Banana Fish/Death Note Crossover--2006-2010
Title: "Love Letters"
Fandoms: Banana Fish, Death Note, Death Note--Bodyverse
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing, mentions of other BF/DN characters and OCs
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing, PG-13 this section.
Summary: Ash goes prison, but he and Eiji write letters... for decades... and decades...
A/N: This is the only substantial Death Note crossover chapter.
Teaser: Ash: "It doesn't surprise me one bit that a guy who calls himself 'L' is Japanese."
Letters 1987-1990 and Author's Notes
Letters 1994-1998
Letters 2003-2004
Letters 2006-2010
November 19, 2006
Dear Ash,
Do you hear about "Kira"? It's in the news, so you probably do. This person is poisoning criminals or something, including many people in prison. I worry about you. I hope you're not a target.
I'm kind of ashamed that this person is apparently a Japanese. ("Kira" is the Japanese form of "killer": a good name.) I read a news article that says this person is from Kanto area; this is the area of Tokyo. No one knows how Kira kills people; it's a big mystery. But it's scarier to me that a lot of people approve. Many say Kira is the force of justice. They don't understand the complexity of crime, do they?
I hope you're okay. I have checked with authorities to make sure you are alive, but every day I wonder if you are still okay. I'm glad I'm back in NY, so I can be well informed of the situation of your prison. I would say, "Please be careful," but I don't know how a person protects themself from Kira. Be careful of food maybe? But I guess you have no choice. Be careful anyway.
love,
Eiji
***
December 25, 2006
Dear Eiji,
Merry Christmas! Thanks for the card.
Yeah, the Kira buzz is everywhere. It's interesting. I've been following the investigation as much as I can.
I don't think I'm a target, and I'm not just saying that so you'll feel better. Kira targets people he (almost sure it's a "he") perceives have not been adequately punished, people who got off, or people who got light sentences for heavy crimes. I got life. He's very rarely gone after lifers. Moreover, he emphasizes recent cases. He's gone for some older cases, but not many. My case is 20 years old. He probably doesn't care. This focus makes me think that Kira is pretty young. He just doesn't seem plugged in to stuff that happened a while ago.
Here's some other thoughts:
* I doubt he's poisoning people. How he'd do it all over the world with that precision? A network?
* I doubt he has a network. It's almost impossible to imagine how he'd pull this off without one, but I find even more impossible to imagine him working one. It would probably have to involve some prison guards. These are not super spies or assassins. Sure, some of them could be brilliant, but a world-wide conspiracy? They'd fuck it up and blow the whole game within a week, a month tops.
* His MO is also too standardized to involve a lot of people.
* He kills people by somehow giving them heart attacks. What could do this? Drugs? Sure, but again, how would he administer them? We thought the BF conspiracy was big, but this would be infinitely bigger.
* What else? Electric shock--that's all I can think of. And he's obviously not hooking them up to something. But maybe he has some kind of new technology, something that can trigger a shock by remote? No, I don't know how. If he could do it by remote, theoretically, he might be able to do it all over the world, just by himself.
* He obviously has an in with Interpol. That's the only explanation for how he'd get all his intel.
* Since there's good evidence he's Japanese, Occam says he has an in with the NPA.
* To those guys who say he's God or has some kind of magic, wouldn't that be spiffy?
* They say he needs access to a name to kill someone. Makes sense: he wouldn't want to kill the wrong person. He has a strong sense of justice in an infantile, megalomaniacal way.
I'm enjoying this, Eiji: not the people being killed but trying to get to the bottom of it. Anyway, don't worry about me.
love ya,
Ash
***
February 1, 2007
Dear Ash,
I smiled at your letter. Kira is not funny, but it's great to see you so interested. (Of course, I know you have many interests, but I think you don't write much about them, to me, because I don't know so much about chemistry of AIDS treatments and such things. It's fun to see you write your interests.)
I also take comfort by your explanation that you are not a target. I think you're right.
I guess you hear about the many FBI agents the US is sending to Japan. Everyone is trying to find Kira. I guess you know L is leading this case. I read he has an unbroken track record of success in cases, but he does not catch Kira yet. Maybe you heard about that Japanese TV appearance a few months ago, when a man pretended to be L and Kira killed him on TV. After that man died, the real L spoke on TV in Japanese. He sounded like native. It was very surprising. Both Kira and L are Japanese?
