Outside, the last reach of the sun extinguished from the window sill of their secret hideout. Inside, they were getting ready for their evening mission. This time, the target was a spoiled daughter of a rich politician directly involved in the scheme of contributing the newly developed drug, Banana Fish. They needed her, in her drunken state, to spill out the password to her daddy's safe which contained the detailed contributing system and plan. Lucky for them, they didn't need to go anywhere so far as the young mistress frequently visited a downtown underground club for a drink or a fling, or both. Tonight was one of those nights she liked to enjoy the funky party there.
Ash, while looking into the mirror, pulled his hair back with some hair gel, revealing his forehead. Without being forcefully tugged, some strands just fell naturally on his forehand, giving him (whether intentional or not) the look of listlessness and allurement. He tugged the loose strands on the side behind his ears. Ash was dressed in a yellow oversized T-shirt, tugged into a pair of black jeans with folded cuff at the end. The blue denim jacket was intentionally worn to only come up at his upper arms. A pair of shades hooked on his shirt collar to finish the look of a "wild and stylish university student whose major is music" – the type of guy that the spoiled princess would go to.
Max knocked on the door. Without needing any further approval, he came in, followed by Eiji, Shorter, and Ibe. They were all taken back by his stunning yet "creative" attire. Of course, anything suits the beautiful Ash Lynx, Eiji agreed, but that outfit, that outfit was a bit too much.
"Hey hey hey, looking hot, aren't ya?", Shorter laughed. Of course, he was mocking Ash for his current appearance.
"Shut up fucker. It's not my fault the girl hooks up with guys that can't wear the jackets properly." Ash snapped back.
"And guess who is going to be one of those guys?" Shorter pointed his finger at the "wild and stylish university student whose major is music", whispering "you". Eiji snickered. Ash glared at Eiji and turned to Shorter, trying to think of a comeback but Max interrupted him. "That's enough. So here's the plan." He sat down on the coach, located at the centre of the room, waiting for the 3 boys to listen before continuing. "The target's Rachel Collins, 20 years old. She's usually spotted to be with any guy who matches her type description." "Wild and stylish university student whose major is music", Eiji mumbled then giggled, earning himself a death glare from Ash.
"Rachel likes to party with her friends at Mitch's, that's where we are heading, and has the tendency to get real drunk. However, it would be hard to approach her and talk to her alone since she's always with her friends. And asking about the password in front of her friends is just too risky. So, Ash, you have to try to seduce her, take her outside or something after she's drunk. But still, you have to take her back in safely in order to not create any suspicion. We'll be waiting for your text to move on with the plan. Got it?"
"sure sure, got it." Ash rolled his eyes. Max must have explained the plan 20 times by now. He then sat down to discuss further plans regard the password with Max and Ibe and how they should approach the safe afterwards. From a safe distance, Eiji asked Shorter a small voice. "Why does it always have to be Ash who seduces people?" It might have sound like a hint of jealousy however when Shorter turned to look in Eiji's eyes, Eiji was just full of pure curiousity. Well, Eiji, their naïve Eiji might not even realized his own feelings for Ash yet, let alone be jealous. "Can't you flirt with girls, Shorter?" Feeling offended, Shorter quickly answered. "No way, where did you even get that? It's just that… Ash was born with the looks while, I was born with a badass personality, and you know, ladies, they are blinded by looks first but eventually, they will go for the badass." Eiji snorted at the answer. "No way, it's that purple mohawk that's keeping the ladies away."
"Why, you little." Shorter wrapped arm around Eiji's neck and playfully tugged lightly for Eiji to cry out a surrender. "Enough. Stop fooling around like kids.", shouted Ash from the couch. "We have to move out. Shorter, you stay here with the gang and wait for our signal. Keep that airhead safe also."
"Sheesh. Sure sure." Shorter, with one arm still on Eiji's shoulder, waved with his other arm. Their closeness sometime bugged Ash so much and Shorter knew it, by pulling Eiji closer to him. As soon as the door closed after Ash, Max and Ibe left, Shorter leaned in. "Wanna go see how Ash flirts?" He baited, partly wanted to see Eiji's reaction that might lead to his realization of love for Ash and partly wanted to annoyed Ash for calling him "kid" earlier. "What do you mean?" the Japanese boy was confused. "You and I go to Mitch's, without Ash's knowing and see him flirts with girls. Aren't you curious? C'mon, for future reference." Shorter pushed him some more. The image of Ash seducing men and women slowly formed in Eiji's mind. He had heard stories of Ash's charms but had never seen them with his own eyes. Somehow, his heart ached. He didn't want to see Ash doing so, yet, he was curious.
"As long as Ash doesn't know, I guess it's fine?" Eiji sorta agreed and that was all it took for Shorter to pull him out of the door, heading to Mitch's.
