Part 3 (conclusion) of No Blissful Ignorance
Title: No Blissful Ignorance, part 3 (Conclusion)
Author/Artist: Amethyst Hunter
Pairing: Ban/Akabane
Fandom: Get Backers
Theme: #2 - “news; letter”
Rating: PG-13 (m/m, language)
Warnings/Spoilers: Semi-heavy canonical references to Akabane’s and Ban’s histories, and manga arcs/characters, all tweaked to suit my purposes.
Notes: The song “Que Sera, Sera” (as sung by Doris Day) is written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. No profit or ownership is claimed by me, I’m only using the lyrics in the spirit of good fun.
- Makubex’s Trium Astral Unlocker is a real data entry - you’ll need a good slow-motion pause button to catch it, but if you look carefully on your TV while watching the anime during the IL arc, you can see a very brief flash of it in a corner onscreen.
- The Biblical verse Akabane references at the end is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 - “To everything there is a season.”
- Ban’s knowledge of the Serpens constellation is courtesy of the Wikipedia entry.
Disclaimer: Don’t own any of the above, the usual blah.
Summary: Akabane and Ban learn of things they’re probably better off not knowing.
--
“Hey, Ban-chan.”
Ban is tempted to ignore his partner’s inquiry, but doing so will only prolong the agony. He offers a noncommittal grunt by way of reply as they watch the traffic on the street below buzz by. It’s been another hard day for the Get Backers, without a job or a yen to show for it.
“Are you okay? You seem kinda quiet lately.” Ginji’s eyes are uncharacteristically somber, but then he can’t help but pick up on the moods of those closest to him.
Ban watches an ant trudge its way steadily along the sidewalk, debating whether to answer honestly or not. He decides on not - no point in upsetting Ginji. Or Raitei, he thinks, suppressing a shiver at the memory of Makubex’s revelation. In a way he isn’t too surprised, because it follows the theories he’s formulated. But knowing what he knows of magical matters, and the type of possession involved, his instincts are telling him there’s bad trouble ahead on the horizon. How many more walking wounded are out there, and what kind of parasites do they harbor?
He shoves the worrisome thoughts away and forces a calm smile for his partner’s benefit. “I’m just thinking over some stuff,” he says at last. “I’ve got a lot on my plate, you know, what with our jobs and this Europe trip coming up...”
Ginji isn’t fooled, but he chooses to play along anyway, if only to make Ban feel better. “Yeah, you’ve been really busy, Ban-chan. Maybe we should take a day or two off, go to the hot springs with Hevn-san and Natsumi-chan and Rena-chan! Or the beach, even...”
“Maybe. I’ll think about it,” Ban says. Then, to head off any further conversation, he abruptly stands back from where he’s been leaning against the guardrail, and tells Ginji, “I’ll be right back. Gonna go drain the lizard,” he says, with a thumb-jerk towards the nearby public restrooms.
“Okay.”
Inside the men’s restroom Ban takes a quick look around to be sure he’s alone. Privacy assured, he sighs heavily and takes up position in front of the closest urinal. He’s almost done when he feels the unmistakable tickle of someone else’s breath against his ear.
“Boo.”
“What the - dammit!” Ban curses a fluent string of mixed languages while he checks to see if he’s gotten any mess on him. Whether by chance or design, he was able to finish without splashing anything around, so he hits the flush lever and storms over to the sink to wash his hands. “What the hell are you doing here?!”
The laughing specter shakes his head fondly. “Ah, give me a break. A man’s gotta entertain himself somehow.”
“In the public toilets? You’re a damn pervert, you know that?” Ban growls, dousing his soapy hands under the water.
The other man sweeps his arm out as he bows. “Like son, like father.”
He can’t argue that. Glowering at Der Kaiser, Ban turns off the water faucet and flicks his sopping hands at the navy-suited figure. The droplets pass through Kaiser’s form as seamlessly as if he isn’t there - which is actually the truth: ghosts know few boundaries limiting their passage from one realm to the next.
“What do you want?”
Kaiser clucks his tongue. “That’s hardly a way to speak to your vater. I know I raised you better than that.”
“Did you?” Ban asks caustically as he searches for the paper towel dispenser and rips off a whole line of them.
“Okay, so maybe I didn’t.” The elder shrugs and leans one shoulder against the wall while he watches his son dry his hands. “Cut me a break, Ban. There were other things going on that you didn’t know about - “
“ - one of which is planning to bite a chunk out of my ass when I’m least expecting it, thanks to all your pals from Babylon Tower,” Ban snaps, throwing the used wad of towels at the garbage can and missing. “Did it ever, just once, occur to you that bargaining with the Beltline was maybe the worst possible way of handling the situation?”
Kaiser’s eyes - a wealthy blue the same as his son’s - turn rigid. “All right. I’ll give you that one. There’s a fair amount of truth in it, I admit. But that doesn’t change the fact that I still loved you and your mother. Everything I did, every plan I’ve ever made, has always been calculated with the two of you in mind.”
“You shouldn’t have bothered,” Ban says bluntly. “Mom sure didn’t,” he adds bitterly.
“You know damn well that isn’t the reason,” Kaiser says coolly, standing away from the wall now. “Frankly, I can’t say that I blame her myself, for reacting the way that she did. But that’s my fault, not yours. I wasn’t honest with her from the start like I should have been and I regret it. If I’d been less of a gutless wonder at the time I’d have laid it all on the line for her straight out, told her about our heritage, the Aesclepius - “
Ban feels his right arm muscles tighten impulsively. He settles for shoving his hands in his pants pockets, grasping onto his lighter for a distraction.
“ - if she’d had a chance to see the reality of our bloodline as opposed to believing all the psychotic crap fed to her, she might not have taken it so badly,” Kaiser is finishing.
“But she did. That’s the truth of the matter,” Ban says, jabbing a finger at the spirit of his long-dead father. “And you weren’t there when she decided to take matters into her own hands and try and drown me like a rat in the bathtub one morning. Who do you think you are that you can just walk back into my life and pretend like we had some good old times, the fuckin’ ghost of Christmas past?”
Kaiser smiles, but his eyes do not. “No,” he says smoothly. “I’m the ghost of shut the fuck up and pay attention if you want to stay alive, kid. Babylon thinks they can crack those gates through sheer force. And you know something? They’re right. All they need is one perfect sliver to wedge the door open.”
He steps closer to Ban, who, though he hates himself for giving in to the urge, automatically backs away. But for a few minor details - Kaiser wears his hair down; Ban prefers to spike his, Kaiser’s nose is slightly longer and he’s taller than Ban (which pisses Ban off to no end); Ban dresses casual while his father flaunts his impeccable taste - it’s like looking into a mirror of himself, a mirror that hints at things he could or could not become...all given the tilt of the balancing act.
