#and Nico just immediately goes ''huh no idea anyways i have to go-'' and jumps into Tartarus

[aroaceleovaldez]

Nico and Percy's dynamic through the series is eternally funny to me, because it's just. like.

Percy's having a constant mental struggle between his fatal flaw of loyalty with a promise he made to Bianca to protect Nico, versus his Big 3 kid desire to maim other Big 3 kids / Poseidon descendant urge to totally maim Nico specifically. He hates Nico so so much. He thinks Nico's annoying and weird at best, and creepy/sketchy when he's older. The only positive thoughts Percy has towards Nico are "He's Bianca's brother and Bianca was my friend and I owe her/He's Hazel's brother and Hazel is my friend and would kill me if I was mean to him," "He's a powerful asset and useful ally (if questionable)," and "He's kinda pathetic and I feel maybe a little bad about it." Percy has multiple occasions throughout the series where he strongly considers - and on one occasionally actually goes through with - throttling Nico.

Meanwhile, Nico is following around Percy like a lost puppy. He explicitly can never bring himself to even dislike anything about Percy no matter how hard he tries. He has a whole bit in BoO where he's mentally going "UGH he's so stupid BUT IT'S ENDEARING HOW DARE HE." He's totally smitten. He's making deals with his dad for Percy. He's making convoluted plans to help Percy stand a chance against Kronos. During the entirety of BoTL it's like he's playing tsundere - "I'm helping NOT PERCY SPECIFICALLY with this quest! Me helping Percy would be SILLY because I DEFINITELY HATE HIM." Then he proceeds to show up to Percy's birthday party to basically ask him on a weird date and spend the entire next book scrambling around trying to help him or protect him or impress him. And Percy could not give less of a shit.

Just. That dynamic is so funny to me. Percy is the founder of the Nico Protection Club in that he's the one they're all protecting Nico from and meanwhile Nico is throwing himself at Percy to the point where the literal god of gay love calls him out on it.

#pjo #percy jackson #nico di angelo #Percy shows up at CJ and squints at Nico like ''hm. why do i feel like i hate you? like i just wanna punch you in the face?'' #and Nico just immediately goes ''huh no idea anyways i have to go-'' and jumps into Tartarus #but not before he gives Hazel essentially a detailed explanation of ''this is Percy i cant say much but please dont let him die <3'' #and Nico's whole Tartarus trip was basically a whole ''im doing this so no one else has to'' #only for Percy and Annabeth to fall in like one book later and Nico proceeds to spend the next book internally screaming about it #and then Cupid calls him out on it and the next book #Nico's just like ''at this point im hoping i keel over within the next week just so i can force this dumb crush to chill the fuck out'' #Nico staring pointedly at Will: ''For my own sake i need to form another crush RIGHT NOW so i can finally get over Percy.'' #''this has been so bad for my health'' #Nico's crush on Percy is just too funny to me. horrible pick my guy. terrible job. love that for you. he could not be less interested. #Percy LITERALLY TRIES TO KILL NICO and ditch him in the underworld and Nico is somehow STILL like ''but i love him'' #Percy basically chokes him. beats up his dad. tells him ''go get smited by your dad for me.'' and ditches him. #and Nico's opinions/crush on him DO NOT CHANGE #though also Nico's reaction to Percy beating up his dad + skeletons is SO funny. his jaw is on the floor. he's flustered about it. #he just witnessed Percy be incredibly hot and proceeded to go ''yea i'll do anything for this man. collect reinforcements of 3 gods? sure'' #nico you absolute DISASTER with HORRIBLE TASTE. you can do better. raise your standards. #which tbh is funnier when you factor in sun and the star. Nico just wont stop crushing on guys who dislike him and everything he stands for

[luca-moreno]

So nonna Nico wanted a family dinner before Ethan leaves the Berlin 

aka ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

--

Luca doesn’t really know why he gets pulled in along with Marie for the odd little family dinner Zeus insisted on. Marie mutters something about an insurance policy when he asks and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to him but it means another one of Zeus’s home cooked meals and he won’t say no to that.  

Plus, Ben will be there.

There’s tension in the room and around the table where they all sit. Tension and long silences while they wait for Zeus to dish out the food. There’s a semi circle of phoenix and the commander reigns at the head of the table like a sharp eyed Queen watching over her army.

Luca happily finds himself sandwiched between Ben on one side and Ajax, glowering and clearly unhappy with life on the other. Then there’s Mason and the final phoenix, Luca can’t remember the name of but vaguely recalls from the Commander’s party in the club. Pike maybe? Lance? Some kind of ancient earth weapon he might have read about in a history book somewhere.

He nudges Ben under the table, willing his face not to get all pink when his knee brushes against him.

(Which one is he again?) Luca signs, trying to be subtle and knowing he’s failed when the man in question’s gaze falls to him.

“Ethan,” Ben says easily. “Sabre. Big brother,” he adds proudly.

Luca’s gaze shifts between them then he kinda squints. He vaguely remembers that from their scamper in the hall trying to spy. “Wait. You don’t look alike.”

“Adopted,” Ethan cuts in smoothly, making Luca jump. He detects something in the phoenix’s tone. Humor maybe? Not hostility, which was a nice change for once. He decides then that he likes Sabre with his pretty hair and a jawline that could cut glass – and whew! He really has no business being that attractive but then phoenix, so Luca figures he’ll allow it.

Plus he’s really good at making Ben laugh.

“Huh,” he shrugs. “Okay.”

Silence falls over the table again. Luca twitches, drums his fingers on the edge of the table lightly until Mason narrows his eyes at him and he quickly snatches them back. He’s hungry and bored and jittery with too many freakishly still apex predators in the room when he feels like squishy prey and he sinks back in his chair and huffs with enough force to blow his curls off his face.

He scoops up his spoon and tries to balance it on his nose and wonders again why he’s there.

“Why me?” He had asked Marie on the walk to the little room she had secured for them. She paused on the other side of the sealed door and gave him an amused glance.

“Because with you there, they’re less likely to tear each other apart and for some obscure reason I can’t even begin to understand, it’s really important to Nic.”

“I thought you said they were family. Why would they tear each other apart?”

Marie’s face falls and she looks sort of sad. “Brothers by circumstances, not choice.”

Luca shrugged. “Aren’t all families like that?”

“Not all. Besides,” Marie continues with a small hum. “I think you’re probably the only other person on this boat who isn’t scared of them.”

It’s not true, not by a long shot but it had made Luca laugh anyway. “Yeah, because they know they have to go through to you get to me. And you’re scarier than all of them.”

Marie cuffed him lightly on the shoulder as she laughs – definitely not a very commandery thing to do – which is just reason nine million and twenty six thousand why Luca adored her so much. “I’m going to take that as a compliment, Ensign.”

“One of the highest order, ma’am,” Luca tells her seriously, adjusting the strap on his guitar just as the door opens.

Another quiet moment ticks by. Luca is almost cross eyed by the time his spoon drops into his lap. “Do you ever think about how spoons are just tiny bowls with sticks attached to them?”

There’s silence and it stretches. Luca glances around the table and finds a multitude of pinched faces. Ajax looks mad, Ben looks delighted, the Commander looks like she’s praying to the gods for deliverance as she breathes deeply through her nose, Sabre’s expression are calculating but surprisingly, it’s Mason that loses it first.

He turns his face into Sabre’s side, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Sabre’s lips twitch once then twice before he joins in. Then Ben, then Marie, and then Zeus even rumbles something. Ajax is the only one who doesn’t laugh, glaring around the table like he wants to murder them all as slowly and as painfully as possible. Luca shuffles ever so slightly closer to Ben. Marie was wrong, he thinks. He was a little scared of Ajax. Just a tiny bit, but he’s pretty sure Ben could take him if it came to that.

“Va bene,” Zeus booms. “Time to eat. Mangia!”

It’s easier when the food is in front of them. Luca helps Ben scoop out something red and cheesy, adding an extra dollop to his plate with a grin. “I know what you guys are like,” he whispers then does the same to Ajax just to stay on his good side.

The food seems to make them all relax, but only just.

“This is so fucking weird,” Ajax mutters around a mouthful of pasta.

Luca looks at the twirly shapes on his plate, drenched in quite possibly the tastiest sauce he’s ever come across. Even Mar’vera, the Asari that manned the roadside kiosk near his father’s place on the wards didn’t have stuff that tasted as good as this.

“Isn’t this pasta stuff a big thing back on Earth?”

“Not the food, idiot,” Ajax says it without any heat. He shovels in another mouthful as he gestures around the table.

Luca looks around curiously at the phoenix assembled there. “Oh. Why? Didn’t you do this all the time back in… phoenix land?”

“That’s not actually a thing, Luca,” Mason says with a snort. “Neither is phoenix school.”

“He means Phoenix One,” Marie cuts in, shooting Mason a look.

“Yeah,” Luca nods and waves his fork. A glob of sauce goes flying, narrowly missing Sabre. Luca’s pretty sure he would have to sleep with one eye open if that glob had ended up on a his very expensive looking outfit and he gulps nervously. “That.” He chews. “Wait, what’s Phoenix One?”

There’s an uncomfortable glance around the table when suddenly they all find their plates very interesting. Luca looks at Marie but she offers a small little shrug and keeps eating.

“Um…”

“It’s… complicated, Luc,” Mason says, not meeting his eye.

“Is it?” Luca wants to turn to Ben but he’s not oblivious to the way the vanguard beside him hunches over so he shrugs and stabs his pasta and chews enthusiastically instead. These phoenix guys were weird.

There’s a little stilted conversation around the table that Luca and Marie try to carry, but it’s still awkward. Mason and Sabre share too many sidelong looks and small smiles and Luca almost wonders if everyone should clear out and give them the room. He tries not to stare and leans in towards Ben, whispering out the corner of his mouth.

“I guess the divorce is off?”

Ben blinks in confusion before Luca jerks his head then realization dawns. Ben nods his head happily. He leans in close and Luca has to concentrate hard on what he says instead of getting distracted by how warm he is and how he smells far too earthy for being surrounded by the vacuum of space. “Archer,” he whispers. “Other brother. Talked sense and cooked brain food.”

Luca has no idea what that means but he’s utterly enthralled regardless. “Oh,” he says, like it’s the most amazing thing he’s ever heard but only because it is because Ben and he really likes the way Ben’s eyes kind of crinkle at the corners when he smiles and the way his canines seem a little sharper than the average human and the way his skin-

There’s a nudge against his boot that snaps him out of it and he looks up to see Sabre eying him with amusement.

“You were drooling,” he says, then flicks a napkin at Luca’s direction courtesy of a blue haze.

“What?” Luca squeaks as the napkin smacks him fair in the face.

“Are we going to have to give this kid the shovel talk?” Sabre asks no one in particular. Luca doesn’t know what a talking shovel is but it can’t be good and he shoots a panicked look in Marie’s direction.

“No,” she says firmly, fingers white around the stem of her wine glass. “We do not.”

“No shovel,” Ben says sternly, glaring at Sabre and Luca shoots him a grateful look.

“Um, thank… thank you?”

Ben knocks his shoulder and goes back to eating. Like almost everyone else at the table, he’s well onto his second serve.

“Marie, what’s this kid’s qualifications. Is he up to the job?”

“I’m going to be polite and pretend you didn’t just ask me that, Sinclair.”

“He’s one of Marie’s,” Mason reminds him. “So we know he’s solid.”

“Uh, hello? I’m right here,” Luca snaps irritably. What the hell? He’s about to open his mouth to complain some more but Ben leans over and he’s immediately distracted by the heat radiating off him.

“You get used to it. They do this a lot.”

Sabre looks momentarily offended by that. “Ben.”

Ben shrugs and licks the sauce off his fingers. “It’s true. Because youngest.”

“Because we’re supposed to look out for you.”

Mason chuckles and reaches for his glass. “Remember that time we took Ben to that strip club for his birthday?”

“That was definitely one of our more brilliant idea,” Sabre says mildly. Mason gives him an incredulous look.

“Okay, you and I remember that night very differently, Eth.”

Sabre’s slow smile has a distinctly predatory edge to it. “Do we?”

“Wait, you took him to a strip club?” Marie blinks and Mason bristles slightly.

“It was his birthday.”

“Oh my god,” she laughs behind her hand, like she knows something the rest of them don’t. Mason grins then.

“Oh, you’ve heard this one before, huh?”

“No, but I can only imagine with you involved.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing!” Marie waves her hand. “Continue.”

“I’m not sure I should now,” Mason mutters and Luca isn’t sure if he should be alarmed or not that the supposed leader of the fiercest human biotics in the galaxy pouts. Actually pouts, with the bottom lip and everything.

“Mason let him get drunk and then he ended up on stage with the dancers,” Zeus suddenly rumbles, cutting in to the conversation. Marie lets out a peel of laughter and Mason curses. “It was a riot. Had to pay for damages before they would let us leave.”

Ben looks confused. “Did I break something?”

“Only a lot of hearts, Benji,” Ethan chuckles indulgently and Mason snickers.

Luca tries very hard not to picture what the phoenix beside him would look like on a stage in colorful strobing lights and very little clothing in case his brain short circuits.

It does anyway.

“Uh,” he manages faintly. His voice suddenly feels like it’s coming from very far away.

“He ate the foliage on P1 too, once.”

Mason exhales heavily. “Phew, yeah. Now that was a rough night.”

That seems to snap Luca’s attention back and he eyes Ben and wonders if he needs to reconsider his crush. “You’re not gonna try to eat Meli, are you?”

There’s a little chirp in the corner from the drone when it hears its name. Ben cackles. “No, too spiky.”

“So was this your plan?” Sabre looks up from his glass as he addresses Zeus. “Get us all together to reminisce about old times?” His tone is faintly mocking but Zeus doesn’t react other than to pause his eating.

Ajax lets out a bark of brittle laughter. “Just hope that Huntsman doesn’t try to make another one of his fucking speeches.”

“Get fucked, Ajax,” Mason tells him cheerfully.

“We’re all hoping for that, Huntsman.”

Mason opens his mouth only for Marie to wave her knife threateningly in his direction. “Don’t fucking say it, Mase.”

Mason throws his hands up. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he says but Luca hardly knows Mason from a bar of soap and even he recognizes that’s a lie.

“You’ll have to tell me the story behind that one later,” Luca hears Sabre whisper before pulling Mason in for a kiss.

“And there goes my fucking appetite,“ Ajax mutters, shooting daggers across the table.

Mason looks like he’s about to snap something else but Sabre’s hand lands on his knee. There’s a lowly uttered, babe and then just like that, Mason’s bristle fades. Luca was starting to understand why Marie had been concerned. Insurance policy, she had said but he’s not so sure a nobody like him would be able to do much if this lot decided to go to war.

RIP the SSV Berlin, Luca thinks. The captain will be pissed.

“This is the first time we’ve ever done this,” Zeus rumbles suddenly. His voice isn’t overly loud but it seems to carry across the room and make them all sink into their seats. Zeus scans his golden eyes around the table, skimming over each face until he stops and settles on Ben. “All of us.”

Ajax scoffs into the silence. “Fucking sentimental bullsh-“

“Maddy,” Marie hisses and Luca realizes with a start she looks like she’s on the verge of tearing up. Evidently Ajax realizes it too because he curses under his breath and sits back, arms folded tight across his chest and blue eyes simmering with ire he’s only just keeping in check.

Mason pushes aside his plate and gives up all semblance of good humor. He leans against Sabre. “The last time, at this rate.”

“So dramatic, Huntsman,” Ajax can’t resist a final dig.

Mason makes a visible effort to swallow his retort. Luca wonders curiously what would have happened if Sabre hadn’t been there. He shivers with the crackle of energy in the air, the latent biotics making his teeth ache again. It was going to fuck with his aids, he’s sure of it.

“We’re the only ones left,” Zeus continues. “Like it or not. There’s only us.”

“We’re not some fucking brady bunch, Zeus,” Ajax snaps. “Fuck this. I’ll go, then it really will be like old times-“

“No!” Ben jumps up, grips Ajax’s arm tight. “No, stay.”

“Aw, fuck, Scoots. This isn’t… It’s not you, okay.”

“Stay,” Ben sits Ajax down roughly and Luca has enough sense to shove the last of the pasta in his direction. He almost smiles as he takes it. At least Luca likes to think it’s a smile. It’s barely even a grimace, just a tight stretch of his lips over sharp teeth but there’s a collective easing of tension around the table.

“Hey,” Luca says brightly into the silence. “Wanna hear a song?”

#I don’t know but it is but this is what happens when I’m left unattended in another time zone apparently #¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #scooter roosevelt #marie miller #ethan sinclair #maddox gibbons #mason knight #luca moreno #ssv berlin #you know luca went ahead and played heathens too #smh

[nostalgic-pancakes]

Room 73- Chapter 3/8

The ghost is spoken to, but we also see more character trauma. (at least Virgil and Logan are having an okay time)

Pairings: Implied Thomas/OC, implied sibling-y c!Terrence and c!Valerie, sibling-y Analogical, Creativitwins and Moceit, platonic DLAMPR (soon to have a T in it!), and Romantic husbands Remile! (Also married parents but they don’t have names yet)

Read on AO3!

Word count: 2217

Warnings: References to shifty parenting, unhealthy relationships with food, depression, and of course, the general angst that comes with being yanno... dead for about a century with implications of period-typical sexism and the fallout that death has on your loved ones. Stay safe!

Other notes: Hi! I know this is sooner than usual (and also a bit shorter than usual) but I really wanted to get this out early, because there's two other things I'm working on! A c!Thomas-centric number+1 with friends and side interactions, and a Cartoon Therapy oneshot collection (with only cartoon therapy characters! no sides!) that has found family, Dot and Larry VS the internet, and everyone punting mitchell in the face because he deserves it. You can vote for which one you'd like to see posted FIRST on here! 

Now, sorry for that wall of text- here’s the chapter!

——————————————————————————–

Thomas didn’t have anything even remotely resembling a clue as to how he just did that. He hasn’t been able to so much as move for decades, now. Almost a century!

(The only reason he still knows the time is because classrooms date the boards. Everett is 96, Val 95, Terrence 87. )

But somehow, somehow these highschool kids around Thomas’s (? do ghost years count?) age managed to hear him hiss, and now he can talk to them.

In the words of that one kid here in the fifties who was usually half seas over, “ fucking shit!”

The one with the glasses (Logan? Or was it Nico? Naw, Logan.) is still tapping on the funny small glowing box. A phone, or something. (It looks too small to be a telephone, and it has no wires, but the future is pretty crazy!) and the other one, Janus is looking at the space that he inhabits like it’s on fire. Whatever else is happening today is happening, but the corner that Thomas lives in is definitely not on fire, that’s for sure.

Janus begins to step forward a bit, towards Thomas (!!!), and attempts to touch him. His hand goes through, like most things do (bar the occasional stray acid droplet, but they don’t burn anymore) and he pulls it back slowly.

Logan clears his throat, looking up from his ‘phone’ and at Thomas.

“Hello.” he says cautiously, not daring to hope. But Thomas can’t get the words out anymore, it’s like the single work took too much out of him to say it back. So he tries hissing in the morse code that Daddy taught him and (and he taught Val, because she’s amazing, woman or not) hoping, hoping they’d figure it out.

.... .. (hi)

Janus looks confused, but Logan lights up immediately, tapping frantically on his ‘phone’, until it shows something with morse code translations written on it.

“Could you possibly repeat that?” asks Logan, and he’s beaming, and that face is now one of the nicest faces he’s seen since he died. So Thomas tries again. It saps a little energy out of him, but not enough to really be an issue. Not like talking.

“Hello there, uh… do you have a name?”

- .... --- -- .- ... (Thomas)

“Thomas. That’s a nice name. Is it alright if we ask what year you ar- were from?” That question was unexpected, but one Thomas was willing to answer.

.---- ----. ..--- --... (1927)

“Nineteen twenty-seven”. Huh. Wasn’t this part of town a boy’s military school at some point back then?” asks Logan, and Thomas hisses again to signify the yes. He was a student there, under Pop’s behest, while Val stayed home to get ready for being married, even though she was all of eight years old and barely old enough to start her midwife training with basic first aid.

He wonders if she ever got to join the Red Cross like she’d dreamed to do. He hopes so.

Logan’s still asking questions, but Thomas is getting tired again, and the extra clarity letting him reminisce about his family is not helping at all. He makes a series of somewhat weaker clicks, trying to convey he’s tired, and Janus seems to pick up on it, patting Logan on the shoulder and motioning at the door for them to leave, citing a ‘Virgil and Patton’ (brothers?) as a reason to go soon, anyways. Logan huffs a bit, though clearly as a jest, and they say their goodbyes, probaby, based on their hand movements, but by now, Thomas has faded enough to lose a bit of track.

…

“Hey, Val.”

'___'

“Yeah, this is a gravestone. Didn’t expect you to reply. Well, I was always the talkative one before,a dn I can do it again.”

'___'

“So uh, Hey! It’s me again, Terrence, coming with the daisies as usual. I can’t believe that it’s me doing this, ya doof. It was supposed to be you, Val.”

'___'

“Yeah, I guess I should go back soon. Everett’s cold isn’t getting better, nor worse. I wonder what you’d do.”

'___'

“Yes, love you too. I hope you, Barry and Linda are doing alright up there. We’ll… probably see you soon anyways.”

'___'

“Hey- tell Thomas we said hello, and that we still miss him. All the time. Eighty years should be long enough, but it really isn’t, is it?”

(Tommy isn’t here.) …

“Okay, so you’re saying that the ghost, a literal ass ghost--”

“Language!” chirped Patton. It was starting to become routine. “Sorry Pat but okay, so a ghost talked to you over morse code??!!” Exclaimed Virgil, his tone getting more and more excited by the syllable.

