Author: Anita
Fandom: Gyakuten Saiban (Phoenix Wright)
Characters: Phoenix Wright/Franziska Von Karma
Genre: het, romance, humor
Rating: PG
Status: complete
Summary: Phoenix goes to Miles’s apartment for a quick favor but he had no idea he wouldn’t be alone there. Now he has Franziska Von Karma to deal with, and Miles messaging his phone worried about her. What could have triggered it?
Notes: Story written for the Secret Blue Coconut 2016, a fic exchange promoted by the community OA Fanfics Community.
Why did it have to be him there? Even while
Phoenix put the key and opened Miles Edgeworth's door, he still wondered.
Detective Gumshoe had been decidedly disheartened when he heard that Edgeworth
had asked that favor of Phoenix and not him.
"Can't you even say what this is
about?" the good detective had insisted with a frown, which reminded that
of a dog begging for just a piece of chocolate.
Sure Edgeworth hadn't made him wear to
secrecy. Someone had been wrongfully indicted and could be found guilty with
all the proof the prosecution had collected. No one would be better than
Gumshoe to actually bring forth evidence of the man's innocence, actually.
However, Edgeworth had been adamant on the international call direct to
Phoenix's phone; "I can't trust anyone else with what in my home,
Wright."
The door was open now, and Phoenix didn't
think he would find out so soon the reason for Edgeworth's overzealousness.
KA-THUMP!
Instinct mixed with reflex made him recoil as
he heard the whip withdraw. Of course he knew that was a whip, he'd been on the
bad end of that thing too many times now.
"Identify yourself, trespasser!" a
firm feminine voice demanded from the other end.
Phoenix lowered his briefcase and opened his
eyes fearing the undeniable, praying for the miracle that he wouldn't find that
woman in front of him. Still, seating on the couch of Edgeworth's living room
was she.
"Miss Von Karma?" he said weakly.
Had he known they lived together? Had Gumshoe? Who'd be so willing to go
anywhere near her?
"Phoenix Wright! Are you such a fool you
can't even so foolishly state your foolery foolish name?" she asked,
cracking her whip against the floor once more. The distance had been the sole
reason he hadn't been hit before, and he wasn't one to complain about etiquette
greeting visitors.
"Y-your... Err. Edgeworth. He asked me
to pick up a document from his study. I have the key, look." He hoped he
didn't have to walk all the way into the whip reach to show it.
She waved her hand dismissively and looked
back to the television set he just noticed to be on on some daytime rerun of a
detective movie.
"Then go and vanish with your foolish
person from my sight."
"O-okay." He looked around being
his first time there and took the hall, opening each door until he could find
Edgeworth's study. Footsteps behind told him he would only be free of Von Karma
when he left that house.
Remembering Edgeworth had left detailed
instructions to locate the file with all the documents needed, he picked his
phone and reread the email from earlier. If it weren't that man's fault, he'd
thank him for his excess with details. In five minutes, he had a binder with
the defendant's name neatly written on top of it. To make sure he wouldn't have
to go anywhere near that house anymore, Phoenix sent a couple of pictures over
instant messaging. "Is this it? Miss Von Karma is here but I don't think
she knows about it?"
"What are you doing fooling around here
like a fool without any foolishness to do?" Von Karma demanded from the
door with her arms folded but no whip in view.
"I promise I'll be out of here the
moment Edgeworth confirms this is what he wanted." He now realized he
hadn't even explained to her anything of his mission there. But she didn't ask.
"Then do it faster."
And it seems she wouldn't be listening even
if he tried.
Phoenix looked again at his phone screen,
telepathically asking Edgeworth not to take long. He wiped a drop of sweat from
his forehead and looked idly around the room. The place appeared barely to be
used, being all books and binders as opposed to the many trinkets and mementos
he had seen at Edgeworth's office back in the prosecution building.
"Um, could I have a glass of water while
he doesn't answer?"
"Are you that much of a fool you don't
even foolishly know how to find a foolish kitchen?"
He let out a wry smile before staggering
toward what he prayed to be his desired destination. Luckily, he had seen
almost the entire house, so he reached there without any mistakes. Still, the
footsteps reverberated behind him, almost like a tic-tac to the next whipping
session.
Guessing he would have to serve himself, he
got a glass and opened the refrigerator for the bottle of water. The moment he
was done pouring the liquid, his phone rang.
