Disclaimer: I do not own Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies.

De novo

Chapter 3: March

March 3, 2028 – 12:23 PM
Prosecutor's Building – Cafeteria

One thing that Simon Blackquill was grateful for was that the cafeteria at the Prosecutor's Building actually had edible food—in fact it was actually rather delicious sometimes, depending what was on the menu. He rarely had time—or the interest—to cook and pack his own meals, so this was truly a blessing.

Today, he had loaded up his tray: a bowl of cream of mushroom soup, a dinner roll, Friday's special of lemon pepper salmon with a side of marinara-coated pasta and a large brownie—he hated to admit it to anyone, but he had a sweet tooth, especially for chocolate, and he had made sure no one was around when he had swiped it onto his tray. He usually did not eat this much, but the boredom of a morning of bail court proceedings apparently intensified his hunger.

As he finished paying and took a few steps away from the till, he noticed exactly how full his tray was. Usually he only bought something to go—like a sandwich—before he quickly retreated to the privacy of his office to eat (and work, usually). However, it would be absolutely ridiculous for him to walk through the lobby and then onto the elevator and up to the 10th floor with his food-laden tray. With that thought came the terrible realization that he would have to eat his lunch in the cafeteria.

For a split second, he contemplated dumping the contents of the tray into a garbage can—except for maybe that brownie, since it was portable and certainly not because he wanted it that much—and walking out of the large, crowded room. However, he quickly discarded the thought as rubbish. He had never cared about what other people thought of him—after all, he did wear a jinbaori despite the fact that he knew it drew looks—and it wasn't as if he was shy of eating in front of other people, considering he was forced to eat elbow-to-elbow at the cafeteria tables in prison with the other inmates every day, but for some reason he really dreaded having to eat in this cafeteria full of his peers. Maybe it was because he was sick of half of the Prosecutor's Office shooting him furtive looks, despite the fact that it had been over two months since he'd been pronounced not guilty. He didn't know if they always stared at him—and often scurried away when he caught their gaze—because of his appearance in general or if they were still gossiping about him.

Since his official return to the Prosecutor's Office, he had kept to himself as much as possible so that he could fade out of the limelight, but he still caught whispers here and there. It wasn't so much that the rumours wounded him in any way, but they were irritating. He was quite sick of people questioning his innocence and his motives—many wondered if he had bribed the Chief Prosecutor to stage the whole retrial of UR-1, and even more wondered if a long-term convict was really fit to stand as a prosecutor again. However, what really bothered him about all of this inane babbling was when they involved Athena—she did not deserve to be talked about, to have her competency questioned, to have her reputation tarnished by their baseless blabbering.

"Herr Blackquill!" a cheery voice sounded behind him suddenly.

Simon turned around and came face-to-face with a blond-haired man in a dark maroon-coloured jacket. He had been so deep in thought that he had not noticed his approach.

"Prosecutor Gavin," Simon acknowledged with a nod. He had only spoken to the other prosecutor a handful of times, mostly to question him during the murder case of Professor Courte, but considering their offices shared the same floor, he did see him quite often.

"You have been standing there for quite a while. Considering it is lunchtime, it may be a while before a table opens up. Why don't you join me at my table? We have room for one more," Gavin offered with a smile. If it wasn't for his impeccable training, Simon might've flinched from the shine that reflected off his teeth—he wondered if the other man had it artificially whitened.

"That won't be necessary," Simon replied automatically, without even bothering to think it over. The last thing he wanted was to chit-chat with the other man and whoever was at his table.

"Don't be silly, I insist," Gavin said with a dismissive wave, before he placed a hand on Simon's shoulder and gently nudged him towards a nearby table. If he hadn't been holding his tray, he would have been sorely tempted to use his iaijutsu on the blond-haired man.

However, despite his reluctance to give in, Simon really did not see what other recourse he had. He needed to eat his food so that he could get back to work, and while he had no desire to socialize, he did not exactly want to senselessly insult Gavin by turning down his offer when, as Gavin had remarked, the entire cafeteria was full and he really had nowhere else to sit.

