Chapter Text
Eiji stares at the alleyway with dread, memories flashing by with what happend last time he entered the gang's bar. Ibe taps his shoulder to snap him out of it and Eiji flinches slightly but he quickly murmurs an apology and follows Ibe inside the bar.
Here they are again. The place doesn't look any diffrent then last time, maybe new faces. Eiji looks over at the at the bar where Ash was sat last time, he could vividly remember the sharp jade eyes.
This time, Ash was leaning against a wall in the bar, watching a match between two buff men arm wrestling. He had a stack of money in his hands and opposite of him stood a boy with a purple mohawk..bold statement.
Eiji stares and then awkwardly goes to tap Ibe's shoulder when he suddenly feels a poke in his side, he yelps and looks beside him just to see curly brown hair. He had to glance down to see the culprit who poked him..and it was the young boy that led them to the bar last time!
"Poke." the boy says while looking up at Eiji...what? "E- excuse me?" Eiji had murmured to the boy and Skipper rolls his eyes
"You seem interested in the bet Ash and Shorter have" he just hums nonchalantly, and Eiji blinks. Shorter? "Who is Shorter?", Skip points to the purple haired boy
Suddenly there was a loud yell by the table the two men were arm wrestling, it had came from Shorter while Ash was smugly smirking with a hand open. It seems Shorter had lost the bet...
While Ash was getting a wad of cash, his eyes snap over to Eiji's..this time their eye contact way longer then comfortable. Eiji glances at the floor, wow. This floor might need a clean-
"Why are you here again. Thought I scared your ass off last time" An American accent barks out, Eiji's head snaps back up to look at Ash. Ibe clears his throat "We couldn't take photo's last time, so we came back to take some" Eiji felt so greatful that Ibe spoke for him
"Get it over with." Ash had commanded and Eiji heard Ibe mutter something like cheeky brat.. under his breath as he gets his equipment ready.
Eiji clears his dry throat and helps, looking around to see where the best spots would be to photograph. He grabs his own camera and starts to take shots.
But suddenly the purple haired boy..Shoulder? Jumped in frame, posing dramatically. "Make sure you get my good angle!" as he puckers his lips
Eiji smiles awkwardly "Ah- well.." Ash pulls Shoulder's ear, dragging him out of frame. "Shorter. Let the kid do his damn job, they don't need your crackhead ass on one of their articles"
Shorter just rubs his ear with a grin "Whatt, their articles would skyrocket with me as the cover!" He states boldly and Eiji just glances between them. Ash shoves Shorter away and glances at Eiji
"You seriously need to get a better job." Eiji could say the same about him, but he didn't feel like getting shot so he just nods in agreement, which made Ash just huff
"So why don't you?"
"I like it."
"You like being in smelly bars and taking photo's for minimal wage? I doubt normal people like that type of shit." Ash grumbles and Eiji tries to think of a good enough response for his smart-assed answer
"So what if I do?" Eiji response with the same sass he has, which made Ash raise an eyebrow. He does that often due to Eiji's answers. Ash tsks in amusement
He hands Eiji a beer, but Eiji declines "sorry..I'm too young" he tries handing it back to Ash, who looked at him like he was a child "I've been drinking since I was thirteen, you'll be fine if you have a Lite."
Eiji looks down at the open beer, and takes a swig before making a disgusted face and sticking out his tounge like it burned. Ash let's out a snicker at the sight and takes the beer away
Eiji wipes his mouth and glares at Ash, as if he wasn't a gang leader.
Ash takes a sip from the same beer that had touched Eiji's lips, he intentionally looks him in the eyes for a second too long and then walks off. Eiji stares at the place Ash had been standing in for a moment before blinking and shaking his head, he should get back to work.
○○○
Was it wrong of Ash to say Eiji intrigued him?
He had never met someone who would look at him so freely. Without fear. At first he had wanted to show Eiji his true self, maybe scare him a little. Ash felt guilty for thinking like that, like he was some kind of psychopath.
Each time him and Eiji interacted he could feel a spark in his chest that he had never felt before. It was almost suffocating, so he decided to shut it out before he started questioning things.
Right now Ash sat down in the gang's bar, the leather stools worn out due to years of being used. Shorter had fucked off to god knows where and he was bored. It was never a good day when Ash Lynx was bored.
He takes a sip of the beer he had offered Eiji, and almost sweet taste left behind from him. Ash groans quietly and looks up, meeting eyes with some douche. The guy quickly looks away when their eyes meet and Ash scoffs.
He then glances at Eiji who was making photo's of the bar, precisely angeling the camera and standing weirdly. A small smile forms on Ash's lips before he can stop himself. How stupid.
○○○
The sun had already set when Eiji and Ibe were done. Eiji smiles at the older male and he gets a pat on his back.
"We'll finally never have to see this brat anymore" Ibe exhaled out in relief and Eiji chuckles awkwardly with a nod. For some reason, he didn't mind the idea of seeing Ash again..even though he was annoying
When they had walked out of the bar and up the stairs to the alleyway Ibe curses softly under his breath "Eiji wait here a sec I left my camera at the bar, no wonder my hands felt so light."
Ibe had rushed back down to the bar and Eiji stands in the dark alleyway alone, he shuffles slightly as he looks at the graffiti around him.
He hears a quiet groan behind him and he turns to see a lady with long black hair on the ground, she looked hurt.
He rushes to her side, kneeling down to help her up "Are you okay?" He asked as she stumbled up, grasping his hands.
"Oh thank you, I was walking and i tripped over something- I'm so clumsy" her voice sounded pretty masculine, and she was taller than him ..huh. Eiji tries to smile politely and he shakes his hands
"It's okay" He tries to explain and she pats his shoulder, then he suddenly lost consciousness, falling into his arms.
"You sure this is the one?" One of Yut Lung's men ask and he scoffs "Are you disobeying my order?" The other male stayed silent as he picked Eiji up and brought him to the black car they had parked outside the alleyway.
As they threw Eiji in the backseat Yut lung looked back at the alleyway, at the older male with brown hair and a beard that came out of the bar looking confused. Yut Lung could slowly feel a sly smirk forming on his face. This would be fun.