Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ash sat disinteresting in the middle of a crowd, his usual formal attire covered by layers of overcoats. His best friend Shorter was leaned back with his feet propped up on the table, his hair strikingly purple and buzzed into a mohawk. While their teacher handed back semester evaluations, their fellow students groaned in disappointment. Ash and Shorter received their grade and each sniggered at the other’s comments.

None of their classmates wanted to compare grades because they knew that the pair was on another level when it came to academics. Ash, despite missing class half of the time, always ended up best in the class, with Shorter following behind. A tag-along, Arthur, attempted to reach such stature, but was promptly caught for cheating and expelled (many are aware that Arthur is still planning to ruin them somehow). People insisted that Shorter must cheat off of Ash, but after three test across the room and the score not changing, they gave up.

The bell rung and they disappeared behind some random building, hoping to sneak away to some unfinished business. No one knew where they went or what they did, but it was none of their business.

* * *

Ash was walking across campus one overcast day, coffee and drafted essay in hand, when he knocked into something and a fury of colored papers exploded around him. As the paper fell, a kid with black hair scrambled to piece together the flung pieces of his portfolio, which, at that moment, had decided to vomit out all of its contents.

“I’m so sorry,” he begged, watching Ash set down his coffee and draft to help. He turned over lush landscapes and striking figures, each with an incomprehensible calligraphy inscribed in the corner.

“These are amazing,” he admonished, looking up into the face of a panicked Asian boy.

“Thanks,” he said sincerely, sliding away the painting. After collecting them and putting them in a nondescript order, Ash picked him up. His brown eyes analyzed Ash’s beautiful face, not understanding what he was feeling, but then he remembered something.

“Are you a part of the political science department?”

“Yah,” Ash answered nonchalantly. “What is it to you?”

“This is going to sound a little weird, but I need to shadow another department for assignment.”

“And you wanted to shadow me?”

“If it’s cool with you,” the strange Asian kid stated, his black folder held against his body.

“Sure, why not?” Ash shrugged. “Besides, it’s for a grade right? Can’t let my choice ruin your future.”

“Thank you so much!” he said, throwing his phone at him. “Please put your number into my phone so I can get in contact at a time that’s best for you. It won’t be for long, maybe half an hour at the most, but you are a lifesaver.”

“No problem,” Ash spoke, handing him back his phone.

“I’m Eiji Okumura.”

“Ash Callenreese.”

“Can’t wait to see you again!” he yelled, running off in the opposite direction.

“Same here,” he laughed, watching him trot away.

* * *

A few days later, in the middle of a tedious study session at a cafe, Ash closed his laptop and told Shorter that he would see him later.

“What are you off to do? Finally got a boyfriend?”

“Something like that,” Aslan teased, leaving Shorter actually confused.

“Are you serious?”

Ash strutted across the quad, where happy, doofy college kids played in the warm sun with the chill gone and warmth seeping into everyone, leaving faint outlines of sweat. He caught Eiji on the green, where he found him sketching next to a large bag brimming with various pencils, pens, bits, and bobs.

“Hey, you made it,” Eiji said, scooting over to make room for Ash on the blanket.

“This is interesting,” Aslan plopped down, noticing the abnormal texture of the blanket.

“It’s from home. My parents sent it to me.”

“Where do you live?” Aslan questioned calmly.

“Japan.”

“Japan!”

“Yep. I got a scholarship, got a visa, and was able get some housing on campus.”

“So, why exactly do you need me? Not complaining, but couldn't have you used someone else from another department?"

"Yah, that's true," Eiji nodded, "but since I'm not from here, I thought American justice would be an interesting, and I didn't know anyone from the discipline, until I saw you."

“But how did you know that I was a political science major?” Ash questioned.

“I don’t know, it was kind of a shot in the dark,” Eiji shrugged, “but I’d say your not-so-average college attire may have gave you away.”

“But also the way you held yourself, like you had authority and knew what you wanted, but not in a malicious way.”

Eiji looked at Ash’s curious smile, trying to decipher how he could glean so much from a few second encounter.  I mean, we’re both studying to read people’s response and the environment around them, but still...

“Anyway, so how are you doing, Ash?”

“I’m okay, just taking it one day at a time,” Ash explained, rubbing his eyes, but Eiji noticed how it did nothing to dull the glittering green color behind his worn eyes.

“Okay, so to the root of why we are here,” Eiji started, hoping to not latch his gaze uncomfortably long on Ash’s eyes, “what got you interested in political science?”

* * *

After a lot of abstract questions, a lot of questioning life choices on both of their parts, a sketch or two written down in haste, and an offering of food, Ash’s first interview was over.

“Thank you so much!” Eiji glowed, waving him off, “I’ll text you the next week I need you, if that’s okay.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he smiled, walking off and leaving Eiji to scribble more in his sketchbook in solitude.

Ash walked under the shade of a tree and at that moment, received a message on his phone. He read it intently before slipping it back into his pocket, walking off in a nondescript direction and disappearing into the city bustle. He walked for several miles, passing various scenes, from buzzing office complexes to graffitied garage doors. The wind blew away the sweet smile he had shared with Eiji and turned his face stoically cold as he turned onto one of the most dangerous areas for anyone, gang territory. Shorter was waiting for him, along with a congregation of thugs, with a man who was kneeled over and coughing up blood. Ash looked down into the man’s terrified eyes.

“Now tell me, what does Dino want?”

Chapter Text

Ash, known on the streets as Aslan Lynx, stood before a man, quaking in terror. The kid was dressed too nicely to be a college kid, but young enough to pass as one. No one suspected what he did with his free time except for a select few.

“He-he wants you to come back.”

“Too late,” with a finality that shook a new wave of tremors in the messenger. “He shouldn’t have sent me here.”

“H-he said that he could pull your funding if you refused.”

“I can still get aid, plus with some business on the side.”

“Ash,” Shorter started, before Ash threw him a death stare, silencing his concern.

