~ Tsune ni ite, kyuu ni awasu - To always be prepared to swiftly meet blade with blade. ~

January 14, 2028

Since the Wright Anything Agency had been in a bit of a lull recently, Athena Cykes had decided to take a day off in the middle of the week, telling her boss that she "really needed to get some spring cleaning done."

That had been a complete fabrication. Oh, her apartment needed it, sure, but it was not her reason for the impromptu break in her work routine.

No, she wanted to see how Simon was faring. She had not seen him since the day of his exoneration, and although she was not entirely sure just what to say to him, she figured the words would come more easily now than in front of everyone back in the defense lobby, when they had both been shell-shocked with relief.

His name was not on the court calendar for the day, so Athena figured that he would probably be at the prosecutor's office, and, lacking any contact information, decided to just invite herself over during lunch time.

Unfortunately, things turned out to be not quite that simple.

When the young defense attorney approached the lobby desk, an older lady with a pinched facial expression eyed her suspiciously. Bad sign number one.

"Um… good afternoon. I am here to see Prosecutor Blackquill."

The receptionist threw a smile at her that could probably cut glass. Bad sign number two. "Do you have an appointment?"

Athena nervously began fiddling with her ponytail. "I'm afraid not… Could you possibly check whether he might have a few minutes? I'm a personal acquaintance."

The smile became even sharper. "I have explicit instructions from Prosecutor Blackquill to not bother him with unannounced visitors. Reporters, you understand. For which gossip rag are you working, darling?"

Athena's hands smacked down on the wide desk in front of her before she could rein herself in, and Widget quickly flashed from apprehensive blue over to angry red.

"I'm a lawyer, not a reporter! See, here's my badge!"

The receptionist wrinkled her narrow nose. "Looks fake to me. Look, just run along, find someone else to bother..."

She stopped talking when a large bird of prey suddenly fluttered down from above to perch on her head. It was Taka.

The receptionist looked as though she might begin screaming at any moment, but Athena was too occupied with the implication of the bird's appearance to bother with schadenfreude.

If Taka's here in the lobby, that can only mean one thing.

Athena turned around and found Simon striding towards her from the entrance, a brown paper bag in his right hand.

"Cykes-dono. What brings you here?"

Noticing his formal address, she frantically scrambled for a reason that would legitimize her presence here.

"I, uh… wanted to discuss some details of the NT-2 case with you."

Athena hoped he would not call her out on this one – NT-2 had been the first case over which they had clashed with each other in court, the murder of Nine-Tails Vale's Alderman Kyubi, and it had been concluded a whole nine months ago.

He smirked at her for a moment, then his eyes wandered over to the still-petrified receptionist, and he called Taka back to his shoulder with a sharp whistle.

"… I see. Come along, then."

Oh god thank you for not busting my chops…

She followed him to the elevators. After he had pressed the call button, his eyes cast about to see if anyone else was within earshot, before he quietly said, "You are lucky the old bag didn't call the police on you before I walked in."

The polished steel doors before them parted, admitting them into the cabin. Athena's expression was crestfallen as she watched him select the floor.

"Police…?"

Another smirk. "I've had to leave some rather draconian instructions with her to keep any intrepid mudslingers out of my office."

"Oh." Athena had read some of the articles the yellow press had penned about him in the last few weeks – they had made wonderful kindling for an impromptu not-entirely-legal campfire in People Park.

"Which brings me back to my earlier question. Why are you here, Athena?"

And of course, the words would not come out in a coherent fashion.

"I, uh… you see, it's my day off, and I… I'm not disturbing you, am I…? I mean, if I am, I'll leave, I don't wanna be a bother…"

He snorted quietly just before they arrived on the sixth floor. "I am not bothered, or I would have left you downstairs with the prosecutorial watch dog. Now, how about you sort through that mindless jabber and come up with something intelligible?"

Had Athena heard anything other than amusement in his voice, she probably would have been too intimidated to stay. As it was, she followed him wordlessly through the corridor until they reached a door whose small metal plaque proclaimed it to lead to office number 628.

Simon unlocked and opened the door, and Taka fluttered in immediately, coming to rest on a bird perch standing next to the large mahogany desk.

Athena hesitantly stepped inside, whistling through her teeth before she could stop herself. "Nice office!"

Another smirk. He placed the bag on the desk and sat down behind it, motioning for her to take a seat, as well.

"You should see the Chief Prosecutor's… but I assume that you aren't here because you wanted to satisfy your curiosity regarding my workplace environment…?"

She took a deep breath. "Well… not entirely. As I said, it's my day off, and… well, I haven't exactly run into you since… that day, so I thought I'd see if I could catch you here…"

Athena was sure she would have seen a raised eyebrow, if his hair did not completely obscure his forehead.

"A courtesy call, then? Hn." The huff of breath still sounded amused, letting her know that he was not about to throw her out. "I hope you don't mind if I have lunch, then."