"That wild mare is still there?"
Edgeworth had just answered. "The files are correct, you can take them to
the lawyer I mentioned in my email. First, could you tell me how Franziska is
looking?"
Phoenix's eyebrows lifted and his eyes darted
in Von Karma's direction, who was standing by the door again. What the heck did
Edgeworth mean by how she was looking?
"What is it, Phoenix Wright?" she
asked, not taking more than a second to feel bothered.
"Um, Just Edgeworth wondering if you
were fine," As he said, Phoenix took a second look. Maybe the phrasing had
just been weird and the email didn't mean anything indeed but now he noticed
her, didn't she look too thin? And even if she's always had a pale complexion,
her eyeballs seemed to float free around a hollow, dark space.
Von Karma didn't take long to catch the
change in his mind either and marched his way, ready to take his cell phone
away from him.
"What are you doing?" Phoenix asked
startled.
She looked him in the eye. "What are you
doing, foolishly spying on me?"
"I'm not!" Even he knew he sounded
too defensively. "I mean, why would I?"
"My little brother sent you here for
that, didn't he?"
"Edgeworth didn't even know you were
still here or something. Look, I really have no idea what's going on." He
finally surrendered his phone. "You can read it all, I just came for the
documents and now I have them, I'll leave." Even if his conscience
repeated so many times something did look off about that woman.
Von Karma was supposed to be out of the
country, no? On an Interpol mission or something? And yet, here she was,
lodging with her non-blood-related brother. Even if they didn't have a bad
relationship, the two had never exhaled any sibling love aura. No, they
definitely didn't live together.
"So..." she spoke under her breath,
as she typed on his phone. "This should do it but let's wait until he
answers. Miles can be smart sometimes, and we don't want him catching on our
little secret." She continued to look at the screen expectantly.
That certainly sounded dirty. Suppressing the
wilder possibilities of what she had typed on his behalf, Phoenix stretched his
neck trying to read the actual words. Von Karma hid it against her chest the
moment he did so. "No, no, Phoenix Wright. You shouldn't pry on people's
business."
"It's my phone..." he tried to
argue, knowing better not to. "You do look tired. Is it some bad
case?"
Von Karma looked back in silence, her misty
eyes studying him as she tightened her lips. "Spill it, how much did he
say over the phone?"
Even though he considered bluffing, he was
too afraid of being discovered to try. "Edgeworth told me nothing, I
swear."
Surprisingly, she looked even more suspicious
after that answer. In a second, she was standing right in front of him, her
head looking up in a way he could only describe as seductively. "Come on,
you can do better than that." Her long fingers landed on his chest,
holding his tie to pull it, his neck inevitably bending Von Karma's way. They
had never been as close before, had they? But at that moment, he couldn't think
straight or even spell his own name. "And don't I look just fine to you,
Phoenix Wright?"
Who? Oh, yeah. Him. "Yes... yes..."
he mumbled while unable to breathe or even look away from her beautiful eyes.
Beautiful? No! Frightening! He felt like a
sailor who had just sat on VIP for the étoile
mermaid private concert.
But they were beautiful. Even if a little
empty. No, hazy. Hazy and sad.
He knew he was drowning before she reached
for his lips, sucking them as gentle as Franziska Von Karma could never have
been. And still, there she was, opening his mouth to let he tongue massage his.
Pressing her body against his as her free hand went from his tie to his neck
and played with the ends of his hair.
The ringtone awakened him in the middle of
drowning.
She grumbled. "What does he even
mean?" Then, she proceeded to type furiously something too long to have
really been written by Phoenix.
"He won't buy that—" he tried to
warn her too late, and received an annoyed glare in response after she had hit
send.
"Yes, he will." She seemed to
remember what they had been doing for her look softened. Next, she threw her
body back against his, this time forcing him against the refrigerator. There
wasn't any line in her he couldn't feel, and Von Karma didn't miss the
opportunity, equally exploring under his shirt with her cold long fingers.
As much as he fought not to think about it,
the worry was inevitable. "You must have lost at least twenty pounds since
the last time we met," he panted through her deep kisses.
"I didn't know you had a thing for the
chubby ones, Phoenix Wright. Not that your body seems to concur on that."
