“I won’t lose you too.” (AshEiji plz, bro?)
Bones and Kong treat Eiji’s gunshot wound, miniscule though it may be, while Ash answers a phone call.
Something important, then.
Something to do with why they just got shot at.
... Why Eiji just got shot at.
How long was Ash standing there with the curtains wide open, waiting for someone to prove him right or wrong? How long, before Eiji happened to step into the room?
When Ash comes back in, he already looks different. His expression is dark, but not in the way when he’s angry, or even how he looks when he’s sad. He looks ... defeated.
“Ash?” Eiji asks. Bones and Kong look up, both jumping to attention. “Are you okay?”
“He looks fine, Boss,” Kong says quickly. “It really did barely—”
“Bones. Kong. Leave.” At Ash’s words, the two scurry out of the room.
Eiji frowns. “Ash?”
“I’m okay,” Ash breathes. “I’m okay.”
“I don’t believe you,” Eiji teases, but Ash’s expression doesn’t lighten.
“You’re the one who got shot,” Ash says, grim. “I should be asking you. Are you okay?”
Eiji smiles. “Really, it’s nothing. Whoever is after you has very bad aim.”
Another attempt to improve the mood falls flat, because now Ash brings a hand up to his face and looks down. Hm.
“What is wrong, Ash? Really. You can talk to me, yes?”
Ash takes a breath, dropping his hand back to his side. He sits on the couch next to Eiji, giving his injured shoulder plenty of space. “It’s fine.” He shakes his head and smiles now, but it’s not the right smile.
It’s one of Ash’s Eiji smiles, the ones that no one else really gets to see, but not the carefree one. It’s the one he gives to Eiji when he’s lying. When he wants Eiji to think that things are okay when they’re not. The smile that accompanies overly calm speech and carefully controlled movements.
But it falters, for a moment, and Ash whispers, “I won’t lose you too.”
Eiji blinks. “What?”
But then the smile is back, and Ash waves a hand. A little less movement than if it were authentic. “I’m just worried about you. You were just shot, Eiji. Am I not allowed to worry?”
Eiji takes a breath. “You do not have to lie to me. I know that ... that you have lost many people. But I am here to stay, okay? You’re right. You will not lose me. I will not leave you.”
Ash’s smile softens into something maybe, almost genuine.
“You’re right,” he says, and Eiji can’t find the lie. “I won’t.”
Less than three days later, Ash disappears. It takes Eiji a month to get him back.
Angst/Fluff Prompts
