Day 54: Lunch

[full_score]

All things considered, last shift had been pretty low key. After this morning's disaster, though, that was perfectly fine by Claude. Some fresh air and a chance to make sure Guy and Okita were all right weren't things to take for granted. It was also good to have a fairly normal, conversation with Guy that didn't slip off into awkward territory

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[ham_fisted]

Had it seriously been more than a month since Maya Fey's kidnapping? That probably made his last real doctor's appointment a little over three weeks ago. He raised his hand to his forehead and slowly ran it backward through his hair. The injury from that day was long gone.

"Hmm?" It took him a second or two to process the question. "If you really want to know, she's my archenemy's assistant," he said with a wide smile, nearly giving in to the urge to chuckle as he slid into the chair opposite her. There wasn't the slightest bit of contempt in his voice at the passing mention of Phoenix Wright; when you were someone else's rival like he was, you didn't have to go around proving it to everyone. That was Gumshoe's policy, and he applied it to almost everything in life. Just like when he'd started questioning people yesterday! He hadn't been able to show Peter his badge, but the man hadn't asked for proof of his occupation, anyway. It'd turned out alright in the end, though, hadn't it? In his opinion, almost everything about his job that was hard would go away forever if he didn't have to deal with procedure. This search warrant, that subpoena... Why couldn't things be nice and simple for a change?

"... I know how crazy this might sound," he spoke up again, unable to hold himself back, "But that girl is a real, bona-fide spirit medium! It's unbelievable!" The rasp in his voice didn't mute his boyish excitement. When it came down to it, knowing so many kids brimming with irreplaceable talent--first it had been Mr. Edgeworth, then Ms. von Karma, and now Maya Fey--ultimately made Gumshoe feel proud.

[she_is_ruin]

With the childish answer, she felt herself becoming bored. Perhaps even before the answer became. Yomi had been surprised at first; that wasn’t good, and it wasn’t normal, at least not for her now. But having ascertained that this man had nothing to do with her, Yomi no longer had a reason to care. There was no threat to her or the stone.

Her gaze wandered away. What was he saying? Something about spirit mediums. “Really.”

Yomi saw in her mind’s eye a flash of dark corridors, remembered the sound of soft, scared panting. The existence of seekers wasn’t so unbelievable. There were plenty. She had killed plenty. The only thing that tied her to them was some small overlap in their job descriptions--and in this case, perhaps, a little physical resemblance.

[ham_fisted]

"Yep." His smile faded when he opened his eyes and noticed she wasn't looking at him anymore. She was already ignoring him? Gumshoe had thought talking about Maya's talent might have been a good starting point (it was something interesting that a limited number of people knew about), but apparently not. He'd try not to let it get to him, as always.

Whether she believed him or not, he guessed he shouldn't keep talking about someone who wasn't even here. Not only was it rude, they'd also just met each other! Anyway, if he was going to interview her, now was the time for introductions. Talking distracted Gumshoe from being nervous, at least, so he might as well stick with what he knew best.

"So what's your name?" he continued with an absent smile, lowering his gaze to cut some of his fish. "I don't think we've met, have we? Unless I'm wrong." The corner of his mouth quirked up, and he glanced at her. "...Though I'm pretty sure that isn't the case."

[she_is_ruin]

Yomi continued to ignore the rules of table etiquette, gaze rooted firmly on the rest of the room. The ease with which she’d observed events all morning was crumbling away, however. Boredom was being rapidly overtaken by the drum of anger that forever sustained her, and it was growing in intensity, the reason for which she couldn’t quite identify.

No, that wasn’t right. She knew the reason. She just didn’t want to admit it.

Who cares? a voice in her head kept repeating. Who cares?

For a split second, all his questioning caused a furrow to cut deep into her brow as she bit back a rush of venom--why did this place keep doing this to her? Quickly enough, though, she smoothed her expression again, not without a little effort. What was this?

