Steps •asheiji•

•Chapter 2•

                              *The day before*

Eiji POV

"Hey Max," I say as I enter Max's small condo and take a seat on his couch, "How's the paper going?"

Now that Dino is gone, Ash trusted Max to handle what to do next with the information on bananafish. Max decided to write an article, publish it, and remain anonymous for safety reasons. The paper should be done in another two months.

"It'll be ready real soon. Don't worry." He replies still typing on his lab top.

"Sooooo-" I say shifting on the couch letting my words trail out.

"Hm?" Max says turning around in his chair to face me.

"I have a question about Ash."

"Okay?" Max says as he stands up and walks over to where I am on the couch sitting down next to me.

"T-this might be kind of a strange thing to ask but c-can you tell me what happened to Ash in detail.
L-like what exactly did his...r-rapists do?" Damn it stop stuttering Eiji. "I j-just want to know so I can have an idea of what to possibly avoid doing in future situations."

"Woah there you're at that stage now?! I never thought Ash would get to that point with anyone after all he's been through. He must really like you."

I nod my head looking at my fingers as I play with them in my lap. "I want to avoid hurting him. He's been through a lot. Plus I know you saw the videos of him from when you and Ash were trying to take down that pedo human trafficking club."

Max sits up on the couch. "Well I can tell you but I don't like bringing it up."

I look up. Now fully listening to what Max is saying.

"They never kissed him...They never took his feelings into consideration. Never waited for him to adapt...They just pinned his hands above his head and told him to be quiet. He wouldn't make any noise but I could see his dull eyes glossing over with tears like sea glass. When he was done, he would leave Ash there to sleep and that would be it. But I doubt he slept a wink at all..."

"W-Wait Eiji don't cry!"

Huh? I didn't even notice I was tearing up. I bring my sweater up to my eyes to wipe off  my tears. "Sorry, I didn't mean to *sniff* I just wasn't expecting- *sniff*

"Hey, hey it's okay. There's nothing you could've done." Max says as he pats my back trying to calm me down. 

"What should I do Max? I don't want to hurt him."

"Well how far have you gone?"

"We've made out for a while but that's usually it. Ash stops it before it escalates even though he would start it in the first place."

"Well try escalating it. Of corse be very careful. You need to pay close attention to Ash's expressions and  reactions. If he does anything that makes you think he might be the slightest bit uncomfortable, you should stop there.

And that's exactly what Eiji the next day but he wasn't paying enough attention and as you know, it didn't go well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                         🍌x🐠
Hello again!  The next chapter won't be as sad as this one so look forward to some nice fluffy shit.