{ *yeets full tea cup at the wall* 

oops...}

" I want to stay!"

" You can't! Don't you get that you're in serious danger here?! Charlie tells me that they regulate the gangs, but that doesn't make your involvement less dangerous! You could be targeted and killed! What would I tell your parents?!"

Eiji shook his head, seething.

" Don't you get that they've shown me kindness and hospitality in their own way?! How can I just abandon them when they're the most loyal friends I've ever had?!"

Ibe was clearly ready to lose his temper, if he hadn't already lost it by then.

" Eiji! It's final! I'm moving you to another school that will take your foreign exchange terms!"

Eiji stood and slammed his hands on the kitchen table.

" NO!"

" YES!"

" Fine! Then I'll skip school!"

" You wouldn't!"

" TRY ME!"

They stared at each other and panted, and Eiji couldn't believe that he'd been yelling like that. It wasn't like he'd never raised his voice before, but it was hard to find an issue that he would be more passionate about than the one that they were currently on. Something about Ash made him not want to leave, made him want to show loyalty to him. He'd saved his life so many times already!

" I'm not leaving Ash and the others. They get me." He told him sternly, and Ibe held his head and sighed in a stressed manner. He realized in that moment that he couldn't control Eiji and he was going to do as he wanted, being that he was 18 and an adult. He couldn't make that decision for him, even if he was his designated caregiver in the states.

" Fine... but they need to keep you safe."

Eiji pulled out the phone.

" He gave me this... something that I can always reach him on. I told you, he has his people watching over the house to keep us safe. If I move, that doesn't automatically mean we'll be safer, actually, it might make things worse. We're in this now."

Ibe stood, looking down at the breakfast on the table after seeing the expression on Eiji's face.

" I'll drive you to school. What time should I pick you up?"

" Don't pick me up. They'll walk me again. I have work tonight... so I'll have to ask Ash what he wants to do about that, but I'll let you know."

When Eiji arrived out front of the school building, Ash was leaning on one of the pillars and waiting for him already. It had gone unspoken that Eiji would be there at that time and he'd be there to escort him, but Eiji wasn't weirded out by it.

Ibe looked out the window and watched Ash wave him off, swallowing his worries as he drove away. He prayed that Eiji would be safe with him there.

" He doesn't like me." Ash chuckled. " Gee, I wonder what I did."

" I mean... being a gang boss has nothing to do with it I'm sure." Eiji managed to laugh back, gripping the straps of his backpack. He and Ash walked together, drawing whispers from their peers and groups of people. The girls all gossiped about the way the two boys were attached at the hip so suddenly and half of them were jealous. Meanwhile others were just curious about the exchange student and didn't care why Ash stayed by him.

They got to Ash's locker, and across the hall, Shorter left his group of people to come see Ash. He had a lot of the Chinese students in school in his group which included, but was not limited to the property. They basically owned all of Chinatown.

" Ash!" Skip greeted. " I studied for this test!"

" Good job. Get an A or else." Ash teased and Skip stood stiff for a second before joining in on the laughing.

" You bet."

Eiji turned to Ash, wondering what the plan was for later.

" Ash... I have work tonight..." He told him quietly. Though Eiji didn't want to explicitly ask him what to do, he figured Ash would catch the hint.

" We'll get you there, don't worry." Ash assured. It would take time and human resources, but Ash couldn't just tell Eiji to quit his job, especially after he'd been unintentionally involved in this.

He just wondered how long he could keep it up.

...

" What do you know?" Dino asked the teenagers and adult men in front of his desk. He used their combined forces for blending in and diversity. All he knew was that Ash wasn't going to get away with jeopardizing his project. He would eliminate that Japanese boy. That was when all the trouble with Ash had started, when he arrived.

Okay... maybe the old man was beginning to get jealous.

" We have a copy of Eiji's work schedule. He's on tonight. We also have information on a back alley doctor who we believe Ash may be affiliated with."

" Ash will most likely escort Eiji to work with his group. He's suspicious of your intentions with him and his other vulnerable members like Skip..."

" What should we do, Papa?"

" It's simple. Spread his forces thin." Dino smirked to himself. He knew Ash couldn't be in two places at once, and that fact would most definitely work to his advantage. Foolish boy... thinking he could ever get away from him.

