Author's Note: A friend of mine drew a picture of Akane's prison mugshot. Check the link in my profile to see it.
Disclaimer: See first chapter.
Akane in Chains
Chapter Four: Friendly Advice
Ryoga sighed as he trudged dejectedly through downtown Osaka. He had been trying to return to Nerima, but his poor sense of direction was constantly leading him astray. It had been over a month since he had been to the Tendo Dojo and he hoped Akane was doing alright.
"In other news, the case of Akane Tendo was finally resolved earlier today at the Nerima District Courthouse."
Ryoga looked up and discovered he was passing an electronics store with a news broadcast on the televisions in the store's window. Did the newscaster just mention Akane? He stepped up to the store window to get a good look at the TV screen.
"Akane Tendo was sentenced to one year in prison for the charges of criminal negligence and reckless endangerment." Footage began to play over the newscaster's voice, showing a downcast Akane behind the defendant's stand in a courtroom. "Her sentence is to be served at Fujimi Women's Prison, located just outside Tokyo. Akane Tendo, an eighteen year old student at Furinkan High School, was responsible for injuring six year old Ayame Yagami one month ago, while chasing her fiancé through the streets of Nerima."
The news report went on, but Ryoga was no longer paying attention as his brain processed what he had just learned. After a few seconds, he reacted the best way he knew how.
"Akane!" He shouted taking off at a dead run as fast as he could. Unfortunately, he was running in the opposite direction of Fujimi Women's Prison.
Akane gripped the bars of her cell tightly and glared after Officer Yamada as he walked away. As committed as she was to serving her time, she couldn't help wanting to give him the thrashing he deserved.
"I'd be careful around him if I were you," her cellmate said as she rose from her bunk. "Yamada likes to feel up all the new girls and he'll get violent if you resist."
"I'm not scared of him," Akane said boldly as she turned to face her cellmate. "If he tries anything like that again, I swear I'll make him regret it."
"If you do, you'll end up in the hole and you don't want to end up down there," her cellmate continued. "Besides striking a guard is a fast way to get your sentence extended. You'll be stuck in this hellhole with Yamada and others like him far longer than if you just grit your teeth and bear it."
Akane knew she was right, but that didn't make it any easier for her to accept the power the perverted bastard had over her thanks to the damned rules of her prison.
"Aren't there regulations preventing guards from doing this stuff?" she asked. "Isn't there someone I can complain to?"
"You're not going to find anyone who cares. The warden doesn't want a scandal from an investigation ruining the reputation of her prison, and the chief matron would rather protect her subordinates. There are some guards who won't intentionally try to make your life hell, but they don't have the power to change anything. They usually turn a blind eye to not bring unwanted attention to themselves."
"There has to be something I can do." Akane's voice is filled with desperation. "I-I can't just let him get away with what he's doing!"
"I know it's hard, but it's best if you just try to act like it doesn't bother you," The woman's voice adopted a disgusted tone, revealing she disliked what she was saying. "Yamada gets off on the reactions of new girls like you, but if you act indifferent he'll eventually get bored and shift his attention elsewhere."
Akane could not believe what she was hearing. The more she heard about her prison, added to what she had already seen and experienced herself, the more it seemed this place wasn't designed for rehabilitation so much as torture and humiliation. She knew she could snap the bastard in half, but to do so would violate her conviction to not let her anger control her. All that would be accomplished would be earning a longer sentence and she knew she couldn't justify escaping after what she had done. She was trapped with no way out.
"This isn't right," she muttered. "This isn't fair!"
"This is prison," the woman replied solemnly. "It's anything but fair."
After everything else that had happened to her today, the realization that she was going to be at the mercy of the damn pervert until he chose otherwise with no recourse was too much for Akane. All of the sadness and frustration that had been building up flowed over as she sank to the floor with her back against the bars and raised her hands to her face as she started to cry.
"I'm sorry, but hiding or sugarcoating what goes on here won't help you," the woman continued, truly sounding like she regretted saying what she had. "The sooner you understand the truth about this place, the easier your time will be."
Akane did not reply as she continued to sob. She felt lost and didn't know what to do. There was no way she could possibly last a whole year in a place like this, not when she was powerless to do anything without making her situation worse.
"Look, I know how you feel," the woman said as she stood over Akane. "You've just been taken from everything you know and locked away in a place where you have no power and no say in what happens to you. You're sad, confused, and scared and you have every right to be, but you need to stop crying and try and get a hold of yourself." Seeing Akane wasn't really listening anymore, she knelt down in front of her, grabbed her arms and pulled them away from her face, forcing her look at her. "You need to calm down and act strong. There are many people in here, inmates and guards alike, who like to prey on those they think are weak or frightened. Yamada is only one. You need to find a way to bear the pain and hide it if you want to last long. Do you understand?"
Akane slowly nodded her head, a choked sob escaping from her mouth.
"I know it's tough and I know I seem insensitive, but I am telling you these things for your own good. It seems like things can't get worse, but believe me, they can. If you want to avoid that, you need to stop crying."
Akane nodded again and started to wipe at her tears. After a minute or so, she had managed to stop crying and had calmed down; she still looked very nervous.
"Good," her cellmate flashed her a reassuring smile, "now stand up and let's get your bunk made. The guards will get upset if it's not made before lights out."
Akane helped her cellmate spread the bed sheets and tuck them under the thin mattress. Having calmed down, she finally took in the other woman's appearance. She looked to be in her mid-to-late thirties with shoulder length brown hair and cobalt blue eyes. Printed on the front of her prison jumpsuit top, the number 519395 stood out as boldly as Akane's own prison number.
