Oh will you look at that
Jun. 23rd, 2008 06:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spottoPART FIVE
”I’M GONNA KILL YOU!”
Ako’s eyes shot open. There was a sound of rummaging, like someone was trying to fish a needle out of a pile of garbage. It was drowned out by a sudden crash, and grunting could be heard. The whole room was almost pitch black, and only the dim light of a street lamp came in from the window. There continued to be more sounds of struggling from somewhere…but where? Ako peered down at the lower bunk, Yuuna was sound asleep. She must’ve been quite a deep sleeper. Other than the sounds of shuffling, everything seemed normal. She did not sense any other noise, like the echo of a creaky metal bed when someone sat up on it. It seemed like everybody was asleep.
She jumped off the bunk, and approached the door window, almost tripping on something cold and hard sitting on the floor. She peered out the window, through the bars that stood in front of the small pane. There was no light outside either, but there was a lot of strange noises close by. Frustrated with the lack of any major radiance, Ako returned to her bunk, still wondering what was up. She tried to ignore it, but the noise kept her awake. Why didn’t the guards notice the disturbance? After turning in bed several times, Ako lay awake, staring at nothing, since she could see nothing in the darkness. She looked up and tried to notice the concrete ceiling of the cell. She just wanted to see one little crack, or blemish on the walls, but nothing. She looked at the corner, where the television set sat.
Sighing, she tried to feel for a remote control, and once she jumped back down from her bunk, she noticed Yuuna sleeping so peacefully, the glow from the streetlight almost making her appear like a faint angel. Her blanket was all over the place, only covering half of her left leg, and wrapped around her shoulder. Yuuna’s head was barely on the pillow, and her right hand was hanging down the side of the frame, almost touching the floor. Despite how uncomfortable her position looked, Yuuna appeared to be dreaming. Ako smiled softly, guessing that maybe she was dreaming of freedom. Sleep was a great escape from reality.
Deciding against turning on the TV, Ako once again retreated back to her bunk, wondering what to do that could make her fall asleep. The strange noises and sounds did not stop like she had hoped it would, and it sounded almost like the racket was slowly getting louder. She rested her head back on the pillow, and once again tried to make out any marks on the ominous-looking ceiling.
It felt like an earthquake shook the ground. A loud crash caused the wall beside her to vibrate for just a second, but it had done its damage. The sudden jolt threw her off the bed. Her landing was thankfully not too painful, since there was a bunch of towels on the ground that Yuuna never bothered to pick up. Ako turned her head, and noticed that her left arm had landed smack-dab onto Yuuna’s forehead.
”Ow…” Yuuna mumbled. She looked like she was aware of some pain, but was rather dreary, almost half-asleep, but closer to sleep than awake.
Ako quickly pulled her arm away from the slumbering cellmate, and noticed that the racket had stopped. The last towering noise was like a grand finale to the series of grunts and crashes, like fireworks. Ako stood back up, about to climb back up to her bunk, when she noticed Yuuna was coming out of her deep sleep; the pain was her alarm clock.
”Whatth goin’ on?” the girl muttered, sitting up slowly.
Ako whispered, “There was some sort of loud noise.”
”Did ith come from the lefth?” Yuuna responded, barely coherent.
”Yeah, did you hear it too?” Ako asked, wondering how she knew that since she was mostly snoozing away.
”Nah, thereth fights from thath cell sometimes, nothinth new…” Yuuna never opened her eyes throughout that whole conversation. She fell back onto her back and dipped into slumber faster than Ako could ever imagine. Finally, Ako reached back onto her bunk, and fell back to sleep herself…
-
The light beaming from the windows stung Ako’s eyes as she opened them slowly. Her stomach was feeling insanely sore from the fight she was involved in, in the shower, and she could barely feel her left leg, the leg she was kicked in. Not only that, but her sleep was apparently not very comfortable. The pillow had fallen off the futon, and half of the futon wasn’t even on the steel bunk frame itself. Were Yuuna’s sloppy sleeping mannerisms contagious?
Yuuna was already up, just like yesterday. The television was on, but the girl was wearing headphones to avoid bothering Ako. Why didn’t she think of that last night? Ako looked at the TV, and noticed that Yuuna was watching some sort of obscure cartoon show. Ako knew the program. It was some ridiculous anime about a ten-year-old teacher going to teach at an all-girl’s middle school. On top of that, the teacher knew magic. Ako never understood the show very well, since whenever she caught it on television, all she ever saw were panty-shots or blown-up breasts. What was Yuuna doing watching a program like that?
