Disclaimer: I own nothing of GS/GSD. RR please.

A/N: Hi all! Generally, this story involves the same characters from GS/GSD and hopefully some of the more familiar quirks. The setting's about the same with space colonies and all that, but without the war and the concept of Coordinators and conflict between them and the Naturals. Most of the events do allude to the original story, so have fun spotting those! As a personal note, I'm really excited about this new story, especially since it'd be nice to have a break from The Isle and its angst! Thanks for reading and I hope you like this!

Also, check out the poster-fanart that I've done for Private Nuisance. The link is featured on my profile.

Private Nuisance

Defined as:

Unlawful damage to property or

Substantial or continuous interference with the use or quiet enjoyment of property

"What would be regarded as a nuisance in Belgravia square would not necessarily be regarded as a nuisance in Bermondsey."

Thesiger LJ in Sturges v Bridgman (1879) LR 11 Ch D 852

Chapter 1: If it weren't for double standards, nobody would have standards at all

As the earliest doses of morning scattered through the barely-drawn windows of the cafe, Athrun squinted while flipping through the file. Had the sole waiter in the morose-looking café cared to comment, the sole customer sitting in an arguably anti-social corner was unconsciously putting a good ten years to his face.

The café had only been opened fifteen minutes ago and it was empty. If the seldom-seen owner of the café had hoped to catch a morning crowd, he had come to the wrong area to set up an early-bird business. Granted, Heliopolis' central business district was becoming busy even at this hour, but this street was the periphery of the core area and its commercial activities. People generally came here less and the rent was cheaper that way.

In fact, the sullenness of the place and the cafe never deterred Athrun, particularly because he liked the peace and quiet from six-thirty to seven. Opening the office at seven was his usual role anyway—he was a morning person, reliable with keys, and the sort who got mildly offended when people were not punctual. His partner, Dearka Elsman was definitely not like that. And so for Athrun, this café was a good place to wait, mostly because the sole waiter was too lax to chase out someone who never ordered anything but always sat there reading papers and files.

From time to time however, Athrun liked to glance up. It wasn't so much a habit as much as the need for a break from Vino's garbled handwriting. While Elsman Reid's only office assistant was quite an efficient chap, his shorthand resembled experiments with apes and their abilities to control their thumbs—or lack thereof. By right, Vino ought to have been the one reporting the earliest to work and opening the office, but Athrun had employed Vino for long enough to conclude that like Dearka, Vino wasn't much of a morning person either.

As usual, the morning showed some kind of prelude to the activities of the day. These people were bathed in the pinkish shades of the rising sun, and they scurried along, moving past others and being overtaken at points by others- the first seen cogs in a machine of a thousand cogs. That machine was going to start soon.

Of course, Athrun noted wryly, nobody turned to the corner of this café. It was in a rather obscure corner of the street. Also, they'd probably either packed their breakfast or had some other cheerier place in mind. That, and the waiter had the most unfriendly expression on his face as he polished the same glass for the tenth time.

It was a strange, daily occurrence for Athrun to stride into the café, ignoring the waiter who ignored him until Athrun was ready to leave. He usually left upon the first customer's arrival, and it was always some tired-looking sod who usually came in at seven.

Today, however, Athrun was waiting for someone. He glanced at his watch, recalling the brief conversation he'd had over the phone, and decided to order something for once. It seemed only fair, Athrun thought, since they were using the Cosmos Café as a meeting point.

Raising his hand slightly, he cleared his throat. The waiter looked over—a surly youth with a crew-cut that suggested he'd been doing jail-time.

"What do you want?"

"Er- I'd like a coffee." Athrun tried not to feel like he was being a liability by actually being a paying customer for once. "Thanks." He looked down, prepared to return to his files until the coffee came.

But the waiter put down the glass that he had been obsessed with and took a step closer. "Wait, aren't you the feller featured in the list of Highly Eligible Bachelors?"

Athrun flinched, considered the options of escaping, and thought about the coffee he'd just ordered and the person that he was supposed to meet here. He then looked down stubbornly and mumbled, "No."

The waiter peered at him for a few seconds, then looked to the magazine rack that Athrun had not even looked at before this. He proceeded to take a few moments to fetch a particular magazine, flip through, and then gawk at his customer.

"Looks like you!" The waiter was holding up the magazine. "You're the guy—!"

Throughout all of this, Athrun was trying not to sink under the table.

Recently, Athrun had been named an eligible bachelor in what he thought of as a bourgeoisie gossip magazine. It was the same magazine that the rest of society regarded as a la mode to high society. Sadly, the disparity between his disdain for the Heliopolis Tattler and everyone else's reliance on its gossipy was stark.

Of course, he had a reasonable excuse for being slightly miffed over having his photograph taken and put into The Heliopolis Tattler. Firstly, he did not read what rich businessmen's kept women read, and he sure as hell did not know what high society expected of him. For sure, Athrun was rattled over having his photograph taken without his notice, and he was upset that some trace of him would be seen at all.

Moreover, Athrun did not want to be seen or heard outside his work, and he certainly wasn't pleased at this intrusion to his general pattern of living. As he felt the waiter stare openly, he also felt his ears burning, and he was glad that his hair covered what must have been scarlet by now.

"You don't really look like that…" The waiter was comparing the photograph to the real-life Athrun. He read a choice few sentences aloud. "Twenty-nine and successful; ambitious and highly driven with the face of a winner..."

