cases that I could comfortably take over right now though…"

Mr. Gavin smiled at him. "You have been sitting in as a co-counsel for over a year and been preparing nearly everything for every case I've taken for even longer. You are more than prepared, and my clients are comfortable with you as it is. If it makes you more comfortable, I would be happy to serve as your co-counsel until you've adjusted."

"That would be great, sir!" Apollo said enthusiastically, leaning towards him, elbows on the table.

Mr. Gavin picked up his glass before Apollo's elbows slammed on the table. "Volume, Mr. Justice," he said dryly. He carefully set it back down. "I would never just leave you to your own devices to figure it all out on your own," he continued pointedly. "Helping you along is what I'm here for, after all."

"Thank you so much, sir," Apollo replied, feeling himself tear up for reasons that he couldn't quite place. "That means a lot to me, Mr. Gavin."

He was looking down at his glass so he didn't seem to notice Apollo's sincerity. It was almost too bad, but probably for the best. When he looked back up at him, he chuckled heartily. "You don't need to thank me for doing my job, Mr. Justice." There was a moment of silence before he started speaking again. "I look forward to seeing what you will do in the world of law. Your time in court will be coming soon. Of that, I am certain."

Apollo thought so too. He truly believed that he was going to make a difference now. There were so many things that he could do now if he wanted, and he still had so much time left to try it.

"To be honest," Apollo started, "When I was fifteen, I wasn't sure about becoming an attorney."

Mr. Gavin raised a brow. "Oh?" He gestured for him to continue.

"When I was a kid in Khura'in, the person who looked after me and Yuta was a defense attorney," Apollo started slowly, trying to keep it vague.

"A difficult career path in that country," Mr. Gavin remarked dryly.

"It made me think that I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up to help people like him. When I came to America, I liked to follow Phoenix Wright's cases too and it kinda kept the dream alive, you know?" Apollo continued.

Mr. Gavin nodded knowingly and he leaned back in his chair as Apollo went on.

"But then when he got disbarred—"

"Of course you know where I stand on that," he interrupted.

"It was still a big shock to me. It made me think that maybe it was a sign that I shouldn't be a lawyer anymore. But here I am now, still achieving my dream from childhood, in a sort of roundabout way." He didn't know where he was planning on taking that story, but he felt like Mr. Gavin, of all people, deserved to hear it. The only people who did were Clay and Yuta but it felt right to include Mr. Gavin—especially since he was the only reason Apollo had done anything in regards to law at all.

Mr. Gavin chuckled, then swallowed the bite of salad in his mouth before beginning to speak. "It is funny how things like that happen, isn't it?" He said. "I never knew that about you, Mr. Justice, but I appreciate you telling me about it. I don't know why, but it's a sensitive subject for you and I'm flattered that you consider me someone that you can share that with."

Apollo was pretty sure that he was blushing a bit. "Y-Yeah, a little bit," he said. "You've just told me so much about your life and family that I probably owed you something." He laughed.

Mr. Gavin shook his head. "Nothing I've told you is transactional in that sort of way, but I do appreciate it, Mr. Justice."

"Well you know what I mean."

"I'll always look forward to learning more about you though, Mr. Justice," Mr. Gavin said, and Apollo knew that he was being very sincere. It was nice knowing that, first: he was interesting enough for someone to want to hear more about, and second: that Mr. Gavin cared about him enough to want to learn more about him. It was good on his ego, on top of being twenty-two years old and being a full-fledged attorney.

After a bit of further smalltalk, Mr. Gavin said, "This only means that your work will get more difficult from here on out. I hope that you're ready for it."

"I am, sir!" Apollo shouted, banging his fists against the table, too quickly for Mr. Gavin to save his glass of sake this time.

…

Apollo would have normally been embarrassed to see the waiter hurry to their table with handfuls of towels, but there was very little that could happen today to damper his excitement.

He had just become a full-fledged lawyer. He still had a long way to go, but it felt so surreal and exciting.

Nothing could ruin this for him.

---

It had been about a month and a half since Apollo had seen Yuta in person, but it made it convenient since it made it so enough time had elapsed for Apollo to show him his attorney's badge.

When he approached their table, Apollo hurried over to present to him his brand new, shiny attorney's badge. "Take a look at this!" He said, holding it close to his face.