“Yes, I literally just said that Virgil.” huffs Logan, pressing his knuckles to his temple. He loves his twin, but times like this really test his (already dwindling) patience with shenanigans.

“Okay, so what did he tell you??” asks Virgil, looking almost starry-eyes with the sheer level of excitement. It’s been a while since Virgil was this excited about something.

Logan clears his throat and taps Janus’s shoulder, taking him away from something he was talking about with Patton, which was involving hushed voices of some sort. Janus extracts the notebook from one of the many, many button-up pockets in his cloak (Patton is good at economical design, whie Janus handles the drama), after scrambling around for a few seconds trying to locate first the book, then the page, handing it to him very quickly before jumping right back into his conversation with Patton. Logan is mildly perturbed by this action, but tries to ‘roll with it’, as Roman would say if he took the bus.

“His name is Thomas, or at least we’re relatively sure that he’s a he, and he died in nineteen-twenty-seven. He was a student here back when the plot of land that is now Haley-Dove lower and upper secondary was a boy’s military school. He began to exhaust himself around here, so we dropped the questions.” Virgil nods, perusing the notes, scribbly as they are that Logan’s made as if they were a short story written by an author he really respects, like Leigh Bardugo, possibly. It makes Logan oddly happy to think about it that way. Virgil’s eyes keep widening over the course of his reading, to levels that are almost comical. Janus and Patton’s conversation has gotten a bit louder, but not enough to hear, still. At the moment, he can’t really bring himself to care. In the end, the bus stops before Virgil can finish reading, so Logan gives him the navy-covered notebook to keep for now and return for dinner, with the instruction to add in his own commentary and ideas on a different page.

Patton and Janus leave the bus last out of everyone, looking rather perturbed and avoiding each other’s gaze, though they’re still clutching each other’s hands tightly. Logan will likely ask what happened on Monday. For now, Amma is at the bus stop, waving at them. She’s the only Indian woman on the stop, so, decently easy to see. Amma picks up Logan’s bag, even though he’s insisted for years that he’s “adjusted accordingly for years, and does not require any assistance!”. Amma usually just retaliates that he shouldn’t need to get used to something with a rather strange expression, but he’s digressing now.

(She started saying it after middle school, and everything that happened there.)

“Hi!” she exclaims, while taking Logan’s bag. Virgil just has his laptop bag and notebook, with his headphones around his neck. They both smile the same.

“Hey, Amma. How’re you doing?” Practiced. Synced. It works every time, as Amma’s grin gets even wider, causing Virgil to start stimming with his ring and Logan to start flapping his own hands.

“Sooo- how’s your day? I see Logan’s notebook with you, V!”

“It’s for a…” Virgil looks at Logan, quietly betraying the fact that he has no clue what to say. Logan indicates to the lizard along the cobblestone path, and his twin’s expression changes into dawning comprehension, as he quickly finishes his sentence.

“It’s for a report on Lizards, Amma, that I’m doing with Remus. You know, Roman’s brother?” she nods, and then smirks.

“Oh, you mean the boy you have a cruuuuuusssshhhh on?” she teases, and Virgil goes red immediately, batting her hand away from his hair, where she was ruffling it.

Wait- how did Virgil have a crush on Roman? They had been friends for all of two weeks, and did not display any crush-like symptoms such as reddening of face, gushing about the crush for hours or purposely trying to get into more situations with the crush, or even doing simple things like taking an obnoxiously long time on singular texts. To his relief, Virgil shakes his head.

“No, it’s not a crush. He’s a good friend, but no.” he says, a bit more seriously, but not dismissively. To Logan, because Logan can hear those things, he says “Not yet.” Logan does not bring it up yet, because it feels like Virgil might need some process time for that, and besides, they share a room. Logan can grill him later, when Virgil is willing to be teased lightly. Or well, he hopes he’s light enough.

…

Mom and Dad are fighting again.

It’s not like the walls are soundproof, no matter what they seem to think. The argument is pretty typical. Small issue begins with civil conversation, becomes slight aggression as two very different people are unable to see eye to eye, and then someone in the middle of a bout of particularly aggressive mood makes an attack on personality, and then it’s all ‘fuck off’’s and crying.

Yeah. it’s a thing. But Remus and Roman know what to do- it’s the fight law. Headphones on, loud playlist on, door shut and internet in full use to avoid the fact that their parents are incapable of shutting the fuck up. This is fine.

Actually no, that’s what Roman says, but Remus knows it isn’t. Roman’s just too scared of conflict by now to bring it up. And who’s fault might that be, huh? (okay, so maybe Remus is a bit resentful.)

Whatever. It’s not like they’ll stop if he and Roman tell them. They’ve tried before.

The problem is that they’re good people. And parents. They definitely try to be the best parents possible. But Remus (unlike Roman) has never had the illusion that his parents are gods, only to have that slowly broken down over time to see his parents as people. They’ve always been people to him- people who try their hardest, but also fall flat in other areas, areas that also happen to be important.

But he should probably make his way to the kitchen to make some fruit salad. Roman probably isn’t going to eat anything else tonight, with how he seems to be doing. Otherwise, those stomach acids are going to gargle and gurgle till they consume his stomach whole! (it doesn’t feel fun to imagine that, so he stops)

(he’s so angry that those idiots thought it was a fucking joke. It’s something he and Virgil agree on, for sure.)

And if Remus tears the granola packet wrapper a little too harshly? Well, it’s not like anyone’s going to hear it at this rate.

…

Patton and Janus aren’t talking to each other, which is probably the one thing he never expected from them.

But they aren’t, and it’s becoming more concerning by the hour. They’re still hanging out together, currently working on one of their sewing projects- embroidering a hoodie in protection sigils as a paid commission for the witch’s girl, and they seem okay in each other’s presence, but they aren’t talking to each other. Just making overly meaningful eye contact, and looking away as quickly as they met eyes.

Patton in particular seems to be pretty upset, as a marked difference from his usual demeanor. He’s pricking his fingers left and right, something that never usually happens, choosing to hand stitch rather than go ahead with the sewing machine that he got for christmas, which was being used by Janus for the moment. In fact, Emile was about to get him some bandaids when he overheard them speak to each other for the first time since they got back.

“Pat, you can’t keep it in forever. You can't. It’ll kill you.”

Patton isn’t replying.

“It almost killed me, Pat please, please just… say something.” Patton does say something after that, but Emile can’t hear it, and he doesn’t feel like it’s something he’s meant to hear anyway. Janus lightens up after that, and Patton starts talking again, monosyllabically and softly, but Janus seems so relieved, that that must be a good thing.

Emile goes, heart heavy, and decides to speak with Remy about the best ways to show that they’re there for Janus and Patton. They’ve only been living with him for a few months, but they feel like their kids, and Emile (and definitely Remy- he’s the ultimate parent-friend) wants the best for them, and for them to be happy. They didn’t deserve the lot they got.

Hopefully, he and Remy can prove that yes, some things are

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #ts logan #ts remus #character thomas #ts emile #ct emile #tw foster care #tw food #tw eating disorders #tw grief #tw sexism #tw implied bullying #vee's writing #series: room 73 #do NOT repost i will come and stab you #or just send tumblr after you

[moralambigutitty]

so i have Thots about the stupid multiverse theory or whatever it’s called

i know this probably won’t even show up in the tags but i love rambling into nothingness so here we are! honestly this is the most Articulate i can be on this subject bc it is literally so ridiculous to think about but We Love It. 

anyway i’ve been thinking about the isaks and evens meeting up recently and who would like who and who would hate who and how they would all react to each other’s differences. so i have compiled my thoughts into a post starting with....

The Isaks

so when the idea of the isaks and evens meeting up was first brought up in the fandom, it was originally theorized that the isaks would all hate each other’s guts while the evens would get along swimmingly but i tend to disagree. how i think it would play out under the cut

you see, i can agree that the isaks would definitely be weary of each other at first. our suspicious kings (and queens)!! they would all at first be collectively staring at each other with those Eyes (you know the ones), thinking shit like “this guy really thinks he’s that cool, huh?” because you know all isak’s have that Thing where they think they’re smarter than everyone around them?? but you also know that every one of them finds that exact trait incredibly annoying in other people. oh shit can you imagine them all around each other!!! their slytherin minds!! they’re like “who does that guy think he is? fake fake fake fake.”

so the isaks and evens have separated to different areas of the room they’re hanging out in and all the isaks are quietly just smoking together while the evens are going off about some film shit that doesn’t interest any of their boyfriends. matteo like laughs to himself softly and all of the isaks look up at him like “what” and he’s just like “oh david just hasn’t shut up about this vampire movie in forever, im glad he finally has some people to rant to who understand what he’s talking about” and all of the isaks like take a minute to fondly giggle at how silly all of their art hoe boyfriends are and suddenly it’s like all inhibitions are gone!!! these boys cannot shut up about whose manz is the most dramatic and theatrical!! isak talks about how even ran across oslo in 2.5 seconds to reunite with him. lucas lallemant pulls up eliott’s art finsta that’s literally dedicated to him, describing the significance behind every single post in detail. matteo opens up about how david let him see his Private drawings on literally their FIRST DATE and the other guys are like “brooooo wtf!!!” martino breaks his silence (idk i’ll talk more about martino’s Energies later but i just feel like he wouldn’t be talking much around this group of guys. he’s so very different from all of the other isaks in my head) to tell the story of when nico stole his mom’s car and drove for like six hours or whatever to wherever marti and the boys were. oh and also they skipped a whole day of school that one time to go to milan? and they like jumped over a fence and trespassed on like private property or something to smoke together (honestly is it extremely obvious that i have little to no idea what happened in sk*mit lmao) and the other guys are like......nodding along.....just kind of going with it like....”yeah dude woah how crazy! yall really uhhhh yall really Did That” and then martino just goes back to being quiet and staring at his hands. honestly, his personality is just so......different. idk if the other guys would vibe with him tbh. like while isak and fr lucas would obviously take the lead in the convos, i see martino just sitting there, his head constantly switching back and forth between the two of them like in the cabin scene where gio’s telling him how to text nico lmao

also!! yeah no isak and fr lucas become fast friends. they’re constantly making points and just aggressively agreeing with each other like!! imagine the conversations these two would have about science! matteo would jump in every now and then with some random comment about idk evolution or whatever the topic is now and isak and fr lucas would just bust their guts laughing like idk but they definitely think everything that comes out of matteo’s mouth is like the funniest thing in the world ya know like they have that energy. justice for isak and lucas lallemant and their Chaotic Best Friend Energy. then matteo just goes back to smoking and staring at david across the room like he hasn’t just won the dundee award for Funniest Isak.

lucas vdh is there too and he’s like 100% keeping up with the conversation and adding his own little quips every now and then. isak thinks he’s funny but he’s still like Suspicious of him (bc ofc he is i mean it’s vdh!! very on brand of him!!) and they like Smirk at each other every time vdh says something Snake-like bc isak lowkey respects the hustle?? vdh reminds isak of a younger version of himself. like honestly, out of all of the remakes, lucas vdh has the STRONGEST og isak energies to me. idk why he just like exudes season 1 isak snakeness. like look at them!!!!

The Same Face.

also, robbe gets a honorable mention in the category of Remake Isaks Who Make OG Think Of His Younger Years And Tear Up A Bit. robbe’s like the little brother that somebody was forced to bring along but secretly they all love him. vdh and shay are constantly making fun of the silly tv shows that he’s always rambling on and on about. isak and fr lucas just punch them in the shoulders and shake their heads disapprovingly but don’t tell them to stop cuz they think it’s funny too

AND SHAY MY DAUGHTER dude you have no idea how amazing the guys would think she is. so we have some Class A misogynist kings in this group BUT shay might just be the exception. yall this is the girl who was talking about doo doo streaks. like she makes the other isaks laugh but in a different way than matteo does and she loves the validation! she highkey thinks they’re all annoying and is constantly saying things like “bro nah once i get my gf WATCH i am never gonna talk shit about her like yall do with all your bfs” and they just go pfftt like yeah wait until she blasts katy perry or some shit in the kitchen at 9 o’clock in the morning and you have pretend like youre into it just WATCH. WE ALL HAD TO GO THROUGH IT. YOU WILL TOO! shay says “watch me bitch!! katy perry’s bomb!”

fr lucas says he and eliott still listen to dubstep sometimes and then proceeds to get roasted by the squad when they find out that he plays classical piano lmao

also can we take a moment to appreciate our king lucas rubio bc let’s be honest he would sit down with the isaks for one second, listen to matteo talk about how he told david he loved him for the first time while discussing their favorite kermit the frog memes or something and scream into a pillow. like our one (1) mature isak king would just look over at cris who happened to tag along and roll his eyes but nope!! she’s actually like into it and immediately, she pulls up her secret meme instagram and now they’re all following each other and ugh! anyway lucas rubio gets up to go join the evens in their discussion about the fall of the 1920s noir film genre around the time shay, robbe, and vdh start arguing about who’s hair in the group is the best. he’s sensitive okay???

bro i gotta make a whole other post about the evens someday i have SO MUCH TO SAY

#skam france #druck #skam nl #skam spain #skam og #skam #wtfock #skam austin #long post #mine #text #dont hate me for tagging all of the remakes i want people to talk to me about my opinions #thank u

[saikostories]

Nanbaka - The Peculiar Guard pt2

“For being a guard, I never thought there would be this much junk papers…”

“Yeah, it’s kind of surprising, but it’s kind of useful reading through them.”

“Really? Guess I’ll start skimming…”

As usual, Theo was at his desk reading papers. He hadn’t taken his mask off for a while since he’s honestly gotten adjusted to it. As he threw another page into the garbage, Seitarou grabbed his attention again.

“Oh, hey, Theo!” He said, causing the newbie to turn towards him. “It’s time for your patrol. You should really be wary about the time.”

“Uh, right, sorry…” Theo apologized and stood up from his desk.

He pushed his chair in before walking out of the office. Entering into the hallway, he instantly spotted Hajime with a person behind him. Recognizing the silver tag on the person and the attire they wore, it was clear that it was a new inmate.

“New inmate, sir?” Theo asked as he continued walking by.

“Yep. He’s going to cell 13.” Hajime stated.

“Cell 13…?” Theo mumbled before beginning to walk with Hajime. “Hold on, why there? Why not… cell 11? It has fewer inmates that aren’t so… rowdy.”

“Warden’s orders.” Hajime answered.

“Oh…” Theo became quiet after that. He looked back to the inmate to see that he was dressed in a peculiar way. “…Nice mask.”

“Thank you.” Replied inmate No.99. “It was especially made in my village for shinobis…”

‘Yeah, okay, keep tellin’ yourself that bud…’ Theo thought as he didn’t believe him at all. 'But, he does look familiar… I wonder where I’ve seen him before…’

“Here’s your cell,” Hajime instructed the inmate.

“I’ll keep patrolling…” Muttered Theo as he walked on by.

Just as he made it to the end of the hall he could hear the boys from cell 13 gushing in excitement. He questioned what got them so riled up, but shrugged it off since he had a job to do. After nothing suspicious was going on he went back to the office. He sat back at his desk and continued a few papers before he heard a sobbing Seitarou run into the room.

“It’s the inmates again! Waaaahh!” Sobbed Seitarou.

“Inmates…?” Theo questioned softly.

“You mean cell 13?” Hajimed asked. “I thought you said you were buddy-buddy with them since I’ve told you what to do.”

“I thought so too, but now we’re through!” Exclaimed Seitarou. “I just went to see if I could get them anything. They ignored me! I offered them snacks, surveys, menus, and everything, but they just hissed at me! Those inmates are as cold as ice!”

’…Seitarou sound like an overly emotional girlfriend, yeesh…’ Theo immediately thought.

“Wait, they all love that crap. What could this mean…?” Hajime muttered as he became suspicious of what Seitarou said.

“Cheer up, Seitarou…” Theo spoke up calmly to him and began rubbing his back in comfort. “No need to get upset over something so trivial. Don’t take everything they say or do to heart. Plus they’re inmates. Take a deep breath and show them that you’re not someone they can push around. You’re not just a pretty face, you’re a guard.”

“Y-you really think so…?” Sniffled Seitarou as he gazed up at her.

Theo nodded before diving into his lunchbox he brought with him. “Here, I had bought myself a muffin earlier. You can have it though. Cheer up, okay?”

“You’re such a girl…” Hajime practically threw at Theo.

Without Seitarou seeing, Theo shot Hajime a very harsh and cold glare. Hajime stiffened as that glare reminded him of the Warden, which also gave him the realization of his mistake. 'Crap, that’s right… Theo is a girl… I accidentally forgot…’

“A-are you sure…?” Seitarou asked Theo.

“Sure. I had a big breakfast anyway so I’m not hungry.” Theo said to him, while patting his head. “Remember, strong. Like Hajime just less scary.”

“O-okay…” Mumble Seitarou as he wiped his tears.

“Hey, Theo, let’s see what those brats are up to together.” Hajime spoke up and stood from his desk as soon as Theo got to the door. “Those things Seitarou asked them about are basically their weaknesses. If they deny that, then something’s going on.”

“…Okay.” Theo nodded.

The two exited the room and went to Cell 13. When they got to the door, both officers instantly realized the door was opened and checked the lock. It was picked through like a pro. Theo figured that 'pro’ was Jyugo.

“Did they seriously escape…?” Theo questioned as he gazed around the cell. “Why thought…?”

“Who knows…” Growled Hajime before turning around. “C'mon! They couldn’t have gotten that far…”

“Right.” Theo murmured and followed.

The two began walking down the hallway carefully, trying to keep an eye out of the escapees. But the further they went, the more they could hear voices. The louder the voice got, the quieter the two guards became so they could sneak up on the inmates. Once they spotted them they remained behind a wall and listened in carefully.

“So I win yet, 'cause all he’s done is follow me.” Ask the voice of Jyugo. “I might as well be breaking out of here all by myself!”

“So should we call it a match?” Rock asked.

“Yeah, you should do that.” Hajime spoke up and stepped out from the corner.

Theo followed behind Hajime, just staying behind him, as he watched the inmates become startled by his presence. Hajime began to crack his knuckles as he glared down at them while itty bitty veins popped from his face.

“Crap! He found us!” Hissed Jyugo.

“W-wait up, Hajime! Just listen!” Uno exclaimed holding his hands up in surrender. “The three of us aren’t really escaping!”

“Yeah, we’re just here to judge these two’s jail breaking skills.” Said Rock.

“Yeah, that they said—we just came to watch!” Nico said as he flinched back.

“You damn traitors!” Jyugo shouted at the three.

Hajime cracked another finger, causing chills to go up all the inmate’s spines. “If you’re out of your cells, and you didn’t ask for my permission, then it still counts as breaking out…”

The three inmates were all shaking together. Theo could only huff at Hajime as he felt deja vu. 'Hajime’s still the same Hajime from back then, that’s for sure…’

“Ha ha ha ha!” Laughed the newest inmate, No.99, which grabbed their attention. “The time has come to reveal my ninjutsu! Ninja Technique: Cloak of Invisibility!”

Suddenly, the inmate took out a long flag and was holding it above his head. It was of the Japanese national flag with some writing on it. Theo could only sweat drop, watching as both Hajime and Jyugo punched the guy, also simultaneously ripping the flag.

“Doesn’t really work if I’ve already seen ya, now does it?!” Shouted Hajime.

“And what’s with that design?! Don’t disrespect the Japanese!” Shouted Jyugo.

“Aaaand down he goes…” Theo mumbled, standing next to the other inmates, watching as No.99 was now laying on the ground. “To be honest he had that coming to him…”

“Hey, why didn’t you join in the punch, Theo?” Asked Nico.

“Well, I’m not Japanese in the slightest, and I’m kind of not needed here…” Theo muttered and looked at Hajime, just in time to see him grab Jyugo by the collar of his clothes.

“No.15 you punk… Making friends with the newbie so you can escape together, huh?” Hajime interrogated him.

“It’s not my fault, it was his idea!” Jyugo said, only to gasp very deeply afterwards. “Tsukumo and… Hajime… Hajime Tsuku—”

Hajime slammed his hand over Jyugo’s mouth. “Don’t say it. Don’t you dare say it! No one in our targeted demographic will get it!”

*Ahem, Ahem.* PAUSE! (A chibi Theodora pops up as a pause symbol appears over the screen.) Excuse me while I explain to you, dear reader/viewer. Hajime Tsukumo is a famous Japanese actor and has been in many movies. He was born around 1992 and is still around to this date! Well, assuming you’re reading this around the date he’s still alive. Anyways, back to our regular programing! (Chibi Theodora jumps down and disappears off screen) RESUME!

“Ahahahaha! Just as expected of a Nanba Prison officer!” Exclaimed No.99, or Tsukumo, who was back onto his feet. He then pointed at Jyugo. “It looks like I’ll be taking your title after all! It’s clear that you are no match for this guard. If I escape from here, victory is mine!”

“So you guys weren’t lying about the competition, huh…” Theo muttered to the three.

“Of course not!” Uno exclaimed at him. “If it gets us out from getting hit by Hajime then we’ll squeal like pigs!”

'Duly noted…’ Theo thought to himself.

“Ninja Technique! Hidden Leaf! Makibishi!” Exclaimed Tsukumo.

Suddenly, not only did leafs fly through the air, but small tiny weapons flew to the ground as well. Theo was surprised by this and became on guard, only to quickly calm down when he realized the position Tsukumo got himself in.

“Whoa! He really must be a ninja if he got those past security!” Exclaimed Rock, Nico, and Uno in unison.

“Yeah, okay…” Theo shook his head at the three. “What type of ninja traps himself with his own weapons…?”