"Like I said," Athrun mumbled, trying to look inconspicuous. "That isn't me."

The same starkness marked the disparity between the glossy picture of himself in the magazine and the role of him as a worker slaving now, and it struck him that it was entirely plausible that the editors hadn't seen him in his workplace before. Unfortunately, there was only this waiter who knew the truth—that one of Heliopolis' Eligible Bachelors had dark circles and muttered incoherently under his breath while working on his files.

In fact, Athrun realised, everyone who'd seen this list had probably envisioned him to be in a dress shirt sipping champagne with his little finger sticking out for every moment of his life. They'd snapped a shot of him appearing at Lacus' Clyne's gala charity performance. But the truth was that he'd turned up only because she requested. Besides, he'd been highly reluctant to go except that there was a social obligation to his friend and one-time fiancée.

Eager to look away from the ogling waiter, Athrun turned away and lifted the curtain slightly to stare outside the shop, hoping that the waiter would catch his drift. The density of people was building up a bit as their reporting times drew nearer. In their corporate outfits, they looked like a private army. Amongst these few people though, Athrun caught sight of a person moving across the small road.

This was partially because the youth's fringe glinted beyond the boundary of a cap in the light. From here, the person seemed to be a blonde young man in jeans and a casual shirt—certainly not the archetype of the corporate worker.

Athrun squinted, looking at him a little more. As if the contrast between the casualness of the clothes wasn't enough, the youth was moving very fast and against the others. He was elbowing people out of the way and seemed to pop out from the people who moved in and out of the viewing window's path. It might have been simply how this youth was struggling against the growing flow of commuters, running even, towards the general direction of the cafe.

Curious now, Athrun leaned forward, his breath near enough to mist slightly on the cool glass.

Even from inside the shop, he could hear a shout.

It was enough for him to leap up from his seat, push slightly against the waiter who had been creeping nearer, and rush out of there. Perhaps, Athrun had instinctively wanted to get away from the waiter—but of course, the shout would have made any reasonable person help. Clearly, there were few of such people in the throngs of the morning crowd,

"Stop!" Someone was shouting. "Thief! Thief!"

Quickly now, Athrun pushed past the people who were still inching forwards to their offices, uncaring of whoever who was shouting and whoever who was getting away. Cursing under his breath as he raced, Athrun tried to swim his way through the crowd, and finally caught up.

Grabbing at a hand, he tugged hard and felt something say 'Oof!'

"Don't you run!" He growled, slamming his weight against the person's. Suddenly, they were alone in a street, and he realized he had successfully tackled the thief. Congratulating himself, he pressed the boy's face to the floor, and he said harshly, "There's a police station nearby. We should take a trip there."

"Let me go!" He heard a muffled cry from under the cap he was pushing to the ground. It was a deep voice, but of course, it was also muffled.

"Stop struggling, you punk!" He said viciously, slamming the thief's shoulder hard.

Behind him, he could hear shuffling footsteps, and he looked and saw it was a tiny old lady trying to catch up. The pickpocketed person was probably catching up, and the thief he'd caught was struggling madly, trying to get his hands out from the grip that Athrun had established.

"Don't struggle!" Athrun barked again. He used more force, and a squeal was issued from the thief. "You're disgusting—you'd steal from someone like that?"

"I said let me go, you buffoon!" The voice was irritated and something of a cry. Athrun cocked his ears. A very female cry, in fact.

The pickpocketed person had caught up. Panting, the old lady shook her head and wheezed, "You got the wrong one."

Athrun, still on his knees, jerked back in shock.

Up sprang the youth, face pink with indignation and eyes crackling with anger. "You're an idiot! Why'd you have to tackle me like that?"

Athrun sputtered, trying to stand up.

The old lady was shaking her head. "This kind person here was helping me go after the thief! The thief would have been caught, had you not made that mistake!" She sighed, looking at her slit shopping bag. "Nonetheless… it was good of you to help."

But Athrun was barely listening. Instead, he stood and stared at the rather disheveled person that he'd tackled and been rather rough to. The person in front of him—the same youth who'd fought against the crowd—was distinctively…

"You're a girl?"

She gaped back at him.

"A girl…" He mumbled, massaging his temples.

"What did you think I was?" She demanded. Most of her hair was still tucked beneath her cap and she was panting slightly from the exertion, her breath puffs of white in the crisp morning air. She wasn't wearing a coat or scarf, and she had begun stamping her feet and rubbing her arms to keep warm.

He looked helplessly at the old woman who was clucking her tongue, and then back to the girl he'd shoved and wrestled to the ground. "Er—," He tried to find a way to explain himself. "Sorry about that—,"

The girl glared at him ferociously, then turned to the old lady. "Come on. I heard that there's a police station nearby." She looked at Athrun with great distaste, then took the old lady's arm and marched past him.

From the safety of the café, Athrun really felt like digging himself into a hole and not coming out. Exasperated with himself and the turn of events, he eyed the cold coffee near his elbow and tried to ignore the still ogling waiter.

He sighed, preparing to look away and get back to his files. His daily eye exercise was over. Besides, he noted wryly, he had probably expanded quite some energy tackling the wrong person, who'd turned out to be one of those butch-types.

Thankfully, he did not have to wait very much longer. The door opened and the tinkling bell attached to it sounded.

"Well, how's our Heliopolis eligible bachelor doing?" A voice sounded behind him.

