Set the night after the IL retrieval. This is basically a BanxGinji fic, but there's nothing serious, so I suppose it would be one-sided BanxGinji. Ban realizes something important after the many close calls during the IL job.

A Love

Ban runs as fast as he possibly can, pushing himself to go faster than he thought was possible, knowing that if he slowed down at all he'd be too late.

Skidding around the last corner, Ban's eyes widened as he saw Raitei's (not Raitei, Ginji, Ban told himself) fist connect with Dr. Jackal's face in the same instant Jackal's Bloody Sword punched straight through the left side of Ginji's chest.

The force of the blow sent Jackal flying backwards and his momentum pulled the sword out of Ginji's chest in a spray of blood. Ban's heart stopped as he saw his best friend crumple to the ground, and he screamed "GINJI!"

"GINJI!" Ban screamed as he shot upright, eyes flying open, chest heaving in panic. There was a loud clang as Ban smacked his head on the roof of the car, and he sank back into his seat, holding his head.

"Ginji," Ban whispered, looking around the car frantically until he saw his friend sleeping soundly in the passenger seat beside him. Sighing in relief, Ban looked at his friend, studying his partner's features for a moment.

Ginji looked exhausted, tired out from the days of constant stress during their last job. Ban knew being in Infinity Fortress was hard on him; there were too many memories there, most of them unpleasant. And it was the birthplace of Raitei, the other part of Ginji, the dark side of the normally sunny young man.

Being taken over by Raitei had really tired the blonde out, as had the emotional fluctuations that had probably caused the takeover. Ban didn't know what Ginji had seen that made him snap, but he was fairly sure it had something to do with the past; hopefully nothing from the present would hurt his partner that much.

Ban sighed and silently got out of the car, hoping the night air would help him calm down. The cool night air felt good as he leaned against the car, and he took several deep breaths, his heart rate returning to normal.

Ban stared at the sky, tracing the stars with his eyes. His eyes found the constellation of Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer, and he looked at it for a few minutes before dropping his eyes back to the ground.

Today he had come closer to losing his partner than ever before, so having the dream made complete sense, but it still shook him up. Never in his life had Ban been so afraid.

He had never thought about what his life would be like without Ginji, and he had realized, looking at his sleeping partner, that he couldn't have a life without Ginji. If he didn't have the blonde idiot there to be his sun, his world would be dark, the way it was before he entered Infinity Fortress the first time. Except this time, instead of going down fighting, Ban was sure he would simply waste away in the pointlessness that would be life without Ginji.

Ban heard a noise coming from inside the car and turned around to see Ginji squirming in his seat, whimpering softly as his hands searched for something on Ban's side of the car. Sighing, Ban slid back onto his seat and allowed Ginji's hands to wrap around his waist as the blonde snuggled into his chest.

Looking down at his friend, Ban softly stroked Ginji's hair, ruffling the blonde spikes affectionately. Wrapping his hands around his partner, Ban pulled Ginji closer, basking in his warmth, aware of the steady rise and fall of his chest and the beating of his heart.

Leaning down to whisper in the blonde's ear, Ban said "I love you, Ginji. I will protect you. I won't let you leave me alone." Settling back in his seat, Ban closed his eyes and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.