This is the first time in weeks that I haven’t been-

Ash snapped back, “Tell Dino he can come get my ass himself if he wants it so badly,” and marched off, his goons pushing their messenger away into some shady corner.

“You really think-”

“If he really wants to make himself that vulnerable, than he can come get me. Besides, all I would have to do is pass messages on through someone else and hide out at uni.”

Shorter was slightly frightened by asking the question that was hanging over him, but he decided to shelve it for another day, as the pair return to their haven.

* * *

A few days after Dino’s snitch had come, Ash was texting on his phone, a nagging in the back of his head. He wanted to checked on Eiji, not only because his smile and laugh would not stop playing over and over in his head, but also because he didn’t respond to his text after 20 minutes, especially with his usual light speed responses.

“I need to go check on someone,” Ash getting up abruptly.  

“Is this the boyfriend you were meeting up with?” Shorter questioned humorously.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Ash panicked. “He’s an art student I agreed to help on a project. I’m just concerned that Dino’s goons will assumed that he must be my boyfriend or something.”

“What makes you say that?” Shorter asked, humored by the fluster that hung on Ash’s breathe when he mentioned the word boyfriend .

Ash got uncharacteristically quiet. Shorter got a proper look at Ash, who was attempting to look engrossed in his phone to hide the pink blush on his cheeks.

“Awwww, you have a crush on him!” Shorter teased.

“Shut up! No I don’t,” Ash squeaked, throwing a pillow.

I just think he’s cute .

“Do you know where he lives?”

“No, but I can get in contact with the housing and see if I can get his place of residence.”

After a lot of believable lies and charm, they had weaseled out his dorm room number and building from the enchanted women at admissions. Ash knocked on the door, and Eiji was standing in shorts and a tank top, toothbrush between his teeth and hair damp. Ash had to keep his eyes trained on his face before he looked creepy staring into his deep brown eyes for so long.

“Ash, what’s up?”

Ash’s mind, usually reeling with thoughts and plans and ideas, froze for a second, seeing him standing in the doorway, before he could collect his thoughts and throw together his excuse.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to tell you that I wouldn’t be able to help this week.”

“We have a lot of examinations this week,” Shorter slouched over, interloping into their conversation. “I’m Shorter Wong, best pal of Ash’s”

“Really? You must have a thing for Asians,” Eiji teased, Shorter cackling as Ash’s face radiated heat. “Anyway, you could have called or texted.”

“I did,” Ash stated, not quite sure how to bounce back, “but I needed to clear up my schedule, and I didn’t want to get your schedule all mess up in the process.”

“He’s very organized,” Shorter added, trying to help muster together his best friend’s defense.

“Okay,” Eiji nodded awkwardly, feeling like he was being dooped. “I’ll pick up my phone next time I guess.”

“Okay, that sounds good,” Ash sighed relieved, as Eiji bid them goodbye and felt something wrong in the way they put together their explanation. It wasn’t an explanation, it was an excuse, but for what?

The pair outside of Eiji’s door walked away quickly, Ash in humiliation and Shorter suppressing giggles.

“You do realize that he saw right through us?” Shorter chimed.

“Of course, but I just, froze.”

“I can see why,” Shorter said, nudging him playfully, catching Ash’s eye roll before leaving his mind to wander.

Ash’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Eiji’s name on the screen.

“So, since we skipped last week, I need this week to be a little longer, if that’s cool.”

“No, that’s understandable, sorry about that.”

“Did you get all of your examinations handled?”

“Yah, all six of them.”

“Damn! Did you feel like you did well?”

“At the beginning, yes, but as the week got later, a little less.”

“That’s understandable... Okay, so how about 4:30 till 6:30 on Thursday at the Starbucks on campus?”

“Sounds fine by me. See you then.”

* * *

Ash showed up after class, order himself a cup of coffee and worked on a defense for a mock debate until Eiji showed up.

Eiji looked like a beautiful mess, his large bag of art slung across his back. Ash couldn’t say anything. His clothes were from the two days old and he couldn’t remember the last time he got a full night of sleep (then again, he didn’t sleep well as it was).

“Sorry, I fell asleep,” Eiji explained, setting down his stuff. “Do you want anything?”

“I’m good,” Ash said, holding up his cup of coffee. Eiji gave him some awkward thumbs up before getting in line, Eiji looking at his phone and running his hands through his hair. Ash couldn’t help but stare at the tamed frazzledness of Eiji Okumura, who’s slightly wrinkled but nether the less fashionable outfit outlined his fit frame. He came back with a black cup of coffee and chugged it before starting.

“College life hits hard,” Eiji stated, groping around his bag for his notes.

“Tell me about it,” leaning forward to take in this new image of Eiji more fully. “So, what do you think of America?”

“It’s crazy that’s for sure,” Eiji started, “I mean, pizza? Three words, diabetes death trap.”

Ash almost spit out his drink from laughing and painfully swallowed it before laughing at his comment.

“I mean don’t get me wrong, it taste like heaven, but it’s the truth.”

“Yah,” Ash said, watching Eiji write something down. What are you doing?

“Hm?” Ash peaked up. “I didn’t say anything. Seems like the college life is getting to you too,” he laughed.

“Yah, it’s just the sleep deprivation hitting hard I guess.”

“I feel that,” Eiji nodded, “Okay, so let’s continue.”

They talked for several hours, Eiji writing more notes and showing off sketches he made, even a piece that he had finished after they had worked. Eiji explained that it represented the inequality that wealth and influence can buy you more rights and freedom, something Ash had explained to him (being a foreigner with little experience in America, the notion was dumbfounding).

“Well, I’m sorry, but I have to finish some homework and go edit Shorter’s with essay,” Ash said, throwing all of his spare material into his bag.

“It’s cool, I got enough material to work with for now. Same time next week work?”

“Sure,” Ash said happily, checking his planner and seeing nothing.

“Where are you heading now?” Eiji asked nterested.

“Work,” Ash groaned.

“You work? Where?”

“Oh, just with a small firm,” Ash lied, looking quickly to check if he had caught his lie.

