In Cold Blood [Ash Lynx] - Banana Fish

Nine - Glory and Gore

Gripping the glass tightly and swirling the drink around, Ash takes an occasional sip while Cain catches him up to speed since he's been in hospital.

"But, business as usual for us guys, I guess," Cain tells him. The leader of the Black Sabbath gang, Cain lives up to the gang boss stereotype. The tall, stocky man's arms tatted with sunglasses covering his eyes and a gold stud in his ear, he lives up to his nickname —the Black Demon of Harlem.

Cain has a swig of his beer. "But anyway, how is everything? You okay?"

Ash sighs. "You heard it was Lao, right?"

"That guy has had it out for you since the get-go." Cain shakes his head. "He had it coming to him, trying to mess with you."

Shrugging, Ash finishes the dregs of his drink and places the glass down. "I've dealt with worse injuries and I've killed angrier people. He's just another dead by my doing."

"He deserved it, Ash," Cain tells him. "He was a bastard who thought he knew what was best for Sing, but let's just be grateful that Eiji wasn't around. Speaking of, have you spoken to him?"

Ash huffs a laugh. "Of course not, Cain. You know I can't, he doesn't belong in our world. It's for the best if we don't speak."

"But—"

The door of the bar swings open and Sing and a handful of his guys walk inside.

All eyes on them, Cain immediately pulls his gun out, while Ash raises a hand to the gang leader. "It's fine, Cain."

Sing walks over to the pair sat at the bar, his eyebrows knitted together. "Ash, hear me out."

"At least get yourself a drink first." Ash smirks and Sing clenches his fists.

"Listen, Ash. If you want to get rid of me or something then just do it! I can't justify Lao's actions and you need to know that I didn't think he'd go as far as he did." Sing lowers his head. "So I understand if your alliance and trust with us are broken."

Laughing, Ash crosses his arms over his chest. "If I wanted you dead then I wouldn't have saved you from that ledge. I'm alive, let's get over it. I'll only have a problem if you screw me over and you've done nothing wrong."

The corner of Sing's mouth turns up into a smile. "I appreciate it, Ash."

He shrugs. "Besides, I watched him turn on you and leave. You'd already disgraced him before he did anything else."

Sing nods, taking the stool next to Ash at the bar. "You're right, he left in front of everyone and sunk as low as to side with Yut-Lung."

Cain nods. "What's going on with him anyway?"

"He's not after Ash anymore." Sing tells him. "To be honest, he wasn't ever after Ash really, it was to get to Eiji and hurt Ash in the process."

"Slimy devil." Cain grunts.

Ash sighs. "I told you, Cain. Eiji should be out of the picture, at least for a while."

With a tap on Ash's shoulder, Alex hands him a folder of paperwork. "Boss, here's all the info you wanted on Tora. The guys and I spent last night doing it and had a reliable source gives us some more stuff. We'll need to pay them by the weekend."

Ash pats Alex's arm. "Well done, Alex."

Nodding to his boss, Alex returns to the guys at the pool table.

"What's this?" Cain questions.

Opening the folder, Ash raises an eyebrow to the fact file set out by the guys, a photo of Tora on the front page. "Nothing much, just someone I need to look into."