It took him a moment for him to recognize it, but when he did, his eyes widened, and he turned to Apollo. "You've already passed the bar?" He asked in surprise.

"I did!" Apollo said proudly, slipping it back into his pocket and pulling out a chair to sit across from him. "Pretty impressive, huh?"

"It is very impressive," he agreed, smiling pleasantly. "I'm surprised that you've gotten your badge back so quickly."

"It took a few weeks, but it was pretty fast, huh?" Apollo said. "Mr. Gavin said that I can start taking cases for him soon, so my debut in court is probably going to be happening soon."

Something in his expression shifted. "I'll keep an eye out for you on the docket," he said dryly, the look on his face going back to its previous, neutrally pleasant state.

"Prosecutor Edgeworth doesn't take cases very often though, does he?"

"Not very often," he replied, leaning back in his chair and carefully crossing his legs. "But I still check over the docket for him in the event he would like to aid in an investigation."

"Isn't the job of the police station?" Apollo said dubiously.

"Edgeworth doesn't trust most of them," Yuta said matter-of-factly. "I'm sure that you can understand why."

"That's true, I guess."

An awkward silence passed between them. Then, "Am I the last to know that you passed the bar?" Yuta folded his hands in his lap.

Apollo grimaced. "Yeah—but you're the first to see the attorney's badge!" He said quickly. "I wanted to wait to tell you so I could show—"

"It's fine," Yuta interrupted dryly with a wave of his hand. "I was teasing," he said.

He was lying. Not very well either, but Apollo didn't care to go to the effort of prying his feelings out of him. It was something he was increasingly tired of needing to do and what was done was done; if it upset him, too bad. There was always next time. He could be the first to learn about his debut trial.

"How long will your contract with Kristoph Gavin last?" Nahyuta asked suddenly.

Apollo blinked. "Uh—I'm not sure. I think we may need to re-do it since I was a minor when we informally agreed to something," he said.

He pressed his lips together in a thin line. "That may be good to look into now," he said critically.

"Yeah, you're right," Apollo said dismissively, hoping that the line of questioning would die out there.

"I'm being serious," he scolded lightly.

"I'll do it soon!" Apollo insisted. "Do you still hate Mr. Gavin?"

"I don't hate him," Nahyuta said evenly. "It never hurts to be safe."

"Whatever." Apollo rolled his eyes. "I guess no matter what he does, it's not good enough for you."

He stiffened. "I didn't say that. He just has not done anything to trust him."

"What about paying for all of my school and letting me become a full attorney in my early twenties?"

Yuta sighed and averted his gaze to the table. "He has proven to be a man of his word," he fudged.

"Your distrust of certain people really bothers me sometimes," Apollo muttered.

"Have I not been personable enough for you?" He asked shortly.

Apollo cringed and leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. "You—I just wish you'd pretend to be happy for me sometimes."

Nahyuta frowned. "When did I give you the impression that I've been unhappy with you?" He tilted his head to the side. It made his hair frame his face in a way that made him look like some kind of internet model with the way the sun was shining. He'd never particularly liked being confused as a woman in their youths, but his insistence to keep longer hair was not doing him many favors.

"Not unhappy, just not—you know—you give me the impression that you think I'm never doing enough," Apollo tried to explain. He didn't think that it was going to be good enough for Yuta though.

When he saw that his frown only deepened, he could see that he was right.

"How so?"

"Just…you…" he continued to talk, and he didn't know how he was supposed to say "your vibes" without actually saying it because he would get laughed at.

"You aren't trying to say something like 'it's my face,' are you?" Yuta narrowed his eyes.

"No!" He said defensively. "That is not what I was going to say."

"Then what?" He sounded irritated now. "I have said nothing but positive things about you, to your face and to others. What do you think I'm doing wrong now?"

His irritation was quickly spreading to Apollo, even though he knew that the whole encounter was quickly becoming his fault. "You know—you never have anything positive to say about Mr. Gavin—"

"I wasn't aware you and Kristoph Gavin were the same person," he interrupted sarcastically.