I once told you life was calm and peaceful in Japan, but maybe Japan is very exciting.
What else is up? I will have a new show in two weeks. They are the pictures I took in Thailand last spring. Most are from the same orphanage, and the money I raise will go there. But I will also send some to Doctors without Borders, at the request of Japanese doctor I met in Thailand. I think I mentioned him before? I mentioned we discussed how it is hard to find someone to date, remember? But it is not hard to find Japanese. Japanese are everywhere!
love,
Eiji
***
March 7, 2007
Dear Eiji,
It doesn't surprise me one bit that a guy who calls himself "L" is Japanese. We all know how envious you Japanese are of La Lettre. Seriously, it would have been the easiest thing in the world for him to hire someone else to voice the "real L." But that said, from the recording I've heard, I don't get that vibe. He sounds real; the whole thing's a bit too spontaneous. Which means he's really putting himself on the line, narrowing his identity down from "could be anyone in the world" to native Japanese speakers--male? The gender I'm not sure of, though it would be my guess.
I doubt they sent many FBI agents. Advertising it has the feel of a fakeout.
Yep, I remember the doctor in Thailand. You wrote two pages about him. I kept waiting for you to start dating him. I hope your show went off well. I remember when you first sent those pictures. They really captured something.
Not much new here, except one guy, Tyrone, got killed by Kira. Turned the whole place into nut house for a week or so. I don't know how many times I had to tell people Kira wasn't suddenly going to start killing everyone on our cell block. Tyrone utterly fit the MO: a real bastard in for just five years due to smudgy DNA. Marcus thinks he's next. I keep telling him Kira's attacks don't correlate to race (except for a bias toward attacking Japan and, less so, China, and S Korea). But I can't blame Marcus for going there, considering.
love ya,
Ash
***
April 15, 2007
Dear Ash,
You don't blame Marcus for considering what? I'm nervous that anyone on your block got killed, but you're right it doesn't mean you are especially in danger. I am sorry anyone was killed though, even a real bastard. Maybe DNA was smudgy because he was innocent.
Do you hear that there is another Kira? This one is also a Japanese and an admirer of the first. (I guess that makes sense: if first is a Japanese, other Japanese will feel closer to him.) What do you think about this?
Sing came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. It was strange. It was very fun and also a little sad: on the surface, it was fun. We went to Chinatown and saw Nadia and Michelle (she is so grown up!) and had congee and went to movies and also West Side Story off-Broadway. But it was sad because we used to do all same things (except West Side Story), but we were different people then. We were a couple, not just friends visiting briefly. I thought he seemed sad too. I think it was not just me. Anyway, after we saw WSS, Sing spends a whole day saying things like, "I and Eiji do this and that." Next time, he says he will visit with Ibe-san.
love,
Eiji
***
May 22, 2007
Dear Eiji,
Sorry things were a bit rough with Sing. It makes sense you'd both feel some melancholy; it's like that when relationships end, even if some form of them keeps on going. It sounds like you had a pretty good time though. It'll get easier as time goes by. What possessed you to see West Side Story??
The other Kira is a piece of work. Her (probably a her) murders were an embarrassment to the first one. She kept going after minor criminals that would be beneath his notice (often for "women's issue" crimes, hence my gender guess). She also killed innocents; so does he, but he does it less frivolously. Luckily for him, she appears to be a psycho-admirer, so he hasn't had too much trouble putting a plug in her, so to speak. Unluckily for him, she's a psycho-admirer. I'd like to be a fly on the wall.
The question, though, is how do they both do it? They have the same tech; no one else does. Did they work for the same lab?
L appears to be making no progress, but I'm guessing appearances are deceptive. For one thing, why spout off to the public till the case is closed? The public's not funding him, not directly enough to have a voice. For another, if he were on the rocks, I feel like he'd be louder, trying a stunt like Lind L. Tailor thing. Instead, I sense a cat stalking. No, that's wrong... an eagle, like a thunderbolt. Didn't Tennyson say something like that?
Try not to be too bummed about Sing's visit. Life is like that. Eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow the shit hits the fan again--and again and again. Que sera...
love ya,
Ash
P.S. I meant I don't blame Marcus for considering race to be a motivating factor given the bias in our prison system.
