Chapter Text
The sound of the doors creaking open caught her attention. Almost in an instant, Kaydo had already jumped off her top bunk, landing neatly on her feet, and left her cell to confirm her immediate hunch. If those large metal doors were opening, that could only mean that there was another newcomer. She jogged over to the metal balcony railing and climbed on top of it. Because of her short height, sitting on top of the railing would give her a better view of the prison's ground floor rather than just trying to peer over the edge standing on her toes. Besides, it was much safer up there, too. If she went down to join the others, they would probably try to force her to fight the new guy and watch as he tried to put her on her ass. That unfortunately was the real outcome on some occasions, and it became one of the many reasons why the other inmates picked on her. Staying out of sight was the best way to stay out of that kind of trouble.
She sat there up top, her amber eye that wasn't concealed by the blinding bangs of her dark auburn hair watching as she fully confirmed her hunch from earlier.
Another male prisoner, but not the kind she'd typically expect. Like her, his prison clothes looked a little baggy on his slim physique. 'He's kinda skinny. Bad sign. The guy's already put a target on his back. The others are gonna take advantage of him...' His black hair was tied back in a messy top knot, with bangs falling over his face and framing his grey eyes. Even from this distance, Kaydo could clearly see the purple markings under his eyes. The male just stood there casually for a bit, before his eyes glanced up in Kaydo's direction.
'Shit!!' She fell of the railing, luckily landing on the safe side, her heart starting to pound after that close call. 'Did he see me? No way he saw me from that far away!'
She peered through the bars of the railing to make sure, but it seemed like the newcomer didn't see her; he seemed to behave like she wasn't up there. 'Phew...looks like I'm safe,' she thought, climbing back up onto the railing. If he had kept his attention on her, she would be in big trouble. Once those giant metal doors were closed, she heard sniggering from the more muscular male inmates, smug looks smeared on their ugly faces. That's how she was greeted when she was first brought here. Then they decided to "play" with him. She frowned. She really didn't want to see this guy being tormented and beaten up on his first day, yet there was a part of her that was dying to see if he could really put up a fight.
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Sonic stood there, his grey eyes looking dully at the taller muscular inmates covered in tattoos, stinking of cigarettes. He showed no expression, although he may or may not have been secretly planning to put each and every one of them on his ass before escaping. That was what he usually did anyway.
"Hey, looks like we got a newbie," one of them sneered. "A skinny one, too."
"Looks like a pretty boy too. You'd think he's a girl with his hair styled like that. Let's have some fun with him."
"No, wait, hang on. Let's try and set a rouse first. Then we'll see what he does next."
The inmate who brought up the idea, whose arms were covered in skull tattoos, casually approached the ninja, who was still lacking any kind of expression. 'If this guy's looking for a fight, I'll just kick his ass before I bust out of here.'
"Hey, bud." the inmate greeted with a smirk, "What d'you get put in here for?"
Sonic remained quiet. He just stood there looking at the taller inmate.
"Not much of a talker, huh? Well, no matter. You're probably gonna be stuck here for a while so you're gonna have to stuck to the rules we have here. One of them is that newbies always have to-"
"Get lost." was all the came out the shinobi's mouth as he walked past like the guy wasn't even there.
The inmate just stood there for a moment like he was dumbfounded, then smirked before slamming his fist into Sonic's face. Well, he tried to but the slimmer prisoner just slipped past like it was nothing, before he whirled around on his heel and delivered a strong blow to the man's stomach. It was worth noting that this inmate had a lot more muscle than Sonic, so one would expect him to be the stronger one, only to be proven wrong in an instant when this guy's air was knocked out of his lungs from the punch. Within a heartbeat, Sonic had kicked him away, sending him flying across the room and landing on his back.
All the other inmates were in shock, some even enraged.
"Wh-what?"
"But how?"
"You little bastard!!" one of them shot at Sonic, who chuckled with a wicked smile. 'Finally a little fun. I might stay here for a bit just to kill these little worms...'