Apollo made a noise of irritation. "Let me finish, will you?" He said, annoyed. When Yuta didn't say anything for a moment, he continued, "When I came in with a whole attorney's badge and news that I'd passed the bar, you couldn't even muster a 'gee, Apollo, you worked really hard for that! Congratulations'?"

"Congratulations."

Apollo tried to picture the last time he and Nahyuta got into a physical fight; it had been several years, but maybe he was ready to break their streak. "Why are you acting like this?" He said exasperated, throwing his hands into the air.

"Because you are making unreasonable accusations toward me then fail to give any examples of what I was doing," he said harshly.

Apollo wanted to pull his hair out. "I'm just trying to explain to you how I feel. I didn't know that I wasn't allowed to do that!"

Nahyuta looked at him disbelievingly. "Is it my job to regulate your feelings for you now?" He scoffed and looked away. "You're ridiculous."

"I was just trying to say that I wished that you could say something nice to me every once and a while without the additive of what I could have done better instead! You never praise me for anything and only have negative things to say and that makes me feel really bad about myself sometimes!" Apollo exploded, throwing his hands into the air.

"Why didn't you say that to begin with?" Yuta demanded rudely.

"You never give me the chance to explain anything! You—"

Nahyuta scoffed. "I've been listening to you stumble through this entire conversation like a child. I listen to you plenty."

"You interrupt me every other sentence whenever we talk."

"I do not."

"While we've been here, you've interrupted me like three different times!"

"You were counting?"

Apollo groaned loudly, rubbing his face with his hands. "What is your problem?! Why can't you just be—?"

"What is my problem?" Nahyuta repeated. "What is yours? Why do you take everything I say so incredibly personally? Am I no longer allowed to express anything except positivity towards you?"

"I didn't say that! God! You always assume—"

"You always assume the worst about me!"

"Stop interrupting me!"

Nahyuta grit his teeth. "You accuse me of so many different things and fail to elaborate. You can't understand why that would bother me?"

"I have explained what you're doing wrong! I want you to stop interrupting me, I want you to say 'good job' every once in a while, and I want you to stop being so negative about Mr. Gavin all the damn time! I know you don't like him but I don't need to hear how you feel every time I see you." As Apollo listed each complaint, he bent a finger back with his other hand.

Nahyuta shook his head and rolled his eyes again. "I am not your mother that needs to stroke your ego. You have enough people that do it for you as it is."

"What?!" Apollo almost felt all his annoyance get replaced with shock from the utter blindsiding accusation. "Are you being serious right now?"

"I assure you—I am being quite serious."

"I don't get praise all the time! Why do you think I do?!" Apollo shouted, trying to convey all the bafflement he could muster. It felt like he'd just been transported to some kind of alternate universe. "Do you seriously believe that?"

He laughed at that. He actually laughed in response, as if shocked that Apollo believed otherwise. "Yes! I do believe that! You hate it when I criticize you, and you lash out at me for it because you are so unused to it."

"Now you're just making stuff up! Who would—"

"Your Mr. Gavin is a wonderful example. He has you eating out of the palm of his hand with just one or two platitudes and it doesn't bother you at all!"

"This again?!" He said exasperated. "Can you please fixate on something else? Why is it him that bothers you so much?"

"Clay and his family, Sol Starbuck," he continued, ignoring him.

"You're delusional. Maybe you are schizophrenic," Apollo said, rolling his eyes, feeling satisfied when he saw Yuta flinch at the comment. It encouraged him to continue: "None of those people are around to kiss my ass! If you listened to me sometimes, you'd know—"

"And that! You always tell me that I don't listen to you when I clearly do, but you have not changed in your treatment of me since we were in high school. Every time I do anything, you assume that I have malicious intentions, just because my behavior to you as teenagers was less than stellar. Am I supposed to be content with that?"

"That isn't why I assume the worst, Nahyuta! I assume the worst because you—"

"I am sure you recall that you were not particularly kind to me as children either," he interrupted. Again. Like he always did. "As children, whenever you were struggling to control yourself, it was always me that you would shout at. All your bitterness about what happened to us was taken out on me. I was not perfect, but neither were you!"

"I know I wasn't perfect! I'm sorry that I wasn't little Orphan Annie, and I'm sorry that you were stuck with me as a brother, but that wasn't my fault!"