***
June 30, 2007
Dear Ash,
We saw West Side Story because it reminded Sing of gang life enough to be nostalgic but it is a fairy tale enough to not be difficult. I think it is a little bit like gangs of NY crossed with The Nutcracker.
The other day, I watched rerun of Evangelion, a big anime hit of the 90s. In a weird way, it made me think of you. It has teens who have to pilot big mecha to save the world from scary beings. OK, this sounds silly, but it is moving story. These kids have a lot of very hard psychological damage because of so much pressure and danger. I think it is like a metaphor for your teen years.
It also has a funny scene where one guy who is sexy character tries to slip his girlfriend secret message while they have sex by slip it in, well, secret place. This reminded me of that time you kissed me. But we were more successful.
I hear nothing new about Kira except more people are getting killed. I hope this case is solved soon. It is very creepy. A while ago, you said it is "spiffy" some people think Kira is God or has magic power. You think this explanation is silly. I actually think "magic" is not so silly. Remember Sherlock Holmes: when probable is disproved, whatever is still there, even if improbable, must be truth. Kira is hard to explain.
How are you? What are you up to?
love,
Eiji
***
August 5, 2007
Dear Eiji,
Richard Dawkins would whup your ass. Yeah, Kira's hard to explain--so's the origin of life or the reason Laura married W--but that doesn't mean I'm going to resort to "it's magic" any more than I'm going to accept that there's an invisible teapot in orbit around the sun just because I can't prove there isn't.
Speaking of Kira, there have been changes: I think there's another one of them now. More of the victims are corporate types. It's not well publicized, though, takes some reading between the lines. Seems like a small group of individuals, not necessarily strongly tied to each other, who all have the same tech. Maybe the tech could be traced through the corporate murders, but I'm not seeing an obvious pattern that suggests a tie to any high tech company. Puzzling. But not magic.
As for that anime, this is a kids' show?
As for WSS, now I want to see Tony in a tutu.
As for me, nothin'. I read the news and play around with the Kira stuff. Still talking with Dr. Bronson about population distribution and anti-retrovirals. Read 心. That's a good book, but it's too short. Soseki is hit and miss for me. At his best, he's really got the human condition. At his worst, he maunders on about college boys who can't get their shit together in a sort of pre-postmodern way I ain't got much sympathy for. Nothing else except I pulled a tendon last week doing freaking jumping jacks! Getting old, Eiji. But you're getting older.
love ya,
Ash
***
September 13, 2007
Dear Ash,
Evangelion is everybody's show! Shounen (got mecha), seinen (got dark drama), shoujo (got cute boys and girls), josei (career women). My father even likes it.
I think you have read the best of Soseki. His others will probably now seem less good. I discovered a new author. Well, he's old (18th century) but new to me: Akinari Ueda. He also righ writes good stories about the human condition: many different types of people: young, old, men, women. He had a lot of love for mankind.
I start to date someone. Her name is Abbey; she is a PE teacher and track coach. I help out coaching a little. It's strange. I thought I would forget that world so much, but it feels very natural, like riding a bike. I also realize that I still can coach well, even if I can't do sports. But I also feel a little sad that I can't do these things anymore: not just pole vaulting but all physical things. I run slow; I get tired; I do few pushups. As you say, I'm also getting old. But I enjoy it overall, and Abbey is a very sunny person. She has a daughter, Jessie, who is eight and wants to learn le parkour. (It took me like an hour of google to find out how to spell that.) I introduced her to Nadia and Michelle, and she and Michelle became friends!
I like that you work so much to find how to distribute AIDS treatment. It is unfair. You do such good things but you are called a criminal. Sometimes I think I'll try presidential pardon again, but Bush does not like pardons. I miss you.
love,
Eiji
***
***
***
April 19, 2010
Dear Eiji,
Not the same Kira. This guy's a nut job, a typical psycho out to get anyone he considers "impure." Either that, or Original Kira has just gone off the deep end. Or maybe both. I'm reaching the point where it all feels like a big joke.