Kaiser’s smile is decidedly sinister. “Maybe it’ll be you. You’ve got the power of the Serpent Bearer, after all. Maybe it’ll be someone else - like your walking-battery partner Ginji. Or perhaps they’ll be creative...and pick somebody like a certain transporter - “
“No,” Ban spits out in immediate denial, the possibility too horrifying for him to even consider when confronted directly with it. “Jackal knows too much. They wouldn’t risk him. He’s a part of it, I’d bet good money on that any day, but he’s not one of the main players. It’s something to do with me and Ginji, I know it.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Then that goddamn Voodoo King blew a barn door out the back of my head,” Kaiser replies, none too pleased, as he taps the back of his skull. “Guter Christ, what a mess that was. Of course, Sarai apologized profusely afterwards, once he got back and had a look at the battlefield remains. He’s a good guy, didn’t mean anything by it. His other half’s a bastard twice over, though.”
“Tell me about it,” Ban grimaces. “We’ve been playing tag with the King and his merry minions ever since Himiko’s curse reared its ugly head. Don’t even get me started on that,” he says quickly with a slash of his hand to ward off any comments Kaiser might have on the subject.
His father seems to agree; he nods his head and approaches Ban again, but not as threatening as before. “Your computer egghead friend’s angling for the same fate, or something similar, if he keeps up his antics. Not that I blame him for that either. But you know what they say about curiosity and those of the feline persuasion.” Kaiser starts to rifle through the pockets of his suit jacket; coming up empty, he looks up at Ban. “Got a light for your dear 'ol dad?”
Wordlessly Ban withdraws his cigarettes and lighter and fires two of the sticks up. He passes one to Kaiser, who accepts it with a grateful nod and tokes deeply, eyes closing briefly as he savors the nicotine.
“Ahh. Contrary to popular belief, there is a smoking section in heaven. Just not as big as I’d sometimes like,” Kaiser chuckles. He spots the lighter just before Ban puts it away. “’KY’? I thought you were seeing a transporter, not a tube of ointment.”
“Screw you,” Ban answers. “It used to be Yamato’s. You know, the plunderer I used to run with? Himiko’s older brother.”
“Ah. I remember him,” Kaiser says. “Ran into him upstairs a while back. Can that boy win at cards, I tell you,” he whistles appreciatively.
“Yamato used to work in a casino before he turned snatcher,” Ban says. “He’d take the shirt off you in more ways than one if he could - and he could.” He inhales another hit of nicotine. “Makubex knows the risks. He’s had one run-in with Brain Trust that we know of. Kid has some balls, sticking his nose into the Archive a second time after they tried to kidnap and delete him.”
“Like you wouldn’t have done it if it’d been you in his place,” Kaiser needles, a low laugh rolling on the end of his sentence.
“I’d have done it,” Ban agrees, puffing on his cigarette and blowing a smoke ring into his father’s face. “I just wouldn’t have been so obvious about it. And I wouldn’t get caught, either.”
“You should be more grateful, then, for the danger he’s courting on your behalf,” Kaiser says, not so much as batting an eye at the smoke surrounding him. He draws firmly on his cigarette and gusts a spiraling serpent back at Ban. “It’s not every day that you find out, thanks to a teenaged boy matching wits with a supercomputer and a rabid cabal, that you’re dating a doctor and a demigod at the same time.”
Ban feels cold suddenly, and rubs his arms, reminded of the video he’d seen several days ago. He’d been almost as white-faced as Makubex upon seeing the way that Akabane became a perfectly blank host, triggered by the words voiced by the New Volts leader - words that, as fate would have it, are part of a spell embedded unbeknownst to him into his mind. “I almost can’t believe it - “
“Pretty bizarre, eh,” Kaiser says with a shade of sympathy before his voice turns ominous. “But that doesn’t make it any less dangerous. You know that.”
“Yeah,” Ban sighs.
“So what are you going to do?”
“What else can I do? Deal with it.” Ban scowls at the raised eyebrow his father gives him. “Look, there’s got to be a way around it. I don’t care to spend the rest of my life treading on thin ice wondering if Doctor Jackal or Mr. Hyde is going to be there to greet me when I come home at night.”
Kaiser shrugs. “As a concerned parent, I’d suggest breaking it off entirely, but it’s obvious you’re smitten bad, so I guess it’s a little late for that.”
“You think?” Ban loads his reply with sarcasm.
Kaiser grins. “It was the same way for me and your mom. Love at first fight.”
Ban holds back a laugh and partially succeeds; it comes out as a raspy cough. “Anyway, I couldn’t break it off now even if I wanted to - which I don’t, mind you. We’ve formed a spirit bond. If that connection gets tampered with it could kill one or even both of us.” He notices his cigarette’s about gone and tosses it to the floor, grinding the few smoldering embers to dust with his boot. “I’m well aware that Brain Trust could use that fact to screw with us, believe me.”
Der Kaiser regards him thoughtfully, tilting his head to one side as he studies his only son, his pride, his heir. Finally he says, after relegating his crushed cigarette butt to the floor alongside Ban’s, “In that case, my advice is to go see Maria. Yes,” he presses in spite of Ban’s repulsed glare. “You need somebody with firepower, kid, no matter how much you might think you can bust it alone. Trust me, I’ve been there, done that, got the shirt and the postcard and mailed ‘em myself and all I got in return for my trouble was this lousy souvenir,” Kaiser says as he turns around and points out what is now a gruesome open crater showcasing what’s left of his cranium.
He turns back to face Ban and the wound has resealed itself without a trace of bloody evidence to suggest it was ever there. “I’m serious, Ban. Go to Maria. If anybody will know what to do, it’ll be her. No one I know would fool with a Death Knell - well, no one with a functioning brain, that is,” he adds with an evil smirk.
Ban considers this. His father has a point. If there’s one person in all of Shinjuku who knows her magic, it’s Maria Noches, former grandmistress apprentice to the infamous Witch Queen, last of the great witches of the twentieth century. He isn’t thrilled by the thought of enduring one of Maria’s flamboyant dinners, but at present, it’s the only option he’s got.
“I’ll think about it,” he concedes to his sire.
“Hn,” Kaiser snorts, knowing that this is the best compromise he can get for now. He starts to say something more, but their conversation is interrupted by the door to the restroom flinging open and a harried-looking businessman rushing towards one of the urinals. While the man makes his deposit, Kaiser leans in closer to Ban.
“Keep me posted.”
“Yeah,” Ban mumbles, wishing his dad didn’t get such a kick out of freaking mortals out sometimes. He hates looking stupid in front of other people and talking out loud to thin air guarantees more than a few odd stares from passerby.
