Worth It {Ash x Eiji}

Something Big

{ This chapter has a lot of quotes from episode 1 from Banana Fish. It's setting up the canonical stage before everything changes, so just wait for it.

The tea is brewing... it's just a matter of when it spills that should scare you. }

Ash had his hands in his pockets as he walked through the back alleys of New York. They were the fastest way to get home, and he knew that he could handle himself to get home. In the back corners of his mind, those brown eyes kept invading his thoughts and he wondered why it had come on so suddenly.

Maybe he was just a typical Japanese boy and that was how they all acted. Just maybe.

He was broken from his thoughts when he heard something, perking up and seeing a man stumbling before him.

" Are you okay?!" He asked, kneeling beside him and then seeing a pool of blood on his back. Apparently not.

The man handed over a locket with a cylindrical charm on it, one which Ash took.

" What is it?" He asked.

" 42 Westwood... L-Los Angeles..." The man wheezed, spitting out some blood before croaking right before him, and two men raced around the corner. Ash recognized them as his own.

" What is the meaning of this?!" Ash yelled, already having pocketed and necklace.

" Boss!" They both were scared stiff.

" Why would you kill someone?!" Ash angrily grilled them.

" Dino said-"

Dino?! Why the hell would Dino be ordering around Ash's guys? Ash didn't know what else he would've said, but thankfully there were sirens in the distance.

" Get lost. I'll handle this." He told them in a deep tone of voice, one which he only used when he was angry or trying to be a leader. It was completely opposite of his normal tone... but he'd honestly forgotten what that one sounded like after a while. He'd gotten so used to speaking in that way that it felt weird if he didn't.

After the guys went running, Ash escaped as well into another alley, quickly weaving his way until he could make it to his gang's hang out. So much for going home right away. He needed to speak to Skip, who worked and lived at the joint. They'd basically colonized the bar over a year ago, and it had beds in the basement for people to crash at. Ash stayed there sometimes if he didn't feel like going home.

Scampering down the stairs, Ash saw that only a few of his guys were down there, Alex being one of them.

" Woah, why the rush?" Alex asked, and Ash took a second to breathe. He made sure that he had the glass container in his pocket, keeping it very hidden and subtle, though. There were some things which he knew to keep his mouth shut about and that was one of them.

" Where is Skip? I was supposed to help him with algebra..." Ash lied. " I got tangled up after school and I'm late."

Alex raised a brow, but decided not to question him any further.

" He's in the basement."

Ash nodded as a thank you and went down the steps behind the bar, and he found Skip rummaging through books in his room. He tried to be calm, not wanting to tip the other off about anything. He just needed to be somewhere where he could get his thoughts straight.

" Hey, Ash." Skip smiled, then awkwardly tilted it. " I might've lost the school's copy of To Kill a Mockingbird... do you have one?"

Ash did. He knew it.