Before we begin today's chapter I want to direct your attention to an artist on Deviant Art called Zarla Sheenaza who does these wonderful little comics about the Ace Attorney series. Most of them are humorous but some of them are really heartfelt and most of the ones I've looked through so far seem to be focused on Kristoph and Apollo. I bring this up because they do a good job at making Kristoph seem more human instead of just an evil, irredeemable monster. So, if you're ever on Deviant Art and you're looking for a chuckle or two (there's a great one showing how Klavier got his name) look up zarla and tell them Sir Weston from fanfiction/AO3 sent you!
Anyway, back to the story! Also, thank you to LilySpears for the amazing names for the warden and prison guard. They're perfect!
Chapter 5 – Tell Me Who I Am
Kristoph and Matt were escorted to the cafeteria for lunch where, after getting his glop that was supposed to be food, Kristoph made his way over to his usual corner of the room, closely followed by Engarde. It didn't take long for Godot and White to find them and sit down with them. But Kristoph was extra annoyed when Furio Tigre and his cellmate randomly decided to come over to them. He sighed with frustration.
"I don't know if I made this clear, but I wish to be left alone," he growled.
"Don't worry," Tigre's cellmate said cheerfully, "You won't even know we're here. I'm Damon Gant, by the way. Former chief of police before I, you know, ended up here." He looked over at Kristoph and Matt, giving them a hard, silent stare that made both of them uncomfortable. Then he suddenly nudged his companion. "Say hello, Tigey."
Furio growled. "Don't tell me what to do," he hissed, "And don't call me 'Tigey.'"
Gant turned and gave Tigre a hard stare that him withering within seconds. Then he turned back around. "I know who you two are," he continued, "Kristoph Gavin, former defense attorney and Matthew Engarde former actor, last known for his role as the Nickel Samurai, correct?"
"Congratulations," Kristoph said sarcastically, "You can keep up with current times."
"Uh, I go by Matt, actually, not Matthew," Engarde corrected from his place pressed against Kristoph's side.
From next to Tigre, Godot chuckled. "It's been a while, Furio," he said, "We've been here for almost the same amount of time. Why haven't you said 'hi' to me yet?"
Tigre straightened and glared at the former prosecutor. "Why would I have anything ta say to you?" he growled, "You an' that Wright character are the whole reason I'm in this joint to begin with!"
Godot's shoulders shook with silent laughter. "Well forgive us for doing our jobs," he said, "It's not my fault you on a scooter somehow caused more damage to someone in a car than the car did to you."
"Youse talkin' about my bike?" Tigre hissed.
Godot scoffed. "It's a scooter," he corrected.
While they argued, Kristoph rubbed his temples. Was a simple quiet meal too much to ask for? He felt Matt lean over and try to nuzzle him, but he shoved the offender away. This was all way too much. Why did the prison have to give them cellmates? He was convinced none of this would be happening if things had remained the way they were.
"Hey, here comes the warden Dewey Watchum and his right-hand man, Andy Howe," Gant informed the table. Kristoph turned to look and hissed softly. It was the prison guard he didn't like.
Not only had the man refused to hear him out about why he shouldn't have a cellmate, but he also handled him roughly when escorting him to and from his cell. Kristoph couldn't figure out what the man's problem was.
"Do you think Watchum and Howe like to give each other blowjobs in the warden's office?" Engarde mused with a grin.
"I didn't need to think about that," Kristoph muttered.
"LISTEN UP WORTHLESS WASTES OF AIR!" Warden Watchum shouted into his bullhorn, "IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT MANY OF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH YOUR ASSIGNED CELLMATES!" Kristoph perked up for a moment, but his hope was quickly dashed. "WELL TOO BAD! YOU'RE STUCK WITH 'EM! I DON'T WANNA HEAR ANYMORE COMPLAINING! IF I HEAR ANYMORE WHININING, YER GETTING A BEATING, GOT IT?!"
Andy Howe stepped forward. "Anyway, after lunch will be outdoor work time, followed by showers," he announced, "After that the new doctor will be making his rounds and starting his health check-ups on all of you. I expect you all to cooperate with him." Kristoph hated the way Howe looked directly at him when he said this.