"Ah yes, deflecting blame is what you do best. Why am I not surprised? Is that what you're going to do to Clay when I confront him about telling you my secrets?"

"What do you want from me?! I'm sorry that Dhurke made us brothers, how's that? I wish that he'd just kept us separate from each other, so you didn't have to deal with how terrible I apparently am!"

Nahyuta drew back from him, his eyes widening. Apollo didn't care that he crossed a line. As far as he was concerned, Nahyuta had too. He'd just accused all their acquaintances of being mindless hierophants, apparently because they loved him so much.

His eyes narrowed. "Do you honestly want to bring our father into this?"

"I guess so! You're the one trying to question our whole lives because I've brainwashed all our friends into a bunch of yes-men! We may as well go back to the start!"

"That is not what I said."

"How else am I supposed to interpret that?! Apologize and I'll take what I said about Dhurke back!" He pointed a finger at him.

"He was going to leave you here by yourself." Nahyuta sneered, hitting his hand away from his face. "Even though you were still feverish and recovering from getting shot. Even though you couldn't speak a single sentence in English, he was going to leave you here all by yourself, with the hope that you'd find your American family on your own. His intentions were to keep me, then send you away. He knew that you belonged here instead of in Khura'in with us. I felt bad for you and that's the only reason I'm here."

Apollo froze. He felt like his heart had dropped from his chest to his stomach and he was feeling the urge to throw it back up. "Oh yeah? Really?" He managed out. He could feel his face begin to burn from anger, and his eyes were beginning to burn too. "Well—joke's on him then, huh?! I'm the attorney! At twenty-two! I'm the one trying to do better! You're a chain smoker who's living off the overpaid, corrupt Prosecutor's Office! For an attorney who's forged so much evidence that he puts Gaspen Payne to shame!"

Suddenly, Nahyuta shoved the table towards him and stood, staring down at the table. He snatched his coat from the back of the chair. "Don't ever talk to me again, Apollo," he bit out, turning on his heel and leaving swiftly for the door.

"I won't!" Apollo shouted after him. "Not that you'll live for much longer anyway!"

---

The day that Nahyuta stops dyeing his hair, he tells himself that it's because he has nothing to prove anymore; he has achieved a comfortable position in his career, and it's unlikely that he will be moving up or down any time soon. The hope is that the name Miles Edgworth will overshadow anything Nahyuta can do himself while on the clock. The most that he's talked about is the possibility of taking the bar exam once he's qualified, but that won't be happening any time soon.

The reason that Nahyuta tells himself why he's not dyeing his hair anymore is completely untrue. Much like the justifications he used to make up for himself for smoking. These days, he doesn't really have excuses for himself at all, especially since Apollo knows about it, so he still has a shot at self-awareness in a few years.

The aforementioned reason that Nahyuta isn't ready for is that he hates needing to carve the time to keep up with it. And if that's true, then that would mean that Apollo's words about the Prosecutor's Office are true. Nahyuta had always thought so too, but since arguing with Apollo, he feels obligated to disagree. Because of his appreciation to Miles Edgeworth, but mostly because he's petty enough to be stubborn about it.

Still…

As grateful to Edgeworth as he is, he likes to overwork him and doesn't have a grasp of work-life balance and calls him often, even on days "off," and doesn't care for time zone differences whenever he is in Europe. And as such, it makes setting aside hours to keep his hair dyed impractical at best. It doesn't help that it has changed the texture to be stiff and frayed; it needs a rest, which Nahyuta is allowing it to have. Let it be no mistake: he still hates his appearance and wishes that he'd inherited his father's hair, but he hadn't and has the hair of a woman that he's never met and has been dead for years.

As much as he wishes he could stop being seen as something other than American, the Kingdom of Khura'in and its problems are part of who Nahyuta is, and he will eventually, inevitably, return to it, regardless of whether he wants to or not. The only difference now is that he looks like it. That, and his eyebags make him look more tired instead of trying to achieve a particular aesthetic. As much makeup and jewelry he wears to draw attention away from it, he doesn't think that it works very well. All it accomplishes is that more people than before mistake him for a woman.

