Banana Fish: Retrograde Light — Ash Lynx Cuts Fate
*"You can still make it in time. Stop Banana Fish."*
Ash Lynx wakes from a dream of his own death—blood on his tongue, warmth fading from someone's arms, a quiet breath at twenty-three. But he's seventeen, running a gang of street kids in Harlem, and the dead don't get second chances. So why does the photograph by his pillow show a young man he's never met? Why does the handwriting on the back know about a drug that's supposed to be nothing bu
BANANA FISH: Retrograde Light — Ash Lynx Cuts Fate - Palazzo in the Rain — The Past and the Target, a Crumbling Heart —
The smell of blood is still on my hands.
I wash them. I wash them again. It won't come off.
Ash Lynx sat hunched in the corner of the hideout on the second floor of an abandoned Harlem building, knees drawn to his chest. The windows were boarded shut. Only thin slivers of outside light slipped through the gaps. Dusty air. Somewhere far off, the faint wail of an ambulance.
I killed Shorter.
With these hands.
I slit my best friend's throat with a butterfly knife.
The feel of Shorter's blood going cold in my arms. That sensation still clings to my fingertips. No matter how many times I wash, the red seems stuck to my skin. Ash stared hard at his right hand.
White.
No blood color left.
But the feeling won't go away.
"...Shorter."
His voice cracked.
His throat was dry.
Ash leaned his back against the wall. Looked up at the ceiling. Cracked concrete. A spiderweb hung down from it.
The scene in that warehouse replayed in his head, over and over.
Those hollow eyes.
"Kill him. Okumura, Eiji."
That voice.
Shorter's voice, but not Shorter. Banana Fish. A colorless, tasteless liquid. A demon drug that controls people. A product of madness developed at the mental health center.
That drug drove Shorter insane.
And I killed Shorter.
Ash bit his lip. He tasted blood.
A knock at the door.
Ash didn't react.
Another knock.
This time, the sound of the door opening.
"Hello, Ash. It's been a while."
A low, calm voice.
Ash slowly raised his head.
A man stood in the doorway.
Short silver hair. A neatly trimmed beard. Ice-blue-gray eyes. Over six foot two, heavily built. An old scar ran down his left cheek.
Blanca.
The tutor who had once taught Ash how to fight. Former KGB lieutenant colonel. The one man in this city Ash had ever come close to opening up to.
Ash couldn't speak right away.
Blanca walked slowly into the room. His footsteps were quiet as a cat's.
"Looks like rain outside. This room is as cold as ever."
Blanca spoke while watching the light through the gap in the window.
"...What do you want?"
Ash's voice was low and dry.
"I came to fetch you. Dino is calling for you."
The instant he heard that name, every nerve in Ash's body went razor-sharp.
Dino Golzine.
Boss of the Corsican mafia, the Golzine Family. The man who had adopted Ash, raised him as his heir—and used him as a male prostitute.
"What does he want with me?"
"He says he wants to talk. About your dear friend."
Blanca spoke in the same mild tone.
"About Shorter."
"Yes. And about one other person. A young man named Okumura Eiji."
Eiji.
That name stabbed sharp into the depths of Ash's chest.
"...What about Eiji?"
"He's Banana Fish's next target."
Ash stopped breathing.
The prophetic dream surged back. Eiji collapsing, drenched in blood. Eiji's hands going cold. That dream would become real.
"The Banana Fish administered to Shorter was on Dino's orders. And the next target is your precious Japanese friend. Dino is waiting for you to come back on your own."
Blanca's voice was calm, as if he were discussing the weather.
Ash rose slowly to his feet.
"Why do you know this?"
"Because Dino hired me."
Ash's eyes narrowed sharply.
"You went back to him?"
"Went back—or rather, was called back, would be more accurate. I was asked to bring you in."
"No."
Ash answered instantly.
"I figured you'd say that. But hear me out. You still don't know the truth behind Shorter's death. And if you want to protect Eiji, you have no choice but to meet Dino."
"Why are you telling me this?"
