}{1 Day Later}{

"Seitaro!" Cell 13 bombarded the dainty guard at morning role call. Nico climbed over Rock's back, pressing his face to the bars. "Is it true?! Is there really a girl at Nanba Prison?"

Seitaro hid behind his clipboard, trying to muster up the courage to answer. "I'm not at liberty to-"

"Please tell me she's here to stay!" Uno talked over him. "I went through an extra mud mask yesterday, so you better say yes!"

"You gonna spill it or what?" Jyugo added on; out of his own earnest curiosity.

"T-T-That information is above my pay grade." Seitaro put his clipboard down, shoulders squared. "I don't know anything! The warden wants it that way. Do you have any idea the embarrassment this could cause Nanba? The lay offs it might mean?" He looked down, twiddling his thumbs. "I barely make my rent as it is-"

Jyugo watched Seitaro's quaking knees. He elbowed Rock and shared an eye roll. His friend, still carrying Nico, gave an evil snicker. It almost put Seitaro over the edge. "L-Look! I'm just here to take #25 in for his medical treatment and exam. And in any case, I'm not authorized to tell you-"

Uno then saw what Jyugo had been doing and gave a sly smile. "You're not authorized to take us all to the infirmary. Yet, here you are-"

Nico in tow, Uno slipped out of their unlocked cell door. Jyugo chuckled, crowding into the hall with Rock right behind him.

"What, no!" Seitaro reached out feebly. "#11! #69, you can't-"

"Honestly, Seitaro," Rock heaved a disappointed shrug. "We expected you to do your duty. Hajime and Yamato would've."

Seitaro blubbered a moment more, hanging his head behind them. "Just- no jailbreaks. Please."

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere till I see that girl again." Uno grinned over his shoulder. "Pick up where we left off."

"$10 says she's a figment of Uno's hyper-sexual imagination." Rock pshawed at him.

"$10 easy money, my friend." Uno walked backwards a few steps. "On top of your three desserts."

"Two!"

"Tomato, tomoto." Uno turned and continued on with Nico to the infirmary. Jyugo shook his head as Rock nudged him. "Jyugo, level with me. Was there really a girl? Uno's not using you bland personality to get to my desserts, right?"

"Who're you calling bland?" Jyugo growled at him, but Rock just laughed. Jyugo calmed down, folding his hands behind his head. "You ever lose a bet with Uno?"

Rock stopped laughing, thinking about that. Then he face-palmed. "Aw, man! There goes all my cabinet-making money!"

"We pay you more then that." Seitaro pipped up.

It's too easy to forget he's back there. Jyugo noticed. He looked back at Rock. "You'll make more. You're good at wood-working; it's what got you the desserts in the first place."

Rock perked up. Sleeking back his mohawk, he threw a side grin at Jyugo. "A bite of each one goes to you, though."

"Huh?"

"We're still hunting for your favorite food, man." Rock noogied Jyugo's head. He wrestled out, bumping his shackles against his head when he rubbed it. He still did that, for as long as he'd had them. "What's the point, Rock? Lots of food is good, but in the end, you just eat to get full."

"How can you make eating sound so pessimistic." Uno shook his head back at him.

"What's the point!?" Rock spun, walking backwards in front of Jyugo as they rounded the corner that led out of Building 13. "When you're eating your favorite food, everything changes! The anticipation of the food, the enjoyment in chowing down, the knowledge that if you've had a bad day, that food is what can make you feel better."

Didn't know you had bad days. Jyugo thought, but he knew better then that. There'd been plenty of bad days for all four of them. Rock was just the best at rolling it off his shoulders and moving on. I envy him. I can't move on until I remember what I need to move on from. But a part of me doesn't want to. I don't want to remember-

"Corner." Jyugo warned, but Rock was already turning. Jyugo pulled out of the chilling hole that followed him and eyed Rock, puzzled. "Seems like an awful lot of fuss over something that'll be gone in five seconds."

"Yeah," Nico agreed, bouncing along, rolling his ball ahead of him. "But having a favorite is part of the fun; for anything."

"Ok then," Jyugo shrugged at Rock. "What's your favorite food, Rock?"

Rock paused- then grinned his stupidly-wide grin. "Guess."

"WHAT!?" Jyugo stopped walking, Seitaro bumping into his back.

"Not a bad idea, Jyugo." Uno glanced over his shoulder. "You could use a course in how to read people."

"And I wouldn't want my favorite to sway your decision." Rock reasoned.

These jerks! Jyugo's eyebrow twitched. "But there're thousands of-"

"My favorite food is cinnamon rice cakes." Seitaro offered.

"Not interested." Cell 13 told him. Dejected, Seitaro fell a few feet behind them again. Jyugo stood a moment and watching the retreating backs of his cellmates. Learn how to read people, huh?

He swallowed, the lump hitting the smooth wall of his neck shackle. Would reading people make him stronger? Strong enough to protect these jerks, when the time came?

}{}{}{}{

"Mornin' Doc!" Uno called out, shoving Nico into the infirmary. Okina looked up from his desk. His pipe hung from the one hand while his other scribbled something out on a report. His eyebrows raised. "Why do you have to turn every exam into a parade?"