I'm reaching the point where I wonder if Kira is going to be a default part of society. One gets caught or goes away or loses his magic taser, and another, crazier one just pops up. What bugs me more though--yeah, even more than the Kiras--is the Kira-ites. I can't believe this has become such an uber-cult. Actually, I can. It makes perfect sense, just like Obama keeping the wars going and the US spending more on bombs than schools. All you need to do is follow the smell of human nature: money, fear, herd instinct. Sorry, my view's sounding a bit low. I'm throwing this letter off real fast. Don't take it too seriously.
Don't worry, though. This joint hasn't been hit by the new psycho. He's just not as smart as the Original, and American prisons are a bit off his radar. So I'll be okay.
Rudy died ten days ago. It wasn't Kira, just plain old lethal injection. I fucking hate this joint. Rudy killed that woman, yes: 27 years ago. He wasn't the same man. He wasn't on drugs anymore. He wrote his kids every month on the first of the month, even though they never wrote him back. He could have been someone. This bites; I'm sorry.
Ash
***
May 18, 2010
Dear Ash,
I am so sorry about Rudy. It's crazy that countries still have a death penalty in the time of Kira. Everywhere should abolish a death penalty in protest and also because it's immoral and not deterring and expensive. I'm sorry his kids didn't write back. I guess they were very hurt to have father in prison, but it must hurt him too very much.
One of my neighbors is in Kira's church. I am polite to her and don't talk about it, but it's very scary. She is a nice lady. She has sweet laugh lines and two grandchildren. Just below people's surface, there is no blood or tears.
Sorry, I'm throwing off this letter too. I am preoccupied because of this phone call I got from Sing. He and Akira will get divorced. I'm very upset about this. I feel so sorry for Ming. It's so hard when your parents split up. I also feel guilty because I broke up their marriage. Sing says he can't stay with Akira because he loves me, and he is with a wrong person. I feel bad because I told him Abbey and I broke up. I wonder if that helped him make the decision. I feel so bad for Akira. She was always told she should have been a boy, and now she is losing her husband to a man! This must be such a big smack in the face. I don't know what to say to Ibe-san. I am the home wrecker for his niece!
We both have hard times, ne? I'm sorry to be a bummer when you are already having a hard time. I feel for you, okay?
love,
Eiji
***
June 14, 2010
Dear Eiji,
Sing's decisions aren't your fault. Ming will be fine. Lots of kids come from broken homes and do great. She's got two great parents; she's luckier than a lot of kids out there. It's a tough situation, but divorce happens. People survive. In the long run, Akira will probably be happier not to be with a man who obviously wants to be somewhere else.
Are you and Sing getting back together? You talk like you are, like you're actively involved in his divorce. It's okay if you are. You'd make a great "step-dad" or whatever to Ming.
I'll be okay. I'm still sore about Rudy, but this shit happens in prison. It's prison. I don't really feel like writing right now, so I'm going to cut this one short, but let me know how things are with you and Sing.
love,
Ash
***
July 9, 2010
Dear Ash,
Of course, I am not together with Sing. It would be too crude to steal Akira's husband like that. But I am a little amazed. I always thought Sing was with me because he worried I'm not okay without you. He felt guilty that he didn't handle some things so well in the gang: Shorter's death, Lao's feelings. He felt to blame that Lao attacked you. He felt to blame you couldn't be with me, so he stayed with me instead. When he married Akira, I thought he got over it. I thought he was not so worrying and blaming himself, so he didn't feel that obligation to me anymore.
But I was wrong. All these years, I was wrong. Sing loves me. He wants so much to be with me that he even thinks about moving away from his daughter. This is very scary. A little part of me is happy. This is scary too. I don't know what I should feel. I don't know what I do feel. Love is way too complicated.
Tell me if you are okay, or tell me if you are not. I think I said too much.
love,
Eiji
***
To: eiji.okumura@newhopesfund.org
From: sing71@yowzah.com
Subject: Ash
Sent: July 17, 2010 at 4:21 p.m.
Eiji--
I just got your email. I checked with the police just to make sure there wasn't a mistake. I tried calling you, but your phone was off. Are you ok? Call or email ASAP cuz i'm worrying a lot about you.
I don't know what to say. Kira's been a threat for years, but we all seemed pretty sure he wouldn't target Ash. Hell, he should target me. I've committed lots of crimes and got off with scot free. I can't believe this.
Call me. I'll come to NY as soon as I can get ahold of Akira and drop off M. Don't worry; I'll make it up to her. I need to be there with you.
