The Unturned

In a time when the criminal population was ever present, a place where civilians lived in fear- a constant fear of being murdered by a maniac or getting mugged by a thief. This is The City of Kuri, a nightmare, plagued by pestilence. Among the worries of people, it was intensified by the rise of an organization years ago. It started the wave of criminal activities and along with the maniacs that it brought, there's someone in the crowd where the populace adored; A faux magician. Crime as flashy as the theater, an entertaining show for kids and adults alike. He served as a conductor for each heist, and the people became his loyal audience. For his crimes are entertaining as they are daring. He was evasive as a phantom, majestic as a director- he gained the moniker: Phantom Maestro. 

Inside a windowless, dimly lit room, lies a table and two chairs; situated in front of a one way mirror, illuminated by an occasionally buzzing light bulb. A detective burst through the door, he leaned over the table and stared at the person intently. The room has a smell of faint cigarettes, it was from the unorthodox smoking habits of the detective's colleague, which is fortunately not present in the room. Leaving the detective alone with the lunatic for questioning. 

In front of him was a man, a handsome man. He presented the detective with a laid back smile as he sat quietly, no intention of talking. His face was all smug, amused even as he observed the detective. The detective noticed a trace of boredom on his face. It seemed that he was not satisfied with their situation, like something was brewing inside his cracked up head. He hated to admit it but the way the man looked at him, made him a bit unsettled. 

"I'll melt if you keep looking at me like that," said the detective. "You should start talking, who are you working for? Are you alone? Do you have colleagues?"

The words bounced around the man's head, it seemed that he was in a daze. Dismissing the detective's question. 

The detective sighed and said, "Look, just cooperate with us. You surrendered to begin with, why are you being hard?"

"If you really wanted to, sure, I'll talk"

"Then, are you working alone or you're working with someone?"

"I work alone"

"Then-" 

"No- actually, I worked with someone" he interrupted. "one or two? I don't remember"

"..."

The detective clenched his fist under the table, he tried to breathe and concentrate, but the responses the man gave infuriated him. The man was hard to talk to, either he's being vague or flat out giving the officers useless answer. They're at it for weeks, yet they could never extract information out of him, like a stubborn clam. 

"Stop giving me bullshit, I know your tactic, can you please just… Cooperate?" The detective voiced. 

"That face, pfttt, i can't" he blocked his mouth with his hand, he constantly glanced at the detective as he giggled. "I mean what's with that face"

"Y-you…"

"Since you made that pitiful face, I'll talk, seriously," he said. "Come over here, I'll tell you" he raised his hand up front, signaling the detective to close their gap. 

The detected shot daggers at the man, he stood up from his chair and reluctantly approached him. Up close, the man leaned into his ear, he could feel his warm breath over his neck. "You know, detective, even though you're a bit stern, it was kind of cute, say- would you like to go with me?"

The detective convulsed back as heard the words. His face was red as strawberry. 'W-what the hell is wrong with this guy? There's time and place for everything but flirting in an interrogation… He's insane!'

"M-mister Kureha, I won't allow such behavior here. Please mind your manners" he shouted. 

"Well, did I strike a nerve detective?" the man said. "From the looks of it, I think you're enjoying yourself… A little bit too much"

"N-no"

"Hm, amusing" he muttered 

Though flushed, he regained his composure. He cleared his throat and said, "Asahi Kureha, I advise you to not do that. Cut us some slack"

Asahi leaned on the table and stared at him, he shot a smile at him. Though he could not understand what it meant, he felt uncomfortable. 

"Full name basis huh, okay then Ku-sa-ka-be Ho-gou~" the tone of Asahi's voice was full of mockery. 

"You sh-" before he could continue, a colleague entered the room. He whispered a detail about the case of Asahi Kureha. They found a lead regarding if he has someone to help him during his heist or not. 

Hogou and the colleague made their way to the door. Hogou paused under the door frame as he heard Asahi, "Leaving already?"

"Yes, you're dismissed" he confirmed. 

"Awww, but we're just getting started," Asahi said in discontent. 

"Don't even get me started" the door thud as it closed shut.

A few days had passed, and the lead was dead-end. All they learned is that Asahi has an accomplice, but they are still baffled at why Asahi surrendered instead of leaving without a trace like his accomplice.

