banana fish - angel eyes

part five

A year later.

Eiji was back in the United States. Recently, he had been accepted to the university here in New York. The plan that he would study abroad worked out perfectly and everything seemed to be going well for him.

For a whole year, he devoted himself to practicing his English skills and studying hard. With the hope that Ash was still out there, somewhere. He was aware of the fact that he might never see his friend again, he still continued to hope that Ash was safe and happy, even after learning of his disappearance.

The japanese boy was exploring his new university campus. He was impressed by the beautiful buildings. Eiji felt glad to have found such a great place to learn. It was a good day, with the sun shining brightly.

Eiji had already viewed images of the campus online. The scenery here is even more beautiful than the website portrayed it. He observed a familiar face while walking around, and recognized the person. Their eyes met and held for a moment before either of them spoke.

"(Y/N)?"

(Y/N) was surprised to see Eiji here. She couldn't believe he would show up here unannounced. Why didn't he tell her he was back? The girl beamed with joy as she saw dear friend. "Eiji! When did you get back here?" (Y/N) was surprised and hugged him tightly when she saw him. He returned the hug, seeming genuinely happy to see her. It has been a year since Eiji left, and the two of them have never spoken once.

"I'm so happy to see you! I got back yesterday!" He looked very happy as he said this. Eiji was relieved beyond words, feeling like he had been through so much and now he finally had a friend back in his life. Being at a new school and unfamiliar surroundings can be difficult, especially for someone who is not familiar with a foreign country.

(Y/N) appeared surprised when she heard Eiji speak English almost fluently. "Wow. When did your English get better Eiji?"

He told her that he had spent the past year completely focused to his studies.
"But you know. We can still talk in japanese in case we want to talk about someone, or just in general like we used to."

Eiji smiled as he remembered some of the fun times they had. Thinking about the happy times they had spent together, laughing and joking. He felt lucky to have had such a good friend.
"Of course."

"You're letting your hair grow?" (Y/N) touched his hair lightly, feeling the soft strands between her fingers. The girl noticed that his hair had grown a bit longer since she last saw him.

Eiji chuckled and then scratched his head. He wasn't sure how to answer the question and didn't know what to say, so he just stood there awkwardly. "I don't know, I guess?"

"It looks weird."

Eiji was taken aback by what (Y/N) had said. He stared at her with confusion, not knowing what to say or do. She laughed and hit him playfully, suggesting that he was being silly.

"What? I'm kidding. Don't make a face like that."

(Y/N) was still worried about Eiji, even after he had been gone for so long. "You should have called me, Eiji. It was really weird just running into you here without any warning."

Eiji looked away, he was lost in thought, not able to come up with an explanation.
"We have lost contact (Y/N).."

After she sighed, she looked up at the sky. "Yeah I know. Maybe it was better that way. We both needed a break." Both of them were walking slowly towards the building, their steps slow and purposeful. Eiji stopped and turned to face (Y/N), wanting to fix the wrong that he had done, and make it right.