A/n: Please tell me what you think. I'd love to hear from you! :)

Disclaimer: FT doesn't belong to me!

Kinana opened her eyes with a jolt. For a moment, she almost forgot where she was, but as she stared at the battered ceiling with its paint pealing off, everything came back to her.

That's right. It was her second day at Magnolia Prison.

Not that she was counting, but she knew she was almost out of time. She had to act soon if she wanted to save Erik and protect her fans without the culprit getting suspicious of her sudden disappearance. Not to mention that Evergreen, her manager, was probably furious for not being able to get in contact with her.

But the question that had been on her mind since the day everything started was, how?

"Morning, newbie!"

Kinana saw that Angel was already up and was slipping on her green guard uniform as she greeted her. And because Kinana was sitting on the top bunk, she was able to get a good view of Angel's back as she changed. To her surprise, she saw the flash of what was no doubt a gang tattoo before Angel quickly covered it up with her shirt

Where had she seen that mark before?

Kinana didn't think it would be a good idea to ask as she slipped out of bed and changed into her own uniform. Her arms still ached from all the cleaning she had to do yesterday, but she knew she didn't have a choice. She let out a soft sigh as she wondered how her friends were doing back home. Before she left, she had asked Lucy to visit Natsu in the hospital in her place. Had she gotten the chance to go see him yet? Was Natsu doing better?

There was so many questions she wanted to ask, but none of them had the answers she was searching for. It wasn't fair.

"What are you looking all depressed for?" Angel asked curiously as they headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. The prison's employees ate in a separate room from the inmates to avoid conflicts between them. The portions were small and the food tasteless, but at least they had something to eat.

"N-No reason! I'm just concerned if my family will have enough money this week," Kinana lied, remembering that she was supposed to be working there to support her family.

Angel smiled wistfully. "At least you have a family...I lost mine a long, long time ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kinana lamented, feeling truly sad for her new friend. She longed to tell her the truth, that she too had lost her family at a young age and knew exactly how the other girl felt, but of course she couldn't.

Angel laughed a little. "Don't be. I've accepted it. Has your friends ever told you that you're very earnest?"

"Huh? W-What do you mean?" Kinana stammered nervously, telling herself to act casual. This was why she never was cut out to be an actress, she thought with a groan.

"You're very easy to read, Nana. I can see that there's something you're not telling me," Angel said, making Kinana's eyes widen in surprise. "But then again, everyone here has secrets they're trying to keep, even if it costs them their lives."

Kinana shuddered at the implication of Angel's words.

"Some people can figure out your secrets more easily than others, though, that's all. Take Cobra, for instance. Be careful if you ever have to deal with him, okay?" Angel patted Kinana's back as they headed their separate ways.

Kinana nodded absentmindedly, still thinking about what Angel had said, as she said goodbye and went about her tasks for the day. Everyone was telling her to be careful of Erik, but she knew he wasn't a bad person. But how was she going to make them see that?

She was so deep in thought that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, and as she cleaned the inmates' cafeteria during after breakfast, she accidentally walked straight into another person. She gasped as a cup fell from their hand and crashed onto the floor, spilling its contents everywhere.

"Watch what you're doing, bitch!" the man said rudely. "You made me spill my drink!"

"I-I'm sorry," she apologized, wincing at his language. She didn't want to start a fight this early in the morning. "I'm doing laundry next, so if you don't mind giving me that shirt, I'll clean it for you," she offered.

He smirked and leaned in closer to her. "Oh, do you want my shirt that badly? I'm not going to let you go for this unless you pay me back for what you did, lady."

"W-What do you mean?" Kinana asked, panicking. "I have no money. I can't pay you."

"Aren't you a truthful one? Let's see...if you can't pay with money, then you'll just have to use your body."

Kinana's cheeks burned in embarrassment as she finally understood his words. At that moment, she knew she had to do something to get out of this mess, but what could she do?

Before she could register what was happening, Erik suddenly appeared beside her and gripped the other man's wrist tightly with his hand. He bent it to the opposite side, squeezing hard as he did so and making the much larger man whimper.

"What did you say, you bastard?" Erik hissed threateningly. "She already apologized, hasn't she? Why can't you let it go?"

The man's face contorted in pain. "Let me go, you damn snake!"

"Only on the condition that you never talk to her again. She's my woman, so back off!" Erik declared, making Kinana blush in amazement. She knew it was an act, but she couldn't help but feel warm and fuzzy, and her heart beat faster when he called her his.

"Oh? If she is, prove it," the man said, clearly not believing Erik's words.

Erik gave her an almost apologetic glance, then grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him.

The next thing she knew, he had pressed his lips against hers, and all Kinana was aware of was that Erik was kissing her so fiercely as if there was no tomorrow.

His kiss was rough but gentle as his mouth moved hungrily against hers. Just like him, she couldn't help thinking. She let out a moan when he nibbled on her bottom lip, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine. She had never been kissed quite like this before, she thought, blushing furiously as he deepened the kiss and squeezed her against his broad chest. Her face burned even redder when she heard inmates whistle around the cafeteria at their public display of affection.

