Written: 11.11.03
Pairing: Ginji + Ban
Warnings: mild shounen ai, ficlet, fluff, horribly unoriginal title
Spoilers: Mentions Ban's time with Yamato and Himiko.

Evil Eyes by Lev

His grandmother had taught him about his power, the evil eye. She had drilled into him the appropriate techniques to show his enemies their worst fears, how to reduce their psyches to nothing, leaving them trembling on the ground. She'd taught him how to see straight into a person's soul--to see what made them how they were.

Yamato and Himiko had known about his power, and avoided looking him in the eye at all costs. Even though they were supposed to be friends, they didn't trust him not to use his power on them. They probably couldn't, Ban reflected, even tell someone what color his eyes were.

And... it hurt.

Yamato had looked him in the eye once. When Ban had killed him.

It was true that Ban was proud of his jagan. It was a handy skill when he didn't feel like getting physical. He never hesitated to use it to help his--Ginji's friends. Ginji... Ginji was his one real friend. People like Kazuki, Shido, and Jubei weren't his friends, but they were important to Ginji, so...

Ginji never flinched away from his gaze.

He actually seemed to enjoy meeting Ban's eyes--he had a tendency to smile whenever it happened.

One night, a few months into their partnership, Ban had had a nightmare about Yamato's death--that he had used his jagan to take Yamato unaware--that Yamato hadn't wished for death after all. Ginji had woken him up.

***

"Ban-chan! Ban-chan, wake up!" Someone was shaking him, kneeling beside him on the bed. He didn't want to open his cursed eyes--not after that dream.

"Ban-chan, please open your eyes. Are you all right? Ban-chan?"

His eyes still closed, Ban answered, more roughly than he had intended. "I'm fine, it was just a dream. Go back to sleep."

"Ban-chan..." there was a determined note in Ginji's voice that Ban found to be one of the most terrifying things in the world. "Open your eyes, please."

"Why?" he choked out, rolling onto his side and curling up. "So I can kill you, too?" He could feel the weight of Ginji's gaze on him, unrelenting, and he struggled to pull himself back together. "Go back to sleep. I'm sorry I woke you."

"I'm not going anywhere until you open your eyes and look at me."

"Ginji!"

"Please, Ban-chan."

Ban's eyes snapped open and he sat up abruptly, staring at the far wall. Ginji was beside him, looking at him, he couldn't turn his head--he couldn't...

Ginji's hand gently came up and grasped Ban's chin, slowly turning him to face him. "Look at me, Ban-chan."

Ban was no longer in control. Warm brown eyes looked back at him and Ginji smiled. "I like your eyes, Ban-chan. Not many people in Japan have blue eyes. Some people in Mugenjou do, but no one's are quite like yours."

Ban tried to glare, but couldn't. "Most people don't have cursed eyes, blue or not."

"I'm glad you have the jagan, Ban-chan. It's kept a lot of people from being killed." After a few silent moments, Ginji continued. "I know you won't tell me what the dream was about, but I know you would never use the jagan on a friend in a malicious way. Never." The blond-haired man released Ban's chin and leaned over, hugging his partner.

When they woke in the morning, Ban's head resting on Ginji's chest, Ginji asked, "Did you have a nice dream?"

And he had.

---

Hooray for wannabe pseudo-angst. I actually had another section of stuff after that, but it really did not fit into the general mood of the rest of the fic. ^^; Probably because I found the translated lyrics to Ban's image song and couldn't stop laughing at what an arrogant dork Ban is.