--Sing
"Letters Continued"
Fandoms: Banana Fish, Death Note, Death Note--Bodyverse
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing, mentions of other BF/DN characters and OCs
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing, PG-13 this section.
Summary: Ash goes prison, but he and Eiji write letters... for decades... and decades...
A/N: This is the only substantial Death Note crossover chapter.
Teaser: Ash: "It doesn't surprise me one bit that a guy who calls himself 'L' is Japanese."
Letters 1987-1990 and Author's Notes
Letters 1994-1998
Letters 2003-2004
Letters 2006-2010
November 19, 2006
Dear Ash,
Do you hear about "Kira"? It's in the news, so you probably do. This person is poisoning criminals or something, including many people in prison. I worry about you. I hope you're not a target.
I'm kind of ashamed that this person is apparently a Japanese. ("Kira" is the Japanese form of "killer": a good name.) I read a news article that says this person is from Kanto area; this is the area of Tokyo. No one knows how Kira kills people; it's a big mystery. But it's scarier to me that a lot of people approve. Many say Kira is the force of justice. They don't understand the complexity of crime, do they?
I hope you're okay. I have checked with authorities to make sure you are alive, but every day I wonder if you are still okay. I'm glad I'm back in NY, so I can be well informed of the situation of your prison. I would say, "Please be careful," but I don't know how a person protects themself from Kira. Be careful of food maybe? But I guess you have no choice. Be careful anyway.
love,
Eiji
***
December 25, 2006
Dear Eiji,
Merry Christmas! Thanks for the card.
Yeah, the Kira buzz is everywhere. It's interesting. I've been following the investigation as much as I can.
I don't think I'm a target, and I'm not just saying that so you'll feel better. Kira targets people he (almost sure it's a "he") perceives have not been adequately punished, people who got off, or people who got light sentences for heavy crimes. I got life. He's very rarely gone after lifers. Moreover, he emphasizes recent cases. He's gone for some older cases, but not many. My case is 20 years old. He probably doesn't care. This focus makes me think that Kira is pretty young. He just doesn't seem plugged in to stuff that happened a while ago.
Here's some other thoughts:
* I doubt he's poisoning people. How he'd do it all over the world with that precision? A network?
* I doubt he has a network. It's almost impossible to imagine how he'd pull this off without one, but I find even more impossible to imagine him working one. It would probably have to involve some prison guards. These are not super spies or assassins. Sure, some of them could be brilliant, but a world-wide conspiracy? They'd fuck it up and blow the whole game within a week, a month tops.
* His MO is also too standardized to involve a lot of people.
* He kills people by somehow giving them heart attacks. What could do this? Drugs? Sure, but again, how would he administer them? We thought the BF conspiracy was big, but this would be infinitely bigger.
* What else? Electric shock--that's all I can think of. And he's obviously not hooking them up to something. But maybe he has some kind of new technology, something that can trigger a shock by remote? No, I don't know how. If he could do it by remote, theoretically, he might be able to do it all over the world, just by himself.
* He obviously has an in with Interpol. That's the only explanation for how he'd get all his intel.
* Since there's good evidence he's Japanese, Occam says he has an in with the NPA.
* To those guys who say he's God or has some kind of magic, wouldn't that be spiffy?
* They say he needs access to a name to kill someone. Makes sense: he wouldn't want to kill the wrong person. He has a strong sense of justice in an infantile, megalomaniacal way.
I'm enjoying this, Eiji: not the people being killed but trying to get to the bottom of it. Anyway, don't worry about me.
love ya,
Ash
***
February 1, 2007
Dear Ash,
I smiled at your letter. Kira is not funny, but it's great to see you so interested. (Of course, I know you have many interests, but I think you don't write much about them, to me, because I don't know so much about chemistry of AIDS treatments and such things. It's fun to see you write your interests.)
I also take comfort by your explanation that you are not a target. I think you're right.
I guess you hear about the many FBI agents the US is sending to Japan. Everyone is trying to find Kira. I guess you know L is leading this case. I read he has an unbroken track record of success in cases, but he does not catch Kira yet. Maybe you heard about that Japanese TV appearance a few months ago, when a man pretended to be L and Kira killed him on TV. After that man died, the real L spoke on TV in Japanese. He sounded like native. It was very surprising. Both Kira and L are Japanese?
