This is my first GetBackers story here, (and also my first beta'ed fic EVER)and I'm totally excited. As a reminder, it's Shido/Ban, so no likey, no lookey. I would love to give major thanks and a big hug to my beta, cuz she rules. Um...I don't own GetBackers...please enjoy wholly.

We begin from the aftermath, in which everything that had caused it to happen had happened. It had come from a simple suggestion; just a few simple words formed with a harmlessly light tone. If one didn't know better, a perfectly harmless man could have made it. Had Shido really known better, he probably would not have gone through with the ordeal—Kuroudo Akabane was not a harmless man.

Now he mused guiltily outside of the Honky Tonk. The bell rang shyly, signaling Ginji's equally timid exit. The former Volts leader stepped cautiously over to his friend. No words passed between them for a few moments—Shido just continued to stare at the ground, while Ginji stared at Shido with the most torn face he had ever seen.

"You need to come inside and talk to him, Shido. Keeping your distance isn't going to do either of you any good."

"Going in there isn't going to do any good, either. He'll just try to kill me, like last time."

The bell rang again; quiet as always, yet the sound seemed less hesitant this time. Ban Midou half-strode through the door, but he had lost some of his usual swagger. His face looked drawn with uncharacteristic hopelessness, and the gaze he set upon the two was dismal. Appearing to draw up some courage, he walked up to them.

"I'm not going to kill you, Shido; I know I can't." He looked sadly at the Beast Master as he said this, before turning to Ginji. "Hey, Ginji, you think I can speak to him alone?"

"You sure, Ban-chan?" Ginji asked, worry largely evident on his face. Ban nodded.

"Go on in, Ginji; I'll be alright."

Ginji went inside after giving them both an uncertain glance. As soon as he was out of sight, Ban fell heavily into Shido's arms, wrapping his arms around the other in a half-hearted embrace.

"Ban?"

"Damn it, I hate you, Shido…I really, really hate you…"

"Ban…" Shido pushed the Jagan master off him. "You've got every right to—"

"Shut up, damn it; don't say a goddamn word, okay?" Ban cut him off. His voice was choked. He wrapped himself in Shido's arms once more. "I don't want you to talk to me. I want to talk to you. And I want you to listen." He leaned on Shido's chest, taking the commanded silence as an agreement. "You're an asshole. I hate you. What the hell gave you the right to do this to me, huh?"

Shido gritted his teeth and tried to keep his mouth shut.

"Damn Beast Master, jackass—I'm no damn monkey, you got that, Monkey Boy? Didn't stop you, did it? You had to get right into my head, didn't you? Do you know what kind of HELL you put me through?" Ban clenched the Beast Master's shirt in his fists. With his powerful grip, Shido had no doubt the shirt would tear. "I hate being near you almost as much as I hate being away from you. And that kills me. Do you have any idea how dependent I am on you, now? Is this how your stupid pets feel?" Shido sighed in relief at this point—Ban's death-grip on his shirt loosened and the smaller man sighed. "I hate you."

'I know that already, Snake Bastard; do you have to repeat it?' Shido thought irritably, though he wouldn't dare say it out loud.

"You know something else?" Ban continued, sounding slightly delirious, as though his emotions were about to cause a sudden bout of rambling "I—I've never been so humiliated in my entire life! You know that? I told you—I told you never to call for me when Ginji was around. No, I begged you. But you called for me anyway…was that to humiliate me, I wonder? Because it did. And to make matters worse, as soon as Ginji watched me run off to your call, I knew I'd have to explain everything to him. Everything, Shido. Every…humiliating…moment…that I tried…so hard…to keep from him—I had to tell him, because you called for me. I. Hate. You."

There was complete silence for a moment as Ban clung to Shido, recalling his composure from his near-hysterical venting, and Shido just waited, not saying a word. Finally, Ban pushed away from Shido, albeit reluctantly. He kept his gaze fixated dully on the ground.