“That sounds cool. Do you want me to walk you there?” While Ash would love to spend more time talking to Eiji about anything, he didn’t want him to follow him to where he was going.

“Oh no, it’s pretty far off campus,” which was not a lie.

“Well, until next time,” he waved off, his body moving smoothly and with the scent of dull pencils and strong mint that lingered on Ash’s senses once he left.

* * *

Their weeks were relatively calm. Eiji’s and Ash’s work was done on time and professionally (for Ash, even the darker side of his business).

Eiji showed up to their meeting first, listening to music while drawing for fun. He got lost in the work trying to ignore the pressure of the question he was about to ask but he failed to notice Ash drop his bag and watch him rock his head to the beat, the hair bouncing up and down and his mouth mouthing the small words. Ash could watch his face express unknown lyrics but Eiji finally perked his head up and pulled out his earbuds, smiling and blushing.

“Sorry, I got a little too into the work,” Eiji laughed, making Ash’s ears smiles, if they could.

“Whatcha working on?” Ash asked, sliding into his seat gracefully.

“A, what’s-it-called,” motioning with his hands, trying to ignore the fact that his english wasn’t coming to him as well under Ash’s glittering eyes, “comic, I work on in my free time.”

“That’s cool,” Ash nodded, noting to ask to look at said comic later. “So, uh, shall we start?”

“We shall.”

...

“Hey, Ash, I have a slightly uncomfortable question to ask,” after an hour of trying to find the perfect moment to slide in the question hanging over his head.

Ash looked up expectantly, Eiji drumming his pen on his sketchbook nervously.

“The arts are throwing together a showcase, and we’re allowed to invite a guest at the opening, I was wondering if I could invite you?”

Ash’s face felt warm but Eiji blurted more information in panic. “It’s nothing fancy, just a look around and it wouldn't take long and-”

“I’m in. It sounds like fun. A change of scenery you could say,” Ash winked. It made both of their hearts flutter, as Eiji responded pink-faced, “that sounds great.”

“Thank you.”

“So,” Ash started, leaning in and laying his hands on top of his hands, his vision brightened by Eiji’s presense and his mind spinning, “will your work be there?”

“Guess you’ll have to see for yourself,” Eiji shrugged suggestively. He patted his notebook and slide the rest of his supplies into his bag.

“See you tomorrow,” Eiji winked back, causing Ash’s face to turn scarlet and his heart hammering as Eiji passed through the door.

Chapter Text

Ash saddled down at Shorter's table, waiting happily for him to notice the attentive grin.

“What drugs are you on and where can I find some?” Shorter asked, not looking up from his screen.

“Guess who got a date,” Ash confessed successfully. Shorter closed his computer screen and theatrically placed his elbows on the table, egging him on.

“Remember that guy I checked on,” Ash leaned in.

“The other Asian!” Short laughed, “yah, he was a cutie. Congrats man!”

“Thanks.”

“What’s he like?”

“He’s sweet, considerate, but also strangely understanding and inciteful,” Ash explained, voice softened with tender feelings but hard with conviction. “I like to describe him as quietly passionate.”

“Damn sounds like a catch to me,” Shorter smiled, happy for his friend. “You must feel like a lucky guy.”

“I don’t know about that…”

* * *

Eiji nervously tapped his foot, glancing up from his phone, checking over the information to meeting up. Eiji caught sight of Ash, dressed in an oversized shirt and ripped jeans, strikingly different from his usual formality but still enticing nonetheless. Eiji waved Ash over, who looked slightly lost in the field of artist and interpreters.

“Thanks for coming!’ Eiji beamed, relieved and happy that Ash had showed up. Eiji was dressed in a bomber jacket with an eagle across the back, unholed jeans, but worn shoes. Casual but expressive.

“It’s no problem, even though I have no idea what goes on at these openings,” Ash lied, trying bury the thought of who had brought him to his first.  

“Well, let’s go in I guess,” Eiji ushering in and passing through the open doors.

They peruse photographs, dramatic, colorful, or colorless, but all emotional. Ash took pride in simulating the poise of a portrait, which Eiji couldn’t help but encapture in yet another picture. They pointed out and made jokes, laughed, but also quietly explored the meaning of the pictures.

They made it to sculptures, which weren’t much to glean from, except for one humanoid shaped protrusion which Eiji attempted to morph into unsuccessfully, causing Ash to laugh a little to loud to catch the attention of an art teacher, causing Eiji to grab his hand and run away guilty.

Ash looked towards the visual arts, but was dragged in the other direction by Eiji, who pulled him into a dark and slightly full theater, where the drama department was performing a tragedy. After applause, and the fall of the curtain, they were ushered out. Many of the patrons left, leaving stragglers and couples to quietly observe the works of art.

Ash finally yanked Eiji to the visual arts section, where he scanned for Eiji’s name among the admissions. He finally caught the cluster of four, each inscribed with the kanji of Eiji’s signature.

The breathtaking view of rolling hills and a mountain, an fierce ocean hanging just beyond the hill. “That was part of my admissions portfolio. I guess they really liked it because they didn’t give it back.”

The second was a scene of a graffitied brick wall next to a new built white building. The juxtaposition of the muddied brown and reds and various accompanying colors next to the harsh white somehow spoke to Ash. “I made that one when I first go to America. The diversity was a definite change, but a good change.”

The third was jungle, the independent actions of each creature reminding Ash subconsciously of an old fashioned tapestry, meaning weaved in and explicit across the the surface. While the accumulation of actions looked violent or unpleasant, there was a small bird and a large cat in the center, coexisting within the same space. “I was...homesick when I made this. Nature reminds me of home.”

Ash moved onto the last one, simple yet resounding. A dazzling jade, the same color as Ash’s eyes, pinched between two fingers, a black light passing through but throwing streaks of light along the cut intersections.

“These are…” Ash couldn’t finish his thought because he keep looking into the recesses of each painting and finding more to pick out.

“Good?” Eiji asked, expecting mediocre praise.

“These are fantastic! They just, I can’t-I’m speechless...”