Ash glared at Blanca.
Blanca gazed back at him for a while. Those blue-gray eyes reflected nothing.
"Because I saw it too—the future where you die."
Ash's body went rigid.
"...What?"
"A dream. The same kind of future dream you have. I saw you collapse, covered in blood. It was a very quiet dream."
Blanca's voice seemed to be looking at something far away.
"I don't want to lose you. So I want you to live. And to do that, meeting Dino is the best move. Now is not the time to defy him."
Ash clenched his fist.
"You think I'll do what you say?"
"No, I don't. You've always been stubborn. But this time, think with your head, not your feelings. Think about what's best for protecting Eiji."
Ash fell silent.
Eiji.
Those straight, honest eyes.
"Why are you in a place like this?"
That reckless question.
"I won't leave you alone."
Those stubborn words.
Protect Eiji.
For that, I'll do anything.
"...Fine. I'll meet him."
Ash spoke.
"Wise. Then let's go. I have a car waiting outside."
Blanca started toward the door.
Ash grabbed his black leather jacket. He checked the cold feel of the butterfly knife in his pocket.
"Blanca."
"What is it?"
"If you betray me, I'll kill you."
Ash's voice was cold as ice.
Blanca turned and smiled faintly.
"I knew you'd say that. Relax. I'm not your enemy."
The two left the abandoned building.
Outside, it was overcast. Low clouds hung heavy, the sky ready to break into rain at any moment. Damp wind carried the smell of garbage and exhaust.
A black sedan sat at the curb.
Blanca got into the driver's seat. Ash opened the passenger door.
The car cut through the streets of Harlem, heading south.
Through the window, New York flowed past. Crumbling apartments. Graffiti-covered walls. Vagrants sitting on the pavement. Drug dealers. Everything looked drab beneath the gray sky.
"Palazzo Golzine is on Mott Street in Little Italy. It's a restaurant on the surface, but it's really the organization's headquarters. You know it well, I imagine."
Blanca spoke while gripping the wheel.
"I know it."
Ash answered without looking away from the window.
He never wanted to go back to that place.
He was twelve when Dino picked him up.
You have talent, Dino had said, and raised him as his successor.
But the truth was different.
Dino's property.
A male prostitute.
Those five years were hell.
Ash unconsciously rubbed the old cut scar on the back of his right hand.
"Going back to a place you hate must be hard. But it's necessary."
"What do you know about me?"
"I know what was done to you in that house. I know how Dino treated you."
Ash bit his lip.
"Then why make me meet him?"
"So you can protect Eiji. Dino says that if you come back, he won't touch Eiji. For now, you have no choice but to play along."
"You want me to trust his word?"
"You don't have to trust it. Just buy time. You can do that."
Ash said nothing.
The car entered Little Italy.
Narrow alleys. Cobblestone streets. Italian restaurants and butcher shops lined both sides. The signs were written in Italian.
Then a larger building came into view.
Five stories. Heavy stone construction. On the ground floor hung the sign for the restaurant "La Corsica."
Palazzo Golzine.
Where Ash's nightmare began.
The car stopped behind the building.
"We're here. Inside, I'll be right behind you. Whatever happens, stay calm."
"I know."
The two got out of the car.
They entered through the back door.
A dim corridor. Stone walls. Cold air.
Ash's heart pounded like a drum.
I don't want this.
I'm afraid to set foot in this place.
But it's to protect Eiji.
Ash gritted his back teeth and faced forward.
At the end of the corridor was a large wooden door.
Blanca knocked.
"Dino, I've brought Ash."
A low voice answered from inside.
"Come in."
The door opened.
A spacious office.
A heavy wooden desk. Leather chairs. Old paintings on the walls. Gray light filtered through the window.
A man sat beyond the desk.
Black hair streaked with white, slicked back. Cold gray eyes. Six foot one. An old burn scar on the back of his right hand. A gold cross pendant at his throat.
Dino Golzine.
Boss of the Corsican mafia.
Ash's adoptive father.
And the man who dragged Ash into hell.