She lifted her leg, enveloping his lower half and bringing it even closer to
her. That was no good, he couldn't think or breathe or even move. "Now
don't be a fool. Just stay quiet and enjoy your payment for letting me settle
this foolish issue with my little brother. No one wants him foolishly flying
back here for something so foolish." She now worked his ear, causing goose
bumps to pop up all over the region.
But there was something then. She was too
frantic about this. As if Phoenix's systems had finally found some back up
source of power after the short circuit she had caused, his hands pushed her
away.
Von Karma looked furious.
"Look, you can have my phone for the
whole afternoon, and do whatever with Edgeworth but I can't do this." He
shook his head to make it clearer not to her but to himself. Most of his body
still couldn't believe what he had just undone. "I've gotta go had these
anyway. Someone is in jail because of us here the longer we speak." He
gulped down the rest of the water, took the binder and walked clumsily toward
the door. Perhaps he should have taken a few minutes before but at least now he
was out, his brain finally got enough oxygen.
Oh man... he would so regret walking out on
the devil like that...
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Miles Edgeworth
That wild
mare is still there?
Miles Edgeworth
The files
are correct, you can take them to the lawyer I mentioned in my email.
First,
could you tell me how Franziska is looking?
Me
She looks
perfectly healthy and ready to fight anyone.
Miles Edgeworth
I wonder
why she hasn't left, then.
I was sure
she'd find a place in a day but it's been two weeks.
You think
she's been eating?
Wright, are
you there?
You should
answer, Wright.
Me
Will you
stop foolishly stepping into Franziska Von Karma's business?
She is a
prodigy prosecutor and a Von Karma.
Moreover,
you should be grateful to her for taking care of your foolish home while you
are away.
Miles
Edgeworth, you are the one who should answer to reckon you have understood.
Miles Edgeworth
Of course,
yes. Your logic is perfect.
Me
I demand
you tell me what you mean by that, Miles Edgeworth.
Miles
Edgeworth?
You foolish
fool who foolishly speak of foolish foolishness. You come back to our talk and
explain yourself.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Phoenix had to muster all in him not to laugh
at the history on his screen. After running away from Von Karma earlier, he had
regretted leaving his cell phone hostage but he didn't intend on going back to
Edgeworth's house just for that. After much thinking, he noticed cancelling his
number and buying a new device was more worth it.
He had kissed Franziska Von Karma. And then
refused her.
How could he have a death wish as large as
that?
And of course, even hours after, the memory
of her lips was still heaven. Unattainable heaven. But there he was again in
hell. Von Karma had reached him in his office and ordered him to go back that
very moment.
"He knows it's you, Miss Von Karma,"
Phoenix finally said, slipping a bit farther from her on the couch.
To his luck, she didn't look surprised.
"So now you type." She pointed at the screen hitting it with the tip
of the nail. Images from her hands on him revived in his mind. "Phoenix
Wright, did you hear what I said? You are to type to my little brother and make
sure he knows I'm okay."
"But why does it matter?" he said
before he could think better. A rain of whipping attacked him the next moment.
"I'm telling you fool to simply do
it!"
He nodded and looked again at the talk. How
was he supposed to fix that? He started typing, "I'm sorry, I spent such a
lovely time with Miss Von Karma that now I noticed I sounded just like her. I
hope that didn't freak you out."
Miles response came before Von Karma could
even comment on mine. "Yes, I see it, Wright. I'm sorry for my questions,
I was just worried to find out she still hadn't moved to her new
apartment."
Had he really bought that one? Phoenix
frowned at the rest of the message and turned to Von Karma. "If you
haven't found anywhere, I sure know someone who could help you."
She turned her face away. "Your friends
are all fools, I can do better without people foolishly getting in my
way."
He felt my phone vibrate with a new message
from Edgeworth. "Franziska was uncharacteristically head over heels with
some guy, and when that fell apart, she fell even harder and was locked in her
room for over a week. I had no idea she even had been in town until Gumshoe
commented he couldn't contact her. When I went there, I convinced her to come
with me. Without my knowing, she actually sold the place. Then I had to come
abroad, and I only did it because she swore she had already found somewhere and
would be gone before I got home—"
"What is that fool babbling to you
about?" Franziska took the device from Phoenix's hand before he could
finish and threw it on the floor. After cringing, he noticed the sound of the
impact hadn't been so bad, so he got up to pick it back up.
KA-THUMP!
"Don't you dare, Phoenix Wright."