So, Simon Blackquill soon found himself standing before a table with two young women staring up at him and Klavier Gavin.

"I don't believe you have met," Gavin remarked. "Prosecutor Blackquill, please allow me to introduce two of our colleagues. They both work on the 6th floor, so you probably haven't seen them before. This lovely fräulein is Shao-Feng Hu. It is her first year here and her first year in the US for that matter! She is from the Republic of Zheng Fa."

Gavin gestured towards the more petite woman at the table. She had light brown, almost blonde hair that was partially swept up into a bun on her head and secured by hair chopsticks. She appeared to be wearing a Chinese—or was it Zheng Faian?—style dress with a red suit jacket over it. However, his eyes were particularly drawn by the intricate scarf she wore. It was printed with what appeared to be a peacock feather design that was absurdly attention-grabbing.

"It is nice to meet you, Prosecutor Blackquill," Hu replied in careful English. She had perfect diction, but her accent was pronounced, though not enough to make her at all incomprehensible. The young woman extended a slender hand.

"Likewise," he answered curtly. He set his tray down and gripped her offered hand. Though she was slight in frame, she had a surprisingly firm handshake.

"And, this is—"

"I am perfectly capable of introducing myself," the other woman cut in.

Simon's eyes flickered over to other woman seated next to Hu. She had poker-straight, dark brown hair that was pulled into a tight ponytail. She wore a plain and impeccably kept navy blue suit that was without any embellishments.

"Fiera Gellato," she said shortly, fixing him with icy blue eyes. A lesser man would have flinched from her piercing gaze.

Simon nearly scoffed at her poor attempt to intimidate him—didn't she know who she was dealing with? However, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when she then promptly turned back to her food. She had not even offered a handshake.

As if appearing to sense the tension, Gavin sat down across from the two young women and waved a hand at the chair next to him. Simon reluctantly sat down in front of Hu as Gavin immediately started a conversation.

"So, Shao-Feng, you were telling me earlier about your ring?"

"Oh yes! My boyfriend—I mean he is my fiancé now—bought it for me," Shao-Feng replied happily. "Isn't it gorgeous?"

The young Zheng Faian woman held out her left hand for Gavin to admire. Even Simon's eyes widened a bit at the size of the diamond.

"It is rather big is it not? A little too large for my hand, but how can I say no to him?" she said dismissively with a chuckle. However, Simon's trained eye could tell that she was ravishing in the attention. It was completely obvious to him that she was absolutely appreciating the chance to show it off.

"Your fiancé is an actor, you said?" Gavin said, turning her hand in his and admiring the shine from the diamond.

"Yes! I moved to America with him, when he was recruited for his American debut! You should watch his television show! It is very good! It is called 'Island of Love'!"

Now that the attention was off of him, Simon quickly turned to his food and began eating it as quickly as he could without being too obvious. The sooner he could finish, the sooner he could get away from them. From what he could tell so far, he had no interest in becoming friendly with these people. While Gavin seemed bearable—not that he had a choice of avoiding him anyway considering his office was three doors down from his—he was not particularly impressed by the other two prosecutors. Hu seemed rather air-headed and Gellato obviously didn't like him either—though she seemed somewhat stand-offish in general, he had a feeling she had probably heard one too many of those rumours. Either way, he wasn't disappointed in the least. He had long since discarded the need for constant human companionship—Taka was much more pleasant.

As he chewed on a mouthful of salmon, an image of a cheerful smile and a flick of orange hair flashed through his mind. Except for her. She was an exception.

March 14, 2028 – 5:32 PM
Prosecutor's Building – Prosecutor Blackquill's Office

Simon clicked the 'Print' button as he finally finished writing up the progress report he had to hand in to the Chief Prosecutor. Progress reports were something demanded by Edgeworth that Simon did not recall the previous Chief Prosecutor asking for. All of the prosecutors had to hand in a quarterly report with a summary of the work they had done. Simon had a feeling that Edgeworth was using them to narrow down on suspicious behaviour.

