Chapter Text
Something was going on with the boss. Alex was sure something was up. He didn't know what it was but boss hadn't been around a lot. Sometimes he would disappear and reappear later the next day with no explanation as to where he had been.
Although its not like anyone really had the courage to question him in the first place.
Alex was pretty sure that no one else had noticed the slight shift in Ash, but he did. As the second in command it was only natural that he would notice the shift in his boss's attitude.
It was on Wednesday when Alex finally figured out what was going on with their him.
Alex and the rest of the gang were hanging out in a shady apartment building, when Ash came walking into the room. Everyone froze upon seeing him. Ash however seemed completely ignorant of the tension in the room and sleepily walked into the kitchen, the door swinging closed behind him. Everyone let out the breathe they were holding. It was no secret to anyone that their boss was especially moody when he woke up in the morning.
"He came in this morning around 8." Bones said after a moment of silence. Everyone looked at him. "I slept in the living room last night and i heard him come in." He said after noticing the groups questioning stares.
"That means boss was out all night then..." Kong muttered.
Alex frowned.
That was incredibly dangerous, even for a person like Ash. "What is he doing all night then?" someone in the group asked. "I mean he can't be just making the rounds to make sure no one is messing around in our territory, right? I mean it doesn't take all night for someone to do that." the same person said. They were right about that. Plus Ash had been adamant about everyone going in pairs recently with Arthur messing around.
There was a pause in conversation.
"Do you think hes seeing someone?" Alex blurted out without thinking. He had been suspicious for awhile that something like that was happening but it wasn't like he could ask Ash about it. The guy was very reserved and didn't like people sticking their nose into his business.
Everyone looked at Alex in shock. Their boss? Seeing someone? Impossible. He never showed interest in the girls that hung out at the bar. And there were plenty of girls clamoring over themselves to get to Ash.
Kong frowned. "Why would you say that?" he questioned. Alex shifted and crossed his arms. "Well, I've noticed that the boss has...changed." Alex said slowly. Bones rubbed his chin. "I... think i know what your talking about. I noticed to but i wasn't sure if i should say anything."
It looked like Bones wanted to say more but was hesitating. "What? If you know something you need to tell us." Alex demanded. Bones scratched his cheek. "Well, the other day i saw Boss looking at something in his phone... I didn't get a good look at what it was but i think it might have been a picture of a girl." Bones said.
Everyone's eyes widened.
A girl?
Bones continued, "Yeah, i know weird right? But you should have seen the look on his face it was, i don't know it was soft and fond, like he was in love?" he said.
Huh. Their boss has a girlfriend. That would explain the way he had been acting recently. The boss had softened almost. He wasn't so quick to anger and seemed genuinely happy.
"Oh shit." Alex said.
"The boss has gotten himself a girl."
It had been a few weeks since they realized what was going on with Ash. After they figured out their boss had a girlfriend it was much easier to identify when the boss was in a better mood. It also explained why he had been disappearing in the night, to only show up the next day like nothing happened.
Alex, Kong and Bones were in the living room waiting for the boss and the others to show up for the meeting. Bones was lounging on the couch watching TV when he heard a noise from the kitchen. He strained to hear what it was considering the fact that the TV was playing but he manged to figure out that the noise he was hearing was talking.
Bones got off the couch and tip toed his way to the kitchen door and started to listen. The voice was talking softly to someone on the phone. Bones gently pushed the door so he could get a look at who it was.
Bones inhaled sharply. It was the boss.
Bones bit his lip and considered what he should do. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he failed to hear the two pairs of footsteps walking up behind him. A voice whispered low in his ear, "What the hell are you doing?"
Bones jumped.
He turned to see Kong and Alex staring at him with disapproving frowns. "If he catches you, your dead." Alex stated. Kong nodded in agreement.
"I think he's talking to his girl." Bones replied. That caught their attention. The three of them quickly huddled together placing their ears against the door.
They could hear the boss talking in a soft voice, almost a whisper.
"I'm glad your doing well there. Ibe must keep you busy, huh?" Ash chuckled. He was leaning against the cabinets with his head tilted down. From the angle the three were in they could see the soft look in Ash's eyes.
Ash was silent, probably listening to who ever he was on the phone with. Suddenly Ash threw his head back and let a joyful laugh.
The three peepers eyes widen. They've never seen this before. They watched as their normally stoic boss giggled to himself.
After he manged to stop laughing his face turned serious and the look in his eyes went from joy to sadness.
"I'm sorry."
It was barely a whisper, and if the three of them weren't listening so closely they would have missed it. They watched him let out a loud sigh, shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry we haven't been able to meet up like we usually do. The thing with Arthur has been taken up a lot of my time." Ash said gently tucking a hair behind his ear.
"I know. I know you understand but i still wanted you to know," Ash whispered. The boys leaned in eyes widening, waiting for what their boss was going to say next.
"I miss you."
The three instantly looked at each other in shock. His voice... the longing in it. "I know. Soon when this thing with Arthur is over, we can meet up again." Ash said softly.
They watched their boss's expression change once again. His face turning into a dark look.
"I would never forgive myself if something happened to you." He said. Kong let out a small gasp at the confession and Bones quickly slapped a hand over his mouth so that Ash wouldn't here.
Ash bit his lip, " If anything happened to you... I'd go crazy."
That was when Alex heard the group heading down the hall way. He quickly grabbed Kong and Bones by the back of their collars and drug them away from the door and deposited them on the couch right as the crew came in.
