Another Missed Flight

Stage 1: Escaping from the airport

Eiji somehow had a bad feeling. He knew it was a bad idea to fly back to Japan so suddenly and when still injured. But he didn't have a choice. His parents were shocked when they heard the news that he had been shot and nearly died and begged him to come home instantly.

He didn't know what had happened to Ash while he was in the hospital, but he knew that he would blame himself for letting him get injured during the sudden attack. That must also be the reason why he hadn't come to the airport to see him off. He always thought he only put Eiji in danger and that Eiji would never be safe as long as he would be by Ash's side. It was Ash's way to protect him and to make sure that he was safe by not seeing Eiji off himself. Eiji knew that even though no one else apparently did.

But he still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad would happen. But what could he even do? Being tied to a wheel chair he couldn't just leave the airport, go back to Manhattan and look for Ash. Ibe and Max would stop him and as powerless as he was he couldn't do a thing anyway. Ash said he knew how to fly but now he couldn't even walk properly, let alone run. Damn! If he were able to do that he would've already left by now even if he 'd miss another flight. By now he must be on the Japan Air missing flights most wanted watch list or something.

Just when he was about to drown in self-pity he saw Sing walking towards him. But something wasn't right, Eiji noticed right away. Sing tried to hide it but unlike Ash he's never been good at concealing his true emotions.

"What happened? Did you meet Ash? Did you give him my letter?", Eiji asked.

"Yes, don't worry, I met up with him and gave him your letter. Everything's fine."

"You're a lousy liar. Tell me what's wrong. Now, Sing!"

Sing sighed. "Well, I gave Ash your letter and asked him why the hell he wasn't coming to see you off himself. He just said he wanted you to return to your world far away from all the weapons and the violence. He said he wasn't going to see you because he was your friend. But it wasn't the Ash I knew, it was as if he had given up and nothing mattered to him anymore. His whole body was trembling really hard and even I could hear the pain in his voice. It scared the shit out of me, I've never seen him like that.

It's just ... I don't know... I just have a bad feeling, you know?"

"I know what you mean. And I knew that Ash probably wouldn't come. It's his way of protecting me. He thinks it's safer for me without him being here. However, I have the very same feeling. But how am I supposed to leave here? Don't you see the pathetic state I'm in? How can I help you? I can't even walk!", Eiji said in a painstricken voice.

"My motorcycle is parked just outside. The only thing you have to do is hold on to me. Are you ready to get into some more trouble for our favorite bad boy?" he said grinning mischievously.

"That made Eiji actually smile for the first time in days. "But what about Ibe and Max? There's no way they let me go with you!"

"I'll explain the situation to Ash's gang standing over there and ask them to create a diversion for us."

"Ok, then, but that has to be a pretty good one if you want to fool Max. He's pretty observant and clever."

"That's where you come in. You have to distract Ibe and Max by talking to them, ok? Just engage them in a conversation for 5 minutes and draw their attention to you. After that pretend you want to look around at the book store and when I give you a sign meet me at the entrance where you'll ditch that wheelchair for a really cool motorcycle.", he said, a wicked grin on his face.

"All right, Eiji said a smile lighting up his face. Let's pull one last crazy and unforgettable stunt together!"

Well, here goes nothing. Eiji really hoped he could pull this off.

He drove his wheel chair over to Ibe and Max and after some small talk about Jessica and his son he asked Max if he knew what had happened to Ash and the others while he was in the hospital. He had a feeling that Ibe hadn't told him the whole story since he had still been recovering and hadn't wanted him to get upset.

Realizing Eiji couldn't pull a crazy stunt while sitting in a wheelchair, Max told him what he knew: that Foxx had shot Dino and had fought against a still injured Ash and that Foxx had been killed by Dino in the end who then had fallen down the building and had died as well. He also told him how Blanca had shot down the helicopter that was supposed to be Foxx's means of escape and that Ash had saved Sing but had lost the suitcase full of evidence concerning the Banana Fish incidents by doing so.

Eiji was shocked. He really couldn't believe that he missed so much and that Ash had been this close to dying again without him even knowing it. Why was he always suffering this much? Now he was even more determined to go see him again but to do that he had to stay calm and behave according to plan. So after some more talking he told both of them that he wanted to go to the book store to look for some English books for the flight.

They bought his lie easily which made him wonder when he learned to lie like that. Ash must really have rubbed off on him.

When Sing gave him the sign he drove to the entrance around the corner while at the same time something was exploding at the other side and an alarm was going off. Before Eiji knew what had happened on the other side both of them sat on Sing's motorcycle driving downtown as fast as possible.