Chapter 2: The return

Makubex woke with an aching back, and a pair of happy brown eyes about an inch away from his face. He jerked his head away in surprise, and fell out of his the chair onto the floor. Without moving a muscle, he stared at the man in front of him in complete disbelief. Those were the eyes that haunted his very dreams. Makubex stared in denial, his mouth wide open as several different emotions ran over him at once.

"Hey Makubex, are you okay?" Ginji questioned, wondering why he was being stared at like a complete stranger. Makubex turned his head and replied softly, "no." Ginji kneeled and wrapped his arms around him. "Everything's going to be okay…I'm right here."

"You came back," he replied, still in shock that Ginji was right in front of him.

"Of course! I said I would, didn't I?" Ginji smiled warmly, as he began to withdraw his arms. Makubex held onto him tighter. "What took so long? It's been a year since the last time I saw you." Ginji took a moment to think about the question, and responded lightly, "So long? Oh…I didn't think you missed me that much."

"I did."

Makubex let go of him, even though that was all he wanted at the moment. He longed to feel Ginji's warmth against him. The desire grew every second and was driving him insane. "So, how have you been?" Ginji innocently questioned.

"Fine." Makubex was lying to Ginji, and himself. Every day since he left was just a struggle to survive. "No," He continued, "It hasn't been."

"What do you mean?"

"Every day…Since you left…"

"Go on."

"I've remained in this room."

Ginji, in disbelief that he actually meant that asked, "What do you mean? It's not like you stayed inside this whole time, right?" Makubex was quiet, but the look in his eyes gave the answer away. "Why?" Ginji asked, with a great amount of sympathy in his voice.

"I didn't want to," he began, "I was afraid if that if you came back and I left, you wouldn't know where I was, and you would leave."

At this point, Ginji was deeply concerned. If I leave again, he'll just shut himself up in this room. He thought to himself.To say would be a hard thing to accept, since he left the limitless fortress to escape his past, and now he would have to face it once again. "Well then, that settles everything! I'll stay here…At least for a while anyways." Ginji exclaimed perkily.

Makubex looked up at him. "Really?"

"You didn't think I would just leave you here all alone, did you?"

"What about your partner, Ban Midou?"

"I nearly forgot about that…I'm sure he wouldn't mind staying here for a bit. I mean, it's free after all."

"I wouldn't mind what, now?" Questioned a tall man with spiky brown hair, and striking blue eyes. "Oh! There you are Ban!" Exclaimed Ginji excitedly.

"Well, that was impeccable timing," Makubex cut in. Ban and Ginji both turned to look at him. "It happened according to my calculations."

"He's back to himself alright," replied Ban sarcastically, as he lit up a cigarette, "so, how long are we staying here, Ginji?"

"Well I haven't figured our how long exactly, but I was thinking….Maybe for a few weeks?"

"That's a few weeks we don't have to sleep in the car," Ban replied, as Sakura walked into the room. "Sakura, can you prepare rooms for these two?"

"Yes." As she began to leave the room, Ginji went up to her. "About the last time I was here, and almost hurt you…I didn't mean-"

"I forgive you. I know that you would never hurt anyone if you had the choice." she said calmly and walked out of the room.