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Kagami Taiga begins his tenure in prison with a punch to the face.
“This is a new world order, trash,” the guard says. He fingers his baton, like he’s waiting for an excuse to use it. “Just so we’re clear on things. There aren’t any rules here but the ones we make up. You’re not in Kansas anymore.”
It’s such an American expression and Kagami isn’t expecting it at all, considering he’s in a Japanese prison. So he says, “Does that make you a member of the Lollipop Guild?” and that’s when he’s punched in the face.
*
There were rumors, of course. About a secret prison where they send the really bad people. The people too dangerous for normal prisons. A prison where there was barely any difference between the guards and the prisoners and rules don’t apply and you can basically kiss good-bye any possibility of ever seeing fresh air again. A prison where no one knows the exact location, except that it’s in Japan. A prison where people don’t ever come out again.
Some said it was on an island, and others insisted it was underground.
It was all comic book kind of stuff. Kagami didn’t actually believe it existed.
Until he’s sent there.
*
He’s prepared for battle from day one. Just passing by the other prisoners on his way to his cell, he already knows it’s not like other jails. Everyone watches him with a distinctly predatory stare—like being in a zoo and all the tigers are hungry. It’s quieter than he’s expecting. He figures there would be shouting, and that’s what makes it all the more eerie.
They called him “the Wild Beast” back home, because he swore he could smell how strong a person was. And it’s true; he has the instincts of a wild animal and all of his instincts are screaming that he’s surrounded by killers on both sides of the bars and he’s never going to be safe again.
It makes him laugh. And once he starts laughing, he doesn’t stop, even when the guard hits him again.
Bring it on, he wants to say. Any sane person would be terrified but he’s just excited. He’s ready for anything.
*
They put Kagami in an empty cell, which surprises him. In a place as lawless as this he half expected to be crammed in a pit with twelve other guys, so the fact that the cell looks so normal is almost disturbing. He certainly didn’t expect the luxury of being by himself. He claims the bottom bunk because he always hated having to climb up anything to sleep.
No, it’s not what he expects. It’s almost too normal. (As normal as prisons get, at any rate.) It fills him the most unease he’s had since he got here; he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop.
*
“Excuse me,” a calm, polite, voice says. “Would you prefer the top bunk?”
Kagami flails out of the bed, and he automatically reaches for a gun that of course he doesn’t have. It takes all of his control not to lash out immediately—he has never liked surprises.
“Where did you come from?” he demands when he spots the speaker; a small, pale, absurdly blue-haired young man that Kagami can’t believe he didn’t see earlier. (It’s not exactly a huge space! It’s not like there were places to hide! And anyway, how did he miss someone with blue hair?)
“I have been here the whole time,” the pale man says, still sounding strangely calm.
“Like hell—” Kagami starts, but then he stops once he realizes how absurd it is. They’re in a prison cell. It’s not like the guy could have snuck in without his noticing. Short of teleportation, there’s no way this guy couldn’t have been here the whole time.
“I have no preference for the top bunk,” the man continues, completely unfazed by Kagami’s outburst. “My last cellmate did not like heights so he insisted on the bottom, so if you would prefer to switch out, I would not mind.”
“That’s—nice of you,” Kagami says, recovering from his initial shock at the man’s appearance. (Where was he, that Kagami couldn’t have noticed?) “But the bottom is fine with me.”
“Very well,” the man says, still unconcerned. “I am Kuroko Tetsuya.”
He speaks with absurdly formal keigo, and uses “boku” to refer to himself, and all around Kagami really didn’t expect anyone he met in prison to speak so politely.
“Kagami Taiga,” he says.
“It is nice to meet you, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko replies, and seriously, what the hell? Who talks like that in prison? (Or, ever?)
Kagami eyes him, trying to get some kind of handle on this guy. His wild instincts that have never failed him in his old life are all quiet now. That scent he has for dangerous people isn’t on this guy at all. This guy doesn’t smell particularly weak either; he’s completely scentless and it’s frankly unnerving.
Kagami hadn’t known what to expect about this place. He certainly hadn’t known what to expect about the person he’d be sharing a cell with, but he’d gone in here thinking it had to be like one of those dangerous beasts he’d seen walking in.