Shorter pushed the heavy and sound-proof door and led Eiji into the chaotic club. They navigated their way to a corner table, away from the dancing crowd, in order to get a better grasp what's actually going on and to avoid "accidentally" bumping into Ash during his mission. Eiji could barely see through the fuzzy and blinking disco lights. Tapping at Eiji's shoulders, Shorter pointed at the bar.
"There's Ash and the target", Shorter leaned in and whispered, as if the loud music wasn't enough to mute their conversation. Shorter, well, he just wanted to be dramatic some time. Eiji turned to the pointed direction. There's Ash, gently tugging a few pink strands behind Rachel's ears, while offering her a drink with his other hand. "Damn, he's fast". Shorter was impressed. Ash then came close the mistress' ear to murmur something, something romantic or sexual, Eiji guessed, as he saw how Ash earned a kiss on the cheek. Eiji felt uneasy. Was it because he's too naïve and pure for his age? Probably. Eiji signed. Throughout the night, Ash continuously made moves on the "princess", while showcasing his love-at-first-sight eyes, or at least that was how Eiji saw it. Shorter, on the other hand, secretly smirked at his peer's reaction. This boy needs to realize own his feelings by now. Next, they witnessed Ash's epic flirting skill as he led the target to the dance floor and pulled her into a French kiss. By instinct, Ash, while kissing the dizzy girl, glanced around to make sure there was no one suspecting his action when his eyes landed onto 2 figures. One with the flashy purple mohawk and the other who looked completely out of place.
"Shit… Shit. Eiji, I think he found us." Shorter nudged Eiji as they both made eye contacts with the Lynx. "Oh well, let's get out of here, shall we?" Shorter chuckled, waving at Ash. Eiji just kept staring as if he was in a trance. He didn't know how to process that kiss; meanwhile, he felt his stomach bubbling with some kind of nauseating emotions. Of course, Ash has to kiss the girl so that she would believe him. But he didn't have to do it that… intense, right? Getting no answer from his peer, Shorter turned to look at Eiji, only to find his confused expression. A mix of amazement and frustration. On the other side of the dance floor, Ash, despite being surprised, still managed to charm the girl easily. She rested her head on his chest, eyes filled with lust. Eiji just stopped functioning by then.
"C'mon Eiji, let's get out of here." Shorter swung one arm over Eiji's shoulders, guiding him to the exit. He made the action especially intimate because he knew that would get to Ash. Eiji was still in the phase of lagging, followed Shorter out.
"So, what do you think about that?" Shorter asked, once they were on their way home. "Huh? About what?" Eiji snapped out of his thoughts. "The kiss, Eiji, I'm talking about the kiss. How do you feel after seeing that?" Shorter made it clearer. "Um…. I don't know. Some sort weird feelings…. A bit suffocating, I guess" Eiji answered honestly. "I never felt that way before. Maybe it was because of inexperience?" Eiji chuckled shyly at himself. "It's has nothing to do with your lack of experience, Eiji. It's about how you feel." Shorter slowly explained. "What you felt back then, wasn't it jealousy?"
"Jealousy?" Eiji asked inquisitively, like a child learning new vocabulary. "How can that be jealousy? It's not like I wanted to be kissed by Ash or anything…" Eiji trailed off, as he imagined what it would be like to be kissed by such man. The pinkish tint slowly spread on his face. He was red all over. "Really?", Shorter laughed. Oh god, these two idiots. The whole gang knew about the what's going on between their leader and the foreigner boy; Yet, this idiot right here is still oblivious, and the other idiot just doesn't know how to express his feelings.
"Oh god" Eiji muttered, face-palming. The boy then proceeded to mumble in some kind of gibberish, a blend of English and Japanese. Shorter just stood there patiently, waiting for his friend to work things out for himself.
"Shorter, I think…. I…. I think I'm in love with Ash". You don't say. This whole time, did you actually think that the hugging and the skin-ship between you guys were acts of "just friends"? Shorter didn't voice his thoughts aloud. "You sure?" He asked, with a slight hint of sarcasm, of course he's sure.
"I think so…" Eiji mumbled. "Gosh, Ash's definitely gonna throw me out if he finds out", the Japanese boy suddenly panicked. "He can't find out about this. Shorter, promise you won't tell him." The Chinese guy laughed. "Relax, he's not gonna throw you out. He can't". "What makes you so sure?" Eiji argued back. "At least, he's going to laugh in my face for being 'so sentimental'." "Dude, I'm his best friend. I know you'll be okay. In the worst-case scenario though, if he actually throws you out, you still have me at least. You know I would risk my life to protect you." Shorter assured his friend.
"Geez, thanks" Eiji beamed, yet, still feel unsure about the new "discovery".
/comments: I can't insert paragraph breaks :'( Chapter 2 coming soon ~~