Solace
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Author: Li Pei Fen
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama. Romance.
Status: Complete.
Pairing: Ban x Kazuki.
Summary: Ban and Kazuki go undercover searching for a necklace.
View as a Complete File

Ban awoke against his will on eight o’clock in the morning. His body felt heavy against the soft cotton covers of the bed in the inn he was sleeping at. He lay down for another fifteen minutes before he decided sleep wouldn’t knock on his door once again as it did the past night.

He went downstairs to get himself some breakfast. He was playing lazily with his rice porridge, thinking of Kazuki subconsciously.

“Chotto, onii-san, won’t you answer your phone?” said a kind looking old lady who was carrying a basket of bed sheets ready for laundry.

“O-oh…” Ban didn’t notice that his phone was ringing. “’Lo? Oh, Hevn… Hn? What? Oh, yah, got ya… Sure… He’s at Minase’s place already. I’m here at an inn. Okay, okay…” he hang up.

Twenty minutes later, he was inside his Beetle, not really knowing what to do or where to go first. Hevn said she wanted him to go back to Tokyo, but didn’t really state why. She didn’t seem urgent and demanding like always, so he guessed it wasn’t really important to be there on time. And he did promise Kazuki he’d be around, so why would he leave the place?

“Hai?” Kazuki said on the other line. Ban decided to give him a call.

“Nothing, really… Um, what’re you doing now?” Ban asked, clearly at a loss for sensuous things to say.

“Ah, you miss me, don’t you?” Kazuki teased, but immediately said, “Nothing much… Just here in my room, thinking.”

“Of?”

“Hibiki…” Kazuki tried to suppress his giggles while picturing Ban’s adorable jealous face. “And you, too.”

“Well, that’s nice. Just chill… right? Hevn called me up. She wants me to go there, so I wouldn’t be around like I promised,”

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine. And I think it’d do you good to go there. You must be bored right now, doing nothing!” Kazuki said credulously.

“Not really… I fancy being here more than with Hevn lecturing me about why she should get 30% of the reward money, thank you…”

“Okay, but you have to go now, or else she’ll make it 40. Take care, Ban,” Kazuki said, smiling fondly.

“Yeah, you take care too… Love you,” Ban said honestly.

Kazuki felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he heard him say this. He didn’t know how to reply. Didn’t he tell Ban that he didn’t really like him? So it would be a lie if he said ‘I love you too’, wouldn’t it? But then again, at the back of his mind he felt he was being dishonest when he said, “Okay, bye…” to end the call as he hung up.

“Ban-kun, I’m firing you,”

“WHA—? Ch-chotto! You can do that! You’re just a freaking mediator!!”

“Oh yes, I can. I brought you this case; I can choose who works in it. And this is one of the biggest ones I’ve ever had in my life. I’m not about to risk it by choosing you, thank you,” Hevn said coolly, arms crossed over her chest.

“But—! I promised Kazuki…” Ban looked ready to strangle Hevn.

“Whatever you love birds promised each other, I don’t care. I’m hiring Shido or Ginji to replace you,” she said in an end-of-conversation manner.

“Love birds?! What’re you talking about?” Ban was having an idea of why he was getting fired.

“Do you think I’m deaf? You as good as shouted to the whole world that you WERE together back in the Honky Tonk, remember? And Kazuki-san kept on denying it to me…” she shook her head disapprovingly.

Ban furrowed his eyebrows in a manner that was almost a trademark for him. “What?” Like he thought, that argument had been the root of everything. “You’re impossible, woman. Me and Thread Spool? Tell me, have you ever seen us getting along?” Ban said, trying to turn the tables.

“No, but I know for a fact that less-than-friends people don’t hold each other’s hand while walking; don’t call each other ‘girlfriend’ or ‘boyfriend’; and most of all, they DON’T make out in the car,”

Ban wanted to so badly to hit Hevn, if only she wasn’t a girl. “This is unbelievable, Hevn, it just is! You don’t know what you’re saying! That holding-hands thing was an accident; I can tell you very well how it happened. The girlfriend-boyfriend, it’s just what we pretend to be to keep away unwanted people from bothering us in Lollipop. And we WEREN’T making out in the car!! How could you trust a bird that saw us from behind? How would it see if we were kissing?! And that’s the last thing I’d want to do with another man, especially HIM! Don’t you realize that what you’re saying is stupid?!” Ban lied with so much conviction that one would almost think he was being honest.

Hevn looked in doubt when she said, “I don’t care. I’m firing you because I am. You cause potential danger to the job, and you have bad luck with money! I don’t know why I’ve considered picking you for the job… I can’t risk letting a pro like Kazuki-san to work with you, especially now that you like him. No way,”

“Hevn, have you actually thought about what you’re saying or did you just drink last night?”

“What I’m saying is final. If you’re worried about money, I’m giving you a fair amount to pay for your expenses in this job. I’m really sorry, Ban-kun, I’ll just be finding some other job for you soon.”