“I see you get in to the art as well,” Eiji jokes, but the satisfaction drew a smile across his face, knowing that he had succeeded in pleasing the one person who he had his eyes set on that night.

“Do you want to look at the others?”

“No, just these,” Ash whispered, scanning intensely.

“Okay, will I let you soak those in, I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

“Have fun,” Ash waved off, not taking his eyes of the paintings. He needed some time alone to the appreciate the works. Even after Eiji returned, Ash hadn’t moved.

“If you want, I can make you something,” Eiji yielded. “Then you don’t have to memorize the ones up here.”

“You would do that!?” Ash questioned, the prospects of having one of Eiji’s paintings dazzling.

“Of course,” Eiji laughed, “now come on, they have to close up soon.”

They walked out close and filled out of the large doors into the warm night air.

“What building are staying in?”

“Barrow.”

“Want me to walk you back?” Eiji offered.

“Sure, that sounds good to me.”

They walked back in thoughtful discourse, content to just hear their footsteps and their voices complimenting over works of art they saw, Ash gushing over how amazing Eiji’s was and analyzing it (though not mentioning the meaning behind the last one).

“Was it slightly egotistical of me to drag you to an art exhibitions featuring my art?” Eiji questioned, doubting himself.

“Maybe,” Ash confessed, “but I think it’s also brave, putting yourself out there like that, open to criticism… I had fun though.”

“Me too,” Eiji admitted.

So what now?

Eiji didn’t know where to go from here. He was sure he wanted to continue this, but he was unsure. If he should be implied or upfront. If it was appropriate time to seal the deal on another time to meet up or if it was okay that Ash become his first kiss. It made him dizzyingly excited all the same.

Ash also didn’t know. Then again, he had never gotten this chance. He had never had the healthiest relationships (except with Shorter) until he got to college. He shouldn’t be worrying what Eiji would do to him, because deep in his heart, he knows that Eiji wouldn’t hurt him.

They unfortunately made it to Ash’s door, who turned to face Eiji.

“We should do this again some time,” Ash announced, relief edging over Eiji’s conscious.

“Yah, that sounds great,” Eiji nodded, smiling brighter than the stars above.

They stood their in awkward silence, before Eiji broke it with a, “I should go.”

Eiji even turned and took a step before a thought crossing his mind and caused him to stop in his tracks. He swiftly turned around and brushed a kiss on Ash’s cheek, before running off into the darkness.

Ash was left rubbing his pink cheek with his hand, fondly missing the sensation of Eiji’s lips.

Chapter Text

“Hey, where are you?”

“I just got out of class, hold on.”

“I still don’t see you.”

“There’s like a hundred people here, I’m near the entrance.”

“Okay, I’m heading there now.”

Everyone was funneling out of a large, old building. Eiji’s late night art group and Ash’s debate crowd had been working into the late hours until the supervisor of the building kicked them out (not because of any malicious activity, but because they were supposed to be out of the building by that time). Ash caught sight of Eiji and yelled his name, causing him to turn around and run towards him while he hung up his phone.

The kids in Eiji’s art group noticed the way he happily conversed, the various shades of pink that they had no idea came from Eiji’s face, along with the laughter that paintings could do no justice for. Meanwhile, Ash’s debate group was confused how Ash’s stance changed from cut-throat to pleasant by one encounter and how you could be friendly to someone besides Shorter.

The supervisor dismissed all of the students, the various clubs and groups ending business for the night, leaving Eiji and Ash alone to their own devices.

“What to grab something to eat with me?” Ash asked.

“Yes please . All I’ve eaten is a banana.”

“Eiji Okumura! You need to eat! Okay, we’re going to change that right now. Come on, my treat,” Ash insisted.

“So, where were you thinking?” Not that he didn’t trust Ash’s choices, but they were being headed off campus.

“Shorter’s family owns a restaurant called Chang Dai,” Ash explained happily. “It’s a hole in the wall but when Shorter’s sister, Nadia, cooks, it’s pretty good, but just watch out when Shorter is behind the stove. Burns everything .”

Eiji laughed at an image of Shorter cooking and the meal erupting in flames. Ash had to pause for a moment to appreciate how Eiji’s voice fell and rose, how the air left him with a blessing to Ash’s ear, how it made the butterflies he never knew he had in his stomach flutter.

Ash was starting to notice how beautiful Eiji was. He already knew how beautiful Eiji was physically, with hard and soft features that drew unsuspecting suitors to Eiji’s presence. It wasn’t just the brown eyes that always had a sparkle or the almost black hair that looked soft to the eye. The way his lips curved into his cheeks was a work of art of it’s own, the small amount of blush Ash was granted to see was a whole new shade of perfection, and that laugh was just the rhythm of a heaven chorus. Ash became giddy at the thought that he could incite such a reaction, and he wanted more.

“So, how was class?” Eiji asked, breaking Ash from his daze.

“I mean, I had a test and a lab today, so as much fun as one can have.”

Eiji nodded his head and hummed, Ash’s smile grow with every second he was in this angel’s presence.

“What about you?”

“Oh, you know, struggling through calculus, but what else did I expect?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I have to translate numbers from English to Japanese and back if I want to work everything out. Plus, I’m not the strongest math person.”

“If you want, I can help you,” Ash offered. “I’ve already learned calculus, so I could tutor you.”

“We could do it during our meetings!” Eiji exclaimed, excited at the prospects before it turned to a frown. “I would have to pay you though, after both the interview and the tutoring.”

“You don’t have to pay,” Ash waved off, but Eiji’s pout growing more pronounced.

“Really? I feel bad for abusing your generosity.”

“You aren’t. I’m offering. And you’re accepting. Now, let’s get some food.”

They walked into Chinatown, Ash eyeing some people sitting on the steps, who flinched in response. Eiji was oblivious, but kept walking through with his head on a swivel.

Ash opened the door for Eiji, who walked through into a dimly light restaurant coated in cheap red and gold decor, symbols shining in golden calligraphy.

“Hey Nadia,” Ash waved to the waitress, who was an Asian woman with short black hair.