"Oh no, no! Go right ahead," she hastened to reply, motioning toward the bag with both hands.

As he lifted a styrofoam container out of it, she ventured to continue, "So… I was just wondering how you were doing, to be honest. I, uh… if there's anything I can do to help…?"

His movements stilled for a moment, before he opened the boxed-up lunch, revealing a selection of skewers from the little yakitori place nearby.

"Help yourself."

At first, Athena was perplexed – had he just thrown her impulsive offer back into her teeth? Then, however, she noticed his gesture toward the food before he grasped a negima skewer and lifted it to his mouth.

The smile that came to her face was automatic – she remembered eating yakitori with him and her mother all those years ago more than once.

"… as long as I don't touch the tsukune, right?"

What flitted over his face for a split second this time was not a smirk – she was pretty sure it was actually an answering smile. "Indeed."

"Thanks."

Athena selected a negima skewer, herself, feeling a bit guilty for eating his food, but mostly happy that so far, her impromptu visit was turning out much better than it had initially appeared.

For a short while, they chewed quietly.

Finally, she spoke up again. "So… I don't mean to pry, but… have you found a place to live yet?"

He nodded. "Just last week. It took me a few attempts to locate a landlord who did not immediately flee in the opposite direction, even with Edgeworth-dono vouching for my not posing a danger."

Athena cringed. Well done girl, this is your fault.

Simon's gazed bored through her right away. "I can tell what you're thinking. Do me a favor and stop it right this instant."

"But…"

"No buts," he cut her off. "I require no sympathy for the choices I made, or for the consequences of those choices."

As the slightest hint of irritation began to sound from his heart, she backpedaled immediately.

"Okay…"

Athena's gaze fell on the ornate blades mounted on the office wall above his filing cabinets, and she could not help but ask, "How long has it been since you've practiced?"

She recalled him endlessly exercising through kata with her mother, who had held godan rank in iaidō and had also loved to practice the more sparring-oriented kenjutsu.

The sigh he emitted surprised her, until he admitted quietly, "I haven't since the day of my arrest."

Her eyes widened. "Really…? But I thought… with all the talk of swords in the courtroom… and that little trick you use all the time…"

"Hmph." Another huff of breath, this time half amused, half… bitter? "That 'little trick,' as you call it, came in rather handy during the last seven years in keeping certain people at a distance. It may not amount to much by itself, but it kept them guessing what else I had in store. As for practice… well, for one, you can imagine that the guards were not exactly prone to letting prisoners handle blades, and even sticks were somewhat frowned upon, since they could be easily altered into more dangerous implements."

His heart thrummed with discord as he reached the end of his explanation, and Athena knew he was hiding something more, but did not dare to pry just yet.

Instead, an idea popped into her head, one that seemed more appealing the more she thought about it.

"Are you planning to start again? Because if you are… um, if you'd be willing, that is…"

Athena cast her eyes down. "It was one of Mom's favorite hobbies. I never had a chance to learn anything from her, before…"

She could feel his gaze on her as silence stretched between them for long moments.

"… I am not sure that I am qualified to teach you," he finally stated slowly.

The discord in his heart was so strong that Widget felt obliged to chirp, "Lies!"

Athena clapped a hand over the little nuisance as she looked at Simon, who was apparently too nonplussed to object.

"She told you that you were getting to the point where she couldn't teach you much more. I was there, remember? I mean, maybe you're a bit rusty, but…"

She took a deep breath. "Going to some dōjō downtown is not the same. Yeah, I'd get the exercise, and I'd learn, but… if I learned from you, it'd feel like you're passing on to me what Mom taught you."

For an incredibly fleeting moment, Athena thought she saw something resembling anguish on Simon's face, before his expression was an impassive mask once more.

"…I'll think about it," he finally answered quietly, before opening one of his desk drawers and taking out a business card. "Here. So you don't have to brave the old bag downstairs again the next time you wish you talk."

Athena smiled at him, glad that he apparently had no plans to immediately dismiss her idea out of hand. "Thanks. Hold on…"

Rummaging in her bag, she found one of her own cards. "There you are. We don't have an attack dog at the agency, but we do have the Chords of Steel…"

That got him to grin. "Avoiding Justice-dono's voice seems like a worthwhile endeavor. I am still amazed that he hasn't managed to deafen you yet."

She snickered. "The boss told him to practice at home, for what it's worth, although you could probably get him to yell in surprise if you stopped by unannounced…"

"In that case, I shall refrain from doing so – I'm rather fond of my sense of hearing."

He took a look at the small clock on his desk. "My lunch period is about over."

Athena rose from the visitor's chair. "I guess I better leave you to your work then. Um… call me when you've made a decision regarding practice…?"

He was just about to reply when his phone started ringing, causing him to nod wordlessly instead as he reached for the receiver.

She gave him a little wave goodbye before she left his office, her mood considerably lightened now that she had managed to reopen a line of communication to him.