"What a pleasant pair those two are," Gant said sarcastically, "I think the warden might be compensating for something with that bullhorn. Don't you Tigey?" He nudged Tigre in the side, causing him to growl lowly.
"I don't understand the man's need to shout everything!" Redd White said in a loud voice, "What kind of insecure farce of a man shouts all the time?"
Everyone at the table stared at him.
…
Kristoph hated working outdoors. He had never been that physically fit, and the blaring sun beating down on him nearly gave him heatstroke. Not that Watchum or Howe would care. He often dreamed of other prisons where "outdoor time" simply meant being outside for a while. Not being forced to perform hard manual labor in seventy degree or above weather with no clouds to block out the unforgiving sun. In a tacky prison work suit.
So, when it was finally time to hit the showers he was actually grateful to get under the water, even with everyone else around. He made sure to find a nice, secluded corner where hopefully no one would find him. Of course, luck was never on his side.
As soon as he had stripped his clothes and stepped under the water, he heard someone step up beside him. He growled with annoyance, knowing exactly who it was.
"Wow," Matt breathed in amazement, "I thought I was sexy, but you are fucking amazing! I wouldn't be surprised if you had men and women all over you!"
"That's more of my brother's thing," Kristoph muttered. Sure, he had slept with a few women and one man, but he had only showered with said man and one woman before. Of course, Matt didn't need to know that.
He tried to ignore Matt as he washed his hair and body but was rather hard to ignore someone who was ogling him the entire time. Kristoph was pretty sure Engarde was trying to get him to look at him, but he would do no such thing.
Especially while the man was flexing his naked body and trying to show off.
Still ignoring him, Kristoph rinsed off and grabbed a towel to dry himself. He slapped Engarde away when his hands got too close to touching him, then he put his clothes back on. Not even sort of waiting for his cellmate, he headed back to their cell to take advantage of the minute or two he had to himself. On his way back, he worked on styling his hair into his typical over-the-shoulder spiral that he and Klavier had come to master.
Kristoph was surprised that he was the first one back to the cell in his block. His hair was probably the longest out of everyone there so it usually took a while to wash and get clean along with washing the dirt and grime off his body. Maybe he had just mastered taking efficient showers, unlike everyone else.
When he got back to his cell, he laid on his cot, enjoying the few minutes of silence he was allowed. It didn't last long, though, when he heard a door bang open and someone started stomping down the hallway.
So much for a few minutes of peace, Kristoph thought bitterly to himself. He sat up and put his glasses back on, waiting for the stomping to stop.
He was rather taken aback when Daryan suddenly passed by his cell and suddenly remembered that Crescend's was right next to his own. Daryan glanced at him as he stomped by and seemed completely startled, so much so that he came to a halt. He stared at Kristoph in utter shock.
"Y-You!" he stuttered, pointing a shaking finger at Gavin, "You can't be-!"
Kristoph raised a confused eyebrow at him. "Pardon me? I can't be what?" he asked.
Daryan paused before walking towards him to get a better look at him. "Wait a minute, you're not Klavier," he muttered, "You look a lot like him, though. Who are you?"
"No, I am not Klavier. I am his older brother, Kristoph," he answered, "I've seen you before, but I doubt you would remember me. He preferred to keep me out of his personal life and any matters concerning his band."
"Jesus, you nearly gave me a heart attack," Daryan said with a huff, "I thought the bastard had finally done something to land himself in jail."
Kristoph's eye twitched and his expression darkened. What right did this man have to speak about his brother that way? But Daryan didn't seem to notice anything.
"I guess I wouldn't mind if he had though," he continued, "If that meant we could pick up where we left off before that fucking defense attorney interfered."
"What do you mean?" Kristoph wondered. Daryan grinned evilly at him.
"Oh, did your little brother never tell you about us?" he asked, his voice full of malice, "How we used to mess around and fuck?" He put a ton of emphasis on the last word to make it feel and sound particularly slimy.
