Get Out While You Can

Author: Silverfish
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst. Drama. One-shot.
Status: Complete.
Pairing: Akabane x Ginji.
Summary: Akabane meets Ginji in a bar.

Ginji knew what he was doing was wrong. He steeled himself as he walked down the narrow, dark street, the damp setting putting him on edge, his electric aura sparking slightly as he made his journey. He felt terrible having to keep this from Ban, but the result of that conversation would have been a lot of yelling, and maybe even a few blows. This wasn't something he could confide about with anyone easily, at this point least of all Ban. He knew the sense of betrayal would cut him too deeply, and as such, he made this decision to deal with this on his own.

The email had been specific enough, even laying down a fairly uncomplicated map where Ginji would meet this newest, personal client. He'd downloaded it into his portable PC, but the map itself was slightly too large for the screen and he had to scroll this way and that with the tiny arrows on the side of the small handheld's window. As he turned down yet another black and wet alleyway, Ginji had to admit to himself that he was truly, hopelessly, lost. "Dammit, why do all these alleys have to look the same?" he angrily said to himself. "This street...Dammit! I've walked down here already!"

His 'client' was going to be pissed. He was beginning to see the folly in trying to do a job on his own. Ginji swore and took out his handheld again, moving the little cursor this way and that, trying desperately to make sense of the map. To add insult to his predicament, the cool mist was now turning to a heavier drizzle, and within seconds had at last erupted into a torrent of rain. It soaked Ginji to the skin, the portable PC barely visible beneath the soaking it was getting. He sighed and shoved it into a damp pocket, wondering offhand if the gadget was waterproof. He took a good look around at his current surroundings, its structure so similar to every alley he'd dared to step through for the past forty-five minutes. The client was surely long gone by now, and there was a sense of terrible disappointment weighing inside of Ginji at present. He'd come here on his own and had failed after all. Maybe he would tell Ban, after all. Ban could cuss at him, maybe even get a good laugh in at his expense.

It didn't seem fair, somehow. He knew something like this would never have happened to Ban.

Feeling thus depressed, Ginji continued onwards, the alley he was in suddenly brightening thanks to a sputtering yellow and red light jutting out from the wall about four feet above his head. He leaned his head back into the falling rain, his face slapped by the cold drops as they fell, heavy, onto his face and crept into the crevice of his neck, where the drops made their course, finding dry skin to taint beneath his shirt.

The light was sputtering in pieces of red and yellow, two of the letters completely burnt out. "U..le Joe's Juke Joint--Beer On Tap", it read.

Ginji wasn't getting any more successful by standing in the rain, and right now the warming effects of alcohol seemed like a good idea. He shrugged his army green vest closer to him and made his way to the narrow red door just under the sign. The door opened under his grip with a dull creak as he made his way inside. It was certainly dry, and smoky within the bar, but it was no less bright than the several alleyways he'd spent all this time wandering aimlessly lost in. He took in the clientele, and wasn't too keen to remain. A large fellow with a bald head and a tattoo of a screaming demonic face erupting from his scalp was near the entrance of the bar, his comfort here obvious as he talked animatedly to the bartender in front of him. Ginji couldn't quite get what they were talking about, even though the place did have a strange kind of quietness to it. Visible directly in front, on a small area designated as a stage, was an elderly man with a guitar, a halo of cigarette smoke surrounding him.

He was singing a song of the blues, his old hands strumming the guitar in the way a man is familiar with a lover--The gesture was too intimate for Ginji, and he turned away from the stage, to approach the bar. He sat down on one of the dirty stools, and coughed away the sudden influx of smoke that wafted in his direction. Sure, Ban was a chain smoker, but that didn't make it easy to deal with about seven other men who had the same condition.

The bartender looked over his shoulder at Ginji, a rather cross expression on his face. He was clearly annoyed that he had to leave his animated conversation with the bald demon-headed man. He slung a white tea towel over his shoulder and nodded wordlessly to Ginji.