Von Karma shook her finger, ready to hit him again.
"But Edgeworth has finally started
trusting it was really me. Also, he'll see that I read it and find it strange
that I'm taking so long to answer," he tried to argue the truth, although
he really just wanted to know the whole story.
Was it really true that Franziska Von Karma
had fallen for someone and was now broken-hearted? He had worried that her
appearance was due to some disease, and never considered she was just sick in
her heart, in the figurative meaning.
"Let me just answer then, I promise I
won't read the rest of what he said." He waited as he saw her tilt her
head.
"Then get it." She pointed at his
poor phone.
It had been kidnapped, abused and now thrown
away. Still, it looked okay, to his relief. True to his word, he ignored the
many lines he hadn't read yet and started typing, "I'm sorry to hear she
has gone through so much. I assure you she looks healthy and I'm sure she'll
move out after house-sitting for you." Phoenix looked her and waited for
her approval to press send.
It was hard ignoring so many lines... but he
had to do it. Franziska had been hurt by someone, and really bad. This was no
time to invade one's privacy even if the information had arrived to him in good
faith.
"Hey, Edgeworth just answered thanking me
for the news. I guess it's all right now?"
"Thank you."
Phoenix looked startled when he heard
Franziska's voice say those words. Maybe she had said "hate you?",
but it wouldn't even fit the situation.
"You should answer 'You're welcome',
Phoenix Wright."
"You're welcome" he repeated as if
he had just learned those words in a foreign language. This was uncomfortable.
The two had more than just kissed that afternoon and now they were in somewhat
peaceful terms... it was too easy to forget that woman was no angel. And there
he went, drowning again in her mermaid eyes.
"Good boy." She smiled impishly but
got to her feet.
Yes, yes. He shook his head to wake him from
those daydreams. He had to go home; it was late already. Also, he had to leave
before Von Karma decided to throw him out with the tip of her whip. "So,
thank you for letting me in. I mean, to get the documents. It seems that person
was really innocent after all, and he might not even have to face a trial
now."
KA-CHUNG!
Phoenix feared his thoughts had conjured the
whip and froze on his way to the door.
"Hold it there, Phoenix Wright." Von
Karma came face to face with him and then showed her teeth. Not in a smile.
"How much did you read? And who am I fooling? Give me your phone."
He contracted his body but wondered if it was
worth the pain to come. "I have my contacts there and—"
"Give me! I won't break it, or do you
think I'm a criminal going berserk and damaging someone else's property?"
Well, the wounds from the whip were legally
called damage but... He thought better and relinquished the device with
unstable hands.
"What a fool," Von Karma said as
she rolled her eyes. Her fingers tapped and swiped, her lips pressed one
another, her eyebrows were almost glued together when she exhaled a victorious
"Aha!" She gave him back the phone and then sighed in relief.
"My brother's message has been deleted. Now you must tell me exactly how
far you've read that bag of foolish crap, Phoenix Wright."
Even if he had wanted to be honesty—he didn't
really—, his mind was a blank page of fear. He was aware of knowing too much.
Edgeworth had certainly wanted payback for Von Karma trying to fool him but it
had all spilled on Phoenix.
"I'm waiting, Phoenix Wright. Have you
forgotten how to speak?"
He cleared his throat. "Just that you've
lost your house and now want to find a new one." He saw her lift an skeptical
eyebrow. "Oh, and the boyfriend? Or something. I didn't read that much, I
swear! And it's all forgotten now. Really!" He gulped under her stare. Who
needed to open psyche-locks when they had Franziska Von Karma? "You've
also lost quite a bit of weight. Okay, more than twenty pounds, he said. That's
it! Er... right, and that you locked yourself in the apartment. I really don't
know anything else."
Her mouth was now aghast. "You know
everything, don't you?" She retract her arm in shock. "You read it
all!"
He was sure there had been more but that did
sound like the complete story... "Not all," he said sounding almost
voiceless.
"And there was nothing there about
boyfriends, Phoenix Wright. You're already changing this story to some foolish
daytime soap opera!"
"I'm sorry, I swear I don't
remember." And still, he knew that even if Edgeworth hadn't written
boyfriend, the phrasing there implied that. And Von Karma's expression couldn't
deny it. "Are you okay, now?"
She gasped and lifted her eyes to him.
