banana fish - angel eyes

part fifteen

"..I'll see you soon." Yut-Lung didn't sound surprised at all, given the circumstances. After you hung up, you gave Eiji a concerned look.
His face went blank. "No way. Him too?"

"Shit.. Call Sing. I'm not sure if he's safe."

—

Not even 20 minutes later, Sing arrived at your home. Eiji and you called him repeatedly until he finally answered the phone. After a good minute, he finally came to the realization he was even awake. Yut-Lung almost arrived at the same time. The four of you were now sitting in your kitchen. Your new meet-up point, apparently.

"What did you wake me for?.." Sing groaned, feeling irritated. "I almost fell asleep while driving."

"Apparently, our stalker has burned Eiji's and Yut-Lung's place down." you explained to him. It looked like he was still half-asleep since he didn't show much of an reaction. That also took him a few seconds. You wondered how he even made it all the way here by himself.

The tall boys eyes widened. "..Huh? Are you serious? Am I next?"

You shrugged. "No idea. That's why we called you." This was bad. You just hoped that he won't be the next person to get hurt, or worse. Maybe the boring life you had two weeks ago wasn't as bad as you thought.

"Damn." He heaved a deep sigh and nodded his head. "If I have no apartment tomorrow, we'll know."

You weren't really in the mood for his jokes at the moment. Although you would never admit it, deep down you were truly terrified, you were consumed with fear, a sensation you had not experienced in quite some time. Yut-Lung on the other side, has not said a word since he arrived, which was strange you thought. From not being able to shut up to not saying anything anymore? Then you realized, that's just how he's been lately.

"Let's just deal with this tomorrow then. There's nothing we can do now.. All of you are staying here tonight." you ordered. Nobody said anything for a little bit, until Sing broke the silence. He expelled a gentle cough, drawing attention to himself. "..I'll head out to the backyard for a sec."

"Oh? Why?" Eiji asked, a furrowed brow and a gesture of crossed arms. You glanced at the two, confused. Sing made a valiant effort to appear unaffected and responded as he put on his jacket.

"Maybe because I need some fresh air?"

Now you had to now what this was about, so you also got up from your chair. "I'm also coming. I need some fresh air too." you announced loudly. Sing remained silent and the two of you headed out to your garden.

—

Sing casually pulled out a pack of Marlboro's and a lighter from the depths of his jacket.
"Oh." That's what that was all about. Your brows lifted in astonishment as you exclaimed. "Since when do you smoke?"

One might think that he would take up vaping or similar, but instead he actually became a smoker. Sing exhaled deeply, praying that you wouldn't be mad about his smoking habit. "Don't give me a lecture, please. Eiji already gave me one.." He placed a cigarette between his lips and lit it, exhaling a leisurely stream of smoke.

"I'm not judging. I was wondering since you're just 16, you know." Sing definitely should know better, he's not dumb. Perhaps this was simply just his own way of coping with everything. He merely raised his shoulders, unsure of how to respond. "Not that unusual. These things happen."

The tall boy extended the pack towards you, offering a cigarette. "Sure." you accepted with a grin. Some might say you're a occasional smoker. Well, you kind of were. Sing let out a chuckle. "Oho. And since when do you do it?"

Typically you don't, however today you needed it. "Whenever someone offers me one I never say no."

Sing brushed off the ashes from the tip of his cigarette, and you both shared a moment of silence. It was already three in the morning and no one seemed to be tired yet. The only thing you were thinking about was how you would be the next one in line. Or Sing.

As you were worrying about absolutely everything, your gaze fell upon the ashtray perched upon the window ledge - a delightful pink cat-themed one.

"I even got an ashtray. Here." You grabbed it and put it on the table outside.

Sing smiled at you warmly. "That's a cute one." The two of you took your seats at the garden table. Once you had finished smoking, you started talking again.

"Of course Eiji is gonna judge you. That boy used to be an athlete." You couldn't help but chuckle at the memory of Eiji's former jock persona. There were times when he only cared about winning, until the accident happened. It was difficult to believe that someone as kind as Eiji could also have a bit of an egoistic and jock-like nature. However, you witnessed everything about him during that time in Japan.

"He saw a pack in my bag and.. yeah." Sing rubbed his head, experiencing slight embarrassment. You lightly tapped him with a grin. Eiji would sometimes scold someone in a way that made them feel unimaginably embarrassed. Almost like a mom.

Perhaps you might form a private opinion of Sing in your thoughts, just not as harshly as Eiji would.
At the end of the day, he was only 16 years old and still considered a child. Only difference was that he grew rapidly.

"Well.. I'm not going to judge." you assured him.

"I know."

"Did you hear what Yue said?" Sing suddenly asked. Yeah. You definitely did. Yut-Lung made it a point to make everyone around him suffer whenever he wanted to express something. The words he said remained in your mind.

"Ash Lynx is still alive, (Y/N). He is behind it all."

"That it was Ash who did this? I mean I get why he would do this to him. But why would he do it to Eiji?" he responded. It was not very likely that this person was Ash. Sing still believed that he might be somewhere else. And Eiji, without question, shared the same belief.

"Right? It just.. doesn't make any sense." you agreed quietly and toyed with your hair. Truth was, you haven't given it much thought. After spending a year trying to figure it out, you simply wanted to move forward and stop obsessing over his whereabouts, or what might have happened to him on the night he went missing.

With a tinge of uncertainty, Sing posed the question. "..Do you think that too? That Ash could be alive?"

You shook your head slowly. If you keep thinking about the possibility any longer, you might lose control. The body that was found belonged to him, so who else could it be? Would he ever do this to you or Eiji?

"I don't know what to think. Honestly I don't." There was too much to say that could have caused another argument, so the only response given was that one sentence.

"Maybe Yut-Lung is not that wrong."