”Hahahaha! They blew up!” Yuuna quietly laughed, pointing at the ‘tube.
Ako turned her head to stare at the small clock sitting on the locker. It read
”Ooh, you getting used to the sleep cycle already, Ako?” Yuuna asked, a grin popped out from her face.
Ako scratched the back of her head, cracking a small smile, “I guess…”
The sound of an officer was heard echoing from the cold walls of the facility. Ako jumped off from her bunk and stood near the door, looking out to see if it was who she thought it was. Officer Iincho seemed to be stuck with doing the count.
”Cell number 21, check! Cell number 22, check! Cell number 23—what the hell is going on here!?”
Ako peered out the small window, trying to make out what was happening, but the cell in question was right next door to them, so unless she could snake her eyes out the keyhole to peek at the cell next door, it didn’t look like she’d see much. She had wondered why cell number 23 was next to cell number 25, while cell number 24 was the other neighbour. Then again, there wasn’t a cell number 26, so that could be why.
”Yo, iincho.”
”Don’t ‘yo, iincho’ me! Something’s wrong here!” The officer said, growling.
”Well you must be going blind then,” another voice spoke up. Ako recognized it from last night. It was the same voice that had blared out, waking her up. She also noticed that she heard the voice before then too, perhaps she had met her at the yard yesterday.
The officer tapped her baton on the bars, showing some intimidation, “I’m not stupid! Why are all your stuff lying all over the place!?”
”Chiu was sleepwalking, you know how she sleepwalks,” the unfamiliar voice came up again.
The officer frowned, “Hmph. I know she sleepwalks at times, but you’re not someone I trust very much, you know.”
”You mean you actually trust some of the criminals here? Well, well, iincho, you’re sure losing your touch!”
”No, I’m saying of all people here, you are the last person I’ll ever trust.”
”You serious? You’ll even trust that serial killer, Eva?”
”Yes, that’s how much I hate you.”
”Nice to know I got some recognition around here, heh.”
’Chiu’ decided to interrupt the conversation, “Are you just going to blab around with us or are you going to do your job?” She did not sound like someone who liked people watching her.
The officer growled and continued her merry way. She slowly approached Ako’s cell, and peered uneasily into the window.
”Uhm, hello?” Ako said.
”
”Oh, THAT IS IT, INMATE
”Oh shit,” Yuuna cursed quietly. She ran and grabbed a towel from the ground and passed it to Ako, “cover your face.”
”Huh?”
”Don’t breathe it in, k?” Yuuna pointed towards the sink, “you may need water.”
”Wait, Yuuna, what about—“
Foosh!
A smoky substance filled the cell, causing Yuuna to cough constantly. Ako tried not to breathe it in, but her eyes were watering from whatever was sent into their cell. She could tell whatever this was, was probably used to subdue prisoners. It hurt Ako’s throat whenever she tried to get at least some air to survive.
”You had enough, you little—“ The officer was cut off.
”Hey! What are you doing! You’re only supposed to use pepper spray as a last resort!” Another officer ran towards the angry one, getting her away from the cell door.
”SHE DESERVED IT! AND IT WAS A LAST RESORT! WHY DO I HAVE TO DO COUNT EVERY MORNING!? IT’S HORRIBLE!”
A few other officers, including even Captain Tatsumiya came down to cell number 25. Since it was certainly not time to go out to the yard or anything, both Yuuna and Ako had to turn around and get cuffed by the tray slot, instead of freely walking out the door. Their legs even had to be clamped together in chains as well. They were escorted out and brought to the showers to get their face washed of all the stuff from the pepper spray. Ako could hear some of the other inmates praise Yuuna:
”Nice job, Kid!”
”That was awesome, well worth it, Kiddo!”
”Loved every moment of it!”
”How deliciously hilarious,
Yuuna splashed her face clean, shaking her head like a dog to get some water off her face, “What a nice start to the morning with a refreshing face wash, eh, Ako?”
”I don’t think getting all tingly from the pepper is a great start,” Ako replied, not as amused as Yuuna.