"The only reason I came out here was so I could…vent. 'Tell you how much I wish I could kill you without you saying a word about it. 'Wish I could say 'I hate you' and still feel like I did before all this happened. But…" He took an exasperated breath, ran his fingers through his hair, clutched at the strands with that one hand and sighed. "But…now my brain's so muddled I can't be sure if I still feel the same way about you. Even considering all you did to me. It irritates the hell out of me, and I…I'm worn out. I don't have anything left in me." He gave the other boy a weary, but still hard stare. "You want to say something now, go ahead."

"What the hell do you want me to say, Snake Bastard?"

"Whatever the hell you want to say, Monkey Tamer. Go on, enjoy yourself. I can't do anything to you anymore." Ban dropped the hand in his hair down to his side. He said this bitterly, but at the same time almost amusedly, as though he were laughing at himself.

"Damn it, Ban, I feel bad enough; do you have to sound so helpless and make it worse?"

"You should've thought of that a while ago, eh, Monkey Tamer? Or maybe I should call you Snake Charmer from now on?"

"Shut up!"

Ban fell silent, frowning at the Beast Master. They held the tension firm between their stares for the third silence between them that night.

"Alright, then…I'm going back to Mugenjyou." Shido said this with an air of finality and began to walk away.

Ban watched, stunned for a moment as Shido turned from him. After his initial disbelief, he panicked and grabbed Shido by the forearm to prevent him from leaving.

"You can't go!"

"Why the hell not, Snake Bastard? I belong there. Always have, always will." He tried uselessly to shake Ban off his arm. "And why are you stopping me? You told me time and again that you hate me."

"Weren't you listening to me at all, asshole?" Ban hissed. He held onto Shido's arm with almost bruising force and Shido felt bemused by the insistence. Yes, he had heard what Ban had said, and because of this imagined that the other boy would want to get away from the dependency he had so brokenly spoken of.

"Idiot. Let go. I heard what you said." Caught off-guard by the response, Ban loosened his grip, allowing Shido to jerk his arm out of the other's grasp. "That's why I'm leaving."

"You're just going to leave me like this?" Ban asked, the pitch in his voice rising anxiously.

"Go back inside," Shido ordered. Ban stepped back, staring at him wretchedly. "It's obvious that if I stick around, you'll just cling to me. That's not what you want, is it? You want to stop being so dependent on me? Then you go back inside and let me go."

"But…but Shido—" Ban cut himself off as Shido turned once again and walked off down the street.

"Say good-bye to Madoka for me," Shido added over his shoulder.

Ban did not answer. All he could do was watch the Beast Master turn the corner before reluctantly obeying the order he had been given.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The sudden decision to return to Mugenjyou had surprised even Shido. He hadn't made any strong vow not to return, but the thought never actually crossed his mind ever since he'd left. However, even considering his mild bewilderment at his own decision, Shido felt somewhat…relieved to be going back. His mind was at ease.

This being the first amount of peace he'd had in a while, could not last.

"Where could this fine young gentleman be heading at this hour, I wonder?"

The Beast Master froze, a proverbial deer in the headlights, at the chilling familiarity of the voice. A ripple of indignation, followed by one of guilty pain coursed through his body.

"What the hell do you want, Jackal?"

"I've just been admiring your handiwork, my dear Beast Master," the more devious man replied in a humored tone. "It appears the great Ban Midou is not so great as he appears…ne, Shido-kun?"

"Shut up, you heartless bastard!" Shido growled, clenching his fists and glaring a hole into the street. But he refused to turn around. Jackal, still greatly amused, chuckled.

"Did I touch a nerve? I do apologize. I didn't mean to insult your little pet."

"Get the hell away from me. It's your fault that this happened!"

"My fault?" In an instant, Shido found the other man in front of him, smiling as devilishly as ever. The startled Beast Master backed away. "I merely made a suggestion," the Jackal continued, "and you, my dear friend, took that suggestion to heart. So I'm afraid that our dear Ban Midou's current state is your responsibility…am I right, Shido-kun?"