"I apologize for not introducing myself earlier," her cellmate said as they worked. "I am Sayoko Kobayashi."
"Akane Tendo."
"You're Akane Tendo?" Sayoko asked curiously. "The one they've been talking about on the news lately, who gave that kid a concussion while chasing her boyfriend?"
"I-It was an accident!" Akane stuttered. "I didn't mean to! I just… I… I don't know..."
"Hey, I'm not going to judge you or anything," Sayoko said, seeing Akane's reaction to her question. "We've all done things we aren't proud of. I was just curious, that's all."
Despite Sayoko's words, Akane still felt horrible. Was everyone going to associate her with her crime from now on?
After her bunk was made, Akane began placing her spare uniform and other prison-issue items neatly on her shelf. As she did so, she noticed Sayoko watching her with a curious expression on her face.
"What is it?" Akane asked.
"How old are you exactly, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Eighteen."
"I thought you looked pretty young, certainly too young to be in a place like this." Sayoko said, her voice suddenly taking on an almost apologetic tone, "I have a daughter only a year older than you and I couldn't bear to imagine her locked up in a place like this."
Sayoko walked over to her shelf and picked up a photograph. Akane took the offered picture and saw a young woman with short brown hair and a small smile on her face. Next to her was a younger girl, who looked like she was in junior high. The strong resemblance between them was undeniable and Akane could only conclude that her cellmate had two daughters on the outside.
"She's very pretty," Akane said as she handed the photo back, "both of them are."
Sayoko smiled and nodded as she returned the photo to her shelf. "I wish the photo wasn't so creased. I've tried taking care of it, but that's hard to do in here. The guards will allow us to have pictures, but we aren't allowed to have frames to put them in." Sayoko paused for a moment before continuing. "Do you have family who will come visit you?"
"My father and my sisters and… my fiancé… hopefully."
"Hopefully?"
"I… I want him to come, but after what happened…. I don't know if he even wants to have anything to do with me." She couldn't really blame Ranma either if he didn't want to see her anymore.
"I am sure he will. You seem like a very sweet girl. No matter what you've done, I am sure he will want to see you."
Akane truly hoped that Sayoko was right. Ranma might be annoying and a jerk, but he could also be nice when he wanted to be. Despite getting angry with him at times, she had truly grown to care for him over the past two years since he'd entered her life. She did not know she could take it if he decided to leave her.
"How much time do you have to serve?" Sayoko asked, continuing to question Akane.
"One year."
"That's not too bad. Especially when you consider some of the other sentences women here are serving. I have a ten year sentence with six years to go. You'll serve your time and be free long before I am."
"Not if they extend my sentence. Hearing how this prison runs and seeing the kinds of things that go on, I don't know if I'll be able to…" Akane stopped for a second, shaking her head in dismay, "I'm sorry. You're trying to cheer me up and all I can do is be miserable. Honestly, I have no right to complain when you have to serve ten years."
"There's no need to apologize, but I'll go ahead and tell you that worrying will only drive you mad. You need to stay calm and just resolve to try your best to make it through one day at a time."
Akane nodded her head, forcing a small smile onto her face. She didn't know if she could do what Sayoko was asking, but she was determined to try.
"Lights out in two minutes!" came the shout of a guard down the cellblock. "Time to get ready for bed, ladies!"
"Well, it seems we'll have to continue this conversation tomorrow," Sayoko said.
The two of them changed into their prison-issue sleepwear. Sleeping attire in the prison was a plain nightgown that was the same dull gray as their jumpsuits with their prison numbers on the front. They then climbed into their bunks with Sayoko in the bottom bunk, while Akane had the top one. As Akane lay down and tried to make herself as comfortable as possible, a difficult task considering the rather poor quality mattresses prisoners were issued, a thought popped into her head.
"Sayoko, do you mind if I ask you a question?" She asked.
"What do you want to know?" Sayoko answered from below.
Akane paused for a moment, afraid she would be prying too far. Sayoko had been the only one to show her any kindness since she had arrived at the prison and she didn't want to upset her by asking something she might not want to discuss. Still, Sayoko seemed to know about her crime and her curiosity was simply too great.
"You said you were sentenced to ten years, right?"
"Yeah."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but… what exactly did you do?"
There was a pause for several seconds and Akane was afraid her question had indeed been too intrusive. She was about to reassure Sayoko she didn't have to answer when she suddenly gave a simple reply.
"Murder."
"Lights out!" the same guard from before shouted again. As soon as the words left his mouth, the lights in the cellblock corridor's ceiling flicked off in a cascading effect, plunging the prisoners into darkness.
Kodachi Kuno was quite pleased as she left the warden's office. Behind her, Warden Matsushita remained seated; her eyes alternating between her departing guest and the open briefcase filled with 10,000 yen bills on her desk. The warden had been more than happy to help her out, considering her past friendship with her mother, but the promise of a monetary reward had certainly provided incentive.
Akane was locked away, but that didn't mean Kodachi planned on leaving anything to chance. The Black Rose wanted to make sure her rival never interfered with her again. She deeply desired to pay her back for all the times she got in her way and came between her and her darling Ranma. With Matsushita agreeing to her plan, Akane would be spending the rest of her life behind bars, while she would be free to be with her Ranma and be guaranteed a front row seat to that bitch's misery.
The guard escorting Kodachi to the front gate could not help but stare and cringe as the Black Rose's menacing cackle echoed in the night.
Next: We finally check in with Ranma and the Tendos. How are they holding up in the wake of Akane's imprisonment?
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