"Kira," Athrun said warningly, getting up from his chair to see his childhood friend move into the cubicle. Warmly, he shook Kira Yamato's hand, then embraced him. He lowered his voice, noting the way the waiter was still staring over from his corner. "As glad as I am to meet with you, you better not rub salt in the wound."

"Wound?" Kira protested, taking a seat with his eyes twinkling. "What do you mean wound?"

And Kira moved to fetch a magazine from a rack and put it on the table that they both returned to. Athrun fought the urge to roll his eyes—how was it that the waiter to Kira noticed the magazine but not he? He should have taken the chance to burn the magazine before Kira had arrived.

"Would you look at that?" Kira said admiringly. "My childhood friend looks like a million bucks here!"

"Please." Athrun said archly. "All the photographs have been doctored. The editors have never seen any of these bachelors being normal humans before." He gestured to his files. "They clearly thought that the dark-circles in the undoctored photograph were a trick of the light."

Kira was still flipping through, whistling low under his breath. "And this was at Lacus' concert three weeks before? The one I missed recently?"

"Yes." Athrun said moodily.

During that time, the paparazzi had gotten a shot of him when he'd been stupid enough to wander around the gardens framing the concert hall.

"You look angsty." Kira was trying not laugh as he stared at the photograph. "Very nice, indeed. I bet the girls were swooning in your office and in court."

"You know," Athrun told him wryly, "I had been considering the various ways to sue the pants off my client's opponent at that precise moment. Now stop talking, and I'll buy you breakfast."

Unwillingly, he glanced at the photograph that Kira was looking at. Indeed, the picture had turned out to depict him looking broodingly past the camera; a shot that had apparently set a thousand female hearts aflutter, as Kira had claimed. It also hadn't mattered that Athrun had been having trouble digesting the rock cookies that he'd consumed over the reception—the intent look on his face that had been captured somehow managed to intrigue people.

"The writer described you as being always impeccably dressed." Kira crowed, reading out excerpts of the article that the waiter lurking in the corner was clearly delighting in.

Athrun scoffed and tried to signal the waiter over but failed to. The youth was plainly ignoring him, preferring to dry the already bone-dry dishes. Muttering under his breath, he tried again.

"Well?" Kira teased.

"Please," Athrun told him. "If I was so magnetic, the waiter would have come over a long time ago. And I have five of the same suits from the same tailor and in the same cut." He shook his head, still trying to get a waiter to come over. "Didn't they realize that solicitors have the most limited wardrobes in the whole world?"

Certainly, it hadn't mattered to the editors that he had been wearing a suit he always wore to work to Lacus Clyne's concert. The writers had complimented him for his consistent style when the reality was that he had nothing else to wear. And this was all because he hadn't bothered changing out after he'd left work to catch her concert.

"Nonetheless," Kira pointed out, "The champagne you're swirling in this photograph makes you look really…" He paused, trying not to laugh. "Cultured."

Athrun gave him a blank look, still valiantly trying to signal the waiter over. "That was apple juice. I didn't drink anything else during her performance."

Kira blanched. "No way!"

"In short, " Athrun said drily, "It was nothing like what the Heliopolis Tattler made me out to be."

Studying his friend, Kira supposed he agreed. Athrun's competency was distinctively sardonic, his quiet ways less courteous than one would suppose, and his dedication to his job making him remarkably crabby in the mornings.

Probably, Kira realized, Athrun had laughed himself silly while reading the write-up about him.

"So how's work now?" Athrun was asking, clearly hoping for a change of topic.

Laughing, Kira grinned. "We're making headway with the subjects. The dolphins are really more sophisticated than I expected. They really communicate in the most interesting way—probably with more information within a few clicks and whistles than what we can translate right now."

"Well, if an award-winning marine biologist is telling me that," Athrun said with a straight face, "I'll change my opinion that dolphins are little more than gay sharks."

Kira chortled. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that from the lawyer who brought fame to Elsman Reid by taking on Rau Le Creuset's case and suing on his behalf for unfair discrimination."

"Dearka deserves the credit too," Athrun told Kira. "I'm just glad that we won the case in the end. But yes, I do take the point that Mr. Le Creuset was…" He trailed off, thinking of his one-time client.

"Very, very gay."

They looked at each other, their lips twitching as the waiter served Kira coffee.

"So when is this sister of yours coming?" Athrun finally asked. He looked at his watch. "Not that I'm in a rush today or anything, but you did say that she was quite a stickler for punctuality."

"Oh yes," Kira sat up. "She did tell me that she would be coming a bit late and that she was sorry about it. She got held up, apparently."

"Traffic," Athrun said understandably. "That's precisely why I come early in the morning—I hate having to fight other cars." He looked apologetically at Kira. "I would have opened the office to meet you and your sister, Kira, but it only opens officially at seven-thirty."

"No matter at all," Kira told him. "She'll be here soon." He leaned over, dropping his voice as if he was afraid someone would hear. "Between us, Athrun, I'm really thankful that you agreed to listen to her on my behalf. I know I didn't really explain the details over the phone, but I just think she has to explain it for herself. She's the sort of person who doesn't listen once she gets fixed on an idea. I don't really know what she's up to, but I thought it'd be best-,"

He trailed off, holding up a hand almost warningly as the bell on the door tinkled again and the steps of someone striding in echoed. Athrun watched as Kira got to his feet, and almost instinctively, he rose too.