As he waited for the document to finish printing, Simon's eyes flicked to his day planner. It seemed that he did not have any cases to prepare for tomorrow, which was a pleasant surprise. Perhaps he could actually relax a bit tonight and take Taka out for a fly. However, a split second later, as his eyes registered today's exact date, he doubled over his desk and clutched his chest.

Today was White Day. And he didn't have a gift to give to Athena.

Calm yourself, you dotard, Simon chided himself. White Day was a Japanese tradition where he was supposed to give a gift to those who had given him something on Valentine's Day (even if they were drugged)… and since they were in the United States, there was no way Athena would know about it… However, the mere thought of completely ignoring the tradition seemed dishonourable, considering the amount of effort and misguided good intentions Athena had put into making him those chocolates.

The dilemma was what to get her, though… Ideally he wanted to give her something she would actually appreciate, but he realized that he didn't really know what she liked anymore... Their weekly meetings had caused him to memorize her eating preferences, but beyond that he realized that all he knew about her superficial likes and dislikes were based on when she was eleven years old. Somehow, he didn't think she'd like a box of crayons any more.

Perhaps he should ask someone for advice… Another woman would certainly have some idea of what a girl Athena's age might like… However, the only woman he could think of was Aura… And there was no way in hell he was going to ask her for advice on something like this. He would never hear the end of it.

Maybe he would just take the typical way out and buy a box of white chocolates to give her—they were the most traditional White Day gift. Though it was completely unoriginal… But, then again, why was he putting so much thought into it anyway? It wasn't as if he needed to impress her; she wasn't his girlfriend or lover.

The last thought made him frown. Even just saying it—or rather denying it—had put the inappropriate idea in his head: Athena as his girlfriend… or lover. And suddenly an even more inappropriate image flashed through his mind.

Even though he was not in court, Simon slammed both of his fists onto his desk and nearly yelled an objection… at himself. Feeling his face turn red with embarrassment at even thinking such a dishonourable thing—Athena was not even old enough to get into a bar and he was fairly positive she saw him as an older brother (after all, that's all he had been when they were younger). Though, a small voice in his head quipped that she was more mature than her age—most of the time—and that, really, age was but a number in the legality of anything, technically. After all, he had seen enough cases where the age of an accused was the hot topic of debate and whether they were considered old enough to understand their actions—what was the difference really between 17 and 18, or 18 and 21… or 18 and 28?

The document had finished printing by this point, and Simon snatched it up quickly and aggressively clamped a paper clip onto it before quickly striding out of his office. He would hand in his report to the Chief Prosecutor immediately. It would be a welcome distraction from his disturbing train of thought.

He walked past the elevator—he did not want to wait as waiting would entail time to think. So, Simon found himself striding up the stairs to the 12th floor, which was by no means the top floor of the Prosecutor's Building, but the Chief Prosecutor had declined to change offices and had simply swapped the name plate on his current office. He found the exercise invigorating and the mindless repetition was doing wonders for occupying his brain.

Finally reaching the 12th floor, Simon pulled open the door, and stepped into the hallway. He took a moment to compose himself and idly brush a non-existent fleck of dust off of his surcoat before he purposefully continued down the hallway. When he was in front of the Chief Prosecutor's office and about to knock, he heard the rumble of Edgeworth's voice through the door, though he could not make out what he was saying. A moment later, the door opened and he heard a distinctly feminine voice say in a sing-song voice: "Okaaaaay, I will! Bye-bye, Edgey-poo! MUAH!"

A moment later, a soft body collided into him and bounced off his solid stature and onto the floor. Simon had been too stunned by what he had just heard that he had uncharacteristically failed to notice that a woman had tried to leave the office when the door had opened, and hence walked right into him.

"My apologies," Simon blurted out as he leaned down to pull the woman up onto her feet.

"Oh, uh, thanks… Sorry I didn't you see you there," she replied as she straightened her… kimono?

