CHAPTER 4:

Be That as It May

It was a scene filled with panic and horror.

The whole bank was confined with such critical silence that with just a single intake of breath, it will cause a tiny disturbance over the whole area. Indeed, this moment is just breath-taking.

As sweat drips across a woman's forehead, lies a vile and repugnant conflict within her that asks if this is going to be her end. The cold, hard muzzle of a gun that is touching her temple just shook her out of her mind, making her tremble in terror and agitation. Indeed, she wants this to end. She will do anything just to stop this mad man from detaining her over his big arms and threatening her life by pointing a gun; this includes asking him herself what he wants.

She swallowed, as if it will make her fear disappear, and quickly sum her guts out. "W-what do you want?! I-I'll do anything! Just please, let me go!" She asked frantically with an awful plea in the end.

The 6-ft tall skinhead didn't budge. Aside from the fact that he doesn't actually care about what the woman was saying, he is determined to hold a gun over her as his hostage in order for him to get out of this bank. He needs to do this or else he will surely be put in a jail for robbing a bank and, of course, taking a bank teller as a hostage. He wouldn't be resorting to this kind of situation if only the rest of his gang didn't leave him when their plan to rob the bank didn't work at all and the cops just arrived earlier than they expected. Now, he's in a state where he was cornered inside this tiny room in the bank by the police and leaving this bank with a hostage but no money. Remembering that just made the man grit his teeth and hardened his will to settle onto this decision.

"Shut up! Or I'll shoot your brains out!" He shouted and tightened his grip around the woman's body. His loud voice agitated not only the woman but also the whole police group who are outside the room he was into, waiting for him to surrender.

"N-No! No! Please, I beg you!" The woman cried out hysterically, making the police in a hurry to set up their plan. They then started talking and negotiating with the man.

But of course, the skinhead didn't bother talking to them, he began setting up his plan too as the other party did. He plans to get out of this room by taking the girl with him and leave the bank through the back the door. With this, the cops will surely dare not to shoot as it will be the woman's life and safety at stake. And if they do, he will make the woman his human shield in order for him to get out. After that, he will use the car he just saw from the window a while ago to escape. He is pretty confident with his driving skills so he knows that once he retreated from this bank, everything will be easy.

Everything inside the man's mind is perfect. He knew that through this woman, he can leave this bank safely. He knew that any minute from now, he may be able to get out of this situation. However, everything just crushed into pieces of disappointment as a certain police guy who smeared failure over his face just appeared right before him and ruined everything out…

All these scenes just started replaying in his head as he met the same police guy who just shattered his plan like glass into the same place the said man sent him into.

Interesting…

As fury from the past darkened his eyes with menace, a smirk suddenly appeared on his face. He likes this… or rather, he loves this.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen!" He shouted, capturing the man's attention.

It made the former cop stop dead on his tracks and he knew the man somehow remembers his voice. His smirk quickly turned into one creepy grin that can scare someone out as the guy turned to face him.

"Remember me, Mr. Police Man?" He asked, keeping the grin on his face.

That face… that croaky voice… Aomine will never forget.

"Oshiro…" He muttered, surprised. Just as it was to Oshiro, Aomine didn't expect to meet him again. Not to mention, of all places, it was here in prison where he sent the guy into when he was still a cop.

"I'm glad you still remember your former colleague!" Oshiro replied with superficial happiness and sarcasm.

Aomine became silent. The guy's sarcasm just stabbed him a little as he had really treated him as his friend when both of them were still in Police Academy and he never once named him as a former one. They spent good times together, graduated from the academy together, and became police officers together; but there was a point in their lives, that the other earned a step or two while the other remained in place. Aomine gradually became a young sergeant and at the same time, a detective of the criminal investigation division; Oshiro, on the other hand, remained a police officer at his age. This reared insecurity inside Oshiro's head. This insecurity eventually turned into envy then when he was fired as a police officer after getting caught while indulging in some police violence. And when the unforgettable bank scene happened, everything that Oshiro has for Aomine just turned into hatred and indignation.

