Title: The Cursed Sword
Genre: Adventure
Summary: the Get Backers get a risky job
Word count: 1989
Fandom: Get Backers/X-Men
Pairing: Ban/Ginji
Rating: PG-13 or T
Warnings: violence, blood, cursing, mild shonen ai.
Disclaimer: Get Backers belongs to Yuya Aoki and Randou Ayamine. X-Men belongs to Marvel Comics.


CHAPTER THREE

Hokkaido

According to Yagumo Logan was living in a cabin, in a very isolated place in the mountains of Hokkaido. Knowing that their expenses would be paid by their client, Ban decided to make the most of it – since it was the end of fall he bought high quality winter clothes for Ginji and himself, and rented the best SUV he could find. Now, properly dressed and equipped, the Get Backers were driving towards their target.

"Wow, this is so cool, Ban-chan!" Ginji had his face glued to the car window, admiring the endless lines of trees on both sides of the road. "Do you think we can go sightseeing after we finish the job? Natsumi-chan said that there are wonderful places to see in Hokkaido!"

"I don't know if we'll have the time, Ginji." Ban felt a little guilty at the disappointed pout his friend directed to him. Well, that's what you get for being the brains of the business... Thinking it was better to divert Ginji's attention before he started with the puppy dog eyes act, Ban threw a map to him. "Here, help me out. We have already passed Tokachigawa. How far are we from the man's cabin?"

Ginji opened the map and frowned at it. He wasn't very good at directions but Ban had carefully highlighted their route and wrote precise instructions with color markers so all Ginji had to do was read it.

"Hummmm... I think we are almost there... There should be a trail at some point of this road that leads to the place."

"Ha! Found it!" Ban slammed on the brakes, making Ginji yelp in surprise. The trail was quite narrow, partially hidden by the vegetation – if Ban hadn't been looking in the right direction at that moment, they would have lost it.

"One more second and we would've passed by it and probably never find it." Ginji whistled in admiration. "It seems that this Logan-san really doesn't want to be found, ne?"

"If I had stolen a Muramasa sword from a guy like Yagumo, I wouldn't even be in Japan right now. "

"Yagumo-san is scary, isn't he? I don't know why but..."

"Scary or not he is our client and he's already given us the down payment plus the money for this trip expenses. Come on, the car can't pass through here, we'll have to walk."

"Alright, Ban-chan."

It was cold outside so they wore their jackets and scarves before starting to the trail. It was a good decision – not long after they started walking, the chilly wind and the humidity in the air had them hunching their shoulders and shivering, even with the extra warm clothes. The shadows of the huge trees around them only added to the sensation of cold. Even Ginji, who was less sensitive to low temperatures, was trying to snuggle more into his jacket.

It took about an hour walking in the woods until they reached a clearing where the cabin was. It was a small, American style construction that apparently had been recently cleaned and renewed – the flower beds under the windows were empty and there was a faint smell of fresh paint in the air. A motorbike parked in front of it indicated their target was there.

Ban turned to his friend.

"Alright, we have about two hours until dark, we have to be fast. You remember what you have to do, right?"

"We will pretend that we're lost and ask for help. When the man comes closer you will distract him with the Jagan and I get in the cabin, find the katana and bring it with me. Then we run back to our car."

"Good boy. And remember, be fast, don't hesitate. This guy is too mysterious for my liking, he can be dangerous."

"Okay, Ban-chan."


"... you sure?"

"Positive. Don't sweat, Storm. I think I'm old enough to take care of myself." there was a slight hint of bitter sarcasm in the way he stressed the word "old". It didn't go unnoticed by the woman on the phone.

"Logan..."

"Ororo, just relax okay? I'm just going to spend some more days here in the mountains to think things out, I swear." the voice wavered a bit on the word "swear". The woman didn't miss that, too.

"You're a terrible liar, Logan."

"Just trust me, I'm not gonna do anything you wouldn't... given the circumstances."

"You're impossible, did you know that?"

"Yeah, that's why you love me so, sweetheart."

"Logan!"

"Gotta go now, give my regards to the folks." he turned off the cellphone before Ororo could say anything else. Damn nosy woman... she was acting more and more like the Professor.

She's not nosy, just concerned and you know she has good reasons to be worried, the rational part of him said. Ororo, like many who he had relations with on the present days, had little knowledge of his past. It was only natural that she found his behavior pretty erratic lately. Unfortunately, Logan couldn't explain what was happening – it was too complicated for him to put it into words.

This cabin, for example. Despite the modest aspect – there was only a bathroom, a kitchen and a large room that served both as living room and bedroom – it had probably cost a lot considering the location and how expensive housing was in Japan. He knew it belonged to him, he had the deed to prove it, but had no idea of why he'd bought it or how he'd paid for it. He remembered that he'd been to Japan before, he even remembered how to speak the language but the details of his time in this country were extremely blurry except for one or two major events. It was always like this when parts of his long lost memory snapped back to his conscious mind, and the whole process of putting one more piece of the puzzle in the right place was always hard and unpleasant.

What the hell, I've been brainwashed and amnesiac more than once in my life, should've been used to this by now...

With an irritated snort Logan picked a cigar from his pocket and headed for the porch. It was cold outside, he could tell it was going to snow soon, but he needed to smoke and even though he was alone in the house he didn't want to do it inside – ever since he started to spend time in Xavier's school, he had been forced to be more careful of where and when to lit a cigar with all those children around, and that soon became a habit.