There’s a lot of things about this place he doesn’t expect.
Everyone is a killer, here, he reminds himself. You don’t get put in this prison if you’re not. This man in front of him doesn’t look dangerous but that doesn’t mean he’s not a threat. Kuroko is most likely some kind of serial killer; he looks like the type who might snap at any second. Maybe he has some sort of second personality that hasn’t manifested yet. Or maybe he’s planning on shanking Kagami in his sleep.
That seems like something worth being cautious about.
“What happened to your last cellmate?” he ventures.
“He crossed the Copier King,” Kuroko replies without hesitation. “It was ill-advised, and I tried to warn him.”
“The Copier King,” Kagami repeats, because the way Kuroko says it makes it clear it’s some kind of title and obviously a significant one. “You have a King in this jail?”
“Five of them,” Kuroko replies, almost absently. “I am sure you will meet them in time. I would offer you the same advice: do not catch their attention. Between them, they have killed quite a lot of people in their time here.”
Once again, there’s that feeling that Kagami is surrounded by danger and that any moment in this prison could be his last.
He laughs again.
“That’s exciting,” he says, grinning at the impassive face of his new cellmate. “I look forward to meeting them. I like a challenge.”
*
Unsurprisingly, he gets into a fight on his second day. He’s always had a hot temper and he never knew when to back down (both qualities of his personality that, all things considered, are the reasons he ended up in this place.)
It’s the usual and wholly expected kind of machismo; someone tries to pick a fight with the new guy and Kagami quickly incapacitates him without breaking a sweat.
“Is this typical for you, Kagami-kun?” Kuroko asks quietly, surprising Kagami during lunch by being at his table.
“Now where’d you come from?” Kagami demands.
“I was here first,” Kuroko says politely. “You sat at my table.”
“Well, leave, we’re not pals.”
“I do not wish to leave,” Kuroko says calmly, and it’s not even a challenge, really. Not like someone trying to assert his authority or pick a fight. He says it very indifferently, it would be hard to take offense. Kagami still can’t get a handle on this guy. “You had a black eye when you first came in, and now you have nearly killed a man. Does Kagami-kun get into a lot of fights?”
“Only when provoked,” Kagami returns flatly. “I’m not going to be the new fish, got it? I’m not going to be pushed around.”
Kuroko doesn’t say anything—he just looks at Kagami with those pale blue eyes of his, completely unreadable.
Kagami is beginning to think this man is the most unsettling thing about this prison.
*
“You’re getting into a lot of fights, moron,” a man named Hyuuga Junpei tells Kagami after his first week. Kagami has gotten into fights pretty much seven straight days in a row. (It is worth noting that the guards do nothing to stop the fights. It is also worth noting that sometimes Kagami’s fights have been with the guards.)
Hyuuga speaks like a man who is used to being in charge, but not like someone who is talking to a challenger to his power.
“Yeah?” Kagami says.
“Has anyone even told you what’s going on in this prison?” Hyuuga asks. “Or about this Block?”
They’re in the “S Block” and Hyuuga says both those things like he means something very specific.
Kagami doesn’t want to admit total ignorance, because doing so would be essentially admitting how much he’s actually interested in hearing what Hyuuga has to say. (Very interested. But he doesn’t want anyone to know that). So he just shrugs and says, “You mean the Five Kings and all that?”
Hyuuga raises his brows, surprised by Kagami’s response.
“Six,” a second man says, with a grin. He has a “second in command” feel about him. “Or so they say.”
“The Sixth King doesn’t exist,” Hyuuga says, rolling his eyes. “Shut up, Izuki.”
“A Phantom King for a phantom Block,” Izuki says enigmatically.
It’s not quite in Kagami’s nature to trust people. (Especially not these people. These people are killers, and dangerous, and perhaps out to kill Kagami). But he does want to know answers.
“I only heard about the five,” Kagami says, casually. “And how they’re really dangerous guys. I’m excited to take them on. Don’t suppose you could point them out to me?”