Nahyuta wishes that he could scrub Khura'in away from his identity in the same way that Apollo has—and now he's antagonized his brother enough into scrubbing him from his life too. He knows that he needs to apologize to him, but he doesn't want to. Not when Apollo has adapted and made a place for himself in America in a way that Nahyuta can't, and never will, but can also pretend that he's been American for his whole life. More than that—Nahyuta should be glad that he'd been wrong about Gavin, but he's angry about that too. It means that the Holy Mother's blessing has truly left him, and that his nightmares and nausea truly are anxiety at best, and some kind of paranoid delusion at worst. It means that, maybe, his therapist was right to suggest to Ms. Rector that he is developing schizophrenia. He had thought that was private information, but the fact that Apollo had heard about it through (presumably) Clay meant that it had not been. Nahyuta had wanted to confront him about it, but he never did. He doesn't have the energy for it, harm was already done, and the last thing that he needs is to pick at the unhealed, festering wound named Dhurke Sahdmadhi, which it would inevitably come back to.

In the time since the fight, Apollo hasn't reached out to him, and it seems like Clay doesn't even know that they're fighting, based on some of their texts the past three weeks; it meant that both of them were avoiding the subject to him. It was a little funny, but mostly annoying because it still meant that they were still similar enough to have the exact same reaction to the same event. Even so, maybe Nahyuta wrecked their entire relationship from a single fight stemming from years of built-up resentment. Just as well.

Eventually, it will be for the best, when Nahyuta eventually returns to Khura'in.

It's for the best, had been what Dhurke said when he made the decision to send Apollo away, and it's for the best, since Apollo lost his last ties to Khura'in.

He's done what he can for Apollo, and he doesn't need him anymore. They've changed a lot since they were children, and it's time for them to go their separate ways. Like what Dhurke had wanted in the first place.

Ugh.

I'm being dramatic. I won't be going back to Khura'in any time soon, if I can help it.

And he knows himself; if Apollo ever wants to patch things up, he knows that he'll agree, and they'll probably talk again before the end of the year. At this point, he just isn't sure who will lose the game of chicken and reach out first.

Maybe it won't be by the end of the year.

---

Apollo had just experienced possibly the worst court debut in the history of court debuts, and the first thing he did after Phoenix Wright left, he made a beeline for the vending machine to buy himself a bag of chips (Snackoos? He didn't look at the bag) and a can of soda.

He was sitting on a bench staring at an empty wall as he slowly chewed whatever it was he bought. For the second time (or was it third?), his entire life had just been turned upside-down, but this time it was in the span of less than six hours and he'd been the one to do it himself.

Oh, and he was probably going to lose his attorney's badge too, right after he'd worked his ass off to get it.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

He was not about to go back to living at Mr. Gavin's house now, and he was pretty sure that he was fired too. And even if he wasn't, he didn't know how he was supposed to get paid. It wasn't like Mr. Gavin had any other employees who would notice his absence.

Apollo thought that he should be having a bigger reaction to the events of the day, but he couldn't bring himself to. The only thing he could think about was what he was going to do.

Mikeko was still at the house, so he would need to go back there eventually.

His phone buzzed. It was from Clay.

CT: how was your first case on the job? didja win? The client was Mr. Gavin's friend Nick Wright, right?

Apollo considered ignoring it, but set the bag of Snackoos down to text him back anyway. It was a joke that he'd run into Phoenix Wright so many times before—even had dinner with him—and had no idea who he was. Who did that? Did Mr. Gavin think that it would be funny? He knew how much Apollo (used to) like him. He didn't think that Apollo would have appreciated knowing that "Nick" was Phoenix Wright?

AJ: Yeah, that was him

AJ: I won.

CT: Knew u would

CT: did u find out who did it?

AJ: Kristoph Gavin

AJ: And the client was actually Phoenix Wright. "Nick" is just a nickname

CT: lmao

Apollo didn't answer him and set his phone down to continue eating his chips. His phone buzzed again.

CT: so you didn't find out who did it?

AJ: I just told you. Mr. Gavin's probably in a jail cell right now.

CT: are you being serious?

AJ: It is like a big joke, isn't it?

Clay immediately started to call him. Apollo sighed, then answered. "Hello?" He said blandly.

"Apollo, are you just screwing with me or are you being serious? Something else didn't go wrong?"