I once told you life was calm and peaceful in Japan, but maybe Japan is very exciting.
What else is up? I will have a new show in two weeks. They are the pictures I took in Thailand last spring. Most are from the same orphanage, and the money I raise will go there. But I will also send some to Doctors without Borders, at the request of Japanese doctor I met in Thailand. I think I mentioned him before? I mentioned we discussed how it is hard to find someone to date, remember? But it is not hard to find Japanese. Japanese are everywhere!
love,
Eiji
***
March 7, 2007
Dear Eiji,
It doesn't surprise me one bit that a guy who calls himself "L" is Japanese. We all know how envious you Japanese are of La Lettre. Seriously, it would have been the easiest thing in the world for him to hire someone else to voice the "real L." But that said, from the recording I've heard, I don't get that vibe. He sounds real; the whole thing's a bit too spontaneous. Which means he's really putting himself on the line, narrowing his identity down from "could be anyone in the world" to native Japanese speakers--male? The gender I'm not sure of, though it would be my guess.
I doubt they sent many FBI agents. Advertising it has the feel of a fakeout.
Yep, I remember the doctor in Thailand. You wrote two pages about him. I kept waiting for you to start dating him. I hope your show went off well. I remember when you first sent those pictures. They really captured something.
Not much new here, except one guy, Tyrone, got killed by Kira. Turned the whole place into nut house for a week or so. I don't know how many times I had to tell people Kira wasn't suddenly going to start killing everyone on our cell block. Tyrone utterly fit the MO: a real bastard in for just five years due to smudgy DNA. Marcus thinks he's next. I keep telling him Kira's attacks don't correlate to race (except for a bias toward attacking Japan and, less so, China, and S Korea). But I can't blame Marcus for going there, considering.
love ya,
Ash
***
April 15, 2007
Dear Ash,
You don't blame Marcus for considering what? I'm nervous that anyone on your block got killed, but you're right it doesn't mean you are especially in danger. I am sorry anyone was killed though, even a real bastard. Maybe DNA was smudgy because he was innocent.
Do you hear that there is another Kira? This one is also a Japanese and an admirer of the first. (I guess that makes sense: if first is a Japanese, other Japanese will feel closer to him.) What do you think about this?
Sing came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. It was strange. It was very fun and also a little sad: on the surface, it was fun. We went to Chinatown and saw Nadia and Michelle (she is so grown up!) and had congee and went to movies and also West Side Story off-Broadway. But it was sad because we used to do all same things (except West Side Story), but we were different people then. We were a couple, not just friends visiting briefly. I thought he seemed sad too. I think it was not just me. Anyway, after we saw WSS, Sing spends a whole day saying things like, "I and Eiji do this and that." Next time, he says he will visit with Ibe-san.
love,
Eiji
***
May 22, 2007
Dear Eiji,
Sorry things were a bit rough with Sing. It makes sense you'd both feel some melancholy; it's like that when relationships end, even if some form of them keeps on going. It sounds like you had a pretty good time though. It'll get easier as time goes by. What possessed you to see West Side Story??
The other Kira is a piece of work. Her (probably a her) murders were an embarrassment to the first one. She kept going after minor criminals that would be beneath his notice (often for "women's issue" crimes, hence my gender guess). She also killed innocents; so does he, but he does it less frivolously. Luckily for him, she appears to be a psycho-admirer, so he hasn't had too much trouble putting a plug in her, so to speak. Unluckily for him, she's a psycho-admirer. I'd like to be a fly on the wall.
The question, though, is how do they both do it? They have the same tech; no one else does. Did they work for the same lab?
L appears to be making no progress, but I'm guessing appearances are deceptive. For one thing, why spout off to the public till the case is closed? The public's not funding him, not directly enough to have a voice. For another, if he were on the rocks, I feel like he'd be louder, trying a stunt like Lind L. Tailor thing. Instead, I sense a cat stalking. No, that's wrong... an eagle, like a thunderbolt. Didn't Tennyson say something like that?
Try not to be too bummed about Sing's visit. Life is like that. Eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow the shit hits the fan again--and again and again. Que sera...
love ya,
Ash
P.S. I meant I don't blame Marcus for considering race to be a motivating factor given the bias in our prison system.
