Red Light District
By: Luca
Theme: 'Sex and candy' Marcy Playground song
Length: 1575 words (How random)
Genre: Romance and/or tragedy/angst
Warnings: Unbeta'ed. Italics are flashback scenes/dialogue or thought.
Pairings:Raitei/Ban/Raitei? Ban/Ginji/Ban
Summary: Ban gets into yet another fight. Just how many enemies can one guy have? This fight though, reminds him of how he formed his alliance with the Raitei. Reminds him of all his past mistakes.
Chest heaving, he pulled in lungs of air. Anger spilled through the air, taut and buzzing. He knew, although they were both wounded, even bleeding, the fight was far from over. Maintaining his distance, he refused to show any signs of weakness other than the obvious wounds. Yet, even hindered by those, he still stood tall, primed for more.
His glasses had long come off, blue eyes piercing the night.
His opponent however, had inverted his actions, donning a dark pair of sunglasses.
"Your tricks won't work again, Midou Ban."
He smirked, despite the stinging ruby liquid dripping into his eye. "You know as well as I, it's hardly a trick."
"Your Jagan is nothing but a cheap, paltry weapon!"
"Well, this 'cheap, paltry weapon'," he mocked, "has taken you down many times. So what does that say about you?"
There came a snarl, a swift shift in movement and suddenly Ban was alone.
"—The hell?" He started.
Making no move, he barely breathed, waiting for any indication; the slightest sound, the most minute of movements, a gut instinct—nothing betrayed the location of his enemy.
Shit.
Well said, a mocking voice resounded in his head.
Ban's head jerked up. "What . . . ?"
Something shimmered to his right, and he spun, only to find empty air. His nerves jangled and his blood rushed through his veins, making his head spin. For once, perhaps he was out of his league.
The Great Midou Ban is cowed by no one, he fiercely thought.
A metallic scent swam through the air.
"I suggest you give up now," purred a low voice, casually lifting a razor-sharp knife to his pale throat.
He visibly stiffened. He knew what he was going to be demanded.
"Your word you have lost and won't fight back."
His chin lifted the slightest bit higher, defiant. The sweet silver scraped perilously close to his Adam's apple.
"Your word." He repeated patiently.
The tenstion was palpable in the air, cloying and thick.
He emitted a low snarl. "Fine! You have it!"
He heard a low chuckle, making his teeth grind. At least his opponent had removed the weapon. Taking the opportunity present, he stepped away and spun to face his assailant.
"Been a while, hasn't it, Ban?"
"Don't speak as though we're friends!"
The dark-haired man took on a hurt look. "But we used to be so much more."
"And we're not anymore, Natsuhiko," Ban uttered, in a low, dangerous tone.
"And how is that my fault?" he parried. "You left me."
"I left because I drank the coffee and woke up."
"Drink the coffee and wake up, Ban-chan!"
"That's smell the coffee, baka." He lightly tapped Ginji on the side of his head. "And it's not literal either."
"Hahaha, you're so smart, Ban-chan."
Great, he was picking up Ginji's mistaken axioms.
He shook his head, pushing the unwarranted thought away and returning his full attention to his very-worthy opponent. "I don't have time to fight you, Natsuhiko."
"Ah, how I've missed my name upon your lips."
"We are not doing this!" His anger flared, along with his Jagan, so close to activating but he barely held it back.
"But why not? You'll like it." Natsuhiko purred before stepping up to him, wrapping a strong arm around the shorter man's lithe frame and tugging him close.
Ban balked at the action. His hand immediately wound around the dark-eyed man's neck as he calmly uttered, "Let go, you bastard."
"You can't force me to," the older man smiled darkly, before his eyes hooded over, "Your hair is short again. I like it this way."
"I didn't do it for you!" With a speed unseen, he yanked the sunglasses off and fired off his Jagan.
Natsuhiko's eyes widened briefly just before his eyes took on that familiar, hazy gaze. When he returned, Ban was long gone. A pale digit slowly traced his lips.Can you really leave me, Ban? You lie so well to yourself . . .
He escaped from his enemy's slackened grip, darting off into the night. Stupid, stupid,stupid! You're such an idiot.
