Author's Note: My first forray into GetBackers (though it was destined not to be the only one). Just a short little drabble.
Warnings: pre-series, very mild spoilers for Kazuki's history
Disclaimer: No matter how much it owns my soul, GetBackers is the property of Rando Ayamine and Yuuya Aoki.
Kazuki stared up at the towering darkness of Mugenjou, and like it had every night, his heart lurched. His most precious friend was still in there, alone. And as he had every other night, he turned away from the dark presence and walked away.
As he walked the back alleys of Tokyo, he could feel the other denizens of the night giving him wide berth. He had carved out a niche of sorts for himself, earned a reputation on the street as someone both fair and powerful. And ruthless to those who were foolish enough to make themselves his enemies. He was the dark angel, Kazuki of the Threads, who knew everyone and learned of everything eventually. The guardian of Shinjuku with a heavy heart, it was said his cunning was fueled by a deep and abiding sadness that refused any remedy. The rumors were varied and fanciful, and through them he had become a fearsome being not to be crossed.
The truth . . . ah, the truth was not nearly as colorful. He had done little to earn such a cold-blooded reputation, but those few acts had naturally grown with the telling and retelling. It served his purposes, though it did nothing to ease the loneliness in his heart. At least it allowed him the freedom to go anywhere he needed without fear. Not that he would have feared, regardless. It had not been idle whim that had made him one of the Four Kings of the Volts.
But all the power in the world would not change the color of his heart. He stopped at another bridge, looking back once more at the looming shadow of Mugenjou. It had been his second home, a place where he had stolen happiness from a grey and dreary world. A place that had briefly known peace under the Raitei. But the Raitei had left and, though he had wanted to remain, Kazuki had walked away as well.
Forgive me, Juubei. I miss you with all my heart, but . . . just a little longer. I can't refuse him.