All hell let loose. A group of five or six inmates considered the strongest of all of them in the prison attempted to take Sonic down, but it was all in vain; the ninja was just too fast for them, and they were the ones getting all the bruises from his punches and kicks. All the shouting and yelling ricocheted off the prison walls, soon following by the guards' footsteps rushing to stop the fighting. They were yelling at the prisoners, "Break it up! Break it up!" and Sonic was about to break a prisoner's arm when one of the guards yanked him off by the arm and threw him off the side. The ninja merely glared but didn't act on this. He merely stood there whilst one of the guards, presumably the chief, gave the prisoners a slight third-degree.
"That's enough, you punks!" he snapped. "I'm sick and tired of telling you fuckers to goddamn behave yourselves!"
Everyone, including Sonic, was silent.
"If I have to break up one more fight, I'm sending every single one of you assholes to solitary confinement! Trust me, I'll make sure it's hell for you! That clear?" He took a disgusted silent glance at Sonic before he barked, "Back in your cells, all of you!"
Sonic silently observed him walk away with a few other guards and could have sworn he heard the chief guard mutter, "Nothing but a shit pile of fucking trouble..."
'Hm. So they weren't even supposed to start fights in this prison? Fine, whatever...I'll behave for the sake of it, but if someone tries to attack me I won't hesitate.'
Just then, he sensed a presence that caught his attention. From behind. He didn't recognise it. He turned around and saw, from out the inmate crowd, an inmate the size of a twelve year old, with short messy auburn hair, blinding bangs over one of their amber eyes, and tiny freckles. At first, Sonic thought it was a mere boy. 'Huh? What's a kid doing in a place like this?'
The small inmate smiled at him and said, "Hey, there. You're the new guy, right? I was watching you from up top. You were pretty cool back there, putting those guys on their asses."
It was by her voice that Sonic realised she was a female, and it took him completely by surprise.
"Oh! I didn't think there would be any female inmates in here." he remarked.
"You kidding? I thought I was the only skinny one around until you showed up!" she laughed. Then she glanced towards the injured inmates, who were supporting each other as they went back to their cells, before she turned back to Sonic, her smile gone. "Hey. I saw the way you fought those guys. They were some of the strongest criminals in this place, yet you kicked their asses like it was child's play."
Sonic frowned. "Yeah? So what's it to you?" he spat.
The girl's visible amber eye glistened as she looked up at him. Her smile crept back in.
"You're fast, you're smart. You can take out guys like them with zero effort. You're strong, and your skills are pretty badass. I respect you for that."
It only took one look at the sincerity in her eyes for Sonic to realise that she wasn't joking when she said that. He thought she would be scared shit of him after she watched him fight, but instead, she showed him respect. Respect he knew he was due. But to receive such a thing from someone so short and young, he didn't really know how to respond.
Just then, a guard appeared behind the girl and nudged her forward, telling her to go back to her cell. She turned back to Sonic with a smile and said quietly, "See ya around, Topknot."
Sonic watched in silent bewilderment as she walked away and disappeared into the crowd of inmates. 'Who...who was that girl...?' Suddenly, a voice from behind jolted him back to reality.
"Speed-o'-Sound Sonic. We're here to escort you to your new cell."
He turned around and saw two guards waiting to escort him. "Fine." he muttered with a frown, stuffing his hands in his pockets as they led him to his cell. He merely glared in silence as he nudged in and they closed the gate door and locked it. 'Well, shit.' he thought as he placed his hands on the bars. 'Looks like it may take a while until I can find a way out of here...'
"Hey! Looks like I finally have a cellmate." said a familiar voice.
Sonic turned around. It was the girl again, sitting on the edge of the top bunk with a smile, leaning with her arms propped up on her knees.
"Oh! It's you again." he said in slight surprise.
"Sup, Topknot!" she replied flashing a grin. "Guess fate brought us together, huh? It kinda sucks being the only one living alone in a cell in this place."
The ninja couldn't help but let a light laugh escape him. Whoever this girl was, she clearly wasn't like the others. That much he knew for certain. Joker, laid back and chill demeanor. He may not have known her very well, but it didn't need a detective to figure out that she was the type of person who'd make a pretty good friend. The kind of person who could walk into a room full of sourpusses and make them all smile and laugh without any effort. Most of all she was definitely someone Sonic wanted to know more about for some odd reason.