Izuki grins, looking rather triumphant. Hyuuga doesn’t show any kind of open excitement, but he’s looking at Kagami with an interested sort of gleam behind his glasses.
“I think we should probably talk,” Hyuuga says.
“I thought that’s what we were doing,” Kagami says.
“Somewhere else,” Hyuuga says. “In private.”
*
Usually a private meeting in prison means you’re about three minutes away from being shanked, but Kagami is pleasantly surprised to realize Hyuuga genuinely wanted a private meeting.
(Besides, even if they are two to one, Kagami is pretty sure he could take on both Hyuuga and Izuki, if need be).
It turns out to be a rather informative session, as Hyuuga fills Kagami in on the mechanics of the prison that has defined a lot of Kagami’s altercations this past week but has not been fully described to him until now.
There are five Blocks, Hyuuga explains, and each Block has a King. It all seems sorta feudalistic and absurd but Kagami refrains from asking questions until the end.
There’s the Copier King of K Block, the Shooter King of S block, the Beater King of T Block, the Crusher King of Y Block, and the Ruler King of R Block (most commonly referred to as simply “The Emperor”).
“Those are dumb names,” is Kagami’s only contribution to this revelation.
“Shut up, moron,” Hyuuga says, and continues on with his explanation.
S Block is by far the biggest, and for awhile there’s been talk of splitting it in two. Apparently Hyuuga’s team has been quietly trying to defect from the Shooter King for some time now and was even mostly successful, due in part to the help of someone Hyuuga refers to only as Iron Heart.
“What happened to him?” Kagami says, since clearly the mysterious Iron Heart is not in the picture anymore.
“Prison hospital,” Hyuuga says succinctly. That’s all he says but it paints a pretty clear picture.
“We do expect him back, at some point,” Izuki adds in, but Hyuuga’s look is a somewhat sardonic confirmation of this fact. Whatever happened to the Iron Heart guy, Hyuuga must not think he’ll be able to be what he once was.
“I get it,” Kagami says. “You need someone strong. Someone who can take on the other Kings. I was going to do that anyway, I don’t really need you.”
“You do,” Hyuuga says, and he doesn’t say moron again but it’s heavily implied. “You’ll need support.”
He doesn’t continue, but Kagami is already getting the sense the political climate, so to speak, of this prison is really far beyond what usually takes place. Both Hyuuga and Izuki are looking at him like he’s missing something incredibly obvious.
And after awhile, he figures out what it is he’s supposed to ask. “Why do the Blocks need Kings?”
“Very good,” Hyuuga says. “Because, in case you didn’t notice, there’s a war going on against the guards. If you don’t have the support of a King, then you’re basically fucked.”
“So why the coup?” Kagami asks. “Why break from the Shooter King?”
“Because S Block is too big,” Izuki says. “And the West side is getting hammered without proper protection.”
This all seems a lot more complicated than Kagami was expecting. “What about the Sixth King? The Phantom?”
“There is no Sixth King,” Hyuuga says.
*
Kagami knows he depends a lot on his instincts—with the life he’s lead, you have to, otherwise you die. And right now, his instincts are telling him his best bet is to hook up with these guys who are trying to form their own feudal system of protection.
It has advantages, for one thing. Once it’s been officially announced that he’s affiliated with the S West guys, there aren’t as many people who are picking fights with him. And now there are people who now have his back, for the remaining challengers who still want to press the issue.
(“You can’t just keep recklessly picking fights with everyone, moron,” Hyuuga says.
“I’ll try not to pick fights with our guys,” Kagami replies.
“That’s all I ask,” Hyuuga says, dramatically rolling his eyes).
But now his fights seem a little more poignant, as a whole separate issue. There are politics going on that he still doesn’t fully understand.
*
“The Shooter King want to see you,” someone growls at him during dinner. Just a messenger, someone passing by and is gone as soon as Kagami looks up.
“It was inevitable,” Hyuuga says, when Kagami tells him.
“Is he going to shank me?” Kagami demands.
“Possibly,” Hyuuga says. “Take Mitobe and Koganei with you.”
This is what it’s like here; everyone has connections and Kagami has to depend on the connections that he’s made. It chafes, slightly, that he’s following orders. But he’s not calling the shots (yet) so the way it stands is: he has to meet the Shooter King, and he has to bring the two S West enforcers with him.
