Die For Me
By keL-rebecca
Disclaimer: The characters of GetBackers or rather GetBackers as a whole does not belong to me. However, since I'm placing a new character I made up, I own at least one in this story. Oh, and the plot is strictly mine as well. That's all.
OnE
The Importance of HelpingThat night was particularly different from the ones that had gone by. The air was cold and silent, as though it was waiting for something big to happen. The cool blue moon was perfectly round and still. It, too, seemed to be restraining itself from producing too much light. The gray clouds of the night remained at its sides, ready to hide it anytime in case something terrible did happen.
Amongst the dark and slightly glowing shadows, a man clad in black walked home. He was Kuroudo Akabane, a Transporter. His face was expressionless as nothing was near to amusing him. He wondered if he could have some more "fun" on the way back to his house, a place that no one knew, but alas, he was out of luck. Everyone seemed to have been already tucked in their beds, fast asleep and just waiting for the sun to greet them a good morning the next day. The man found this idea rather boring and quickened his pace so he could at least entertain himself at home.
Just as he was about to turn into a corner that led to a main street he heard a scream. It was short yet shrieked, and it sounded as though it was coming from somewhere nearby. He turned to what he thought was the direction of the sound and began to go to it. Whoever it was he was sure he was about to find a bit of fun.
He stopped at another alleyway much darker than the one he had been walking along. His sharp eyes adjusted to the lack of light and saw a teenage girl running towards him. His first thought was to slice her fragile body into several pieces so that his thirst for blood would be satisfied, but then he saw an old man, balding and had a beer belly, who was following the girl with a broken bottle of beer in one hand and was shouting for her to stop. Akabane, or Dr. Jackal as his clients called him, quickly realized the situation.
The kid saw him and said, "Help! Please help me!" in a desperate manner. It was obvious that she had been running for some time with her legs hardly able to carry him across the length of the alley. Akabane made it easy for her and met her halfway, catching her in his arms. He felt her shivering and knew that she was terribly frightened.
"Now, now," he whispered. "Just get behind me and close your eyes. You might not like what you are about to see," As soon as the girl had done as she was told, Dr. Jackal focused his attention to the old geezer. "Hello there, Mr. Pedophile. You should know better than to chase little girls late at night. They need their sleep,"
"Who the fuck are you?" asked the man angrily in reply. "Hey Shinji! Get your ass in front of me right now, or else I'm gonna have to give you another beating 'till sunrise! Shinji!"
"Your voice irritates me," said Akabane calmly. "And since I don't think you're going to shut yourself up, it would be my pleasure to do it for you," He moved his hand in the manner of opening a fan, but instead of a handmade one to appear four knives fanned out. The old man stopped.
"What? You're gonna kill me?" the man said, mocking. "The police station is only a few meters away. You're going to get caught in the act,"
"You have no idea what you're saying," continued Akabane. He had a smile on his face. "I'm not like other murderers. My works are always fast and clean. And if you think I'm going to give you time to scream, you're dead wrong," With that he threw the knives at the man. Two hit him in the forehead while the other two reached his chest, particularly where his heart was. In an instant he was gone.
Dr. Jackal's smile widened, until he felt someone pulling his tuxedo from behind. He turned to face the kid he had saved. "It's over, my dear. No need to cry," He stared as a pretty face smiled up at him. The girl was a foot shorter than he was, her hair a beautiful silvery white and her eyes a dark gray. She was slender and flawless, though at that moment her face and ragged clothes were dirty. Her baggy outfit was torn and patched up.
"ArigatÅ, oniisan," she said. Her voice was soft and sweet but a bit low. "No one has ever done anything for me before. How can I repay you?"
"That was nothing," said Akabane. "I should be the one thanking you. Now there's no need for me to find enjoyment. But may I ask, who was that man and why was he chasing you like a dog?"
Shinji's face turned gloomy. "He was my master. I'm a beggar, you see, and we have a boss to whom we give our earnings. My friends and I have been trying to escape from him but he always succeeds in finding us. Tonight, we decided that we should all try our luck individually, and I volunteered to go first. Unfortunately, someone must've informed him of our plans because there was no way he could've known as we had discussed it while we were out on the streets. Thank goodness you were here. I can't thank you enough, mister..?"
"Jackal," The man said. "Dr. Jackal's my name. And you are?"
"I'm Yakashiro Shinji. Sorry for not introducing myself at once," She bowed down in respect.
"Shinji, are you hungry?"
The girl nodded. "Are we going to eat, Jackal-san?" She sounded happy.