Kaiser slaps him companionably on the back. “Tell Paulie I said hi, too. He still burying his nose in those newspapers of his?”
“Does he ever do anything else?”
Kaiser laughs. “Hey, now. Boy used to be prime trim in our day. Who do you think made the Get Backers’ reputation as solid as it is? We didn’t earn it from sitting around all day with our thumbs up our asses scribbling with crayons on posters, let me tell you that!”
“Listen, old man, I don’t - “ Ban breaks off as he realizes there’s an unwelcome third pair of ears inviting themselves to the party. He turns and shoots the staring businessman a glare of pure acid. “What the fuck are you looking at?!”
Kaiser joins in, his growl only slightly less abrasive than his son’s. “Yeah, what the fuck are you looking at, jackass? Piss off!”
The man can’t see or hear him, of course; his wide-eyed jaw-dropping is for Ban’s eyes only. But Der Kaiser is not without his considerable talents even in the netherworld, and he takes full advantage of them to send out an icy mental suggestion that perhaps it might not be such a bad idea to heed the wisdom of minding one’s own business, a-s-a-p. Obediently, the man scuttles out the door of the restroom a second after he receives the impulse fired at him like a poison arrow.
“Look at that. Didn’t even wash his hands after he flushed. He’s probably looking at several million worth of microbes there from the door handle alone. You have any idea how foul that is?” Kaiser complains.
“Maybe he would’ve, if you’d given him enough time to do it before sending out your heebie-jeebie vibes,” Ban says.
Kaiser grins unrepentantly. “I’m a dead man walking. Giving others heebie-jeebies is my job now.”
“And cleaning up the confusion created by spooks like you is mine, so we’re even,” his son retorts.
“Nobody’s perfect.”
Father and son size each other up one more time, then by mutual unspoken agreement dissolve into shared laughter from the sheer absurdity of their encounter with the nosy businessman. In rolling with life’s punches, sometimes it’s best to just laugh as the blows come.
Eventually Kaiser’s mirth settles, and he bums one more cigarette off Ban as he begins to vanish, his image steadily blurring with the smoke into a cloud that’s indistinguishable from either ghostly ether or air pollution.
“Well, at least we can agree on one thing, kiddo.”
“What’s that?” Ban asks, watching his father retreat to the mysterious realm he now calls home instead of the Beltline.
Kaiser is smiling again, but his eyes tell a different story than his mouth. “Your grandmother sure fucked us up royally.”
--
“So good of you to come, Doctor,” the girl in the white dress says as her colleague enters the room. It’s the weekend, and although activity in this place never ceases, it does tend to observe the scheduling rituals of its test subjects. She is gratified by his willingness to put in some overtime and meet with her even on what ought to be his day off; he is ever the professional who works hard.
“I thought it best, seeing as how I received your message. Was there something urgent you wished to share with me?”
“Nothing too pressing today,” the girl says, watching him smooth a hand down the length of his white coat. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
“No thank you.”
“As you wish. I only wanted to remind you of the upcoming layout our team had drawn up. I’d like to hear your thoughts on it when you’ve finished your review. If you have any suggestions, now is the time to relay them while we’re still able to affect the outcome.”
“Certainly.”
She idly plays with the ear of the rabbit doll in her arms. “I should like to ask you once more. Are you certain you won’t reconsider your objection to the director’s opening? Your name was not submitted without due cause, I assure you.”
“It would appear that such is not the path for me,” Dr. Kuroudo Akabane says, shaking his head. “I appreciate the esteem, though.”
Strategy is discussed briefly and plans are arranged, and then Akabane smiles a knifelike edge and asks, “Who reopened Lazarus?”
The girl stops in the act of pouring a cup of tea. As if she were a wind-up toy granted movement with the twist of a key, she lurches into action again, setting the cup down carefully on its saucer and turning to stare at him. “I beg your pardon?”
Akabane continues as smoothly as though nothing has happened. “As I understand, someone is playing a very dangerous game. Who is it?”
The girl’s eyes crystallize into hard beads even as her voice remains level. “I am not privy to that information at this time. We are aware that the project has remained active indefinitely; however, for the time being, we do not have the luxury of making any adjustments, considering our investments elsewhere.”
Akabane’s smile folds into chilling focus. “I have investments I’d like to protect too. This game is fast ceasing to hold any future appeal for me. Before I set foot upon the chessboard, I want to know who has been loading the dice.”
“So that you can eliminate them?” she asks without censure.
“A professional always finishes his job.”
“A professional also knows when to fall back and study the greater picture before engaging. You know as well as I do that certain liberties must be taken in order to fulfill the destiny as it was projected,” she replies in tones sharp enough to match his.
“Liberties, yes. Interference I won’t tolerate. They made their bed of thorns. Now let them lie in it.” Akabane’s eyes freeze over into glacial amethyst. “Tell them, Hakase-san. I’ve been patient, and I’ve been polite, and I’ve let their previous attempts off with nothing more than a stern warning.” His voice hardens further, tongue slicing each word off with deadly precision. “This is officially the final one they’ll have. After this it gets bloody.”
The quiet following this frigid declaration is sharp enough to snap bones.
Akabane speaks again, his voice and smile returning to their typical graces. “I have another appointment I must keep, so if there is nothing further to discuss, I shall take my leave of you now. Do have a pleasant afternoon.”
The girl in the white dress doesn’t say anything as he exits her office, though the flat red of her pupil-less gaze roasts a hole in his back.
Later, Akabane meets up on the outskirts of Mugenjou with his escort, whom he’s pleased to see has obeyed his strict instructions not to wander off and is sitting placidly on a concrete slab, amusing himself by conjuring static electricity to make various pieces of small refuse stick to him.
“I hope you weren’t kept waiting too late, Ginji-kun.”
Ginji shakes his head. “I didn’t know you were gone that long.” His concentration disrupted, the clinging items fall from his shirt to the ground. He gets up and walks - not too far from, but not too close either - beside the wraith of black coat that is Akabane.
“Well, it was a minor bit of business. Nothing very exciting,” Akabane says cheerfully as the pair make their way through the mazes toward the Lower Town exits. “It was very kind of you to accompany me on this trip.”
Ginji nods. “You look kind of happy, Akabane-san.” His eyes narrow. “You didn’t...have to do...anything...did you?”
Akabane smiles and pats his arm. “Not this time, Ginji-kun.”
Ginji heaves audible relief. “Good.” He pauses, and then asks, “How come you wanted me to come with you on a transport delivery, anyway?”
“I thought it would be a fun outing for you, seeing as how Midou-kun is off meeting with a client for the day,” Akabane answers sweetly. “Besides, I enjoy the pleasure of your company.”