"And miss the chance to light up your life?" Uno teased him, eyes darting back to the door. Were Rock and Jyugo still talking about food? He didn't see how Rock stuck with one topic for so long. Or where Jyugo found the patience to listen to it.

"Hey, Dr. Otogi," Nico spun himself onto the stool by Okina. "What've you heard about the girl that's here? Rock placed a bet that she's not even real and Uno's just yanking our chains."

Okina gave his usual crusty sigh, forced Nico still and shoved a tongue depressor in his mouth. "Who can say..." He slid his eyes over to Uno. "Professionally, I'd say 'what girl', since the previous night never happened."

"Oh?" Uno leaned on the counter opposite them, fingering a random bottle of pills. "A cover-up, huh."

Nico's face grew worried as Okina removed the depressor. "Will... will she be alright? They won't... make her disappear will they?"

Nico? Uno stopped his fiddling to gauge his cellmate. The kid acted more like 6 then 16; and his emotions were delicate in either state. Jyugo seemed to have little idea about his past; but Nico...

"She's fine!" Uno rushed in to answer for Okina. "Nanba guards are tough, but they're all about justice. Everything will be by the book. Trust me."

Nico picked up his smile again and nodded. "Yeah. Besides, the hero always exposes the cover-ups in the end."

That was better. And Uno needed to be sure that he got the chance to show her off to Rock! That hair and eyes... he'd be drooling all over her! Who wouldn't!?

"Unprofessionally," Okina spoke up, turning Nico back to him. "And before I was interrupted, I would say that you can see how she's doing for yourself."

He pointed to the curtain pulled around the bed at the far end of the room. Uno's mind blanked for a split-second. Then he flew by Nico and Okina, the whirl of their stools accent his mad dash. He threw back the curtain... and yeah, there she was. The cheek that was exposed was swollen and her left eye was covered in gauze, but that angelic tumble of orange and violet was unmistakable.

How did she get those? Uno wondered, mind flashing to Nico. This doesn't really match with what I told him.

"I wanna see!"

"Not before I'm finished with your exam."

Whew, saved by the Okina! In spite of her injuries, Uno's chest pumped with the vigor he had felt these past two days. The girl looked up at him in surprise and he put on his best charming smile. "We meet again. Trying a new look, I see."

She smiled through the non-swollen half of her mouth and turned toward him... not without flinching at the weight on her hip. "I hear the battered and bruised look attracts all the desperate men."

Uno glided the few feet to her bedside, taking her hand. "I could kiss it; make it better."

She watched him closely with her good eye. "That'd be a lot of kissing."

Not like you're pulling your hand away! Uno laced their fingers, drawing them closer. "I know. Name's Uno."

"Phoebe." she introduced herself after a moment. Then latched onto his throat with the hand she'd allowed so close. "And what kinda hussy do you think I am?"

The blush was gone, replaced with an eccentrically-arched orange eyebrow. She held the pressure a moment longer, then let Uno sag to the floor. He laid there, gasping. Ok, she's got more spirit then I first imagined. I must be out of practice to have gone in so cocky.

This would not deter him! Uno sat up, rubbing his throat. "Sorry for the lack in manners. You just... took my breath away."

Phoebe leaned on her elbow, her eyebrow now level with amusement. Out of Uno's peripheral, Rock and Jyugo finally entered the infirmary with Seitaro. He jumped up to strike a victory pose. "Yo, Rock! Someone I want you to meet-"

Phoebe's hand grabbed his wrist, gripping with twice the strength from before. Uno looked down to find a new ferocity in her eye. "What'd you say!?"

Huh?

"Uno," Rock lumbered over. "What're you screeching-"

He stopped as Phoebe's head turned. Uno looked between them as shock smacked both their faces. What's happening right now? They know each other?

"Hey again," Jyugo peeked around Rock, oblivious. "What happened to you?"

The question broke the trance just as Uno was struck by the unthinkable. Please! Please don't tell me... THEY'RE FORMER FLAMES!

"Rock." Phoebe's eyes went teary, leaking from her gauze. She reached out.

Rock spun fast, barreled over Jyugo and Seitaro, and high-tailed it out of the infirmary. Seitaro yelped, entering panic mode. "#69!"

"Wait!" Phoebe started out of the bed, but fell over, holding her ribs with a groan. Uno weighed the options- then took off after Rock. "Jyugo, help her up!"

"#11, I can't allow-" Seitaro waved his arms.

"Move it or lose it, pretty boy." Uno passed him easily, bolting down the hall. "Rock!"

He knew Rock could hear him, but he didn't slow down. That ticked Uno off. He sped up, locked on Rock's orange back. "I'm just as fast as you, ya dumb ox!"

He got no witty retort back. Uno gritted his teeth, practically flying on his tiptoes. "I'm missing time with a hot girl because of you! You're gonna answer for th-"

He ran smack into his friend's back, bouncing off like a rubber ball. He thrust his head up, glaring at Rock over his bleeding nose. "What the frickin' heck, man!?"

Rock turned, fists quivering at his sides. "She's not hot!"

Uno was about at the end of his rope with this. "What?"

"She's my sister!"

BOOM! Plot twist!