Realization hit Tsukumo as soon as Theo pointed it out. The supposed 'ninja’ exclaimed in horror at the realization of what happened.

“This is terrible! I spread them all out around myself!” Tsukumo exclaimed.

“You’re cleaning that up!” Hajime called to him before turning to the four. “Alright, time to get back to your cells.”

“What about him, sir…?” Theo asked Hajime, pointing at No.99.

“He ain’t leaving until he cleans up his mess.” Hajime stated. He then placed a sign up in front of Tsukumo before facing the other inmates. “Alright, start moving.”

Theo helped Hajime bring the original four back to their cells and left Tsukumo behind. Beginning tomorrow he’ll be moved to Cell 11, just like Theo had suggested, so no more trouble could be caused with Cell 13.

***

“Good morning, Theo!”

“…G-good morning…”

“Huh?”

Seitarou had walked in this morning to find Theo sitting on the couch looking rather gloomy. His head was down as he projected a small gloomy aura. Concerned for his coworker, Seitarou walked up to Theo and asked him what was wrong.

“Is everything okay?” He had asked.

“My landlord called me…” Softly muttered Theo. “…He just kicked me out of the place because of my rent being unpaid for again…”

“I am so sorry!” Seitarou said, patting his shoulder in comfort.

“It’s fine…” Theo muttered and gestured that it was nothing. “It was bound to happen… I was planning on moving out anyways…”

“Well, do you have any other place to stay?” Seitarou asked.

“Yeah…” Theo replied softly. “I talked to the Warden about it, hoping an early paycheck could help me get somewhere. Instead she told me I could just sleep in the nightroom here… I ended up taking her offer…”

“Why?” Seitarou asked, bewildered by his words.

“I mean, it’s right here at work, right?” Mumbled Theo as he tried being logical about this. “Why not? You have me being around 24/7 now, and it allows me to save up some money while I try to search for a legitimate place to stay at…”

“Still, though…” Seitarou tried to reason with him. “Won’t it be a bit scary, living here with other inmates around and all…?”

“Not really, considering I did live here for years…” Theo said, his tone now sounding less gloomy and more casual.

“Oh, right… I keep forgetting that you had been an inmate here yourself…” Seitarou muttered softly.

“I’ll be fine, promise…” Theo said and stood up from his spot on the couch.

“Well, at least you’re not gloomy anymore.” Seitarou smiled and walked towards one of the metal closets. “Today’s pretty important you know. We should get to work?”

“…Important…?” Theo questioned.

“Well, yeah. It’s New Years Eve, you know.” Seitarou said, looking at him incredulously. “How could you not know something as important as that?” The blue haired male turned to him with cleaning equipment in hand. “It’s Japanese tradition to clean up the place at the end of the year. Us guards will clean up the office while the inmates will clean up their cells. That’s how it works.”

“Oh, I had no idea…” Theo said softly. “I should call my family when I get the chance…”

“You get a headstart here in the office. Yamoto and I will supply the inmates, okay?” Seitarou said smiling.

“Alright…” Theo nodded to him.

As Seitarou exited the room, Theo went into the metal closet and began to look for cleaning supplies. Once he found a bit he began to start with the desk. Of course, he had to clean off a bit of the papers before he did that. As he cleaned, Seitarou came back along with Yamoto. The three cleaned the entire room as carefully as they could. As Theo cleaned on top of a cabinet, he spotted something black and furry. Blinking a few times, he grabbed the strange thing and turned to Seitarou.

“Hey, Seitarou…?” He questioned softly.

“Yeah?” Seitarou straightened up and looked at him.

“…Why’re there a cat here?” Theo asked. “I thought I saw something furry from time to time, but I’ve always shrugged it off as my imagination… Why’s it got a police hat too?”

“Oh, uh… I honestly have no clue.” Admitted Seitarou.

“That’s officer Coo!” Exclaimed Yamoto, pointing to the cat. “Hajime is responsible for the cat. He is Guard Cat Coo! He usually resides around the office, but it’s been a long time since I’ve saw him! Nice find, Nicci!”

“Hajime’s cat…?” Theo held the cat up, now noticing a scar over one of his eyes. “Why do I see the resemblance…? I’m kinda not surprised…”

“Mreow!” Spoke the cat.

Theo stared at it for a moment before holding him in his arms carefully and began petting him. 'Aw, he’s so cute…! Animals are so sweet…!’

“We should get back to work.” Seitarou’s voice snapped Theo back to reality.

“R-right…!” Theo nodded, shaking his thoughts away.

Placing the cat down, Theo got back to work. The three of them continued on cleaning until the place was spotless. Once it was done they all sat down on the couch for a well deserved break. Well, Seitarou and Theo sat down. Yamoto strongly believed that he deserved an End of the Year Training and bolted out the door. The two guards just talked quietly until going back to work. When they were at their desk Theo decided to call his family, trying to be cautions of the time difference in America compared to Japan.

“Good morning!” Replied a female voice with a bit of an accent. “Is that you, Theodora?”

“Hi mom,” Theo greeted as he could feel a smile curl onto his lips. “How’s everything going at home? Everybody behaving?”

“Oh, you know how it is.” Spoke Theo’s mom. From the sounds he could hear, it sounds like she’s cooking. “Your father has been himself, you know. Sadly he left early to go hunting so I’m sorry you can’t talk to him, you know? Your brothers, Marco and Mario, have been mischievous little devils. Hiding my phone, hiding my purse—I almost slapped them for hiding my lipstick. But little Eva has been good, though. She got first place in her school art contest!”

“Oh, that’s good.” Theo said, glad to hear their okay. “I just called to say happy New Years since it’s New Years Eve over here.”

“Really?” Softly gasped her mom. “You guys are a day ahead of us, huh. I will never get used to those timezones…”

“Tell me about it…” Theo laughed softly.

“Anyways, how have you been? Everything going well?” Asked her mom.

“Yeah, it’s been fun.” Theo said. “I saw a few familiar faces and made some new friends. Give a little more time and I’m sure my name will be circling around the place again, hehe…”

“I’m glad to know you’re okay. Honestly I was a little skeptical about you going back but if everything is fine and you’re happy and looking after yourself than that’s good.” Happily said her mom. “I wish you could come over one of these days. See the family again, have some pasta fazool, oooh! Or Chicken parmesan! Ugh, it’s only 10 o'clock here and you’re already making me hungry.”

“Mom, aren’t you making something?” Theo asked. “I’m positive I heard pans on the stove.”

“Yes, but there is no such thing as too much food!” Said her mother. Theo could only imagine her waving her finger at him. “Because New Years is coming up everyone from my side of the family is coming over. Even Uncle Benvolio will be there this time. I’m making my famous lemon cake and bring it over, along with some meatballs. Mmm~ I can’t wait for it!”

“I wish I could be there…” Theo said, but he was still smiling. “Tell everyone I said hi. And give dad a big hug for me, okay?”

“Of course I will!” Laughed her mom. Silence rang on the phone for a bit “are you sure you’re okay honey? You sound different… sort of off… are you managing stress all right?”

Theo let out a long breath and closed his eyes for a second. Hajime looked up and eyed Theo. He could hear most of the conversation anyway.

“Yeah mama. I’m fine, a little tired but fine. I just miss you that’s all.”

“I miss you too Theodora. Listen,I hate to let you go, mia cara, but I must. I’m in the middle of cooking, and I don’t want to burn the pancakes.“

"Alright. I love you, mom.” Theo said.

“I love you to, Theodora.” Said her mother in a very loving manner. “I’ll tell everyone you called. Goodbye!”

“Bye bye, mama.” Theodora said just as lovingly in return.

The phone beeped as the call was disconnected. Theo sighed softly and gazed at his phone in a lonely manner. Going through it he went to his pictures and found a picture of his entire family together. He smiled softly at the memory. Seeing each of their faces made him feel homesick. But, with this job, it was worth the heartache. He closed his phone and placed it on his desk and began to continue his regular paper work.

“Happy New Years…”

***

Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke.

“Mmnn… Eva, stop…”

“Who the hell’s Eva?”

“…!…”

Theo shot up from his bed to see No.15 sitting in a wheely chair right next to him. His body instinctively had chills go up his spine as a cold sweat formed on the back of his neck. 'Son of bitch…! Thank god I didn’t take off any of my compressions otherwise I’d be fucking screwed!’

“The hell’re you doing here?” Theo demanded to know, his tone being rather hostile.

“Did I scare you? Ooh, what an angry tone you’re using!” Jyugo teased, trying to aggravate him. It was slightly working.

“Don’t dodge the question!” Theo yelled, holding a fist up at him.

“I got bored.” Jyugo replied innocently with a shrug. “Plus, Rock snores, Uno grinds his teeth, and I can’t hear either of them thanks to Nico’s sleep laughter—how do you expect me to fall asleep? This is the quietest place in the building, but I had no idea you were residing in here.”

“So your brilliant idea was to poke me…?” Theo questioned as his eye twitched.

“Hajime’s not here, Seitarou went home, and Yamoto is doing his training.” Jyugo said holding up three fingers. “So, yeah, you’re basically my only entertainment right now.”

'This guy…!’ Theo could feel his anger slowly rising. But, he countered it by sighing out, trying to calm down. 'No, no… Leave him. He’s not worth the trouble of beating. Plus, I’m sure Hajime wouldn’t take his office being in shambles so lightly…’

“…If you’re so bored then why don’t you do something else?” Theo questioned him. “Read, watch TV, draw—do something other than break out of your cell. If you keep escaping like that then eventually Hajime will have to take high measures and place you in a place that you can’t escape from.”

“Oh really? What’s that?” Jyugo asked, clearly not believing Theo’s words.

“They have a place in these buildings that they usually put mentally ill prisoners in.” Theo stated, trying to show that this wasn’t a joke. “Basically it’s like a hatchet—kinda like a garbage shoot. They slide you into this room with no doors, no windows, and no locks. Climbing back up the shoot is impossible since they have this slick coating on it that makes you slide down. One wall is made of bulletproof glass while the other walls, including ceiling and floor, are made of white cushions. It’s like a mental institution. The glass wall allows people like doctors to watch you and examine your behavior. No matter what you do towards those people on the other side of the glass, they’ll do nothing but act as if you weren’t even there. It’s a living hell…”

“Wait, they seriously have that…?” Jyugo muttered, clearly surprised by the information.

“Remember that story I talked about a few days ago?” Theo asked and watched Jyugo nod. “…How else do you think that guy went mental and killed himself?”

“S-seriously…?” Jyugo’s eyes went wide in shock.

“Yep. It’s pretty fucked up…” Theo muttered as a dark expression came onto his face. “I know personally how much of a hell it is because I got put in there… They said that if I can’t cooperate, they’ll keep me in that room for the rest of my sentence. I just scoffed and laughed… They threw me down and I could only last a week… I eventually agreed to their terms and got placed officially into Building 5…”

“Sounds harsh.” Jyugo muttered.

“Yeah, well…” Theo shrugged and sighed again, trying to stop any dark thoughts in his head. “…I was a little shit back then, so I deserved it. But I’m not telling you that to pity me. I’m telling you this because I don’t want anybody else going through the shit I’ve been through. I’m warning you; behave or Hajime might just take that risk in throwing you in there if you continue to misbehave!”

“Yeah… I’m not gonna do that.” Jyugo said smiling, looking rather smug. “Hajime’s a brute, but he isn’t that heartless. Plus, he’s dealt with me so far. The only person who would do that would probably be the Warden, right? If I get thrown in, then I get thrown it. It’s my fault for breaking out anyways so it would make sense if I get punished for it.”

Theo stared at him for a moment before sighing again. He ran a hand through his hair, realizing just how much Jyugo doesn’t understand these things. “You really don’t know anything, huh?…”

“You sound like Hajime.” Jyugo commented and began spinning in the chair.

“That’s because Hajime understands what this job means more than you do.” Theo stated, causing Jyugo to stop and listen to him. “Do you understand what our job is? What we do and why we have to do it…?”

“You’re guards, right? So you guard the inmates and make sure we don’t escape.” Jyugo said as if it was obvious.

“It’s more than that, you know…” Theo said and rested his chin in his palm. “Yes, we do guard the cells and make sure inmates behave themselves. But it’s more complicated than that… The reason anybody is put into jail is because they broke society’s law. But breaking the law you are punished by being placed into jails and living in it until your sentence has ended. Through that time of being in jail, it’s up to us guards to sort of… rehabilitate you guys…”

“Rehabilitate…?” Jyugo questioned, clearly not understanding.

“You might have broken the law, but you’re still a human being.” Theo continued, hopefully trying to get him to understand. “From what I experienced for myself, a lot of jails in America would sometimes have these type of groups. They would gather the inmates and hold this type of event. Sometimes they have past inmates who had rehabilitated properly back into society to talk. Sometimes it’s a comedian. Heck, they even bring in animals sometimes.”

“Why would they do that?” Jyugo asked.

“To make us care…” Theo said softly, causing Jyugo to stare. “There’s a lot of things in life. But, sometimes people will act out through severe circumstances and break society’s laws. Jyugo… you’re only 16 and in the world’s highest security prison. You shouldn’t be in a place like this. You should be in a nice home, with a nice family, goofing off with friends, and playing games. That goes for you and your fellow inmates in cell 13. There’s only so much time we have in life, but you’re here, wasting it in a pathetic jail cell…”

“Where are you going with this?” Jyugo spoke up, looking almost defensive.

“I’m saying you should go through your sentence and get the hell out of here.” Theo stated bluntly. “Behave, find your way into society. As a guard, it is my job to not only make sure you inmates behave and get ready to be released back into society, but it’s also my job to care for you guys.”

“Care for us…?” Jyugo’s eyebrows furrowed together and upwards, clearly confused.

“Prison guards make sure the inmates behave, but that they are also protected…” Theo continued to hopefully clarify for him. “You and your friends in cell 13 all have misdemeanors, but because you continue to escape jails your sentences have been lengthen. Either way, you guys didn’t do something extreme, unlike some of these other inmates. Nanba Prison has all types of fuckers around. Rapist, murders, the mentally illed—this place might as well have them all. Even if those guys are placed into special confinement away from other inmates, they’ll try attacking anybody they can get their hands on. That means it’s up to the guards to stop that from happening and try and protect people like you.”

“But… why?” Jyugo asked. “We’ve all done bad shit. All prisoners might as well be scum, right? So why would you risk yourselves for something like that?”

“Just because you misbehaved in our society doesn’t mean you’re not a living being…” Theo answered. He smiled at Jyugo, seeing that he caught him off guard. “You’re a human being. You have feelings, you have a high intelligence, you have your own likes and talents. You might have lost some rights from doing the shit you’ve done to get into prison, but you still have the right to be a human being. The reason I came back here—the very reason for why I willingly talk to everyone I can talk to and know them—is because I care. I want to protect. I want to help you guys get through this harsh rehabilitation and I want to keep you all safe… That’s why I became a prison guard at Nanba Prison.”

Jyugo stared at Theo with his mouth agap. Theo just held his gaze, a smirk tugging his own lips, as he knew what he said had resonated with him somehow. Or, at least impressed him in some way. Jyugo recollected himself and pointed at Theo.

“Dude, it’s like, 3 in the morning and you were able to give a lecture like that?” Jyugo said in a very blunt tone. “Man you’re weird…”

Hajime would’ve punched Jyugo if he had said that to him. But Theo wasn’t Hajime. Instead Theo huffed in amusement, only to end up laughing softly. Jyugo expected to get hit, not a chuckle.

“Haha, yeah, I guess I am weird.” Theo smiled at him. “I just know a lot more than others is all… I weird as I am, I always enjoy deep conversations. It’s just how I am…”

“You… You aren’t mad?” Jyugo asked, ready for a punch to the head.

“Why should I be mad when what you said is true?” Theo countered, effectively silencing him. Theo’s smile faded as he looked at his crossed legs. “I’m just a freak of nature. But it’s how I was bored—I’m not responsible for it. I’m only responsible for the actions that I take and for what I do with myself. But, a lot of people tend to forget that…”

“…What do you mean by that?” Jyugo asked.

“…You honestly don’t know my situation, huh?” Theo asked him, watching as he shook his head. “Ever heard of the disease, HSAN?”

“Nope.” Jyugo shook his head.

“HSAN stands for Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathy.” Theo stated, trying to explain it as carefully as possible. “It’s a condition that inhibits sensory. In other words, HSAN stops me from physically feeling anything. Whether I am kept in the cold or even in flaming fire, I can’t feel anything. I won’t be able to tell you whether I’m hot or cold because I can’t feel it. Basically the only way I can feel something through my hands or anywhere is probably if I was harmed severely.”

“So you really can’t feel anything?” Jyugo asked, looking intrigued, as his eyes landed on Theo’s arms. “Is… is that why you have so many scars…?”

Theo followed his gaze to his arms. When Theo went to bed he just took a few of his uniform off. He didn’t take his pants or shirt off because he had collapsed right on the bed and fell asleep. In other words, he ran out of batteries again. His sleeves were rolled up, showing the intense sight of his hands and arms. His hands were covered in scars. The same went for his arms, but the scars were more or less spaced out the more higher they went.

“Oh, these…” Theo muttered as his face was stoic again. “Growing up with HSAN was… hard, to say the least. Kids didn’t enjoy being around me because I couldn’t quite control my own strength. My family did whatever they could to teach me how to control my own body so that society might be able to accept me. But, it was hard… The more I grew, the more I wanted to feel something. Why was touch so special? What was so comforting from it? I didn’t know… I couldn’t know… Eventually, I got into such a dark place when I was a child that I began harming myself. Harshly…”

Theo lifted his hands up, turning them and show Jyugo how bad they actually were. “Almost all of these scars have stories. Most I inflicted on myself, others were gained by accident, while some I gained from trying to protect others.”

“You were that desperate…?” Jyugo asked, his eyes widen in shock.

“Yeah, I was… And maybe I still am…” Theo nodded before putting his hands down. “HSAN isn’t widely known, but it’s heavily severe… I can’t feel anything, so I got injured often. To this day I still get strange injuries without realizing it. Growing up without the sensation to feel is a living hell…”

Theo’s hands tightened into fist as he stared at the ground with a hollow stare. “…Feelings were… impossible for me to recognize. You know how when you’re sad, your throat feels all tight and clogged, and your eyes burn and feel itchy? For me, it’s numbed down heavily. The most I could probably sense are the itchy eyes, and maybe my throat tighten partially. I just… can’t feel anything… My behavior came off as disturbing and harsh to others. So, to make life easier for myself and family, I began to observe people. That’s when I began to act as a 'normal’ human being.”

“That’s so fucked up…” Theo heard Jyugo whisper softly.

“Well, that’s just how it is for me…” Theo said and shrugged nonchalantly. “But, now that I’m an adult and making a living for myself, life’s been better for me. I understand my hints of emotions I get, and I know how to feel without feeling. Yeah, sometimes there’ll be moments where my HSAN is in the way, but I’m making it by fairly well. I’m just grateful for the fact that not my entire body is unable to sense touch.”

“What do you mean?” Jyugo asked and tilted his head slightly.

“Not all of my senses are gone thankfully.” Theo said and began counting the sensations on his fingers. “I can see, hear, and taste fairly well compared to an average human—maybe even more. But I can’t smell to well and touch is a nogo. Basically, my I can only feel with my tongue. It’s the most sensations that I have.”

“That’s gotta be frustrating.” Jyugo commented, causing Theo to nod.

“Sometimes.” Theo said. “I got into a lot of trouble because I tried to feel with my tongue when I was a child. Since I could only feel with my tongue, I tended to lick or kiss a lot of things. My family understood that it was the only thing I had to feel with, so they didn’t necessarily stopped me unless it was in public or to something dangerous. Now that I think about it, the whole kissing thing I did was more of a greeting if anything. To put it simply… Licking and kissing for me was like a head pat or handshake if that makes any sense…”

Jyugo felt his eye twitched when he learned that information. 'So that day when he kissed me meant nothing. He only did it as a sense of touch…’

“But, like usual, society found my behavior to be… inappropriate.” Theo sighed softly as he recalled multiple events. “I was three when I met another kid on the local playground. I ended up kissing the kid, and it just so happened to be a girl. The parents go so mad, yelling and cursing at my parents to 'control me,’ or to 'teach some manners.’ I got real mad, angry that someone was insulting my family. But, my dad just apologized, taking every hit they threw, and took me away from the place and we went home. That’s when he began to try and teach me to stop doing that since he knew that it could get me into some serious trouble… But, as you know, habits die hard.”

“Yeah, I know…” Jyugo grumbled in a slightly irritated tone.

“Yeah… Sorry about that.” Theo smirked at him. “Like I said, I don’t mean anything behind it. Plus, you were being quite stubborn that day. I had to kick you out somehow.”

“Kissing someone isn’t a way to kick them out of a place!” Jyugo yelled.

“Now you sound like Hajime!” Theo laughed in amusement, causing Jyugo to stiffen.

“Don’t compare me to him!” Jyugo said looking almost insulted.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, Hajime pounded me a good number of times.” Theo said and subconsciously rubbed his head. “He made sure to be extra hard, too. He actually managed to made me dizzy to say the least.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still pissed about that…” Jyugo grumbled, looking off to the side.

“Would another kiss make you feel better?” Theo teased and made kissy noises at him as a joke.

“HELL NO!” Jyugo screeched, causing Theo to laugh in response.

“I kid, I kid.” Theo said and waved his hand at him. “I know the errors of my ways. Plus, with Hajime being my superior, I’m positive he’s gonna be the guy to knock me the fuck out without help of medication.”