"Well, you do seem better than Edgeworth
is painting." He studied her again, still sure she didn't look all that
healthy. But Edgeworth had certainly played with her in that conversation, so
he probably felt she was getting herself together again. Also, he was no man of
drama, Von Karma must have really looked bad when he left.
She folded her arms and turned her head away.
"None of your business, Phoenix Wright." Her finger was on his face a
moment later. "And if you start spreading untruths around, you'll wish you
had never been born. Did you hear me?"
Nodding awkwardly, he said, "I won't,
really."
"This includes us kissing in the
kitchen."
He nodded again. While the whole message
content was already evaporating away, he was trying hard not to remember that
one. "Okay." That had been the result of desperation, he repeated in
his mind. He had to forget just like she was saying.
Von Karma's eyes scrutinized his every
reaction. "I don't know what's gotten into me," she finally said,
relaxing her posture and putting a hand on her forehead. Just like she meant
that for the present. "Weren't you going home, Phoenix Wright? What are you
doing there, standing like a fool?"
Acknowledging that was the exact description
to his demeanor, Phoenix took a step back and was ready to wave goodbye when
her arms enlaced his neck. "Miss Von Karma?" He felt her body close
the distance with his, her lips brush his skin.
"Franziska Von Karma. That's my
name."
Did she mean he was supposed to call her by
the full name?
"Such a silly fool." She pulled
away just to shake her finger on his face but the rest of her body seemed to
press against his even more with the movement. "Call me by my name. Von
Karma was my father." She closed her eyelids and put her lips on his.
Phoenix had no idea how to react. What did
she want? He couldn't even begin to hypothesize what Von Karma, or Franziska,
would want out of making out with him again. He had been a good boy and let her
have the phone for as long as and for whatever she had wanted.
That could only mean...
Impossible!
A nervous laughter came out, interrupting the
one-sided kiss.
"What?" Franziska asked not
sounding anything close to amused. And he was even relieved to get an expected
reaction, finally. "What, Phoenix Wright? Is this anything funny to
you?" She took a couple of steps away from him and seemed to decrease in
height. Was she contracting herself?
"No, no!" he tried to deny, knowing
it didn't sound convincing. "Miss... I mean, Franziska... I just have no
idea of what's going on. Why are we...?" He motioned to the two of them.
She let out a sigh and shook her head.
"Do we really need a reason?"
"Um... I guess so."
"You didn't seem eager to know
earlier."
"It was quite obvious. Especially after
you stated it yourself."
Franziska looked distraught for a moment.
"Then I guess you should go." She walked to the door and opened it
violently. Stupefied, Phoenix could only stare outside. "So?" she
demanded, although she never reached out for her whip.
That could be a sign or even a message,
conscious or not. Phoenix took a deep breath and walked forward. Not toward the
door but slightly to the side where Franziska stood. As firm as he had ever
been, he took her in his arms and sealed it with a deep passionate kiss. He could
feel her body gradually relax, slipping through his hands, as she trusted
herself to him. Despite how frightful that realization could be, he swore not
to let her fall. The depth of this reached him just as he thought so.
"The door..." Franziska said with a
husky voice. "The whole street could see us..." she continued weakly,
not parting from their kiss in any way.
"Should I stop?" he asked while
frowning.
She chuckled. "You really are a fool
Phoenix Wright." With one leg, she pushed the door shut, turning back to
him with a feverish gaze. "Where were we?"
"I think I was about to find out where
your room is."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Miles Edgeworth
I've just
returned.
What is
this note Franziska left me, Wright?
She moved
to YOUR apartment?
Did you not
read a word I wrote you?
She's been
miserable for weeks.
This would
never work.
It doesn't
even make sense.
Wright? You
should at least answer.
I do get a
notification whenever you read my messages.
You've read
it again.
Wright?
Phoenix Wright
Such a
fool. Miles Edgeworth, don't you worry.
Franziska
is doing very well.
I might be
a fool but not as much as to do anything to her.
Actually,
I'm too much of a fool to be able to do that.
I'm
blocking you to make sure you won't bother us again.
You'd
better not try to foolishly confront me face to face.
You never
know when a whip is coming.
I mean, not
my whip, I don't have a whip. I'm also not supposed to touch Franziska's
precious whip. Ever.
But a whip
will come any fool's way who foolishly try to do anything.
You've been
alerted.
THE END!
Anita,
27/11/2016
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