Apollo sighed again. "I told you what went wrong. Mr. Gavin's a murderer and his friend 'Nick' is Phoenix Wright and he took over as my co-counsel to indict my boss," he said rudely. "Oh, and I might get disbarred too for using forged evidence because Phoenix Wright actually uses forged evidence in court." The words were bitter and angry, and he was starting to feel the events of the day now that he was saying it all out loud.

"I don't believe you. I don't—this is a joke."

"Clay, I am being so serious. Mr. Gavin put me on this case because he thought I would get Phoenix Wright found guilty for a murder he committed , and then Phoenix Wright knew it, so he had me use a forged piece of evidence to bait Mr. Gavin into confessing to the entire thing."

There was a long, long, long silence on the other end.

Apollo continued, "Now I don't have a job anymore, my career is kaput, and I'm pretty sure that I'm out of a place to live too." He leaned back on the bench he was sitting on and rubbed his hands down his face. "I'm still at the courthouse and don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do now."

"Uh…"

"Any bright ideas?" Apollo asked sarcastically.

"Not really," Clay said slowly. "Sorry… Uh, I don't really know how I'm supposed to react to this news."

"Yeah? How the hell do you think I feel?"

"Pretty bad."

"Yeah, I do feel pretty bad."

Clay snorted on the other end. "I don't know, dude… Can Yuta pick you up? Or can you see him? Doesn't he work there now?"

The suggestion made Apollo want to turn into himself all the way so that he was inside out. "I—I can't ask him. He told me to never speak to him again." And that was nearly three months ago and they still hadn't talked to each other. It was the longest he'd ever gone without talking to him in his life. It was even the longest time he'd ever gone without seeing him ever. He missed his brother and wished that they were still on speaking terms, but it felt like they were still supposed to be angry with each other, after all the things they said last time they spoke. And he couldn't break their no contact because Mr. Gavin was a literal murderer, proving that Nahyuta had been right about him the whole damn time and so it proved him right about a lot of things, even if he was the worst, most egotistical hypocrite Apollo had ever met. Other than Kristoph Gavin, I guess.

Clay made some kind of noise on the other line. "When did that happen?! What happened?" He demanded. "Why didn't I know about that?"

"That's not important! The point is that I can't ask him for help because he hates me now and I don't need him to hate me and know that he was right about Mr. Gavin the whole goddamn time!" Apollo had gotten up at some point and kicked the vending machine he'd been sitting by.

"Okay, okay! Maybe I could—"

"Don't you call him either! I don't want to see him again! He—" as he remembered the details of their fight, his eyes began to water and he scowled, kicking the vending machine again. "I'm better off without him!"

"You need somewhere to stay. I'm sure that he'd—"

"You don't get it! I'm just going to stay in my room like normal and figure it out. I'll be fine!" Apollo hung up and shoved his phone in his pocket. He left his trash on the bench, gathered his things, and left.

It wouldn't be that bad. Mikeko would be there and she could keep him company. She'd been enough all year and she'd be enough tonight too.

---

True to his word, he determinedly rode his bike from the courthouse and back to Mr. Gavin's house. At least eventually, he did. If he sat in the L.A. library all day until closing and made more than a few loops around town on his bike first, that was no one's business. It was just how he'd left it in his rush to make it to court on time. He'd practiced his Chords of Steel late into the night, but Mr. Gavin hadn't said a word about it.

He put up with a lot from him.

Including getting thrown into jail, but that was probably the last straw.

The first thing that Apollo noticed was that Mikeko had been fed. In her bowl were the remains of an egg, something that Mr. Gavin would always make for her if he fed her for Apollo. He must have forgotten her breakfast in his rush to leave.

The vomit came onto him unexpectedly and the next thing he knew, he was sitting on the floor in front of the kitchen sink, deciding that he, in fact, could not stay in the house of his mentor-slash-murderer. He couldn't use Mr. Gavin's meticulously folded and cleaned kitchen towels to clean up his own mess, and he couldn't ask Mr. Gavin to take care of him because he was sick anymore.

Well… Time for the nuclear option.

He was half-expecting Nahyuta to reject his call. Or just not pick up at all, because he'd never kept his phone charged and he was probably sleeping. But he did, and he heard his brother's voice on the phone for the first time in months . "Hello?" Despite it being past two in the morning, he didn't sound like he'd just been woken up by a phone call. Maybe he had been up too.