*
“Is Kagami-kun meeting Midorima-kun today?”
Kagami jumps, and hisses, “Don’t do that.” Kuroko sends him a reproachful look and Kagami has to admit that it is absurd—it’s not like Kuroko snuck up on him in their shared cell. He just… still has a hard time remembering Kuroko’s existence.
“Who?” Kagami says absently, calming his nerves. There’s something a little too ghost-like about his roommate, and Kagami has never been a fan of ghosts.
“Midorima Shintarou,” Kuroko says, in a way that still illuminates nothing, until he adds, “The Shooter King of S Block.”
Kagami blinks, because he’d been summoned to meet the man but no one had ever said his name. And it seems strange to him now that it hadn’t even occurred to him to ask. He looks at Kuroko with renewed interest. “What do you know about the Shooter King?”
“What everyone knows,” Kuroko replies. “He is a Long Distance Serial Killer. Or at least, he was on the outside. He is the King of S Block and not someone to be trifled with.” He looks at Kagami in that silent (and slightly judging) sort of way. “Kagami-kun is not stronger than Midorima-kun. You are nowhere near the level of the Kings.”
Kagami laughs, getting that thrill all over again at the prospect of meeting someone stronger than him. “Is that right? Good. I hate guys that are weak.” He looks at Kuroko in a way that suggests he knows very well Kuroko isn’t worth his attention. He’s not sure what this guy did to get into this place, but he’s no threat. “Who’s side are you on?”
“I am not on a side,” Kuroko says. “But I would support S West, if they asked me to.”
A strange thing to say. “I’m asking you to,” Kagami decides. “Come with me to meet the Shooter King.”
Kuroko looks at him for a good long while and then nods.
*
“So why are you here, anyway?” Kagami asks, the night before they’re supposed to meet the Shooter King. It’s long past light’s out and he just speaks into the darkness, lying on his bunk and thinking about the stranger sharing a cell with him. He has no reason to think Kuroko is even still awake, and he’s not sure if it’s violating the unspoken rules of prison to ask people why they’re here.
“I am a criminal,” Kuroko responds, proving that he is awake. “That is why everyone is here. Is it not?”
“You don’t seem the type,” Kagami says shortly. He’s not sure why he’s bringing it up. Maybe because it’s been a couple weeks and he doesn’t know this guy at all but he can’t help but think there’s more to him than meets the eye. He’s not sure what that could possibly be.
“I am here because I am a killer, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko says, very matter-of-fact like. It is so unambiguously stated that Kagami has to believe it, and he tries to wrap his mind around the image of his quiet cellmate and his notions of what it means to be a killer. “And you, Kagami-kun? You have killed people.”
He says that like he knows it for a fact, and Kagami has to snort and say, “Yeah, I’ve killed people. Just like everyone in this prison.”
It’s the truth.
Mostly.
“That is not why you are here,” Kuroko says.
“What makes you say that?” Kagami says, wondering if it would make any difference at all if he could actually see Kuroko’s face at the moment. Probably not. He doubts he’d be able to read anything on that face.
“It is just a feeling I have,” Kuroko responds. “I think Kagami-kun is here for a reason.”
“I am here for a reason,” Kagami says. “I’m here because I was arrested and pissed off a judge.” And he rolls onto his side and decides to pretend he’s asleep. He’s not sure why he started this conversation, but now he wants out. Kuroko doesn’t try to say anything after that.
*
By now, Kagami should probably stop having any kind of expectations about this prison and the people he meets here, because the Shooter King is so far beyond anything he could have anticipated it’s practically absurd.
First, because he is taller than Kagami, which Kagami has not often encountered, especially not in Japan. Second, because he has glasses, and Kagami would have figured someone who was a sniper to have better vision. Third, because he has green hair and he’s carrying a frog puppet.
Kagami makes sure to write his name out dramatically on the man’s hand, “Because you look like the kind of guy who might pretend to forget it later,” and he’s pretty sure the move might get him jumped later but at least he makes an impression.
