Phoenix Wright / Gyakuten Saiban, its settings and
characters, are property of Capcom, and are being
used here without permission. This fic is rated R for violence. Maybe sex…?
I haven't decided yet.
This fic
takes place after GS4 and contains many spoilers. I'm deliberately setting it in
It also takes place after the
short fic I did a while back, "Sugar Sugar?", though in that fic
I said Kyouya hadn't taken a case in over a
month. Let's pretend I wrote
"under" a month, okay? >.>
Well Frogs
Chapter 1
Odoroki had to steel himself a moment at the door. He took a deep breath and let it out
slowly. There could be anything past the
threshold. Anything. What could a man in his position expect to
find, laying in wait within the Naruhodou Anything
Offices?
Makoto peered at him from
beneath her straight bangs, blinking inquisitively. "Mr. Odoroki?"
Odoroki smiled grimly. You're
just going to have to find out.
"It's okay," he quickly assured. It had taken a lot of coaxing to get Makoto
this far, and he didn't want to waste that accomplishment by scaring her off
with his own hesitation. "I'm just
not sure what Minuki's got set up in
there." He squeezed her hand
gently. "Do you want to go
see?"
Makoto bit her lip, glancing
between his face and the door.
"Yes," she said after some consideration. "I do."
Relieved, Odoroki
nodded. "Then let's go."
He twisted the knob, opening
the office door inward. All Minuki had
told him was that they needed to celebrate and were having a party, with
several people involved. Odoroki had
envisioned many scenarios to follow such a declaration, but what he found
beyond the doorway put them all to shame.
The office had been
cleaned. That alone was a small miracle,
but what replaced the normal clutter was all manner of orange and black
decorations unlike anything Odoroki had ever seen before. Crepe paper streamers and cut-outs of ghosts
and black cats covered the walls, and even a plastic skeleton sat in the
corner.
But the greatest shock stood
at the center of the room. It wasn't
Minuki, dressed in black with a pointy witch hat atop her head, or even Akane,
with her thick-rimmed glasses and poofy white
wig. It was Naruhodou, chatting with the
two of them. Unlike his companions he
was clad in what one could consider normal attire: a blue business suit, a
white cotton shirt, a red silk tie. But
together, clothing a clean-shaven and spiky-haired Naruhodou Ryuuichi, the
effect of the three clothing pieces was more bizarre than anything else the
decorated room had to offer.
The trio noticed their newest
arrivals, and turned on them with bright grins.
"Hey!" Minuki gave a
little cheer as she hurried forward. She
had to coax Makoto out from behind Odoroki, where she'd ducked upon first
entering the office. "I'm so glad
you made it," she said happily as she tugged Makoto forward. "I have a costume for you, too. Do you want to wear it?"
Makoto looked baffled and a
bit wary, but she allowed Minuki to lead her on. "Oh…." She shifted her drawing pad in her grip. "All right."
With the two girls occupied,
Odoroki stepped forward to join the others.
He couldn't take his eyes off Naruhodou, and the unexpectedly impressive
figure he was in his signature blue suit.
"What…" He coughed into
his fist to hide the grin threatening to spread across his face. "What's all this about?"
"Today's the
thirty-first," Akane explained with enthusiasm. "Halloween!"
"Halloween?" It had never
occurred to him that Minuki might have meant that when she told him they were
having a party. "But…we don't
celebrate Halloween."
"I know, and isn't it a
shame?" Akane adjusted her plastic
glasses--they kept slipping down her nose, obviously meant for a party-goer of greater size.
"Halloween is so much fun
in
Plenty of candy was spread at
various points around the office, but Odoroki didn't see any pumpkins. "So what's with the wig?"
Akane rolled her eyes at him
for having to explain everything.
"I'm Einstein. And Minuki is
a witch, and Naruhodou is a lawyer."
For a moment Odoroki's mind played tricks on him. "You…" He straightened, his
chest mysteriously tight as he watched Naruhodou's
cool expression. "You got your
badge back?"
Naruhodou laughed, touching a
hand to his gelled hair self consciously.
"No, dummy. It's a costume. I'm going as a lawyer today."
"Oh…." Odoroki sagged once more,
disappointed. For a moment, he thought
he might really get to see the man in court once more, like all those old cases
he'd studied through school… "I
see."
He lowered his eyes, and Naruhodou took full advantage of his ill attention--he
smacked his hand onto Odoroki's forehead and gave his
spiked bangs a hard ruffle to ruin their carefully manicured shape. Odoroki jumped, but just as he reached to push
the hand away he found himself suddenly in a headlock.