But as he came face to face with the person, he felt his smile slipping off his face.

The girl in front of him was apparently going through the same formation too. Her smile was disappearing so rapidly that Athrun could almost hear something smashing on the floor.

All the same, Athrun found it in him to extend a hand gingerly, even though she did not seem to want to take it. Her hands were folded around her and she was shivering a little, as if nursing a flu.

But for some reason, Kira's twin glared at him, then surprised him by taking his hand with a deadly firm handshake that nearly rattled the bones in his entire hand, not to mention his arm. Her gaze was direct and fearless, and even when her other arm was still draped across her chest because of the cold she was presumably susceptible to, her hand was very warm in his. Was his cafe really that chilly, he wondered, or was she particularly vulnerable to slightly lower temperatures?

"Hello." Athrun said unsurely, suddenly seeing the resemblance in the face of the would-be stranger when she was standing right next to Kira. If he had only managed to button his coat when he'd stood up, he wasn't sure what to do with his hands now.

She looked at him unsmilingly, not saying anything.

"Let me do the introductions then. Athrun, this is my twin, Cagalli." Kira said mildly, quite unaware of anything that had happened in the previous hour. "I'm sure she's pleased to meet you."

Five minutes of awkward fumbling and ordering of coffees later, Athrun looked curiously at the person seated opposite him. Kira was seated next to his sibling, and he seemed to feel more amusement than Athrun could muster the nerve to feel.

Kira's twin looked a bit rattled, a bit flustered, a little unkempt, a little embarrassed, a little defiant, a little of everything thrown together. Part of it, Athrun thought, was definitely his fault. But at the same time, he realized that she was probably always losing at cards— all her expressions seemed to appear like flashing lights on her face. She looked at Athrun now; pink in the cheeks and with the irritation that he recognized immediately.

"Sorry about that," Kira apologized, as if for a misbehaving pet that had no way of knowing what it had done or how to make amends for it. "Er- she's not much of a morning person. That's why she's late too."

Before Athrun could stammer anything, the girl's fist met Kira's arm squarely, and Kira winced, massaging and grinning sheepishly to Athrun. Athrun widened his eyes, staring at the two who seemed to be but could not possibly be twins. While Kira was formally dressed, this girl seemed to be the anti-thesis of what women spent on time and effort before leaving the house.

He couldn't be blamed, Athrun tried to assure himself, for calling her a punk. While she'd magically appeared in this café wearing a gorgeous cashmere scarf and coat that he hadn't seen on her previously, she was still wearing that oversized shirt and jeans that he'd seen and tackled her to the ground in.

"Just so you know, Cagalli," Kira told her cheerily, "Athrun and I go a long way back—even if we did lose contact at some point. Isn't that right, Athrun?"

"Yes." Athrun said meekly.

She looked at him defiantly, despite how her fringe was long and falling into her eyes. Her eyeliner was a little smudged—possibly from how he'd smushed her face to the ground— and her blonde hair shorter than what he'd imagined most blondes would maintain. More obviously, her mouth was pursed in an unfriendly grimace. Her hair was brilliantly-coloured, so bright that it seemed strange on a woman who did not wear makeup to make use of it. He wondered if it would be too obvious he was checking for dark roots if he stood up suddenly.

Before this, she'd had on that chocolate-colored newsboy cap that had made her look androgynous. But there was no mistaking that Kira's twin was female, now that her hair was down and the cap sitting on some corner of the table.

Kira had noticed his twin shivering. "Is it that cold, Cagalli?"

She spoke for the first time in that café. "I left my coat in the car before this-," Her voice was husky, presumably from her cold. She trailed off, looking strangely at Athrun, who tried to look elsewhere. "I was in a hurry and I left my things in the car. Didn't get back until a bit later to fetch those."

"I see," Kira said, not seeing at all. "Well, Athrun, now that we're settled, ask away."

"Right." His voice was rather weak. "Ms. Yamato, Kira said you had something you'd like advice on."

"No!" Her voice was an exclamation that caught all of them by surprise. "I don't want him dealing with this!"

"Cagalli," Kira said to her in an almost warning tone, "He's a good friend of mine, and I've heard from lots of people that he's an excellent solicitor. You know about that recent case, don't you?"

Cagalli raised her eyes to his, pursing her lips still, saying nothing. Athrun swallowed, feeling incredibly inadequate there and then.

"The Le Creuset and Alster case," Kira supplied helpfully and a bit awkwardly. "It was featured a lot in the newspapers. The case where a gay man was being unfairly discriminated— he was asked to leave the George Alster shopping complex because he was gay."

That case had made the parties involved and their solicitors mini-celebrities for a while. Athrun had had to tolerate a whole slew of crazy neighbors trying to snap photographs of him every time he left his apartment. In fact, plenty of them had come up to him and asked if he was gay as well— whether he'd identified with Rau Le Creuset and therefore agreed to take on that case.

But the attention was unsavory as well as extreme. It amused and bemused Athrun to no end. Someone scratched his car with crude depictions and incredibly ungrammatical insults, even though Athrun was as straight as an arrow. The case had sparked off a huge controversy because of the flamboyant parties involved, alongside arguably dangerous precedent he'd convinced the judges to take. Surely, this girl had read or heard something about it? After all, even Kira, who lived in the Plants, had heard of this.

"Ms. Yamato, is there any thing I can help with?" Athrun said politely, making sure he kept his skepticism to himself. Glancing at Cagalli Yamato again, and her rather chic exterior that she'd somehow gained, he was not sure what to make of her.