The shorter guy at Midorima’s side laughs hysterically.
“Do you have what it takes to be the Sixth King?” Midorima Shintarou asks, after the dramatic hand-writing and laughing and standard machismo sizing-up has finished.
“I thought there was already a Sixth King,” Kagami says, mostly just to see what the man will say.
“There has never been a Sixth King,” Midorima responds. “And if you can’t figure that out on your own, then you have no business putting your name out there as a contender for a throne. You disappoint me.”
Then, he looks at Kuroko and says, “As do you.”
Kuroko tilts his head and says, “You have said before, Midorima-kun.”
“I don’t like you, Kuroko. But I do respect you. At least ally yourself with stronger people.”
“I do not believe I have made a mistake, Midorima-kun.”
And even though this meeting seems like a waste in other areas, at least it confirms something Kagami suspected: Kuroko knew the Shooter King going into this meeting.
If he was a betting man (which he is) he would bet that Kuroko knows all the Kings.
*
“Hey, new guy.”
Kagami turns to see the smiling man who had been at the Shooter King’s side.
“Takao Kazunari,” he introduces himself cheerfully, “Car thief, falsely imprisoned for manslaughter. You’re an interesting guy, aren’t you, Kagami?”
“Not really,” Kagami says, intrigued by the guy’s introduction. “Falsely imprisoned?”
“You were wondering, so I thought I’d cut to the chase. Man, you really got under Shin-chan’s skin. Do you really think you have what it takes to be a King?”
Shin-chan, Kagami thinks. “I’m looking forward to taking them on, is that the same thing?”
Takao’s grey eyes seem to look right through him, and Kagami gets the distinct impression he sees more than others do. It’s deeply unsettling, and he figures it would be best to avoid this guy.
“Interesting,” Takao says enigmatically. “As it happens, I think it makes a lot of sense for S Block to split in two, so I have nothing against more Kings. That is, if you do have what it takes to be a proper challenger.”
This guy stood at the right-hand of the Shooter King. It goes against all logic for him to say that he supports the power split. Either he doesn’t actually support Midorima Shintarou—
—or he does. And that has all kinds of interesting implications.
Kagami turns to the silent Mitobe (Kagami has never heard him speak—he’s heard rumors that the man’s tongue was cut out, but he has no way of knowing if that’s true) and the catlike Koganei. “Go on without me,” he tells them, and while they look at Takao warily they agree to leave him alone.
(Kuroko, Kagami knows, is still there. But there doesn’t seem much point in dismissing Kuroko).
“Why are there rumors of a Phantom Sixth King if everyone insists there is no Sixth King?” Kagami asks.
He’s not sure why he’s asking Takao, instead of any of the guys in Hyuuga’s gang. Maybe because Takao seems like he knows things.
“No one ever told you the rumor of the Phantom?” Takao says, tilting his head.
Kagami figures there’s really no point in responding to that question.
Takao grins, acknowledging Kagami’s ignorance. “It’s just rumors, mind you. And I don’t know how they could have possibly been started, since I highly doubt any of the Kings would have told the story to a single soul. Shin-chan never confirmed it, and I’ve asked him a whole bunch of times. And I am very persuasive when I need to be.
“But they say one morning, each of the Five Kings woke up with a big black X somewhere on their body. Over their heart, across the neck, on their forehead. You get the idea.”
“Somewhere fatal,” Kagami says.
“Exactly,” Takao says. “Somewhere they would have died, had the person with a marker been wielding a weapon. And it sent a pretty clear message. I could have killed you but I didn’t. And the Five Kings—none of them are guys you can just sneak up on, you know? They’re the baddest dudes in this prison for a reason.
“So ever since then, there’s been this rumor about a Phantom King. The strongest of them all.”
Kagami thinks through this. It sounds like an urban legend. Something prisoners might make up to pass the time. People who lived under the power of so-called kings would like the idea of there being some phantom out there who could kill the others, if he so desired.
“No one knows if it’s true?” Kagami says, sounding doubtful.
“Everyone is pretty sure it’s fake,” Takao says, still cheery. “But that’s not what makes a King, is it?”
