A/N: Here it is, my first Getbackers fic, and my return after an extremely long absence! I hope everyone enjoys it! We need more people in the fandom!

Disclaimer: I don't own the boys, sadly.

"Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and love and lived, or he who has stayed on the shore, and merely existed?" - Hunter S. Thompson.

Chapter One.

"Ban...BAN-CHAAAN!"

Seguchi Sato stepped back, his doughy face grey from badly concealed shock. His wide eyes flickered behind thick-rimmed glasses, checking on the unremarkable package clasped in his trembling grip. Who would have thought that such a nondescript box would cause so much trouble for himself and the two young retrievers in front of him? Of course, what was inside was far more volatile than its disguise, and yet...

His attention was caught by a thump and a glitter of silver metal at his feet. The revolver he had fired in a blind panic had dropped from his lax grip onto the forest floor, and he swallowed bile as he raised his eyes to its work.

He had been warned not to underestimate the two boys when his lackeys had discovered that the Getbackers had taken the case. However, as he looked upon them now, the dark one cradled in the blond's arms, the blond rocking back and forth, whimpering pitifully, he found it hard to believe that the fearsome duo were any more than young men who had fallen on hard times.

Offering a choked apology to the wailing boy, Sato turned, and ran deeper into the silent trees.


It seemed as though Sato had been running for an eternity when he finally slowed, a stitch making its presence known in his side. Ignoring the stabbing pain, he wiped sweat from behind his glasses, and glanced at his surroundings. Strange...even though he felt like he had been on the move for a long, long time, there was no sign of the sleek black car his personal assistant had driven him to the secret location in.

Grumbling distantly about firing that slacker, Sato spun around to see if he could locate any sign of civilisation. He noticed a faint glow in the far distance, and haltingly made his way towards it. As he drew closer, he was surprised to notice the silhouette of a human figure within that alluring light. Stranger still, it almost seemed that there were threads of illumination twining around the figure, in a manner almost akin to a pet greeting its owner. Was that...lightning?

His steps faltered as he recognised blond hair, and a thick, choking terror began to wind its way up his spine. Rigid, he noted that there was something very, very different about the boy that he had left screaming in anguish. An expressionless face, accentuated by soulless golden eyes...it was somehow both demonic and benevolent, and Sato found himself humbled as though before a king.

The only sound around the two was the rhythmic crackling of the electricity surrounding the terrible figure. Then, in a chilling, precise tone that left the hair on the back of Sato's neck on end, it spoke.

"You...killed Ban-chan..."

Horrified by the vengeful form in front of him, Sato dropped to his knees. Could this dead-eyed replacement truly be the gentle, kind-hearted boy he had met earlier?

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry! Please, I didn't mean to!"

As a powerful jolt began to boil the blood in his flabby frame, Sato found himself thinking that perhaps his father wouldn't be proud of him after all.

'I'm sorry...'

"Just one minute."

Sato cautiously looked up, his throat burning from near continuous screams. His gaze met a pair of laughing blue eyes, which narrowed as their owner took a deep drag from the cigarette loosely clasped in his long fingers. A sardonic smirk adorned his features.

"Have any bad dreams lately?"

Sato's mouth fell open as the infamous Midou Ban blew out a lungful of smoke, and hefted the small package he was clutching into a better position. Were those...how had he managed to take the package? Had Sato been hallucinating this entire time? The pain of his burning skin had been so incredibly real...

The brunette man looked towards his cheerfully grinning blond partner, and winked. "Hell of a lotta trouble for some pieces of paper, eh Ginji?"

Amano Ginji laughed, a carefree, innocent sound that helped to relieve some of the tension cloaking the enclosed space. "Sure, Ban-chan!"

Sato wanted desperately to protest, to defend his actions to these two mere boys. After all, it wasn't just paper, it was a vital tool in sabotaging his father's hated rival company! Father...he would be so proud. Finally, he, Seguchi Sato, would be more than the fat eldest son of a failing empire! However, all that he managed to voice was a pathetic quavering whimper. The blond Getbacker, as if sensing Sato's distress, lost his cheerful beam and stood. Holding out a placating gloved hand to the stricken man shuddering before him, Ginji smiled.