***
June 30, 2007
Dear Ash,
We saw West Side Story because it reminded Sing of gang life enough to be nostalgic but it is a fairy tale enough to not be difficult. I think it is a little bit like gangs of NY crossed with The Nutcracker.
The other day, I watched rerun of Evangelion, a big anime hit of the 90s. In a weird way, it made me think of you. It has teens who have to pilot big mecha to save the world from scary beings. OK, this sounds silly, but it is moving story. These kids have a lot of very hard psychological damage because of so much pressure and danger. I think it is like a metaphor for your teen years.
It also has a funny scene where one guy who is sexy character tries to slip his girlfriend secret message while they have sex by slip it in, well, secret place. This reminded me of that time you kissed me. But we were more successful.
I hear nothing new about Kira except more people are getting killed. I hope this case is solved soon. It is very creepy. A while ago, you said it is "spiffy" some people think Kira is God or has magic power. You think this explanation is silly. I actually think "magic" is not so silly. Remember Sherlock Holmes: when probable is disproved, whatever is still there, even if improbable, must be truth. Kira is hard to explain.
How are you? What are you up to?
love,
Eiji
***
August 5, 2007
Dear Eiji,
Richard Dawkins would whup your ass. Yeah, Kira's hard to explain--so's the origin of life or the reason Laura married W--but that doesn't mean I'm going to resort to "it's magic" any more than I'm going to accept that there's an invisible teapot in orbit around the sun just because I can't prove there isn't.
Speaking of Kira, there have been changes: I think there's another one of them now. More of the victims are corporate types. It's not well publicized, though, takes some reading between the lines. Seems like a small group of individuals, not necessarily strongly tied to each other, who all have the same tech. Maybe the tech could be traced through the corporate murders, but I'm not seeing an obvious pattern that suggests a tie to any high tech company. Puzzling. But not magic.
As for that anime, this is a kids' show?
As for WSS, now I want to see Tony in a tutu.
As for me, nothin'. I read the news and play around with the Kira stuff. Still talking with Dr. Bronson about population distribution and anti-retrovirals. Read 心. That's a good book, but it's too short. Soseki is hit and miss for me. At his best, he's really got the human condition. At his worst, he maunders on about college boys who can't get their shit together in a sort of pre-postmodern way I ain't got much sympathy for. Nothing else except I pulled a tendon last week doing freaking jumping jacks! Getting old, Eiji. But you're getting older.
love ya,
Ash
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September 13, 2007
Dear Ash,
Evangelion is everybody's show! Shounen (got mecha), seinen (got dark drama), shoujo (got cute boys and girls), josei (career women). My father even likes it.
I think you have read the best of Soseki. His others will probably now seem less good. I discovered a new author. Well, he's old (18th century) but new to me: Akinari Ueda. He also righ writes good stories about the human condition: many different types of people: young, old, men, women. He had a lot of love for mankind.
I start to date someone. Her name is Abbey; she is a PE teacher and track coach. I help out coaching a little. It's strange. I thought I would forget that world so much, but it feels very natural, like riding a bike. I also realize that I still can coach well, even if I can't do sports. But I also feel a little sad that I can't do these things anymore: not just pole vaulting but all physical things. I run slow; I get tired; I do few pushups. As you say, I'm also getting old. But I enjoy it overall, and Abbey is a very sunny person. She has a daughter, Jessie, who is eight and wants to learn le parkour. (It took me like an hour of google to find out how to spell that.) I introduced her to Nadia and Michelle, and she and Michelle became friends!
I like that you work so much to find how to distribute AIDS treatment. It is unfair. You do such good things but you are called a criminal. Sometimes I think I'll try presidential pardon again, but Bush does not like pardons. I miss you.
love,
Eiji
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April 19, 2010
Dear Eiji,
Not the same Kira. This guy's a nut job, a typical psycho out to get anyone he considers "impure." Either that, or Original Kira has just gone off the deep end. Or maybe both. I'm reaching the point where it all feels like a big joke.
I'm reaching the point where I wonder if Kira is going to be a default part of society. One gets caught or goes away or loses his magic taser, and another, crazier one just pops up. What bugs me more though--yeah, even more than the Kiras--is the Kira-ites. I can't believe this has become such an uber-cult. Actually, I can. It makes perfect sense, just like Obama keeping the wars going and the US spending more on bombs than schools. All you need to do is follow the smell of human nature: money, fear, herd instinct. Sorry, my view's sounding a bit low. I'm throwing this letter off real fast. Don't take it too seriously.
