Chapter 5

Phoenix woke up late the next morning, finding himself alone in the house with only a note from his mother left for him under a magnet on the fridge.

Phoenix,

Your dad and I have our classes to teach until the evening and Anka has her journalism meeting after school, so we'll all just have to catch up during dinner!

Love,

Mom

Phoenix realized that he hadn't had a moment of time alone this way in months, always rushing back and forth between places to investigate for cases, spending long hours poring over books and evidence to strengthen his defense, never having a moment to just step back and take a breath.

This is when he truly realized how much he needed this break. He just got himself a bowl of cereal and brought it into the living room, sitting on the couch to watch some TV. With thoughts of Edgeworth thankfully far from his mind for once, Phoenix decided that he really could get used to this.

After spending a few hours lounging on the couch this way, he heard the doorbell. He realized that he didn't even change out of the clothes he slept in, so he really hoped that it wasn't someone important at the door. Upon opening the door, Phoenix saw the person who rang the bell was a teenage boy of average height with deep brown eyes and hair to match. He seemed to be standing rather nervously, and he looked at Phoenix in surprise when Phoenix opened the door.

Phoenix just looked at the boy questioningly, waiting for him to say something. Finally the boy shook his head, and got himself to speak.

"Umm…Is Anka home?" he asked in a quiet tone, shuffling his feet a little in nervousness and embarrassment.

"No, she isn't. I think she's in a meeting with her journalism class." Phoenix said to the boy, now wondering who this boy was and why he wanted to talk to his sister.

Phoenix was very close with his sister, so immediately, and completely without him realizing it, he went into protective big brother-attorney cross examining mode.

"What is your name exactly?" Phoenix asked, his eyebrows scrunched slightly in suspicion.

"Oh, my name is Joshua Burgham. I'm…a friend of Anka's from school…" he said nervously, still unable to keep eye contact with Phoenix as he spoke, feeling like he was suddenly put on the spot.

"Ahh, I see. How exactly did you meet Anka?" Phoenix said, crossing his arms and looking at him in a vaguely intimidating way.

And Josh was easily intimidated by Phoenix, being that Phoenix was easily much taller and stronger than he was.

"Umm…we have a class together…" Josh said carefully, wondering why this person was asking so many questions, feeling even more nervous about giving him the wrong answers.

"What class do you have with her exactly?" Phoenix pressed for more information, his arms still crossed.

"English. We have English together." Josh answered, his feet shuffling nervously, now starting to get a little frightened of Phoenix.

"Is that all?" Phoenix asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Sometimes…we hang out at lunch." Josh said, now his voice carrying just a tinge of a tremble.

"I see." Phoenix said, his tone now no longer threatening, noticing that he really seemed to be scaring the boy, deciding that he probably would be no harm to his sister, but he would definitely still keep an eye on him.

Now uncrossing his arms and taking a much more inviting stance, Phoenix said, "Oh, by the way, I'm her brother, Phoenix."

"You're her brother? She talks about you all the time!" Josh said, happy to shift the subject off of himself, "She thinks you are a really good lawyer."

"She told you all that?" Phoenix said, now feeling just a little embarrassed himself, continuing to speak humbly, "Well, don't believe everything you hear…I just do the best I can."

"Well, I do hear about your cases on the news sometimes, and you always find a way to prove your clients innocent, no matter how bad it looks. That really is something." Josh said, really impressed with Phoenix a little, and mostly just to butter him up.

In response, all Phoenix could do was laugh slightly awkwardly and scratch the back of his head sheepishly, knowing that whatever they said on tv must have been a glamorized version of the truth.

"Anyway…" Phoenix finally said, "Was there a reason you wanted to see Anka?"

At this question, Josh's face flushed a deep red and he fumbled with his words, "Oh, ummm…I…ummm…wanted to give her something…"

Now Phoenix noticed, he seemed to be holding a folded piece of paper, turning it over and over unconsciously in his hands nervously as he spoke.

Glancing at the piece of paper and then looking back at Josh's face, Phoenix said, "I could give that to her later if you like."

Josh's blush actually seemed to deepen as he replied, "Oh, thanks…"

Then, very hesitantly, he handed the folded paper over to Phoenix and then stepped back, standing in front of Phoenix awkwardly for a moment.

Finally he spoke again, saying, "Uhh…I guess I can get going now. Bye."

Before Phoenix could properly reply, he quickly walked away, almost like he was escaping something. At this reaction, Phoenix chuckled lightly, finding it to be rather humorous, not believing he really had it in him to scare other people like that.

I guess I was wrong…Phoenix thought, the smile still on his face, finally coming into the house and locking the door.

Then he looked down to the folded piece of paper in his hands. With the way that Josh was blushing when he handed this note over, there had to be something of interest written on it. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him and he opened the note.