”I didn’t think she’d use that stuff though. If I knew I would not have done it, just because you’re there,” Yuuna explained, a tad guilty, “I mean, I’m trying to make sure you don’t get the worse of it around here, after all…”
Ako frowned, “Why do you have to be so mean to that officer? She was only doing her job…”
The girl beside her rubbed off the rest of the pepper from her face with her arm, “Were you expecting every prisoner here to be happy and quiet?”
”No, but that doesn’t mean they have to be so…frustrating,” Ako reasoned, turning off the showerhead. She twitched when she felt a drop of cold water slide torturously slow down her back.
Yuuna turned around, watching the officers attempting to wind out the pepper still floating around in their cell. She smiled, somewhat amused at their labour, all because of her. She turned to face Ako, showing off her satisfaction, “Because it’s fun.”
Ako raised her eyebrows, “Fun? You did that just for fun?”
“Well don’t blame me! It’s boring in here! What, did you expect me to play dominoes made out of soap? Geez!”
Ako cracked a smile, vaguely amused by Yuuna’s unserious personality. It wasn’t a very good excuse for almost giving someone a heart attack, but she knew that if Yuuna cared, she wouldn’t be in this depressing rock. Officer Oukouchi approached the caged shower, her hands on her waist. She didn’t look amused at all, unlike Yuuna. She shook her head in disbelief.
“Yuuna, Yuuna…what am I going to do with you?”
Yuuna grinned, “Nothing?”
“Wrong answer.”
“Yeah, I figured,” her grin faltered a bit, “but Akira, you know me. I can’t go a day without trouble or havoc. It’d be boring in that case.”
The officer sighed, “Yeah, it’d be nice to do something about that. You do realize it’s even more boring in the hole, right? Is that where you’d like to be? Hm?”
“No…” Yuuna’s grin completely disappeared. She looked more like a lost abused puppy. The officer’s authority was clearly winning in this situation.
Officer Oukouchi looked at Ako, who just stood there staying quiet. She set her eyes back on Yuuna, “Also, I don’t want your behaviour rubbing off on Izumi. We don’t need anymore troublemakers here!”
“Bah, I doubt that would happen. Ako’s more like you, a goody-two-shoes,” Yuuna pouted, turning her head away from Officer Oukouchi and even Ako, “and why hasn’t Makie been let out yet? She had no involvement in that fight the other day!”
Officer Oukouchi frowned, “Yuuna, we have our reasons for what we do. Don’t you argue with me.”
“You two sound like a mother and daughter,” Ako suddenly brought up. She had meant it as a joke, trying to break the tension, but it somehow caused a reverse result. Both of them snapped their heads around, staring at Ako, as if trying to stare her down until she was smaller than a loose screw on a cell bar. Ako felt insignificant, but she managed to let out a peep.
“Uh…was it something I said?”
Yuuna growled, avoiding eye contact with both of them, “Look, can I just go back to my cell?”
“No, you won’t be. You’re going to the hole,” the officer said.
The cellmate whipped her head back at Officer Oukouchi, “What!? Are you kidding me!?”
“I saved you twice already, Yuuna. I know we’re supposed to be friends, but I also have to do my job,” she explained, “besides, this is the third time you did this.” Officer Oukouchi turned around, walking away from them, “Now let’s get rid of all your belongings.”
Yuuna whined, “Oh c’mon! You only threatened me with that place! You never said I was actually going there! Akira!!!” She made several other inaudible sounds that were consistent with her whining, and then started banging her head onto the cage door of the shower.
“Stop it, Yuuna! If you keep that up you’ll earn yourself a visit to the psychiatry ward!”
“That place with the mental emo people!?” Yuuna said, stopping.
“Well, that’s not very politically correct, but yes,” Officer Oukouchi said, “that place is even more restricting than the hole, though it’s not very boring, I must admit.”
Ako watched the officers storm their cell and throw random things out the door. She looked back at Yuuna, who was slowly slouching to the ground in disbelief. Ako tried to consol her, still attempting to fix the problem.
“Do you regret doing that now?” She asked.
Yuuna turned her head, staring at Ako. This time it was not a stare of discouragement, but a stare of perhaps, pity, “…nah.”
“Wait, your answer is completely different from your physical response!”
“What?”
Ako paused for a bit, “It’s like someone is on fire, and instead of running around panicking, they stand there and ask how you are doing.”
“Hahaha, someone on fire…”
Ako raised her left eyebrow, just gawking at her cellmate, “You’re acting like Makie.”