Don't worry, though. This joint hasn't been hit by the new psycho. He's just not as smart as the Original, and American prisons are a bit off his radar. So I'll be okay.
Rudy died ten days ago. It wasn't Kira, just plain old lethal injection. I fucking hate this joint. Rudy killed that woman, yes: 27 years ago. He wasn't the same man. He wasn't on drugs anymore. He wrote his kids every month on the first of the month, even though they never wrote him back. He could have been someone. This bites; I'm sorry.
Ash
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May 18, 2010
Dear Ash,
I am so sorry about Rudy. It's crazy that countries still have a death penalty in the time of Kira. Everywhere should abolish a death penalty in protest and also because it's immoral and not deterring and expensive. I'm sorry his kids didn't write back. I guess they were very hurt to have father in prison, but it must hurt him too very much.
One of my neighbors is in Kira's church. I am polite to her and don't talk about it, but it's very scary. She is a nice lady. She has sweet laugh lines and two grandchildren. Just below people's surface, there is no blood or tears.
Sorry, I'm throwing off this letter too. I am preoccupied because of this phone call I got from Sing. He and Akira will get divorced. I'm very upset about this. I feel so sorry for Ming. It's so hard when your parents split up. I also feel guilty because I broke up their marriage. Sing says he can't stay with Akira because he loves me, and he is with a wrong person. I feel bad because I told him Abbey and I broke up. I wonder if that helped him make the decision. I feel so bad for Akira. She was always told she should have been a boy, and now she is losing her husband to a man! This must be such a big smack in the face. I don't know what to say to Ibe-san. I am the home wrecker for his niece!
We both have hard times, ne? I'm sorry to be a bummer when you are already having a hard time. I feel for you, okay?
love,
Eiji
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June 14, 2010
Dear Eiji,
Sing's decisions aren't your fault. Ming will be fine. Lots of kids come from broken homes and do great. She's got two great parents; she's luckier than a lot of kids out there. It's a tough situation, but divorce happens. People survive. In the long run, Akira will probably be happier not to be with a man who obviously wants to be somewhere else.
Are you and Sing getting back together? You talk like you are, like you're actively involved in his divorce. It's okay if you are. You'd make a great "step-dad" or whatever to Ming.
I'll be okay. I'm still sore about Rudy, but this shit happens in prison. It's prison. I don't really feel like writing right now, so I'm going to cut this one short, but let me know how things are with you and Sing.
love,
Ash
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July 9, 2010
Dear Ash,
Of course, I am not together with Sing. It would be too crude to steal Akira's husband like that. But I am a little amazed. I always thought Sing was with me because he worried I'm not okay without you. He felt guilty that he didn't handle some things so well in the gang: Shorter's death, Lao's feelings. He felt to blame that Lao attacked you. He felt to blame you couldn't be with me, so he stayed with me instead. When he married Akira, I thought he got over it. I thought he was not so worrying and blaming himself, so he didn't feel that obligation to me anymore.
But I was wrong. All these years, I was wrong. Sing loves me. He wants so much to be with me that he even thinks about moving away from his daughter. This is very scary. A little part of me is happy. This is scary too. I don't know what I should feel. I don't know what I do feel. Love is way too complicated.
Tell me if you are okay, or tell me if you are not. I think I said too much.
love,
Eiji
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To: eiji.okumura@newhopesfund.org
From: sing71@yowzah.com
Subject: Ash
Sent: July 17, 2010 at 4:21 p.m.
Eiji--
I just got your email. I checked with the police just to make sure there wasn't a mistake. I tried calling you, but your phone was off. Are you ok? Call or email ASAP cuz i'm worrying a lot about you.
I don't know what to say. Kira's been a threat for years, but we all seemed pretty sure he wouldn't target Ash. Hell, he should target me. I've committed lots of crimes and got off with scot free. I can't believe this.
Call me. I'll come to NY as soon as I can get ahold of Akira and drop off M. Don't worry; I'll make it up to her. I need to be there with you.
--Sing
"Letters Continued"