"I'll just have a Sapporo," Ginji said.

The bartender 'tch'd' as though Ginji had slighted him, and Ginji couldn't help but feel even further ill at ease in this place. The walls were painted a dark red, and the insides of the bar had black and red shadows that made the place feel as though it had been bathed in blood. On the far side of the bar, a proud 'Guinness' sign lay in black and gold over a shadowed figure sitting beneath it. Squinting, Ginji could just make out the outline, which despite the darkness inside was all too familiar...

Ginji's eyes opened wide in recognition and fear.

"Akabane," he breathed.

A tall glass was set before him and there was a gentle spritz of sound as the can of beer was opened and poured into the glass. Wordlessly, Ginji took the drink and downed a good half of it.

The man he also knew as Dr. Jackal smiled at him, his face placed in the golden light of the Guinness symbol above his head. "Ginji-kun," he said. "I did not know you frequented such places as this."

"I.."Ginji began, but felt more than a little tongue-tied. He frowned and downed another gulp of his drink for mental strength. "I don't, usually..."

"How interesting," Akabane said, and chuckled quietly to himself. "I see that Midou Ban is nowhere to be found...Did you lose him?"

There was a loud guffaw at the other end of the bar, and Ginji flinched at it. The bartender and the man with the demon's head tattoo were obviously the best of friends, and he was too much in the center of their gravity at present. He didn't like the way he stuck out here, with everyone else in shadow. Though he wasn't keen on the idea, he decided maybe the best way to deal with this place was to do what the culture dictated, which was to find a quiet place to hide. An unfortunate fact which was only exacerbated by the way Akabane moved to another seat and patted the one beside him, bidding Ginji nearer.

It was impolite not to at least sit beside him, Ginji reasoned. Akabane may not be the most trustworthy of people, but at least Ginji knew he'd get plenty of warning should the situation turn dangerous. Besides, if Akabane tried to attack him here and he had to defend himself, the fight could be confined to that corner, and the innocent people in the bar need not get hurt.

Akabane raised a pale hand to the bartender, who nodded at him immediately. "Wine," he requested, and the bartender gave Ginji another once over, this time raising his brow. He dug around underneath the bar and came back with a dusty bottle devoid of a label. He opened it and set it in front of Akabane, along with two bell shaped wine glasses.

Akabane was smiling as he poured the rich, red liquid into Ginji's glass. "This place isn't known for its finesse," Akabane said around what on anyone else would be a warm smile. "But there is a certain urban charm to it that I can't quite dismiss. Enjoy it, Ginji. The proprietor of this place makes this brand himself, and I think he is adequately skilled."

Ginji wasn't sure, after all he still had a few sips of his Sapporo left. He thought about declining, but the bartender was now looking on expectantly, waiting for the verdict to be in about the quality of his homemade wine. Reluctantly pushing the glass of beer aside, Ginji took up the wineglass and took a medium sized gulp. To his surprise, a rush of warmth coursed through him, along with a pleasing, fruity aftertaste on his palate.

He blinked. "This isn't bad!" he said, and the bartender, pleased, took away Ginji's pint of Sapporo and returned to his usual conversation with the tattoo'ed man at the other end of the bar.

Akabane raised his glass, giving Ginji a once over through the deep, red liquid within. "To our...friendship," he said, and clinked the glass with Ginji's, sending a smooth tone over their corner, moving the moment into clarity.

Akabane was certainly sitting very close to Ginji.

Ginji gulped down another good helping of wine.

The night was filled with music, though not the kind most people can appreciate. Ginji and Akabane's notes were often at odds with each other as they staggered down the street, Ginji's voice bright and energetic while Akabane's was considerably slower and more reserved. With their arms loosely bound around each other's shoulders they laughed their way in staggered steps away from the bar and out into the insanely late hour of evening. The rain had stopped, and there was a cool breeze replacing its damp onslaught.