Shido said nothing. He lowered his gaze to the asphalt once more, which in turn made Akabane's grin widen in satisfaction.

"It was a pleasure speaking with you, Shido-kun. Have a good night." With that as his final word, the ever-eerie Jackal made his way down the street, leaving a considerably shot down Beast Master in his wake. The young Mariudo slumped onto the sidewalk.

'I should have known better…I should have known…that man can never be trusted…why the hell…did I listen to him?'

"You despise him, don't you?"

'If I had just…ignored that bastard…'

"Oh, I see…he took your beloved leader from you, didn't he? Ginji-kun is his now, and there is nothing you can do about it…am I right?"

'Damn it…that arrogant smirk…that gleam in those eyes…I should have known what he was up to!' Shido clutched at his hair in frustration. 'Why didn't I see it?'

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

It seemed like an eternity ago, no matter how cliché the statement may sound, that Ban was confident and brash as usual. In reality, it was not so long ago; two or three months at the most. Before, Shido had been able to call him "Snake Bastard" with admirable heat and receive a "Monkey Tamer" from Ban with an equal amount of venom on his tongue. Said fervent venom had since dried up, leaving Ban emotionally defenseless.

At the time, Shido could have told anyone that a broken and docile Ban Midou was exactly what he wanted to see—but he would say so in jest, for at that time, he never thought he would actually see such a demeanor in Ban. The thought just didn't occur to him.

Certain maliciousness had already occupied itself at the Honky Tonk when Shido had arrived that day. It sat at the counter, drinking coffee and smiling pleasantly. Its presence did not make Ban, already sitting in a booth with his arms crossed, very happy at all.

"I am simply here to wait for Miss Hevn," Akabane insisted calmly. "She has a job for me. I intend to do no one any harm today. You should relax, Ginji-kun." He turned to the trembling ex-Raitei with ever so frightening friendliness, which made said Raitei duck further behind the counter next to Natsumi.

Shido simply sighed and took a seat at the bar, a good distance away from the smiling Jackal. He'd had a job of his own that day, retrieving a very expensive wedding ring, which had not gone well. It had taken nearly four hours to retrieve the thing and his client was so irritating that the whole thing had left him feeling tremendously high-strung. In other words, he was in no mood to be hassled by anyone today. He was more than a little likely to fly off the handle.

"No harm my ass," Ban grumbled from his seat. "I'll bet you say that to your victims, too."

"Such accusations could get you in trouble, Ban-kun," the Jackal replied with a playful smirk. Despite his own mistrust of the cheerful madman, Shido found his mood lifting and he chuckled at the nickname. His amusement doubled as "Ban-kun" turned red and started to splutter.

"'B-ban-kun'!" he choked out, absolutely flustered. "And—hey! What the hell are you laughing about, Monkey Tamer!" he added furiously to the still laughing Beast Master.

"I'm laughing at you, Snake Bastard. Or maybe Snake Bastard-kun would be a little more appropriate."

"Shut up, Monkey Boy! How 'bout I go over there and rip your face off, then we'll see who's laughing!"

"Now guys, please don't fight," Ginji pleaded, peering warily over the counter.

"My, my, it's rather lively in here," Akabane mused cheerily, sipping his coffee.

"Well, that's putting it lightly," Paul muttered from behind his paper.

"You couldn't rip my face off, Snake Bastard. You're all talk." Shido rolled his eyes.

Ban cackled in a way that would make him appear threatening if Shido took him seriously at all. The Jagan master flexed the wrist of his powerful right arm, fully determined to prove Shido wrong. "Are you sure about that, Monkey Boy? I'm sure I could rip your whole head off with no problem at all."

"Keep dreaming, Snake Bastard. I'd rip that arm off first."

"You wouldn't really do that, would you Shido?" Ginji asked anxiously. He turned to stare nervously at Ban. "Ban-chan?"