"I think he can help you on this." Kira said tensely to her, patting her shoulder fondly like she was his favorite aunt who needed his help to walk. And he whispered to Athrun, "I sure as hell can't help her in anything else."

Athrun's brows shot up, despite himself. He had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but he decided to begin his sales pitch.

"We offer litigation services, both in the analysis and research and also representation," He said confidently. "From start to finish. This firm's small, but it's up-and-coming and we can guarantee your money's worth, whether in defense or claims you want to advance against someone else."

He looked at Kira, who was staring at his twin who looked rather unmoved by Athrun's efforts.

"If you agree," Athrun said, getting into the swing of things as his solicitor-façade kicked over, "It's just a matter of settling when you need to go to court, and we'll take care of the rest."

Suddenly, Cagalli shifted, and Athrun stared at her.

When she spoke, Cagalli surprised him with her articulation and her crisp tone that he hadn't noticed before this. To be fair to her though, she had been fuming when he'd tackled her, and of course he had been too flustered to notice anything beyond the fact that she was female and not the thief.

There was a sudden elegance to her clear intonation and the way she looked fearlessly at him, and he found himself noticing it almost invariably. Her husky voice surprised him, for her enunciation was very clear. "My surname is Yula, not Yamato."

She had a very authoritative voice, Athrun noticed, and her posture righted as she looked straight at him in the eye, making her look suddenly very composed and compelling. Suddenly, her outfit didn't seem like she'd hastily put together at all- it seemed to become her. He was forcibly reminded of a very clever, very weathered alley cat who knew that once the coat was buttoned, what was being worn inside disappeared anyway.

He shook his head, mildly impressed, smiling a little more now. "My apologies." He looked at her meaningfully, but she did not seem to catch his drift. Sighing inwardly, he asked, "Ms. Yula, what is your grievance?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked." Cagalli Yula said pertly, looking a bit haughtily at him. He was struck by the assertion in her tone. Gone were the traces of her clumsiness and embarrassment that she'd displayed before hand. She leaned forward a little, her eyes boring hole through his. "It would be quite accurate for me to say that I don't trust solicitors."

And then she crossed her legs elegantly even if she was only wearing jeans, looking forcefully at Kira in a manner that suggested she would roast him later. Her eyes were a very interesting shade, Athrun noticed. Gold and flecked with amber or maybe even sepia. Looking at both of them, Athrun noticed the resemblance again, although it hadn't been clear at first.

"Is that so," Athrun countered, hiding his flustered thoughts and smiling winsomely. Suddenly, he felt like he needed to win, or drive past that car that'd cut into his lane. It was strange, because he was neither on the road nor in the court. He felt his fists clenching below the table, and he suddenly wanted her to beg him to represent her. It wasn't just how he'd slipped up before this—it was how annoyed he was suddenly feeling. "Ms. Yula, I can assure you that we don't give anything but the best services to every single client that signs us on, and it's a matter of you finding the right people you can trust."

"There's only one person in this room, who I can trust to handle my problem." Cagalli looked daringly at him. "And that's me."

Her twin blinked owlishly, clearly the one behind the idea of getting her here at all.

"Is that right, Ms. Yula?" Athrun said patiently, smiling insincerely. He appraised her but she tilted her chin defiantly, trying to stare him down.

The nerve!

"I'm not going to waste our time," Cagalli said firmly. She unfolded her arms, taking her bag into her lap. "I'm going to tell you the facts and what I've recorded down, and I want you to tell me if I have a claim at all."

So she was the no-nonsense type then, Athrun realized.

She drew open her tote and took out a notebook. At the same time, he noticed that the bag was an expensive looking one, and it was branded, as was the leather notebook. The coat he saw, was simple but well-cut, and he was quite sure it was an expensive item too. Even if the beret looked inexpensive, next to the coat, it looked nice enough.

Undeniably, the impact of seeing her stride into this café had certainly hit him like a cartload of bricks dropped from a five-storey high building. Come to think of it, Athrun realized, the last time he'd paid close attention to a woman's clothes had been at his mother's funeral. The thought of that made a wry smile creep onto his face as he recalled his trysts with girls that had really involved anything except clothes.

"I live here," Cagalli said, interrupting his thoughts by pointing to the address she passed to him on a scribbled note. She'd drawn a little map of the place, and staring at it, Athrun suspected he knew what was going on already.

"Someone came prepared," He commented, and she snorted, making him look up in surprise. While Athrun didn't think much of a woman's company and had nothing much in common with women except that they all wanted a good romp sometimes, he'd never imagined a female to snort openly.

"Well, I wasn't going to watch while you wasted my time." She said aggressively, making him wince inwardly and curl his fists. But outwardly, he maintained his polite if slightly impersonal smile while seething inside.

Her voice was steely. "There's a building that's going to come up next month, over here." She moved to the edge of her seat and jabbed a finger. She pointed at a rectangle she'd sketched, which frighteningly enough, looked nothing like a rectangle.

"I see." Athrun stared at the diagram. Inwardly, he wondered if she and Vino would get along.

"They started two weeks ago." Cagalli told him with a clear trace of bitterness. "I never knew of anything, but I've been suffering migraines since two weeks ago because of that hullaballoo they've kicked up with their construction."