Noticing that Aomine took a while to reply back, Oshiro continued with his insults and sarcasms, definitely mocking Aomine , "This is just so funny, Right? The oh so mighty sergeant Aomine Daiki who had kicked hundreds of sleazy bummers and junkies into jail has now become the sleazy guy himself!" He laughed derisively "Where's your honor now, Aomine? You have greatly fallen!"

Aomine let the man be with his insults. He knows that Oshiro held a grave hatred over him and, even though he has treated him as his friend, he wouldn't go ahead and please him to be in good terms again. He isn't the type to do something like that, he isn't the type to push himself over someone who doesn't like him back. If Oshiro doesn't like him and wants them to be enemies, then so be it. He doesn't care anyway.

And now that he finally decided that they are enemies, there's no point in staying here and listening to Oshiro's child's play. Aomine's got to admit, he has very little patience and there's a big chance that he will blow a gasket over the skinhead due to his unnecessary mocking. So, staying here has no good points.

With a heavy sigh, the blue-haired guy ignored the other and turned around to go back to his track. This displeases Oshiro. He thought that Aomine never changed with that high and mighty act of his; due to that, he decided to deliberately push more of his buttons.

"You know…" Oshiro started as the former cop began walking away "I was totally intrigued on how come the mighty you have fallen into this hell of a place. Well, you are almost invincible back then, everyone's looking up to you, so why? Because of that, I pulled some few strings to, you know, satisfy my curiosity. And… I couldn't believe you'd kill your own superior just because he has pissed you off a lot of times!"

Aomine, on that instant, stopped walking. He heard something. Something that will set trouble for Aomine. Something that will set danger for Oshiro…

"I knew you were such a hot-tempered guy, but I didn't know you could actually – oof!" In a flash, without any notice, Oshiro was instantly slammed against the cemented wall by Aomine who has no hesitations to do it so; like a panther cornering his foe, as if telling it won't back off. Aomine then grabbed the guy's shirt, balling it into tight fist, and stared furiously at him. Aomine had just snapped.

Great, Oshiro thought with a triumphant smirk, as if he had just won a game against the former cop.

"Don't you dare say those words again!" He gritted through his teeth. "Yes, I'm a short-tempered guy but I will never ever kill someone just because of that!"

Oshiro struggled a laughter in response, even though he was almost choking by Aomine's grip on his shirt, he still managed to utter some words to continue his insults, "You sure about that? I can feel your burning desire to kill me right now though."

"Hah. I can always make you as an exemption." Aomine retorted and raised his other hand up in attempt to punch the skinhead. He doesn't care anymore, he blew off his fuse and he should be prepared for what he shall receive from him. But before he could even send off his fist towards Oshiro's face, a prison guard suddenly blew a whistle over them.

"Hey, you two! What are you doing?" The prison guard said as he hurriedly walked towards them.

Aomine let go of Oshiro then, making the guy cough and choke from not getting enough air. He remembered Kise telling him that one of the people he needs to be careful with are the prison officers or he will surely be sent into Solitary Confinement for causing an obvious violence in prison. Of course, he doesn't want that. If sleeping on his bunk already fucks him up, what more can the Isolation Cell make to him?

"Nothing." Aomine nonchalantly answered as the guard approached them.

Aomine wouldn't deny that that was an obvious lie. He was caught almost punching Oshiro back there, and him, replying that it was nothing, was downright inconvincible; well, not like he was actually convincing in the first place. Of course, the prison guard is well aware that the situation a while ago wasn't just nothing. There was tension formed between Aomine and Oshiro that reeked of cruelty and malice. Because of that, he started warning them, "I don't care what you two are up to, however, if even just for a while the both of you cause some ruckus, I will immediately send you to Solitary Confinement. Got that?"