Ginji looks surprised. “Really? But there’s no battles around for you, and I thought you liked that sort of thing.”
“Midou-kun says we don’t have to battle to have a good time.” An intrigued note hums in Akabane’s throat as he muses. “I think, perhaps, he may be on to something.” He looks up and smiles at Ginji. “How curious, don’t you think? That I should be enjoying myself with you, and not a single act of aggression in sight from either of us.”
Ginji brightens. “Yeah. Kind of like friends just hanging out.”
Akabane stops suddenly, watching the blond Get Backer with hooded yet warming eyes. “Are we friends, Ginji-kun?” he asks softly.
Ginji hesitates, stopping and turning around to look at him. He tries not to take too long to think the question over, knowing the other man’s predilection for impatience. “Uh...I...I guess so,” he says finally, holding just shy of meeting Akabane’s eyes outright. “If you don’t try to kill me during our retrievals,” he quickly adds.
Akabane smiles. He picks up his pace where he left off, and Ginji joins him. “I have to make some effort to stop you when we’re on assignment, Ginji-kun,” he explains gently. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be proper. Wouldn’t you agree that you’d feel compelled to do the same if our positions were reversed, and I was carrying something you had been hired to take back?”
Ginji scowls despite the understanding. “I guess,” he mutters. “Just - why do you have to be so good at it?”
Akabane laughs, a hearty thrum of smooth current that surrounds them. “We’re both good at it, Ginji-kun. Why do you suppose that is?”
“Because we’re professionals,” Ginji announces as if on cue.
“Precisely.”
“But it’s not nice, what you do to the enemies in the course of a job,” Ginji reminds him with a little growl.
Akabane gives him a grim look. “Some enemies you shouldn’t be nice to. Being nice can get you killed.”
“But friends don’t try to hurt each other like that!” Ginji argues, somewhat heatedly.
Akabane stops again, his eyes dark with a sad affection as he studies the man who was once a fearsome, merciless Emperor over all he surveyed. “Ginji-kun, there is a saying that my mother taught me when I was a young boy. I’ll paraphrase it for your benefit since it’s rather lengthy.”
He pauses, and then recites the verse with perfect elocution. “‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun. A time to be born and a time to die; a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.’ You and Midou-kun knew this balance when you first met each other, even if you didn’t realize it then. Sometimes the crossroads we walk offer only such contentious decisions. You still must choose your path. Not choosing is a choice in itself as well. You’ll understand this someday, I’m sure.”
Ginji looks almost like he’s going to cry now. “But my friends don’t usually want to kill me,” he says, confused. “Do they? Even when there’s a mission involved?”
Akabane comes closer to him, gently placing a gloved palm on his shoulder. “Perhaps not consciously. Even if it were so, it doesn’t mean that they don’t still care for you in their own way. But they must decide for themselves whether or not that friendship is something worth seeking above their intended objective. Friends are human, but they are also professionals who must fulfill their duties too.”
Ginji looks at the ground, his arms hanging loosely by his sides like those of a limp marionette. His eyebrows squiggle like caterpillars as he struggles to make sense of Akabane’s words. “I could feel it, when we had our fights,” he says. “Makubex. Juubei. Masaki. Yukihiko. None of them really wanted to kill me. But something in them made them feel like they had to do it anyway. Some larger purpose...”
Akabane nods. He slips his hand from Ginji’s shoulder into his hand, and squeezes it carefully. “A friend is also someone who will be honest with you when you cannot face truth on your own. Such pain can bring terrible suffering, but also great reward. Never forget that.”
Ginji looks up at him, a subdued smile brimming at his lips. “Ban-chan sounded just like you, when he told me I had to challenge Kaoru to get her to spare Sakura from her flame seal. He said I couldn’t go easy just because of nostalgia.”
Akabane’s smile is light, encouraging. He lets go of Ginji’s hand and adjusts his hat. “Midou-kun is very wise, isn’t he? Truly a worthy battle genius.”
“But a kind one,” Ginji points out. “You know it too, don’t you, Akabane-san? You’re easier to be around ever since you guys got together.”
“Why, Ginji-kun,” Akabane teases. “Are you saying that I wasn’t hospitable company before I met Midou-kun?”
Ginji’s eyes fly wide open and he hastily holds up his hands. “No, no! Well, err - I just meant - I didn’t mean - what I was trying to say is - “
Akabane’s amusement never wavers as he watches him tongue-trip over his words. Finally he takes pity on the stammering retriever. “It’s all right, Ginji-kun. I know what you meant. I’m flattered by your trust, truly, I am.”
Ginji is too stunned to reply at first, especially when Akabane suddenly leans in to give him a slight embrace. Slowly, his arms make a painstaking effort to return the hug. He pats Akabane’s back awkwardly, unsure of the correct etiquette in socializing with a transporter with a penchant for part-time homicide. They separate before the touch becomes too uncomfortable, and he looks at his sometime nemesis with equal curiosity. “You’re not mad at me?” he wonders aloud.
“Of course not,” Akabane says, as utterly charmed by Ginji’s baffling innocence as he’s enamored of Ban’s elusive temptations. “Friends can choose to forgive each other’s failings as well.”
“That’s true,” Ginji says, perking up as he thinks of all the ones he’s reconciled with since leaving Mugenjou for good. He considers for a few minutes, and then offers, “I guess...that sort of makes you my friend?”
Akabane fairly beams at him. “I would like that, Ginji-kun. I would like that very much indeed.”
“Just as long as you remember who your friends are when you go up against any retrievers in the future,” Ginji says, his voice laced with imperiousness. “If you really care about someone, you want them to be happy no matter what. Even if - especially if - you don’t believe in their choices.”
Akabane nods as they fall into step once more. “I hope you know that I take you quite seriously regardless of the circumstances, Ginji-kun. I would certainly appreciate it if similar generosity was returned to me.”
“I’ll think about it,” Ginji promises. “Akabane-san - “ He’s about to ask another question when he catches the muted sounds of a now-familiar refrain. “What’s that song you keep humming?”
“It’s my favorite,” Akabane tells him. “Have you ever heard the entire version of it? I could sing it to you, if you like. Or you could sing it with me...”
Ginji is noticeably delighted by this, since Ban claims he can’t carry a tune if it had a handle and forbids him to join in the choruses when the car radio’s playing. “Okay.”
In the corridor they’re traveling, Akabane starts off the first verse, and shortly thereafter Ginji takes over as they trade off lyrics. Akabane is feeling quite in a good mood, despite the ultimatum he just issued on his visit to the City, and this peculiar peace lends a new richness to his vocals as they waft along the walls of Mugenjou in his and Ginji’s wake:
“When I was young, I fell in love
I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead
‘Will we have rainbows, day after day?’
