ANOTHER LIFE || Banana Fish: Alternative Ending ||

~Banana 36~

"You've gotten a lot better dude!" Ace exclaims and instantly imprisoned Eiji's neck with his arm and ruffles his hair wet with sweat.

Eiji couldn't help but smile at his great accomplishment. Just like how fear finds a hole in his heart and starts to eat him from time to time, he also found ways to fight it.

"That's because I have a great teacher." Eiji compliments and Ace suddenly falls quite. Eiji lifts his head only to see Ace eyes flooding with tears.

"Don't say that Ei or I might die from happiness." Ace squeals as he squeezes Eiji in a very tight hug.

And I might die from suffocation.

"Now let's take this further."

Eiji feels a thud in his heart when Ace's tone suddenly dropped to a serious one, which he rarely do.

Eiji quietly watches Ace walk  towards the shooting range. Stopping before the target, Ace turns around, ignoring Eiji's bewildered face.

"Now shoot me."

Eiji heart suddenly stopped pumping, his senses turning numb. Then he finally speaks in a stutter. "I think I heard you wrong." He hollers loud enough to cover the range of their distance.

"Then I'll repeat it again. Shoot me, Eiji Okumura."

Beads of sweat start to form on Eiji's forehead and he feels as if he throat has clogged up. "Are you insane? I couldn't do that."

"Just do it. I'll doubt you'll make a hit."

"No."

"Eiji."

"Ace."

"Will you do it?"

"Will you stop being unreasonable?"

"Why are you so hard headed? This is part of your training."

"And why are you so persistent?!"

"If you don't do it, I'll go through the trouble of chasing you down even to the deepest of hells to have your head!"

"If you'd just stop asking, you wouldn't have to go through that trouble!"

In every word that slips from their mouths, their voices become louder and louder until both of them are screaming at each other. Finally after the fight, Ace gives in.

Ace grunts loudly and return to the shooter's side, massaging his temples on the process. He towers Eiji with his height, glowering at him for the very first time.

Eiji flinches and moves back a little. "W-What?"

"I told you to shoot me."

"How can I?"

"You could've just thought of me as your enemy."

"How can I?"

"Or some wild animal coming to squeeze life out of you."

"How can I?"

"Stop answering me with those. You can, you just didn't have the strength."

That obviously slaps Eiji with pain but for some reason, Ace is serious about this and doesn't want to stop.

"I know you're doing this for Ash. Now I know you couldn't even shoot someone for his sake."

That's it. That jabs Eiji with more pain than ever. Quickly, tears gather at the corner of his eyes not because Ace is blabbing nonsense but because it's the truth. For a moment, he once again forgot Ash and didn't pull the trigger for his own selfish reasons and for self satifaction.