"Oh, my head is spinning!" Ginji said, laughing. "That was GOOD wine!"

Akabane stumbled and Ginji caught him by his waist, momentarily surprised at how thin his sometimes enemy, and current friend, was. Akabane leaned against him further, no doubt a result of his severe drunkenness, which from Ginji could figure was worse than his own. Then again, Ginji wasn't exactly in a position where he could exercise the best judgment. He swayed in time with Akabane's own efforts at walking, and somehow they both made their way to the main street, which at this dismally late hour was empty.

"Akabane," Ginji said, suddenly serious.

Akabane raised his head, putting Ginji into his sight through the small slit in his large hat. His eye was half closed, and more than a little bloodshot.

"Ne?"

Ginji was proud and stoic as he stood at the curb of the street, the city stretching out wide before him.

"I'm gonna be sick," he said, determined.

Letting go of Akabane and leaving him to fall to the ground, Ginji ran to the nearest trashcan to find a cure. He groaned when he was finished, his guts turning into insane knots, his body burning with something akin to a fever. On the ground not four feet away, Akabane was laughing at him, the hem of his black coat trailing into the gutter of the curb.

"Anou, this isn't good," Ginji moaned in agony. "I'm stuck with this guy and I don't know how to get home."

He staggered to where Akabane still sat laughing on the curb, and picked him up, and not without difficulty. He might be thin, but he sure as hell was heavy! "What the hell, did you swallow a ton of lead weights or something?" Ginji asked, straining to pick his charge up.

"Occupational hazard," Akabane said, and laughed again. He leaned against Ginji, nearly toppling him. Long fingers waved against the night sky above them. "I live in the condo a block from here."

A sense of danger erupted into Ginji's consciousness, but he ignored it this time, figuring it was probably an effect of the alcohol. He could take Akabane home, that wasn't a problem--It would be wrong of him to leave him passed out in the street, after all. He could try and sober up once he got there, and then manage his own way back to the Honky Tonk.

He hoisted Akabane's arm over his shoulder and thus attached they made their way through the darkness, and into a territory Ginji certainly had never expected...

Akabane's condominium did not, by any means, belie the personality that lived in it. It was bright and roomy, with a kitchen that overlooked the living room, and overall had a very western feel to its inner architecture. It was spotlessly clean, and Ginji had the odd feeling that Akabane was either a meticulous person (very likely) or he rarely spent time here (even more likely). It seemed a shame to see this huge place going to waste if the fact was the latter--He and Ban could enjoy living in a place like this--thier 'home' in the car was okay, but it was still a bit cramped.

The door to the condo clicked shut, and Akabane, still draped around Ginji, tossed off his large hat where it settled on the tip of a coat rack. Ginji caught his eyes, and they were calculating, a burning sensation inside of them unsettling him and readying him for the inevitable fight.

Akabane swung his arms around Ginji's neck, and Ginji tensed, expecting an attempt from Akabane to slit his throat.

"Ginji-kun," Akabane said, his mouth just inches from Ginji's own. "I want to thank you, properly, for taking such good care of me..."

"Th-Thank me?" Ginji asked, incredulous.

Akabane leaned in closer, so close that Ginji could smell the odd metallic taint of his breath--iron laden, organic with rust.

"Ginji-kun," he said.

His lips touched Ginji's for just the briefest of seconds, to pull away ever so slightly. Ginji was frozen where he stood. If Akabane was looking for a way to immobilize him, he'd definitely found it...

Akabane's lips found his again, teasing in their touch as they lightly covered Ginji's own, a darting tongue tracing around the bottom lip, his mouth slightly open. The kiss deepened, taking in Ginji's taste, wine and static and rust mingling in a strange sensation of pleasure. Akabane released him, and rested his cheek on Ginji's shoulder, a smile etched in sultry lines on his face.

"G..Guh..." Ginji replied.