Here’s what my sweetheart said:
‘Que sera, sera’
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be...”
--
Author/Artist: Amethyst Hunter
Pairing: Ban/Akabane
Fandom: Get Backers
Theme: #2 - “news; letter”
Rating: PG-13 (m/m, language)
Warnings/Spoilers: Semi-heavy canonical references to Akabane’s and Ban’s histories, and manga arcs/characters, all tweaked to suit my purposes.
Notes: The song “Que Sera, Sera” (as sung by Doris Day) is written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. No profit or ownership is claimed by me, I’m only using the lyrics in the spirit of good fun.
- Makubex’s Trium Astral Unlocker is a real data entry - you’ll need a good slow-motion pause button to catch it, but if you look carefully on your TV while watching the anime during the IL arc, you can see a very brief flash of it in a corner onscreen.
- The Biblical verse Akabane references at the end is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 - “To everything there is a season.”
- Ban’s knowledge of the Serpens constellation is courtesy of the Wikipedia entry.
Disclaimer: Don’t own any of the above, the usual blah.
Summary: Akabane and Ban learn of things they’re probably better off not knowing.
--
“Hey, Ban-chan.”
Ban is tempted to ignore his partner’s inquiry, but doing so will only prolong the agony. He offers a noncommittal grunt by way of reply as they watch the traffic on the street below buzz by. It’s been another hard day for the Get Backers, without a job or a yen to show for it.
“Are you okay? You seem kinda quiet lately.” Ginji’s eyes are uncharacteristically somber, but then he can’t help but pick up on the moods of those closest to him.
Ban watches an ant trudge its way steadily along the sidewalk, debating whether to answer honestly or not. He decides on not - no point in upsetting Ginji. Or Raitei, he thinks, suppressing a shiver at the memory of Makubex’s revelation. In a way he isn’t too surprised, because it follows the theories he’s formulated. But knowing what he knows of magical matters, and the type of possession involved, his instincts are telling him there’s bad trouble ahead on the horizon. How many more walking wounded are out there, and what kind of parasites do they harbor?
He shoves the worrisome thoughts away and forces a calm smile for his partner’s benefit. “I’m just thinking over some stuff,” he says at last. “I’ve got a lot on my plate, you know, what with our jobs and this Europe trip coming up...”
Ginji isn’t fooled, but he chooses to play along anyway, if only to make Ban feel better. “Yeah, you’ve been really busy, Ban-chan. Maybe we should take a day or two off, go to the hot springs with Hevn-san and Natsumi-chan and Rena-chan! Or the beach, even...”
“Maybe. I’ll think about it,” Ban says. Then, to head off any further conversation, he abruptly stands back from where he’s been leaning against the guardrail, and tells Ginji, “I’ll be right back. Gonna go drain the lizard,” he says, with a thumb-jerk towards the nearby public restrooms.
“Okay.”
Inside the men’s restroom Ban takes a quick look around to be sure he’s alone. Privacy assured, he sighs heavily and takes up position in front of the closest urinal. He’s almost done when he feels the unmistakable tickle of someone else’s breath against his ear.
“Boo.”
“What the - dammit!” Ban curses a fluent string of mixed languages while he checks to see if he’s gotten any mess on him. Whether by chance or design, he was able to finish without splashing anything around, so he hits the flush lever and storms over to the sink to wash his hands. “What the hell are you doing here?!”
The laughing specter shakes his head fondly. “Ah, give me a break. A man’s gotta entertain himself somehow.”
“In the public toilets? You’re a damn pervert, you know that?” Ban growls, dousing his soapy hands under the water.
The other man sweeps his arm out as he bows. “Like son, like father.”
He can’t argue that. Glowering at Der Kaiser, Ban turns off the water faucet and flicks his sopping hands at the navy-suited figure. The droplets pass through Kaiser’s form as seamlessly as if he isn’t there - which is actually the truth: ghosts know few boundaries limiting their passage from one realm to the next.
“What do you want?”
Kaiser clucks his tongue. “That’s hardly a way to speak to your vater. I know I raised you better than that.”
“Did you?” Ban asks caustically as he searches for the paper towel dispenser and rips off a whole line of them.
“Okay, so maybe I didn’t.” The elder shrugs and leans one shoulder against the wall while he watches his son dry his hands. “Cut me a break, Ban. There were other things going on that you didn’t know about - “
“ - one of which is planning to bite a chunk out of my ass when I’m least expecting it, thanks to all your pals from Babylon Tower,” Ban snaps, throwing the used wad of towels at the garbage can and missing. “Did it ever, just once, occur to you that bargaining with the Beltline was maybe the worst possible way of handling the situation?”
Kaiser’s eyes - a wealthy blue the same as his son’s - turn rigid. “All right. I’ll give you that one. There’s a fair amount of truth in it, I admit. But that doesn’t change the fact that I still loved you and your mother. Everything I did, every plan I’ve ever made, has always been calculated with the two of you in mind.”
“You shouldn’t have bothered,” Ban says bluntly. “Mom sure didn’t,” he adds bitterly.
“You know damn well that isn’t the reason,” Kaiser says coolly, standing away from the wall now. “Frankly, I can’t say that I blame her myself, for reacting the way that she did. But that’s my fault, not yours. I wasn’t honest with her from the start like I should have been and I regret it. If I’d been less of a gutless wonder at the time I’d have laid it all on the line for her straight out, told her about our heritage, the Aesclepius - “
Ban feels his right arm muscles tighten impulsively. He settles for shoving his hands in his pants pockets, grasping onto his lighter for a distraction.
“ - if she’d had a chance to see the reality of our bloodline as opposed to believing all the psychotic crap fed to her, she might not have taken it so badly,” Kaiser is finishing.
“But she did. That’s the truth of the matter,” Ban says, jabbing a finger at the spirit of his long-dead father. “And you weren’t there when she decided to take matters into her own hands and try and drown me like a rat in the bathtub one morning. Who do you think you are that you can just walk back into my life and pretend like we had some good old times, the fuckin’ ghost of Christmas past?”
Kaiser smiles, but his eyes do not. “No,” he says smoothly. “I’m the ghost of shut the fuck up and pay attention if you want to stay alive, kid. Babylon thinks they can crack those gates through sheer force. And you know something? They’re right. All they need is one perfect sliver to wedge the door open.”
He steps closer to Ban, who, though he hates himself for giving in to the urge, automatically backs away. But for a few minor details - Kaiser wears his hair down; Ban prefers to spike his, Kaiser’s nose is slightly longer and he’s taller than Ban (which pisses Ban off to no end); Ban dresses casual while his father flaunts his impeccable taste - it’s like looking into a mirror of himself, a mirror that hints at things he could or could not become...all given the tilt of the balancing act.