Blankly, Yomi turned her gaze back on him. “What does it matter?” was her answer. “I’m not that girl. I’m no one you know.”

[ham_fisted]

Troubled kids were in surprisingly short supply here (he'd ran into about one or two of them so far), so Gumshoe had assumed that this girl wasn't one of them. He should've picked up on it after the first hint: her attitude.

"N-No, you aren't..." he replied, trying not to sound meek. She'd start thinking she could walk all over him if he gave up now. This time, he was the one looking away. Which was probably a huge giveaway that her statement put him on edge, but he didn't think of that. He made himself look her in the eye again, his gaze a little softer than before. "But that doesn't mean I can't get to know you."

Gumshoe had a feeling that this wouldn't go anywhere if he didn't insist on it. An interview was looking less likely, but it wasn't about that. He couldn't turn his back on a kid who might have just been feeling emotional after what had happened that morning.

"Umm..." The detective picked up a French Fry and started turning it between his fingers. Like he sometimes did with his pencil during questioning. "Alright then, why don't I start? My name's Dick Gumshoe." He managed a small smile. "Go ahead. Ask me anything you want."

[she_is_ruin]

A pause. Then, in the same tone: “Aren’t you forward. Did you have a crush on this girl I’m supposed to look like?”

Practically speaking, Yomi didn’t think this one would be difficult to handle. He was more weird than dangerous. A talkative type, it seemed, and unless he was a very, very good actor, one who wore his intentions on his proverbial sleeve.

She continued to stare at the man evenly, arms crossed. “Fine,” agreed Yomi, deciding to take him up on the offer. Though what she asked really had nothing to do with ‘getting to know’ him. “Tell me something about this place that the average prisoner wouldn’t know.”

Maybe she would get lucky. Worth a shot, hm?

[ham_fisted]

Gumshoe was about to pop the fry into his mouth when the girl's question took him completely by surprise, causing him to raise an eyebrow and freeze. "Wh-What? No way, pal," he replied quickly with a smirk, hoping she couldn't sense how nervous he felt; he wanted it to seem like he was laughing it off. "If I had to choose a way to describe it, I'd say she's a friendly acquaintance." The man contented himself with glancing between the food counter and the front doors as he got over the shock of hearing such a question, then leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"S-Sorry. I understand if you don't want to talk to me. I just figured, you know, since we're sitting together..." This was when he was meant to stop talking, wasn't it? Young or old, as long as a woman had it all together, Gumshoe couldn't figure them out. He was always too busy trying to say the right thing to them, and when he didn't, he--

"Th-The average prisoner? Well, uh..." A few seconds passed in silence as he tried to think of an impressive answer. Something that would blow her mind. Naturally, the first person he would've turned to for help would have been Mr. Edgeworth, so that was who he thought of first. Nothing came to mind, though, not right away. However, when he remembered something from one of their earlier conversations... "Oh, I know! Did you know that Dr. Landel took us from a very important time in our lives? That's why everyone has a different idea of what year it is." He grinned. This was only conjecture, of course. But so what? The theory held water in Mr. Edgeworth and Wright's cases, as well as his own. And the Skye sisters'! That made it good enough for Gumshoe.

[she_is_ruin]

A blush would have completed the image. Had such a character really caught Yomi off guard like he had? In the few minutes since he had taken a (uninvited) seat, it seemed hard to believe, even for her, the one who had had to be reminded of stupid things.

Yomi gave a cool, catlike smile at his stuttering answer but all she said was, "I don’t think you do," because underneath the teasing, she didn’t think he understood why she wouldn’t want to talk to him at all. An apology wasn’t enough. Entreating Yomi’s human side wasn’t enough.

And he had no clue. Not the slightest clue he was sitting by such a monster, did he?

She kept the smile going as he sought to meet her request, lessening it slightly when he eventually came up with something. Very important times? Ah, yes, she had died, forced Kagura to slay her and carry the memory with her forever. That was Yomi's important time. "And how do you know that?" she asked.