Akabane traced Ginji's collar with his thumb, drawing his touch around a button that was halfway out of its buttonhole. He flicked at it, releasing it completely. Without waiting for Ginji to react he dove at his neck, burying Ginji's throat in a set of teasing, biting kisses. His tongue licked along the dip beneath his Adam's apple, to begin a descent where that opened button promised more of Ginji's highly individual taste.

Ginji put his hands on Akabane's shoulders, pushing him away. "No way! No no no no no!"

"Ginji-kun, now is not the time to tease," Akabane said, a forced pout on his lips as he spoke.

"I think there's a big misunderstanding!" Ginji exclaimed.

"Oh, no, I don't think so," Akabane replied, his hands circling Ginji's face and pulling him reluctantly close to his own. "I was surprised, but then, you are a man full of such things are you not? Such an interesting place to find you, in that bar..." Akabane leaned in and stole another kiss, this one far deeper and more forceful than the last one. Ginji wanted to struggle, but he was still quite a bit drunk, and frankly... Well, even if it was Akabane, the kiss *was* rather pleasant, and alluring, and even kind of enjoyable in its own way...

What resistance his mind had, his body certainly was more open to the experience. Akabane was a man dedicated to precision and perfection, and from the way he was rolling his tongue in Ginji's mouth and the ensuing reaction of Ginji's body...Well, one could say he was being expert.

He felt more drunk than he had back at the bar, and this sensation was only exacerbated by the pressure of Akabane's own taste in his mouth, the lingering scent of that wine making him giddy all over again.

"I've waited for this," Akabane confessed. "For death or this...It's all the same to me..."

"It's not the same as dying," Ginji said to him. Akabane didn't answer, save for a knowing smirk on his face. He leaned his body close against Ginji's, and smiled at the way Ginji's eyes closed, his expression clearly showing how he was responding to the deftness of Akabane's touch. He could really enjoy these sensations, new as they were. Not the same as enjoying a woman's body, but still...There was an unexpected understanding here that Ginji was very much appreciating.

The morning felt complicated.

He had a pounding headache, even if his head was on a soft feather down pillow. He squinted into the bright sunlight, and at first expected to bang his head on the roof of the car, as was the usual way he woke up. This time, however, he was in a much more comfortable setting, with a warm comforter cuddled around him. He blinked, trying to remember, and the night before came back to him in pieces which he slowly had to put together like a shattered jigsaw puzzle. There was rain, and he hadn't met his goal. He'd gone into a bar to get dry, maybe get a beer. He'd met someone there, went home with them....Did a few...things....

Someone...Someone drenched in shadow, though the silhouette looked familiar enough. Ginji frowned and sat up, taking in the rest of this room. It was empty, though from the indentation on the pillow beside him, it was clear the night had not been spent alone. He yawned and stretched, rubbing the back of his head with his palm. He'd better take off, or Ban would be getting worried. Still, he felt bad leaving like this, it felt kind of a slimy thing to do, having all that..fun and just taking off without so much as a good-bye or a phone number.

He got up out of bed and grabbed his clothes which were neat and clean and carefully folded on the chair next to the bed. He got dressed and made his way out of the bedroom cautiously, looking around for his benefactor. No one was home. He yawned again and combed his tousled blond hair with his fingers as he walked into the kitchen. A bit of breakfast wouldn't be too out of line, he figured, not with what had been some pretty intense intimacy the night before between himself and this person, whoever they were.

The morning sun was shining beautifully into the living room, and he could see the condo had a small balcony. He ventured outside for a moment, taking in the crispness of the morning air. There was a small flower garden just off to the side, though the blooms were in danger of simply wilting away, their present ripe beauty at risk of being spoiled. He pinched the blooms off and went back into the living room and then into the kitchen, the small bouquet in his grasp. He took a tall, clear glass out of the cupboard and put the flowers in it, along with a bit of water. They made the emptiness of the place ease just a little.