Bones, Kong and Alex looked at each other as the others situated them selves.
"Whoa." Kong said after a long silence. Alex nodded in agreement. "Whoa is right."
Two weeks. It has been two weeks since Bones, Kong and Alex caught Ash talking to his lover. And finally the fight with Arthur has ended. Although not without some injuries. Their boss was injured in the process but thankfully he would be fine. That meant that Ash would go and meet her.
It was decided.
They were going to tail him and see what the boss's girl looked like for themselves.
They had to be careful though. If they were caught the boss wouldn't hesitate in teaching them a lesson. The three of them decided that the best way to handle this would be to wait outside, away from prying eyes and wait for the boss to leave the hideout and follow him from there.
The stars were beginning to come out by the time Ash made his move. Bones had knocked out an hour ago and Kong was starving, really Alex was the only one paying attention. As soon as he saw Ash making his way down the street he woke up Bones and grabbed Kong before making quick work of following him.
Kong was confused.
Why were they at 'Ibe's Shoots'? Why was the boss walking into said business? What business did he have here at a photography joint. Bones and Alex were just as confused but didn't have the time to question it as they hurried inside so that they wouldn't lose Ash. They calmly made their way up the stairs and came to some hallways.
Fuck. Which way did he go?
Looks like they lost him. They better find him before he leaves. The three walked as quietly as possible. It was obvious that no one should be in there, so they had to be quiet. Alex was passing by room 1-A when he heard Ash's voice. He quickly waved Bones and Kong over and peaked through the crack in the door.
It was Ash. His back was facing away from the door and he was talking to someone. Unfortunately though they couldn't see who because the person was much shorter than Ash.
"Hey. Are you ready to go?" Ash asked the person. The person shifted putting something down before answering. "Yeah. I need to pack this up and then we can leave."
Alex's eyes widened. It was a male voice. Not the girlfriend then. Alex couldn't help but be surprised by the fact that Ash even had friends. He wasn't necessarily the friendliest person.
The person turned suddenly. Now they could see him, they realized that the kid was Japanese. He was cute. Objectively speaking, of course. He had dark black hair and even darker brown eyes. They were large and kind as they stared at the boss.
The boy smiled, his eyes softening. "You didn't have to come and get me." The boy said. The boss shifted leaning more on his right leg. "Its dark out, Eiji. That means its dangerous for people to walk around by themselves." Ash could be heard saying. The boy, Eiji, raised an eyebrow and cocked a hip. "Oh? But you made it here just fine." he replied.
Ash's shoulders moved signalling to them that he was laughing. "Yeah, cause I know how to defend myself, unlike you." The boys eyebrows forwarded and his mouth formed into a scowl. "You should treat your elders with respect, Aslan." Eiji said shaking his finger in Ash's face.
The boys gasped. No one had ever talked to the boss like that before, much less using his real name. The boys watched anxiously to see what their boss would do next.
Ash let out a hum. " My bad, I'll try to treat you with the respect you deserve old man." That caused the ebony haired male to pout. Big eyes looking up at Ash in mock hurt. Ash let out a small laugh at the smaller boys face. Eiji smiled softly at his laughing.
"Thank you for coming. I'm happy to see you." Eiji said softly looking up at Ash.
Ash straightened up looking at the male. "Yeah," he whispered "i'm glad to see you too." For a moment the two just looked at each other. Before the Japanese male tilted his head up and fluttered his eyes at Ash. The next thing the boys knew Ash and Eiji were kissing.
They stood frozen as the two lovers kissed. It was broken however when Eiji opened his eyes a little during the kiss and made eye contact with Bones through the crack in the door. Eijis eyes widened in surprise, pushing Ash away with a blush forming on his face.
"Oh! H-hello! I'm sorry, but the building is closed so you'll have to come back tomorrow." Eiji said frowning apologetically at the men. Ash turned around and saw who they were. His face screwed up in anger.
AH SHIT.
The three opened the door and started apologizing for interrupting them. Ash stood with his arms crossed glaring daggers at them as Eiji stood behind Ash with a confused look on his face.
"Ash are these your friends?" Eiji asked curiously looking at the blonde male. Ash scowled. "No, they're apart of my gang. They SHOULD be on patrol but for some reason they followed me here." Ash said eyes narrowing at them. Eiji looked at them,tilting his head to the side as he waited for them to answer.
Alex spoke up first. "Well," Alex started clearing his throat. "We noticed you were by yourself boss and we remembered how you said you didn't want us to be without someone else with us just in case something happened so we followed you to make sure nothing bad happened." Alex lied.
Ash's eyes narrowed into slits. He didn't believe a word that was coming out of Alex's mouth. However before he could chew them out Eiji started talking.
"Oh! That's so sweet! I'm glad Ash has people like you looking out for him!" Eiji said with a beaming smile. The boys flushed. Damn. He was to nice and innocent. No wonder the boss didn't say anything about him, if someone had found out about the boy it would be very easy to manipulate him with how trusting he was.
Ash looked down at Eiji seeing how happy he looked and smiled softly. He turned back towards the boys his smile dropping and turning more serious.
"I'm taking Eiji home and I won't be back until sometime tomorrow. Go start patrolling, we'll talk tomorrow." Ash said. The boys let out a breathe. At least they had until tomorrow before they got their ass kicked. With that the two lover walked out, Ash wrapping an arm around the smaller boys waist protectively.
Alex, Bones and Kong looked at one another.
"Who knew Ash's girl was actually a boy."