"Fat chance, asshole! There was one point—and I know you remember this—where I could've killed you in a second!"

Shido certainly remembered. He had not been sure of what Ban was capable of that day—he had let his guard down, thinking that the heartless bastard had killed his animals. For that, he had felt a hand to his neck and couldn't move an inch. This reminder of a nearly snapped neck snapped a nerve.

'That bastard…'

The now seething Mariudo slammed his palms onto the counter. Ginji seemed torn between staying safe behind the counter and coming up to calm Shido.

"If I had gone Mimicry on you, you would have been dead! When it comes to power, that damn Snake Bite is all you've got!"

'How did you ever take Ginji away from us? Why would he ever leave with a bastard like you?'

A slight twitch of the shoulder and an intrigued rise of the head was the only sign of mischief from Akabane at Shido's outburst.

"Are you trying to tell me that you can kick my ass by turning into a chimp?"

"I'm telling you that's how I'll kill you!" Shido growled, facing the other man. Ban, seeing the animalistic scowl on Shido's face, quickly put up his defenses.

"Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded. "You're acting more like a prick than usual!"

"Maybe I'm just tired of all your crap," Shido hissed.

At that moment, Ginji popped up between the two. The haze of fury and bloodlust lifted from the room, allowing Shido to see how close he actually gotten to the Snake Bastard, and he realized how truly over the top his frustration had gone. Needless to say, he was stunned at himself and backed off. Ginji looked to each of them worriedly.

"I think…both of you need to calm down," he said softly, eyeing both of them, Shido, especially uncertainly.

Shido nodded in silent agreement, lost in the swimming ferocity inside his head. Quickly he stumbled outside, determined to clear his head. He focused so intently on his dizzying thoughts that he hardly noticed his ghostly visitor.

"Well, that was quite the stirring performance you gave, my dear friend. I could feel the heat rising off you both…"

Shido turned sharply at the practically dancing tone of Akabane's voice. The mysterious man had his lips thinned into a calculating smirk and his eyes were fixated on the still shaken Beast Master with impish glee. Shido said nothing in reply, keeping a wary eye on the Jackal.

"It seems you lost your temper in there—and everyone saw a new side of you, Shido-kun." Akabane's thin smirk widened into a more sickening grin. "I never knew that you had such fury in you…perhaps that passion is reserved only for our dear Jagan master?"

Shido ground his teeth together, feeling his temper rise again. 'Bloody bastard…'

"You despise him, don't you? That's the cause of your brilliant fury. But why, I wonder? What reason do you have to hate Ban Midou?" The impious one observed Shido's tension with morbid fascination and seemed to come to a conclusion. "Oh, I see…he took your beloved leader from you, didn't he? Ginji-kun is his now, and there is nothing you can do about it…am I right?"

"What do you know?" Shido spat at the man through clenched teeth. This only served to further entertain the Jackal.

"I know you must want your dear Ginji-kun back, don't you? But the only way to do that is to get rid of Ban-kun…and that would make your precious leader sad, wouldn't it?" Akabane chuckled slightly at this. "Would you take a chance, I wonder…would you do anything to keep Ban Midou out of your way?"

Shido's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Akabane merely smiled. "Humans are, technically, animals, are they not? And with that snake god occupying his arm I would say Ban-kun more than qualifies…wouldn't you say so?" He chuckled once more, amused by the baffled expression on Shido's face. "And we mustn't forget…no creature is untamable." The Jackal's eyes gleamed dangerously. "Do think on that, my dear Beast Master." He began walking down the street, obviously having finished with Shido. Shido gaped after him, eyes slowly widening with realization.

"Wait a minute! Are you saying—?"

"Tell Miss Hevn I will have to decline this job for now; she's kept me waiting far too long," Akabane interrupted cleanly, ignoring any continuation of his previous discussion.

Shido simply stood stunned, shaken, and oddly…intrigued.

'He…does he mean…tame the Snake Bastard? Is that even…possible?'

It had slowly begun to materialize.