He rubbed his hands together happily--Breakfast! He opened the refrigerator and found it woefully lacking in grocery. He searched around and found a carton of eggs. An omelet wouldn't be so bad an idea right about now, he thought. Maybe even a western styled one, like Paul made at the Honky Tonk cafe. He rummaged in the fridge for a few vegetables and took them out along with the eggs.

He reached towards a set of knives, embedded in a typical wooden holder.

He froze.

His body was shaking, his eyes wide with horror.

"A-Akabane?"

The Honky Tonk was strangely quiet, and even Paul seemed perturbed by this. He kept glancing at Ginji who was in turn being glared at by an unforgiving Midou Ban.

"I'm going to ask you one more time," Ban said, keeping his growing anger in check. "Where the hell were you last night?"

"And I'm going to tell *you* again," Ginji said, his back turned to Ban. "I can't tell you!"

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"TELL ME!"

"Ow! Ban-chan have some pity! I can't!!"

"Tch," Ban let his stranglehold on Ginji's neck go. "If a man can't confide in his best friend, what kind of a life does he have? Fine, have it your way, Ginji."

He stepped away from Ginji, who in turn was wholly upset at how this whole scenario was playing out. This was definitely causing a big rift between them, and there had to be some way to patch it before it blew up into something truly serious. "Ban-chan," Ginji said, and put his hand on Ban's shoulder. Ban was uncertain at the touch, and he merely glared back at Ginji. "This isn't about you, Ban-chan. There are just some things a person has to keep to themselves, because it's the honorable thing to do. Because sometimes you don't want to hurt someone else by sharing their secrets, and as such, you have as much a responsibility to hold onto those secrets as the person who is the owner of them. I would be one hell of a slimeball to let the things I know slip out, even to someone as close as you, Ban."

Ban's expression softened, just a little. He pushed his sunglasses up further on his nose and closed his eyes. "Is that so?" he said.

Ginji nodded.

Ban sighed, and collapsed onto a stool at the counter. "Well, if that's how it has to be, I guess I just have to accept it." He gave Ginji a lopsided smile. "Besides, I can smell the old wine and perfume on you...Don't let it be said that Ginji-kun would kiss and tell!" He laughed uproariously at this, and even Paul joined in. Ban slammed the counter in glee with his palm and Ginji felt as though he was shrunken in his seat. Despite his embarrassment he was actually relieved. The last thing Ban needed to know was that his adventure was not with a woman, as Ban suspected, but in fact involved a rather psychopathic acquaintance (would he be an acquaintance, now? After... *that*?).

The front door to the Honky Tonk opened, setting the small chime in a jingling frenzy. Natsumi, her schoolbag in hand, had arrived for her after school shift.

"Ohayo!" she waved to everyone, and Paul gave her a warm smile in return. She tied back her hair and went behind the counter, immediately wiping down the coffee machine as she started work. She looked over her shoulder at Ginji and Ban, and her eyes went wide. "Oh, Ginji-san! Before I forget!"

She reached for her schoolbag and took out a small metallic object. She placed it on the counter in front of Ginji.

"I ran into Akabane-san on my way here," she said. "He said you forgot this."

Ginji swallowed and picked up the object which was, in fact, his PDA. "Th-Thank you, Natsumi."

He checked to see if Ban was suspicious of anything. From the way he was glaring, oh yes he was.

Nervously, Ginji took the cover off of the PDA and turned it on. There was a new memo in its memory. He coughed and opened it quickly, only to shut it again when Ban tried to see what it said. It was enough. He'd seen the words.

"Thank you for the lovely flowers, Ginji-kun."

"What's going on with you and Akabane?" Ban shouted.

Ginji sweatdropped. "B-Ban-chan...I can't say..."

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"TELL ME!"

"Ow! Ban-chan, have some pity! I can't!!!"

"Hey!" Paul shouted. "No strangling people to death in the shop!"

"Ack...ack...B-B-Ban-chaaan.....I can't!....."