Kaiser’s smile is decidedly sinister. “Maybe it’ll be you. You’ve got the power of the Serpent Bearer, after all. Maybe it’ll be someone else - like your walking-battery partner Ginji. Or perhaps they’ll be creative...and pick somebody like a certain transporter - “
“No,” Ban spits out in immediate denial, the possibility too horrifying for him to even consider when confronted directly with it. “Jackal knows too much. They wouldn’t risk him. He’s a part of it, I’d bet good money on that any day, but he’s not one of the main players. It’s something to do with me and Ginji, I know it.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Then that goddamn Voodoo King blew a barn door out the back of my head,” Kaiser replies, none too pleased, as he taps the back of his skull. “Guter Christ, what a mess that was. Of course, Sarai apologized profusely afterwards, once he got back and had a look at the battlefield remains. He’s a good guy, didn’t mean anything by it. His other half’s a bastard twice over, though.”
“Tell me about it,” Ban grimaces. “We’ve been playing tag with the King and his merry minions ever since Himiko’s curse reared its ugly head. Don’t even get me started on that,” he says quickly with a slash of his hand to ward off any comments Kaiser might have on the subject.
His father seems to agree; he nods his head and approaches Ban again, but not as threatening as before. “Your computer egghead friend’s angling for the same fate, or something similar, if he keeps up his antics. Not that I blame him for that either. But you know what they say about curiosity and those of the feline persuasion.” Kaiser starts to rifle through the pockets of his suit jacket; coming up empty, he looks up at Ban. “Got a light for your dear 'ol dad?”
Wordlessly Ban withdraws his cigarettes and lighter and fires two of the sticks up. He passes one to Kaiser, who accepts it with a grateful nod and tokes deeply, eyes closing briefly as he savors the nicotine.
“Ahh. Contrary to popular belief, there is a smoking section in heaven. Just not as big as I’d sometimes like,” Kaiser chuckles. He spots the lighter just before Ban puts it away. “’KY’? I thought you were seeing a transporter, not a tube of ointment.”
“Screw you,” Ban answers. “It used to be Yamato’s. You know, the plunderer I used to run with? Himiko’s older brother.”
“Ah. I remember him,” Kaiser says. “Ran into him upstairs a while back. Can that boy win at cards, I tell you,” he whistles appreciatively.
“Yamato used to work in a casino before he turned snatcher,” Ban says. “He’d take the shirt off you in more ways than one if he could - and he could.” He inhales another hit of nicotine. “Makubex knows the risks. He’s had one run-in with Brain Trust that we know of. Kid has some balls, sticking his nose into the Archive a second time after they tried to kidnap and delete him.”
“Like you wouldn’t have done it if it’d been you in his place,” Kaiser needles, a low laugh rolling on the end of his sentence.
“I’d have done it,” Ban agrees, puffing on his cigarette and blowing a smoke ring into his father’s face. “I just wouldn’t have been so obvious about it. And I wouldn’t get caught, either.”
“You should be more grateful, then, for the danger he’s courting on your behalf,” Kaiser says, not so much as batting an eye at the smoke surrounding him. He draws firmly on his cigarette and gusts a spiraling serpent back at Ban. “It’s not every day that you find out, thanks to a teenaged boy matching wits with a supercomputer and a rabid cabal, that you’re dating a doctor and a demigod at the same time.”
Ban feels cold suddenly, and rubs his arms, reminded of the video he’d seen several days ago. He’d been almost as white-faced as Makubex upon seeing the way that Akabane became a perfectly blank host, triggered by the words voiced by the New Volts leader - words that, as fate would have it, are part of a spell embedded unbeknownst to him into his mind. “I almost can’t believe it - “
“Pretty bizarre, eh,” Kaiser says with a shade of sympathy before his voice turns ominous. “But that doesn’t make it any less dangerous. You know that.”
“Yeah,” Ban sighs.
“So what are you going to do?”
“What else can I do? Deal with it.” Ban scowls at the raised eyebrow his father gives him. “Look, there’s got to be a way around it. I don’t care to spend the rest of my life treading on thin ice wondering if Doctor Jackal or Mr. Hyde is going to be there to greet me when I come home at night.”
Kaiser shrugs. “As a concerned parent, I’d suggest breaking it off entirely, but it’s obvious you’re smitten bad, so I guess it’s a little late for that.”
“You think?” Ban loads his reply with sarcasm.
Kaiser grins. “It was the same way for me and your mom. Love at first fight.”
Ban holds back a laugh and partially succeeds; it comes out as a raspy cough. “Anyway, I couldn’t break it off now even if I wanted to - which I don’t, mind you. We’ve formed a spirit bond. If that connection gets tampered with it could kill one or even both of us.” He notices his cigarette’s about gone and tosses it to the floor, grinding the few smoldering embers to dust with his boot. “I’m well aware that Brain Trust could use that fact to screw with us, believe me.”
Der Kaiser regards him thoughtfully, tilting his head to one side as he studies his only son, his pride, his heir. Finally he says, after relegating his crushed cigarette butt to the floor alongside Ban’s, “In that case, my advice is to go see Maria. Yes,” he presses in spite of Ban’s repulsed glare. “You need somebody with firepower, kid, no matter how much you might think you can bust it alone. Trust me, I’ve been there, done that, got the shirt and the postcard and mailed ‘em myself and all I got in return for my trouble was this lousy souvenir,” Kaiser says as he turns around and points out what is now a gruesome open crater showcasing what’s left of his cranium.
He turns back to face Ban and the wound has resealed itself without a trace of bloody evidence to suggest it was ever there. “I’m serious, Ban. Go to Maria. If anybody will know what to do, it’ll be her. No one I know would fool with a Death Knell - well, no one with a functioning brain, that is,” he adds with an evil smirk.
Ban considers this. His father has a point. If there’s one person in all of Shinjuku who knows her magic, it’s Maria Noches, former grandmistress apprentice to the infamous Witch Queen, last of the great witches of the twentieth century. He isn’t thrilled by the thought of enduring one of Maria’s flamboyant dinners, but at present, it’s the only option he’s got.
“I’ll think about it,” he concedes to his sire.
“Hn,” Kaiser snorts, knowing that this is the best compromise he can get for now. He starts to say something more, but their conversation is interrupted by the door to the restroom flinging open and a harried-looking businessman rushing towards one of the urinals. While the man makes his deposit, Kaiser leans in closer to Ban.
“Keep me posted.”
“Yeah,” Ban mumbles, wishing his dad didn’t get such a kick out of freaking mortals out sometimes. He hates looking stupid in front of other people and talking out loud to thin air guarantees more than a few odd stares from passerby.