"Uh… Hi." Khura'inese had started to feel strange on his tongue, but it was quickly coming back as he began to speak more. Especially since he was asking for something. "I know that you told me to never talk to you, but—"

"What do you need?" He sounded impatient, but it was more likely that he was concerned and did a poor job of showing it. It used to rub Clay the wrong way while they were getting to know each other better.

"Can you pick me up?" His voice cracked. "I don't have a place to stay tonight. I promise, I wouldn't ask you if I had any other options, but I don't, so…" he drifted off.

Nahyuta was so quiet on the other line, Apollo was scared that he'd hung up. Finally, "Where are you?"

"At Mr. Gavin's house." At the mention of his name, Apollo let out that horrible, awful sound that people made when they were trying to swallow a sob but came out in a gasp instead. "I know that you said you never wanted to talk to me again, but—"

"Get your things ready and I'll be there soon." Without waiting for his response, he hung up.

Apollo drew himself up against the refrigerator, his arms around his legs, and dropped his forehead into his knees and cried.

For the first time in such a long time, Apollo missed Dhurke. It wasn't that he was feeling bitter and thinking about him, or was wishing that he had a dad around to share milestones with (and even that wasn't common anymore; not since he'd started sharing so many things with Mr. Gavin), but he missed Dhurke, specifically. He wished that he'd been able to call his dad instead and he was coming to pick him up and be saved by someone who had always been larger than life; someone who could, no matter what, chase away all the dangers of the world with a single command.

He wished that person was the person who was picking him up at 2:30 a.m.. Not his brother, who was just as insecure, angry, and abandoned as Apollo was. His embittered and standoffish brother, who had to claw and fight for everything he had, and who loved him more than anything, but could act like he hated him with just as much fervor. Maybe he did. At least he knew that Nahyuta would always take care of him however he could, but he wasn't their dad. He'd never be their dad.

With Mr. Gavin's arrest, Apollo realized that he was—foolishly—reliving Dhurke's abandonment all over again and he hated that. He wished that he'd listened for once in his life to his brother and kicked Kristoph Gavin to the curb instead of letting him stroke his ego, just like Nahyuta said. But no, Apollo had to ignore him and be spiteful, telling him that maybe he was a paranoid schizophrenic—a suggestion from his therapist that he wasn't supposed to know in the first place.

Why did he have to be right about everything? How was it that he seemed so much wiser and smarter than Apollo was? When was he going to do something that his brother hadn't already done, or could do but better?

At some point, he had fallen asleep on the kitchen floor because he woke to someone gently shaking him awake. When he peeled his eyes open to see who it was, he didn't recognize the clothes or the curtain of long hair, but he could smell the sweet detergent he'd known since high school, and dust from old books and papers; he could hear the sounds of jewelry lightly clinking against metal.

"Nahyuta?" He croaked, trying to push himself up. "How did you get in?"

He stood in a single, fluid motion. More than a few times, Apollo believed that he moved like water, if it had taken human form. "The door was unlocked." He stroked Mikeko, who had jumped on the counter to greet her favorite person since kittenhood. "Have you gotten your things together yet?"

"No," he admitted, feeling embarrassed.

"Pack up then," he said. "It's late and I would like to get back soon." He didn't sound upset, despite the circumstances. Maybe he had a good day today.

"I want to bring Mikeko too."

"I'll find her kennel while you pack."

The car ride to Yuta's was, mercifully, completely silent, making it easy for Apollo to doze off, lulled by the sounds of the engine and the streetlights of L.A. at night.

It helped that Mikeko was contently sleeping in his lap instead of sitting and yowling in her kennel the whole drive. It was almost disappointing when they eventually arrived at the apartment complex and Apollo had to wake himself up from the comfortable car and drag himself and Mikeko up three flights of stairs.

As they walked in, Nahyuta turned on a lamp on the countertop instead of the overhead ceiling fan and led him to a bed, saying something along the lines of "stay here tonight," which was good enough for Apollo to fall into the bed and go back to sleep. As he dozed off, he noticed Nahyuta tossing a blanket over him before he left. Once the door was shut and the hallway light turned off, Apollo was asleep.