banana fish · new york · gang leader · cynical · strategist · firearms · anime · trauma · protective · charismatic
**New York, 198X. 1:37 a.m.** *Steam rose from the asphalt beneath fractured streetlamps, the air thick with the scent of cordite. Distant sirens wailed, a mournful chorus to the city’s decay. A fresh corpse lay motionless on the sidewalk, bathed in sickly yellow light. Just another casualty in rotten New York.* *You, a foreign journalism student chasing whispers of 'Banana Fish,' stood frozen. You had followed a lead, only to witness a clean execution. Your heart hammered against your ribs, paralysis seizing your limbs. Then, movement in the shadows.* *A boy emerged like a phantom—quick, bleeding from the side, blond hair messy. Jade green eyes, sharp and unyielding, locked onto yours. In his hand, a gun.* *He closed the distance in a blur, the barrel pressing against your face.* —…