Night 47: F21-F30 Hallway

[mistressmadgirl.livejournal.com]

It was, thought Agatha, about time this Landel guy started acting like a real evil megalomaniacal mad scientist. All the sugary-sweet fakery had been getting on her nerves, but this persona was something she knew all about. Right down, in fact, to the inclusion of information helpful to his enemies.

She'd been spending most of the time since finishing dinner assembling the pitifully few useful-looking items their room contained. She hadn't originally meant to include the little radio in that, since no matter what settings she tried it had only produced rather forgettable music and she didn't have the time or the tools to reduce it to usable parts.

Now, though, she snatched it up and slid it over to the channel that had been mentioned. It might not be much help, but she didn't see how it could hurt, either. "I think I'm all set," she declared. "Ema?"

Comments

spoilers for ace attorney

[iwhipthefool.livejournal.com]

The journal was fit snugly under her arm when she realized that Kibitoshin wasn't going to continue his foolishness and she turned to go back to arranging the items she needed for the night. She had just about everything now. She only needed to get the aforementioned dog leash and then she could head out.

Or so she thought. Kibitoshin was talking again and while she thought he could be ignored, he had to bring him up. Franziska froze as Kibitoshin compared her to her father and she felt her blood run cold. He was more fearsome than her. He was better. He was always, always better. He could instill fear and respect in others without needing a whip. He would always overshadow her. Always. Her hands shook slightly until she gripped the side of the box, knuckles whitening under the pressure. "I am not my father," she said, voice strained. She never would be. No matter how much she wanted to be. But she would never escape his shadows - of his greatness and his sin. "I am not my father."

Her voice grew stronger and she turned, pointing a finger at Kibitoshin, barely keeping her composure. "Do not compare us ever again. I am not him."

He was supposed to be dead, executed for killing a lawyer, Miles' father, and for killing another, pushing the crime off on her little brother. As much as she wanted to be like him, she never wanted to twist the laws that she was meant to uphold the way he had. She wanted justice, perfection and punishment for the guilty party. She wanted a perfect win record and a spotless career. She would never have either, she knew, not when she didn't have the brilliance of her father or the strength of her brother, but she could still try in her own way. She had to try. There was no path for her other than law.

"And if I didn't want you around, I would say so," she snapped, turning away again. The box was in order and she pulled the dog leash from the desk drawer, slamming the thing shut soon after. After a moment's hesitation, she continued, in a slightly less angry tone. "Your foolishness will only bring you to harm. It's best to beat it out of you before it becomes habit."

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

Kibitoshin had already braced himself for another smack for insolence or something- being disrespectful, or overstepping his place in the pecking order, maybe. The strike didn't come.

When he looked up, Franziska was just a little bent over the box, utterly silent. The journal hadn't moved from under her arm; she seemed far more focused on holding onto the box with all of her might, so tightly it was a wonder it didn't buckle under the pressure of her fingers. Had... had he really done it now? Any second now she'd turn around and hurl the entire box at him, or-

- or not. When she spoke, her voice was thick to breaking point with emotion: anger, but, even moreso, something else he recognised but somehow couldn't place, like snatches of a song. He'd spent the entire day thinking she admired the man he'd met in the Greenhouse, but... but maybe there was more to it then that. And even if he didn't know what, he still couldn't help but feel that part of him knew and even possibly understood just a little what it was she was feeling, untraceable though it was to him.

Kibitoshin flinched when she turned to him, tone sharpened, but it was almost entirely reflexive. Somewhere along the lines he'd made a mistake in his understanding of her. That had to be put right. "I won't do it again, I promise," he said quietly, biting his lip. "I... I'm sorry." He meant it, too. Hah. Who'd have thought that he'd be the one apologising tonight?

The edge to Franziska's voice had blunted a little by the time he spoke again. He tried to smile, mostly for the sake of easing the tension on the room but partly to try and make sure she knew there were no hard feelings. "Well... don't let me stop you, then. Who else is going to carry your things and sit on your equipment if that happens?" He paused. "Is there anything else you need, or...?"

[iwhipthefool.livejournal.com]

"Apologies are unnecessary, just do not repeat your error." She no longer wanted to think of that momentary burst of emotion. It was embarrassing and it left an uncomfortable hotness in her head, like she was on the brink of tears in her mind. She'd never shed a single one in front of someone like Kibitoshin, but the feeling was there. She hated crying and the last time she'd done it was in front of Miles. But never again. Not when he was also gone.

But when Kibitoshin attempted to lighten the mood, she couldn't help but smirk a bit. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. If Scruffy were here, he probably would have told him, but for now? He was doomed.

"I will hold you to your word, Kibitoshin. You're dimissed," she said, waving her hand toward the door. The rest of this she could take care of. Wherever the bumbling detective had gotten off to, she had no time to think of it if she wanted to get upstairs and start the process.

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

There was at least a trace of a smile (a smirk counted as a smile, right?) on Franziska's face when he looked up next. Good. Leaving her when she was in the sort of state she'd been in before would have been downright irresponsible, and, even if he wasn't one hundred percent sure she was okay now, heading out wasn't going to weigh too heavily on his mind. He hoped.

"Just call me if you need me again," Kibitoshin answered, saluting smartly as though he had suddenly joined some sort of armed force. Well, it certainly felt appropriate, anyway. "You know. If you get in trouble." He paused, mulling that one over again. "And I happen to, um, be in the vicinity. Somehow. And you know I'm there. Coincidentally, I mean. Hah..."

... that wasn't going anywhere, was it? Coughing and clamping his mouth into an awkward smile before it could add to the verbal pileup he'd managed to create, he nodded and ducked out of the door and into the hallway. They were both smiling right now- he intended to leave before anything hard and book-shaped could fix that.

[iwhipthefool.livejournal.com]

Honestly, if that man never learned to hold his tongue, everyone in the world would know what a fool the Guardian of the Universe was. Franziska sighed once Kibitoshin left, pinching the bridge of her nose as if warding away a headache. The man was supposed to have the most important job in the universe and yet he sat on knives. It was no wonder the world was such a mess if that was who was watching over them all.

With the room settling back into silence, Franziska worked quickly. She kept everything neatly packed in the box, double-checking that all of the ingredients were there. Everything else could be found upstairs if Sai was to be believed. Picking up the box and wrapping the dog leash loosely over her shoulder, Franziska snagged her flashlight and headed out into the night.

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