A low growl came from the back of Kristoph's throat, but Daryan wasn't done talking. "Oh yeah, I used to go over to his place and pound into him all the time," he continued, "Ever since we formed the band, really. He was good for an easy lay. Just let me do whatever I wanted to him. The bastard was just so broken about this or that, it was easy for me to fuck him into submission, you know what I mean?"
His cruel laughter was cut off when he was suddenly slammed against the wall, facing down a very angry Kristoph. The blond had the broader man pinned against the wall with a surprising amount of strength, glaring at him with pure hatred.
"Don't you dare talk about my brother that way," Kristoph hissed, speaking each word slowly to make sure Daryan got the message.
The former rock-star stared back at Kristoph with something like fear and anger on his face, as if he was amazed that this smaller man would dare attack him. He opened his mouth to make an angry retort, but the two men were suddenly pulled away from each other.
"Whoa! Whoa, man! Chill out!" Matt exclaimed, grabbing Kristoph and pulling him off of Daryan. Another man Kristoph had never seen before was trying to calm Crescend.
"Hey, it's not my fault!" Daryan claimed, "He just randomly attacked me!"
"That's not true!" Kristoph spat, "You provoked me!"
"Humph. All I said was that your brother is easy." Matt had to fight to keep Kristoph from lunging at Daryan's throat and trying to tear it out.
"Crescend," said the mysterious man softly, "Perhaps it's time we go back to our cell and stop bothering them. I suspect the doctor will be making his rounds soon."
Daryan glared at Kristoph before grumbling something under his breath and stomping off. His cellmate followed after him. Matt turned to Gavin as soon as they were out of sight.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
Kristoph sighed, trying to calm himself down. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he muttered. He always got extremely defensive and over-protective of his younger brother. He couldn't stand it when people hurt Klavier. He was one of the only people in this world he cared about.
He went over to his cot and sat down, shoving Engarde away when he tried to sit down next to him. It wasn't long before Kristoph suddenly heard a peculiar song slowly getting closer and closer. It sounded like Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" played at a slower tempo than usual.
"Hm? What's with the Christmas music?" Engarde asked from the floor, "It's October!"
"It's August, dumbass!" Kristoph snarled at him.
The music got louder and louder until a man suddenly appeared, stepping into the cell. He had long brown hair tied with a purple ribbon into a loose ponytail and violet eyes. He wore frameless glasses and a white doctor's coat over a lavender shirt. A chukar partridge was perched on his shoulder. He held a clipboard in one hand and a medical bag on the other shoulder. His bangs fell over his eyes as he gave the pair a small gentle smile.
"Good afternoon, gentleman," the man greeted calmly, "My name is Doctor Iwamine Shuu, the prison's new doctor. I'm here to do your check-ups."
He turned to Matt. "Let's start with you," he said, "You look like you'll crumble to pieces in an instant."
"What? No, I don't!" Matt protested, folding his arms indignantly.
"Sure, if you say so. Go sit over there," Shuu ordered, gesturing to the spot on the cot next to Kristoph. With a grin and no complaints, Engarde did as he was told as Kristoph suppressed the urge to groan. Shuu held up a clipboard and turned to a fresh page.
"OK, let's see, your name is Matt Engarde," he murmured, writing things down, "Gender is male. Age is… whatever. Probably as white as you can get. All right, let's check your vitals."
He set his medical bag down and opened it. The partridge suddenly flew off his shoulder and into his bag. It flew out a moment later with a sphygmomanometer. Shuu took it from the bird and wrapped it around Engarde's arm.
"Um, doctor?" Matt said as Shuu started pumping and staring at his watch, "You're pumping that thing a little tight, don't you think?"
"Don't worry about it," Shuu muttered, "I know what I'm doing. I'm a professional."
Kristoph smirked as he watched Matt desperately clawed at the strap around his arm. "Er, I can't feel my arm anymore, doc," Matt told him.
"Mm-hmm," Shuu completely ignored him, "I would appreciate it if you stopped talking. You're messing up my counting."
Engarde continued to babble until Shuu let out an annoyed sigh. He walked over to his bag, fished out a roll of duct tape, tore off a piece, then slapped it over Matt's mouth, effectively shutting him up. As Shuu looked over his work, Kristoph couldn't stop himself from snickering.
