you can count on me to misbehave

"Ah- actually, I’m in my second year at Nox Central…" she said, realising suddenly that- in that moment, at least- she had become the ‘high school girlfriend’ trope. Ah. "I-I have a computer programming contract on the side, but… they want me to graduate before I start working for them on more than a holidays/weekends basis."

Franziska watched as Chihiro's bag sank into the folds of her skirt. The petticoat underneath must be quite large, she thought. The skirt was cute, but definitely not something Franziska would ever be caught wearing. She needed to appear dangerous and threatening at all times and poofy skirts just did not help that image.

It was only a short walk to Screen 7- a smaller screen, since Snow Sisters: Reloaded had been out for quite some time already, and Chihiro expected there wouldn’t be many people watching with them- but she slowed her walk a little, matching Franziska’s own strides, though her heels made the steps a little more impressive.

"About myself? Hm, where to begin," Franziska pulled down a seat, brushed it with her gloves and then sat down, placing her bag on the floor and removing her coat. "I've just moved to Nox to study at Imperial University. I'll be a prosecutor once I graduate."

However, he didn’t run off at the mention of the legal system, even though he wanted to, and he’d probably committed enough intentional and unintentional petty crimes over the four years he’d lived there that the police were too busy going ‘oh no, not him again’ to actually arrest him for something. It did occur to him that he was an idiot for waiting for the police here, too, but he felt too indebted to Franziska, and what a moron you are, Nico di Angelo.

Franziska's brow furrowed and she pulled back her shoulders, placing a hand on her hip and stared down at Nico. She did not appreciate the hasty conclusions that this kid was jumping to without any real reason for it.

He’d heard that she’d moved to Nox in the hopes of studying Law at Imperial University. He dimly remembered that she was due to move in some weeks ago, but he’d been too tied up with work and the trip to make any kind of arrangement to meet her. Predictably, she’d instead come to meet him. She’d probably nosed around the prosecutor’s office to find where he was living (…unless he did give her his address. Oh. He probably had.) or when he’d be back; the von Karma name did, after all, carry some weight behind it.

Franziska looked away and around the immediate facets of the apartment that she could see. It was organised and tidy and far more lived in than hers was. She remembered the boxes that had no place yet and wondered idly if she would ever find somewhere to unpack them.

She fidgeted with her bag for a second, her fingers brushing on the small packet of Minstrels that she was planning to smuggle in, then smiled at Franziska.

As to the suggestion posed to her, Franziska took a second to wonder if Chihiro was a mind reader. She raised a hand to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. How long had it been since she'd seen a movie with someone else? Quite a while she realised. It must be her lucky day; movies were boring alone and Chihiro was very cute. 

She was gorgeous, she was amazing, and Chihiro Fujisaki you are hopelessly out of your league. 

Realising she’d fallen behind slightly— and was probably blushing furiously, Chihiro, you are a mess— she stuffed her makeup back into her tiny white messenger bag and nodded furiously at the taller girl, giving her one of her trademark I-am-a-mess-of-nerves smiles.

The cinema foyer was busy with people buying tickets and snacks and drinks. Franziska did consider getting some popcorn to take in with her but she had a bottle of water in her bag and that was enough. 

She put the phone down, and he nodded at her. The police weren’t his favourite people— but Nico had had a fair share of gang violence, and to think that he might be marginally more safe for a few weeks was certainly a relief. He kept one eye on the guy on the ground, but turned his attention to Franziska properly this time.

"Usually, yes. It is somewhat an extension of myself," She said, then smiled. "I use it to keep people in line. You'd be surprised the kind of fools that make it into the courtroom at times."

In fact, this running was actually starting to warm him up a little. Maybe he should chase criminals more often. 

Hiroomi hesitated momentarily behind her, his eyes darting between the two paths, finding himself at a loss. However, a tiny blur of colour alerted him to the presence of the robber darting down the path on the right. 

"That’ll be 400 zenny" Maya rummaged through her bag and pulled out a tiny colorful wallet and then some coins placing them onto the counter and taking the receipt "Thank you!" Maya spoke taking the tray, she couldn’t wait any longer to eat.

"We should find somewhere to sit!" Maya wore a happy smile and looked around, she soon found a clean table and skipped over setting the tray onto the table. It was recently cleaned too, so there was no need to clean it herself. All that was left was to enjoy the food.

The shaking didn't change it and Franziska reached up to move it aside with her hand. She then reached out and began to select singular fries, nibbling at them lightly.

Yumichika walked down the well lit side walks. He liked the Christmas season for it’s light displays and tree decorations. Smiling a little as he took a sip of his tea - not coffee surprise surprise - and looking at the various light displays. He was content to walk around in Nox’s down town, ignoring the cold in favour beauty. Shame they did not always decorate like this, it spruced up the grey of concrete.

A noise caught his attention and he looked over across the street - carollers. He stopped, considering crossing to listen, watching them with his head slightly tilted. They were, he thought, quite good, and with that in mind he decided to brave the few cars on the road.

For about the fifth time since her arrival, Franziska had neglected to buy shopping at the scheduled time and opened her fridge one evening to find it empty. Reluctantly she donned her coat, scarf and hat, grabbed her bag from the kitchen counter and ventured into the darkened streets of Nox.

The supermarket near her apartment had knocked down a lot of its food prices in the Christmas aftermath and Franziska managed to pick up a week’s worth of shopping for a lot less than usual.

She exited the supermarket and stood for a moment. The crowds moved by hair and bumped into her but she paid little attention to their movements. The sky above was devoid of light, aside from the sliver of moon that presided over twilight hours. In the centre of a city this big you couldn’t see the stars.

Music snapped Franziska back from her reverie and she looked to see a group of carol singers standing on the opposite side of the street. They were good at what they did and Franziska crossed to listen more closely. The song came to a close and someone bumped into Franziska. Her expression darkened and she turned to give out a reprimand.

"Franziska, much as I appreciate the thought, I have just returned from a long and tiresome trip and badly require some rest myself." He paused. He know full well she wasn’t going to leave with just that. He shook his head, ran a hand through his hair, and headed to the kitchen.

Franziska crossed her legs and smiled serenely as Edgeworth walked to his kitchen. She knew that her appearance all of the sudden was most likely unwanted, he had insinuated so himself, but she couldn't stand being in the same city with him not knowing she was there any longer. It had been luck that she had chosen the day to visit that he would return from a prolonged absence.

(He still took the zeny, though. Hell, he hadn’t even specified an amount, and he hadn’t been expecting a note—- he might be honest, but he wasn’t a fool.)

Franziska nudged the gang leader with her foot. "...this."

Nico took the note from her, despite his protestations and Franziska smiled. She was glad he had accepted; she would have found a way to ensure the note ended up in his possession anyhow.

When he offered to stay and assist with the police inquiry, she frowned. "If you're sure that's what you wish to do then I will not try to convince you otherwise. Let me call them..."