Banana Fish - Another missed flight

Time To Say Goodbye

Sorry for not updating in a while. But the good thing is that I've already written three new chapters 😁 I'll post them over the next weeks. This one is not from Eiji's or Ash's point of view. Because one of my followers reminded me that one character who was the real mastermind behind saving Ash's life was barely mentioned at all since chapter 2. Enjoy!

Never thought I'd come back here.

Standing in front of the hospital's entrance, he could still hear the siren ringing in his ears. Still see the red lights dancing in front of his vision. Still see Ash's pale face lying on Eiji's letter in the public library, his blood and tears mixing in with Eiji's clumsy handwriting. That last image still haunted him, engraved in his memory forever.

After seeing that Ash had been taken care of at that private hospital, Sing hadn't visited again because he didn't want to give away Ash's location to anyone. He had stayed in contact with Eiji, though. That had been more than two months ago. Or maybe longer, he wasn't sure. But even after all that time Sing still couldn't believe that idiot had really done that.

He'll only be killed if he brings it on himself.

This sentence that Cain had said about Ash when they had been sharing a prison cell had never rung truer. But even after seeing Ash's desperation when giving him Eiji's letter, Sing had never expected Ash to do exactly that. Maybe it was because he had looked up to him a bit too much and that had clouded his mind, but he had never imagined that Ash would just give up so easily. Resigning to his fate. Returning calmly to his favorite place without getting help. He had never thought that Ash would go so far and indirectly kill himself. But then again, he had never envisioned Lao trying to stab Ash either, just because of a duel they both hadn't even been serious about...

Anyway, he didn't particularly look forward to returning here, since he wasn't a big fan of hospitals to, begin with. But he didn't have a choice since this was the only secure place where he could say goodbye to both of them.

Eiji had asked him to come by in the afternoon, so here he was. He had asked Eiji if he was sure that was such a good idea, knowing that Ash would disapprove of the idea, worrying someone else could find out their whereabouts. But Eiji had defiantly told him that he didn't care if it was risky and that he wanted to tell Sing goodbye in person. That it would be more than rude to do that over the phone or in some even more impersonal way after all he had done for them. According to Eiji Ash wanted to thank him as well (although it was more likely Eiji had convinced him to do so). And Ash wouldn't stay at the hospital anyway because he would get discharged soon.

Sing could hear the determination resonating in Eiji's voice and realized that he wouldn't change his mind no matter what he said or did. But honestly, he was glad he had gotten the chance to see Eiji and Ash one final time before they would be leaving. Japan wasn't exactly around the corner.

In the meantime, he had been busy dealing with that disaster of a human being called Yut Lung. He had kind of emotionally blackmailed him to ask Blanca if there would be a way to get flawless documents for Ash, such as a passport and an ID card with a new name. Yut Lung got furious at first, eyes burning bright with anger, and refused to do anything for him. Sing had anticipated that stubborn reaction from him, though. He was a pain in the ass sometimes and hard to handle. But he had a soft spot for Sing. And Sing had used that to his advantage. He wouldn't let him off that easily. Not after allying himself with Dino and turning his own Chinese brothers into traitors. He would never forgive him for that, ever!

"Why would I ever do that?", Yut Lung asked, crossing his arms in defiance. "You know I despise both of them." Sing just sighed dramatically, giving him a pitiful look. When he was standing stubbornly like that with crossed arms, Sing was reminded that those two were totally alike. Yut Lung shared the same dark past with Ash and even the same stubborn personality and good looks. And both of them would rather die before admitting how much they had in common. It was so ironic, Sing nearly had to smile.