...

Eiji skipped practicing his jumps on days that he worked, not wanting to get sweaty before going to wait on people. He also didn't want to show up with wet hair from a shower, and being how thick and heavy his hair was, it would take at least an hour to dry.

As Ash and his group arrived at Eiji's place with him, Ash sent Alex and the others away.

" You want to come in?" Eiji offered to Ash, and Ash's eyes beaded as he couldn't believe what Eiji had just offered. He was a cold blooded, murderous, notorious gang boss... yet... Eiji had just opened his home to him.

" Sure..." Ash said, then turned to Shorter and Skip who were still there. " Would you two mind standing watch while he gets ready?"

Shorter and Skip looked to each other, both of them exchanging a subtle smirk. All they wanted was for Ash to be happy.

" No problem, Boss." Skip replied, saluting him.

Eiji went inside after unlocking the door, letting Ash in. Ash went in and locked the door behind him after seeing Shorter and Skip sitting on the steps together. He trusted that Shorter and he could handle things out there, and if there was a commotion, he would go running. Either way, he turned his attention back to the inside of the home. It smelled like Eiji did, like fresh linen and light scented cologne and air freshener. There were picture frames on the wall which were very dispersed, but still there. The hardwood was nice and the carpet in the neighboring living room wasn't ripped up, as with many downtown New York City places.

" Ibe isn't home right now." Eiji told him, dropping his bag by the door and taking off his shoes. That was a must before heading up the stairs. " You coming?"

Ash snapped out of it, realizing he should've been taking his Converse off as well. He did so quickly.

" Yeah." He replied, following after him as they went up to the upper level. Inside of Eiji's room, Ash noticed how it was similar to his but different in many ways. His room actually had personality and color coordination, whereas his just had black blankets over the curtains to keep people from spying in.

" This is a cute little room..." Ash teased, then sat on the bed. The sheets were soft and welcoming, or at least... that's what he thought. He liked them more than he would've admitted to, since that was a weird thing to be fascinated by. 'Oh hey, Eiji? You have a nice bed. I wanna lay in it.' Yeah, didn't think so. He mentally kicked himself.

Eiji huffed.

" It's a standard American room. Don't you have one?"

" I do... but not with the personality yours has. Mine is a crashing station." Ash confessed, then laid back and kicked his feet up as not to get his socks on the made up covers.

" Oh... I didn't realize." Eiji murmured.

" No, it's fine. You've had a much different life than me."

Eiji grabbed his white button up shirt from the closet and knew that Ash was right about that, but part of him wished that it wasn't so. Ash deserved the same happy life Eiji had been able to lead for all these years before coming to America. He began to wonder how he could give that to him and repay him for everything.

It took a while before Eiji was ready, and they went downstairs. They still had a little time before work, and Eiji decided he should be kind and offer something to eat for Ash before they could hit the road. That's how things were in his country.

" So... what would you like?" Eiji asked as they stood in the kitchen.

" I'm not very familiar with a lot of the food in here..." Ash honestly said as he looked around in the pantry. " When I think of Asian food I think of Shorter's family's restaurant in Chinatown and packs of ramen noodles."

" That's so sad." Eiji shook his head.

" Here we go." Ash smirked, pulling out a bag of potato chips. " I'm all set."

Eiji was so disappointed but he knew they didn't have time to argue about it. As they walked to Liberty Steakhouse with Shorter and Skip, Ash downed the chips and they talked about nonsense. However, after Eiji was inside his work and had thanked them profusely, Ash got the itching feeling that something was up.

" What's wrong?" Skip asked him, and Ash turned around.

" There's someone here." He said. And no... he wasn't talking about all the restaurant goers. He knew something much bigger was going on and he could feel it in his gut. 

After living off of his instincts for so long, he'd come to know exactly when something wasn't right, and this was one of those times without a doubt.

Sure enough, a man approached them soon enough.

" You might regret not having taken out a life insurance policy on him, you know..."

" Who the fuck are you?" Shorter asked, cocking the gun in his pocket and ready to shoot the second he needed to.

