Blind Kingdom

Part 1

Jouno sat on the floor of the prison, dealing cards with lightning speed. "So, you're going to have to tell me what I got." Jouno said. The great professional thief known as Jouno was blind. His friend, Akutagawa, frowned. Jouno couldn't see this frown, of course, but he knew his friend was frowning all the same. "How do I know you're not cheating?" Akutagawa asked. He was a naturally suspicious person, which sometimes made it difficult for Jouno to operate his schemes around his friend. One year ago, Jouno had been arrested for art thievery in one of his most daring thefts he'd ever pulled off. The whole thing had been a setup, and he was using his time in the vault to try to figure out who did it. When Jouno inevitably escaped, he'd get his revenge. Jouno had met Akutagawa shortly after being captured. They weren't exactly cell mates, even though their small, cube shaped rooms were close to each other, but they'd gotten to know each other during the various breaks the prisoners received during the day. Playing cards with Akutagawa was Jouno's favorite part of the day. They'd talk about their lives: Jouno's murdered parents, Akutagawa's missing sister. It was just nice to know that Jouno wasn't alone.

"Stop what you're doing." One of the prison guards said loudly. Jouno could hear the heavy footsteps of his combat boots as he walked into the room. Now, normally this never happened. All the prisoners in the vault had supernatural abilities, and most of the guards didn't. The guards preferred to stand safely behind the walls and glass of the prison, where no abilities could penetrate. Something big must have been happening, but Jouno couldn't imagine what. "Just stay behind me." Jouno said to Akutagawa, and fingered the small makeshift knife he kept up his sleeve. Akutagawa was the same age as Jouno, and while both of them were small in terms of height and muscle, Akutagawa had a lung disease that often left him with coughing fits so bad, he could barely move. If there was going to be a fight, Jouno was going to protect him. Akutagawa had more of a life on the outside. A missing sister that he had to find. He had to make it out of whatever this was.

While murmurs of anger and unease spread through the rest of the prisoners, the guard kept talking. "We're having a special guest today." He said. "Someone to see one of you." Jouno didn't like the sound of that. He waited a few seconds, then he could hear the footsteps of another man. Someone military sounding. He could already tell this was going to be bad. "Greetings, citizens of the vault." An unnecessarily loud voice boomed out. Jouno knew that voice. Everyone did. It belonged to Fukuchi, their country's greatest hero. He was someone who was always off saving the world, not the kind of person Jouno expected to randomly show up in a prison. Perhaps he was here to conduct executions. Jouno shivered at the thought. From what he'd heard, Fukuchi had some kind of ability that no one could fight. Even if Jouno wasn't wearing the power canceling restraint around his ankle, he didn't know if he could beat Fukuchi in a fight. And the thought of that scared him.

"Ah, there you are." Fukuchi said, and started walking in Jouno and Akutagawa's direction. Jouno took a step backwards, and drew his knife. "Stay back!" He exclaimed. "I'm warning you." Fukuchi threw back his head and laughed, a deep, sinister sounding laugh. "Ryunosuke Akutugawa." Fukuchi said, completely ignoring Jouno. Jouno continued to point the knife in the direction he thought Fukuchi was standing. "The last time my team took a mission, Teruko almost died. And what a shame that would be." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Instead of removing Teruko from the team, and letting me have a one man operation, I've been told that I need to find another person to be on my team. I looked at all the files of everyone in the vault, and decided you were the most powerful. I'd like to ask you to join my team, but it's not really a request."

Jouno could practically feel Akutagawa shrink back behind him. "No." Jouno said coldly. "He only has a few more months left on his sentence. He's not going with you." Jouno could almost hear Fukuchi's frown. "If he joins the hunting dogs, he has no more months left in his sentence." Jouno shook his head. "If he joins the hunting dogs, he's canon fodder. You don't want teammates. You're just looking for someone you can pretend to have join your team, and then not mourn too much when they inevitably die in the line of duty. That's why you came to a prison." Fukuchi laughed again. "You're funny, kid, I'll give you that much." Fukuchi said. "But I tend not to be amused by comedians."