Without any choice, Aomine and Oshiro nodded in forced compliance and the Prison Guard immediately sent them away. But before the two could part, Oshiro, all of a sudden, pulled Aomine's shirt – like what he did to him. This startled the former police. Yes, Oshiro is very aggressive with his words but he didn't know he could also be as aggressive as Aomine was a while ago. Though, it wasn't that much of a surprise if you're going to look at it from different perspective and we'll compare their build as Oshiro and Aomine's height and weight aren't that much of a difference.

After that, Oshiro muttered something that only the two of them could hear. He then quickly pushed Aomine away before the prison guard could catch a sight of them and gave him one naughty smirk which was totally vexing.

Oshiro was entertained by this unexpected encounter, and so was Kise who has just witnessed everything that has happened between the two. He was just following Aomine who had just left him several minutes ago when he saw the said man talking to one of Haizaki's former gang member. Kise doesn't know who the guy is but he was sure he was one of those troublesome men who had been kicked out of the group by Haizaki and joined Kagami's gang instead. And this troublesome guy is now confronting the newbie and former police who had just caught his attention since the first time they met. Not to mention, this man was the one who told him that he can be the "Satan" of this prison hell.

That's right, Aomine never ceases to amaze Kise.

Though he would've been more amused if the prison guard didn't interfere with them and Aomine's punch had just landed on the other's face. Well, it isn't that bad anyway; since he just saw how the skinhead had just surprised Aomine by showing him some of his aggressive actions.

Kise immediately walk towards Aomine - when he and Oshiro finally parted - and approached him casually as if commotions like that are a normal occurrence. Well, at least, it was in a prison.

"Whoa, that was a little intense!" Kise chuckled.

Aomine frowned, "You were watching?"

"Hey, hey, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just happened to hear your conversation since I am following you."

Kise saying that doubled Aomine's vexation. He was already full with Oshiro's insults and Kise's playful teases popped a vein on his forehead. Clicking his tongue, Aomine asked "Why do you keep on following me, huh?"

The blond smirked. He know what he's feeling right now was just an utter whim of his; he doesn't have a clue why, but not only does he want to witness an angry Aomine, he also want to have a taste of it. He wants to know how it looks, he wants to know how it feels. He totally wants to play with Aomine.

"Hmmmm… I dunno. Maybe because you're too fascinating to me?" He said.

"What the fuck?"

First, a frown. Now, a repulsive look. Give me your best shot, Aominecchi! Make me know how it feels to experience your anger, Kise thought, enjoying the moment.

""Hey, Aominecchi. Remember the time I told you to have allies in order for you to survive this hell?"

Before Aomine could reply, he stared at the blond. He was trying to read what Kise was up to again but he eventually gave up as the guy is too subtle and too unpredictable, "What about it?"

"Well, we both know that you are just a newcomer here in Teikou without any affiliations yet of some sort to any illegal transactions inside. Like, you know, drug dealings and stuff that will cause you to lure some big guys that will cause you trouble. And so, you, that has been confronted- as surprisingly soon as this- a man who already has quite a number of oppressive records, might get into some dangerous situations that is pretty difficult for you to handle—" Kise was about to say some more when the tanned male immediately cut him off.

With a seriously powerful voice that almost turned into a shout, he said "What are you trying to imply here? That I'm too weak and I can't handle such things? That because I am not associated with any gang here, I can't win against a foe? That I wouldn't be able to save my goddamn self?! "

It may have been due to Aomine's ego that he's been able to say such words in such terrorizing voice, together with his thread-like temper that was about to break any second now. The way he spoke is rather terrifying. He's not that good at controlling himself when he was in this kind of state but he knew these were all just an overreaction of his when his anger gets the better of him.

However, it wasn't like that for Kise.

The blond practically thought that Aomine totally meant what he had just blurted out. He never had a clue that it was all just an overreaction of his outburst. Well, not like anyone wouldn't have thought of the same with Aomine's hostile manner out in the open. And though this is what Kise has been meaning to experience, this rather put the pretty boy in the state of not-knowing-what-to-do. He was ready to play, he was ready to be the fire to burn the moth that has to be Aomine. He planned to make him loose his composure, and though he had done it, it wasn't that successful as he was trapped in his own web. He also lost his composure.