Kaiser slaps him companionably on the back. “Tell Paulie I said hi, too. He still burying his nose in those newspapers of his?”
“Does he ever do anything else?”
Kaiser laughs. “Hey, now. Boy used to be prime trim in our day. Who do you think made the Get Backers’ reputation as solid as it is? We didn’t earn it from sitting around all day with our thumbs up our asses scribbling with crayons on posters, let me tell you that!”
“Listen, old man, I don’t - “ Ban breaks off as he realizes there’s an unwelcome third pair of ears inviting themselves to the party. He turns and shoots the staring businessman a glare of pure acid. “What the fuck are you looking at?!”
Kaiser joins in, his growl only slightly less abrasive than his son’s. “Yeah, what the fuck are you looking at, jackass? Piss off!”
The man can’t see or hear him, of course; his wide-eyed jaw-dropping is for Ban’s eyes only. But Der Kaiser is not without his considerable talents even in the netherworld, and he takes full advantage of them to send out an icy mental suggestion that perhaps it might not be such a bad idea to heed the wisdom of minding one’s own business, a-s-a-p. Obediently, the man scuttles out the door of the restroom a second after he receives the impulse fired at him like a poison arrow.
“Look at that. Didn’t even wash his hands after he flushed. He’s probably looking at several million worth of microbes there from the door handle alone. You have any idea how foul that is?” Kaiser complains.
“Maybe he would’ve, if you’d given him enough time to do it before sending out your heebie-jeebie vibes,” Ban says.
Kaiser grins unrepentantly. “I’m a dead man walking. Giving others heebie-jeebies is my job now.”
“And cleaning up the confusion created by spooks like you is mine, so we’re even,” his son retorts.
“Nobody’s perfect.”
Father and son size each other up one more time, then by mutual unspoken agreement dissolve into shared laughter from the sheer absurdity of their encounter with the nosy businessman. In rolling with life’s punches, sometimes it’s best to just laugh as the blows come.
Eventually Kaiser’s mirth settles, and he bums one more cigarette off Ban as he begins to vanish, his image steadily blurring with the smoke into a cloud that’s indistinguishable from either ghostly ether or air pollution.
“Well, at least we can agree on one thing, kiddo.”
“What’s that?” Ban asks, watching his father retreat to the mysterious realm he now calls home instead of the Beltline.
Kaiser is smiling again, but his eyes tell a different story than his mouth. “Your grandmother sure fucked us up royally.”
--
“So good of you to come, Doctor,” the girl in the white dress says as her colleague enters the room. It’s the weekend, and although activity in this place never ceases, it does tend to observe the scheduling rituals of its test subjects. She is gratified by his willingness to put in some overtime and meet with her even on what ought to be his day off; he is ever the professional who works hard.
“I thought it best, seeing as how I received your message. Was there something urgent you wished to share with me?”
“Nothing too pressing today,” the girl says, watching him smooth a hand down the length of his white coat. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
“No thank you.”
“As you wish. I only wanted to remind you of the upcoming layout our team had drawn up. I’d like to hear your thoughts on it when you’ve finished your review. If you have any suggestions, now is the time to relay them while we’re still able to affect the outcome.”
“Certainly.”
She idly plays with the ear of the rabbit doll in her arms. “I should like to ask you once more. Are you certain you won’t reconsider your objection to the director’s opening? Your name was not submitted without due cause, I assure you.”
“It would appear that such is not the path for me,” Dr. Kuroudo Akabane says, shaking his head. “I appreciate the esteem, though.”
Strategy is discussed briefly and plans are arranged, and then Akabane smiles a knifelike edge and asks, “Who reopened Lazarus?”
The girl stops in the act of pouring a cup of tea. As if she were a wind-up toy granted movement with the twist of a key, she lurches into action again, setting the cup down carefully on its saucer and turning to stare at him. “I beg your pardon?”
Akabane continues as smoothly as though nothing has happened. “As I understand, someone is playing a very dangerous game. Who is it?”
The girl’s eyes crystallize into hard beads even as her voice remains level. “I am not privy to that information at this time. We are aware that the project has remained active indefinitely; however, for the time being, we do not have the luxury of making any adjustments, considering our investments elsewhere.”
Akabane’s smile folds into chilling focus. “I have investments I’d like to protect too. This game is fast ceasing to hold any future appeal for me. Before I set foot upon the chessboard, I want to know who has been loading the dice.”
“So that you can eliminate them?” she asks without censure.
“A professional always finishes his job.”
“A professional also knows when to fall back and study the greater picture before engaging. You know as well as I do that certain liberties must be taken in order to fulfill the destiny as it was projected,” she replies in tones sharp enough to match his.
“Liberties, yes. Interference I won’t tolerate. They made their bed of thorns. Now let them lie in it.” Akabane’s eyes freeze over into glacial amethyst. “Tell them, Hakase-san. I’ve been patient, and I’ve been polite, and I’ve let their previous attempts off with nothing more than a stern warning.” His voice hardens further, tongue slicing each word off with deadly precision. “This is officially the final one they’ll have. After this it gets bloody.”
The quiet following this frigid declaration is sharp enough to snap bones.
Akabane speaks again, his voice and smile returning to their typical graces. “I have another appointment I must keep, so if there is nothing further to discuss, I shall take my leave of you now. Do have a pleasant afternoon.”
The girl in the white dress doesn’t say anything as he exits her office, though the flat red of her pupil-less gaze roasts a hole in his back.
Later, Akabane meets up on the outskirts of Mugenjou with his escort, whom he’s pleased to see has obeyed his strict instructions not to wander off and is sitting placidly on a concrete slab, amusing himself by conjuring static electricity to make various pieces of small refuse stick to him.
“I hope you weren’t kept waiting too late, Ginji-kun.”
Ginji shakes his head. “I didn’t know you were gone that long.” His concentration disrupted, the clinging items fall from his shirt to the ground. He gets up and walks - not too far from, but not too close either - beside the wraith of black coat that is Akabane.
“Well, it was a minor bit of business. Nothing very exciting,” Akabane says cheerfully as the pair make their way through the mazes toward the Lower Town exits. “It was very kind of you to accompany me on this trip.”
Ginji nods. “You look kind of happy, Akabane-san.” His eyes narrow. “You didn’t...have to do...anything...did you?”
Akabane smiles and pats his arm. “Not this time, Ginji-kun.”
Ginji heaves audible relief. “Good.” He pauses, and then asks, “How come you wanted me to come with you on a transport delivery, anyway?”
“I thought it would be a fun outing for you, seeing as how Midou-kun is off meeting with a client for the day,” Akabane answers sweetly. “Besides, I enjoy the pleasure of your company.”
Ginji looks surprised. “Really? But there’s no battles around for you, and I thought you liked that sort of thing.”
