To Love a Gangster

To be at Notion

The subtle slam that enclosed the three of you sent a chilling draft on the nape of your neck, making you shudder with nerves as you faced Ash.

His face was stone cold, still in stoicism with no remaining patience left in his emerald hues. Even Shorter was at a loss of words when you turned to him to find his mouth slightly agape.

At last Ash broke the silence with an irritated click of his tongue. "Well," he began hastily. "I better have a good reason as to why I just exiled on of my members."

You managed to catch your breath of choice words right before they departed from your lips in order to maybe spare your life.

After what you had just witnessed, testing him would be equivalent to walking a tightrope with your life under your teetering feet.

You swallowed and your eyes anxiously fell to Shorter's figure by your side. He too appeared apprehensive behind his shades. His broad visibly tense under thick material was what gave him away.

How would he be able to defend you if even he was at a loss of words against his "best friend?"

At last Shorter cleared his throat interrupting the excruciating silence.

"Ash," he hesitated. To which he responded with an aggressive step forward too close for comfort.

"I don't recall asking you to answer for me," Ash snapped coldly. It was clear that the lynx was beginning to unsheathe its claws as its final warning before he would pounce once again.

To your surprise, a sturdy hand swept you behind Shorter's back clearly taut in defense. It was at this moment where you knew that this conversation would not end the way it started. "You will not talk to either of us like that," Shorter snarled.

You withdrew further as your eyes veered towards the door. Watching Shorter challenge Ash the way he did was like witnessing an act of treason.

"You said that she had information on where Arthur may be," Ash exclaimed.

"I said that she might," Shorter corrected.

The air in the room became suffocatingly dense as the pressure of the world fell upon you. Your eyes cautiously veered back to Ash as he gazed blankly at the two of you. He then began to laugh, but not in an amused way, much rather by expressing his departed sanity by the consumption of mania. You braced yourself for his next move, ready to flee yourself from this room if Ash reached for his pistol again.

However, Ash regained his composure as his face set back into an indignant scowl.

"So she has nothing to give us at all," he retorted harshly. Shorter hesitated but maintained a firm response. "She may not now, but give her a chance, she-"

"Then why'd you bring her here, Shorter," Ash intruded coldly. Even Shorter was taken aback by his best friend's spiteful comment. You felt yourself shrink inside your body. Arthur may not have concluded your existence but Ash just certainly might.

"She can at least relate to you."

"Excuse me," Ash responded threateningly. You caught your breath, you had no predicament of what he meant but you could feel that Ash's wrath was nearing its climax.

"Just hear us out," Shorter pleaded.

"I think we're done here," Ash concluded as he parted the two of you to reach the door. but before he could take his exit, Shorter presumed the unthinkable.

"She's a victim of Dino," Shorter said at last, words spilling out like a breached dam. You were stunned speechless that he without a second thought would spew out such information that left you weak and vulnerable in your stance. Even Shorter seemed to regret his choice of confrontation as he too paled at his own words.

The silence in the room seemed to hush the world and all emotion in between. Yet the tension once present had at last vacated and all fell oddly at ease.

Ash slowly turned around, his face now softened into someone else's as the color on his cheeks paled.

"Is that true," his voice was vacant and phantom-like, as if it were a faint breath of wind and not from his solitary lips parted with dismay

You responded with a singular brief nod, your breath caught within your parted mouth.
Ash's eyes lingered on Shorter's shades with visible fear masking his face, the same feeling that was brought to you when the men you were handed out on a platter to left you defenseless.

Your worries were then interrupted when a new presence entered the room, just barely notable. Yet it wasn't a feeling, it was a person.

You turned your head to be greeted by a small Asian boy standing timidly in the doorway. His worry-coded eyes appeared far too naive for this environment, yet Ash softened his stance at the sight of him.

"Eiji," he consulted almost mutely. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, all is fine," the boy replied gently with a hint of distress. "There was just a lot of commotion earlier."

Ash and Shorter exchanged glances, both now at ease. Ash then walks over to you, coaxing you to stand with Eiji. "Y/n, why don't you hang out with Eiji for a bit while Shorter and I figure something out."

You were hesitant at the thought of abandoning Shorter after the previous episodes of what goes on within the grim side of New York.

However, the boy's demeanor was kindly reassuring as he as he took you by the hand and lead you out the door.