Chapter 5
First Step into Theatre
In the morning, Banri woke up when he heard his cellmate get out of bed. Lying in, he heard Hyodo get dressed, do his usual morning hygiene and then leave the cell. As soon as the cell door clanged shut, Banri got up right away, promptly washed and shaved, then changed out of his pajamas into his prison uniform and primped in front of the mirror, arranging his hair into a sassy style with his long bangs cascading over one eye. Satisfied with the result, Banri hurried to the prison canteen.
Thankfully, he came just in time. Hyodo was already there, carrying a tray and selecting breakfast from the canteen stalls. The dumbass was so focused on picking up chocolate scones served as today's dessert that he didn't see him in the group of other inmates. Stepping away from the group, Banri made sure to catch the eye of his cellmate and started walking towards him, pretending to be interested in today's breakfast menu, but in fact furtively watching him.
Noticing Banri, Juza blushed a bit and averted his eyes while his expression quickly changed from a happy little smile with which he looked at the scones, to a slightly embarrassed frown. He felt somewhat guilty about manhandling Settsu last night and thought he should probably apologize to him for that, but he didn't want to do it here in the canteen with other inmates around. He didn't want others to know what had happened between him and Settsu because it was such a sensitive matter... He didn't want anyone to know what was going on in his heart... He'd better apologize to Settsu later, when they are alone in their cell after breakfast. Having so decided, Juza turned aside to bypass Banri and carefully carried the tray with his breakfast towards one of the tables where Omi and Taichi were already waiting for him to join them.
Seeing Juza veer away from him, Banri felt very annoyed. Hyodo clearly noticed him, but deliberately ignored him again! Hyodo's silly delighted smile directed at the dessert was the last straw, especially considering that Hyodo hadn't said a single word of apology or anything at all to him since the morning. And now Hyodo was treating him like he was nothing and as if nothing had happened between them. Banri seethed with indignation. He had to repay Hyodo for what he had done to him last night, and he had to do it right now! It was time to strike at Hyodo's pride and humiliate him as much as this asshole had humiliated him!..
- Oi, Hyodo! - Banri called out loudly, getting in Juza's way. - Didn't you learn to say hello to your senior?
- Aah? What the hell are you babbling about, Settsu? – Juza stopped before him, somewhat perplexed.
He knew he and Settsu were the same age, and even if Settsu was several days older than him, it didn't count at all. Besides, it was no secret to him that prison bitches, no matter how good they were, were at the very bottom of prison hierarchy.
- Gah! Not only are you impotent, but you also have no manners! – Banri taunted loudly while other inmates turned to look at the two of them with curiousity.
- I'm NOT impotent! – Juza growled through gritted teeth, feeling the blood rush to his head at the insult.
The pitying glances of other inmates directed at him made him burn with embarrassment and wish to sink through the floor. He was publicly insulted with what was an absolute, blatant lie: he didn't know what to do with his fucking potency when this asshole Settsu was around! He had to jerk himself off every bloody day, sometimes twice a day, but he couldn't prove that Settsu's words weren't a lie!..
- Ow, don't feed me bullshit, Hyodo. You can't fool me with that! - Banri sneered, taunting. - Ha! As if I wouldn't know!
- Oi, knock it off, - Juza growled, his face burning red with anger and embarrassment. He had never felt so humiliated before. – Otherwise I'll-
- Haah?! Are you threatening me? Bring it on, impotent asshole! You ain't a danger to me! – Banri flipped out, immediately remembering his yesterday's humiliation.
Not fully knowing what he was doing, he punched Juza's tray from underneath, knocking it out of Juza's hands and causing it to fly off to the side. A sharp, rattling sound rang out across the canteen as the dishes from the tray shattered into small pieces, falling down together with Juza's breakfast that turned into a dirty mess on the floor.
For a moment, Juza stared dumbstruck at the unsightly slop that had been his tasty-looking breakfast just a second ago, and felt righteous anger boil up inside him. Involuntarily, his right hand clenched into a fist and darted forward to punch Settsu's face when suddenly he felt someone's strong hand grab his wrist and wrench his arm backwards, making him bend over in pain.
Astounded, Banri stared at Juza's wincing face and then looked over at Omi, who was holding Juza down with a grip of steel. Omi was not a little concerned – he was well aware that if he hadn't stopped Juza in time, Banri would have ended up in the hospital with a serious injury while Juza would have gotten himself into serious trouble. Omi knew he must not let that happen: he was worried about the troublesome "kid" that was Banri, as well as about Juza, for whom he had deep sympathy and who resembled his late friend that had been killed in a fight in front of him.
- Why a hell did you butt in? – Banri said angrily and then kicked the restrained Juza in the stomach, causing him bend down lower with a hoarse groan.
- A-a-a! Ban-chan! Let's go get breakfast! – Taichi also intervened and gently pushed Banri in the back to get him away from Juza. - What porridge do you like, rice or corn? I like rice porridge! Let's go eat!
- Hang on, I'm not done with him yet! – Banri protested, but Taichi was very persistent.
As soon as Banri was at some distance away, Omi finally released Juza's arm.
- Don't take it hard, Juza. Sometimes Banri gets quite bitchy, but overall he's a good guy. Now, let's clean up the mess. I'll help you, - Omi squatted down and began picking up the pieces of broken plates before he looked up and saw that Juza was standing still with a dejected expression of his face.
- What's up? – Omi asked him kindly.
- Omi-san... If I ever lose my head and rise to Settsu's provocation again, will you stop me like you did just now? – Juza bowed his head to Omi, entreating. - Please! If I rely on my fists, I can only cause trouble for the Autumn Troupe...
- All right, Juza. We're comrades, after all, - Omi said with a kind and sincere smile. Somewhat comforted, Juza squatted down beside him and began to pick up the shards.
Having finished the cleaning, they finally went to have breakfast. Omi gladly shared half of his portion with Juza, who brightened up at once when he heard that Tsuzuru had finished writing the script for the Autumn Troupe's first play, and that tonight they were going to read it and assign roles.
At last came the evening, which Juza had been looking forward to all day. He made his way to the practice room in the Culture House building, unaware that he was being pursued. The pursuer was none other than Banri, who had been stalking Juza since the morning.
Hiding behind every corner, Banri silently sneaked into the building after Juza and peered into the practice room through the half-open door. Hyodo doing theatre seemed like fun to look at because it was hard to imagine the stone-faced Hyodo playing any role other than the thug he was. Banri cautiously looked across the room. Besides Hyodo, there were also Sakyo, Omi, Taichi, Azami, Tsuzuru, as well as chief warden Yuzo and prison director Izumi. Banri began to look on from his hiding place when all of a sudden someone placed a hand on his shoulder from behind. Startled, Banri whirled around with a loud cry of surprise and saw prison manager Matsukawa.
- Come in, Settsu-kun. Don't be shy, - Matsukawa opened the door wide and unceremoniously pushed Banri into the practice room. – Everyone, I brought an actor!
- Oi, I ain't interested in this shit! – Banri protested, feeling caught off guard.
- You!.. What're you doing here? – Juza was very displeased.
- That's my line, moron! What the hell are you doing here? – Banri shouted, coming up close to Juza.
- Good timing, Settsu! - Yuzo said, contentedly rubbing his hands together. - We were just thinking about finding a second lead actor for our dwbut play. You can handle it, can't you?
- There's nothing I can't handle, - Banri answered self-confidently.
- That's great! - director Izumi said with a cheery smile. - Welcome to the Autumn Trope, Banri!
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Author Notes
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Enjoying JuBan's savage love in this AU? Don't be shy to comment ;-)