“Midou-kun says we don’t have to battle to have a good time.” An intrigued note hums in Akabane’s throat as he muses. “I think, perhaps, he may be on to something.” He looks up and smiles at Ginji. “How curious, don’t you think? That I should be enjoying myself with you, and not a single act of aggression in sight from either of us.”
Ginji brightens. “Yeah. Kind of like friends just hanging out.”
Akabane stops suddenly, watching the blond Get Backer with hooded yet warming eyes. “Are we friends, Ginji-kun?” he asks softly.
Ginji hesitates, stopping and turning around to look at him. He tries not to take too long to think the question over, knowing the other man’s predilection for impatience. “Uh...I...I guess so,” he says finally, holding just shy of meeting Akabane’s eyes outright. “If you don’t try to kill me during our retrievals,” he quickly adds.
Akabane smiles. He picks up his pace where he left off, and Ginji joins him. “I have to make some effort to stop you when we’re on assignment, Ginji-kun,” he explains gently. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be proper. Wouldn’t you agree that you’d feel compelled to do the same if our positions were reversed, and I was carrying something you had been hired to take back?”
Ginji scowls despite the understanding. “I guess,” he mutters. “Just - why do you have to be so good at it?”
Akabane laughs, a hearty thrum of smooth current that surrounds them. “We’re both good at it, Ginji-kun. Why do you suppose that is?”
“Because we’re professionals,” Ginji announces as if on cue.
“Precisely.”
“But it’s not nice, what you do to the enemies in the course of a job,” Ginji reminds him with a little growl.
Akabane gives him a grim look. “Some enemies you shouldn’t be nice to. Being nice can get you killed.”
“But friends don’t try to hurt each other like that!” Ginji argues, somewhat heatedly.
Akabane stops again, his eyes dark with a sad affection as he studies the man who was once a fearsome, merciless Emperor over all he surveyed. “Ginji-kun, there is a saying that my mother taught me when I was a young boy. I’ll paraphrase it for your benefit since it’s rather lengthy.”
He pauses, and then recites the verse with perfect elocution. “‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun. A time to be born and a time to die; a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.’ You and Midou-kun knew this balance when you first met each other, even if you didn’t realize it then. Sometimes the crossroads we walk offer only such contentious decisions. You still must choose your path. Not choosing is a choice in itself as well. You’ll understand this someday, I’m sure.”
Ginji looks almost like he’s going to cry now. “But my friends don’t usually want to kill me,” he says, confused. “Do they? Even when there’s a mission involved?”
Akabane comes closer to him, gently placing a gloved palm on his shoulder. “Perhaps not consciously. Even if it were so, it doesn’t mean that they don’t still care for you in their own way. But they must decide for themselves whether or not that friendship is something worth seeking above their intended objective. Friends are human, but they are also professionals who must fulfill their duties too.”
Ginji looks at the ground, his arms hanging loosely by his sides like those of a limp marionette. His eyebrows squiggle like caterpillars as he struggles to make sense of Akabane’s words. “I could feel it, when we had our fights,” he says. “Makubex. Juubei. Masaki. Yukihiko. None of them really wanted to kill me. But something in them made them feel like they had to do it anyway. Some larger purpose...”
Akabane nods. He slips his hand from Ginji’s shoulder into his hand, and squeezes it carefully. “A friend is also someone who will be honest with you when you cannot face truth on your own. Such pain can bring terrible suffering, but also great reward. Never forget that.”
Ginji looks up at him, a subdued smile brimming at his lips. “Ban-chan sounded just like you, when he told me I had to challenge Kaoru to get her to spare Sakura from her flame seal. He said I couldn’t go easy just because of nostalgia.”
Akabane’s smile is light, encouraging. He lets go of Ginji’s hand and adjusts his hat. “Midou-kun is very wise, isn’t he? Truly a worthy battle genius.”
“But a kind one,” Ginji points out. “You know it too, don’t you, Akabane-san? You’re easier to be around ever since you guys got together.”
“Why, Ginji-kun,” Akabane teases. “Are you saying that I wasn’t hospitable company before I met Midou-kun?”
Ginji’s eyes fly wide open and he hastily holds up his hands. “No, no! Well, err - I just meant - I didn’t mean - what I was trying to say is - “
Akabane’s amusement never wavers as he watches him tongue-trip over his words. Finally he takes pity on the stammering retriever. “It’s all right, Ginji-kun. I know what you meant. I’m flattered by your trust, truly, I am.”
Ginji is too stunned to reply at first, especially when Akabane suddenly leans in to give him a slight embrace. Slowly, his arms make a painstaking effort to return the hug. He pats Akabane’s back awkwardly, unsure of the correct etiquette in socializing with a transporter with a penchant for part-time homicide. They separate before the touch becomes too uncomfortable, and he looks at his sometime nemesis with equal curiosity. “You’re not mad at me?” he wonders aloud.
“Of course not,” Akabane says, as utterly charmed by Ginji’s baffling innocence as he’s enamored of Ban’s elusive temptations. “Friends can choose to forgive each other’s failings as well.”
“That’s true,” Ginji says, perking up as he thinks of all the ones he’s reconciled with since leaving Mugenjou for good. He considers for a few minutes, and then offers, “I guess...that sort of makes you my friend?”
Akabane fairly beams at him. “I would like that, Ginji-kun. I would like that very much indeed.”
“Just as long as you remember who your friends are when you go up against any retrievers in the future,” Ginji says, his voice laced with imperiousness. “If you really care about someone, you want them to be happy no matter what. Even if - especially if - you don’t believe in their choices.”
Akabane nods as they fall into step once more. “I hope you know that I take you quite seriously regardless of the circumstances, Ginji-kun. I would certainly appreciate it if similar generosity was returned to me.”
“I’ll think about it,” Ginji promises. “Akabane-san - “ He’s about to ask another question when he catches the muted sounds of a now-familiar refrain. “What’s that song you keep humming?”
“It’s my favorite,” Akabane tells him. “Have you ever heard the entire version of it? I could sing it to you, if you like. Or you could sing it with me...”
Ginji is noticeably delighted by this, since Ban claims he can’t carry a tune if it had a handle and forbids him to join in the choruses when the car radio’s playing. “Okay.”
In the corridor they’re traveling, Akabane starts off the first verse, and shortly thereafter Ginji takes over as they trade off lyrics. Akabane is feeling quite in a good mood, despite the ultimatum he just issued on his visit to the City, and this peculiar peace lends a new richness to his vocals as they waft along the walls of Mugenjou in his and Ginji’s wake:
“When I was young, I fell in love
I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead
‘Will we have rainbows, day after day?’
Here’s what my sweetheart said:
‘Que sera, sera’
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be...”
--