"Don't mind them," he whispered against her lips. She could feel him smirk, and the way his voice sounded so low and sexy made her heart skip a beat.

She could've stayed there with him forever, but all too soon, the moment came to an end when the door suddenly flung open to reveal two angry-looking guards. They stormed in, causing the men to scatter in all directions. Kinana gasped when she recognized that one of guards was Angel.

"What do you lot think you're doing?" Angel's male companion demanded, glaring around at them. "You, back to work!" he ordered Kinana, who squeaked and jumped away from Erik as though she had been stung. "You, clean up this mess!" he ordered the first man who had picked a fight with Erik.

"But isn't that the custodian's job?" he whined, pointing at Kinana. Still feeling rather terrified of the bulky man, she grabbed her broom and tried to hide behind it, realizing too late that it probably didn't help at all.

"We saw everything. You were the one responsible, so you'll be doing the cleaning!" the guard snapped, unfazed.

Erik started snickering when he saw Kinana's poor attempt at hiding, but unfortunately, the guard noticed too. "You, stop laughing and come with us! We'll beat you if we have to, Cobra!"

He sighed, wondering what punishment he would be receiving for stepping out of the line. He should have known that there would be security cameras everywhere. Ah, well, it had been worth it to give her that kiss, he mused, smirking slightly as he remembered the way she had responded to him. From her actions, he could tell that she was totally into him. His heart did a little dance in his chest.

"Coming, coming," he drawled, taking his time on purpose to get under the guard's skin. He gave Angel a slight nod as they passed, realizing that Racer's words were indeed true and that she was working for the prison. How ironic.

As they left, Kinana stared after them with concern in her eyes, but there was nothing she could do except to watch as he walked away from her. Again.

"There's a visitor for you, Cobra," the guard informed Erik brusquely as soon as they had left the cafeteria behind. So that was why they had dragged him out, Erik realized.

"Oh?" Erik wondered who they could be. He guessed that the only person who would have the power to see him would be Gildarts, and he knew he was right as soon as the two led him into the interrogation room and locked the door behind them.

Gildarts was seated in the chair on the other side of the window, tapping his hand patiently as he waited for Erik to arrive. When he did, he looked up and acknowledged him with a curt nod. "Long time no see, Cobra. How's prison treating you? Well, I hope?"

Erik knew full well that the detective was being sarcastic. He rolled his eyes. "I've had better. What are you doing here?"

"Well, my darling secretary - " Erik tried not to cringe at the endearment - "told me that Kinana-chan tried to come talk to me again while I was out," Gildarts began importantly. He purposely left out the part where Erza had practically threatened him to hear her out. "I'm a reasonable man, if I do say so myself, so I wanted to give her a chance. And as you know, the prison is the only place we're able to talk without extra ears listening in, if you know what I mean.."

Of course Erik knew what he meant. The culprit could be following their very move.

"Anyway, so here I am, ready to listen to what you have to say. So, if you claim that you're not the culprit, who do you think it was?" Gildarts asked brazenly. At Erik's imploring gaze, he sighed. "We haven't been able to find a lead," he admitted reluctantly. "We've been trying, but all we've been getting are dead ends."

Erik smirked. He would love to keep the police in the dark, but Kinana's safety mattered too much. "That's because he literally is, well, dead."

Gildarts stared at him, mouth dropped open in shock. "That can't be possible," he protested.

Erik almost fell out of his chair at Gildart's comical expression. "Yes, it can. There's only one person who knows my past relationship with Kinana. It's got to be him."

"Your past relationship with her?" Gildarts repeated, his eyes popping in excitement. "Don't tell me you two were lovers? In that case, the killer would be Kinana's ex-boyfriend, wouldn't it?"

"Hell no!" Erik denied. He suddenly wondered whether Kinana had previous relationships, and what kind of man she had dated. He shook his head furiously, cursing Gildarts for planting that idea in his head. "I mean, as in when we were at Magnolia Orphanage together!"

Gildarts gestured for him to go on.

"Anyway, I killed the previous Oracion Seis leader, Brain, a few years ago. I thought I'd left him to die, but what if he didn't? What if he's still alive? He would definitely have a motive for sending her that letter."

Gildarts was evidently still confused. "Well, if you say so. But how can you prove that it's him? His name's not really Brain, is it?"

"Of course not. We all have codenames in the gang, so we don't know each other's identities." Erik left out the part that they actually did know each other from the orphanage, but the police didn't have to know that. Somehow, he felt that it was wrong for the police to destroy those precious childhood memories, the only happy memories he had of her. "Though, there's a guy he's definitely contacted in the past few months. His real name is Zato. If you follow him, he might tell you some secrets." He winked at the detective, who frowned as he quickly scribbled down some notes in his notebook.

"And if we find that you've been lying to us?"

Erik leaned back in the hard, black chair, pretending to look as comfortable as he could despite how the chair made his entire body ache. "You know where to find me."

A/n: Dun dun dun! It's time for the plot to thicken! ;)

Hope you enjoy! Leave a review and let me know what you think? :)