Je Vous Aime Beaucoup, Criminel(le) (Apollo Justice/Miss Don't Touch Me, Machi & Blanche) Title: Je Vous Aime Beaucoup, Criminel(le) Author/Artist:catdevigri Fandom: Crossover - Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice x Miss Don't Touch Me Pairing/characters: Machi & Blanche Rating: PG-13 Warnings: Discussion of prostitution (including of a minor), discussion of violence, slight homophobia (on the part of a character living in 1930s France) Word count: 1,015 Prompt/challenge you're answering: Machi and Blanche, there are no strangers under cherry blossoms Author's comment: The title is in phrase book French, so pardon any idiocy/awkwardness. Slight spoilers for volume 2 of Miss Don't Touch Me (big spoilers for volume 1). For no particular reason, I imagine this could be the same universe as Sharing Heartbreak.
"Do you like the cherry blossoms, Machi?" Blanche asked as they strolled along the flower-strewn boulevard. A slight breeze tugged at the brim of her sun hat and toyed with the edge of her skirt.
"Oui," Machi stumbled over his French, "We do not have them in Borginia. Is like something in Impressionist painting."
Blanche smiled and leaned in closer to her petite companion. Machi might handle himself much like an adult, but he was only fourteen, far too young to have seen all the things Blanche got the impression he'd seen. "You're so cultured," she complimented him, "Although it comes as no surprise. You know a lot about the fine arts."
"I wish they were the only arts I know," Machi fired back neatly. Behind his dark glasses his eyes barely skirted the trees, but clung to the ground, focused on fallen petals pooled in the gutter.
"Are you happy with the job you have now at the Pompadour though?" In general, Machi did not strike her as a happy person, but when he played the piano, he was possessed of an entirely different spirit. Music was important to him.
"It is all right. Is much preferable to what I do before."
She would've loved to hear more, but it seemed he had much in common with the other residents of the Pompadour in that regard- his life was shrouded in secrets that he had no interest in unraveling before her. She had heard from Miss Jo that Machi was involved in some kind of legal trouble that prevented him from ever returning to his native Borginia. He was so young, it was hard to imagine what he might've done. He was an orphan, with no brothers or sisters. She could reasonably assume his life had been hard. And Miss Jo appeared to know more about him than the rest of them did, but that was far from a rare situation.
"That looks like a nice spot," Blanche said at length, pointing out a patch of grass shaded by the flowering trees. "Why don't we take a break from our walk and sit a while?"
"If you would like," he agreed neutrally, following Blanche's lead as she stepped off the sidewalk and sat in the grass like a child at recess. It didn't take long for them to become a part of the carpet of flowers as petals continued to drift down, settling on the brim of Blanche's hat and atop Machi's hair.
"I don't know if you just prefer to keep to yourself, but I don't have a lot of friends at the Pompadour. ...Or anywhere else, really," Blanche admitted. She hoped she didn't sound too pathetic or needy. "I was hoping that perhaps we could be friends."
Machi removed his glasses, setting them slightly aside, but close enough to him that he could trust they wouldn't be stepped on. "I am glad you trust I will be friend of adult."
"I imagine it would be hard for you to befriend most children," Blanche wrapped he arms around her knees, "You're already an adult yourself, aren't you? Age is just a number. It's experience that means something."
"At first I did not think, but is probably possible. For us to make friends, I mean. But I think that wrong impression. You are all right, Blanche."
"Hee hee," Blanche giggled. It felt like a victory. Something was looking right for a change. She hoped it was the beginning of a trend.
"Before you come to the Pompadour, how you employed?"
"My sister and I worked as maids."
"I was accompanist for Borginian singer, Lamiroir. Maybe you heard of her?" Machi cocked his head curiously.
Blanche thought he looked like a tiny songbird. "Sorry, I don't think so, but I'm not really up on all the popular music."
"Hmm." He took no offense at this. "Well, before that, I do work something like yours at Pompadour, but without class. I cannot support myself on street with music. I sell body. It get me through hard times."
Blanche's eyes felt as wide and large as cymbals, her mind ringing with shock at Machi's declaration. He was only a boy now! Blanche could barely conceive of the notion of homosexuals; what kind of deviants would pay for sex with a child?
"You are surprised. It make sense; it not normal. As long as you not pity me, I will be happy."
Blanche was amazed at how much trust he had placed in her. "I wasn't thinking anything like that...only how strong you must be to have lived through all that. And now you're free from that life, even if you are working at a brothel." She found herself awkwardly half-smiling as she tried not to stare.
"To understand me, last I must tell about my crime. Together with foreign man, musician I meet, we come up with plan, smuggle cocoon out of Borginia. You see, it can be used for medicine, but is not legally allowed from Borginia. Suppose you are aware it not work out in end. There is trouble and my partner kill a man, try to lay blame on me."
Machi turned his eyes to Blanche, expecting something unpleasant, but she was kilometers removed from judgment. "Oh, well, to be completely honest, I have killed myself," Blanche told him in a hushed voice.
"You are more cruel than me. ...I feel better about what I tell you," Machi admitted, slightly surprised.
"I hope you will keep my secrets, as I plan on keeping yours." "I not dream of do otherwise. I am not strange. I am your friend, Blanche." He was relaxed now, tipping back his head as he looked at her so that stray pieces of petals fell backward onto the grass.
"It's good to have that sort of bond between us," Blanche answered. It seemed like she was always drawn to blue-eyed blonds. But this one hadn't hidden secrets that might force him to leave her. She hoped she and Machi could remain together, parted only by happiness, for a long time.