Hours later, he leaned against the bridge above cars speeding below him, and ran a hand through his spiked, cropped hair. A certain someone had complained his hair was too long, covering those gorgeous sapphires. He'd taken a pair of scissors to them with a little help from Hevn, being too cheap to pay for a professional.
A loud car honking brought him back to the present frame of mind.
Ginji's waiting for me . . . but it's not like I care . . . right? he harshly told himself.
Because somehow, even the blond's usually bright-disposition couldn't dispel his dark spells.
Yamato . . . He dropped his forehead into his hand, feeling something twist sickly inside of him. Why did it turn out this way? We were fine but you . . . you killed something inside me that day.
Endless nights of tossing and turning, caught in myriad dreams--no, nightmares. Each one dripping blood down his hand, warmed by that precious liquid of life. Eyes, once filled with love and lust, now filled with anger.
And then, her eyes. Identical to his in every way, staring at him with confusion, anguish and hurt.
That day, he had ripped away a small piece of Himiko's innocence. Yet, no matter how much he wished to spare her from it, she had seen.
He had immediately left, run away from her, from him. Left her with the fucking corpse of her own brother. What the hell was wrong with him?
Somehow, as though to ease his guilt, he'd met Natsuhiko and gotten it in his fucked up mind to start something with him.
It was supposed to mean nothing. Just meaningless trysts of crushing, brutal kisses, and dirty, violent sex. Sometimes it felt good but the pain that usually came with it was what appeased his blackened conscience.
He knew it hadn't been healthy, not even remotely. In fact, it had been downright wrong. How many times had he been left nursing bruises, rings of red around his wrists and those bleeding wounds?
And now Ginji. His sweet, gentle partner, innocence still alive in a man his age. He hadn't meant to fall, honestly. But that loving nature, those soulful eyes had easily ensnared him without effort.
"Will you stand by me and fight, Midou Ban?"
He stared into shadowy, caramel eyes
"You know what I ask of you."
He knew all right. He weighed his options, his opportunities, the possibilities lying within his mind and gave one single nod.
The Raitei gave a dark smile before holding a hand out, in Western fashion to seal a deal.
Taking the slender hand, Ban shook it, feeling those digits wrap around his in elegant strength. After, he tugged the taller man toward him, into his embrace before pulling his head down for a brutal, hard kiss.
A string of one violent lover after the next. Just a new vicious cycle he couldn't get out of.
It was Raitei whom he sought out but Ginji whom he loved. Yet, there were still times that dark nature of his lover's surfaced. At those times, something in his dark mind sang. Cried out for pain, for violence, to be hurt, hurt. To assuage his guilt, his never-gone guilt.
But those two weren't his only ones. There had been a brief time with Akabane. Dr. Jackal with his sadistic nature had instantly called to him. It was perfect, for a short, simple fuck. No one knew but the two of them and honestly, if Akabane even thought to leak the news out, he could feign ignorance.
It surely wasn't one his brightest moves, getting involved with Akabane but he was there. It had been another dark incident with Himiko, which had driven him to it. Hanging around, downtown by himself in the red light district of Shinjuku, he had too much time to sit, to think about himself, the sick and twisted routine he was leading.
He'd been hard-pressed to down cup after cup of caffeine, just to keep his nightmares at bay. But she'd been there, sitting with him alone in that hard, plastic booth. Staring at him, accusing him. Like a dream, she was there. Surely a dream, for she could not be real. Yeah, it was his dream all right. His illusions, his nightmare.
That had been a mistake, he knew that now. But it was too late to retract it.
Ban felt a single tap on his shoulder before a bundle of energy glomped him.
"Ban-chan!"
"Ah, Ginji." He started.
"Haha, I snuck up on you good!" Crowed the blond.
A grin tugged at Ban's lips. "Yeah, you did."
"Why are you out here so late?" Ginji curiously questioned.
"Just . . . thinking. Remembering memories." He softly replied.
"Ban-chan shouldn't think too much; it might hurt like my head does when I think too hard!" The former Raitei joked.
The brunet stared at his partner before bursting out into gales of laughter. "Ginji! That-that's-!"
"Nee, nee, Ban-chan. It's so late. Let's go home." He tugged a lock of short hair.
"Hai hai." Ban turned and started walking.
Ginji grinned, taking one last look over the city sprawled at his feet.
I know you protect me all the time but for once, Ban . . . just let me protect you.
FIN