*CONCERNED WARDEN NOISES*

“…Jesus, you’re making it sound like he almost killed someone…But, you know I’ll be there for him whatever it is. Lay it on me…”

“Jesus Christ,” he hissed, leaning forward in his seat as he covered his mouth. Fuck. Almost beating a person to death out of sheer rage. Out of sheer revenge. For fucks sake… He could understand why Edward didn’t want to tell him but…Christ. 

He ran a hand through his hair, feeling his bangs fall into his face. They’d get through this. He would absolutely make sure they’d get through this. But, Jay was right, he’d have to make sure that Edward didn’t run. Hell, Satoshi would run if it was him. 

“God. Fucking Christ. I’m going to personally fucking murder whoever the fucking source is. …Jesus. What do we got left before the bomb drops? A week? Less? I never know because this shit leaks into the internet all the time.”

“….?”

Running a hand through his hair as he listened to Jay, Satoshi frowned. Oh for fucks sake…. 

“Seriously? They’re starting that kind of shit up? Oh for fucks sake. Where do they come up with this? I have no reason to be wary of Edward. What is wrong with them? Let us be secretive. It’s better that way. They can make up all the shit about me they want; but they have no right to make up shit about Edward.”

“…Are they? They must have been sniffing around again and my parents told them it was an ‘accident’.  But, no, I haven’t. I tend not to read that trash. …Why? This seems like a weird conversation to be having.”

Well…That was random, but it seemed to be important. He looked over his shoulder, hearing Edward in the bathroom finishing up his shower. “…I’m stepping out!” he called. “Be back in a few.”

Grabbing his keys from the hook by the door, Satoshi stepped out of the apartment and closed his door. Motioning with his head to follow him, Satoshi led Jay out of the apartment complex and over to his mother’s Porsche. Unlocking it, he opened the door and got inside the driver’s seat. 

“This is as private as it can get. What’s up?”

Nap interrupted……………..

“Man…” 

Trudging to the front door, Satoshi tiredly opened it and blinked. 

“…Oh, hey…! Do you want me to get Edward?”

“You’re not serious… He would actually be dumb enough to try and leave him? Oh my God. Does he not know Satoshi by now? That he absolutely loathes those toerags at those tabloids? And that he’d actually sue the hell out of them?”

“…Are you going to at least share your idea? And if there’s anything I can do to help, I can do it. I like to think I’m good at what I do.”

   “It’s not gonna prevent anything, really-- I’m not a miracle worker-- but it’ll at least stop Edward from doing something he’s gonna regret. Two people going is a bit much, so I’ll do this myself, but if either of us thinks of something to deal with the tabloids I’ll leave it to you.”

“And neither one of them are none the wiser that this bullshit is about to drop.” 

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. What could they do? How could they stop this from coming out? They couldn’t sue them. That was out of their league. Satoshi absolutely could. He had enough schooling to know how a civil case worked. 

“I don’t know when this next issue will drop. Or if it’ll be one of those BS ‘special issues’. Shit. Shit shit shit. We…We could root out the source now. Find them and make them call up the publisher to make sure they don’t release it. That’s all I’m coming up with.”

“I just…If we can’t fix this in time, I hope this wouldn’t make him leave Satoshi.”

   “...Oh, great. You’re right. You just reminded me that he would be dumb enough to try.”

   He ran a hand down his face with a sigh. Okay. Think. Think, think, think...

“It would be someone who doesn’t like Satoshi very much,” she murmured, crossing her arms. “His family has so many enemies, it’s really sad. …Are you sure? Are you sure it couldn’t be one of those two people who don’t like Edward? I only ask because maybe it’s their way of trying to break them up. Them thinking that Satoshi would break up with Edward if he found out.”

Or maybe it was the newer recruits, who knew. But it had to be from someone inside the building. Natalia stayed far away from the paparazzi as much as she could. 

“I…I don’t know. The only thing I can think of is suing them, but even then… We’re not the ones who this will be about.” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “If this comes out, it’s going to break him, isn’t it?”

Rummaging through her messenger bag, she pulled out the crinkled tabloid. Flipping through it, she found the page that she was looking for. Finding it, she handed it to Jay. 

“Start with the paragraph that says, ‘Edgeworth, 24, has been secretive about his personal life’. It…Mentions a source giving an exclusive interview about….Well…”

   He took the article and read through it, frowning more and more as he got towards the end.

   “...It’s probably one of the other guards, but I’m not sure who’d do it. I...know of two people who don’t like Ed, but...” ...but, well, Ron wouldn’t undo everything he started in the first place no matter how angry he was now, and Justin was too much of a coward to do it.

“Eighteen year old me was a trip, lemme tell you. But, obviously, that’s not what I want now. Having someone to settle down with is on my list of priorities. Obviously I found that person but… I can’t Nat wanting to settle down.”

“What? Put up with dating her? I was young and a bit wild myself. She captured my eye with her smarts and one night, at a party, we really hit it off. She charmed the hell out of me, I won’t deny that. She liked to have a good time and that’s what I wanted back then.”

“…She’s very aware that she’s pretty ridiculous. I think she always has been. Working with her was a trip. Dating her was an even bigger trip when we were younger.”

“….I’ll tell Edward that you’re being mean to me.”