“Hey Ash, I’ll get you sorted out in a minute,” Nadia affirmed, setting down a steaming plate in front of another patron.

Eiji strode towards a booth and took one side while Ash took the seat opposite to him. Nadia came over shortly and laid a menu in front of them, Eiji scanning the menu before setting down on the table.

“What do you recommend?” Eiji asked, hopelessly lost at the variety of choices.

“Dumplings aren’t bad. I always get this chicken dish,” Ash pointed out, not about to make a fool of himself by butchering the pronunciation. “But I’ve had this before and it’s pretty good as well.”

“I’ll get some dumplings and your chicken dish,” Eiji proposed, Ash nodding in appeasement.

“It’s up to you.”

After they took their order, they talked happily about a sundry of topics. What new project Eiji had, what Ash wanted for his commission, promising to pay in more meals with Eiji stating that their sessions was more than enough, Ash’s various debate topics, interesting people they found around campus, until it spiraled into Eiji’s past.

“I have a mom and dad and a sister. My parents are nice and ordinary, but my sister is a little devil.”

Ash was enraptured about how Eiji recounted his past, eyes dazzled by what Ash could only imagine was nothing but joy and happiness. Nadia came over and laid a display of pinched dumplings, Eiji taking one while he talked about a lake vacation they had.

“That looks like a heart attack waiting to happen,” Ash commented between bites, gesturing to Eiji’s plate, which had been doused in soy sauce. Eiji had shamelessly been dipping his dumpling in the liquid sodium with each bite.

“I am aware that I have a problem,” Eiji instructed comically.

“Good, than you’re on the road to rehabilitation,” Ash joked, picking up another dumpling.

Eiji stuck out his tongue at the sentiment before taking a bite of his doused dumpling.

The conversations continued their gentle flow, until Eiji hoarded the last three dumplings, leading to a barter session which ended with Eiji rescinded a dumpling and a half to Ash.

Finally, their food came and they ate in silence, quietly paying respects with every bite and unable to hold a solid conversation with their meals in front of them. After, the two men sighed in contentment, full and tired from the days activities.

The conversations started back up, eyes heavy and yawns traded, but instead of their school-related conversations, Ash placed an elbow and asked a question.

“Okay,” Ash started, thought erupting in his head, “do guns kill people, or protect people?”

“Hmm,” Eiji put his eyes to the ceiling in contemplation.

“Depends on who is holding the gun…” Eiji finally answered. “If it is someone who is looking to harm someone out of malice, than yah, guns kill, but if they’re doing in defense, than the gun is protecting them. Plus, not everyone shots to kill, right?”

Ash felt his throat tighten in tension at the answer.

“Why? What do you think?”

“I basically think the same,” Ash added, not sure he wanted to dive into that rabbit hole of feelings. The one that was facilitated by the gun stowed in his backpack.

Eiji nodded his head thoughtfully, before thinking of another deep philosophical question.

“What do you think about sexuality?” Eiji blurted out.

Eiji’s face hot at the startled sight of Ash. Can’t take it back now .

“I like girls and guys,” Ash waved, trying to remain cool when his heart was pounding against his chest, threatening to spill out.

“But, I don’t know, I’ve had bad experiences with guys.”

The dark look in Ash’s gaze as he focused on the ripple of his drink clutched in his hand made Eiji worry.

“I’m sorry Ash,” was all Eiji could say to alleviate the nervous hollowness in his chest.

Ash shrugged in response, unable to give an audible response as he busied his dry throat with a chug of water.

“What about you?” Ash finally asked.

“Oh,” Eiji blushed, eyes averting guilty. “I don’t know.  I went on a date with a girl once, but we were young and stupid and had no clue how a date worked. Honestly, I did it because a friend encouraged me…”

Ash didn’t seemed satisfied by the answer, but Eiji wasn’t finished, who was shifting in his seat.

“But, I guess being with a guy would be fun,” Eiji’s face red, he stole a glance at Ash’s warm eyes.

It was a clear non-platonic look, the bashfulness of his comment and the doe-like blink as he stared back at him across the wide expanse of the table, succeeding in making Ash’s heart back flip and face burn with the implications of the statement.

Now it was Eiji’s turn to take a sip, the question washed away as they didn’t know what else to say after that. Thankfully, Nadia took pity on the awkward pair and laid down their check, Ash seizing it before Eiji could get the chance to offer to pay for his half.

They walked in silence, the beating blood in Ash ears telling him that Eiji Okumera likes me . He thought about the art show that Eiji took him to just a few days ago, how Ash taking him to dinner was basically a date, and just how painfully cute Eiji was. He didn’t realize that they had made it back on campus.

“Here, let me walk you back to your room.”

“Okay,” Eiji spoke, nodding his head. “Thank you for taking me out for food. It was good.”

“Thank you for joining me,” Ash smiled back.

Oh, how Eiji wished he could show Ash what he looked like when he smiled. Ash’s face glowed with the light and warmth of a star with curves and colors so uniquely beautiful and intimate that Eiji felt like these smiles were for his own private showing.

“Do I have something on my face?” Ash asked, wiping his mouth.

“N-no,” Eiji stumbled, caught off guard by Ash’s question. “Why?”

“Because you keep staring at my face.”

Eiji swept his face away to hide the heat on his cheeks, muttering, “no, you are good.”

“Okay,” Ash sighed, eyes catching the red in Eiji’s cheeks and smiling.

Finally, they made it to Eiji’s dorm room, and they faced each other, a mirror of the end of their last outing.

Eiji thought Ash looked like an angel, a ring of light glinting off of the light above them, the shadow on his face shielded by the cut of his hair, and eyes gleaming a glittering green along the warm glow of his skin.

Ash spoke first. “I have a question.”

“Sure, what is it?”

A drum of silence passed between the two, before Ash realized he wasn’t breathing, caught up in the focus of Eiji’s brown eyes, and took a deep breathe to push through his question.

“Is it okay if I kiss you?”