Simon quickly looked the woman up and down. She was small of stature, perhaps just over five feet, with long black hair tied in a small topknot with the rest flowing down her back. It was also adorned with various purple beads. She was wearing a long, but loose-fitting kimono and around her neck was an intricate beaded necklace with a large magatama. The outfit looked familiar, and it took him but a moment to register that it was very similar to that of Pearl Fey, the girl he had seen during the Shipshape Aquarium case.

"Maya! What did I just say to you?! I said to be careful and the first thing you do is walk into someone!"

Suddenly, Edgeworth was standing next to the woman—Maya, apparently. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her a bit as if he was examining her.

"I'm okay, Miles! Stop fussing like an old woman!" Maya rolled her eyes before flicking his hands off of her.

She then turned towards Simon and smiled.

"No harm done, right? My name is Maya Fey, Master of Kurain Village," she said, giving a short bow with both of her hands pressed together. Almost unconsciously, Simon imitated her and returned the bow, but bowing much lower—it had been drilled into him by his mother that he was to give a bow down to his waist for someone of high stature. Though he had only a general knowledge of the mysterious Kurain Village—it had been a hot topic about a decade ago when he had been in law school—he knew that her position should be treated with respect.

"My name is Simon Blackquill. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Oh wow, you sure are formal! I haven't had anyone bow like that to me since I first became Master! And that was just because they had to at the ceremony!" she remarked. "Geez, Miles, did you infect everyone in your office with your stiffness?"

"Maya..." Edgeworth growled in a tone Simon had heard before. It usually meant someone was going to get their pay cut.

"I'm just kidding! Anyway, it was nice meeting you, but I'd better get going!" she said with a laugh before darting around him and out of the door. Simon was impressed by how fast she could move despite being dressed in a kimono.

"Ahem… Prosecutor Blackquill," Edgeworth said at last, as Simon turned back to face his superior. "I imagine you are unhurt, but I will apologize for Ms. Fey's bumping into you… She can be a bit clumsy."

"As Fey-dono said: 'no damage done'. Though I suppose I should be the one to apologize for… interrupting your…" Simon paused, unsure what to call it. He had almost said 'tryst', but decided that he really didn't want to get fired after only working for two months and instead said: "Visit."

Suddenly, Simon saw an odd expression cross the Chief Prosecutor's face. The older man was quick to school his features again, but it had not been quick enough to hide from Simon's eyes. The black-clad prosecutor almost smirked. So, even the Chief Prosecutor could be embarrassed. Still, he supposed if anyone called him Blackey-poo he would be mortified as well.

"What can I do for you, Prosecutor Blackquill?" Edgeworth asked instead, settling down on his high-backed chair.

"My progress report, sir," Simon answered, handing him the printed document.

"Excellent, thank you," Edgeworth replied, taking the papers from him. "Please have a seat. Would you like some tea? Ms. Fey brought me an excellent blend that they only make in Kurain Village."

"I would love to try some," Simon said as he sat down opposite of the Chief Prosecutor. As stereotypical as he realized it was, he did enjoy a good cup of tea.

The other man stood and walked the few steps over to his windowsill where an elaborate tea set was laid out. As he watched the older man pour two cups of tea, he realized he could not help wondering what his relationship was with the Master of Kurain. Simon was not one to gossip—after all, he disliked being the topic of it, so why would he be the one to spread it—but it just fascinated him that someone as stoic and formal as the Chief Prosecutor could be so easily undone by someone. He had never seen the man as flustered as he was earlier when Maya Fey had fallen to the ground.

"If I may ask, how are you acquainted with the Master of Kurain? Kurain is rather far from here, is it not? And pardon me if I'm wrong, but I would not have thought of you as the type to take a vacation there," Simon asked casually.

"I have been to Kurain a number of times, actually," Edgeworth replied as he set the tea cups down on his desk. "Milk? Sugar?"

"No thank you," Simon replied.

"Ah, someone who appreciates the true taste of tea," the other man remarked with a small smile. "However, I did not meet Ms. Fey at Kurain Village. Believe it or not, she was working as a legal assistant for Phoenix Wright for a number of years. I met her through him."