"That was just Ban-chan's Jagan, Seguchi-san. I'm sorry it had to come to that, but your father is pretty desperate that we get you back."
His...father? They were hired to get Sato himself back, not the precious documents?

"What..."

The blond boy crouched to Sato's level, his soft brown eyes (was that a flash of gold?) filled with calm understanding. "He's worried about you, Seguchi-san. He doesn't care about the other company. He cares about his son, and doesn't want him to stoop this low." He extended a steady hand.

"Won't you come back with us?"

That hand...in his dream it had been a precursor to the hungry electricity devouring his skin...boiling his blood. Dead, golden eyes merged with compassionate brown...regal indifference with concerned compassion until rage and fear shook his heart. Without fully knowing what he was doing, he slapped the hand away.

"Get away from me, you disgusting monster! You deserve to burn in hell!"

Sato winced as the blond boy sat back, hurt filling his brown eyes. The man found himself regretting his harsh words for reasons he couldn't fathom. However, before he had time to apologize, he was lifted off of the ground by an inhumanly strong force. He looked up to meet a pair of livid blue eyes.

"You'd better watch what you say, Daddy's boy, or they'll be nothing of you to get back. Understand?"

Sato wanted to nod, wanted desperately to apologize, but was paralysed by the rage on the other man's features. He was somewhat relieved when the look of blank hurt faded from the blond's face, and he stood with a sigh.

"Ban-chan. Let him go."

The brunette's incredulous expression would have been amusing under any other circumstances. "Ginji, did you not hear what this low life--"

"I heard," the brown eyed boy interrupted. "But we need to get Seguchi-san back to his father and collect the payment, Ban-chan! I'm hungry!"

With that, he bounded a short distance away through the forest. Moments later, the remaining two men heard the unmistakeable sound of the metal on a car door being scraped against a tree. Sato's brunette captor's eyes widened, and he was dropped, thumping unceremoniously on the pine-needle covered earth.

"Shit, Ginji! What have you done now, you idiot?"

"Ah! Sorry, Ban-chan!"

With a small sigh that failed to convey the intensity of his tumultuous feelings, Seguchi Sato followed after them.

Ban let out a satisfied whoop, leaning back in the reclining car seat and planting a kiss on the flimsy cheque he held in a death-grip.

"Who'd have thought the old bastard would be so generous, huh? We got enough cash to rent a room for a couple of weeks, at least!" His blue eyes turned to a curiously subdued Ginji.

"We can eat tonight, man! C'mon, lets go to the Honky Tonk and wave this in Paul's face!"

In return to his enthusiastic statement, Ginji offered him a bright smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah! Lets go, Ban-chan!"

Ban sighed. It was painfully obvious that his blond partner was just acting like his usual exuberant self in order to stop the brunette worrying. He had been like it the entire long ride back to the Seguchi Corporation building. It seemed like he thought the more he smiled, the less it would seem that he was unhappy.

It didn't work. Ban reached over, cupped Ginji's face in surprisingly gentle hands, and captured his lips in a kiss. The transition from best friends to lovers had been a astonishingly simple move after a certain point. In fact, most of their (well, Ginji's) friends had suspected before the Getbackers themselves realised their attraction to one another. With sex being the only addition to their daily lives, the relationship was a simple one, and both men concerned were incredibly happy with the situation.

Usually. It seemed to Ban that today Ginji lacked the usual fervour he brought to their embraces. The blond's eyes were dull as he pulled away from his partner's attention. Ban's brow furrowed in vaguely embarrassed annoyance.

"What the hell is wrong, Gin?"

The brown eyed retriever shook his head, as though frustrated about something. When he looked up, Ban saw a kind of subdued anger in his eyes that made his spine crawl with vague foreboding.

"Did you have to make me such a monster?"

They drove to the Honky Tonk in silence.

A/N: Wow. Bad feelings between the boys, huh? That can't lead to anything good! Sorry about the really long Seguchi Sato P.O.V, I rather liked him and wanted to make him a believable character! Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review :)