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"I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something." Ash said as he watched Eiji walk into the station again, camera in hand. Shorter leaned over the railing to look. "What? That you're destined to go tap that ass?" He laughed as Ash lightly smacked him. "I'm joking, I'm joking. Or am I?"
"Shorter I swear to god."
Alex ran up to them. "Boss, you never said anything about us getting interviewed." Ash groaned. "I got the email late last night. I swear I was going to say something about it after I figured out what time they were supposed to come in."
That answer was good enough for Alex. "Who would've thought it'd be him?" He muttered as he went down to greet him.
Ash followed so he could clear up any confusion. Eiji was sheepishly holding his camera. "I'm sorry for coming unannounced. I should've said something when I visited before."
"It's alright, you're here now anyway. Do you have to take pictures?"
"Well they're not necessary," Eiji explained, "But I'd love to take a few if that's alright."
Shorter gave him a thumbs up just as Ash was about to decline. "Take as many as you want!"
Now that he had permission, Eiji's eyes lit up. "Alright then! Let me take them first before I start interviewing." He started pointing to people and directed them to where he wanted them to be. He wasn't barking orders like Ash would but he had enough authority in his voice to make the others listen. While he was busy Ash glared at Shorter.
"What?" Shorter asked, "You can tell him not to show your face."
Ash managed to sit out a few of them, only joining in when Eiji asked or when Shorter dragged him. For individual ones, Eiji was kind enough to not ask why he didn't want his face in pictures. The team had a blast but they were the reason it seemed like the pictures would never end. Someone would stick their tongue out or push someone out of the way and Eiji looked like he was about to snap but he somehow managed to stay professional. If Ash was in his place he wasn't sure if he'd have that much patience.
"I think we got some great ones!" Eiji said as he put his camera away. Sing groaned as he pushed Yue away from him. "You had so much space, would it have killed you to move?"
"I would've been out of the frame!"
"Yue, play nice." Eiji warned. The Chinese man groaned but listened to his friend. "Alright, I want to ask everyone questions one by one. Feel free to speak your mind." Shorter raised his hand, "Do we have to keep it Pg-13?"
"I won't put in anything deemed unnecessary so feel free to say anything." Eiji answered and Ash thought about praying for him. He had no idea what he was in for.
~~~~~~~~~
Eiji stared at the questions he wrote down beforehand. They were simple but he was still worried. Usually he would just take pictures and leave the interviews to whoever he was with. But everyone was nice so he shouldn't have a problem.
The first question was pretty straightforward, 'why did you become a firefighter?'
Shorter's answer was blunt: "Being in uniform attracts chicks." The rest of the answers were slightly predictable; Sing said he wanted to be like Shorter, Yue wanted to help people, Bones and Alex both wanted to impress their girlfriends, Eiji got a lot of answers like that. But he got the most interesting answers when he asked what he thought was an innocent question.
"What's your opinion on Ash?"
Since he gave them permission beforehand to say anything, they weren't afraid to speak their mind. Especially Yue, though Eiji already knew how he felt.
"The guys say he's gone soft." Sing had told him. "He was a lot more strict back then, he fired people left and right, and I've only seen Shorter call him Ash instead of boss."
Bones had shown Eiji his missing teeth. "Boss fell asleep on the couch and I was forced to wake him. He's like a monster when he wakes up."
"He's a respectable captain and he gets the job done. The guys will complain about his tactics but he's a good guy." Alex said. Any questions related to the team were neutral. Shorter on the other hand was definitely not neutral.
"They're all cowards." He answered. "I've known Ash since we were kids. Dude puts up walls to protect himself but it does more harm than good. He'll complain about minor things not being done and he's slightly cranky when he wakes up but for the most part he's chill."
Eiji looked at what he wrote down. Hopefully what he had was enough. The only person left was Ash. He went downstairs to look for the blond and found the team staring at the locker room. Ash was somehow sleeping on the bench, he looked both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. Everyone was whispering, debating who was going to wake him up. Normally he would let them talk it out and do their thing but damn it he was on a tight schedule and he was supposed to have left half an hour ago.
Despite their protests and attempts to keep him away from what they perceived as a threat, Eiji walked into the room. "I'm not paying for your funeral." He heard Yue say.
Ash almost looked peaceful when he slept, but he didn't dwell on it for long. He nudged him slightly, everyone outside looked away in fear. "Ash, wake up." He didn't wake up. Everyone gasped as Eiji pushed him off the bench. "I said wake up!"
Ash shot up the second he made contact with the floor. "What the fuck?" He muttered while everyone stared. They were ready for him to yell or get mad. Instead, he looked up at the photographer, who helped him up. "You fell asleep. C'mon, I want to interview you so I can go home."
"Oh." Was all Ash said. He followed him upstairs, pausing to look at the team. "What are you looking at?"
They all ran off. "Nothing!"
Eiji couldn't help but laugh as he watched them scramble to the other side of the station. "They're like a troop of monkeys." Ash said.
"So," Ash began once they sat down. "Let's get this over with."
Eiji nodded and looked at his notepad. "What's it like being the youngest to be in charge of a station?"
"Too much damn work." Ash laughed. "But it's nice being able to help people."
"You must've seen a lot of crazy things."
"Yeah, I have." He didn't elaborate. "Ok I know you're supposed to interview me but Shorter won't shut up if I don't ask. What was it like being a pole vaulter?"
"It's alright. A question for a question." Eiji replied. It's been a while since he thought about his time as a pole vaulter. Memories came flooding back. The high he felt the first time he jumped, the tremendous amount of effort he put into training, the pain when he got injured.
"Hey." Ash gently shook his hand, snapping him out of his daze. "You alright?" He whispered, like Eiji was some fragile glass object that would break.
"I'm alright, just thinking. Anyways, pole vaulting was…" He paused to think of the right word. "Breathtaking. The build up as you run and lift yourself into the air, the feeling of flying for just a few seconds before falling down, it's a wonderful feeling."
As Eiji described his experiences he noticed how Ash's demeanor changed. He stopped sitting straight, his eyes softened, there was a small smile. Yue would say he looked smitten and Eiji couldn't think of a better word to describe it.
"Well, I rambled for a little while there." Eiji apologized. Ash blinked once, twice, letting his mind adjust to being back in the real world. "It's alright, I asked."
"Ok, now I ask you one more question before I really have to go. What made you want this job?"
He didn't say anything at first. He thought long and hard before speaking. "Second best job I knew I was capable of doing. I don't think I could handle being in a police station."
Eiji wrote something down before getting up. "Thank you. I have to hand in everything tonight so I should go and get started."
"It was nice seeing you again." He walked Eiji downstairs and was greeted by Shorter throwing his arm around the photographer.
"Eiji, you gotta teach them how to do that!" He exclaimed. "Teach them what?" Eiji asked.
"How to wake up the Lynx without getting punched in the stomach of course!"
"Alright Shorter, that's enough." Ash said, face going red. "Everyone say goodbye to Eiji."
He watched Eiji leave the station, a chorus of byes following as he left. "Alright playtime is over." A chorus of groans filled the air. As everyone found something to do as they waited for their next call Ash fumbled with the small piece of paper in his pocket.
"If you're not busy call me? -Eiji"