"That is rather surprising," Simon said. A spirit medium acting as legal assistant? And for Wright-dono no less. It was certainly not what he was expecting.

The younger prosecutor lifted the tea cup to his mouth and took a sip. The tea had a strong and earthy taste, almost like a pu'er, but there was something distinctly different about it. However, he could not quite place what it was. Over the rim of the tea cup, he could see that as the Chief Prosecutor drank his tea, he had noticeably relaxed.

"The tea is delicious. It has very robust taste," Simon remarked casually, putting the tea cup down.

"Yes, I agree. I find it very invigorating when I am fatigued," Edgeworth said with a nod and a small smile. "I think Ms. Fey knows that I drink it often when I'm working late. She always brings enough of it with her to restock me for a year."

"That is very gracious of her. She seems to be a kind-hearted woman," Simon replied, leaning back in the chair. At that moment, his eyes caught sight of something at the foot of Edgeworth's desk. It appeared to be a crumpled paper bag.

"Yes, well, a way to a man's heart is through his stomach, or so they say," Edgeworth chuckled.

"Sir, it would appear there is a bag of fast-food wrappers on your floor," Simon remarked, as he leaned down and picked up the bag from the floor and held it up to the other man.

"Urk! Maya…" Edgeworth growled as he saw the bag. Simon was certain he saw a vein twitch in the older man's forehead. He quickly took the bag from Simon, crumpled it up and tossed it into his garbage can as he muttered: "Really, they might as well say: 'The way to a woman's heart is through her stomach'! I swear I've met more women with voracious appetites than men!"

Well, if that wasn't all a confirmation of their relationship, he didn't know what was. However, what the other man said sparked an idea in Simon's head. Women with voracious appetites… Athena had always eaten like a bird when she was young, but recently he saw that she was quite capable of eating nearly as much as he could. He supposed that it was because she exercised quite frequently. However, the amount of cake she could eat hadn't changed. The young Athena had always devoured any type of cake and asked for seconds. Last week, he remembered that they had visited a small café, where the young woman had ordered two large slices of strawberry shortcake and finished them both before he had even drunk half of his Americano. And with that thought, he realized he knew exactly what to get Athena for White Day.

"Excuse me, sir, but I just remembered I have a previous engagement I need to attend to," Simon said, glancing at the clock. He needed to get to a bakery or café before they closed.

"Of course. I will review your report and forward you any comments I may have," Edgeworth replied with a nod.

"Thank you for the tea and conversation," Simon answered. "Have a good evening, sir."

Who would've thought the Chief Prosecutor would be the one to unwittingly give him the inspiration he needed for Athena's White Day gift?

March 14, 2028 – 7:41 PM
Athena Cykes' Apartment

"Simon!" Athena exclaimed as the door swung open. "What are you doing here?"

"May I come in?" he asked, shifting the box in his hand nervously.

"Of course! It's a biiiit messy in here, though, I haven't had a chance to clean everything yet…" she replied, stepping aside to let him inside her apartment.

Simon moved his way to the small, round table she had set up in her living room, dining room area and set down the small box. He noticed that the television was on and was currently broadcasting some kind of television show. It appeared to be some kind of drama, though he couldn't fathom what. A man dressed like a cowboy outfit and was examining a cow, while a woman wearing a red bandana was speaking to him with a worried look on her face.

"Oh, I'll just turn that off. It's a re-run anyway, the new episode isn't coming out until Thursday," Athena remarked as she caught his gaze. "You know, the main guy character kinda reminds me of you! You both have this dark and brooding personality. He's also kinda intimidating looking and keeps to himself, but when you get to know him he's really a big softie! And he loves animals! The main heroine of the show is totally falling in love with him right now, but there's this epic love triangle going on with them and the beautiful rich girl! But you know, he's kinda way hotter than you, but don't take that personally. You should totally watch it sometime! It's super popular right now, so I bet it'd give you a lot to talk about at the office! It's called 'Island of Love'!"