“…you’re right,” Yuuna started, “Yeah, it sucks that I’m going to the hole, but I will never regret having fun. That’s just not me.” She sat down and leaned against the wall behind her, “My mom had always told me that I have to keep my spirits up, and try to have fun no matter what.”
“Had?”
A swift glaze appeared on Yuuna’s eyes, as she gazed off at the plain white walls, “Well, she can’t really tell me that anymore, being dead and all.”
“Oh…I’m sorry,” Ako felt her spirits dropping lower than the bowels of earth.
“Nah, it’s fine. You didn’t know. Sorry, I stared at you like, evilly earlier, when you mentioned that mother and daughter thing…I was a little mad, if you didn’t notice. Man, I’m such a hypocrite, telling people not to apologize and I’m doing it myself, heh.”
Ako smiled softly, also sitting down and leaning against the wall, “So I guess they’re taking all your stuff?”
“Yeah, but that’s not what I’m worrying about.”
“Hm?”
“I don’t want to leave you alone. Last time that happened, you got beat up and hugged me until I couldn’t breathe,” Yuuna chuckled, “so, this time I’m going to make sure you aren’t alone.”
Ako felt curious, “Oh?”
“Yeah, I want you to stay close to the gang leader, Asakura,” Yuuna thought for a bit, “although I think she’s a borderline psychopath at times…”
Fear jolted through Ako’s entire nervous system, “W-what…?”
Yuuna scratched her head, laughing, “Ahaha, did I scare you? Don’t worry about it. She knows you’re with me, she won’t do a thing to you…” Yuuna turned her head and whispered, “…maybe.”
“Did you say something at the end?”
The girl shook her head, “Nope! Nothing at all!”
“I don’t know if I will be comfortable with that,” Ako sighed, “What about Master Ku? She seems nice.”
Yuuna looked down, “Ah, the problem with her is that she does a lot of martial arts. She would end up punching you numerous times—accidentally. She’s not the brightest star around, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, but…”
“There’s not really anyone who’s any better, really. I’m sorry I will be leaving again; just remember to stick with Paparazzi, at least until Makie gets out!” Yuuna said. Two officers came to the cage door, motioning for her to get up and get cuffed. (Oh hey, that rhymes, huzzah) One was Officer Iincho. She looked very pleased with Yuuna’s punishment.
The blonde officer smiled, “You’re finally getting your just desserts. Justice is served! Ah, how satisfying this feels.”
“Iincho,” Yuuna looked at the officer with a very serious mug on.
“What is it, you dirty convict?” The blonde spat back, also handling Yuuna’s cuffs rather roughly.
Yuuna turned and looked at Ako, then strangely smiled. She once again faced the officer, “Sorry I scared you.”
“What? Are you seriously apologizing to me? You, a piece of trash who deserves to burn in hell?” The officer looked incredibly surprised.
She nodded, “Aye, I guess since I let down Ako so much, I might as well do at least this to slightly redeem myself. I did break that promise…” She jolted her head, noticing something happening in her cell, “HEY IDIOT!”
A voice echoed out of cell number twenty-five, “What do you want, bastard!?”
“Put that TV down, hag!”
“We have to confiscate everything you have, jackass!”
“Well, uh, um, it’s Ako’s, you doofus!”
“Her name isn’t on it, moron!”
“Yours isn’t either, douche!”
Captain Tatsumiya certainly had enough of that, “Both of you shut the hell up. Leave the TV there, officer. Take that inmate away already, you two. You people are useless.”
As Yuuna was escorted out, Ako could see her wink back at her, smiling. Even though it looked like the cops had won this battle of the war, it really felt like Yuuna somehow won instead. She didn’t understand why, but Yuuna only looked like she actually lost something when she was arguing with Officer Oukouchi. At the time, the prisoners looked like they were winning. Ako stood there, waiting for an officer to bring her back to the cell. She suddenly remembered something.
“…wait…which one is Asakura!?”
She noticed that it was Captain Tatsumiya herself who was to take her back to her cell, and although she was a little frightened, Ako was still trying to figure out how she was to find this person without knowing what she looked like. This person she was equally afraid of as she is to Captain Tatsumiya.
A crimson palm tree appeared in the window of cell number twenty-three…
END OF PART FIVE
-
If you can't tell who that person in the cell next door was, you almost fail as hard as me. o_o;