"It's already one in the morning, but there are stalls still open downtown. Would you like me to treat you, Shinji-chan?"
"Really?" Shinji said unbelievably. "Oh, thank you, Jackal-san! I haven't eaten in days. I'll pay you back somehow,"
Akabane lowered his face to Shinji's. "Now what did I just say? When someone treats you it's supposed to be free, am I right?" He grinned at her, making her blush. "Is something the matter?"
"Uh no, no," lied Shinji, still red. "I'm fine. So, are we going now?"
"Of course," Akabane pulled his hat down a bit to cover his eyes. "I'm not going to keep you waiting,"
They found a noodle stand nearby. Akabane watched Shinji finish a hot bowl in five minutes and order a larger one, only to devour it in seven. Akabane found himself getting amused for some reason. He thought about this on the way home. Why would he smile at some strange little girl eating noodles? He knew Ginji was someone that could entertain him because of his hidden strength and wildness; so was the hot-tempered Ban. But such a small creature that could hold a world record for being the fastest in eating newly cooked noodles? It felt weird.
After Shinji had eaten, she saw that Akabane was staring at her. She blushed again and asked, "I-is there something on my face, Jackal-san?"
"Do you have anywhere to go, Shinji-chan? The old fart's dead. Where do you live?"
Shinji shook her head. "Tanaka-san never gave us a home. We would usually find shelter under the waiting sheds or the bridge. The police always find us, though, and they'd tell us to go away. They don't know that all of us are already orphans. Once, representatives from the orphanage offered to take care of us, but Tanaka-san told them he was our guardian. At that time there only saw four of us so they believed him, but in reality we're thirty-six children all working for him. He never allowed us to play or do anything else but beg. It was like we were his property,"
"One last question," said Akabane.
"What is it?"
"Would you like to share my apartment?"
Shinji was taken aback. "W-what are you suggesting, Jackal-san? That I live with you?"
"Why not?" asked Akabane with a smile. "I live by myself, and you don't have to pay for anything since my work gives me so much. I'll provide you with everything you need and want: clothes, food, cable TV, manga; name it and I'll give it to you. Oh, and I'll send you back to school. That is, if you still want to study,"
"But.. I'll just be a burden to you, Jackal-san," said Shinji. "I'm sure of it. I'm a troublemaker, and people might complain about me. What will they think of you when they see me? They might say bad things about you; spread all kinds of rumor. That kind of stuff. I can't put you in that situation," She stopped when she felt her face being lifted. Her eyes met Akabane's.
"I don't care," he said softly. "Even I don't know why I'm doing this but I want to. If you say yes to my offer, I swear I won't let anyone say anything bad about you or me. Besides, everyone else is afraid of me. They wouldn't dare spread false rumors,"
"Why are they afraid of you, Jackal-san? Did you do anything wrong?"
"I don't think so," said Akabane casually. "For them it's wrong, but it's alright for me. I don't care anyway. Let them think what they want to think. Their brains will surely melt with all the poison they're feeding them. Poor pathetic freaks. They have nothing else to do,"
Shinji was puzzled. How could anyone be afraid of someone so nice and caring like Dr. Jackal? It didn't make sense. Maybe he was a mysterious person? It made her madly curious.
"Jackal-san?" She began. "If I agree to live with you, will I get to see the real you? I mean, you seem to appear different to others. I want to see the other side of Jackal-san. It might not be anything like the one I'm talking to right now. And you helped me so this will be my way of thanking you,"
"So is that a 'yes', Shinji-chan?"
"Um.. Yes?"
Akabane smiled even more. "That's a good answer," he said to her. "I wasn't going to accept any other. Now then, shall I take you to your new home? You need rest. Tomorrow I'll take you shopping. Would that be alright?"
"That's more than alright, Jackal-san!" replied Shinji cheerfully. "Thank you so much!"
Akabane couldn't explain what he was feeling at that moment. Could it have been satisfaction or bliss, he wasn't really sure. It was a mixture of emotions burning in his heart as he accepted Shinji's thankful smile. What was in her that made him feel so good?
He was about to find that out the hard way.
Author's Note: I wasn't inspired by anyone this time around so I might take a while to update this. I'm so sorry.- I'll try my best, just like in my Gundam Seed fanfic. But I got the title from a short thing a friend of mine commented on her own work in deviantart. I loved the way it sounded. Anyhow, I cut the chapter at this point because it was getting too long for me. I want the pace of the story to be a bit slower this time. I haven't had enough sleep (I didn't sleep for one whole day) and so I'm feeling a bit high. Thank you for reading. -