“…Now that I think about it,” Jyugo began thinking aloud, “that HSAN thing actually explains a lot… How you could get up onto your feet so quickly after getting punched by Rock. How you could attack us and not seeming fazed at all by it. You literally couldn’t feel any of that…”

“Now you’re getting it.” Theo crossed his arms cover his chest. “When I said I couldn’t feel that punch, I literally couldn’t feel it. Not only can I not feel anything, but I’m abnormally strong… It’s a blessing, yet a curse. I can last through a fight longer than a normal human being, but the after affect of it might be devastating to my body. It’s pretty bad, to be honest. I almost died plenty of times…”

“You’re dieseled as fuck, dude.” Jyugo said bluntly.

“I get that a lot, too.” Theo said and chuckled.

“You really are easy to chat with… It’s freaky…” Jyugo said as he realized how long they’ve been talking.

“Maybe… But the same can be said to you.” Theo said, catching him off guard. “When you’re comfortable, or at least not on guard, you listen fairly well to the person who is talking. You listen, which makes it easy to bond with you. Plus, you also woke me up at 3 in the goddamn morning, so I blame you.”

“Gee, thanks, way to make a guy feel special.” Jyugo replied sarcastically.

Theo snickered in response, clearly enjoying this talk. Even though Jyugo had a grudge against him, he had to admit, he was now starting to actually enjoy this guy’s presence. But of course he would never admit that out loud… Jyugo stared at him for a moment and stared at his face. He has seen some feminine men before, and he felt like Theo was taking a new place on his list.

Theos’s hair was uncovered since he had been sleeping. His hair was a silver white and cut just below his ears like a thick pixie cut. To describe it, Theo’s hair was messy and had straight short strands of hair that framed his face just below his eyebrows. Without his uniform and in the dim light, he really did look like a woman.

“So, anything else you want to pry in?” Theo asked Jyugo, now resting his chin back in his palm.

“Nah,” Jyugo put his hands behind his head and looked away from him. “It would be boring to learn more about you because you’re so openingly honest.”

“Touché” Theo replied and began to stare at Jyugo.

The teen just spun in the chair, but the silence that quickly filled the room was beginning to become insufferable. Plus, with Theo staring holes into his side, it just made it even more uncomfortable. Jyugo stopped spinning and slightly glared at him.

"Okay, your stare is really distracting.” Jyugo stated bluntly. “What, something on my face? You’re staring as if I’m a circus animal.”

“Your eyes…” Theo mumbled softly as he kept eye contact. “They’re so weird… No matter what they keep changing. I know that happens with different people, especially with hazel eyes, but I’ve never seen something as strange as yours… It’s distracting…”

“You’re distracting.” Jyugo said and spun in the chair one more time.

Oh, how you wound me.“ Theo jokingly said, still watching Jyugo’s eyes. ”…As weird as this sounds, your eyes are really pretty…"

“What are you, a woman?” Jyugo said and stopped spinning. “Seriously, some of the stuff you say is weird, dude.”

'For your information, yes I am.’ Theo stated in his head. “Why do I have the feeling that you have no right to say that…?”

“…Eh.” Jyugo turned the chair so his back was towards him. “…Touché.”

Theo tilted his head to the side in curiosity. What he said clearly struck some sort of cord with Jyugo. Theo wondered what it was. What made him turn his back towards Theo? Did what he said hurt him? What’s in his past that made his demeanor change so quickly? Was there a way for Theo to help him…? Just as Theo began questioning this, rapid footsteps could be heard. Soon enough the door busted open to reveal a very angry Hajime, who immediately spotted Jyugo.

"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR CELL?!” Hajime shouted at him.

“Talking to your newbie.” Jyugo replied flatly.

“WHY THE HELL DIDN’T YOU PUT HIM BACK?!” Hajime yelled at Theo.

“Because I didn’t see a mean to because he wasn’t causing trouble…” Theo replied softly.

WIthin seconds Hajime punched both of them in the head. Both of them held their heads as bumps popped up. Hajime, still seething in anger, grabbed Jyugo by the back of his collar and began dragged him out of the room.

“STAY IN YOUR GODDAMN CELL!” Hajime yelled at him.

As Jyugo was being dragged away, he waved at Theo before being whisked off.

Theo just sat there, trying to understand what just happened in a matter of seconds. 'That was… Unexpected… Especially at 3 in the morning…’

***

“So he didn’t find out the truth?”

“No…”

“And all you two did was talk?”

“Yes…”

“You’re lucky that he didn’t find that out, otherwise—”

“—I’d be fired, yeah, yeah, I know…”

Hajime had just gotten done giving Theo a lecture for talking with the inmate and not bring No.15 back to his cell. Eventually the older man calmed down and allowed Theo to finally get himself ready for work. Overhearing Hajime talk about a tournament, Theo felt his eye twitched as he became annoyed.

Compression clothing is usually a good thing to wear, especially if you’re doing an extraneous amount of activity. But, wearing them for so long was beginning to become annoying for Theo. He just wanted them off for one day, but he knew that he couldn’t do that. Not unless he wanted to get fired, that is… And he did NOT want to be fired. So he took the compressions wrapped around his chest off for an hour before placing them back on. He did this shit for three years and he can do it again.

After putting on his uniform, he stepped out into the office and heard orders about gathering the prisoners. Each one of the guards got the inmates out of their cells and carefully began to transfer them to a large arena-like area for the morning assembly.

Once everyone was gathered there, along with many other inmates from buildings all over, the morning assembly begun. Theo recalled this event that happened each year. One of those years he had been able to get Building 5 to the top and they won. Samon had bragged about it for so long that even Theo had gotten sick of hearing him. He wondered, 'Has it changed at all since my time in jail…?’

“Good evening, and a happy New Years to each of you.” Loudly Spoke the Warden to everyone in the area. “Here in Nanba Prison we hold a long standing tradition. A unique way of spending this holiday. Our New Year’s Tournament will now begin!”

As if on queue, a large banner was tossed down right under the high platform the Warden stood from.

“What’s a New Year’s Tournament?” Theo heard Jyugo asked, since cell 13’s inmates stood right next to him.

“I heard of a New Year’s Party but…” Rock’s voice trailed off.

“Wow, it hasn’t changed at all…” Theo mumbled to himself as he watched the Warden.

“I will now announce the participants from each building for this year’s tournament.” Loudly spoke the Supervisor of Building 4, Kenshirou Yozakura.

“What does he mean by 'participants’?” Jyugo asked, looking towards the guards.

“This is a special event that each officer and inmates cooperate and form into teams.” Explained Hajime. “In other words, this is 'Nanba’s New Year’s United As One Tournament.’”

“Cooperate?!” Exclaimed the four inmates.

“Each member from each team who manage to win this year will be awarded with a nifty little prize.” Seitarou added.

“We guards are awarded with a pay bonus,” Yamoto added, “whereas each victorious inmate will be able to select any single item of their choosing!”

This immediately grabbed their attention and the four began yelling at Hajime. They yelled, “HAJIME! YOU GOTTA LET US COMPETE, BRO!”

“Damnit, Yamoto, why did you have to go and tell them…” Grumbled the Supervisor.

“So the rules haven’t changed, huh?” Theo asked, looking towards the other guards. “I figured something would’ve changed at least, but it doesn’t seem like it has…”

“You’ve done this before?” Uno asked Theo.

“Yeah, of course…” Theo nodded to him. “Being an inmate of Building 5, I was one of the cellmates who were able to participate that year. Eventually, we ended up winning in the end. Usually the inmates tend to request stuff like clothes, furniture—sometimes asking for a request to see their family for a day or something like that. But, weapons and money are obviously not an option of the requests. I ended up requesting for a laptop since they wouldn’t provide me one back then… I actually still have that thing… But the cells are nominated randomly by the Warden, so even if you volunteer, there’s a slim chance that it won’t happen…”

“Representing Building 13,” loudly spoke Kenshirou which caused everyone to become silent. “…We have Cell 13.”

“HOW IS THAT ANY FAIR!” Shouted Seitarou and Hajime in slight despair.

“…And I stand corrected…” Theo mumbled softly.

They all sat down in the many seats that the arena, or stadium, had. Luckily they all got front row seats so they could hear and see all the action that is destine to be taken place. Theo was actually excited for this…

“Yo, Hajime!” A familiar voice called, causing everyone’s head to turn towards the source. “I hear your building is gettin’ represented by Cell 13. My condolences in advance for the loss.”

“Say what?” Hajime growled as rivalry sparked flew between them.

“I’m not sure if you’re familiar with my Cell 8 yet, but you will be when we destroy you in this tournament.” Declared Samon as fire raged behind the two.

“I don’t care if I win this year, but I damn well sure that I won’t lose to the likes of you.” Hajime growled in return.

“My goodness,” spoke another familiar voice, causing everyone’s heads to turn again. “You boys are always so aggressive towards one another. Behave yourselves at least. My custom Cell 6 is a custom class.”

“Sorry, say that again.” Theo spoke up, putting his hand to his ear. “I couldn’t catch that. Your perfume is so terribly strong that even I couldn’t tell what the hell is going on.”

“Ha!” Samon pointed at Theo. “I see my inmate still has his wit.”

“Of course I do, I was under your roof for three years.” Theo replied and shared a high five with Samon. “I’m so glad I wasn’t put in Building 3’s care. My god, I would’ve died the moment Kiji dared to put any form of makeup on me.”

“What was that you brat?” Growled Supervisor 3. “For your information I would’ve made you look beautiful! But you barbarians must stick together, after all…”

“I rather be barbaric than be one of your pathetic drag queens.” Theo stated bluntly. “Hell, I rather have my ears pierced by the Warden’s mask than be in your building!”

“Ha! Take that, you heavily makeup peasant!” Samon taunted.

“YOU INSOLENT LITTLE—!” Screeched the bird themed supervisor.

“Come at me, bird brain!” Theo dared, a wide grin on his face, now standing with his fist up and ready.

“You won’t even last ten seconds against us!” Samon said, standing right next to him.

“That’s quite enough out of all of you.” Ordered a voice, causing everyone’s heads to turn. “Stop your pathetic banter. It’s disgraceful.”

Now coming into view was Kenshirou, looking as stoic as ever. He then sharply looked at Theo and glared at him.

“You.” He spoke. “Stop helping rile the others, otherwise I will personally be the one to activate that mask of yours. I suggest you behave. We wouldn’t want another incident like the one your cause five years ago.”

“Wait what happened with Theo and Kenshirou’s inmate?” Uno asked Yamato quietly.

“Theo got angry. That’s all you need to know.” Hajime growled. Uno looked at Theo’s tensed face. Something must have happened. He looked like he wanted to fight Kenshirou at full force.

“Your damn inmate started it in the first place.” Theo growled at him crossing his arms over his chest. “Or do I have to remind you that the Warden herself asked me to take him down since you had no idea what was really going on? That jackass got what he deserved and you know it.”

“Yes, because bashing his head in until his face was unrecognizable was exactly what he deserved!” Growled the Superior. “Sit down before I make you obey.”

“You little—”

“No.7, that’s enough.” Samon ordered loudly.

Theo stiffened at the name, his eyes widening in shock. He looked towards Samon and saw his serious expression. Slowly, Theo obeyed and sat back down in his seat. Crossing his arms again along with his legs, he acted like nothing happened. Samon placed his hand on Theo’s shoulder and locked eyes with Kenshirou.

“Layoff the new guy. He isn’t an inmate anymore and you know it.” Samon said sternly. “He’s a civilian, and now a fellow officer. I get everyone has grudges against him but it’s time to buzz off and let it go. The past is the past, right? Leave him alone.”

“…Protective as usual.” Kenshirou said, his voice becoming calm again. “Like you said, he’s a civilian now. Maybe you should listen to your own words and not order him around.”

“That’s enough out of all of you!” Hajime growled, clearly becoming agitated. “The kid’s my responsibility, got it? I don’t care what they hell you all say to him, but if you keep poking at him like you are, I’ll be the one to go ahead and teach you all a lesson. This entire conversation is pathetic and pointless. Layoff and prepare for the competition.”

The group became silent for a moment. Kenshirou huffed out before turning and walking away. Kiji then stepped towards Theo and pressed against the side of each mask, unlocking the hooks. Theo gazed up at him in confusion and watched him lock the mask and place it on the seat.

“This is a tournament, after all.” Kiji said and winked at him. “There’ll be fighting involved, and it would be bad if you got a new piercing in the middle of the match.” He stood up and smiled calmly at his fellow Supervisors. “Let’s see who will win this year, hm? Good luck to us all.”

He then turned and walked off. Samon released a sigh and put his hand on the side of Theo’s head and rubbed up and down, kind of like a father would do to his son.

“Cheer up, kid.” Samon said to him. “Like I said, the past is the past. You know that better than anybody, so don’t let them get to you.”

Theo nodded and attempted a smile at his old supervisor. “Thanks Samon…” Samon’s smile fell a little. He could tell that parts of Theo had stayed the same. His temper was one of them. But he was also different. Both physically and mentally. Was something wrong?

“Hey, just letting you know I’m not gonna go easy on you because you used to be my inmate. Prepare for you ass to get beaten.”

Theo slowly smirked up at him. “I’d like to see that happen…”

“Heh,” Samon smirked and flicked Theo’s nose. “You’re not the one I’m after, though. But you better be prepared to lose.”

With that said, Samon turned and walked off. Theo watched him go before looking towards the ground, his mind still on about what Kenshirou said. Hajime noticed this and groaned softly. He patted Theo’s head, almost in a clumsy type of manner, but caused Theo to look up at him either way.

“For once, the monkey has a point.” Hajime said, his eyes never leaving the center of the arena. “Calm down, take a deep breath, and get your head out of there. You’re my responsibility, so try not to cause anymore paperwork for me, got it? It’ll be hard to write on paper for why you smashed a Supervisor’s face in.”

Theo huffed through his nose, an amused smile forming on his lips. “…Thank you, Hajime…”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Hajime basically shooed him off.

Instead of being offended, it caused Theo to grin a little more. Theo put his elbow on his leg and his chin in his palm as he gazed out to the arena. “Let’s play some games…”

Little did the guard notice the intense and shocked stared of the inmates next to him. The expression on Theo’s face made it look like the event never even happened. It was amazing with how crazy it got, but calmed down in a matter of seconds. Either way, it still left them pretty uneasy…

“Happy Fu*bleep*g New Years you filthy *bleep**Bleeeep*!” Exclaimed the broadcaster, catching everyone’s attention. “Get ready because this party is about to kick off! My name is Mitsuuuuru, and I will be takin’ care of the play-by-play commentary!”

'Loud as always…’ Theo thought as he was already covering his ears.

“To win this tournament, one building will have to advance through five different competitions!” Shouted Mitsuru as he was explaining the rules. “Inmates, Guards—we do recommend that you get along together. That is, if you wish to become the chAMPIOOOOOON! WHOOOO!”

“Ha ha ha! Mitsuru appears to be as spirited as ever, doesn’t he!” Exclaimed Yamoto.

“Gah!” Theo hissed and stomped his foot on the ground, tightly covering his ears. “He’s going to make me go deaf even faster if he keeps screaming like that…!”

“Yeah,” grumbled Hajime as he was rubbing his own ears. “One more scream like that and I’ll need to visit the doctor for hearing aids…”

“And now, for our first event!” Shouted Mitsuru, “Calligraphy! Or, Kakizome. However you freaky *Bleep* wants ta hear it! Your prompt is 'Happy New Years!’ Whoever displays the most beautiful kakizome penmanship will win this round!”

“Damn it…” Theo whispered and hanged his head in a sulking manner.

“T-there’s no way we can write that…!” Exclaimed Nico, Rock, and Uno.

They all began walking towards the center, getting ready for the competition. Theo was honestly hoping that they would at least change that one round for one year. 'Hell, not even half of these prisoners are Japanese despite the geography…’ As they got to the center with their tools now in hand, Theo could overhear the conversation with the inmates as he tried to do kakizome. It sounded like Uno, Nico, and Rock had ruined theirs and were trying not to despair.

“Look, we’re fine as long as we have Jyugo with us.” Uno said in a hopeful manner.

“He’ll pull us through!” Exclaimed Nico.

“A Japanese native can do this easy!” Rock said with confidence.

Theo stopped for a moment and glanced over. He watched Jyugo flinched when they called his name, asking if he was down. The black haired boy eventually dropped his brush, sulking on both hands and knees at the horror of his work.

“YOU SUCK!” The three inmates shouted at him.

“I can’t believe we forgot that the only thing Jyugo’s good for is breaking out of prisons…” Muttered Uno.

“Yeah, it’s our fault for thinking he was better…” Agreed Rock.

“We’re sorry for believing in you, Jyugo.” Said Nico.

'Daaaamn they’re harsh…’ Theo thought at their words.

“You guys sure know how to hammer in a failure…” Murmured Jyugo as he sounded ready to cry. “I tried my best, you know…”

Theo sighed through his nose and gazed at his own work. Comparing it to the inmates, it definitely was more neater than theirs, but it’s still considered sloppy. Gazing at Jyugo’s work compared to the others, his honestly looked slightly better, ignoring all the ink strokes he got all over the carpet.

“OH NO! WE WON’T EVEN GET PAST THE FIRST EVENT AT THIS RATE!” Shouted Uno in a panicked tone.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about that.” Seitarou said towards the group. “In this event it doesn’t matter if you’re an inmate or guards as long as you get a high score.”

The four looked at him puzzled before Seitarou pointed somewhere. Theo followed his hand to see Hajime and Yamoto holding up their banners with perfect Kakizomes. Theo clapped his hands softly as he was impressed.

“OH YEAH! BUILDING 13 SHOWS US HOW IT’S DONE YET AGAIN!” Exclaimed Mitsuru, showing that they got the top score.

“So good…” Muttered Uno in shock.

“What the hell? Damn are they good…” Grumbled Jyugo.

“Oh, yeah, they always win that round every year…” Theo said as he recalled from his own experience. “Every year they’re always able to beat everyone because they’re 100% natives in Japan…”

“You know, they’re actually both licensed calligraphy teachers.” Seitarou said factly.

“For real?!” Rock exclaimed as they all looked shocked.

“Oh yeah, I remember now…!” Theo said softly as he hit his palm with his fist gently. “One time they got all the inmates together and those two were one of the teachers to show us how to write in Japanese… I had utterly forgotten about that…”

“You forget a lot of things, huh?” Uno asked him and Theo nodded to him honestly.

“THE HIGHEST SCORE GOES TO BUILDING 13!” Declared Mitsuru.

“Are you really Japanese?!��� Sobbed Uno towards Jyugo.

“S-s-s-s-s-shut up!” Jyugo stuttered back at him, clearly flustered for failing this round.

“Kakizome is hard, even for someone who’s native.” Theo stated so they would hopefully get off of Jyugo’s back. “I’ve seen inmates who have been born and raised in Japan, yet they’ve done as horribly as all of us. It’s not fair for foreigners, or people who haven’t been educated in the slightest. But, this Prison is located on Japanese seas after all…”

“See? He gets it!” Jyugo yelled, gesturing to Theo.

“Hold up, what’s that part about people being educated?” Uno asked while holding his hand up.

“You don’t know?” Theo looked at him, seeming slightly surprised. “There’s a lot of prisoners here who haven’t been commonly educated, even if they’re one of the worst of the worst. Look, I’ve only been away from this prison for two years from serving my sentence, but I know that there’s still people here who still don’t know any sort of common knowledge.

"I guess that explains a lot.” Uno said before pointing at Jyugo. “This guy can’t even count higher than his ten fingers.”

“Why do you always have to turn the conversation into an insult towards me?!” Jyugo yelled at him.

“Anyways, the event’s over.” Seitarou said and began shooing the inmates to the sidelines. “Let’s move out of the way so that they can clean up and start the next event, alright?”

Theo followed Seitarou’s example and lead the others to the sidelines. Once they were away from the area, other guards quickly acted in cleaning the place up. As the area cleared for the next event to take place, Theo began to think to himself.

'From what Uno said before, it’s clear Jyugo hasn’t had a proper education…’ Theo thought silently to himself. 'Both Nico and Jyugo are 16 while Uno is 18 and Rock is 19. Uno appears to be the most knowledgeable out of the bunch, so he might not need any help in learning. Rock seems okay, but I should check and made sure. Nico is very childish, so I should see the extent of his knowledge before helping him. But out of all of them Jyugo will need the most desperate help. I should start with him, actually… Always target the most difficult one, as mom always says. But I wonder if they would even want help… I’ll think about it before I do anything…’

***

“Any guesses what the next event will be?”

“I don’t know… Kite flying maybe?”

“Just ask Theo, he’s basically a veteran at this.”

“Hm…?”

Theo lifted his head up towards the four since he heard his name. He was stuck in thought before they had grabbed his attention. Seeing his slightly confused expression Jyugo spoke up.

“Do you know what the next event is?” He asked.

“Oh, the event?” Theo looked towards the center. “Well…”

“AND FOR OUR SECOND EVENT!” Shouted Mitsuru, cutting Theo off. “AS ALWAYS, THIS IS ONE OF OUR MOST POPULAR EVENTS! THIS IS WHERE THE TOURNAMENT TRULY BEGINS!”

Suddenly large pillars fell from the sky and hit the ground, shaking the entire area. In multiple spread out parts of the area was a gigantic wooden bowl full of rice while stacked on top of three gigantic rumadrops. This was the second tournament event. Theo didn’t mind it, but it wasn’t his favorite.

“THE HECK IS THAT?!” Exclaimed both Rock and Nico as they pointed at the pillars.

“It’s huge!” Jyugo exclaimed in shock and possible horror.

“I’m super lost…” Muttered Nico.

“I think you knock the pegs out from underneath the bowls.” Uno answered for him.