"Got
him!" Naruhodou laughed. "Go to it, Akane!"
"What!?" Odoroki
struggled, but he had no chance of fending off the two of them. He could only flail as Akane advanced on him
with an evil cackle. A pair of cheap,
plastic bug antennae was shoved onto his head, and despite his thrashing Akane
managed to force his arms into a pair of adorable red and black wings. As soon as she was finished, she backed off
and Naruhodou released him.
Dumbfounded, Odoroki could
only stand miserably at the office's center.
He felt out the shapes of the headpiece and wings. "What…am I…?"
"Aww,
you're a lady bug!" Minuki made the
high "awwing" noise that girls had a knack
for as she returned with Makoto in tow. "How cute!"
Odoroki slumped, but when he
saw Makoto he quickly perked once more.
He even blushed a little at the ridiculously adorable spectacle she
made, with a pair of black felt cat ears atop her head and whiskers drawn on
her cheeks in stage make up. He never
would have imagined she would allow Minuki to do that to her.
Makoto blinked at him, and
after a moment opened her book, and sketched out a rough design of a half
humanoid, half insect Odoroki.
"Like this?"
Apparently, short lawyers crossed
with feminine-named bugs were a big hit with women, and the three of them giggled
over him for several minutes afterwards.
Not that Makoto giggled, really: she continued to offer the other two
similar doodles, and smiled, very softly, when they approved. Odoroki decided it was worth putting up with
the humiliation to get that reaction from her.
Just as Minuki was digging
into their Halloween candy, most of it too sweet for Odoroki's
tastes, they got their next guest. The
door swung open with a flourish, revealing another, less startling
transformation: familiar prosecutor Kyouya Garyuu, dressed in black
leather and silver buckles beneath a broad, red-trimmed vampire cape. His usually dark complexion had been covered
up with pale makeup, and plastic fangs stuck out over his red-painted lips.
"I come vor your vomen!" he declared
upon entering.
Minuki laughed delightedly as
Odoroki and Akane both rolled their eyes and cooperated in pelting him with
wrapped taffy. "Hey--hey!" Kyouya held up his cape to fend off the sweet
projectiles. "No love for heavy
metal Dracula?"
"You said you weren't
coming," Akane grumbled, shoving a piece of licorice into her mouth.
Kyouya chuckled as he lowered
his cape. "Oh, but how could I
miss…" He paused when his gaze
reached Naurhodou; for a moment the humor faded from
his expression. A few awkward seconds
passed where the two men only stared at each other across the office--Kyouya
uncharacteristically quiet, and Naruhodou's eyes thin
with dry amusement. Then time started
again. "…a Halloween party? I grew up in the States, you know. I thought I could show you how it's
done." He shifted slightly, and
finally offered a nod of greeting to his host.
"Naruhodou."
Naruhodou smirked, and
returned the gesture. "Garyuu."
Odoroki glanced between the
two, thinking that he could sense some of the tension still present. Anxious to find a way to break that unease,
he groped after some remark. It was then
that he noticed Makoto had ducked behind him again, and without really thinking
he reached down to take her hand.
It must have given her strength,
because with a quiet intake of breath Makoto peeked out from around his
shoulder. "Hello…Mr. Garyuu…" she greeted in nearly a whisper.
Kyouya's eyes softened, and he
stepped further into the room. "I'm
glad to see you out, Ms. Ese,"
he said, his charm slipping back into place.
"You're looking very…feline."
He gave her nose a tweak.
Makoto jumped, and when her
voice failed to provide a response she scrawled a smiling face into her book.
Mugitsura arrived next, having promised Minuki
that he would provide the "catering" for their little event, his
usual bowl hat replaced with half a plastic jack-o-lantern. After him came Kawadzu,
though no one could remember just who might have invited him. Having done much research on the subject the
night before, he arrived in what he had determined to be the perfect American
Halloween costume: a white sheet with ghost eyes cut out. But it was the entrance of Takita Kitaki that caused the
most stir, as he'd had the audacity to arrive without a costume. Akane and Minuki
were on him at once, and he put up such a strong fight that even Odoroki had to
laugh.
"I ain't
gonna be no stinkin'
werewolf!" Takita ranted as he was backed into
the corner. "You keep those fuzzy
ears the hell away from my head!"
"But it's the only spare
costume we have left," Minuki complained. "You're gonna
have to wear it or switch with someone else."
Takita crossed his arms stubbornly and glared them down with
unflinching determination. "Not gonna happen."