And after awhile, Kagami gets it, although he’s still not sure why Takao came to him in the first place.
“See you, Kagami,” Takao says. “And watch yourself, Kuroko. I hear the Emperor has his eye on you.”
“Thank you, Takao-kun,” Kuroko says, and it’s the first time he’s spoken since Midorima left.
Only later, Kagami will realize how odd it is that Takao noticed Kuroko was even there.
*
Kuroko spends a lot of his time reading.
Kagami knows that it is not unusual for there to be a prison library, but he didn’t think this prison would have one. When he ventures to ask, Kuroko just says, “There are ways to get most anything here, if you know the right people.”
Kagami bets that Kuroko knows a lot of people.
He tells himself that he really should not be as fascinated with his cellmate as he is. He’s pretty sure that way leads down the path of really bad things. (Especially considering how fascinated he is. It’s not just the general air of mystery. Kagami knows himself well enough to admit he’s attracted and also yells furiously at himself to stop that train of thought right now. Because that’s definitely not happening).
He tries not to be interested, but he still pays attention anyway. Kuroko doesn’t have a lot of muscles; he looks exactly like the kind of person who would be most victimized in a prison like this. But he must avoid the worst of the danger by being forgettable to the point of invisibility. Kuroko does not have the same bloodthirsty air about him, he does not have the same aggression. If Kagami had met him on the street he would have assumed the man was some kind of professor.
Kuroko doesn’t make sense.
*
“You’re reading Emily Dickinson?” Kagami says.
He shouldn’t talk to Kuroko. He shouldn’t spend that much time thinking about Kuroko at all. He definitely shouldn’t be trying to get to know the man.
“Emily Dickinson knew what it was like to live an isolated life,” Kuroko replies calmly. And then he starts reading out loud.
“There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes.”
Kagami frowns. He spent a great deal of his youth in America, but he didn’t know much about poetry. “What does that mean?”
“It is strange,” Kuroko says. “In the winter, when there is so much snow and cold for so long, the first light of the sun is usually a welcome relief. A sign of spring and for winter to be over. Dickinson suggests that sunlight can be cruel. Sometimes hope is cruel.”
There’s no relief here. There’s not even any sunlight. Kagami feels like they’re talking about something else entirely, but he’s too scared to press further.
“Emily Dickinson also said,” Kuroko continues, “To ‘tell all the truth but tell it slant.’”
A slant of light, Kagami thinks. And a slant of truth.
“I believe you have always told me the truth, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko says in the face of Kagami’s silence. “I have always done the same.”
Kagami always has told the truth.
*
Instincts have always been an important part of his survival, and Kagami moves before he even really knows what’s happening. All of the sudden there’s a threat and he’s reacting to it, grabbing Kuroko by the collar, pulling him close. And his hand is raised, like he’s ready to punch the man, and his grip around the other man’s neck could easily turn into something crushing.
There is a knife right at his ribs. An actual knife, not the kind of prison weapon that most whittle into sharpened objects meant for harm. Kagami has Kuroko by the neck and Kuroko stares at him with calm blue eyes and maybe they could both destroy each other now. Just like this.
Kagami leans in and kisses him instead, with all the hunger of a trapped beast. Kuroko doesn’t move the knife away from its killing location but he does kiss Kagami back with equally intense fervor and Kagami’s not entirely sure what’s happening right now.
When he pulls away, he still has a grip around Kuroko’s neck, and Kuroko’s knife is still at his ribs, and now Kuroko doesn’t look so blank. Kuroko looks like he’s been kissed and closed to becoming undone.
But he regains his composure first. Kagami can see sanity when it returns to Kuroko’s gaze, and so Kagami has no choice but to return to steady ground himself.
“You’re the Sixth King,” Kagami says, his voice hoarse.
“Yes,” Kuroko says, his voice just as soft. “And you’re a cop.”
*
Kagami finally releases his hold on Kuroko’s neck, moving away. Kuroko’s knife disappears like magic—one minute it’s there and the next there’s not a single sign it ever existed, like maybe Kagami had imagined it after all.