“Which are way too big for mochi pounding…” Jyugo murmured.

“THIS IS AN EVENT OF POWER AND STAMINA!” Mitsuru continued. “YOU MUST COMPLETE YOUR MOCHI WITHOUT LETTING YOUR DYNAMA HIT THE DIRT! THAT MEANS EVERY TEAM HAS TWO OPTIONS: EITHER FINISH YOUR MOCHI FIRST, OR AGGRESSIVELY DROP YOUR OPPONENTS DYNAMA TO WIN!”

“…Yeah, that’s the event…” Theo said nodding.

'You’re no help at all!’ Jyugo and Uno shouted in their thoughts.

“Our first matchup will be Building 5, Cell 8 VS Building 13, Cell 13!” Declared Mitsuru. “NOW GET OUT THERE AND POUND IT, BOYS!”

“So it’ll be cell-on-cell from here on out?” Uno said and looked towards the guards.

“Yeah, that’s probably accurate.” Seitarou answered with Theo nodding.

“Greetings!” Yamato said and walked towards the group, carrying two gigantic dynamas. “Now, which of you would like to do battle at my side?”

“Did you volunteer for this one?” Nico asked him.

“Makes sense to me.” Jyugo said. “Looks to me that raw power is pretty key here.”

“Prepared, tent, and unafraid, 15.” Yamato spoke to him and held out of the hammers out to him. “Care to try?”

Jyugo reached out and grabbed it. Yamoto released the handle and they all watched as Jyugo bent back and the Dynama hit the ground. Uno and Seitarou yelped in horror of how he went down while Yamato seemed utterly fine with holding it.

“How the heck is this thing so freaking heavy…?!” Jyugo grunted as he tried lifting it up.

“Aha ha ha ha! Looks like someone needs more training!” Laughed Yamato as he back balancing the hammer on his own head with ease.

Jyugo released the hammer and lept to his feet and yelled at the man. “WHAT KIND OF MONSTER ARE YOU!?”

“A very, VERY, brutal one…” Theo murmured as he looked pale, recalling his past events with the man.

“These things aren’t that heavy.” Rock said as he lifted it with ease.

Rock began to copy Yamato and began balancing it on his head. Watching him do that and smiling reminded Theo of a dog with a treat on his nose, being told not to eat it yet. Jyugo turned to Theo in an almost pointed manner.

“I bet you can hold those things just fine…” He muttered.

“Yeah, I can.” Theo nodded, ignoring the possible insult of him referring to Theo being a monster too. “I tended to win the Mochi pounding event because I always knocked the other’s team’s pegs down real fast. But only one inmate and one guard has to do this event, so I’m not allowed to join since Yamato already volunteered…”

“Oh. Okay. I was actually wondering why you weren’t stepping up.” Jyugo said in a lighter tone as Hajime walked passed them.

“Alright, No.69, you can go with Yamato.” Hajime instructed him.

Rock got the hammer off of his head before yelling at the group. “Did you just volunteer me?!”

“Actually, you volunteered yourself…” Theo mumbled softly.

Eventually the groups were decided from each team. All the inmates were back at their seats to watch the event from a safer distance. But Theo knew that he had to be on the defensive himself, knowing quite well that even this distance wasn’t even enough to be safe. He was honestly glad that his mask was off for the tournament, otherwise he’d be done for…

“Pretty awesome view, huh?” Nico said since they were sitting front row.

“Yes, but this place can be kind of dangerous so please stay by.” Seitarou told him in concern.

“Let’s introduce this rounds contestants!” Exclaimed Mitsuru. “With Building 13, we have Deputy Supervisor Yamato Gudai! From Building 5, we have officer Inori Hakkai! From Building 13, Cell 13, is Inmate No.69! And from Building 5, Cell 8, please welcome Inmate No.2! Is everybody readyyy?! GOOOOO!”

Immediately Yamato began pounding the rice in the bowl at a surprising strength and speed. Theo could only sigh to calm his jumpiness. Yamato has always been one to surprise, and actually scare, with his brutal strength and speed. It totally didn’t help that the older man was laughing as he went along.

“Yamato’s amazing!” Nico said in awe.

'Yeah, amazingly horrifying…’ Theo thought but didn’t dare to say.

“He’s certainly muscular…” Jyugo muttered.

“It’s almost scary.” Uno added.

Just as Yamato started pounding the mochi, inmate No.2 came in and attacked one of the pegs, knocking it right off. The gigantic peg slammed into the side of the arena before hitting the ground, luckily hurting no one. Theo was becoming uneasy as he could tell this guy will cause unnecessary damage.

“Uh-oh! Looks like Building 13 already lost a block from their Dynamaaaa!” Exclaimed Mitsuru.

“This looks bad…” Theo whispered to himself as he saw the two inmates exchange words.

“Tell me, do those guys know each other?” Jyugo asked.

“Yeah.” Uno said before explaining. “Rock was at Building 5 at first, so they probably know each other since then.”

“Why did he switch?” Nico asked.

Before that could be answered, the two inmates began fighting. No.2, who apparent was named Liang, was able to break Rock’s hammer with a powerful kick. While those two began fighting, the guard from Building 5 jumped onto the bowl Yamato was in. Soon enough, the guy named Inori began attacking Yamato violently.

“So uh, this event’s taking a turn, huh?” Jyugo spoke up.

“Not really…” Theo answered him as his eyes never left the ring. “Building 5 is full of combative types of guards and inmates. Guess you can say the building’s classified by strength. It the whole reason for why I was put in there myself…”

“Wait, how is this legal?” Uno asked, referring to the fighting.

“They never said it wasn't…” Theo said casually.

“Why’re you always so casual like that?!” Uno exclaimed at him.

Theo ignored that comment from him and continued watching. No.2, or Liang, continued to attack Rock aggressively. Rock, on the other hand, continued to use his arm to block his multiple attacks. The same could be said for the guard fighting above them. This looked like it was a pretty even match.

“I intend to win this tournament, and for my prize I’ll build a new training ground so I can become even stronger.” Liang declared and pointed at Rock. “Rock! What do you hope to gain from these games?!”

Rock straightened his back and was silent for a moment. Theo subconsciously was leaning forwards in his seat, wondering what he would say.

“A stone oven!” Rock boomed.

Theo almost stumbled out of his seat as soon as he heard those words.

“If I win I’m going to have them instal a nice stone oven in our building’s kitchen.” Rock declared.

“Of all the things you can get why that?” Asked Liang in bewilderment.

“BECAUSE SHIRO SAID HE CAN USE ONE!” Rock exclaimed as tears began running down his face. “HE WAS SO DISTRESSED! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF HOW DELICIOUS PIZZA, MEAT, AND BREAD CAN BE WHEN BAKED IN A REAL STONE OVEN?!”

“Sticks and stones and break the bones but words are what they’re usin’!” Exclaimed Mitsuru over the mic.

“He's… He’s serious…” Theo murmured, unaware of his eye twitching.

“He’s fighting for the kitchen, huh?” Hajime said, not appearing surprised.

“Can’t honestly say I’m surprised.” Jyugo said. “Old Man Chef and Shiro did say they wanted it. How typical of him…”

“I knew he was a food junkie but I didn’t imagine he was that intent on getting one…” Murmured Theo.

“There’s nothing quite like an Italian stone oven pizza…” Said Uno in a dreamy manner.

“How absurd.” Spoke Liang towards Rock. “To think my rival could devolve into a gluttonous coward…!”

“Rival?” Rock muttered, clearly not feeling the same on those terms with Liang.

“If you think you can defeat me in pursuit of such a ridiculous goal…” Liang sprung forwards to attack. “…then you’re a fool!”

Inmate No.2 jumped up into the air and extended his leg out, suddenly being consumed into a type of dragon flame. Theo watched as he slammed right into Rock. He could hear Rock’s inmates next to them show concern for their friend, but Theo wasn’t as concerned. He watched as the fire disappeared to show that Rock had blocked Liang’s attack completely with his lower arm. The attack didn’t even push him back. Theo was impressed to say the least.

“Don’t even mock my goals. Especially not when you can’t even reach your own.” Rock growled at Liang, whose foot was still connected to his arm. Rock then grabbed Liang’s ankle, restricting the combat fighter. “Fighting’s not gonna keep my stomach full!”

With his grip tight on Liang’s ankle, he began spinning the other inmate over his head like some sort of toy.

“I love the food in this place, so that’s wHY I GOTTA WIN!” Bellowed Rock before punching No.2.

The punch was enough to basically rocket the guy across the stadium. Liang basically hit the ground, bounced off of the ground like a rickashay bullet, and collided right into Building 5’s pegs and mochi bowels. It was as if he was imbedded into it like a stamp. Theo was honestly impressed with Rock’s skill, even if his reasonings were rather ridiculous to him.

'It’s kinda like a deja vu moment, except with Rock instead of Shiro…’ He thought to himself.

“T-this can’t be!” Exclaimed the guard from Building 5. “No.2 was defeated with a single blow?! And my mortar is destroyed!”

“You know Inori, I believe that my peaceful living has made me a bit complacent.” Yamato said to his opponent.

“Is that so…?” Inori muttered and gazed back at Yamato.

“To combat this complacencies I’ve decided to follow No.69’s example!” Stated Yamato as he walked along the border of the mochi bowl towards Inori.

“H-hey, wait a second!” Inori backed up as Yamato got closer. “Why’re you gettin’ so serious all of a sudden?!”

“Whatever do you mean? I’ve always been serious since the day I was born!” Stated Yamato with a big smile. He sung his fist at Inori, colliding right into his jaw, and rocketing him into the air. “IRON FISTED JAPANESE JUSTICE!”

A small scream could be heard from Inori as he began flying down to the ground, slamming into his own mochi bowel, and breaking it along with it’s pegs. Theo’s eye was now not the only one whose eye was twitching at the sight before them.

“I’m starting to feel like No.69 is a bad influence on Yamato.” Hajime said.

“I…” Jyugo couldn’t even begin to know where to start. “…Holy crap are those two stupidly strong.”

“Nah…” Theo muttered and leaned back properly in his seat. “…They’re just stupid.”

“That too.” Jyugo nodded in agreement.

“HELL YEAH! WE SHOWED THOSE GUYS WHAT FOR!” Exclaimed Rock as he was high fiving with Yamato.

“YOU PERFORMED ADMIRABLY, NO.69!” Complimented Yamato.

Theo could only sigh at the sight. The last thing he wanted was for Rock to become heavily influenced by Yamato, and vice versa. The win caused Building 13 to stay at the top. The other Buildings competed against each other until the event was finished. Once that was finished, the third event began…

***

“Hyakunin what-su?”

“It’s like a card game, but with poems.”

“100 of them. One on each card.”

“You’ve done this before, right, Theo?”

When the four turned their heads towards the guard they were stocked by the state he was in. He looked pale and he was glaring so harshly at the sign that they were positive he could light it on fire. Theo didn’t look at them and tilted his head, allowing his hat visor to conceal his hateful gaze.

“I hate this game with a passion…” ln stated, a growl emanating softly from his lips.

“Yeah, he knows this game.” Rock cautiously turned away from him and looked towards Hajime instead. “Do we have anybody who can play this game besides Theo? Because I have a feeling he might kill somebody…”

“Well, I know one at least…” Hajime said before turning to his right. “You’re up, Seitarou.”

“Yes, sir!” Saluted the guard.

“HIM?! ARE YOU SURE?!” Uno and Jyugo exclaimed in shock.

“Wait, does this mean you’re actually useful for something?!”

“You don’t have much presence and I kinda forgotten you were here…”

“I didn’t know you could read!”

“Why won’t they stop being mean to me…?!” Sobbed Seitarou, who clung to Theo’s arm.

Theo could only sigh and pat his head to comfort the male. It was beyond him for why people always clung to him as a means of comfort or protection. Plus, Seitarou was technically Theo’s superior in both job, status, and age… Already knowing the rules of the game Theo just covered his ears until Mitsuru could shut his mouth.

“Okay, so who else is participating?” Rock asked.

“You already went in the last one, so I suggest you sit out…” Theo spoke to him. “This game is honestly dangerous for the mind. It consumes a lot of concentration and is allowed three players to switch and substitute. One guard’s permitted, just like the last game, and then two inmates. So, we have to have someone who’s fast and observate… Someone to think on their feet…”

“I’ll do it!” Uno volunteered, causing Jyugo to stumble.

“This isn’t like flap jack, you moron!” Jyugo yelled at him.

“I realize that.” Uno replied calmly to him. “But card games are all the same.”

“Yeah, that statement is pretty much false.” Rock said behind him.

“So, who should our third person be?” Seitarou asked as he counted on his fingers of the participants.

“No, no, no! We don’t want a third!” Uno said confidently and shook his head. “With all due respect to my cellmates there’s no way they can do this. I mean, Nico isn’t quite brain dead but the rest are hopeless.”

“SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!” Shouted Rock and Jyugo as veins began popping on their heads.

“You’re quite the bucket of sunshine, now aren’t chya…?” Theo sarcastically said towards Uno before sighing. “Fine. Uno and Seitarou will participate in the third event. Be careful, alright? You’re going up against Building 3, so stay on your guard…”

“What, you worried for us? Awe, how sweet!” Uno said in a mocking manner.

“Of course I am…” Theo said bluntly, ignoring his taunt. “Building 3 has classified their inmates by intelligence. Building 3 is in charge of the highly intelligent inmates, Building 4 is more or less 'culture,’ while Building 5 is discipline and strength. Don’t underestimate any of the buildings, alright?”

“Got it.” Seitarou nodded to him. “We’ll do our best.”

“You’re really serious when it comes to the buildings…” Murmured Uno.

“Well, yeah, I got sent to each freaking one…” Grumbled Theo as he rubbed his head. “Building 3 was suffocating, Building 4 was down right annoying, I got kicked out of Building 13 because of the chaos I created, and I was firmly placed into Building 5 after the Superiors figured out my classification.”

“You sound pretty irritated.” Uno commented.

“Just… get down there and kick their asses…” Theo muttered and began pushing Uno and Seitarou towards the door to the ring.

Once those two gone through the door Alan could only sigh heavily and sit back down. Down in the center going against Building 13 was Building 3. Kiji, the Supervisor, was against Seitarou, while Uno was against the two inmate from Building 3, No. 3 and No.82. No.3 was apparently named Trois while No.82 introduced himself as Honey. A strong aura came from both of the guys, even seeping into the audience.

“That pretty boy aura of theirs is intense…” Muttered Rock.

“Uno’s barely hanging in there…” Pointed out Nico.

Jyugo was just scowling at the aura. He glanced at Theo, who sat right next to him, and was surprised by the murderous expression on his face. Just as Jyugo was about to ask if he was okay, Theo loudly hissed like a cat at the inmates from Building 3. But as soon as he did it he stopped and went back to being stoic-faced.

“You have a lot of mood swings, huh?” Jyugo murmured at him.

“Don’t even get me started…” Grumbled Theo. ‘I have an explicit hate for cheeky 'pretty boys’… I bet Kiji smothers them’ Theo thought to himself.

Theo silently fumed in his seat and watched the match play before him. Everyone got into their places, sitting across their opponent, with rows of kanji written cards before them. Since Mitsuru was in charge of broadcasting, he was also the one to read the poems. Before Mitsuru could even finish the first word of the poem, Seitarou slapped away the card in a flash. Kiji sat there in shock as Seitarou was able to collect every single one in the blink of an eye.

“Heheh, sorry.” Apologized Seitarou to Kiji. “I’ve been told that I have a really good memory.”

Kiji could even speak a word, much less make a sound.

“I expected this much of Seitarou! Splendid work!” Exclaimed Yamato merrily.

“He was great.” Hajime said rather emotionless. “But, we still have a problem.” They all gazed towards Uno. “…He hasn’t even gotten a single card.”

Looking towards Uno, his opponents kept swiping cards away in almost a perfect manner. They were swiping cards right from under Uno’s hand, not even allowing him a chance to gain one. Seitarou eventually came back and joined the group as the match went on. Theo was actually becoming concerned for Uno, even though he knew he himself shouldn’t doubt him.

“It seems I’ll be winning the inmate side of the match.” Spoke the voice of Kiji as he walked past the group in a smirkish manner.

“You were crushed so completely that you couldn’t even get a single card.” Hajime stated without mercy. “Not exactly the time for you to talk smack.”

“Whoo-ho! Yay, I really did good!” Exclaimed Seitarou cheerfully to Yamato.

“Hm! Couldn’t even call it a contest!” Yamato said, stabbing right into Kiji’s ego.

“Shut your stupid traps!” Snapped the bird as he was clearly agitated “That inmate of yours has no chance, so it’ll be a tie!”

“Always so quick to judge…” Theo murmured, not even looking at Kiji. “This is why I can’t stand your Building…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kiji asked, a vein clearly popping up on his face. “He doesn’t stand a chance against my inmates! As long as they can prevent No.11 from cheating, then it’s check-and-mate.”

“Ahahaha!” Jyugo busted out laughing at Kiji’s words.

“What’s so funny?!” Kiji snapped at him.

“You don’t know anything about him, do you?” Smirked Jyugo.

“I think I know enough…!” Kiji said and began to grind his teeth.

“Not if you think cheating’s all Uno is good for you don’t.” Jyugo stated, clearly having confidence in his companion. “That isn’t even half of it. He’s a genius… If you think cheating’s all Uno can do then you’re in for a surprise~”

“By the way, Kiji, you should stop grinding your teeth.” Theo spoke up in a bored tone. “If you keep that up you’ll have to stick to dentures.”

“YOU INSOLENT LITTLE—”

“Hey, Uno got a card.” Theo stated since Kiji was distracted by him.

“W-what?!” Growled Kiji as he looked to the match.

What Theo said was true. Uno had swiped away five cards that went with the poem. The inmate, Trois, could only gape in shock at Uno’s sudden fast movements. The inmate Honey swapped with Trois and tried going after it himself. But, Uno proved that he wasn’t one to be underestimated. Card by card, Uno was practically matching Seitarou’s level of striking for the cards. It was almost entertaining to watch the inmates from Building 3 get so riled up and explode that Theo felt like laughing.

“…Now there’s a gambler as his finest.” Theo said smirking.

“Impossible…!” Kiji said.

“No, not impossible.” Jyugo spoke up and chuckled, getting a good kick out of this. “You shouldn’t underestimate Uno just because he doesn’t raise a red flag at you.”

“Uno’s talent is his reliability in his luck.” Theo stated as he watched the inmate Honey burst out in a cursing rage. “But it’s not his only talent. He’s amazing at cheating in a game of poker, and his luck in hard to match. He could probably beat anybody as long as he puts his mind to it. But you know what’s great about this entire thing…?” Theo smirked widely at Kiji. “Uno can’t read Kanji. He’s from Britain.”

“A-are you serious…?!” Stuttered Kiji in shock.

“Uno observation skills are terrifyingly accurate.” Theo continued talking as Trois took Honey’s place once more. “He’s always observing. Through small conversations with myself and others, I can tell he’s always watching carefully. The gears in his head are always turning, waiting for a key sign that allows him to strike before hand. He doesn’t even need to cheat to beat your 'precious inmates’ in this game of cards…”

Uno took away another five cards in one strike before Trois could even act.

“…because his cards are all up his sleeves…” Theo finished and recrossed his legs, looking content. “Checkmate.” He smirked evilly at Kiji. “Pay up, bitch!”

“Remember this, you damned amatuer,” Uno said loudly as he took the last cards. “Winning is never easy…”

“Amazing!” Said Rock, only to look to the empty seat next to him. “Huh? Where’d Nico run off to? The bathroom?”

“H-how…!” Kiji fumed in place, not knowing what to say.

“You shouldn’t underestimate anybody, Kiji.” Theo said, the smirk never leaving his face. “You can never tell who a real person is by just the way they look… Never judge a book by it’s cover, am I right?”

“Of course you of all people would know that…!” Growled the Superior before stomping on the ground. “You little brat…! You’re lucky you’re pretty…!”

“Who the hell you callin’ pretty, drag queen?” Theo barked at him.

“HAJIME!” Screeched Kiji like a banshee. “CONTROL THAT GUARD OF YOURS OR I’LL MUZZLE IT MYSELF!”

“Come at me, bird brain!” Theo challenged, now on his feet and having his fists up.

Hajime yanked Theo back into his seat and punched him in the head twice, making sure to cause him pain. Theo became silent quickly, holding his head down, as a lump grew on it. Hajime clicked his tongue and looked at Kiji.

“Mind getting out of here? You’re screeching isn’t going to win you the match.” Hajime said harshly.

Kiji fumed, stomping in place before whirling around and marching away from the area. Once he was gone Hajime glared down at Theo, seeing how he still had a smug look on his face.

“You’re more trouble than you’re worth, kid.” Hajime said to him. “For someone who’s considered to have dull emotions, you get riled up way too easily…”

“I act, it’s what I do.” Theo said and shrugged innocently, now having his usual stoic face.

“That was acting?!” Jyugo exclaimed in shock.

“Of course it was.” Theo said calmly and looked to him. “Kiji and I have this weird relationship of hating each other and riling up the other, but we never really attack each other… It’s more or less teasing…”

“So like Hajime and that Building 5 guy?” Rock asked.

“No, not even close.” Theo huffed a laugh and shook his head. “Samon, my old guard, hates Hajime with a passion. He likes to think of Hajime as his rival that he has to pummel into submission. Buuut, Samon can never match Hajime’s brutal strength…”

“You really like this Samon guy, huh?” Jyugo questioned.

