A Life Written Alone -Banana Fish-

~12~

"By thoughts I mean simply... chatter in the skull,
And what is reality? No one can say because it isn't words." -Over Thinker

IM NOT DEAD
_____________________________________________________

Eiji choked, "Oh?" His face now sported a sunset red, "And why's that?"

After confirming that the two were indeed alone, Ash's playful smirk shifted into something more sour, more serious, "Eiji, right? ... I uh, I really can't remember much of anything. It feels like... something is inside my head, like it's eating- eating everything away."

The frozen stale air, the grey dust blanketing the floor like winter snow, the empty silence- it all felt dead. "I thought..." Eiji couldn't find the words, "I thought I had somehow imagined it... Please tell me this is some kind of sick joke?"

"No." A chilling wind tapped its cold fingers along the windowpanes, they rattled like bones in protest. "I'm serious. I was hoping that if I went you, I'd find something out. Something in my gut... just told me I should go with you."

Eiji was speechless, how had this happened? Over and over he racked his brain for answers and came up empty. Right now, his new phone looked rather appealing- Eiji wanted nothing more than to call Shorter and get some answers, but he knew that the call would be traced and their hiding spot, revealed. That left only one thing to do...

"Wait."

Ash perked up, "Wait?"

"We wait," Nodded Eiji, "We wait for Shorter to get back, he'll know something about what's happened."

Ash twiddled his thumbs, keeping eyes looking down onto his lap, "You know it's kinda funny, Eiji... I feel like I should be freaking out more, but I'm oddly calm. It's like I don't care that I've forgotten... I wonder.. do I even want to remember?"

Silently, Eiji studied Ash. He had the same wild lemon hair, green piercing eyes and untamed fashion sense- and yet something about him was different. He looked small, vulnerable, nothing at all like the Ash that Eiji had come to know over their brief time together.

"Honestly," Eiji was surprised at how shaky his own voice sounded, "I don't know you all too well, Ash. But.. I do know that you're strong, really strong. A couple days ago... I was about ready to drown in my own loneliness, I owe you my life, Ash. This chaos has given my life some kind of corrupt meaning, and I can't get enough of it. Whatever happens, I'll make sure to find a way to repay you."

Ash scoffed, throwing his head back to look at the flaking ceiling, "That's rather nice of you to say. But it's too bad, really... the one memory I have of you, is pointing a gun at you. I can't help but feel guilty for that, even though I don't remember the context of the situation. It's seems like we both have a debt to repay."

Something strange inside of Eiji made him feel warm, it tingled and fluttered like butterflies in his stomach. Happiness. Eiji was hap-

Ash's stomach growled. Loudly. The two dorks burst into laughter, "Well," Eiji smudged a tear rolling down his left cheek, "I guess we should eat something huh, your stomach sure has something to say about that."

"Shut up," Ash stuck his tongue out like a child, "I literally can't remember when I last ate."

It didn't take long for Eiji and Ash to discover the fridge... and it's lack of contents. Inside were two sad looking apples huddled together in one corner, a carton of milk that had passed its expiry date and a suspicious smelling carrot.

"What is this shit?" Ash pinched the carrot by its green top with two fingers, "And why does this carrot reek of feet?"

Eiji struggled to keep his laughter at bay, "Oh well," he sighed, "Those apples don't look too bad at least..."

"I think I've seen compost more appealing," Ash flung the carrot away, it landed with a thunk somewhere out of sight.

After that, Eiji couldn't help but giggle "Oh come on Ash, don't go making this place a mess. It's not so bad here... at least we have each other..."

Ash just scoffed, "I've somehow lost my appetite, maybe some fresh air would be nice. All this dust cannot be healthy."

And with that, the second worst decision of the day was made. What was the first, you ask? The first... was angering the smelly carrot. The second... was..

"Eiji. Do not move."

The second was...

Angering the raccoon.
________________________________

What's this you say? I haven't updated in forever? You think this chapter is too short?
Well I say we blame the smelly carrot. It clearly wasn't the lazy person's fault. Tbf, I have had a very stressful period of exams, but you've all heard the 'I have a life' excuse too many times, and it's not like I would to lie to you guys or anything ;)

Also, thank you all so much for 8k views- holy cow is that a lot. I hope the Eiji x Ash action somewhat made up for it. And don't worry, there will be more- I'm just a jerk in the way that I don't like characters falling in love at first sight.

Anyways, see you in 17294946 months!