It was exactly twelve o’clock on one of the hottest days of the year; almost every student at Maple High clambered over bins, tables, and even other people in their rush to catch even a glimpse of shade.
Two friends, both 15 years old, were walking together down a corridor about to go outside. One wore a maroon red blazer and a cravat, whereas the other wore a blue blazer and had extremely spiky jet-black hair that looked like it could pass for a lethal weapon.
“Hey, Edgey? What d’you think Larry’s up to? I mean, apart from falling over.” asked the spiky-haired boy, turning towards his best friend. The other boy smirked in his usual I-have-the-answer way and scratched the back of his neck.
“Who knows?” he replied, stopping to carefully adjust his pristine cravat. “I think he’s probably off eating hotdogs or flirting with girls way out of his league.”
Laughing, they finally reached the door leading to the outside quad and were about to walk out, before they heard an all too familiar voice.
“NIIIICK? EDGEEEEY? Where ARE you guys?!”
Phoenix grinned, assuming that Edgeworth had impersonated Larry.
“Nice impression! How did you do it so accurately?”
To his surprise, Edgeworth grinned and smiled weakly, shaking his head.
“That…wasn’t me, unfortunately.”
Phoenix suddenly realised what had happened, but it was far too late; someone had rushed up to the duo while they were talking and was now hugging them both so tightly that Phoenix thought he would stop breathing.
“Nick! Edgey!” cried Larry, as he let go of his friends and they gasped for air. “I’ve been looking for you EVERYWHERE!”
Phoenix and especially Edgeworth weren’t at all impressed. After all, it was the Butz, and he doesn’t impress easily. An infamous phrase came to mind as they both recalled the past school years with Larry: ‘When something smells, it’s usually the Butz.’
“Larry,” groaned Phoenix, as he gained his composure, “Please stop shouting. Please?”
“OK, buddy! But desperate measures call for desperate times, eh, Edgey?”
Edgeworth, ever the perfectionist, started to correct him, but in vain.
“It’s the other way around, Larry-” he began, but the now overjoyed Larry grabbed both him and Phoenix by the collar and practically dragged them out the room in glee.
“Come on, guys! I’m almost starving to death here..!”
*
The heat was still excruciating; on the metal benches alone it felt like you could easily fry an egg, but at least it was a little bit cooler than earlier. Phoenix, Larry and Edgeworth were slumped in exhaustion from the heat on one of the benches since the seats in the shade were, unfortunately, taken up by everyone else.
“Wow, it’s hot here, isn’t it?” said Phoenix. “I didn’t know that it got this hot so early in summer.”
“Well, you hit the nail on the head there.” Edgeworth had put down his Steel Samurai manga (which he made sure no one but Phoenix or Larry saw him reading; for that, he employed the help of an old book cover) and was eating a tuna sandwich.
“Nick….” Larry moaned, lightly poking him on the shoulder until he turned around in annoyance.
“What is it, Larry?!”
“I-I have no lunch money….”
Phoenix wasn’t particularly feeling generous right now, what with the heat and everything, but he felt obliged to help Larry. After all, that trial years ago…he already owed him much, much more than that.
“Larry,” Edgeworth whispered so that Phoenix couldn’t hear, “don’t tell Nick what really happened that day, OK? He’ll find out soon enough.”
“Right!” Larry replied, a little too loudly.
“What was that, guys?”
“Oh! N-nothing!” they said in unison. Phoenix felt somewhat awkward, so he fell silent and scratched his head in embarrassment until he remembered Larry’s plea.
“Well, here’s the money, Larry. You can-”
“No need.” interrupted a quiet, feminine voice. All three looked up and tried to stop themselves from gasping in shock. A beautiful girl with long, black hair, a pink dress with a red sash and a strange, purple necklace was standing right in front of them.
Phoenix was entranced. A girl like that was almost impossible to find around these parts, not to mention she was friendly and thought of approaching the Butz; that was a feat within itself.
“Here you go…Larry, was it?” the girl asked Larry, turning towards him and smiling sweetly, her eyes closed. Larry merely nodded, and the girl handed him enough change to buy lunch with.
“T-thank you…” Larry managed to get out, before staring blankly off into space, evidently fallen for this new girl. She laughed, and smiled again.
“No worries! I still have loads on me.” she replied, before looking at the other two people on the bench.
Suddenly, the bottom of her dress caught on the bottom of the bench, and she tripped up and fell. Edgeworth looked seriously worried and came down beside her.
“Are you OK? Are you hurt?” he asked, offering her his hand. She took it, and he helped her up.
“Do you need anything? I can-”
“I’m fine, really.” she interrupted, laughing at his concern and putting a finger to his mouth to silence him. “Thank you.”
Edgeworth sat down and blinked in shock; he had never felt like this before. Ever. He had been studying for so long and trying so hard to become perfect- is this what he’d been missing?
In the meantime, Iris turned around gaily, like a ballerina twirling in an almost heavenly sequence.
She stopped short when she saw Phoenix sitting on the bench, and stared at him with open eyes, the exact same thing he was doing. Larry, Phoenix and the girl didn’t realise that Edgeworth was also looking at her, hand over his mouth.
“H-hello.” the girl stuttered and quickly went bright red.
“H-hi….what’s your name?” Phoenix said, blushing as well, ever looking into her eyes.
“Iris…my name is Iris Fey. What’s your name?”