“Well, yeah, of course I do.” Theo said honestly. “If it wasn’t thanks to him and many others, I don’t think I ever would’ve changed. Like I’ve said before, I was in a really dark place back when I was a teenager. Nobody really understood what HSAN was, so they could never understand what was going on with me. But, Samon tried helping me when everyone thought of me as unfixable. He actually found a group of people who actually does counseling for HSAN. As stupid as it may sound, it really helped me straighten out my act and start being a stable human being.”

He turned his head to him and smiled warmly. “…As weird as it sounds, I’m glad I got through into Nanba Prison.”

The two inmates could only stare at him in shock. Jyugo immediately turned his head away from him, feeling almost embarrassed to even look him in the eye. Rock, on the other hand, stared at him a bit longer as his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. To them, Theo looked like a woman…

“Hey, there!” Uno greeted as he finally came back from the arena. “How was my performance? Did I blow your minds?”

“Well, not ours, but you wrecked Building 3.” Theo replied and held a small smirk on his face. “Nice job…”

“Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week!” Uno bragged merrily and slapped Theo’s hand that he held out. “I overheard you shout. Never in a million years did I ever imagine I’d hear 'Pay up, bitch!’ from your mouth.”

“Let’s just say I enjoyed putting a certain bird in his place…” Theo said as a mischievous look crossed his eyes.

“From what I saw from both here and there, you’re both maniacal and psychotic.” Jyugo stated and placed both hands down on his lap.

“Thank you, I try real hard.” Theo replied jokingly.

“Hey, you should be grateful I won us the round.” Uno said to Jyugo and took his seat. “We’ve won three rounds in a row. If we win this competition, I can get my game room.”

Uno and Rock shared excited expressions, think about their prizes they’ll gain once the tournament’s over. Just as Theo opened his mouth to comment on it, he heard his name being rapidly called by a familiar voice. He turned his head just in time for Nico to come into view and jump at him, latching right onto his back like glue. Theo yelped and almost fell forwards, but he had firmly put his feet in front of him to stop from falling. Once his balance was gained he stood up and got Nico off of his back, ignoring his rapid talking.

“NICO!” Theo shouted, causing the younger boy to stop talking. Theo lowered his voice before talking again. “Calm. Down. What’s the problem here? Where’d you go?”

“I went to go get my medicine, and and and,” Nico began talking a mile a minute, “there was this guy! He was floating abovetheairlikeaballoonandhewasjustfloatingand—”

“Calm down!” Theo said and gestured his hands up and down as Nico was flailing his arms around. “You’re practically panicking. Take a breather and start from the beginning.”

“Okay, okay…” Nico mumbled and began taking big breaths of air in and out repeatedly.

“OUR NEW YEAR’S TOURNAMENT HAS FINALLY COME DOWN TO IT’S FINAL TWO EVENTS!” Shouted Mitsuru, gaining everyone’s attention. “And the next one will beeeEEEEEE EHEHEHEHEHE!”

Suddenly the ground began shaking. The ground in the arena began to split and divide thanks to metal plates under the ground. Once it was divided it revealed multiple sets of gigantic metal domes in the ground. Theo knew this event quite well and was honestly hoping to try in this one.

“W-what the?!” Jyugo gaped at the hole. “A gigantic hole?! Why is there a gigantic hole in the ground?!”

“OUR FOURTH EVENT WILL BE TOP SPINNING!” Announced Mitsuru.

“If the top spinning stage is that big then does that mean…” Uno could finish as Mitsuru revealed the top spinners.

“These are the tops your teams will be usin’!” He announced, showing the gigantic top.

“JUST AS WE THOUGHT! IT’S HUGE!” Screeched both Jyugo and Uno.

“This event will require good teamwork! Probably!” Mitsuru exclaimed.

“ 'PROBABLY’?!” Uno quoted in shock.

“Set your tops spinning in the center of the stage! Then figure out a way to knock the other team’s top out of bounds, or destroy it!” Mitsurur continued.

“ 'Destroy it’!?” Quoted Rock.

“UP TO THREE TEAMMATES CAN PARTICIPATE!” Shouted Mitsuru. “HOWEVER, JUST LIKE IN THE LAST EVENT, ONLY ONE OF THOSE PARTICIPANTS CAN BE A GUARD! BUT FIRST, LET’S REINTRODUCE OUR TEAMS!”

'I want to play, I want to play, I want to play, I wanttoplayIwannaplayIwannaplay,’ Theo began chanting in his head as he stared at the arena.

“Lead by Hajime Sugoroku, a hulking super-human gorilla!” Announced Mitsuru.

“WHO YOU CALLIN’ A GORILLA?!” Hajime growled, only to prove Mitsuru’s point.

“Building 13 has yet to lose a match!” Mitsuru continued.

“Hahaha!” Laughed Samon as he suddenly appeared, pointing at Hajime. “Seems like a good description to me!”

“Opposing 13, lead by a moronic monkey, all squeal no bite, and is Nanba’s No.1 loudmouth, with the lowest IQ is Samon Gokuu!” Mitsuru yelled.

“SAY THAT AGAIN AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS, MITSURU!” Samon yelled at him.

Hajime then proceeded to taunt Mitsuru by imitating monkey sounds.

“He talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk!” Mitsuru proceeded to the other fight. “He too made a comeback via consolation match! He’s the one you can smell miles away with those poisonous fumes of his, the heavily makeup drag queen, Kiji Mitsuba!”

“I WILL SUE YOU FOR YOUR SLANDER YOU PRICK!” Squawked Kiji.

Theo couldn’t help it anymore. He began laughing loudly, one arm holding his stomach, while the other was flailing up and down.

“It’s too accurate…!” He said through laughing. “They’re all so true…!”

“SHUT IT, YOU DAMN BRAT!” All three Supervisors yelled at him.

Theo was laughing so hard he couldn’t hear Mitsuru introduce Kenshirou, not like he would care, though. Once he got that out of his system he looked at the arena to see Samon and his Cell 8 already down there in their positions, ready for the match. He could slightly feel himself starting to become riled up.

“What should we do they have three participants.” Seitarou said and looked at everyone. “Should we send three down there as well.”

“I’ll pass.” Jyugo immediately said.

“Me too.” Uno went next.

“I’LL GO!” Theo immediately exclaimed, startling poor Seitarou.

“What’s wrong, Nico?” Rock as his companion, seeing him shaking.

“THERE HE IS! THAT’S HIM!” Nico shouted, pointing at one of the two inmates.

“Whoa! You scared me!” Rock jumped away from his overly excited friend.

“THEO, THEO, THEO!” Nico exclaimed and grabbed Theo by the arm. “THAT’S THE GUY I WAS TALKING ABOUT! THE GUY WHO WAS FLOATING IN THE AIR!”

“Whoa, Nico, wai—AHH!”

“WE HAVE TO GET A BETTER LOOK!”

BOOM!

***

Nico, who apparently got way too over excited, grabbed onto Theo’s arm and jumped over the bleachers they sat on and fell right down into the stadium. But, Theo being Theo, felt his body go into action. He yanked Nico closer to him, basically hugging him tightly against his body. He spun his body around so he collided into the ground first.

Theo slammed right into the ground, breaking part of the metal dome, and was still holding onto Nico. Nico was perfectly unscathed and unharmed, practically sitting in his lap. Everyone could only gape at what they saw before them.

“Wow, Theo, you sure know how to react fast!” Nico complimented.

“…Ow…” Mumbled Theo as he sat up from the debris surrounding him. “…That actually kinda hurt…”

Nico suddenly gasped loudly and got off of Theo and began pointing at one of the opposing inmate. As he began to rant and rave, excitedly talking about the guy who can float. Theo just groaned softly and climbed onto his feet, stepping out of the indent he made, and began to dust himself off.

“Whoa! Now that’s an entrance!” Commented Mitsuru.

“Are you okay, Theo?!” Shouted Seitarou from their seats.

Theo just responded by lifting his hand up, giving him a thumbs up to tell him he was fine. Theo walked over to Nico and hit him on the head, causing Nico to crouch down and hold his head.

“Ow…!” Whined Nico.

“That’s for idiotically jumped from a high platform and dragging me with you.” Theo stated and began to lecture him. “Do you have any idea—”

Theo continued on, beginning to rant and rave to Nico like an angry mother. He was so loud and angry about it that the inmates that were in the audience began to lean back away from him from his harshness. He eventually ended his rant with Nico apologizing.

“Good to know you’re as indestructible as ever…” Grumbled Samon as he rubbed his own head. “You even went on an angry rant for thirty minutes. You’re such a mom.”

“I have three younger siblings. Shut your mouth.” Theo stated as his face was completely deadpan.

“How is he still alive…?” Jyugo questioned.

“He’s like a miniature Hajime…” Uno said and shivered.

“Are you really participating in this?” Samon asked Theo.

“Yes, yes I am.” Theo stated and got whatever dust that remained off of his clothes. “Don’t back down just because I’m not Hajime, Samon…”

“I don’t have a bone to pick with you so it would be pointless if I fought you.” Samon said and looked away from him.

Theo’s eye twitched as he glared at Samon. “FIGHT ME, YOU WHIMPY APE!”

“WHO YOU CALLIN’ WHIMPY, YOU DISEASED FUCK?!” Samon yelled at him.

“AT LEAST I KNOW WHAT MAKES ME PSYCHOTIC! HOW 'BOUT YOU!?”

“I WILL STICK MY STAFF SO FAR UP YOUR *BLEEEEEEEP*”

“C'MON, SAMON! IT’LL BE LIKE OLD TIMES WHERE I *BLEEEEEP BLEEP*”

“YOU ARE WAY TOO HONEST WITH OTHER PEOPLE, WHAT THE FUCK! SOMETIMES I WONDER IF THERE’LL EVEN BE A FILTER ON THAT DAMN MOUTH OF YOURS!”

“IF YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED, YOU CAN’T FUCKING TALK!”

“Geez, and I thought you two liked each other!” Mitsuru exclaimed on the mic. “Do you have any idea how much work it takes to bleep all those out? It’s annoying, ya know?! You’re already down here anyways and wasted everybody’s times! GET ON WITH THE MATCH, WILL YA?!”

“I’LL SHOW YOU YOUR GODDAMN PLACE!” Declared Samon as he grabbed onto the cloth that covered the spinning tops. “I’LL TEACH YOU WHO’S A WIMPY APE!”

“I HOPE YOU DO!” Shouted Theo as he did the same as Samon. The two yanked on the cloth, causing the tops to spin out and clash against each other, beginning the match. “BUT YOU REALLY ARE AN IDIOT FOR BEING SO GULLIBLE!”

“What?!” Growled Samon as he glared at him.

“I just got you into fighting me, so ha!” Theo exclaimed, jabbing a finger at him.

“Grr…!” Samon growled at the realization of what he did. “No.58, No.71! Go after the guard!”

Theo noticed two shadows cover him. He looked up to see the two inmates in the air and flying right at him. As Theo got his hands up to block, he noticed something from the corner of his eye. Quickly changing actions, he kicked at the ground, effectively pushing himself out of the way. Slamming into the ground was a familiar weight, causing the two inmates to jump back themselves so they wouldn’t get harmed by it. They stepped back as Nico stood in the way, being responsible for the attack.

“Attacking someone 2 v. 1 is fighting dirty…” Nico said, his face utterly serious.

'What’s with that expression…?’ Theo wondered but quickly put his attention on Samon. 'No matter. Samon’s my opponent… If Nico could cause that much damage with that little restraint of his, he is more than capable of fighting…’

“I have zero tolerance for bad guys who commit such cowardly villainous acts!” Nico declared and began posing. “Say your prays, evildoers! You’re gonna get what’s coming to ya!”

“…He did not…” Theo stood there and felt his eye twitched. “YOU KNOW WHAT?!” He threw the cloth he had been holding onto the ground. “FUCK IT!”

“Wait, what’s Theo doing?” Rock asked.

“I don’t know, but he might just go into psycho mode…” Hajime sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Psycho mode?!” Exclaimed the three inmates in concern.

“A lot of times when Theo got pissed in the jail cells, he would go ahead and start using his acting skills and would put them to the test.” Hajime explained. “He calls it 'Psycho Mode’ because he acts like a mentally ill patient. It’s his go-to act he does all the time because it freaks people out so much that he gets them to be silent. It’s how he stopped fights in the cells because it made guys piss themselves. He used it on you guys when I ordered him to go capture you and knock you out.”

“THAT WAS AN ACT?!” They exclaimed.

“Are you sure he isn’t actually psychotic…?” Uno asked as he paled.

“Yeah, we had him tested.” Hajime said. “He’s as sane as can be.”

Theo ran at Samon at a very quick speed. Samon began to swing his staff at him, trying to keep him back. But, Theo got passed his weapon and jumped up into the air at Samon. He got his legs around, Samon’s neck and was able to slam him onto the ground, almost like a wrestler’s move. Samon was clawing at his pant legs, trying to escape.

“Or he could just do that…” Hajime muttered.

“Was that a wrestling move?” Rock questioned with a raised brow.

“Just like old times, right Samon?!” Theo growled, his mouth in a gigantic smirk.

“Yep…” Grunted Samon as he tried to pry his legs off. “You just looove having people in between yours legs, eh?”

“You did not just pull that joke!” Theo said, but didn’t look mad.

“Don’t act like you don’t enjoy it…” Samon growled.

Samon got his head out from Theo’s legs and scrambled to his feet to gain some distance between them. Theo got to his feet as well and put his hands up, looking rather happy. While Theo was taking care of Samon, Nico was attacking the other two inmates. Well, one of the two. No.71 escaped to the top of the bowl and began to rest there lazily to avoid conflict.

“Good to know you’re still a combat junkie.” Samon muttered towards Theo.

“Hey, I haven’t fought you in two years, man.” Theo said grinning. “I wanna see if you either softened or if you’re able to beat me into the wall.”

“You’re really annoying, you know that.” Samon said and got his staff back into his hands. “Think of this as a lesson from your higher up, got it?”

“STOP FOOLING AROUND AND TARGET THE TOP!” Hajime yelled at Theo, startling the male.

“Aw, come on…” Theo groaned softly.

“Never look away from your enemy!” Samon yelled and swung his staff.

Theo lifted his hand up and grabbed his end of the staff. Restricting Samon’s control of the staff, Theo stepped closer to him and brought his foot up. He kicked Samon right in the chest, kicking him right across the stadium. Theo kept hold of his staff, about to toss it to the side until he heard Yamato’s voice.

“THEO, BEHIND YOU!” Yamato warned.

Theo’s eyes widened at his warning.

Not even looking behind him, Theo slammed the staff onto the ground and used it to throw himself into the air. Once in the air he watched a bright blue column of energy shot under him, destroying Samon’s staff. Theo’s eyes widened in shock.

Once the column of energy was gone Theo landed on the ground and rolled back, trying to get a distance from where he was almost harmed. He looked towards the inmate that attacked him, No.58, and felt something hit him in realization. He remembers these guys now. No.58 is called Upa, No.71 was named Qi, and No.2 was Liang. They’re all associated with one another from what they had been through.

“Right… I remember now…” Theo mumbled. “His name is Upa. That sign on his head is to suppress his powers. He uses Qigong… right?”

“You’re really forgetful!” Samon shouted and appeared behind him, kicking Theo right in the head.

Theo’s body flew to the ground. Theo grunted upon collision and waited for his body to stop moving. Once the momentum stopped he got to his feet and touched his head.

“Okay, I’m dizzy now…” Theo mumbled as he felt like the place was spinning under his feet.

“What’s up with you?” Samon asked and ran at him. “You’re not acting like yourself!”

Theo brought his arms up and blocked Samon’s kicks. Eventually the two had grabbed each other’s hands, trying to push against each other. Theo was pushing against Samon, trying to hopefully throw him or get him off balance.

“I don’t know…” Theo grunted as he fought Samon. “Agitated, I guess. Excited… It’s been awhile since I’ve felt like I’m having fun. All I want to do is fight…”

“Your sense of logic for your actions is honestly terrible.” Samon grunted as he tried pushing against him harder. “You keep forgetting so much. What happened once you got out of jail?”

“A lot of shit!” Theo yelled and used his strength against Samon, eventually throwing him over his head.

Samon yelped as he was thrown into the air. Theo backed up and watched Samon try to land on his feet. As Theo got away from Samon, Nico dashed at Theo and grabbed his arm again, now bouncing up and down in excitement.

“That was so cool!” Nico exclaimed. “How you dodged and throw that guy like it’s nothing! You’re really strong!”

“Uh… Yeah…” Theo muttered, unsure of what to say at Nico’s excitement. He put his hand on Nico’s head, stopping him from jumping, and calmed him down. “Look Nico, we’ve got to work together, alright? You go after No.58. I’ll go after the top.”

“Okay!” Nico nodded and ran back to face Upa.

“Your reflexes are still as sharp as ever I see.” Upa called out to Theo. “But you’re restraining yourself. We all can tell. Why don’t you go all out?”

“If I went all out then the Warden would have my head.” Theo said bluntly. “Your fight is with Nico, so I suggest you keep your eyes on that kid, Upa.”

Just as Theo finished talking, he ducked his head down and missed an attack. Samon had tried to sneak up behind him and swung his fist. But, Samon had forgotten that Theo’s hearing is still pretty sharp. Samon began throwing multiple punches at him, but Theo continued to block or push his fist away from him.

Eventually they kept throwing attacks at each other that Theo was actually becoming bored. He decided to copy Samon, trying to mimic his moves. So far, he’s been like a mirror, doing everything Samon was doing. The Supervisor was becoming frustrated with Theo for copying him.

“I can’t believe you’re doing that cheap move!” Samon yelled at him as their hands kept colliding. “I thought you dropped the mirroring tactic years ago!”

“Yeah, well, you’re starting to bore me.” Theo replied.

They brought their a foot up and kicked against each other, causing the two to separate and create a distance between them. Theo took a glance at Nico just in time to see Nico dodge and attack from Upa, punching him right in the chest. Theo’s eyes widened, watching Upa stumbled back, but he didn’t fall down.

“Aw, I’d thought that would work!” Whined Nico. “Alan had done that when we first met him. Did I do it wrong?”

“He… copied me…” Theo mumbled before looking towards Samon to see him come running at him. “…Smart kid…”

Samon jumped up with his leg out to kick Theo. But the guard simply caught his ankle, stopping his movements. Samon’s eyes widened as he felt himself pale. 'That’s right…! I utterly forgot to never come at Theo from above!’

“Did you seriously just do that?” Theo glared at him, clearly unimpressed. “C'mon, Samon, start getTING SERIOUS!”

Theo threw Samon away from him, watching him hit the ground.

“What about you? Something’s off with you… And it’s not because you look different.”

“I said I’m fine. Just drop it monkey.”

Quickly Theo turned and went for Samon’s top. He got around it and made sure to eye where Samon was, watching him begin to get back onto his feet. As soon as he saw Samon on his feet, a blue light came from behind him and went towards Nico.

Quickly he acted. Theo ran at the top and jumped up. He swung his leg and smacked it right into the green top. The gigantic spinning top went into the air and towards Samon. Theo’s feet hit the ground when he heard the shouts of shock and possible fear. He watched as the top, and a bright yellow beam hit both of the people from Building 5. Theo began walking towards Nico, seeing that now the competition of this event was won. Nico was jumping up and down again in excitement.

“WHOO-HOOO! I TOTALLY NAILED THAT SPECIAL MOVE!” Shouted Nico.

The green haired male suddenly swayed and fell back. But Theo jumped forwards and caught him in time. He chuckled lightly at him, seeing him become unconscious.

“That you did, Nico…” Theo said and carefully picked him up. “But stop being so reckless…”

Theo held Nico up in front of him, his legs wrapped around Theo’s waist, and his arms were on Theo’s shoulders. Theo walked towards the exit and was met with paramedics. He patted Nico’s head before handing him over to the medics. Seitarou actually came down and said he would go ahead and watch over Nico. Theo thanked him before going back to their seats. When he got there Hajime gave him a harsh look.

“Why’d you hold back?” Hajime asked.

“Because unlike you, I actually care about Samon.” Theo stated and walked to his seat. He sat down with a big sigh. “That felt more tedious than I would’ve asked for, but we won, so… Yeah…”

“For someone who held back, your strength is something to fear.” Jyugo stated bluntly.

“So I’ve been told…” Theo muttered and sighed. “To be honest I wanted to go full out but that would’ve been a terrible idea…”

“Yeah, we’re glad you didn’t.” Uno said.

“Now, time for the last event…” Theo muttered and stared at the stadium, watching as the plates came back and sealed up the open areas. “This is going to be the big one. But I wonder who’s gonna do it…”

“Why, what’s next?” Rock asked.

“You’ll see…” Theo replied before he began to rotate his neck. “God, my back feels weird. How the hell can Nico have that much strength? Geez… I’m not even all that light either…”

“Guess you can say he’s a special case.” Jyugo said. “By the why, what was with all that shouting you and Samon had earlier. We were positive you were going to kill him or Nico.”

“I wanted Samon to fight me.” Theo explained. “But, Samon wanted nothing to do with me, really. So I gave him a reason to want and fight me. By riling him up, he fell for my plan and started the fighting with me. I wanted to fight Samon again because I haven’t fought with him for two years. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have fun…”

“Right, because there’s nothing funner than trash talking your old prisoner guard to beat him to death.” Uno said sarcastically.

“Exactly~” Theo replied in a joking manner. “Give him a gold star.”

Theo clapped his hands and watched Uno roll his eyes. Jyugo snickered in between them at the exchange. Theo smiled lightly before gazing out at the arena. 'Let the last of the games begin, I guess…’

***

“Thanks for waitin’ everyone! The final event for this New Year’s tournament is about to begin!”

“Why does he look like he’s been shot in the head?”