"It's an upper-class area," Athrun said slowly, looking back at her. He wondered if she was some kind of property developer or a housing agent by profession. "Were there any other complaints?"

Without answering his question, Cagalli flipped the paper she'd handed him to the other side, handing it back to him. Her voice suggested great determination- cow-sense and bull-stubbornness mixed, Athrun suspected.

"I've been checking out other sites." Cagalli said flatly, moving on with god-knows-what was in her head and ignoring his question. "And it seems to me that the Heliopolis city council is very stringent on noise pollution because of the tourist dollar. They've been trying to get old folks to move here for retirement, not to mention biology research companies and laboratories."

"That's right." Kira chimed in.

Kira, Athrun was aware, alternated between the Plants and the space colony of Heliopolis for that precise kind of research. He'd been working on a deep-sea mobile that could track dolphin signals across oceans as part of his job for the past months. Cagalli however, did not spare a look at her brother as she continued. It was almost like she was ignoring her brother on purpose.

"I doubt they'll allow such a noisy conflagration to exist when they've been marketing Heliopolis as a clean, green, quiet, something-or-the-other-waffle space city." She said impertinently. "That's the list of buildings they've given orders to pipe down to-,"

Athrun stared at the long list she pointed out to him. She'd scribbled it in what seemed to be very hurried, artistic but impossible-to-read penmanship. Either that, or she had somehow met Vino and convinced him or a monkey to copy out alphabets for her.

"If they allow this building, it will be obvious that they're using double standards and I don't think they'll want everyone talking about that." Cagalli declared, obviously unaware of his only marginally related thoughts. "I think the Heliopolis city council will have a great blow to their reputation and image-planning if they let this particular building be constructed. It's just not congruent with their standards of city planning so far- noise pollution and dust problems wise."

He looked at her, shaking his head. "If not for double standards, I don't think I'd have any at all, Ms. Yula."

"Look, that's you, because you're a solicitor." She said impatiently, missing his point entirely while somehow aiming a jab at him.

"Well, Ms. Yula," Athrun said frostily, "Do you mind when your brother calls you in the middle of the night to ask where's the best place to buy doughnuts?"

Both siblings threw him an incredulous look but Cagalli managed to answer. "No, not really."

"Well, if a complete stranger like myself did, would you mind?"

She swallowed. "Look, this is ridiculous. I know what you're trying to get at." Cagalli threw up her hands in apparent frustration, and he bristled. "But we're talking about a city council here. Surely, you realize that? Or did you assume that everybody had double standards in the way that solicitors live from day to day?"

"I'm going to ignore that assertion and focus on the point here." He said mildly, trying to keep the little flare of temper in him. It surprised him that he was even feeling annoyance. The last time that had happened had probably been last year, when they'd lost a case he'd worked particularly hard on. "What I'm trying to say, Ms. Yula, is that everyone has double standards. That's how we get on with life- for solicitors, city councils, governments, factory workers and I daresay even teachers when it comes to different pupils."

"Not for me." Cagalli said fiercely, looking like she'd sock him if he disagreed. And that was precisely made him continue- the idea that she'd dare to even consider socking him in the face. Kira was looking very amused with what the conversation was turning into.

But he wouldn't let her get away with that little argument she'd thrown in, Athrun decided. He couldn't because he simply wouldn't.

"Look," He said sharply to Cagalli, "I'm not sure about you, but what kind of detergent do you use for your clothes, if you use any at all?"

She glared at him, finally taking the bait. "That depends what kind it is."

"See?" He said triumphantly. "It all depends. And that's precisely what you're trying to fight! You can't fight the fact that the city council advertises, advertises-," He repeated, "-a clean, quiet, green little place for old folks, and the fact that they have to create those spaces by clearing things and making some noise!"

"But they also have rules that the noise shouldn't be above what's necessary," She said determinedly. "And that they uphold their own standards no matter where the building is."

Athrun stared at Cagalli Yula and took a pamphlet to flip through it quickly. He couldn't keep the cynicism from his voice. "I agree that they have a rule— by-laws, in fact, for general noise levels. Those are supposed to apply no matter where the building is going to be, but that doesn't mean the noise levels won't be dependent on the size or kind of building the council permits."

"That's not right." She said firmly.

"But Ms. Yula, do you realize that this building you are so against is the next hangar-cum-showroom for sports cars? And did you notice that thousands of space tourists are supposed to come here to look at the cars?" He looked directly at her. "And did you even know that that the city council approved of this project and courted the company to set up that show-room building in the first place?"

Athrun thought that would show her who was in charge here. He sat back, fighting back a smile because he thought he had bested her. But she sat up a little straighter, those strangely golden, almond-edged eyes flashing dangerously again.

"Oh don't be ridiculous," Cagalli said sharply, "Of course I checked out the place, hoping for an explanation as to why my windows were vibrating like flaccid jelly every time the drills started! I'm not just a tenant, I have the fee simple—I own that unit in that apartment! I have locus standi, as it's called, and I have the right to care about the noise! The noise is everywhere— isn't that interfering with my use and enjoyment of the land?"

"Impressive," he admitted, not so much at the vibrating windows assertion, but the fact that she'd bothered looking into so much. "I haven't found a client who ever did research on her own."

"I can't leave it to you solicitors, can I?" She said bluntly, looking at him straight in the eye. "I'd get this done about three years after I was sent into my grave."