“Phoenix…Phoenix Wright.”
After what seemed like an eternity, a red-haired girl spotted them and marched up to them in anger.
“Iris! W-what on earth are you doing?!” the girl spat.
“Dahlia!” she gasped, unlocking eyes with Phoenix and grabbing the girl’s shoulder. “I wasn’t doing anything bad, I promise!”
Larry stood up, and to Phoenix’s surprise actually looking frustrated. That’s not like Larry at all, he thought, as Larry gently pushed Dahlia’s shoulder.
“Hey! Let her do what she wants! I mean-” he faltered, looking like he didn’t want to say anything more, “I mean, she’s just met someone she likes. Leave her!”
Dahlia looked shocked, then clenched her fists and almost started hyperventilating.
“Oh no, Larry! You’ve made her…” Iris groaned, looking like the end of the world had come.
“IRIS! We’re going!” the girl screamed, and without another word she turned and dragged Iris off. Iris waved lightly at Phoenix before she was taken out of sight.
Larry looked like he was almost about to break down in tears; the love of his life had just been dragged off because of him, after all.
“I better use this lunch money, then….NIIIICK! WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO MEEEE?” he burst out, and with that Larry ran off to the canteen, wiping his eyes with his sleeve as he ran. Phoenix almost felt like he was betraying his friend, but he quickly wiped the thought off his mind; if Larry fell in love, this would usually happen.
“Hey, Edgey… I’ve never seen Larry like that before. Edgeworth? Edgeworth….?”
Edgeworth was quickly brought back to reality. “W-what..? Oh, right. I must admit, it was a bit strange of him…I wonder if he’s OK?”
“Me too.”
And with that, the clock struck one- the start of their next lesson. Immediately, the boys left for class, each with many thoughts buzzing through their heads; but one primary thought blocked almost everything else, logical or not: ‘Who is that girl?’
*
Edgeworth was walking home in a slightly slower-than-usual pace, his arms drooping by his sides. ‘What really happened at lunch?’ he thought, frowning as if in deep concentration. Suddenly, he heard footsteps and the familiar crunch of gravel beside him. “Miles Edgeworth.” a harsh, curt voice rang out. Edgeworth, however, took no notice whatsoever and carried on walking in a sort of trance. ‘Why did it happen, and why…did I…feel so strange?” He felt ashamed that he couldn’t get his head around such a trivial matter. “Miles Edgeworth!” the voice repeated, a little louder and aggressive in an attempt to get his attention. By now, Edgeworth had realised that the voice came from none other than his sister, Franziska.
After that incident, Manfred von Karma, a god among prosecutors, had adopted Edgeworth as both his father and mentor. Franziska at that time was only two years old but throughout the years she had quite a shaky bond with her adopted brother. Now, she was eight, acted as if she was 13 and didn’t respect Edgeworth much; after all, he always did his own thing and left her out. Spurting short, silver hair, a black, white and turquoise outfit and an attitude to boot, Franziska was one girl you didn’t want to mess with.
Edgeworth didn’t think of her much right now, so he ignored her: a foolish mistake. It was the last straw for Franziska, and in the blink of an eye she firmly hit Edgeworth with her riding crop repeatedly until he turned around in his agony to finally acknowledge her.
“What?!”
“Miles Edgeworth! I’ve been calling you for ages now!”
“Franziska, I’m thinking!” he cried, before she lashed out at him, causing a red mark to abruptly appear on his arm.
“That does not give you reprieve to ignore me, Miles Edgeworth!” she yelled, before sighing deeply, folding her arms and tapping her index finger in a manner Edgeworth knew all too well.
“Back to business, then. I saw you foolishly talking to a girl this lunchtime.”
Edgeworth gulped and blushed deep red. How did Franziska know about Iris?
“You were looking at her…like you were in love, Miles Edgeworth.”
“What’s wrong with that?” he retorted, before Franziska released her wrath yet again in the form of her trusty riding crop.
“Love is foolish, Miles Edgeworth! I mean, who needs love anyway, when you can become successful, be feared, have a prosperous life-”
“I NEED IT!” Edgeworth burst out in a sudden fit of anger, then hastily covered his mouth with both hands, wishing he had never said that. Franziska smirked in a feeling of great shadenfreude while she got ready to run off, probably back home.
“Wait until I tell Daddy, Miles Edgeworth..” she sneered, before a firm hand grabbed her sleeve so she couldn’t go any further. A gargantuan ego she may have had, but strength-wise her leather weapon was her only friend.
“You tell him,” Edgeworth spat, almost sounding threatening, “You tell him and I will….I will….”
He thought for a moment of a suitable punishment, then it hit him. Young love; how sweet. Smiling broadly, he turned to face Franziska once more.
“I’ll tell him about that time when you had a crush on Jacob Ashcroft.”
“NO! No, you won’t! What a foolish suggestion-”
“Then I guess you’d better keep your promise. As for me...I never break them.”
Without warning, Edgeworth let go of Franziska and sprinted away, leaving Franziska dumbstruck and clutching her riding crop as if to say, “I’ll get you later.” Deciding it was not the best time to follow him, Franziska gave up her pursuit and slumped off in the opposite direction, feeling rather betrayed.
“Foolhardy, foolish fool who makes such a foolish promise and forces me to keep this foolery of a deal….” she mumbled to herself, as the sun slowly set on a day to remember.
News
Site map
SitemapIndex
RSS Feed