“Who knows? Maybe Mitsuru is now one of the walking deeeaad…”

“DON’T SAY THAT! YOU’LL GET ME PARANOID!”

Theo had wiggled his fingers in front of Uno, being the one to say walking dead, and got Uno leaning as far away from him as he could get. Theo snickered at his response. He sat back and listened to Mitsuru talk about the last event. It was now Building 13 against Building 4. Theo usually enjoyed the Sake Barrel Opening because you could beat the living crap out of your opponents or just get to the barrel as fast as possible.

“A sake barrel ban, eh? That does fit in with the New Year theme.” Jyugo said and looked to his cellmates. “So? Which one of you is going?”

“Shut up and get your butt out there!” Uno shouted as he and Rock both kicked Jyugo in the jaw.

“Yeah, you’re the main character after all!” Rock shouted as Jyugo hit the ground.

“Sheesh, you guys are seriously lazy.” Jyugo growled at them as his face began to bleed.

“Actually you’re the lazy one.” Theo stated factly. “Rock was apart of the Mochi Pounding, Uno participated in the card game, and Nico had helped me in the last event. So, you’re technically up, Jyugo…”

“Uuugggh, whyyy?” Jyugo groaned, clearly not wanting to do it.

“He just gave you the reason!” Uno yelled at him and began pushing him towards the door that goes to the arena. “Go down there and participate! Do it for the prize, man! I need my game room!”

'How selfish of you, Uno…’ Theo thought.

“You’re lucky there’s a prize we can gain.” Jyugo muttered and began going down.

Once Jyugo disappeared from sight Uno said back down. Apparently Hajime went down as well and will be working along with Jyugo. When Kenshirou and his inmate got to the center, Theo could help but glare. There was something off about that inmate… He had this band around his eyes, making him incapable in seeing. Being in the front row as they were, they could hear the faint conversation between the four. Hearing the tone Jyugo was using, it was clear he knew the guy, and he didn’t like him.

“What’s got Jyugo’s panties in a bunch?” Uno asked, trying to keep the mood light.

“I couldn’t tell ya.” Rock shook his head.

“Jyugo knows that guy…” Theo said as he cupped his ears to possibly hear better. “That guy… Jyugo called him Musashi. Apparently they were old cellmates from another prison. And from what and how Jyugo spoke… It appears they both have some pretty bad blood against each other…”

“You got that all from a conversation you weren’t even apart of?” Uno asked, looking surprised. “That’s impressive.”

“I’ve trained myself to pick up on emotions in people’s voices and I use sociology a lot of times,” admitted Theo. “It’s a life skill I picked up on and use when I’m talking to people. From hearing them talk… Jyugo wants to rip that guy’s throat out.”

“Alright boys, let the final event… BEGIIIIIN!” Shouted Mitsuru.

The four began running. But not even a minute after starting did the inmate Musashi went straight after Jyugo. Musashi striked down at Jyugo with the heel of his foot, but Jyugo lifted his arms up and blocked it from harming him severely. It pushed Jyugo back, and Musashi lashed forwards with a punch. Again, Jyugo blocked. Not even a minute in this match and Theo is already on the edge of his seat.

“Surprise flying axe kick! That’s gonna leave a mark!” Exclaimed Mitsuru.

“Damn he’s strong…” Theo hissed under his breath.

Jyugo got back onto his feet, but seemed to be in pain. Theo was starting to become concern for him. That attack looked harsh and probably could break some bones if it was used just right.

“This Musashi guy,” Uno began to speak up, “he’s got his eyes completely covered up. Do you think he’s fighting blind for real?”

“His other senses must be strong—way stronger than normal.” Rock said.

“I can vouch for a fact that it’s probably true.” Theo added as he eyed Musashi carefully. “Something’s up with his eyes, that’s for certain. It just seems weird to me… He doesn’t have shoes on, and his hair is out of his ears. From that, I can probably bet that he can hear very well, and he possibly feels the vibrations in the earth to get around. I’ll bet his sense of smell is strong, too…”

Theo looked away from the two and looked at the Supervisors. Kenshirou had used his weapon, a type of whip, to stop Hajime from moving forwards. It was clear that Kenshirou was after something from Hajime, and stopping him from winning was one of them. He wants to humiliate Hajime, but why…?

Kenshirou used his whip to throw Hajime into the air. As soon as he got to the highest point, Kenshirou yanked down on his whip. He was planning on smacking Hajime to the ground. But Hajime was not one to be taken down so easily. He got out of the weapon and landed on his feet instead, clearly uninjured. Hajime rushed forwards and punched at Kenshirou, who quickly blocked the attack by using his whip.

Both battles were becoming intense. Jyugo tried to get to the stairs, but Musashi got in the way. Just because he wasn’t running up or trying to get to the Sake Barrel told Theo he wants something. Something from Jyugo. He only wished he knew what it was. There was just something not right about this. Trying to take his mind off of them he looked towards Hajime. Gazing back at his Superior, Theo saw that he was holding up two guns. Looking past him was a box filled with weapons. But, weapons aren’t permitted, so Theo could only assume they were all fake weapons. Mitsuru’s announcement about the boxes only confirmed his suspicions.

The two kept diving into the box and grabbing weapons to use on each other. As they fought, Theo noticed something that caught his attention. Kenshirou kept looking up at the Warden, as if he was waiting for some sort of approval or compliment.

'So that’s what you’re after…’ Theo thought to himself. 'The Warden’s attention? But, why would he want that? A promotion? A nice little pat for being her lap dog? Or… maybe…’

“It’s kind of weird to think that Hajime is stronger when he fights barehanded.” Rock said, snapping Theo out of thought.

“His match isn’t going to be a problem. It’s Jyugo I’m worried about…” Uno said.

“You too…?” Theo asked, now looking back on Jyugo.

“Jyugo isn’t great at a lot of things.” Uno stated as they watched the fight. “Honestly the only sort of talent he has is jailbreaking. If anything he just knows enough about fighting to get by, but… That Musashi guy isn’t somebody to underestimate.”

Just as he said that, Musashi shoved Jyugo into the wall with one hand. Theo felt his body tense up, having to force himself to remain seated. He strained his ears to hopefully hear what they were saying. To be honest, he kind of wish he hadn’t.

“I can’t even tell if you’re trying… Hmph…” Musashi had a smug look on his face. “What happened to that savage nature? That fierceness you had when you gouged out my eyes… Ha!”

“What…?” Theo muttered, clearly surprised.

“Huh, what’s up?” Uno asked him, seeing his reaction.

“I just heard what that guy said…” Theo muttered. “He just said… Jyugo gouged out Musashi’s eyes…”

“What?” Uno sat up right, along with Rock, who looked in disbelief.

“That’s impossible.” Rock said. “Jyugo would never do that, right?”

“I would like to believe so…” Theo muttered and kept his gaze on them. “…He’s never shown any signs of actually brutally harming someone like that, right? Never talked about it, or has given any signs…?”

“No! Of course not!” Uno exclaimed, looking very defensive. “That guy’s lying, he’s gotta be!”

'If he’s lying then why isn’t Jyugo denying?!’ Theo wanted to say, but kept his mouth sealed. He shouldn’t have asked, especially Uno…

Theo kept his eyes on the inmates, not caring for the Supervisors. He was more worried about Jyugo. Theo didn’t know why he felt so anxious. He only ever felt this much emotion since the time he thought his younger sister, Eva, was going to fall out of a tree. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was just something that was telling him that something that wasn’t right. Seeing Musashi bash Jyugo’s head into the wall again and again wasn’t helping the case either.

“The bastard…!” Theo was on his feet and began growling under his breath. “He’s going to kill Jyugo at this rate…!”

“Should we do something?” Uno asked, sensing his anxiety.

“…No.” Theo shook his head. “Not yet. We have to wait… Musashi is after something. Something that Jyugo has. I can tell by his actions. He’s taunting him, riling him up—getting him to act up and react the way he wants. If only I knew what he wants…”

“Hey, I think you should calm down.” Rock said towards Theo. “You won’t be able to help anybody if you’re acting up like this.”

Theo’s lips pressed together into a flat line. He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose while sitting back down. Rock was right. If he was just creating this anxiety for the others instead of comfort. He had to calm down and watch. If he interrupted this tournament in the slightest, he’d be risking more than just his own hide. He would be risking the safety of others. And in this case, it would be Jyugo.

“WHERE IS HE?!” Screamed Jyugo, clearly filled with nothing but rage. “DON’T YOU IGNORE ME MUSASHIII!”

Everyone got chills down their spines at Jyugo’s yell. He screamed in pure rage and began attacking Musashi, striking at him in nothing but raw rage.

“I’LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING IF YOU CAN BEAT ME!” Musashi yelled and thrusted his hand towards Jyugo.

“JYUGO!” Theo found himself screaming in concern.

Suddenly a ball of fire came from Musashi’s hand, a column of fire flying right at No.15. It hit Jyugo straight on, causing him to fly back and collide straight into the wall. Theo was on his feet already, Uno and Rock now standing next to him.

“First we get a guy who can use chi and now a pyromancer?” Uno said in alarm.

“Do you think Jyugo’s okay?” Rock asked.

“Something’s not right…” Theo said softly as he was staring at the spot Jyugo was thrown in. “Something’s just not right…!”

“What do you mean, 'not right’?!” Uno asked. “Mind explaining what’s happening?”

“…If I knew what, I would be kicking that guy’s ass…” Theo growled as his eyes were as wide as ever. “Look, you two stay here wh—”

Theo couldn’t even finish his sentence as something was happening before their eyes. From the area that Jyugo had been under, strange blade appeared from out of the debris. Suddenly the pieces of rock flew off and a strange, deadly aura took place in the area. Theo could only gape in shock, ignoring the flying questions of Seitarou and Nico who have finally returned from the infirmary. For someone who doesn’t have a sense of touch, he was damn well positive that all hairs were standing up on end.

Standing in the place of the debris was Jyugo. But it wasn’t the same Jyugo they saw moments ago—oh no. The shackles, or cuffs, that were on his wrist, ankles and neck were suddenly gone. His clothes seemed more torn, and it was understandable why. Where his arms should be, right at the base of his elbows, were long, sharp blades.

'Jyugo… His eyes…’ Theo felt himself begin to panic. 'Why’re his eyes the same color… and his arms are turned into blades…?!’

Watching Jyugo intensely, the teen shouted something in pure rage and swung his arm at Musashi, causing a type of an unnatural slice. Musashi dodged, of course, but the slice was coming right where the group stood.

Something snapped instead of Theo’s head when he saw the slice coming for them. His concern instantly went to the inmates next to him as his body began to react. At that slice of a moment, Theo wasn’t playing a role as a male guard anymore. Instead, Theodora became herself again as she rushed at the three in an attempt to save them.

Theodora grabbed each of them in her arms and jumped away from the attack. She could sense the attack hitting the stands, hearing the solid material breaking, and feeling the gust of wind hitting her back. Her feet hit the ground and she skidded to a stop. She then saw Yamato hold Seitarou come into view and land right next to her. Screams could be heard as prisoners and guards rushed out of the stadium. To state it simply, it was turning into chaos. Staying as calm as ever, she placed everyone down, seeing them all in a sort of state of shock. She honestly couldn’t blame them.

“Is everyone alright?” Yamato asked after placing Seitarou down.

“We’re fine thanks to Theo.” Nico said.

“I can’t believe we lived…” Muttered Uno.

“This is bad.” Theodora spoke and stood up straight. “Seitarou, contact whatever guards you can and make sure the evacuation is going alright. We need all of the inmates out of here before any of them can get hurt. Yamato, keep these three with you. They’ll be safer in your hands than mine.”

“What’ll you do?” Seitarou asked.

Theodora turned and looked at where Jyugo and Musashi stood. “I’m going to stop Jyugo from harming anybody else. As a guard, it’s my job to make sure the inmates stay in line, and are protected. This case is no different…”

“Theo, wait!” Rock exclaimed, but she paid little to no attention.

She jumped onto the wall and began running along it, trying to get to Jyugo as fast as she could. Jyugo was striking at Musashi as much as possible, clearly having the intent to possibly kill. 'I have to stop him. I can’t allow him to do anymore damage than he’s already done!’

Without a second thought she jumped right on towards the two. They were running at each other, Musashi with his fire in hand while Jyugo held up his arm-blades. But before either of them could collide though, Theodora appeared in the way. She grabbed Jyugo’s arms while simultaneously wrapping her legs around Musashi’s flaming arms. She pushed the both, changing the course of their attacks.

Jyugo’s blades hit the dirt while Musashi shot fire into the air. Even though she was able to stop their attacks from hitting, she idiotically got herself right into the middle of it. Literally. Theodora retrained both of their movements, basically being the connecter in between them.

“Who the hell’re you?” Musashi asked, surprised to have his arm being restrained.

“I’m the person who’s going to beat your ass.” Theodora stated as her tone was ice cold.

Releasing her hold on Jyugo’s arms, she used the strength in her legs to get herself upright and facing Musashi. She released her leg’s hold on his arm while punching him right in the jaw. She put so much strength behind the attack that Musashi flew to the other side of the stadium. But, of course, his feet stayed connected to the ground and was able to dig them into the dirt, preventing himself from hitting the wall. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she whirled around with her leg up, only for her foot to collide with the side of Jyugo’s blade.

She just couldn’t believe that this was the real Jyugo. His sharp, blood red eyes glaring at her in rage. His sharp teeth being bared like a wild animal. This was someone who has been tormented, and broken, for the longest of time. This was Jyugo showing his pent up rage and emotions, turning him into a wild animal.

'I have to stop him.’ She told herself, her expression cold and stoic as her eyes revealed her fierce desire to protect. 'I have to stop them both before they get themselves killed…!’

“Get out of my way…” Jyugo growled at her. “I WON’T LET ANYBODY STAND IN MY WAY!”

The boy swung his other blade at her. Theodora acted fast, fucking her head and jumping back to dodge. Jyugo went after her, swinging his arms like a madman. She quickly grabbed the base of his arms, trying to prevent them from swinging down and creating more of those powerful cuts.

“That’s enough, Jyugo!” Theodora shouted at him. “If you don’t stop now, I won’t stop restraining myself anymore. I’ll make sure you won’t be waking up from this any time soon, do you hear me?”

“You don’t know anything…” Jyugo growled at her. “You know nothing. If you don’t get out of my way, I slice those legs of yours off without a moment’s hesitation.”

Before she could respond, she heard something coming fast at them from behind. Seeing the light from the corner of her eyes, she lifted her foot up and kicked Jyugo back, watching him fly out of the way. Theodora jumped back, just in time to dodge a gigantic fireball that came her way. It instead went straight for the Supervisors, preventing them from coming closer. The woman turned towards Musashi, seeing as he was the one responsible.

“Do you mind? I was have a real nice talk with Jyugo.” He spoke to her, taking one step at a time. “I’ll answer all the pretty little questions you want after I finish talking with him. But for now, I’lL HAVE YOU BURNING IN MY FLAMES!”

Once again, Musashi threw a powerful attack. But Theodora was faster than him. She kicked herself off of the ground and into the air, the attack completely missing her, and flew over his head. Her feet landed on the ground and she skidded across the ground, still having a pretty large distance away from Musashi.

The guy didn’t hesitate to do another move, lighting the ground on fire. He created this type of ring, only having him and Jyugo inside. Theodora knew she had to get in there and attack. Even she’s not as invincible as everyone makes her out to be.

But before she could so anything, multiple slices came from the flames. Theodora got out of the way, watching the harsh attack bring the fire with it. Once it collided into the walls and died down, she turned to the two prisoners. As her mind tried to figure out a plan of action, seeing as those two won’t stand down by words alone. As she thought, she saw Musashi planning to another fireball at Jyugo, who was currently running at him to attack himself.

“TRY DODGING THIS!” He shouted and threw the attack at him.

“NO!” Theodora shouted and found herself moving.

“YOU IDIOT!” Hajime shouted at her from afar.

Theodora jumped right into the line of fire, directly in front of Jyugo. She got her arms in front of her face just as the fireball hit. She, along with Jyugo, flew back and collided right into the ground.

Jyugo quickly recovered and got himself moving again. Once he sat up, he saw Theodora’s body still lying right under him, not moving a single inch. Each one of his blades had gotten embedded into the ground, one under her right arm while the other was right next to her head. When he got a good look at her, his eyes practically bulged out of his head while his fiery rage was momentarily forgotten. He could only stare as he tried to fathom what he was seeing.

“Theo… is a woman…?”

***

Jyugo could only stare at Theo in shock. The person he thought was a 'he’ for so long is actually a 'she’. Theo just laid under Jyugo, her eyes shut as she looked like she was in pain. Theo’s head was turned towards the right, her hat gone somewhere, and her silver hair uncovering her inmate number. Her guard jacket she wore over her white button up was burnt in the front, and had revealed her torso. Her white shirt appeared to be fine except for a few plastic buttons. The tie she would wear was on the ground where her neck was, probably from being burned. The top of her shirt appeared to be partially burnt, revealing the white bind she had to make her chest look completely flat. That was enough to show that she was a woman.

As the woman under Jyugo began to open her eyes, her eyebrows furrowed in what appeared to be pain. She grunted softly and looked up at Jyugo who hovered over her. Just as she was about to open her mouth, a fist suddenly came into view and hit Jyugo right in the gut. Jyugo flew back and off of her. She sat up with her arm out as if to grab him as she was shocked by the fast movement.

“Jyugo!” She exclaimed in concern.

“Worry about yourself for once.” A familiar voice of Hajime spoke to her. She gazed to her right to see that of course Hajime was the one to punch him. “Stop concerning yourself with the inmates. Both of them won’t hesitate to kill you the moment your guard is down.”

“Your emotions always have gotten the best of you…” Kenshirou added, now standing on her left.

“For your information…” Theodora grunted and forced herself to stand up. “…my emotions are the thing keeping me human. I care about these inmates far more than anybody would. It’s why they trust me…”

“Not those two.” Kenshirou stated. “No.634 will burn you to a crisp while No.15 will be slicing you in half while you burn. They will hurt you if you get in the way again.”

“Didn’t the Warden order for their recapture?!” Theodora growled as she was standing up now. “All I need is a chance with No.15. Leave him to me. We need as many people going after No.634 before he burns the entire place down.”

“You do realize you’re going to get fired after this, right?” Hajime asked her.

“My job at the moment isn’t as crucial as stopping those two.” Theodora stated, knowing quite well that her disguise was ruined. She took her tie and jacket off leaving just her white shirt and her black uniform trousers. “Just trust me in this and—”

“Hey, you all just gonna stand around lookin’ pretty?” Spoke the voice of Musashi, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Nice job standing all in one spot for me!”

Musashi shot fire at the three. Theodora got ready to run, but two familiar figures stopped her from running. They stood before them and thanks to their weapons began to protect them. The fire didn’t even touch them. Theodora watched as the fire died down, revealing Kiji and Samon to be their saviors.

“Think you can beat the Nanba Guards?!” Growled Samon at Musashi.

“Just try!” Kiji dared him.

“As for you two,” both Samon and Kiji turned and pointed at Hajime and Kenshirou. “Use your heads for once, you damn fools!”

“We’re getting scolded…?” Hajime grumbled.

“By these losers…?” Kenshirou questioned.

“Those losers just saved our asses.” Theodora said and stepped forwards. “We were all given the order by the Warden herself to capture the rogue inmates. We need to work together and stop them at once.”

“Let me guess, you already have a plan?” Samon asked, causing Theodora to smile.

“You know me too well…” She smirked before looking serious again. “Samon, Kiji, you guys can nullify Musashi’s attacks. Go after him. Kenshirou, he’s your inmate. Show him precisely what happens when hell’s raised against the Nanba guards. Hajime, I need you to keep Jyugo distracted long enough for me to restrain him. I’m confident that I can talk to him, but I can’t get through if Musashi keeps provoking him.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.” Kiji smiled.

“Try not to go berserk.” Samon said while smirking.

“I can’t believe we’re taking orders from her…” Grumbled Kenshirou.

“Just know that I won’t hesitate to act if this goes south.” Hajime told Theodora, looking down her rather coldly.

“It won’t go that way as long as we act.” Theodora said and found herself running at the inmates. “But HELL I’LL GIVE 'EM!”

Theodora went towards Musashi first. As soon as she got close she jump up and swung the back of her leg at him. Musashi blocked it with his forearm, of course. With her other leg she kicked off of him and onto the ground. She lashed at him and began throwing punches with her bare hands, her gloves being burned off moments ago. Musashi just kept blocking, his smirk wide as it was clear he didn’t think much of her.

“What’s with those punches? What are you, a woman?” He mocked.

“For your information,” Theodora swung her fist up, colliding her knuckled right into his jaw. “YOU BET YOUR ASS I’M A WOMAN!”

Musashi stumbled back, trying to recoil from that hit. But Theodora didn’t let him. She grabbed him by the shoulders and swung her leg up as hard as she could. Musashi let out a loud howl of pain, almost causing everyone to actually stop at the sight. Even Uno, Rock and Nico were cringing at the very sight. Theodora retracted her leg and watched him go down.

“I’ll have you know that I can kick harder than that…” She spat at him before looking towards Samon. “I leave him to you guys!”

“Well, that definitely is a type of hell for any man…” Samon muttered at the sight of Musashi.

“You… bitch…” Musashi groaned as he tried getting up again.

“I don’t think so.” Kenshirou was quick to act.

He saw Musashi raising his hands up again as Theodora was running away from him. Kenshirou used his whip to wrap around his wrist and yanked it back and away from her. Samon began to use his technique as quick as he could while Kiji tried to block any sort of fire the guy had left in him. While they began to take care of him, Hajime was going after his own inmate.

