Authoress' Notes:

Well, I'm really excited. I'm nearly done with this fic! Today during chemistry we had almost an hour of free time (I love subs!), and my friend Lizzie let me work on this on her Dana (sort of the newer version of the Alpha Smart, in case ya don't know). And… I mean I just have to finish the last chapter! This isn't actually the next-to-last chapter, though. There'll be 2 or 3 more- I haven't decided if I should split the last chapter up or not.

DISCLAIMER: I DUN OWN ANYTHING!

nyanyanyanyanya

Stop!

Akabane hurried through the night. He couldn't believe that he had just done that. Why did I run away? he fumed at himself. And that excuse… no one would ever believe that. He'll know for sure now. Akabane cursed his inability to hide how much Ginji-kun affected him.

He wondered how he would ever manage to face Ginji-kun again- the famous Doctor Jackal, Akabane Kurodou himself, had run from something as pathetic as feelings. Worse still was the fact that he had even let himself have feelings in the first place.

He knew, though, that it wasn't as if the feelings would ever go anywhere. He would be strong, because, with Ginji-kun likely to never love him in return, he would be able to suppress the feelings eventually.

He realized with a start that he was breathing unevenly. Slowing, he leaned against the brick wall of an alley. Akabane clutched at his chest, trying as hard as he could to force himself to breathe evenly, to stop the aching in his throat. Why am I doing this? he screamed inwardly. How could I ever let myself fall in love? Stop, Akabane! Stop being such an idiot! Stop hurting/

He slowly sat down on the dirty pavement of the alley. He bowed his head, his breath becoming ragged. He closed his eyes.

"Akabane?"

Akabane looked up with a start, to find Ban Midou standing at the entrance to the alley. He peered into the gloomy alley, which was barely illuminated by a street lamp nearly a block away. His left hand was near his face, ready to pull off his sunglasses and use the Jagan. His right hand was poised to strike.

Akabane opened his mouth. He was going to say something polite, something dangerously sweet about Midou-kun's presence, but he never got the chance, because suddenly he felt something wet fall from his eye.

Midou-kun advanced, ready for a fight. But suddenly, he noticed the tears tracing their way down Akabane's face. "A-Akabane?" Midou-kun seemed stunned.

Akabane couldn't say anything out loud. Inwardly though, he screamed curses at himself, at his weakness. He hated himself for showing weakness, for actually letting himself be so damn STUPID! Why the hell couldn't he just make this stop? STOP THIS! STOP FEELING! STOP CRYING! JUST STOP IT, DAMMIT! he shouted at himself. I'M SUPPOSED TO BE STRONG! STOP BEING SO PATHETIC! STOP IT! The only outward sign of his internal conflict he showed was an increase in tears, as he began to almost sob.

Midou-kun backed away, eyes wide. "A-Akabane, w…what…?" Akabane was getting more and more confused. Why was he hurting? He was strong! He was immune to this kind of weakness!

Finally, he snapped. Turning away, he ran into the night. Ban stood in the alley, where Akabane had left him. After a while of staring in the direction where Doctor Jackal had disappeared, he turned back on his way towards the Honky Tonk. He needed to talk to the others; he was unsettled. What on earth could cause Akabane to have a breakdown like that?

nyanyanyanyanya

Ok, my friend thinks I'm making Akabane-sama a little OOC, so a little explanation: My theory is that Akabane-sama worked so hard to suppress emotion that he convinced even himself that he'd gotten over feelings. That made him feel safe, immune to weakness. So when he realizes that he's failed and that he's in love, that's one of the scariest things he's ever had to face. And when you hide feelings for too long, there comes a point where you can't hold them in any more and you have a breakdown. Akabane-sama has reached that point here.

I'm gonna wait a while on posting the next chapter, for two reasons: I'm not entirely happy with it yet, and also I want to wait and see if you guys like where I'm going with it. The way it's looking right now, the story will end on the same night that this and the previous chapters take place on. But I can't really tell if that's moving too fast or not. So definitely please review if you think I need to develop the story more before I finish it, and I'll do my best!