"There, that ought to keep you quiet," Shuu said with a nod. He took the pump again and filled the strap with air, squeezing Matt's arm and most likely cutting off circulation. He stared at his watch, ignoring the man's torment.
"Hmm… blood pressure is a little high," the doctor muttered after a minute and writing something down, "Might have to do follow up tests. Anyway, let's check your heartrate now."
The bird flew over with a stethoscope and Shuu handed the blood pressure pump back to it. Then he pressed the end to Engarde's chest and listened carefully. As he checked Matt's heartrate, the flamboyant man was muttering something under the tape on his mouth.
"Quiet, you," Shuu hissed at him, "I'm trying to concentrate."
"Try hitting him with a hammer," Kristoph suggested with a sadistic grin.
Eventually Shuu got through Engarde's examination, occasionally writing something down on the clipboard, and making a clicking sound with his tongue. Eventually he put the clipboard down and went to his bag.
"According to your charts, some of your shots are out of date. So, I'm going to go ahead and give you those shots," Shuu explained. He pulled out a rather large syringe with a longer-than-average needle.
Immediately upon seeing the monstrosity, Matt screamed in fear and clung to Kristoph tightly, crushing the breath out of him. The doctor smirked at him.
"What's the matter?" he asked in a taunting voice, "Afraid of needles?" Matt nodded his eyes wide. Shuu tsked and went back to his bag. "Well, well. We'll just have to fix that." He put the needle away and then pulled out an even bigger needle which caused Engarde to squeeze Kristoph even tighter.
Shuu grinned at it as his patient started panicking. "Yes, yes, this will do nicely," he said to himself, "You there, hold him still for me."
I think he's the one holding me still, Kristoph thought as Matt's arms wrapped tighter and tighter around him in fear, his screams muffled by the duct tape.
The doctor grabbed one of Matt's arms and wrenched it off of his captive. He carefully rolled up his sleeve and Engarde squeezed his eyes shut as Shuu injected him with whatever it was that was in the syringe. In an instant it was over and Shuu was slapping a band-aide over the injection spot.
"There," Shuu said, ripping the tape off Engarde's mouth and shoving a sucker into it when he screamed, "That wasn't so bad, you big baby. Geez." He then turned to Kristoph. "Now, let's get your examination out of the way."
Kristoph was much more cooperative with Shuu and likewise Shuu went much easier on him. And because Kristoph always made sure his shots were up to date, the doctor didn't have to stick him with any scary needles. He didn't get a lollipop, though.
After finishing his inspection, Shuu packed up his stuff, bid them adieu, and moved onto the next cell. The two watched him go before Matt turned to Kristoph.
"You know, that doctor kind of looked like you," he pointed you. Kristoph gave him a strange look.
"What are you talking about?" he wondered, "He didn't look anything like me!" Matt smirked at him.
"If you say so," he chuckled.
…
Later that night, Kristoph, and pretty much everyone else in the block, lay wide awake as Luke Atmey was once again singing at the top of his lungs. This time it seemed to be some Broadway song he was reciting.
"Luke Atmey and tell me who I am, why I am! What I am!
Call me a fool and it's true I am! I don't know who I am!
It's a shame, I'm such a sham! No one knows who I am!"
"OH MY GOD, ATMEY! SHUT UP!" someone nearby shouted at him.
"Do not silence me!" Luke called out, "I must sing my pain and torment!"
"For crying out loud, Atmey, everyone here knows who you are!" a person in the cell above Kristoph and Matt's yelled, "Stop whining about how tortured you are! Von Karma, can you please do something about him?"
Kristoph heard loud grumbling coming from Luke's cell followed by a loud whack. Then silence fell through out the cell block once again.
Yeah, I don't know why I have Luke Atmey sing all the time. I thought it was funny. BTW, if you get the chance to see the English version of the second season of the anime, definitely see it. Luke's voice and alliteration gimmick are hilarious.
And in case you're wondering, Doctor Iwamine Shuu is from a strange dating game/visual novel game called Hatoful Boyfriend where all the characters are pigeons. I like to randomly insert him my stories.