Athrun found his lips curling slightly. She was feistier than he'd expected, and from the looks of it, Kira was rather used to it. Her twin was staring at the diagram and as he lifted his eyes to meet Athrun's, Athrun thought he saw a twinkle in them.

Squaring his shoulders, Athrun said firmly. "Ms. Yula, may I know what damage you've suffered to that building? Any property damage? Those windows that vibrated- did any crack?"

"None."

"Dust?"

"Not really."

"Absence of light?"

"Not really."

Athrun was exhausting all the possible kinds of damage her property could have suffered, and his smirk grew wider and wider even though he fought to keep his voice from becoming aggressive. Her case was becoming increasingly less easy than what she'd expected. A losing case, that is. A no-case, as he called it.

However, Cagalli did not look upset but only squared her shoulders even in that oversized. "I'm sure it's a solicitor's jobs to waste the client's time, but as I already said right from the start, I'm not here for anything much. I only need you to tell me with the given information, what chances I have of winning?"

"That depends what you want to win, Ms. Yula," Athrun said, ignoring the smarting feeling of his pride being hurt. It was true that solicitors did earn on an hourly basis, but for her to bring that right out and to shove it under his nose like Dearka's magazine- how utterly preposterous!

"Frankly," Cagalli said flatly, interrupting this thoughts, "I just want them out of my way. I don't need compensation for the number of pills I've been popping every day and the irritation I get from these clowns. I just want them to stop building that darn showroom and find some other place they can screw around with."

"An injunction then," He said calmly. "An action to get them to stop."

"Yes, I know what that is," Cagalli said firmly, making him feel suddenly like he was back in the classroom, learning the different types of injunctions available to claimants.

She was looking straight back at him. "I just want to know if there's even half a percent of success that I can get it. If possible, an interlocutory injunction."

Athrun was impressed. He was definitely impressed, although only grudgingly.

"I don't want them to continue at all, much less have that land to build anything. I'll have you know that solicitors don't impress me, and I'm not about to put all this in your hands." Her eyes narrowed. She seemed to be getting antsier and antsier by the minute, and Athrun wondered why he had the misfortune of getting on her wrong side so early in the morning.

To defuse the tension, Athrun looked down and studied the little map she'd drawn, frowning a bit. All in all, he couldn't resist a barb of his own. "Objectively, it's a bit of a long shot. The building doesn't seem to be particularly near your apartment. Or is it right next to your home?"

She stared, "Isn't it clear from the diagram that I'm right next to it?"

"Well, at least from this exceedingly sophisticated map, I'd say it's difficult to determine anything." Athrun said with a straight face. "But I was pretty sure that this blob," He pointed to something or another, "Is a forest."

Coloring, she glared at him, and Kira chuckled next to her, grinning at Athrun, who was too busy glaring back at Cagalli. Needless to say, Kira was pleased to see that his friend and his twin were hitting it off.

Athrun studied it, putting a bored note into his voice. "A worthy effort, really, but I think the camera would be slightly more useful in giving me an idea as to what a building would look like next to this-," He pointed at a scribbly mess, "-bird's nest."

As he looked up, he was surprised to find her leaning back and smiling.

"I really should have taken a picture," Cagalli sighed, batting her eyes innocently at him. "It would give you an idea, wouldn't it? Especially since you lack the imagination."

Clients never got hoity-toity with him, Athrun cursed inwardly, and he wouldn't have this young girl flounce in and stamp his face into the gutter. He'd show her that she needed him to win in court! He'd show her!

Somehow, Athrun recovered. "I need more information on this, I'm afraid. I need to see the exact location, know the frequency of the noise, the volume, the kind of irritation, whether your migraine was really caused by this disturbance as you say, and-,"

"Alright, thank you." Cagalli said sharply, cutting him off there and then. "That means I do have a chance of winning this. Thank you for your time and effort."

Then she folded the paper carefully, tossing it into her bag with what seemed to be a case of serious schizophrenia. On one hand, she'd folded it like it'd been a million-dollar cheque. On the other hand, Athrun noticed that she'd tossed it in her tote like it was a piece of homework she didn't want to ever see again.

"Excuse me?" He said weakly, not really understanding what was going on. He'd never had a client who'd interrupted him before— not when they were paying him to speak, and not when they were hanging onto his every word. Their conversation had gone rapid-fire once she'd started talking, and Athrun bristled indignantly, wondering why everything had shot by more quickly than he was supposed to allow for.

Cagalli Yula turned a little to Kira, her smile quite predatory. "Thanks for getting me here Kira."

"That's the only time he'd be free." Kira told her fondly, looking at Athrun who shrugged. "I thought you needed some help, and I'm sure Athrun can provide it."

Athrun wanted to throw up. Help was the understatement of the century. This female needed a shrink.

"Glad to be of service," Athrun said dryly, looking at Cagalli.

"Well, he was kind enough to hear me out." She smiled suddenly at Kira, and watching from where he was, Athrun thought it was a very nice smile.

Objectively, anyway. He was certainly not taking to his best friend's twin in the least, but her smile was a bit of a redeeming thing. It was a bit impish, a bit cheeky, but somehow honest and cheerful.

"He did provide me help," Cagalli repeated, looking past Athrun as if he was really just a pile of papers. "And he did confirm my suspicions that solicitors tend to be either really presumptious or too posh for their own good."

Athrun felt as if his ears would melt off his face. He stood up, suddenly wanting to make peace, making it a point to offer his hand to her.