"Well you have to wear something," Kyouya was all too
happy to insist. "It's
Halloween. If you don't wear a costume,
we get to play tricks on you. Trick or treat and all."
Akane frowned at him. "That's not how it--" She cut off when he wagged a finger at
her.
It was Naruhodou who came up
with the solution. "Minuki, why don't you grab your stage make-up? Maybe you can help him come up with
something. In fact…" He snagged Makoto, who had been doing her
best to hide from the commotion by slipping behind their plastic skeleton. "Why not ask Makoto? She's an artist, I'm sure she could do it."
Takita scowled, ready to reject that idea as well, until he
saw Makoto. The sight of the young
artist--in cat ears and whiskers--trying to duck into her shoulders worked with
startling effectiveness at defeating Takita's
temper. He gaped at her for long
moments, awestruck and speechless as she fidgeted beneath his scrutiny. If not for Naruhodou's
hand at her back, she looked like she might have fled.
Soon enough, Takita's dumbstruck expression curled into a bright and
eager grin. "I'd love that."
Seeing as he had taken it on
as his responsibility for the majority of the evening so far, Odoroki stepped
forward to better reassure Makoto.
"Makoto, this is Takita Kitaki," he introduced gently. "Another client of
mine. He's a little loud, but
he's…ah, perfectly safe."
"Makoto,
huh?" Takita was all
smiles. "That's a lovely
name."
Makoto stared at him silently
for a long moment before finally drawing a rather uncertain looking face in her
book. "Hello."
Odoroki smiled--it wasn't
maybe the best reaction from Makoto, but every little step counted. As Minuki offered
her stage make up, the four of them moved aside to begin applying it to Takita's face. He
had no more complaints to offer.
Akane watched them go,
smiling a little to herself. "Just
under a month, and she's improved a lot," she remarked to no one in
particular. "I didn't really
believe Odoroki would be able to get her here."
"He's a determined
little guy, that's for sure," Kyouya replied, and she jumped a little to find
him so unexpectedly close.
"You have no idea,"
Naruhodou remarked, opening up one of his beloved grape juice bottles. "I have a feeling that kid just might
turn out to be the…second best lawyer
I've ever met."
The two looked to him, but Kyouya asked before Akane could
offer her assumption. "Who's the
first?"
"Not you." Naruhodou smirked against the lip of the
bottle as he moved off to help Mugitsura with his
meal preparations.
Akane rolled her eyes after
him. "He's turned into a real dope,
that Naruhodou," she muttered.
Kyouya was still watching him, his face oddly expressionless, and she
touched his arm to get his attention.
"Hey. I am glad you decided to come."
"Oh?" It worked--back came
Kyouya's boyish grin.
"Why's that? Have you been
missing me, Detective?"
"Of
course not--don't be stupid!" Akane blushed as the memory of their recent
encounter returned to her: the leather chair in his office, the wooden guitar
pressed against her stomach, but most of all the touch of warm lips. Her face turned bright red. "That
was an accident!"
Kyouya tilted his head to the
side innocently. "That? What?
I'm not sure what you're talking about."
But Akane would not be teased
as easily as that. She poked him hard in
the chest. "You're not going to
make me say it!" she promised.
"You know just what I mean, Kyouya Garyuu. That's the last time I'm letting you get to
me. And stop smiling like that!"
"Like what,
Detective?"
"That! Like--like that!" Akane pointed emphatically, but it was only
making him more amused, and her more flushed. She had no choice but to retreat. "Just have a good time, okay? I think you need it."
Kyouya frowned, but by then
Akane was already turning away, desperate to hide her embarrassment. There was only one refuge she could take
where she knew Kyouya wouldn't pursue, and that was in speaking to Kawadzu in the corner of the room. A bold move on her part, but such was her
need for escape.
Odoroki, meanwhile, was still
occupied in Project: Costumize Takita. Seeing as Takita
had become uncommonly docile in Makoto's presence, Odoroki had taken the chance
to use some of his very powerful styling gel to pull his hair into several
sharp spines. What that had to do with
the zombie makeup Makoto was applying to his cheeks, no one was quite
sure. But by the time they finished the
effect was rather impressive.
"Mm, it tickles," Takita just about giggled as Makoto did the finishing
touches.
Makoto leaned back, quickly
snatching up her drawing pad once more, since she had been forced to leave it
aside as she did the makeup. After
considering her work a moment, she flipped open the pad and sketched out the zombified results.