Eiji could feel his heartbeat in his stomach and the butterflies skimming across his nerves. Eiji could only nod, unsure where his voice would jump if he spoke words.

Ash carefully stepped closer, delicately taking Eiji’s face in his palm, Eiji relaxing in the contact and sliding his eyes close before he could feel Ash’s breathe against his lips.

For first kisses, it was electric. It was burning hot, pulsing with energy, and bright against his lips. But damn, did it feel heavenly.

Ash knew that this was his first kiss. That it wasn’t the one stole from him at a delicate age. Ash’s first kiss would always be with Eiji because only Eiji could make Ash and Aslan feel like this.

Eiji had never done anything this intimidate with anyone. He had never traded lips with anyone besides family. This, this was entirely different.

Ash pulled away quickly after, a whisper in his mind afraid to see the damage he had inflicted, but all his worries faded away when a pair of glittering chocolate eyes revealed a wonder and pleasure that reflected his own.

“That was…” Eiji whispered. “Amazing.”

Ash erupted into a blush and collapsed on Eiji’s shoulder. “Ugh, why do you have to be so cute?”

Now Eiji was blushing and sputtering, Ash laughing with relief that he felt just as flustered as Eiji. A giggle rose from Eiji as well, a giddy feeling in his chest making his shoulders shake as his voice rose and fell.

After a moment, Ash pulled away and smiled, Eiji reaching up to brush a hair behind Ash’s ear.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Eiji unlocked his door and turned to see Ash steal a glance, waving with a “bye,” before shutting the door.

He sighed and put his hands to his face, a sweep of emotions drowning Eiji Okumera in something that could only be brought by Ash Callenresse.

Before he could collect himself, he felt something poke into his side.

Eiji’s blood ran cold when he felt a shifting body in his door room that did not resemble anyone he knew.

“Hello, little bobtail.”

Eiji turned to face a tall, thick man with badly colored yellow hair, a mischievous grin etched into his manic mask.

“The toy of Aslan Lynx,” he chuckled, stepping up to loom over him and putting a gun to his heart.

“How about you play with me and no one gets hurt?”

Chapter Text

It was 1am in the morning, the time where only the deeply troubled, crushingly happy, or overworked are awake. Ash could be considered all three, given the correct circumstances. 

These were the circumstances.

“Shorter, I kissed Eiji. I kissed Eiji Okumera. I kissed a guy. And he kissed me back.”

“Ash-”

“Oh my god. I kissed him. And I liked it.”

“Ash-”

“Shorter-”

“ASH-”

Ash turned back towards his friend, who was slumped over his work, head face first in a book that was open in front of him. 

“I’m happy for you, but do your fucking work-”

A humming broke the conversation, caused the two jolt up from their words and fish through their work and covers for the source. Ash pulled his phone out, a cheery tone singing through the room and a delicately simple smile across his cheeks.

“Speak of,” Ash bringing his phone to his ear. “Hey Eiji, what’s up?”

“You know what’s up.”

“...Arthur.”

Shorter spun towards Ash, whose happy smile had flipped into boiling indifference

“Wow, I didn’t know your voice would sound like that,” Arthur learned. “Made me wonder if I called the right person.”

“What do you want?”

Shorter was gauging the small twitches of Ash’s expression, but all that got past the aloof sneer was a strike of his lips and a flicker of an eye. Even Arthur could hear the fuse sizzling on the other side of the line, with an inferno the only promise.

“A trade,” Arthur spoke, a sick sense of control entitling his voice while he circled Eiji, a glaring carcass at his feet. “Your play things for the big prize himself.”

“Fine, what time,” Ash commanded. Not questioned, commanded.

“Hmm, how about an hour from now? At the bar.”

“Fifteen minutes.”

Ash tapped the phone away and plunged his hand into his backpack, pulling out a Smith & Wesson Model 27 revolver, rounded barrel and worn wooden handle. His face was void of any betraying emotion because emotion wasn’t what Ash needed right now. He needed control.

“Time for some business.”

________________________________________

Poor Eiji Okumera was convinced he was asleep and all of this was a realistic-feeling nightmare.

He went from perching on cloud nine, sitting next to Ash, lips pressed together and lightning running through his bones, sparkling the air around them, the air between them, even the air inside them. Now, here he was, dragged into a hell he had no clue existed, hopelessly lost in location, circumstance, and periel. 

The room he was locked in now was small, an old bedroom hazed with dust and left with bruised furniture. It looked like the feature of an abandoned building, but Eiji was sure that there was plenty expensively empty buildings across the big city. There was a faded window, but he could easily look out and see the millings of hefty men with guns larger than Eiji had ever seen before (mostly because he had seen very few). 

However, he wasn’t the only person in the room. A small African American boy was slouched on the floor, his eyes wide and brimming with emotion like those of a child. Another aspect that rested across his being was how resigned he was, as in an aspect of his soul had accept his way of life and circumstance. It was a feature that Eiji found confounding in a child, when they had whimsical dreams or carefree lives, but it hit Eiji that maybe this kid hadn’t had that opportunity.

“Hi, I’m Skipper. I take it you know Aslan Lynx?” he enunciated, staring at the bewildered person in front of him like it was typical of Asian kids to drop by and get kidnapped.

“N-no,” Eiji startled, thrown back into reality by the child’s words. Oh my god, was I confused with someone else?! Did they mean to take someone who knew this Aslan Lynx guy?!

The kid frowned, but his whole face lit up with understanding. “Oh, you must know Ash, right?”

“Ash Callenresse?” 

“Yah, I know him too. He’s a friend of mine.”

Eiji’s mind was whirling around him because he had no clue what the fuck was going on and had no indication of what Ash had to do with all of this. Or how this child knew his...Ash (he wanted to say boyfriend, but then again...).

“You must be Eiji,” the kid smiled, a fond glint across the shade of deep brown that Eiji could find reflecting his own eyes.

“How-”

“Aslan, Ash, told me about you. You must be a pretty cool person if the boss likes you so much.”

