Compass - Banana Fish x Reader

CHAPTER EIGHT: Prove Yourself

"It's been two days! You...can't...just...crash...here..!" Shorter's words were broken between each tug as he tried to drag me out of the crappy little bed I hadn't left for forty eight hours.
"You dragged me into this mess so fucking deal with it!" I snapped back viciously, kicking at his face and chest like a panicked jackrabbit. "I'm staying put until I get to speak to Ash!"

"They have the phonelines tapped! He ain't getting out anytime soon so just go home! This is so immature..." He gave up trying to tear me away and resorted to folding his arms like a strict parent, which did nothing considering his rugged appearance. "...'Sides, I thought you hated my guts for getting you into this bullshit."

He had a point, but I needed answers. If I went home, I'd just stew in a pit of my own dread and confusion, and I'd probably end up dragging Arthur into it with me, too. I didn't want to get him involved in something so shady.

"I have all the time in the world. I can just tell everyone I'm locking myself away with a classmate working on shit for my course...It's happened before, so they won't get suspicious...You're stuck with me, you shitty troll doll!" My glare turned deadly as he plonked himself down onto the bed beside my legs and gripped my calf with a firm hand.

"You don't belong in this world. Ash doesn't seem to realise just how dangerous this is gonna be for you, so you're better off leaving this to us, 'kay?" There was genuine concern in his voice, but nothing he could say or do would change my mind. His heart was in the right place, which seemed so contradictory to how he presented himself, and it made my head hurt.

"Shorter..." I jerked my leg away from him and shifted up the bed, sitting up so my back was against the wall. "...get me a gun." I stared at him for the longest time, watching as his shades slid further, and further, and further until they fell off the end of his nose and to the mattress.

"Uh...sorry, I think I've fired off a few rounds too many right by my ears...did you just seriously ask me to give you a gun..?" Shorter looked absolutely stunned, but I didn't let it throw me off.

"You heard me loud and clear. Get me a gun, take me somewhere and I'll prove to you that I'm on the same level as you dirty fucks." My nerves were still present, but I was too messed up to care about them any longer. To me, words were more painful than physical wounds, and I was quickly coming to terms with the fact that I had only been a stones throw away from their world my entire life. Shorter kept his eyes on me for a while longer before he picked up his shades and placed them back on his face.

"Fine...and when you realise that you're in over your head, you'll go home, right?" He stood up and offered me his hand, which I brushed away like a march fly. Standing on my own, I walked ahead towards the door and threw him a dirty look over my shoulder.

"...And when you realise I could likely shoot your left nut clean off your body, you'll quit trying to chase me off...right?"

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We ended up in some sketchy looking shooting range, and from the moment I stepped in I knew it was an illegal establishment. Shorter, Alex, Bones and Kong had all led me, and the two latter looked rather skittish.

"D'ya really think it's a good idea to let her handle a gun, Shorter? I mean...what if she hurts herself?" Kong mumbled quietly, though it was within my earshot.

"Or us!" Bones added with a shudder, shying away from the glare I threw in his direction. Shorter ignored the both of them and stopped by one of the lanes. He turned to me and held out a pistol, and his expression was unreadable.