Ash woke up slowly and pinched his nose. "Uh, my head. I think I have a hangover." He looked over at Yut-Lung. "That was some strong tea."

Yut-Lung glared and Ash smiled. Yut-Lung was tied up in a chair, Shorter aiming a gun at his head. Shorter looked miserable. Ash would have to remember to thank him later. But for now he had other worries.

Ash sat up groggily. "Where's Blanca?"

"Stewing in the back room," Shorter replied. "He has a couple new bruises but he'll live."

Ash raised his eyebrows. "He didn't go quietly?"

Shorter shrugged. "Quietly enough." He glanced at Eiji. "Just wanted to get the point across, is all."

Ash looked at Eiji. He was still asleep on the couch.

"He'll come to before too long," Shorter reassured him as Ash knelt beside Eiji and felt his forehead. "He got the same stuff as you, he just drank more of it."

"Alright," Ash said "Get the prisoners secured. You have the first watch."

Shorter nodded and kept his gun carefully on Yut-Lung as Ash scooped Eiji up in his arms and carried him away.

Eiji felt a cool, gentle hand on his forehead. He knew that touch. He reached out sleepily and his fingers found their way into Ash's hand.

"Are you okay?" Ash asked.

Eiji cracked his eyes open. The world was still swimming pleasantly and he had a touch of a headache. Ash's green eyes watched him carefully. He was beautiful. Eiji smiled softly and closed his eyes.

"I'm fine," Eiji mumbled. "What happened?"

"Yut-Lung drugged us."

Eiji's eyes snapped open. He tried to sit up but had to grip Ash's arm for balance as the world started spinning around him.

"It's okay, Eiji," Ash reassured him. "We're okay. Shorter saved us."

Eiji looked around, disoriented. They were in a bedroom he didn't recognize. It was dark outside. How long had he been asleep?

"It's okay," Ash said and pulled Eiji into his arms. "Shorter's keeping an eye on things. It's okay. Just sleep it off."

He pulled Eiji back in bed and Eiji relaxed and nestled up against his chest. Ash filled him in on what Shorter had done for them.

Eiji was quiet. "Shorter will be kicked out of his gang, won't he?" he whispered.

Ash sighed, "Yes. But he'll alway have a place with me." He smiled. "Don't worry. He'll be okay."

Eiji nodded but his eyes still looked dark and troubled. He turned to look up at Ash, his eyes tracing every feature in the dark moonlight.

"What?" Ash laughed.

Eiji leaned forward and kissed him. He moved to straddle Ash and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Eiji, what are you doing?"

"I-" Eiji looked at him and bit his lip. "I want you."

Ash's hands grabbed his gently and stopped him.

"Normally," Ash said. "That would be irresistible. But Eiji, you're still drugged."

"I'm fine."

Eiji leaned forward and kissed Ash, feeling Ash's breath quicken as their tongues tangled together.

Ash groaned painfully and moved Eiji away from him gently. "Tomorrow, Eiji."

"What if there's not a tomorrow?"

Ash looked up and Eiji's eyes were filled with tears.

"There will always be a tomorrow, Eiji. I promised forever, remember?"

Eiji looked away and slid off of Ash. He curled up beside him and flung an arm over Ash's chest. Ash wrapped his arm around Eiji and pulled him closer.

Eiji lay in the darkness, watching Ash's eyes close and his breathing slow. His face relaxed into sleep. He always looked so peaceful when he slept.

Eiji sat up slowly, careful not to wake Ash as he slipped out of bed.

His bare feet padded silently across the wooden floor as he made his way out of the bedroom and down the hallway. Shorter was sitting in the parlor, scrolling on his phone. His back was to the hallway and he didn't see Eiji as he slipped by.

The door opened and Blanca looked up. Eiji closed the door silently behind him.

"Where is Yut-Lung?" Blanca asked. His face was bruised from where Shorter had hit him.

"Safe," Eiji answered. "He's in the other room, asleep."

"What do you plan to do with him?"

"I don't know," Eiji said. "That's up to Ash."

Blanca scowled and glared at the floor. Then he looked up at Eiji, his eyes studying him sharply. "You love Ash don't you?"

Eiji watched Blanca through the darkness, his expression unreadable.

"I do," Eiji said at last, his voice firm and steady. "I love him, Blanca. And if you do anything to hurt him-"

"You'll what?" Blanca asked. "You'll kill me?"

"Yes."

Blanca stared at Eiji. "You would become a killer for him?"

There was no doubt or hesitation in Eiji's eyes. "I would do anything for him."

He turned and walked back towards the door.

"Love is a weakness."

Eiji stopped in the doorway.

Blanca looked up at him, his eyes dark. "Or haven't you learned that already?"

