banana fish - angel eyes

part eight

"..What?"
Eiji wanted to be sure if he heard that right.

"Yes. He... tried to say something, with other words. But I never got him to say what needed to be said and-" Sing thought it was the right thing to tell Eiji a moment ago, but now he's realizing that it might have been a mistake. Eiji reacted differently than he thought he would. He reacted in a way that Sing didn't expect - he seemed much more emotional than he had shown in the past.

Eiji ignored what Sing had said and pushed his arm away aggressively. "How could you or (Y/N) not tell me? How could you just look me in the eye, knowing that you never told me the truth?"

Sing couldn't put into words why he did what he did, but he knew that it was the right thing to do at the time. "Eiji. You were so torn up after you saw the news that Ash went missing. We couldn't tell you. And we.. we thought that we could protect you that way! Please. It would've just done more damage. We're so sorry."

"You two had no right to do that to me? I had the right to know what happened! I thought you were my friend!" Eiji became angry and yelled at him, losing his temper and control. He was so upset that he couldn't even speak. What could have possibly led his friends to do such a thing? It's hard to believe that they would choose to hurt him like that. He trusted them, and they let him down. Eiji spent weeks crying and was terrified that something might have happened to Ash, being so worried that he couldn't go on with his life.

Sing could have at least told Eiji that Ash was alright at the time, given the fact that he had information that he was safe. It would have been more than enough for him. His friends knew what had happened and refused to tell him, knowing that he would be devastated in the end.

"Telling would've not hurt me as much as hiding it from me. That hurts a lot more."

Sing turned away, he felt a deep sadness well up inside him. Eiji had every reason to be angry with him, after all he made a mistake. "You're right. You have every right to be mad at me. If you hate me now, that's fine. I'm sorry. For everything I've done to you. Bye." Sing walked past him and continued towards the door, not sparing a glance in his friend's direction. Eiji grabbed him and hugged him tightly, holding him close as his eyes filled with tears.

"I don't want it to keep hurting." He wept softly, feeling overwhelmed by his emotions. Eiji was still mad at him, but the anger had faded away. "I could never hate you Sing." Sing returned the hug, and it didn't seem strange anymore, since he was now the same height as Eiji.

"One day, it will stop hurting so much. Believe me." he told him.

The next day, the three students had classes, once again. Some students at their college learned that Eiji had been involved with Ash before. Rumors were now spreading around the campus. It was finally time for a break after two long hours of a boring lecture. (Y/N) walked up to where Eiji sat. "Hi." The girl seemed to be scared to talk to him at first, he hasn't spoken to her since the argument between him and Sing.

"So.. Sing told you?"

She refused to meet his gaze, instead looking away. (y/n) is also feeling guilty for her part in making things worse. "I'm sorry too. I really am. It was wrong to do that."

Eiji smiled and looked unaffected despite the pain he was feeling, demonstrating his unyielding spirit. "It's fine. Sing explained it to me. I'm not mad and I completely understand." (y/n) felt a sense of relief. She was worried that he would not want to talk to her anymore, but she was glad that he was still willing to listen.