"… I think I will pass on the offer," Simon remarked dryly. He wasn't quite sure what it was about all of these television shows that got her so worked up. She seemed to be into one or another these days.

"Oh… Okay…" she replied dejectedly. However, she seemed to recover a moment later. "So, what's with the box?"

"Athena… In Japanese tradition, on March 14, men are supposed to give a gift to women who gave them something on Valentine's Day. It is called White Day. This is my White Day gift to you," he said, gesturing at the cardboard box he had just set down.

"Oh, Simon! You didn't have to do that!" Athena replied, a surprised expression on her face. "But… I thought you hated the chocolates… and, uh, sorry again about drugging you…"

"… I did not hate the chocolates… They were actually quite delicious, despite the negative… side effects," Simon said, grimacing a bit as he recalled his unpleasant morning-after.

"Really? They tasted good?" the young woman asked with a big smile. "I'm really glad to hear that!"

He could not help return her smile a little, as she beamed back at him with slightly flushed cheeks. It was at that moment that he realized she was wearing casual clothing, and not the yellow suit that he was used to seeing. She had on a pair of gray capri sweatpants and a pale yellow t-shirt with a v-neck… a rather low v-neck he remarked uncomfortably. He quickly snapped his attention towards the box on the table.

"Please, open it," he said, gesturing at the box.

"Okay!" Athena untied the ribbon holding the box closed and pulled the top off carefully. "Oh! A cake! It's beautiful! And I love the drawing! Hahaha, your skills haven't changed even after seven years!"

After visiting about five different bakeries, he had finally managed to find the cake he was looking for. It was a simple strawberry shortcake. However, he had requested that it be decorated with additional strawberries dipped in white chocolate to make it more White Day-themed. Afterwards, he had bought a candy writer and drawn on the cake himself. He was thankful for his dexterity, though he knew his drawing skills were lacking.

When he had bought the cake, he had recalled the times when he would draw pictures with Athena and how he had tried to sketch a portrait of her once. Even though it had been absolutely abysmal, the young Athena had loved it and demanded to keep it even though he wanted to scrap it out of embarrassment. He remembered being told by Dr. Cykes several days later that Athena had taped it up in her bedroom.

So, he had attempted to recreate that drawing she had seemed to like so much. He was fairly positive that it looked exactly the same as it had seven years ago.

"Thank you, Simon! I love it! You even picked my favourite cake flavour!" Athena said, giving him a tight hug. A moment later, she let go and flashed him a grin. "Hold on a second!"

Then, she disappeared into her bedroom and came out a moment later with a piece of paper which she handed to him. It was the drawing he had been thinking of, though the worse for wear since he had last seen it.

"You know, Simon… I actually think your drawing skills might have gotten worse, now that I look at it again…"

With this chapter, I really wanted to explore Simon's work life a bit more, and to show his interactions with his co-workers. So, this chapter introduced the other prosecutors that Simon will mostly be interacting with throughout the story. I had a lot of fun coming up with Fiera and Shao-Feng's characters, I hope to keep them consistent with AA character-style tendencies, haha. All three prosecutors will have a supporting role within the story, so look forward to awkward Simon trying to have friends (or frenemies?).

Also, yeah, I am one of those rare ones who think Edgeworth and Maya would make an awesome couple (like c'mon, Case 5 of T&T!) so this is just my desperate attempt to have them be together (sort of). They're just in some kind of long-distance relationship, haha.

By the way, the whole 'Island of Love' show is based on Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness/Sunshine Islands (which I guess I should disclaim here…) characters and story concept, but ultimately it's just a spoof of the typical romantic drama! I've been playing Sunshine Islands all of my winter break and just got obsessed with it, so of course it worked itself into here. If you're familiar with the characters, Athena's reference might be more amusing, haha.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Anyway, I'm not sure when the next update will be posted since I'm back to school again… Sigh. Thanks for reading though, and please leave a review with any thoughts and constructive criticism! I will do my best to have a new update out as soon as possible!

-FireEdge