Ash thought about who he might've been talking about, knowing for sure that it wasn't Max or Jessica. He had men stationed there and watching them 24/7. Who was the one family member who he didn't have his men watching?

" What did you do?!" Ash raised his voice, and the man only began strolling away. Shorter was ready to draw the gun and make him stay, but then he looked up and saw the security cameras for businesses all along the street. He'd just looked directly into one, and if he outed himself like that, the cops would've had him for murder for sure.

Ash took off running in the direction from which they'd came.

" Ash?!" Skip sprinted after him, followed by Shorter as well.

Meanwhile, Eiji was clocking in inside of the building. He put his timecard in the reader and punched it, then put it back in the bucket. He locked his belongings in one of the lockers and turned around, but he found that the door to the break room was being shut and locked from the inside.

" Hello, Samurai Boy..."

Eiji backed up slowly, then realized he'd hit the wall.

" A-Arthur... what are you doing here?" He asked, reaching into his pocket. Ash's phone was still there thankfully. 

Across town by then, Ash was rushing down the alley toward Doctor Meredith's office, scrambling up the stairs after bursting through the unlocked door.

" Doctor Meredith!" He yelled, kicking open the door to the room at the top. He was greeted by the doctor on the ground with Griff, putting pressure to a wound on his chest which was bleeding. His nurse had a bullet hole in her arm as she tried to assist him.

Ash's eyes pooled with tears as he collapsed to his knees.

" Gr-Griff... what happened?!"

" They busted in on us! They took it and left and when he heard 'Banana Fish' he came out and tried to take it and they shot him!"

Skip and Shorter stood there with wide eyes and they looked at the way Ash had crumbled to the floor. Out of the guys, they were the only ones who knew Ash even had a brother, let alone an alive one.

" Can you save him?!" Ash exclaimed.

" I'm doing everything I can..."

They were trying to stop the bleeding first and foremost, moving him up onto a table so they could get a better working angle. Ash and the others waited outside the room, not sure if they would even be of any use.

" Dino... Dino did this..." Ash stammered to himself, leaning back on the wall after putting up his hood. What else could the old man possibly take from him? Hell, Griff had practically raised him while his real father was drunk half his childhood.

" We're going to get him, Ash. This is too far."

" But... what did he take?" Skip asked. He was still confused about why Dino would've been attacking there in the first place.

" Listen... when the man came to me in the alley, the one Dino had our men kill... he handed me a necklace that contained some white powder. And so I took it here because I didn't know who else could analyze it."

" Ash, what?! Why didn't you tell me?!" Shorter yelled.

" I wanted to know what I was doing with it first! But it doesn't matter! Dino took it back now!" 

" You're saying Dino is working on a drug?" Skip asked, his eyes beading. That was the scariest thing he thought he'd ever heard.

" Yes... it's like LSD... but worse. At least that's what Doctor Meredith said." Ash admitted to them, looking to the side. It was a minute or so later by the time the door opened and Doctor Meredith came out.

" Ash... I'm sorry..." He hung his head. " His injuries were too severe... it nicked his heart..."

Ash stood there with bulging eyes and he wondered if he was going to fall over. His heart stopped and he thought it was over for him, but once that passed, he just felt numb. His older brother was dead... and there was nothing he could do.

That was when his phone started to vibrate from his pocket.

There were only five people in the whole world who had his number... and as he pulled it out, he saw that it was Eiji's number. It would've been the only one that wasn't saved as a contact yet.

" Hello?" He picked up, his voice dull and lifeless.

" Hey, Boss." Was mocked from the other side and Ash's eyes widened.

" You!"

" Ya, me. Condolences for your brother... that's gotta suck." Arthur chuckled.

It was then when Ash realized that Arthur had been the one to take down his brother, and in that moment, the pent up rage in his heart exploded.

" Touch Eiji and I'll rip you into so many pieces a garbage disposal couldn't do better!" He yelled.

Shorter took off after that, not having to be told what to do. Skip stayed with Ash, knowing that Eiji was in trouble, but also knowing Ash wouldn't want him running out in the streets with just Shorter.

" I'm so scared. Dino is the one who wants him, not me."

" You're a dead man." 

{ Ooo things are getting spicy! But RIP Griff. He will be missed...}