Theodora watched carefully as Hajime was firing rubber bullets at Jyugo. The teen of course kept slicing everyone that came at him. Only when Hajime ran out of another round did she went ahead and intervene. Hajime changed the casing just as Theodora jumped right into Jyugo’s view. Jyugo actually stepped back, trying to register the fact that a woman was standing in front of him.

“Jyugo, that’s enough!” She shouted at her, holding her arms out as if to shield Hajime. “Do you even realize how much damage you caused?!”

“Stay out of my way…” Jyugo growled at her, lifting his blades up to show he wasn’t messing around. “I will find that man… Where is he…!?”

“Man…?” Theodora muttered before raising her voice at him. “What man?!”

“The one with the scar…” Jyugo growled as he looked to be getting riled up again. “The guard with the scar on his neck…! Where is he?! TELL ME WHERE HE IS!”

Jyugo screamed out and lashed at Theodora. She quickly dodged his blades, trying hard to avoid each direction he swung in. Taking a risky move, Theodora ran towards Jyugo and got close to him. She grabbed his arms, just like she had down before, and began fighting against him so he doesn’t slice down.

“Look at me, Jyugo, look at me!” Theodora shouted at him, locking her eyes with his wild ones. “Listen to me! You need to calm down right now! You’ll never meet this guard with the scar if you keep this up, understand? Did this man with the scar do something to you? Is that why you’re being so crazy right now?!”

“I’ll never forgive him!” Jyugo shouted right in Theodora’s face. “I’ll find him, and I’ll kill him! That’s what I’ll do!”

“Why aren’t you listening…?!” Theodora growled and him felt him pushing against her hands. “This isn’t you, Jyugo! You’re not some savage whose instinct is to kill! You’re giving Musashi just what he wants… He wants you to think you’re some freak—a monster. But you’re not, okay! You’re a human being, understand?!”

Jyugo justed growled at her, continuing to put against her. Theodora stepped back, trying to regain her footing since he was going all at it.

“It’s time for you to stop, okay!? You need to stop and calm down!” She exclaimed, tightly holding onto him. “I’m not your enemy, Jyugo! I’m trying to help you. But I can’t do that if you won’t listen to me!”

Jyugo’s breathing was loud and fast, just like a wild animal’s breathing. Just as Theodora feared he was going to go wild again, two arms came from behind Jyugo and practically tore him away from her. To her surprise, Uno suddenly stood in front of her while Rock and Nico began restricting Jyugo from behind.

“Jyugo, we go back a long way, huh buddy?” Uno began trying to talk to him. “Trust me, you don’t want to do this.”

Jyugo stared at him for a moment before he began struggling more violently. Theodora quickly acted and got behind him, too. She grabbed Jyugo’s left arm, allowing Rock to restraint the right. She even wrapped her left leg in front of his own, trying to make it hardly for him to use his feet.

“Jyugo, please! Just listen to us already!” She yelled at him, hoping he would stop.

“You have to stop or they’ll take you to trial and make your sentence even longer!” Nico exclaimed, trying to convince Jyugo.

“C'mon, man! You have to stop!” Even Rock shouted at him.

Jyugo just kept struggling. Rock got pushed back, almost getting stabbed by Jyugo’s elbow, while Nico fell to the ground to miss the blade. Theodora felt her body get thrown over his, finding herself on the ground. She gazed up to see Jyugo raising his blade high, now facing Uno.

“NO!” She shouted and found herself moving again.

She got back onto her feet and rushed forwards just as Jyugo was slicing down. Theodora jumped in the way, both hands up, and she caught the blade in her hands, she could feel it slicing her palms, the feeling of pain beginning to throb through her hands. She gritted her teeth, trying to ignore it as she kept her gaze with Jyugo.

“Please, just stop already…!” She found herself begging, trying to find a way to stop him. “You have to realize what you’re doing, Jyugo! You almost hurt your friends! I know this isn’t you! The Jyugo I know cares for his friends, especially his cellmates! Please, just stop this…! There’s no need to be so angry… You have no reason to be this way!”

Jyugo just stared at her, the strength he was putting in his arm seemed to almost relax. Theodora pushed his arm away, allowing it to hit the ground. She rushed forwards and wrapped her arms around his head, bringing him close and holding his head against her chest. Her breath was becoming shaky as she could feel herself becoming emotional.

“Just stop it, okay…?” She begged him, even her voice becoming shaky. “There’s no need to be so violent anymore. I don’t know what you’ve been through, and I know you’re angry. But, I need you to calm down. Be the Jyugo who teased and taunted me—the one who listened so well to any conversation he heard. I know you’re a good kid… I know you are… So, please. Just stop this…!”

Jyugo just stood there, his arms still as blades, with his head pressed against her chest. He could hear her rapid heartbeat, feeling and sensing the warmth in her tight embrace. The others could only watch in awe as Jyugo lowered his arms until they were just hanging at his side.

“Why… do you care…?” Jyugo asked, his voice not even above a whisper.

“Why…?” Theodora released a huff and pulled her arms away to cup each one of his cheeks. She smiled at him as he kept his eyes locked on her gaze. “I care because it’s my duty. You’re special, just like everyone else here… I care because it’s the only thing that I know how to do… And I care for you, Jyugo…”

Jyugo could only stare up at her, his face written in what appeared to be confusion or awe. Just as Jyugo moved slightly, something hard collided into his gut. Theodora could only stand in shock, watching Jyugo practically get ripped out of her grip, and saw him collide into the wall right before her eyes. Her jaw was open as she lost her breath, shock taking over.

“Jy… Jyugo!” Theodora shouted in concern.

“You’re too sentimental.” The harsh voice of Hajime rang in her ears. “He could’ve sliced you down. This is why we don’t have woman guards around here…”

Theodora turned her head and watched as he marched up to Jyugo’s slumped up figure. Hajime grabbed onto the collar of his clothes and began to interrogate him. When he wouldn’t respond, Hajime would just give him a punch to the face. With each hit Jyugo received, Theodora felt her own chest beginning to hurt, unable to do a thing.

“Hajime, stop!” Uno shouted at him. “You caught him, okay?! It’s over!”

“As a guard, it’s also my job to interrogate him.” Hajime stated. “You inmates need to learn your place…”

Hajime punched Jyugo again, and again. Theodora couldn’t take it anymore. She ran at Hajime and grabbed his raised fist, trying to stop him from harming Jyugo anymore.

“STOP IT!” She screamed, tears clearly flooding her eyes. “YOU’RE HURTING HIM!”

“Let go, Theodora. I won’t hesitate to put you under my foot…” Threatened Hajime.

“AND I WON’T HESITATE TO THROW YOUR ASS OUT OF THIS STADIUM!” She screamed at him, her face contorted into anger. “LET HIM GO RIGHT NOW!”

“Or what?” Hajime growled at her.

“JUST STOP IT!” Theodora begged him, trying to pull him back. “CAN’T YOU TELL HE’S UNCONSCIOUS NOW?! IF YOU DON’T STOP NOW YOU’LL END UP KILLING HIM!”

Hajime just stared at her, not moving a single inch. He then straightened up and the tossed Jyugo to the ground. Theodora could only feel her heart ache at the sight of him.

“Jyugo…!” She exclaimed and practically fell to the ground next to him.

Theodora hadn’t been this distressed for someone’s safety for a long time. She placed her ear against his chest, trying to hear his heartbeat. Once she could and sensed his breathing she could only cry in relief. She found herself holding his head on her lap and she was bent over crying for him. Her hand stroked his hair, but only proceeded to add blood to it and made it sticky. She just couldn’t understand why she was so emotional for this boy. She just couldn’t understand it…

“The New Year’s Tournament has reached it’s conclusion…” Spoke the words from the Warden.

“Inmate captured…” Hajime muttered and walked past Theodora.

Theodora just kept crying softly, unable to stop the waterworks. She felt a sudden weight get tossed onto her, only to open her eyes and see pink. She lifted her head up to see Kenshirou standing there, only to realized he placed his pink haori onto her. She heard the sound of wood breaking and turned her head, seeing Hajime opening the sake barrel. She could only shake her head at him in disappointment.

Medics rushed into the area faster than she had anticipated. Samon and Kiji had to pry her away from Jyugo as the medics began to care for him. She held onto Kenshirou’s haori, wrapping it around herself as she realized just how indecent she looked. Samon and Kiji decided to lead her away and get her away from everybody.

The woman had no idea how much time had passed. They both brought her to the infirmary themselves, making sure her identity was still hidden from anyone other than the doctor and nurse. Theodora’s hands were wrapped up, there was a wrapping on her right cheek, and her back had a few scrapes here and there. The doctor examined her thoroughly, knowing quite well about her HSAN.

“You got pretty lucky.” Stated the doctor. “Your body was burned rather badly, but nothing that we can’t fix. You’re lucky it was only for a moment though, you could have died if it was longer.”

“Will she need any sort of medical care?” Kiji asked the older man.

“Well, we’ve applied cream to her burns so hopefully they should fade soon. she will need to take a few ibuprofens every now and then to keep that temp of hers down.” Said the doctor. “Since she can’t feel, her body temperature tends to rise a lot. The ibuprofen will keep her temperature stable, and will subside any possible pain she may have. Her hands will be have to stay wrapped for a while and rewrapped regularly. Possibly had the wrappings on her back change once in awhile. But with her health history, she’ll be back to normal in no time.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Samon said and bowed to him in respect. “Will she be able to be on her feet and back to work any time soon?”

“I suggest she stays here for one night. See how she does in the morning…” Spoke the doctor. “Though, I have doubts she wouldn’t be fine afterwards.”

“Thank you, again.” Samon said. He frowned and glanced at Theodora. “I bet the Warden will want to talk to her the moment she’s released…”

“I’ll go see if anything has come up.” Kiji said to Samon. “I have to go check on my Building, at any rate. Are you going to stay with her?”

“Someone has to.” Samon said. “I know her better, so I’ll stay here. I trust my guards that they’ll keep everything in order in my building. If anything happens, contact me over the wakie.”

“Alright.” Kiji nodded to him before looking at Theodora. “Poor thing… She looks so hollow… Do you believe she’ll be alright? She really was concern for that inmate.”

“She’ll be fine. This happens a lot…” Samon said quietly. “It’s like she ran out of batteries. Give her some time and she’ll be back to normal in no time. She’s always has a knack for caring for the inmates since she feels sympathetic for them. She was a prisoner too, so she understands that struggle. For someone who can’t feel a damn thing, she has a pretty big heart…”

“That is true…” Kiji nodded.

The bird-themed man walked over to Theodora. He talked to her for a moment before bidding goodbye. Once he left, taking Kenshirou’s haori with him, Samon could only sigh at the events of today. He rubbed his head before walking back over to Theodora. He took a seat in the chair next to her bed and examined her for a moment.

Theodora just sat in the bed, her hands together in her lap, as she had a hollow stare. Her wavy hair was tied back behind her into a low ponytail, keeping it out of her face. She wore a blue gown since she was a patient. An IV was connected to her arm so she could gain the much needed fluids for her body. Her hands were entirely wrapped in bandages all the way to her wrist. She had a few bandages wrapped on her chest, but like the doctor said, it wasn’t severe. She just looked… so broken…

“…Are you alright?” Samon asked her in concern. “Emotionally and mentally, I mean…”

She turned her head slightly towards him, only to look back at her lap. She didn’t respond.

“…Come on, Nicci…” Samon sighed. “Don’t shut me out. Talk to me…”

“…I’m sorry.” She spoke softly. “…My emotions got the best of me out there… I could've… I could’ve gotten you guys hurt… I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault.” Samon said and placed his hand over hers, causing her to look at him. “Don’t apologize for having emotions. Only apologize when it’s the thing that causes you to be blind, understand?”

Theodora stared at him for a moment before nodding. Samon let go of her hand and looked to the ground in thought.

“…Am I…” Theodora muttered, causing Samon to look at her again. She was shaking. “…Did I do good…? Or did I cause more harm…?”

“What do you mean?” Samon asked for clarification.

“Did I choose the right choice…?!” She asked, looking at him like she was completely lost. “D-did I do the right thing…?”

Samon was silent for a moment. “I’m not the one to decided that. That’s your call to make.”

Theodora became quiet again. She turned her head and stared at her lap. “There’s nothing left for me out there.” She looked up at Samon, her blue eyes brimming with tears. “Why can’t I feel anything?” Samon couldn’t speak. Looking at her she looked so broken. As if all the light had vanished inside of her. “I want to feel something… Anything… I just can’t take this anymore…” The male could only sigh at her, knowing he couldn’t fix any of the events that made her like this.

“What happened after you left? There’s something you’re not telling me so… Please Nicci.” She didn’t say anything but continued to look into her hands. Samon could see all the scars on her arms that hadn’t been bandaged. He knew some of them were accidents. He also knew most of them she caused yourself. It hurt him that she was doing this to herself just to feel human.

“What… What happened… to the inmates of cell 13…?” Theodora asked him softly.

“They’re back into their cells.” Samon said. “They’re fine thanks to your fast actions.”

“And… Jyugo…?” She asked.

“…I wouldn’t be able to tell you…” Samon muttered and looked to the ground.

Theodora sighed through her nose, clearly looking like she was in pain. She leaned back, laying down in her bed. She closed her eyes as she was still so conflicted. As she thought of the inmates from Cell 13, the young woman ended up falling into a deep sleep.

Samon watched as a tear rolled down her cheek just as she fell asleep.

“Rest up Nicci. You need it.”

[hopefulsapphic]

this is my @feastoffortuna2017 gift for @omegas-m! it’s ~1.6k words and it’s a jercy soulmate au in which the name of your soulmate appears on your arm on your 18th birthday.

(i’m gonna apologize now because i know you asked for n s f w, but i can’t do that so you get some dumb slow burn fluff instead i’m really really sorry)

Ever since the grocery store down the street closed down and became a gym, this has been their thing. At least once a month, Jason and Percy meet there for a little friendly competition. 

Now Jason’s watching as Percy adds more weight to the machine. If he can do 15 leg extensions at that weight, he’ll beat Jason and take the lead.

Percy counts out loud just to rub it in, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...8….9...10...11...12...13...14…...15! Yes!”

Jason's a little distracted today, but he manages to roll his eyes and say, “There's no way you're beating me the day before my birthday. We're doing pull ups next, I'm the best at that.”

“We’ll see about that,” Percy said with a grin that always tempts Jason to grin too 

It's Percy's turn to go first, and Jason has to force himself to pay attention. If he lets his mind go, he’ll start worrying too much. He doesn’t to worry, he just wants to focus on having fun with his best friend.

 “50!” Percy announces, “Beat that!”

 Okay so Jason had let himself drift off a little, but Percy's voice brings him out of this thoughts. “What did you say?”

 “50,” Percy repeats. A slight look of concern appears in his eyes and he says, “You've been kinda out of it today...You okay, man?”

 “Yeah,” Jason says quickly, “I'm just thinking about...I find out my soulmate’s name tomorrow, my 18th birthday.”

 “Oh yeah…” Percy says and his grin is back, “Try not to worry about that too much, I'm sure you'll get some sweet girl...like Piper maybe. What you really should be stressing about is if you can do more than 50 pull ups.”

“That, I'm not worried about,” Jason retorts. But this time he does smile as well. Somehow his anxiety seems illogical now after Percy spoke.

Half an hour later, their day at the gym ends in a tie, which neither of them are upset about. The two of them laugh and high five before going their separate ways 

That night, Jason goes to bed with his mind clear, any anxious thought being driven out the the echo of Percy's voice. “Try not to worry...I'm sure you'll get some sweet girl…”

Still, when he wakes up the next morning he lays there for a while, enjoying his last few moments of ignorance. From now on, whether he likes it or not, he's tied to whoever’s name is written on his arm.

 Eyes still closed, Jason lifts his arm over his head so that when he opens his eyes the name is all he sees. The black letters are a part of his skin now, spelling out the name of the person who is destined to become like a part of him: PERCY

Jason has to read the name a total of three times before it hits him. Percy. As in Percy Jackson. As in Jason’s best friend Percy Jackson, whom he'd just spent the entire previous day with. Percy is Jason's soulmate.

 This is weird. This is really, really weird. Jason had never been opposed to the idea that his soulmate could be a dude, but the fact that it’s this dude in particular...Jason can’t wrap his head around it. His mind is swirling with thoughts and questions:

 But he's my best friend. 

I've never thought of him like that, right?

But could I?

How am I going to tell him? 

Should I tell him at all?

 He’ll find out on his own in a little over a month anyways.

 Jason decides not to say anything. Not until he can work through his own thoughts.

 Less than a minute later he gets a text from Percy saying ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRO’ to which he responds with ‘thanks!’ But when the next message is ‘sooooo...who's your soulmate?’ Jason leaves him on read.

+++

For the next month or so, Jason wears long sleeves in the heat of the summer and spends way too long analyzing his thoughts and feelings whenever he's around Percy.

 Sure, the other boy is definitely attractive, with his messy dark hair and playful grin that lights up his sea green eyes. Plus his personality is loyal, and kind, and funny. All good things, Jason thinks. But those are just the thoughts.

 As for feelings, well, Jason has always felt safe and comfortable around his friend, but now he pays extra attention to how his heart reacts whenever Percy laughs or smiles or tells a joke. He notices the way it jumps a tiny bit and wonders why he's never noticed it before or if it's a newer thing.

 He tries to imagine what it would be like to kiss Percy...or more. It’s less difficult to picture than he originally thought. And it’s not bad. It’s not bad at all.

 And all the while Percy is still trying to get Jason to spill the name of his soulmate.

 Today they'd run into each other at a McDonald's and decided to stay and share a thing of fries together. And somehow Percy always manages to bring the conversation back to Jason’s soulmate.

 “It's like, 100 degrees outside and you're wearing a sweater, so it's gotta be someone gross...” Percy theorizes. He pauses for a second then snaps his fingers, “Is it Drew?”

Jason almost chokes on a French fry, “No, it's not Drew.”

“Hmm…” Percy looks up in thought, “Is it….no, I've already gone through all the girls we know…”

An amused sort of smile spreads across Jason's face as he raises his eyebrows and shakes his head.

“Oh, is it not a girl, then?” Percy realizes, “Well that opens up a lot more possibilities. Is it….Nico?”

 “Nope,” Jason says.

 “Leo?”

 “Not Leo.”

 “How about -”

 Jason cuts him off, “I’ll tell you once you know your soulmate too. We can reveal them together.”

 “Alright,” Percy shrugs, “I guess I can wait another week and a half.”

 A week and a half. A week and a half until Jason can't hide behind long sleeves and silence anymore. That week and a half goes by way too fast, in his opinion.

 +++

 It’s August 18th now and Jason wakes up to the sound of his phone going off. It’s ringing so much, he can’t tell whether it’s a bunch of text messages or phone calls. With a sigh, he reaches over to grab his phone from his nightstand.

13 unread messages and 4 missed calls, all from Percy. Of course. Jason opens the messages:

Hey

Hey

Jason

I know who your soulmate is

It’s me isn’t it, it was my name that you were trying to hide

I’m right, aren’t I

Of course I’m right I can see your name on my arm

Jaaaaasssooonnnnnn

Answer me 

We need to talk about this

Come on bro

Wait should I even call you bro anymore? 

Check your damn phone dude

As Jason reads through the texts, another one comes through.

 Don’t you dare leave me on read again, I see you

 For some reason, that message causes a small smile to flicker across Jason’s face, and he shakes his head to himself. He responds to Percy with ‘ok, let’s talk.’ and the immediate reply is ‘I’m coming over.’ 

Percy shows up less than ten minutes later. His short-sleeved t-shirt leaves the name on his arm exposed and clearly visible. It’s the first thing Jason sees when he opens the door - his own name on his best friend’s arm, written in big black letters. This is real.

Jason glances at his own arm as he opens the door wider to let his friend in. He’s not covering his with his sleeve either, there’s no point in hiding it anymore.  Percy glances at it too and he says, “How did you feel when you first saw that?”

 “Confused.” Jason replies honestly, closing the door and moving into the living room,  “I didn’t know what to do or how I felt or how I should’ve felt.”

 Percy follows, lounging on one of the couches like the atmosphere is still comfortable and easy. And it’s strange because it is, despite the awkward conversation topic. “What about now?”

 “Now…” Jason hesitates as he sits down as well, trying to find the right words, “Now, I’ve gotten used to the idea and I feel...like it’s not a bad thing.”

 “Not a bad thing, huh? Alright, I’ll take it.” Percy grins and raises his eyebrows, “I mean, I think it’s a pretty great thing, but then again I have liked you for a while now.”

 Jason blinks, “Wait, really?”

 “Yeah, really.”

 “...Wow…”

Neither of them say anything for a little while, and for the first time there’s a tension between them and the air is thick with the awkwardness of it, like there’s something that needs to be said, something that needs to be done. Jason recognizes what it is first, or at least he’s the first to speak. He laughs and immediately the air feels lighter.

Then he looks at Percy and says, “Why did we even need to talk about this? What else do we need to say? We both kinda like each other...we’re soulmates for god’s sake, can’t we just start this and kiss already?”

“Finally.” A grin is back on Percy’s face as he sits up.

It’s hard to tell who initiates the kiss first as they both surge towards each other at the same time. Their lips crash together and there’s no room for softness or hesitancy. They both want this, want each other, and they’re not holding anything back.

#fof2017 #feast of fortuna #jercy #pjo #jason grace #percy jackson #my writing #ignore me i'm just gonna...vent in the tags real quick - #i'm super insecure about this actually??? i feel like it's the opposite of what you wanted and i feel horrible!!! i'm! sorry! !!! !!!!!!! !!