Dino looked at Ash and smiled slowly.
"Welcome, Ash. My dear boy."
His voice was refined, theatrical.
"I'm not your boy."
Ash spat the words coldly.
"Still the same. Those defiant eyes. That pride. Everything about you draws me in."
Dino rose from his chair and approached Ash.
Ash stepped back.
"Don't come closer."
"No need to be afraid. I don't want to hurt you. I only want to talk."
"Then talk. Get it over with."
"You killed Shorter Wong. Isn't that right?"
Ash's body jerked.
"That was my order. Administering Banana Fish to Shorter was done on my command."
Ash's vision went red.
"...You did that to Shorter."
"Yes. It was a message to you. I wanted to teach you what happens to the people you care about when you leave me."
Dino spoke, still smiling.
"Your best friend died by your hand. You'll have to keep living with those bloodstained hands. That must be hard. So come back to me. Then you won't have to hurt anyone else."
"...Go to hell."
Ash's voice was shaking.
"I'm serious, Ash. You belong to me. I raised you. I made you a man. Your talent is mine. Your life is mine."
Dino's gray eyes burned with a strange heat.
"Okumura Eiji. That Japanese young man. I know you've opened your heart to him. If you want to protect him, come back to the organization. Become my heir. Then I won't lay a finger on him."
Ash pulled the butterfly knife from his pocket.
He flicked his wrist.
Click.
The blade opened.
"I don't belong to anyone."
Ash pressed the knife to Dino's throat.
The tip touched Dino's skin.
But Dino was laughing.
"You're beautiful even when you point a blade at me. But you can't kill me. If you kill me, you can't survive in this city. Your friends, Eiji—all of them will be wiped out."
Dino's voice was gentle as a lullaby.
"You can't live without me. It's been that way since you were twelve. Your head already knows it."
Ash's hand trembled.
The hand holding the knife.
I want to kill him.
I want to slit this man's throat right now.
But I can't.
To protect Eiji, I can't kill this man.
Ash gritted his teeth.
His teeth ground together.
"...Don't touch Eiji."
Ash spoke low.
"Of course. As long as you do what I say."
Dino's smile deepened, the knife still at his throat.
"You can go home today. But give me your answer within three days. My dear Ash."
Ash closed the knife.
Click.
The blade vanished into the handle.
"...Remember this. I will never be yours."
Ash turned his back.
"You already are mine. You have been since you were twelve."
Dino's voice stabbed into his back.
Ash left the room without looking back.
The moment he stepped into the corridor, his knees nearly gave out.
He braced a hand against the wall.
His breathing was shallow.
His heart hurt.
"Are you all right?"
Blanca spoke from behind him.
"...Of course I'm not."
Ash hung his head, hand still on the wall.
"You endured it well. You're strong."
"I'm not strong. I couldn't say a thing to him."
"You killed yourself to protect Eiji. That is strength."
Blanca's voice was quiet.
"Come, let's go. It's started to rain."
Outside, a cold rain was falling.
Fat drops soaked Ash's blond hair.
"I'll take you to the hideout."
"...No. I'll go back alone."
"In this rain?"
"I want to be alone."
Ash started walking into the rain.
Blanca didn't follow.
The rain grew heavier.
Ash walked the cobblestones of Little Italy.
Wet hair stuck to his face.
His leather jacket grew heavy with water.
But none of that mattered.
I killed Shorter.
On Dino's orders, Shorter was driven insane.
I killed my best friend.
And Eiji is the next target.
I have to protect Eiji.
But I couldn't do anything against Dino.
I only pointed a knife at him.
I couldn't change a thing.
Ash kept walking.
The rain washed the city clean.
Meanwhile.
Okumura Eiji was heading for Ash's hideout in Harlem.
His black hair was soaked, plastered to his forehead. His large eyes wavered with anxiety and resolve.
That night, in the warehouse, Shorter died.
By Ash's hand.
Ash was crying.
For the first time, in front of Eiji, he had shed tears.
Those tears had pierced deep into Eij
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