"It looks great!" Minuki declared, bouncing up and down on her toes. She hunted around for and finally produced a
mirror, which she held up for Takita. Though Makoto had only used various colors of
eye shadow, lip stick, and a little nail polish, she had managed to make a
convincing bloody smear of his face, and Takita was
quick to approve.
"You really are an artist!" he beamed. "Thanks, Makoto."
Unused to the attention,
Makoto ducked her head and scrawled a smiling face this time.
"Well, now that that's
done." Takita
grinned and clapped his hands together.
"Why don't you tell me a little more about yourself, Mako? Can I call you
that?"
Makoto nodded blankly. "If…you want…"
"Good! I want to hear all about you." He flopped onto the sofa, and after an
uncertain glance at Odoroki and Minuki, Makoto sat
next to him. "Have you been drawing
for a long time? Do you do portraits, or
landscapes? Do you have any
sisters?"
Makoto continued to stare at
him, and as Takita tried to charm her into
responding, Minuki tugged on Odoroki's
wing. "You don't think this is a
bad idea, do you?" she whispered in his ear. "Introducing them…"
Odoroki sent her a look--she
had been encouraging them until a moment ago.
"Well, he's behaving better than usual, at least," he replied. "I think it'll be okay." When he glanced over, Makoto was ducking away
from Takita's hand as he reached for her cat
ears. "But maybe you should keep an
eye on them."
"Can
do." Minuki tipped her
hat in a salute, and quickly turned to swat Takita in
the back of the head.
"Hey!" Takita glared at
her, and his raised volume made Makoto flinch away again. "I wasn't doing anything!"
Odoroki sighed, but they
seemed to be doing all right anyway. He
stepped back for a moment to find himself some candy. At least everyone was having a good time.
Half an hour later, Kawadzu's sheet was ruined from spilling salty ramen on it,
Minuki was half sick from eating imported candy corn,
Makoto had finally been convinced to draw Takita's
portrait, and Akane had retreated to Naruhodou's side
to keep Kyouya away from her. Thirty
minutes, and Odoroki was already exhausted.
He dropped onto the end of the sofa with a cup of water, hoping to get a
few moments to relax.
Of course, that couldn't be
the case. He was only seated long enough
for one sip before Kyouya sat down next to him and threw his arm over his
shoulders. "Hey, Odeko."
Odoroki rolled his eyes.
"Hello, Prosecutor Garyuu. Are you…" He watched with a frown as Kyouya stole the
cup from his hand to drink from it.
"…enjoying yourself?"
"Sure am." Kyouya handed the cup back once he was done,
but by then Odoroki wasn't interested in it
anymore. "Haven't
been out in a while."
Somehow, Odoroki didn't think
their half-hearted "party" in the office was in the same league as Kyouya's definition of "going out." "Glad to hear it. Can you move your arm?" He tried to shove Kyouya out of his personal
space without much success.
"You're…bending my wings."
"Oh, they're fine,"
Kyouya assured. He seemed intent on
staying, and even began to tap out some rhythm against his knee. "They're awfully cute."
"They weren't my
idea," Odoroki was quick to make known.
Giving up on his protests, he relaxed beneath the weight of Kyouya's arm, however awkward. Over the past few weeks he'd wondered about
the next time he would have to face Kyouya, and how they might react to each
other, but he'd never considered a situation like this. In fact, he was rather surprised that Kyouya
was willing to speak to him at all.
"Hey…" Odoroki licked his lips. It was rather foolish to think that he could
get away with saying anything remotely serious in this kind of position, but he
felt compelled to try. "How are
you?"
"Hmm?"
"I mean…" Odoroki followed the man's gaze, and found
that Kyouya was actually watching Naruhodou as he spoke to Akane a few feet
away. He glanced between the two. Every once in a while
Naruhodou would look back, his expression that same mix of humor and
indifference that it had been all night.
Odoroki licked his lips. It wasn't his place to be giving advice,
but…. "Why don’t you just talk to
him?"
Kyouya snorted. "I've seen you come up with some great
ideas," he replied dryly, "but that's not one of them."
"I know how he can be,
but it wouldn't hurt, right?" he continued anyway. He waited, and when Kyouya didn't respond except
to slow his tapping, he tried a different angle. "Do you want me to go with you?"
"What?" Kyouya looked to him with an incredulous half
grin. "Thanks, but I did graduate
the fourth grade, kid." He gave Odoroki's already mussed hair an extra ruffle.
Odoroki's face screwed up as he pushed at Kyouya again. This might have escalated into a shoving match
were it not for the sudden interruption of a familiar
voice: "Don't you two look cozy."
