AU-There is no Death Note. L isn't the world's top leading detective, he's only the prison doctor. Light isn't god, he's only a con artist. The SPK and the Special Task Force are prison guards. Watari is the Warden, and Matsuda just may be the only innocent person in the entire story, but no one else seems to believe him. Beyond is happy to see that everyone is on his home turf, and life goes on past these prison walls. No one may give a shit about its occupants, but these prisoners are going to make the best of it.
Pairings will appear throughout the story.
And without further ado:
Eighth Amendment
Amendment 8
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Prison is bad enough.
"I'm innocent! Innocent! I-I shouldn't be here! There's been a mistake! I swear!"
The young man was pleading now. He kept his demeanor calm on the ride over, but once he reached the gates, he began to quake.
When he had to strip naked while they threw the burning soap on him did he start to feel sick.
When he was finally in the itchy orange jumpsuit and those cell doors slammed closed behind him did his resolve break.
He was a young man-barely into his late twenties-with dark black neat hair and an attractive young face. Japanese.
His name was Matsuda.
The guards had heard the pleas of innocence before, but Matsuda was an honest person.
An honest person in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He won't deny that he killed that man-his roommate-but it was purely self defense. Of course, the jury looked at the multiple stab wounds and discounted the claim, no matter how much it rang true.
The only thing that ran now was the bars, and now that they were closed and locked, did Matsuda begin to feel the effects of what prison could do to him.
No freedom. No more going to the movies with his friends and watching television and dating and all the other good things about life that he would never get to experience again.
Every day with these itchy, ugly orange jumpsuits and it was really not his color at all. Every day with horrible food, of spending his time in this cell, of no nothing. For twenty years! And that was what hurt the most. He would be old when he got out! His youth would be gone! His life was gone! All because one crazy bastard that he thought was his friend had jumped him in the middle of the night and tried to murder him. He may as well just let him kill him. His life was murdered anyway.
Actually, now that he was pretty much stuck in one of the most dangerous places in the world, he may not even make it past lunch time. He had only seen prison from movies, and he really hoped it wasn't like that at all. Matsuda paled, thinking of every 'Don't drop the soap' joke he ever made. He REALLY hoped prison wasn't like in the movies.
It felt like years before his cell door opened again, but it was actually only ten hours. Ten hours of tossing and turning in his sleep, clamping his eyes shut hoping everything was a dream and that if he kept his eyes closed forever, he could fake it. Lie to himself for the rest of his life.
But the person that had opened the door banged their baton against the doors and Matsuda shot up in shock.
The guard was a woman. A very attractive woman, with unusually cut blonde hair and a look that suggested that she could beat the shit out of truck driver.
"I'm Hal. I'll be showing you around," she said to him in a no-nonsense attitude. Matsuda instantly knew that she received no trouble working here. And if she did he doubted that she would let it slide. This woman would break limbs and wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
"I'm Matsuda." He told her, trying to get on her good side, but no emotion appeared on her face, so Matsuda couldn't tell if she was annoyed with him.
"We'll be speaking to the warden first," She told him, "He is a very understanding but strict man. Behave and you'll find that a few years will be knocked off your sentence and you may even apply for parole early. Get on his bad side and the only way you'll get out of here is in a coffin."
Matsuda didn't speak. He only nodded. While they walked Matsuda quickly glanced into the other cells, trying to see the other inmates. Most of them were empty, but the cells that were occupied didn't bare much hope. Matsuda spotted an angry looking man with knotted black hair, and a blonde that flipped him off, but that was about it.
They left the confinement building, and marched down the halls toward what he expected to be the Warden's room. Hal passed by another guard with a ridiculous afro, whom she greeted as Aizawa. Matsuda glanced at him but quickly averted his glance. The man looked about as angry as the guy with crazy hair.
They reached a room with double door and Hal knocked.
"Come in," a voice from the inside called out, and Hal opened the door and Matsuda found himself in a small waiting room. A woman, obviously the secretary, an attractive woman with short black hair greeted Hal, "He's ready for you. Go in," she told him. Matsuda read her desk plate, and saw her name was Takada.
Hal lead Matsuda into another room to greet the Warden.
"Hello. My name is Watari."
The Warden was an elder man, dressed in an old suit, and Matsuda instantly relaxed. The man had an aura of calmness about him, and Matsuda was vaguely reminded of his own grandfather.
There was a man next to Watari, and he looked nervous, but relatively harmless.
"This is my partner, Roger. For the next couple of years at your stay here, we will be the men responsible for you. This establishment will be your home, and it will be your punishment for the things you have done. Your time here will be spent thinking about what you had done wrong. I will tell you now, Matsuda," the warden looked down at some papers at his desk, no doubt Matsuda's files, "That misbehavior and misconduct at this prison will not be tolerated. I am not a cruel man, and my guards are not cruel people. They will give you orders, and you will be expected to follow them. You will be given rules, and you will abide by them. Rebelling against our rules will only lead to your extended stay here and misery and hurt to follow. I can see that you are scared out of your wits. Let me ensure you that no harm will befall you while you are under my care. I expect nothing but the best behavior from you. Is that understood?"
Matsuda nodded his head frantically, feeling much like a five year old.
"Very well. You look like a nice person Matsuda. I hope my judgment is correct. Now that we have introductions out of the way, Hal here will escort you around the premises and explain what is to be expected of you. I hope to meet you again, but not so soon. Good day."