"Hey, kid. What did you get put in here for?" he asked.
"I'm not a kid! I'm just short." she responded with a frown. "Anyone who calls me a kid gets put on his ass so watch yourself, Topknot."
"Well, how old are you, then?"
"I know I don't look it, but I'm actually eighteen. Ask them for my docs if you don't believe me."
Sonic wasn't sure how to answer. She certainly didn't look eighteen. She was about half his height, maybe a little bit shorter. Maybe she was just one of those "late-bloomer" kids that didn't reach their growth spurt at the same time as others. "Um...okay, then," was all he said.
'What, you don't have a comeback for that, fella?' A smirk played on her lips. "Anyways, back to your question...damn, where do I even begin...? I guess you could say I'm in here because of the job I do."
"Your job?" He raised an eyebrow at her answer. "What do you do? I mean, what did you do, before you got busted?"
"I'm a thief-for-hire," she answered shamelessly and plain.
"Thief-for-hire?"
"That's right. I steal stuff and sell it, and the dude I sell it to pays me however much he thinks the item's worth. It depends on the condition and value of what I steal, which kinda explain why I try to get my hands cool things like weapons and stuff. Sometimes if I'm lucky, I get paid the overall value of the loot."
"So you get paid the price of what you steal? Who hires you?"
"Ya know, pawnbrokers, black market dealers and stuff."
"Isn't that dangerous for a someone your age?"
"Not at all!" she replied with a laugh. "You just have to be smart enough to know the right people."
"But still, regardless of what you've stolen, theft is a petty crime." Sonic pointed out with a confused frown. "And you're eighteen. Shouldn't you be in a juvenile detention or something?"
"Well, aren't you the prison connoisseur?" she joked lightly with a smile. "My job isn't always smooth sailing, y'know. Sometimes things have to get a little ugly if I wanna escape."
"You resort to violence during your job?"
"Only if it's necessary, as in, if I don't have any other choice." she said in a quieter voice, momentarily stroking her blinding bangs. "It's usually self-defense on my part. I try to make sure the fights end quickly, but I guess I'm not always fast enough to get outta before the dogs catch me."
"So you got caught stealing and fighting?" 'But then that means...she's not in here for theft, but for violence. And she's only young.'
She nodded. "So, what did you get put in here for?"
"Assassination." Sonic replied casually.
The girl threw her head back laughing. "Wow! You say that like it's no big deal. That's a serious crime."
"I'm just doing my job, hun. Nothing personal." he said in a joking manner.
"Sure thing, hun." she replied copying him.
Another laugh. 'Maybe I'll be staying here for a bit after all...'
"Hey, by the way, I never got the chance to know your name earlier." Sonic said, climbing onto the bottom bunk.
"Me?" she replied, leaning over the side of her top bunk. "It's Kaydo. What's yours, Topknot?"
"Speed-o'-Sound Sonic. You just call me Sonic."
"Sonic, huh? Cool name. Well, nice having ya as my new cellmate. Oh, I know!"
Kaydo dug into her pocket and leaned over again, with three lollipop sweets in her hand. "I'll give ya one of these a welcome gift. There's cherry, apple and cola. Which one do you want?"
"Uh, cherry. Thanks." he replied, taking the deep red coloured lollipop. It was kind of nice to have someone who didn't try to pick a fight with him the moment they saw him. Kaydo was actually being pretty friendly around him, even though she knew why he was even in prison. Then again, she was a thief-for-hire who knew how to pack a punch herself, so in a way, they were like birds of a feather. Sonic smiled to himself.
"Welp, I'm gonna hit the hay for the night." Kaydo yawned, laying back on her bunk. "We'll talk tomorrow, yeah?"
"Yeah, sure. No problem."
"Nice meeting ya, Sonic."
Sonic lay back on his bottom bunk, smiling up at the base of his cellmate's bed. "Yeah. It was nice meeting you too, Kaydo."