“Only there is no Sixth King,” Kagami says, his voice ragged as he tries not to think about what Kuroko just said. “Because being a King here means ruling. It means protecting people and maintaining order. And a Phantom King is no King at all.”
“Yes, that is correct. I am not the kind of person who can be in the spotlight. I am not someone who can rule. I am a shadow.”
“You’re an assassin,” Kagami says. “You said—you’re here because you’re a killer. But you weren’t imprisoned for that, were you?”
“No,” Kuroko admits. “I had to fabricate a crime to be put here. I am here because I was hired to kill the Five Kings.”
“And you could have,” Kagami says, thinking about the story with the marker. The Kings would not have told anyone that story, Takao had said. And Kagami believes it. Kuroko must have been the one to start the rumors with the truth. Tell it slant. “You could have, but you didn’t.”
“It did not take me long to realize the Kings are the only thing keeping this prison together,” Kuroko says. “If they die, a lot of other people will as well. It is not the prisoners who are dangerous, here.”
“It’s the guards,” Kagami says, nodding.
“And that is why you are here,” Kuroko says. “To investigate what is happening.”
Kagami lets out a breath—shaky and uncertain but also somewhat relieved. “Yes. There’s been rumors, but no one believed them. But I did. I made a case to my chief and I was sent undercover. How did you know?”
“You have killed,” Kuroko says, “But you are not a killer. You also told the truth.”
Kagami’s heart is beating faster now—for the first time since he got here he is feeling uncertain. Maybe even afraid. This is not part of the plan. He was not supposed to stumble on some feudal prison war trying to maintain a balance in dark times. He was not supposed to have an enigmatic cellmate that he feels strangely attracted to, and he was certainly not supposed to make out with that cellmate.
Or become a Sixth King.
He’s really not sure how he’s going to explain this to Chief Garcia, once he gets out of this.
*
“What was your plan, Kagami-kun?” Kuroko asks, almost like he can read minds.
At this point, Kagami would not be too surprised to learn that Kuroko could read minds.
“The stuff the Warden is doing here—this whole place. It shouldn’t exist. This isn’t any kind of justice. I’m going to bring them down.”
Kuroko takes this in stride. “You will need to be a Sixth King.”
“Yeah, I know,” Kagami says.
Kuroko’s gaze is fixed on him. “You will need me.”
This isn’t something Kagami wants to confirm—(the guy is an assassin. Probably the most dangerous one in the world if he was here to bring down the top guys). But he can’t deny it either—he just looks at Kuroko, like Kuroko will have the answers.
“I am a shadow,” Kuroko says. “And I will need a light. The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.”
And it sounds so incredibly hokey, Kagami can’t believe he actually heard it. It’s not something an assassin should say to a cop, at any rate.
“What’s in this for you?” Kagami says. “I don’t understand you. What do you get out of this? You know—once we’re done—I can’t—” You’ll still be a criminal. I can’t let you be free.
“We have been too long in winter without any kind of light,” Kuroko says. “Perhaps I disagree with Emily Dickinson. This place deserves even a slant of light, no matter how oppressive that hope might be.”
Kagami has to pause once again to think about how strange it is to be talking to an assassin who speak poetry. (Not just talking—the making out thing, that still happened. Kagami feels the need to keep reminding himself that the making out thing happened because it still feels like the most surreal part of this whole encounter and also because he’s fairly certain it’s going to happen again, even though he knows it’s a terrible idea.)
“I can be your light,” Kagami says slowly, “But I can’t promise to be any kind of hope.”
Kuroko’s lips form the barest of smiles and Kagami thinks back to the poem. A light that oppresses. Maybe it’s true after all.
(Absurdly, he thinks he should probably read more poetry.)
“Yeah, OK,” he says, acknowledging what Kuroko didn’t say. The tension finally starts to drain. “Why the hell not? This should be fun.”
“Yes, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko says thoughtfully. “It is definitely going to be interesting.”
He is going to have such a hard time explaining this one to Chief Garcia. It’s one thing to be a cop with the nickname “Wild Beast,” but making deals with (absurdly attractive) assassins is a whole separate issue entirely and she is going to beat the crap out of him when he gets back out.
But he can’t help it.
He really does love a challenge.