But she didn't see it because she turned to hug Kira at the same time. Awkwardly, Athrun slid his hand into his pocket, and thankfully, Kira didn't see the moment because he was engulfed in his twin's hug.

"Well, see you." Cagalli said merrily to Kira. She stood up, stretching a little, and Athrun saw Kira look a bit frazzled.

"Wait, what?" Kira said a bit more loudly, as if that would help jolt Cagalli back to where she was. Athrun too, was confused. "This is ridiculous, I brought you here to a solicitor I actually trust! Look, I know you don't trust all solicitors but-," He halted his speech, "Where are you going?"

"Work, of course." Cagalli said incredulously, her fingers pausing momentarily on a button of her coat, as if he'd asked the silliest thing that exited in the Galaxy, let alone Heliopolis.

"What about this case?" Athrun demanded, standing and deciding to enter the conversation that took apparently place between Cagalli, Kira, her scarf, bag, and coat.

She looked vastly different now- almost glamorous in a devil-may-care, reckless way, even. It was true then, Athrun realized. She wore whatever the hell she felt comfortable in and kept an exterior that made her look incredibly respectable. She was fooling the world for what she really was- an impatient, crazy- oh God there was no other word for it- bitch.

But he found himself curious about her. As she swung herself into her coat with the ease and confidence that Athrun was suddenly discomforted by, Cagalli took her cap, adjusting it over her hair. Without the disadvantage of having a stranger tackle her, it sat on her head at a jaunty angle.

"It's settled," Cagalli said in a single breath, turning back to Kira. Her eyes were hidden behind the shades, and his eyes were drawn to her mouth. It was a strangely attractive mouth with full lips that were slightly cracked and parched from autumn, and there was a slightly mocking lilt to her voice. "I know what to do now. Thanks for your time and your attempts to convince me that double standards should be acceptable even when I'm getting two migraines a day."

"She told me that she's going to representing herself in court," Kira whispered into Athrun's ear. Athrun tried to say something but found that he was still speechless from the fact that Cagalli had suddenly acknowledged his existence.

And when Athrun found his voice, it was crackly and weak.

"But what about research, what about analysis, what about representation or litigation-," Athrun's voice revealed how confused he was at her conviction that she didn't need anyone to represent her in court. He was even more bewildered by her apparent desire to offend as many solicitors she could.

Cagalli nodded curtly, waving his protests aside, "I can handle that, thanks. I'll admit that coming here wasn't entirely a waste of time. I've got a pretty good idea of what to do now, thanks to you. Don't let me bother your and your posh work. I've got to get on with my own."

And ignoring his splutter, Cagalli moved closer to Kira again, grabbing her bag.

From where he was, Athrun was suddenly aware of how attractive she was. Miraculously, the case and the brief outline of facts she'd laid out in front of him had vanished, and he was staring at Cagalli Yula. As she leaned down, pecking Kira on the cheek, Cagalli unwittingly revealed a little cleavage to Athrun, who swallowed and looked away, sure that he had noticed a glimpse of black lace.

But unaware of Athrun's presence and certainly what he was bothered with, Cagalli began adjusting Kira's tie. She did it with such tenderness, deft confidence and skill that a housewife would be ashamed, all while speaking at top speed.

Quite forgetting what he was supposed to feel at that point- possibly annoyance or even bafflement at her strange ways- Athrun gazed at her. Yet, she didn't seem to notice Athrun staring at her.

Looking assuredly at her twin, Cagalli said, "Kira, find out how much I owe him. "Fifteen minutes, I think." She shrugged, adding, "Too long, I think."

Athrun seethed.

She looked back at Kira, who was probably as helpless as Athrun. "Kira, help me with the calculations, you know I'm rubbish with the Math." She moved out of the café as abruptly as she had came in, and only the tinkle of the bell made a noise in that space after she left.

She was remarkable, Athrun thought, despite himself.

They stared in silence.

When he had recovered sufficiently, Athrun swallowed, feeling more overwhelmed than he'd expected to be.

"Sorry," Kira had the decency to look apologetic. "I was the one who dragged her in."

"She's crazy!" Athrun said incredulously. "She's planning to be a claimant in person?"

Still, Kira grinned at how his friend seemed displaced for once- the infallible, totally controlled Athrun looking like someone had mortally insulted him. "She's had a bad experience with a few solicitors in the past. But I dragged her here because I thought you'd be able to help her."

"Well, putting aside your twin's apparent lack of sense, Kira, that's a dud case by itself!" Athrun looked down at his palm, expecting the map to be there but seeing only the lines of his hand. Cagalli Yula had taken the map with her.

Kira grinned. "That's what I told her, but she wouldn't listen. I thought I'd introduce her to the firm here, because I heard this firm takes on nearly impossible cases and makes those work."

Athrun was far too lost in his thoughts to hear anything. He slapped his hand on his forehead. "She wants to sue a corporation that big? And just to get an injunction without at least a window being smashed? They're due next month and there's been so much publicity about that showroom and-,"

He trailed off, wondering what in the world had gotten him to become so nervy in the morning. Even the occasional waking up to find female strangers in his bed had been a less traumatic experience. Where was his standard approach to all cases and all nut jobs, Athrun seethed, and why had that failed with this particular nut job?

Athrun shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts. "And there's a statutory provision, and-,"

"And that was my twin." Kira concluded, smiling sympathetically and patting Athrun on the shoulder as they stared at the door that she'd pushed through.