Eiji was stunned. The ease of Skipper’s discourse was entirely nonchalant but succeeding in shifting the tectonic plates of Eiji’s world, shifting landmasses and reaping havoc to it’s form. He had an idea of what Eiji meant to Ash, but it was still unnamed and now teetering on an unpleasant edge of love or hate. All because Eiji dove into his emotions and didn’t ask what having Ash entailed. 

“I am sorry, back up a minute,” Eiji started, trying to reclaim what sense of the world he had. “Why am I here?”

“Arthur, the guy that threw you in here, has been trying to get back at Asl-Ash for a while now, and he kidnapped you and me to draw him out.”

“Why do they want to draw Ash out?”

Skipper stopped short, a frown of his features that was more inquisitive than somber. Than he spoke, hesitantly. “Have you heard about anything from his past? His background?” Eiji shook his head. “The only thing he’s told me is that he’s had bad relationships with guys before.” Skipper snorted, a bitterness to it that Eiji rose a sickness in his stomach, before turning to seeing Eiji’s reaction, could be nothing short of worried unease. 

Skipper seemed to soften to Eiji’s concern, and turned back towards Eiji with a careful determination.

“I don’t think I should be the one telling you this, mostly because we just met and locked up together, but you need to know this.”

Eiji nodded his head, an admission of understand.

“Ash, is the boss of a large gang, here, in New York.”

No. No. It couldn’t be Ash. Ash couldn’t, wouldn’t- but Eiji couldn’t deny the impact of the truth. Now the complicated fixture of Ash’s figure made more sense than reason, with a dark side business and shady characters gossiped about around school confirmed. The demonic boy with the angelic blond hair, a gang boss.

Eiji knew that American gangs were similar to what Japanese referred to as yakuza. Yakuza were more invested and rare than gangs, but the comparison rocked Eiji’s perspective. His sweet Ash, with happiness so infectious and joy unburdened, could not be a part of murderers or addicts (or a sickening combination of both).

Still, it befuddled Eiji that Ash Callenresse, steely political science student by day, was a perpetrator of the very system he was sworn his education to. 

“Wha-I, he, I do not, Ash?”

Skipper nodded, eyes laid on the boy with the whirling mind.

“Why?”

Skipper drew closer, a thought constructed on his tongue before it was spoken.

“He was forced to, technically,” Skipper explained. “He doesn’t talk about it a lot, but I know that he works under the man that raised him.” 

“Oh…” 

So it wasn’t Ash’s choice. It made Eiji feel slightly better about Ash’s morals, considering that his heart, no matter how much his initial shock had jumped, still beat with Ash’s. 

“Look,” Skipper started putting a sincere, passionate gaze onto Eiji. “Ash is still a good person. He doesn’t enjoy what he has done. He’s just trying to survive. Besides, he looks out for people. He understands the weight of a life better than anyone here. Just, don’t let what he does change how you think of him. He’s still Ash Callenresse, but he also has to be Aslan Lynx sometimes.”

The belief behind the child’s eyes was not lost in the translation of his words. In all honesty, it left Eiji a little starstruck, because this strange child who he had just met was preaching mature truths. Truths that Eiji believed, no matter how misshapen they looked. 

The door opened and several large men stepped in, the man with the fake blonde hair towering over them with a victorious grin on his face. 

“Show time kiddies.”

________________________________________

Ash stood in the middle of the street where his bar was, pockets in his jacket, gun around his jean loop. Shorter was also there to oversee that Arthur didn’t do something stupid and get Eiji and Skipper (who they had learned had gone missing) back safely. 

Two cars came screeching up, Arthur climbing out of the first one, a smile across his face as the two boys flopped out of the second car.. Eiji looked up and saw two people with unmistakable hair, one, a golden sunlight, the other, a highlighter purple.

Ash… 

Two goons pulled Eiji off of the ground, Skipper being manhandled up to his feet.

Eiji…

The two looked unharmed, but Ash’s eyes found Eiji’s for a second before flitting back to Arthur, standing proud of his stupidity and successful.

“So Lynx, ready to sell your soul away?”

“But first, weapons,” Shorter instructed.

Ash threw his gun and switchblade away immediately. Eiji’s gaze laid across Ash, a horrified comfort to remind him why he was here, at 1:30 in the morning, on the edge of the city that never sleeps. With the growing weight of  Ash’s attention on Arthur and his followers, they begrudgingly compiled and threw up their various killing instruments. 

“Now send them over,” Ash ordered, not moving an inch since he had thrown his only means of protection. 

“You first,” Arthur bite back.

“You both walk over at the same time,” Shorter pressed, trying to prevent the violence from breaking out before they can get the two innocents away from Arthur. 

Arthur nodded and his lackeys pushed the two boy away. Ash walked over in sync, getting closer but feeling like he was pulling further apart from Eiji and Skipper. Two people in his life that were his dose of innocence and fun. 

“Ash…”

Ash’s eye looked startling cold and unwavering, his gaze latched onto Arthur’s sneering face as he stepped forward, unhindered with a gun and switchblade Eiji had never seen. Eiji hesitated as Ash passed him, Arthur’s eyes following the motion of the Japanese boy looking back, watching Ash strut towards something ominous. 

“Eiji...” Skipper whispered, tugging at Eiji’s shirt. 

Eiji followed dispassionately, staring at Shorter, whose eyes traded a concerned yet point glance before keeping an eye on how Ash slid into the backseat of the car. Once Shorter stepped towards Skipper and Eiji, a lackie dashed up to grab the remaining weapons and darted back into a car. The three watching with an indescribable yearning as both of Arthur’s cars screeched away and into the cloud of the night.

Chapter Text

Ash sat silently in the back, feeling the eyes on him reflected off of the rearview mirror. He put his hands in his pocket, his finger brushing against something small and metallic. 

The trade was done. Eiji and Skipper were safe and Ash was on his way to his death at Arthur’s hand, something that the vengeful man had been itching to do since Ash not only destroyed his future but his ability to shoot anything. Ash was supposed to be accepting his death, that he as the sacrificial lamb about to be lead into God’s pasture or whatever crap he believed nowadays. 