Eiji turned back, his eyes angry. "Fear and betrayal are weaknesses, not love. You lost your wife and you can't bear the thought of losing someone again. So you hurt and betray anyone who gets too close."

Eiji faced him, his shoulders set. "I am stronger than you, because I can still love."

Blanca shook his head. "You always missed the point. It's not about whether you love them or not, Eiji. It's about them. What happens when you lose them? What happens when you're the one who puts them in danger and they get hurt?"

Eiji turned away. "I will not lose him."

"Even if it means dying beside him?"

Eiji stopped.

"The path you're leading him down… Only death waits down that road. You know that, don't you?"

Eiji turned and looked back.

"You are stronger than me, Eiji. If I had been stronger, I would have left my wife. If I had, she would still be alive."

Eiji was quiet for a minute. He looked at Blanca, his eyes studying him in the dark. "Do you love Yut-Lung?"

Blanca looked up, startled. "N-no, what makes you-"

Eiji's gaze was unrelenting and Blanca had to look away.

"Would you leave him?"

Blanca looked down quietly.

"No," he said at last. "No, I wouldn't."

He looked up as Eiji opened the door. "But like I said, you're stronger than me."

Eiji closed the door behind him.

Yut-Lung jolted from an uncomfortable sleep as the door to his room opened. The ropes that bound his wrists and ankles cut into him painfully and he looked up with a glare as Eiji walked in the room. His robes were rumpled and strands of hair had pulled loose from his cherry blossom hair pin. Even so, he still looked lovely. Like a snake lying in wait.

Eiji looked down at him, his eyes cold and hard.

"What do you want with Banana Fish?" he asked in English.

Yut-Lung blinked in surprise. Then he smirked and shook his head. "You could understand me the whole time, huh? Clever."

Eiji's glare remained hard. "Banana Fish. Talk."

Yut-Lung looked away with a glare. "It's not what you think. It's not some recreational drug; it's dangerous. Golzine wants to use it for profit, but with it loose on the streets…" He shook his head and Eiji caught the slight shudder that Yut-Lung tried to suppress. "None of us are safe while Banana Fish exists."

Eiji watched him for a moment with narrowed eyes. "And if I said I could get it for you… what would you do with it?"

Yut-Lung looked up at him, his eyes hard. "I would destroy it."

He looked at Eiji and his gaze turned curious. "But that's what you want too, isn't it? To destroy Banana Fish."

"Golzine's entire empire needs to be brought down," Eiji said coldly.

Yut-Lung shook his head. "That's risky. Destroying Banana Fish is one thing. Bringing down Dino, that's a suicide mission."

"I don't care," Eiji said. "He needs to be stopped."

"He must have done a number on you, to warrant such hate."

Eiji grit his teeth and looked away. "Dino is a monster. He killed my mother and-" he grit his teeth. "He took everything from me. I won't let him destroy what I have left."

Yut-Lung pulled the cherry blossom pin from his hair and gazed at it in his lap, holding it the way Eiji had held the photo of his mother.

"I understand," Yut-Lung said softly. "They killed my mother too,"

Eiji looked at him, startled. Yut-Lung's eyes were distant and sad and Eiji's eyes softened.

Yut-Lung looked at him, his eyes dark and soft. "I guess we're on the same side, huh?"

Ash shifted in bed sleepily. He reached over but his hand fell on empty blankets. His eyes flew open. Eiji was gone. He scrambled out of bed and looked around the dark room but there was no sign of him.

He rushed down the stairs and saw both of the prisoner's doors standing open. Ash forced back the panic in his heart to calm and brought his body back under control.

He drew his gun and slunk through the dark house towards the parlor.

He cursed under his breath when he saw the body on the floor. Shorter was ridgid like he was paralyzed or in pain. His eyes were wide open in surprise. Ash rushed to his side and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt Shorter's heartbeat.

The hair rose on the back of Ash's neck as the needle concealed within the cherry blossom pin sliced through the air. Ash rolled to the side just in time, raising his gun to fire at his assailant.

His eyes widened. "Eiji?"

Eiji lunged at him again, the needle in his hand. Ash dodged and sprang back as Eiji struck again.

"Eiji, what are you doing? Stop!"

Ash stretched out his hand to stop Eiji. The needle pricked his hand and Ash gasped in pain and sprang back. Eiji stepped back, his posture relaxing.

Ash grabbed his wrist and fell to his knees as the paralytic poison crept its way up his arm.

Blanca and Yut-Lung stepped from the shadows and stood behind Eiji. Eiji looked away, his eyes dark.

"I'm sorry, Ash," he said. "But I won't risk losing you."

"Eiji…" Ash gasped.

He collapsed to the ground, struggling as the paralysis crept up his body. His vision went black and the last thing he saw was Eiji turning away.