In the morning, the fine man in the suit walked into the hallway of the prison. His footsteps created by his polished shoes echoed in the hallway as he made his way to the interrogation room. Among the assortment of doors in the hall, with each label to each corresponding room. He opened the silvery door that had the label 'Interrogation room. The door squeaked open and Hogou entered the room. There, Asahi is sitting down in his orange jumpsuit, in his usual mood, laidback without any care in the world. His eyes were droopy and his body was slumped in the chair. However, when Hogou entered the room, he jerked up and straightened up his position. He yawned as he greeted Hogou in a sheepish voice.

"Morning Detective, looking dashing as always aren't we?"

The Detective deflected him and said coldly, "Skip the formalities, I'm not here to play games"

"Hmph, bummer"

"I don't care." He pulled the chair out of the table and sat down. "What's your motive?"

"That? Nothing really, however, like said a million times already, it's about money." He said as he rubbed his thumb and index finger.

'I can hear the ka-ching as I did that gesture' he giggled to himself.

"What are you giggling at? Ah, never mind, money? Don't give me that bullshit, if that's really the case, then why did you always throw away the money on the streets like some sort of show? " Hogou hissed. "You almost never keep them" 

"You guess, maybe it's a crime of passion? Or just sending a message?" Asahi replied.

"A message? What could that be?" He asked.

Asahi said in a raspy voice, "It's not about the money, it's about sending a message"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Oh, come on! You didn't get the reference. I'm greatly disappointed in you HO-GOU-SAN~" Asahi exclaimed whilst smiling.

"Don't call me that, Kureha Asahi"

"Well well, then I'll just shut up! I'm greatly offended" Asahi said as he gestured to zip his mouth. 

"Don't even try, I have enough patience with you that'll last for a lifetime. You cannot win an argument against me" Hogou gleamed.

"If I can't win an argument against you, how about I win you instead?" He smiled.

"Hah! You wish, with your demeanor and lack of coordination. Not in a million years."

… 

A few moments of silence had passed and Hogou's face was red as tomatoes. He suddenly stood up and shouted, "What, You! .... Why are you doing this?" Hogou stammered. 

'His reaction is just priceless, it's too cute' Asahi thought to himself.

"Forget it, I'm leaving. I lost too much time"

The door was slammed shut.

The Detective is just too amusing for Asahi, he has never seen someone so easy to tease. Even then, he knew that the Detective didn't swing the other way, he was still flustered by Asahi's flirtatious remarks. His interest in the Detective grew even more. 

It's been six months since Asahi surrendered. "The time has come," he said. Asahi found the prison a tad bit boring. So he devised a plan to escape. He found a way when he eavesdropped on various prisoner's conversations. He always heard that an abandoned mine was under the prison, but no one could find a tunnel leading to it. But supposedly, a prisoner escaped using the same mine. But the authorities are oblivious to it.

He smirked and walked in the open field, looking for the appropriate target. Quickly as he entered, he spotted his target. A man named Yama. A man of tall stature, bulky. Someone who's arrested for an illegal gambling den. Asahi is pissed off, as earlier that day. Yama ridiculed him and threw out his lunch. His face is plastered with sinister expressions as he grins. 

He swiftly jumped and plunged his fist into Yama's face. The bigger man stumbled down, and Asahi continued bludgeoning his face beyond recognition.

"There, there, there! HAHAHAHAHA" He laughed like a lunatic. The man was groaning. His face was full of blood. 

Various guards held Asahi as his fist dripped down with the man's blood. They threw Asahi into the isolation ward. Specifically, the last ward as he noticed a mark the last time he was thrown there.

He removed the fabric, he saw a cover-up of a dig mark underneath the covering. "Lazy bastards," he said. He pulled out a silver makeshift knife out of his mouth, like that of a magician in a magic show. It was a shiv that he stole from the gang in the prison. 

He pried the ground under the piece of fabric that was used for the bedding. The scratching sound and the occasional sound of dirt being nicked, hours later, he found a dark tunnel. He squeezed into the tunnel and dropped down to a pitch-black tunnel. Tore a piece of his cloth and lit it on fire. Within the orange light of the flame, he saw three passageways. He covered his eyes and held his arm in front while pointing, he twirled as he uttered a tune, "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo, what tunnel route should I go? The left? The middle? Or right?"

As his hand slowly moved away from his face, at the end of his finger was the left tunnel. He scurried to the tunnel and followed the path. It took several hours before Asahi eventually escaped