This isn't how it was supposed to be, Kise thought.

"W-what? No! What I'm trying to say is—"

"Why are you being so importunate and annoying? Listen, whether I'm bumping over some dangerous big guy or not is not for you to put your finger on. What I do is what I do and everything about me is totally none of your business."

Indeed, Kise asked for this to happen. Though he had just unexpectedly gotten off his composure and that his plan isn't that successful, his goal to witness Aomine's anger and experience it first-hand had just been fulfilled. And out of all the emotions he could have after experiencing that, there's only one thing he could say he had felt: it was upsetting.

"Ugh, fuck this food. Is this even edible?" Kise suddenly babbled in protest.

To ask if a prison food is really edible may be considered an overstatement when was rant so by a prisoner himself but when he said it's awful, he's not exaggerating at all. Served in a plastic tray: a leftover fried egg from this morning's breakfast topped with some tiny pieces of egg shells, some unpeeled boiled potatoes that has little to no salt or seasonings, a roasted "mystery" meat, a bowl of cold vegetable soup, and an unsweetened jelly for dessert. Not to mention, the way this was messily served and inconsiderately cooked several hours ago is dreadful enough. If Kise cannot take the food at all, considering that he has been inside the prison for about three years now; what more of Aomine who had just entered the prison for only just a week?

Feeling the nasty, cold soup slid down his throat after trying to take a taste of it, Aomine- who hasn't calmed down from his frustration yet- grumpily threw down the plastic spoon he had just used, stood-up from his seat and walked his way out of the dining hall. Gazes of Imayoshi and Kise's cellmate- Sakurai followed the peevish man who had just stepped out from their table.

"I-I'm sorry!" Sakurai Ryou, a timid guy with a light brown hair and frail posture, immediately spoke as his usual self-blaming habits occurred. He has only shared tables with Aomine and he never once talked to him aside from the time when Kise introduced him to the former police one day after forcing the tanned man to sit at their table and they exchanged names. Though, it wasn't an exchange at first since Aomine hesitates to talk but later on, for some reason, he told Sakurai his name. Other than that, Aomine continues to ignore him – and well, even everyone else – which made the timid guy became afraid of him more.

"What's up with you two now? Why are you both in such a foul mood?" Imayoshi threw a question over Kise after ignoring Sakurai's typical sorry.

It took Kise a while before he could answer the bespectacled man, he played with his meal for a few minutes as if it could give him some good words to reply but he ended up just saying whatever he had in mind, "I dunno. Am I?"

"Yeah, totally."

"Hmnnn…"

Imayoshi heaved out a sigh, "Whatever, you guys do your own business while I do mine here. Right, Sakurai, my dear?"

Sakurai, flustered of Imayoshi's endearment, blushed profusely. This made Imayoshi smirk, he then continued to tease the guy as it interested him so much. Kise, on the other hand, heaved a sigh of his own. He never expected he could be upset like this. Never did his plan of playing with someone backfired on him like this before.

Sighing again, he picked up a glass of water near his tray and drank it all up in one go. At least, that glass of water is pretty normal and nothing extreme on his lunch set or else he would go berserk for having this kind of frustration battling inside him.

As he put down the glass on the table with a loud thud, a familiar skinny man approached him. He leaned over Kise and muttered something on his ear.

"Haizaki-san's looking for you."

Notes:

Another earlier chapter update than expected! Hope you guys love it 3
And as what you've read, I've introduced one of the original characters I've made for this fanfic. He was Aomine's former colleague and he was kinda not in good terms with him here~ So expect some future difficulties within Aomine's way, but worry not! as our MC shall unleash his inner wild ;) lol So, what can you say about him? Tell me, I wanna hear it! :D
Anyway, I hope everyone will continue to support this fanfic, I promise to give you the best I can 3
Thank you~

Expected Update: November 5 (or earlier)