But Ash sure as hell wasn’t going to Arthur quietly. 

He just needed to keep Arthur from killing him too soon. He followed how focused Arthur was on Aslan’s misery, welcoming him to his torturous death with a sick grin as he pushed an old warehouse door open. Ash walked into the hellish den of lions as the small, cunning lynx who was facing opponents stronger and taller than him, including the filth that went as Marvin. 

“You look as fat as ever,” Ash drawled, Marvin’s lips wet curving wickedly. 

“I forget how much I love your voice, Aslan.”

Ash suppressed the shiver as many horrible sensations snaked down his spine. Instead, Aslan kept his eyes trained on Arthur’s movements. It was all up to Arthur if Ash survived this ordeal. 

The musty, old expanse of floor space looked to be the corpse of a factory. Long dead and rotting away, picked off by scavengers and desecrated, once working organs eroding into heaps of materials. The stifling silencing of a promised death was perfectly retained in the dilapidated walls, something that set Ash uneasy.

While Ash considered his life pointless for how horrible it had been, he could confess another small, newborn beat of his heart wanted to live through this. It use to be that he would throw himself on top of any bomb, damn the consequences, so that the people involved survived, but enough had been duds to have come this far. In all honesty, his time buried in academics and spent with someone who expected nothing in return helped fuel the small bit of hope that he could have a life apart of this. He wouldn’t call where he was now a life, because what he did, as a gang leader, as a prostitute, as an object for sex, wasn’t a life worth living. It was an existence. 

But he had to exist now to live later. 

He didn’t stop Arthur from venting his tortured thoughts onto Ash’s ears. The anger that came when you believed that you have been unequivocally wronged. The sweet praise of others that made his loses sicker. Under all of his bitter words and hate, Ash could pick out how Arthur loathed the security in Ash that affirmed him of who he was and how sure he was of his place in the world. Aslan knew that Arthur was in a limbo where he could make something of himself, rise above others, be remembered and cherished just as Aslan had been. What Aslan only knew was how his poisoned mind labelled his sureness from the actions of the people (or demons) that used him, not himself. 

Broken words turned to breaking limbs, but Ash still remained passive as he took the punch to the cheek, the four kicks to the ribs, the crack of something in his chest, the splitting skin across his body. He let Arthur have his sick idea of fun, let him feel powerful now while the lifeline burns a hole in his pocket. 

“I didn’t know how delicate a flower you were, Lynx,” Arthur sniggered, kicking him as Ash crumpled into himself and groaned.

“Enough. It’s my turn for some fun.”

The voice didn’t belong to Arthur, that was for sure. It snaked out of the throat of someone who had years of smoking to thank for the gravel of his words. 

It wasn’t until Ash heard the dirty clink of a fasten and the slap of a belt that, no matter how many times he had heard that sound, sent his heart into overdrive.

Despite the crippling pain in his body, Ash feet scraped across the ground, moving away from the approaching predatory in a weak effort to delay the horrible inevitable. Ash’s eyes peeked up and only saw Marvin blotting out the light with his overweight rolls, standing above his wounded prey and smiling like it would make a delicious meal.

Than it was over. 

Gunshots in the distance interrupted the crowd’s entertainment as they looked around for direction in Arthur’s words. Arthur, however, was too engrossed with his anger to realize how much of a fool he had been to let Aslan Lynx live for so long.

“How did they find us!?” Arthur shouted, spinning around to the entrances but hurtling his words into Ash. 

The doors burst open and people in fitted black clothes yelled and flashlights strobing between the various gang members, who were all spiraling into panic. Arthur started shooting, so the other followed suited, uncaring that Marvin had snuck back into whatever abyss of hell he had been born in and that Ash still vulnerable, trying to squeeze his way out from the battle zone.

Ash knows exactly why he hates that stench of blood. Everyone’s blood has an overwhelming, betraying smell of iron that ingrained itself into your sinus. The substance was so toxic that only the harshest chemicals could erase its existence, and psychologically speaking, it was indestructible. Water and cloth could never get rid of red, tacky liquid across his hands. It constantly dripped from his hand, leaving a trail of bodies and miseries.

While the acrid dusting of gunpowder and that horrible blood filled his nose, he braced his body for anything. He was at the complete mercy of the Fates, karma, God, Allah, whatever deity played with his life, as he sat there along the edge of the firing, waiting for something. A bullet to the heart, to the brain, to the knee, to the arm. A switchblade to a throat, a twist of the neck, a pair of hands to the windpipe. A smiting, a death, an end. 

When the silence came, he opened his eyes. 

Ash didn’t know when he closed his eyes or where he went between the gunfire, all he knew was that he was back in reality, the pain pulsing in his body, the smells bleeding into everything on him, as he lay on the floor, taking in the scene.

The silence wasn’t real, because the bodies were still drowning into death and people were shouting commands, but the gunfire was over and that’s what mattered. The SWAT team was picking off protocols and processes while two men in bullet-proof vest. stepped forward. A tall, thin man with auburn hair was accompanied by a squat, fat man with a bald spot and a worn face.

“We’re sorry we didn’t come soon enough,” Charlie spoke, reaching behind to free Ash’s hands from the tight zip ties. 

“It’s fine,” Aslan brushed off with a hard tone, handing him back the tracker in his pocket. “Thank you for this.”

“Don’t mention it,” Jenkins waved off, “As long no innocents were harmed, than that’s that.”

The two detectives were well aware that Aslan was not innocent, but when he called an hour ago about a kid and a college student that were kidnapped, the cops felt that they could come in and spare the kid who put his life on the line for people who weren’t a means to an end. 

“Let’s get you to a hospital though,” Charlie pointed out, taking him under his arm. 

“Don’t touch me!” Ash screamed, lashing out against the touch and unaware of the turned heads. Not only had he almost been sexual assulted, but his body was riddled with hurt, and more pressure was not what he needed. The limb immediately left its position.

“Sorry,” Charlie worried, following behind while they lead the kid to the ambulance that had rung through the city.