Chapter Text
It started with a note.
Miles noticed it after the lecture, while putting away his things. A pink index card slipped out from between his notes. It wasn’t hard to miss, considering the obnoxiously cheery color. He had looked around him, trying to figure out who it had belonged to, but by now the room had cleared. It clearly wasn’t for him, despite having no sender or receiver explicitly stated.
Yes, it couldn’t have been for him, he reasoned internally, turning the paper over to reveal a doodle of a heart on the back. Some poor student must have misplaced their message intended for another, although Miles couldn’t recall anyone sitting near his spot in the front. Who passes around notes in university anyways? This wasn’t grade school.
Although the large, childish scrawl that stared back at him in all lowercase would assert otherwise.
i think ur rly cute <3
He stared at this sentence, mortified. Maybe it was a prank. Maybe some students attending the class noticed star prosecutor Miles Edgeworth shadowing a lecture and decided to target him. It wouldn’t have been the first time Miles’ success had gained him enemies. Although, he had no reason to believe some nameless law student would harbor a grudge against him. He tried his best not to interact with any of them, remaining a cold figure in the front row.
No matter, Miles decided, as he crumpled the paper. Tossing the note into the nearest recycling bin, along with any remaining thoughts. Miles found it best to pay one-off occurrences such as this no mind. They didn’t serve him any purpose after all.
Except, this wasn’t one-off. Miles was back at Ivy U, the library being one of the few closest to him that carried the reference book he required for a recent case. He returned to his seat, ready to annotate his scanned copy. He reached over the desk to grab a highlighter from his bag and froze. Next to his bag was a plastic water bottle, likely from one of the various vending machines that littered the facility. That alone wouldn’t have been unusual, although the close proximity to his own belongings was odd, if not for the familiarly pink index card taped to the side. Miles’ curiosity got the best of him, picking the note up gingerly before frantically looking around. His chosen corner of the library was, of course, empty. He looked down at the note in his hands. The same childish scrawl stared back at him.
make sure to drink water handsome !!!
<3
He paled. Someone must have left this for him, and if that was the case, then that last note must’ve been for him as well. Miles grimaced, trying to ignore the feelings of unease and uncertainty heating up his face. He took the bottle into his hands, noting it was still sealed before carefully unscrewing the top. After a tentative sip Miles realized he had been quite thirsty after all.
If this happens a third time, he thought while placing the note in a small bag pocket, I must investigate. For my own sake.
Miles hadn’t prepared to encounter anything outside of Ivy U. He figured, if he waited it out, then when he visited the campus again he’d be the one prepared. After all, based on current evidence, he had good reason to assume this…admirer, was likely a student at Ivy University. Perhaps they were a lovestruck freshman, immediately charmed by Miles’ few appearances. But two occurrences do not make a reliable pattern, as proven by the appearance of a third gift, this time in the Courthouse.
After another successful case, Miles, who planned on returning a few files, entered the reading room. The room felt like a maze as he walked through, files and shelving stacked up to the wall. He smiled to himself, allowing a small glimmer of pride at his victory now that he was alone.
A small shuffle interrupted him, followed by…some sort of squeak? Miles flinched, looking around for the origin of the muffled noise. He turned around, moving in what he figured was the direction of the other person before the door slammed behind him. Miles whipped his head toward the door, as if it had personally offended him. Miles stared at the door before his eyes moved to focus on a small…pink index card floating towards the ground in front of the now closed exit.
Miles stood there, processing what just occurred. It was too late now to run after them he was certain, and the image of star prosecutor Miles Edgeworth frantically rushing out of the reading room would be…unbecoming. He stiffened, imagining cold eyes that saw right through his success. Unbecoming indeed. Soberly, he bent forward to pick up the note. He felt detached reading it, any reaction dampened by his previous thoughts. This is why he shouldn’t brag, couldn’t. His successes did not matter, nor did his trophies. Not to the cold, discerning eyes of his mentor.
i rly loved seeing u in court !!!
ur so cool !!!
<3
Miles shouldn’t let this affect him the way it had started to. Three times indicated a pattern, and it seemed ignoring the notes wouldn’t cause them to let up. He had to end this now, on his terms.
Phoenix smiled to himself once he was outside the courthouse. Successfully slipping away while managing to leave a hurried note left him feeling quite giddy. That was so exciting! He thought to himself as he hurried over to take his bike off the rack, If only I could’ve seen the look on his face…
This was now the third time Phoenix had managed to leave a note for him. When the opportunity first presented itself during that boooring lecture, Phoenix knew he had found his way in. If he was too direct at first, he might scare off the cagey prosecutor, so slipping him little gifts would mean that he could leave it up to Miles to initiate any contact.
He sighed, dreamily, remembering how cool Miles had looked behind the prosecutor’s bench earlier. A faint furrow to his brow as he read through his court notes. How he had coolly disproven every piece of evidence the defense presented.
Part of Phoenix’s law studies meant he needed to sit in on various cases, but there was a reason Phoenix had picked this specific trial. The same reason he picked any trial he had to sit in on. The same reason he was taking law classes and had to sit in on trials in the first place.
Miles Edgeworth, demon prosecutor. That’s what the tabloids and newspaper articles called him. But Phoenix knew better. They just didn’t see what he could see, what he knew was there, hidden behind the unfeeling persona Miles put on behind the bench. He was a professional through and through, but he was also a kind, just person. Everything about Miles exuded a contagious passion, something Phoenix found himself hopelessly drawn to. Phoenix, being an artist, was the kind of person to put his all into his projects, and he needed a project, something to focus all of his efforts into. If there was anyone he could afford to give his affection to now, after… her, it was Miles.
And Miles was perfect —No. Even better than perfect. Underneath that cold exterior where he hid his humanity, his faults. Phoenix would be the one to uncover it. He would be the one to see the imperfect, human side of Miles. He just had to be patient.
That was why he found himself here, outside the courthouse on a Saturday morning, fumbling with his bike lock. Phoenix’s thoughts were broken by the rumble of a car engine. He recognized that sound. Looking up expectantly, Phoenix craned his neck to peer through the window of the red sports car in front of him. The tinted glass showed only a faint outline, but Phoenix knew whose car it was. His heart beat in anticipation. And he stood there, staring dumbly at the car as it left the lot and drove away. He stopped staring after a while, peeling his eyes away from the parking lot.
As he biked home, Phoenix wondered what it would be like to sit in the passenger seat of that car, to look over and see him glance up from the road ahead, their eyes would meet and he would smile at Phoenix, soft and kind. Phoenix wondered about this as he came to a stop on an intersection. He had stopped at a small stationary shop, smiling as he glanced through the display window. Something caught his eye then, a cartoon themed stationary set, complete with a classy red and silver pen. He biked over, stopping to go inside. Thinking back to his primary school years, he vaguely remembered Miles’ affinity for The Steel Samurai. Phoenix grinned.
He waved to the cashier with a quick “Thank you!” before tucking the wrapped box in his bag. Phoenix biked back to his dorm quickly after that, wracking his brain for what he’d write for his next note.