"Gomen kudasai!"(1)

Logan frowned as he saw two young men approaching. Typical Tokyo boys, with weird hair cuts and colorful clothing, apparently just harmless tourists. He couldn't sense any danger in the smiling faces but his muscles tensed automatically, his whole body preparing for fight like it always did when he met strangers.

"I am sorry sir, we are lost..." one of the boys took off his sunglasses and Logan was surprised to see a pair of striking blue eyes.

And then, he heard a familiar chuckle. A soft, female voice. A woman peeked at him from behind the blue-eyed boy.

The cigar fell from his shaking hand. His heart raced madly as his mind protested, impossible, impossible, impossible...

Itsu. Her lovely round face, the long silky hair carefully tied in a neat ponytail, the red kimono he had given her in their first anniversary... how? How could she be there? She was dead. Dead.

Could it be that she had miraculously survived all those years, the same way he had?

"Anata. See, it's our boy!"(2)

She raised the baby in her arms so that Logan could see. It was a little boy with lovely pink cheeks, chubby hands grabbing a rubber toy. His wife, his son. His family. Could it be possible that for once, just once, his past hadn't come to haunt but to save him? He reached to them, a tiny bit of hope making his eyes sting and bringing a lump to his throat.

Itsu looked up in alarm as it started to rain. She bent over, trying to protect the infant from the cold drops. Eyes wide in horror, Logan saw red spots on the comforter that wrapped the child. Itsu collapsed in a heap on the ground and slowly, desperately slowly, red rivulets ran over the green grass.

No. No. No.

It was blood.

Something snapped inside him. A raging storm filled his mind, wiping away any rational thought, his soul being ripped apart once again, the same torturing agony of years ago, when he found Itsu dead, her beautiful body abused and torn like a broken doll. He screamed in burning rage, claws springing out his knuckles.

"Shit!"

Ban barely managed to jump out of the way when the maddened gaijin attacked, surprised by his inhuman speed.

Shit. Shit. Shit. How the fucking hell did the bastard escape my Jagan?

Wolverine turned back and lunged at Ban again. The Jagan user dodged and punched his attacker with all he had. Blue eyes widened in shock to see that the powerful blow had little to no effect.

What the fu...

A split second of distraction and the sharp adamantium claws slashed his shoulder. Crying out in pain, Ban jumped out of Wolverine's reach once more and fell on his knees, blood seeping through his torn jacket.

"Ban-chan!"

Ginji ran out of the cabin, katana in hands, his usually cheerful face contorted in horror at what he was seeing. Sparkles of electricity danced around him as he prepared to attack.

10 thousand volts... 20 thousand... no, I have to hit him with all I have, this man looks as strong as Hishiki... I'm sorry Logan-san, but I can't let you hurt Ban-chan!

A flash of blinding white-blue light exploded with a crackling sound.

"Ginji!" Ban blinked furiously, his vision clouded by the lightning. He rubbed his eyes and when his eyesight gradually returned, he saw Logan collapsing on the ground right in front of Ginji, who had a strangely surprised expression. The blond Get Backer looked down to his belly, in time to see Wolverine's claws slipping out of it with a nauseating wet sound.

"Ban-chan... I..."

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Ten times stupid! Shouldn't get so close to that insane bastard!

Making a mad dash for his friend, Ban managed to catch him before he fell. Ginji's head lolled to the side, his body suddenly heavy and boneless in his partner's arms.

"Ginji! H-hold on, buddy, are you listening?" Ban couldn't hide the panic in his voice as he saw the ugly aspect of Ginji's wound.

"Ban-chan, I think... I'm... hurt..."

"Yeah, I can see that! Hold on, we're gonna get the hell outta here..."

Ignoring his own injury, the Jagan user scooped his partner intending to carry him to the car and rush to a hospital, but a gloomy howling sound got his attention.

The sky was now ominously dark, the clouds so thick and heavy it felt suffocating. It was a snow storm coming. In minutes, the whole mountain would turn into a white hell – there was no time to get to the car.

Cursing profusely under his teeth, Ban turned to the cabin. It was their only chance, lock themselves in there and pray that the storm wouldn't take long.

"B-Ban-cha... n... I didn't... kill... him... did I?" Ginji grimaced with the effort to speak.

Damn stupid eel... even in a moment like this you worry over others instead of yourself...

Ban glanced at the fallen enemy. Yeah, the son of a bitch was still alive.

"No, you didn't killl him, Ginji. Now shut up or you'll never stop bleeding, idiot!"

Ginji managed a weak, relieved smile before lapsing into unconsciousness.


Author's Notes:

- I live in a tropical country, I've never seen snow, so I have no idea if the sky turns cloudy before a snow storm, or if a snow storm can actually start just like that... I did the best I could using movie scenes as references. Sorry for any discrepancies.

- I couldn't find much information about Logan's history in Japan (unfortunately I don't have any X-Men comic book at hands right now). I did what I could with what little I could find on the internet. My apologies for any mistakes.

Aaaand, for the words in Japanese, the translation follows below:

(1) Excuse us

(2) "Anata" means "you", but it is also used as an endearment by wives to their husbands. In this case, it means something like "darling" or "dear".