After all that had happened,
and everything he had witnessed, Odoroki wouldn't have believed there was
anything that could really get to Kyouya Garyuu; but
when Naruhodou approached the two of them, he clearly felt the tensing of
muscles beneath all that leather. He had
to admit, he felt a bit intimidated himself, especially
considering the man's outfit.
The words tumbled out of
Odoroki before he could consider if he ought to be saying them. "Prosecutor Garyuu
was just saying he wanted to--"
Kyouya gave him a rather
harsh pinch at base of his neck, cutting him off, even though he took over
himself anyway. "I just wanted to
say thank you," he told Naruhodou easily.
"For inviting me…given the circumstances."
Naruhodou took a gulp from
his grape juice bottle. "Akane
invited you," he replied smartly.
"Thank her."
Clearly, Naruhodou had no
intention of making things easier on him.
As Odoroki watched, it even seemed that there might have been something unexpectedly
cold behind his half-lidded eyes. It
occurred to him that this was a bad idea after all, and he suddenly wished he
wasn't caught in the middle of it.
But Kyouya took a deep breath
then, and braced a hand against Odoroki's shoulder to
push himself to his feet. "Listen,
Naruhodou," he said carefully, his body posture struggling between ease
and awkwardness. "I just want to
say…I'm sorry. I know that's not enough,
but--"
"I know," Naruhodou
interrupted coolly.
He didn't say more than that,
and eventually Kyouya couldn't help but speak up again, as if his first attempt
had failed. "I mean, I'm not asking
you to forgive me, because--"
"I know," Naruhodou
said again. "It's all
right." He still had that strange,
ironic smile on his face as he rolled his eyes to the side. "I forgive you."
Odoroki winced, and even though
they were no longer seated together he could have sworn he felt Kyouya cringe
as well. Naruhodou's
careless acceptance was almost worse than any words of refusal. Though by now Odoroki had become accustomed
to the feeling that he was caught in something that went further than himself, he didn't want to let this instance pass so easily. He stood.
"Come on, you don't have to--"
"No." This time it was Kyouya that
interrupted. He ran a hand roughly
through his hair. "I get it. It's okay." He glanced to Odoroki with a faint
smile. "Thanks."
Odoroki's jaw worked, but it was too late--Kyouya stepped past
the both of them and headed for the door.
His shoulders slumped briefly before he turned on Naruhodou. "What was that for?"
"What?" Naruhodou returned innocently. He took another gulp of his juice and turned
to wander off again.
Odoroki hadn't been the only
witness to the strange encounter; Akane had watched from a distance, and as
Kyouya passed her on his way out she quickly turned to give chase. "Hey, Garyuu--"
He didn't stop. Akane pursed her lips and followed anyway,
out of the office and into the parking lot outside. "Garyuu,
wait," she tried to calm him.
"You don't have to leave."
"I shouldn't have come
at all," Kyouya said with a shrug.
He undid his Dracula cape, and tossed it to Akane once she was close
enough. She fumbled a bit as she tried
to collect all the heavy fabric. "I
knew it was too soon."
Akane stuttered over a
response. "You…You can't take
Naruhodou seriously. He's just messing
with you--he knows what happened to him wasn't your fault."
"What difference does it
make?" They reached Kyouya's motorcycle, and he tossed his hair back before
reaching for his helmet. "I know
he's your friend, but that doesn't mean he has to be mine." He smirked wryly as he mounted the bike. "Go back and have fun at your
party."
"Garyuu…." Akane sagged helplessly. "I just wanted you two to…get
along. That's all."
Kyouya pulled his helmet on,
glancing to her sideways through the visor.
"I'll see you at work."
He revved the motorcycle, and
Akane stood back to keep out of his way as he backed out. It wasn't the least expected of endings to
the evening she planned, but she couldn't help the heavy disappointment she
felt. With a sigh she turned back to the
office, and was only a bit surprised to see Odoroki waiting for her there.
"Is he…um, okay?"
Odoroki asked awkwardly. The sight of
him looking so uncomfortably distraught in his ladybug antennae helped lift her
spirits a little.
"Yeah." Akane nodded
slightly as they went back to the party together. "I dunno, I just hoped…things might be okay."
"Yeah…" Odoroki scratched the back of his neck. "It'll be okay," he tried to
reassure her. "There'll be other chances."
"You're right."
They traded weak smiles, as if having exchanged some kind of understanding, before rejoining the activities inside.