The Samurai and the Lynx (A Banana Fish Fanfiction)

The Jade Riders?

Hey guys! The start of this chapter will be the ending of the last chapter just so you all don't get confused. Enjoy!

"Guess I don't need to protect you anymore, Onii-san;)" , Ash thought.

Eiji turned his head to look at Ash and saw a mischievous smile on his face. Eiji smiled somewhat nervously and backed up a step. "Uh oh, this can't be good. Is he planning something?"

"Uh, Ash? Is something wrong?"

Ash watched as Eiji began to fidget and shift nervously and grinned a little. 

"Not at all, I was just wondering when you got all cool and strong, Onii-san," Ash said with a teasing smile.

Eiji startled and averted his gaze to the side with an embarrassed blush, 

"U-uh, well..."

Eiji didn't get to finish whatever he was going to say because his right hand man came to his rescue.

"Stop messin with the Boss, kid."

Ash bristled at being called "kid" but didn't get the chance to retort because Blade wasn't done yet.

"And Boss," he turned around to look at Eiji in the eye, and Eiji stood just a bit straighter because that was the look his right hand man got when he was about to scold him for something. Blade was extremely loyal and respected Eiji a great deal, but when he was worried and resorted to scolding his respected leader, he did what he had to to make sure Eiji was well taken care of. Eiji didn't care to recount the times Blade had knocked him out and tied him to his bed when he spent too many consecutive nights without sleep searching desperately for Ash after a particularly nasty nightmare. 

Eiji realized he had been zoning out when Blade took a small step closer to him and his eyes took a more stern glint. 

"Boss, you were out riding this morning instead of sleeping," and no sooner had he said that then the rest of The Jade Riders snapped their heads up to look at their leader, who was now sporting a slightly sheepish and guilty look. Blade continued like he hadn't just gotten the whole of the gang worried about their leader.

"...and despite that, you rode right to where the trouble was with those gang members, brought back their target to the base you are currently resting at, and then dove headfirst into a group of thugs sent by Gino's gang without a second thought for your safety or well-being."

By this point Eiji couldn't even meet Blade's eyes as his gaze remained trained on the floor in shame. If an outsider was viewing this, they would be reminded of a parent scolding their child for being reckless. Blade was the only person in the gang who could do this to their boss, everyone else respected him too much to scold him like this. Though, if they were to be honest, they just couldn't stand looking at that kicked puppy look their boss got whenever he was being admonished. They were all weak to it, even Blade's gaze would soften upon looking at their Boss' puppy eyes. (Beware the puppy eyes people, the power is real.)

Blade continued, "so, here is what we are going to do."

Eiji kept his head down but lifted his eyes up just a little to glance at Blade, and, just like everyone expected, when Blade met Eiji's eyes his look softened, and he sigh a little. Blade spoke up, 

"You are going to go straight up to your room, you are going to change into some comfortable clothes, and you are going to sleep. We can handle cleaning up and keeping things under control while you rest, you've earned it. No buts. You can catch up with the kid when you wake up, and to make sure you stay in bed I'll have a few guys posted outside your door. Got it?"

Eiji was now looking up at Blade with his mouth open ready to object, but when he saw the look Blade sent at him he just couldn't get the words out. So he just looked back down and mumbled out a dejected "yeah." Blade just smiled and ruffled his hair, "good."

He turned and looked at the two burly men that had opened up the door to the main sitting room earlier when they had first brought Ash to the hideout. "Curt, Rick, take the Boss up to his room so he can rest. Keep guard outside his room." The two large men nodded and walked over to Eiji, gently leading him towards the door. The gang made room for the group and as they reached the door, Eiji brushed hands with Ash, who had been watching the scene in equal parts bemusement and amusement. Eiji smiled a small smile and whispered to Ash, "see you later."

Ash was struck by how surreal this all seemed, but smiled back anyway with a quiet but content "yeah."

Ash's heart swelled when Eiji seemed to smile just a little bit wider, before disappearing with the large men through the doorway. 

Despite seeing how well Eiji handled himself against those thugs earlier, he couldn't quite quell the protective instincts that were raging inside him, yelling to follow Eiji just to make sure he was safe. Before he could give into his inner voice, he was stopped by the sound of Blade speaking to him. As if sensing his inner turmoil, the right hand man spoke, "don't worry about the Boss, Curt and Rick are top tier body guards, they'll take good care of Eiji."

Ash turned to Blade in surprise, and was dumbstruck when he saw the man was smiling. Before he could question it, Blade said "I wasn't sure about you at first, but I can tell you care a lot about Eiji, and he cares a lot about you too. So, for his sake I'll keep you out of trouble."

Ash scowled. This guy was treating him like a kid. (But you are a kid Ash:| I wouldn't exactly call 17-18 an adult yet.)

As if reading his thoughts, seriously is this guy a mind reader? Blade smirked. He turned and motioned Ash to follow him. Ash hesitated for a second, but then reluctantly followed Blade down the hall and back into the sitting room he was originally brought to. Blade sat down on a spare couch and nodded for Ash to do the same. After a moment of silence, Ash decided to voice the question he had asked jokingly earlier. 

"So, how exactly did all this happen?"

Blade looked at Ash for a moment and sigh. 

"I guess you're asking how the Boss started up The Jade Riders and got his name as The Jade Samurai?"

Ash nodded. 

Blade sigh again, "well, it started like this..."

Woo! Alright, first chapter in like a year. Can't believe its been that long! So I think the length of this chapters alright, I'm trying to juice it up a bit more, but it's a work in progress so please be patient with me. The next few chapters will be involving flashbacks to the start up of Eiji's gang and how he got his name, The Jade Samurai. I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the chapter update next weekend. Ciao!