There wasn't really a concept in Japanese for coming into a name, but Eiji supposed that somewhere along the line Ash must have, because when the concussive ringing had died from their ears and the blood had been washed away, the blond really did remind him of a very large, bored cat—especially on the hot days.
There were days when the heat enforced a lethargy on the whole city and even tank-tops and shorts were no relief, because there wasn't any breeze, or if there was, the city trapped and diminished it to nothing. On those days, they'd confine themselves to the apartment and make trips to the downstairs store for ice every few hours. In the interim, Ash would sprawl across the couch and no matter how much he attempted to abandon grace for the sake of comfort, still managed to make it seem as if every little shift of motion were planned. Even loosing his balance trying to get as close to their one fan as possible had a deliberately thought out look to it.
The problem with teasing Ash about his little mannerisms was that thanks to osmosis he knew enough Japanese to know when Eiji was trying to be cute. The nick-name "Neko-ojisama" or 'Cat-Prince' had lasted a grand total of ten minutes, before he found most of a still-unmelted bag of ice in his lap. It said something that all Ash had the energy for was to chuckle softly from his nose when on a normal day the exasperated string of Japanese that issued from Eiji's mouth would usually have him bent double.
Later in the evening, when the city had finally begun to cool and one of them would dose off (usually Ash) Eiji would take out his camera and get one or two pictures to finish off a roll and retreat to his closet darkroom to add to the 'Neko Collection'--a private showcase of the blond at his feline best. Eiji's favorite by far was an accidental picture taken of the gang where Ash was quite literally pawing at Shorter's mohawk while perched above him on a set of bleachers somewhere in the projects.
Eiji didn't need to be told that the name Ash Lynx had most likely been bestowed upon the blond in lewd contempt by Dino Golzine. The way he remembered the old man calling him 'wildcat' and the way each harsh syllable of 'Lynx' ground off his tongue was enough to tell Eiji that Ash must have fought like a cornered cat whenever he could, or submitted for as long as he had to in order to gain something akin to freedom. And in that freedom, Ash had taken that name and put more of himself into it than Dino Golzine had ever seen. Perhaps that was why Golzine prized Ash so much. As much as the old lecher wanted to think he owned all of him, more of Ash belonged to Aslan Callenreese. How there could be more was a mystery, the same way it was a mystery and wonder that most cats formed bonds with people. The sense of self-possession had probably saved Ash and by default, Aslan a million times over. It had saved Eiji too, although that went without saying most days. Today was one of them. The pictures, the moments and glimpses Eiji was allowed to capture were thanks enough. Pictures where names didn't matter and whatever fell into the frame when the shutter clicked was as nameless and ineffable as it's most common subject: Ash, Aslan Callenreese, and sometimes, privately Neko-ojisama.