"This is the laundry room, you will report here 7 am every day to operate the washing machines. This will be your job, and we will pay you fifty cents every day so that you may purchase things for yourself. Mostly everyone just buys cigarettes. When the time comes, I'll give you a list of everything that you can buy. You'll work here until we decide to switch you to something else, like kitchen duty. But for now, laundry, until we can see if we can trust you with kitchen utensils. Tomorrow you'll start, and you can ask Near how to operate everything. He's a nice guy. Albino. Okay, moving along."
Hal pointed out the workrooms, and the recreational rooms. She told him where the yard was where he'd spend most of his leisure's. She pointed out the library as well, and the doctor's office in the off chance he would get hurt. Then she came to the cafeteria.
"I'm afraid this is where I'm going to let you go kid. Try not to look at anyone funny. Have a nice lunch."
Matsuda instantly seized up. He didn't want Hal to leave, but again, that would probably get him no favors. Being friends with a guard probably screamed wimp.
He got his food with no hassle, where they were serving something that looked like macaroni and spaghetti, but when he got away from the lunch line, he was stuck.
He had nowhere to sit.
Matsuda shook, about ten seconds from collapsing to the floor and crying, when he felt someone grab a hold of his harm and he almost had a heart attack.
"Get going guy. You shouldn't stand around for too long. B will see you. And you don't want him to see you. Trust me."
The man who grabbed him must have been a red-haired angel from heaven, because Matsuda suddenly felt like the luckiest guy in the world. Not everyone in here was a psychopath that wanted to kill him! Joy!
The red haired man was smoking and wearing goggles, and it looked like as if those two things never left that man's appearance. Like he was born with them on. They fit him.
The man dragged him to his own table, where the blonde that flipped him off earlier was sitting. At first glance, Matsuda swore he was a woman, but the boy's face was accentuated with furious eyes and a sneer you wouldn't see on a girl.
"Matt, what the hell? Why'd you drag the noob here?" The blonde asked the red angrily, while the red head shrugged his soldiers. "Poor guy looked ready to shit himself. He's harmless. Aren't you new guy?"
"Y-yes," Matsuda shook, shrinking under the blonde's glare.
"See? Told you. You got a name new guy?"
"Matsuda?"
"Another Jap?" Mello growled, "This place is crawling with them. Is it too much to ask for someone who speaks German or Russian for christ's sakes?"
"What do I look like Mel?" An extremely feminine guy next to the blonde said. In fact, this one was even girlier then the blonde, "A freaking chinamen? You are one picky bitch." He had short light brown hair done up in a La Roux hair style, with a lip piercing and a face that suggested he ate small children for break feast and snorted the souls of the innocent. Prison was full of frightening people.
"Don't mind them. They're PMS'ing," Matt muttered. "That's Mello and Saturday. Resident bitches of this 'fine establishment', as Watari likes to call it."
"You seem to be forgetting who's the bitch here Matt," the blonde growled.
"I'm not the one taking it up the ass," Matt said boredly.
"I'll get you for that one."
Matt only shrugged again, before pulling out some hand held game out of his pocket and began to play with it, ignoring his food. Matsuda was more than happy to dive into his own tray, no matter how shitty it tasted. He was starving.
"So, what you in for noob?" Mello frowned at him, before digging into his own meal.
"Nothing. I'm innocent." Matsuda looked up to see Mello's angry face.
Saturday laughed, "No way! So am I! HEY! HEY! DEE! Guess what!" He appeared to be calling out to someone from behind them.
"What is it Turd Fucker?" Another inmate called back.
"This asshole is innocent! Can you believe it?" Saturday pointed at Matsuda.
"NO FUCKING WAY! SO AM I!"
"I KNOW!"
"Okay, okay. I get it. Could you please stop it?" Matsuda mumbled.
"No, I'm serious! You'll never believe it, but everyone in here is innocent too! We were all framed. Swear to god." Saturday chuckled darkly, "Can you believe that I'm in the canner for good because my no good asshole of a boyfriend died? Sure, he ran into my knife, like, ten times, but that's the justice system for you."
"And for that guy in the coffee shop," Matt muttered.
"And the guy that tried to mug you." Mello supplied.
"And don't forget the guy that drove the delivery truck."
"And what about the asshole from your old high school that use to tease you."
"And everyone else that pisses you off."
"Oh, right," Saturday smiled.
Matsuda's mouth dropped.
The feminine man in front of him that was currently stabbing the shit out of his broccoli was a murderer. A hands-down no shit cold-blooded killer.
"R-really….?" Matsuda shook.
"Pffffffft, no," Mello frowned, "But his story changes so much we just count it."
"Oh."
Okay, so maybe not a killer.
"Look guy, there's no need to shit your pants on every little thing. There are killers in here. Most of them will leave you alone as long as you don't get in there shit. The only one who will really mess with you is B, but as long as you stay clear from him you'll be fine."
"B?"
"Yeah. Weird looking guy with crazy black hair. Really pale, and red eyes, which freaks me the fuck out. He looks a lot like the Doc. So, when you see the Doc you'll know who to look out for." Matt muttered.
"Alright,"
"He doesn't usually mess with us, because of Saturday here."
"They use to know each other on the outside,"
"When Saturday use to have a vagina."
"No one else knows about that though. So keep it on the down low, okay noob?"
"Just try not to piss anyone off okay?"
"O-okay."
"Great!" Mello exclaimed, "Are you going to eat that?"