“No! If you’re firing me, don’t get me another job. I don’t want to be distracted. I still have other things to do and settle, even if I’m out of this damn job,” Ban insisted stubbornly.

Hevn looked puzzled at what she was hearing. Nevertheless, she agreed. Sighing, she said, “Fine. But remember, you’re in no way involved with this Solace case anymore,”

“Whatever.” Ban stormed out of the place to get some air to relax himself before he’d do anything he’d regret later on. He lit a cigarette to help calm his nerves a bit. What a great way of ending this job…

His phone felt heavy in his pocket, as if wanting to be noticed. But, really, he wasn’t in the mood to talk to Kazuki now. He kicked the trash bin beside him to release his burning frustration.

He wasn’t really sure about exactly why he was angry…It was pretty hard to convince himself that it was mostly because of the loss of that much money. But the thought of not being able to work… or stay close to Kazuki was causing much more discomfort than it should, normally.

It was all Kazuki’s damn fault. The man was just…addictive. Like a drug. He couldn’t remember any point in his life when he was being this crazy over someone as much as he is now. Like there was nothing more important in the world.

Whether I’m in love or it’s just paranoia that’s driving me to these thoughts, I can’t really point out where I’m standing at this moment…

I don’t have the power to see if I’m just being blind,

Not the ability to hear if I’m being deaf,

…I’m just left with the strength to speak what I feel, even if I’m mute…

And imperfect as it may seem, I guess this is enough to pull me through

Even for just a second.

Ban puffed out the last breath smoke that housed in his mouth for a short time. He dropped the cigarette to the ground and crushed the lit tip with his unforgiving foot.

“Have you seen Hibiki?” Kazuki asked Megumi politely as they bumped into each other in the hall.

“I haven’t seen him around… don’t worry, he wouldn’t leave without telling either of us. Maybe he’s just somewhere in the house. I’m telling you, he really likes to be by himself sometimes… Or if not, he’s just staring at his collection,” Megumi said, winking in a playful manner.

“Okay, thanks…”

“Sure,”

“Oh, Megumi-san, c-could you point to me where that collection is… I kind of forgot the way there…” he smiled guiltily. “See, I really need to talk to him about something important…” he lied, thinking this was the perfect opportunity to ask where the room is while remaining innocent.

Megumi paused in a thinking mode. Kazuki could sense she thought it was not at all too good an idea to tell him where the collection is. But later on, she figured Hibiki would be okay with this. After all, he did say that he’d been there before. “Oh, sure… There, see that doorway near that grandfather’s clock? Go there and turn right. The nearest room to your left, go inside it. There’s a small spiral staircase inside. Don’t go to the very top, look closely; coz there’s a camouflaged door near the middle… go through that door and go behind the biggest aquarium in that room. There’s a door that’ll lead to the Pink Room. You’ll be able to find your way from there, I’m sure,” she said.

Kazuki blinked a couple of times in surprise. Could he remember all of that until later when he’d tell Ban where to find that room? “Okay… I think I’ll be able to go there now. Wish me luck so that I won’t get lost,” he said, smiling, as Megumi left him afterwards.

He followed the instructions carefully. He entered the doorway which was filled with servants, working busily. He was able to find the staircase, which was literally small, and as he looked up, guessed it reached to the third floor. It was a really narrow room, only having space for the small staircase. And it was really dark. When he was fifteen steps from where he started, someone, probably one of the servants, had the brilliant idea of closing the door from where all the light came. He purposely left it open since he couldn’t find any switch to a light bulb.

“Great. This is just great.”

After a long time, he finally arrived to what was probably the Pink Room. The room he was now in was dimly lit. Some light from outside the windows came and enabled him to find the switch to the lights. It took some time before he got used to the immediate brightness, but when he did, he realized he was in the creepiest room he’s ever been to lately.

This was obviously a child’s room – a girl’s to be more specific. It appeared not to have been visited for a very long time now, maybe some eight or ten years. The walls were covered with pink stationery-wallpaper. There was a small four-poster bed trimmed with pink lining that matched the whole theme of the room.

But what was giving him the goose bumps were the dolls scattered neatly all over the room. Based on estimation, he guessed there were no less than eighty Japanese dolls and some dolls that seemed to have been brought from other countries. They were all staring eerily at space, but Kazuki felt that the beady eyes were looking directly at him. Seemingly seeing him, though looking right through him. Try as he might, he couldn’t ignore the feeling that he was being watched by someone in someway.

He walked over to the small bedside table and picked up the dusty clock-picture frame. He looked and tried to see who the two girls in the picture were, but couldn’t make it out. The glass was also clouded by dust from the inside, so he opened the lock at the back to see the picture clearly.

But all that happened as he desperately tried to open the stubborn lock, was soft children’s music being heard, coming from the clock itself. It was an old machine, and it produced a creepy distorted sound that was scaring Kazuki more than the dolls. He almost dropped the thing in surprise, but he caught it and put it back to where it came from to stop it from singing. Apparently it didn’t want to be disturbed.

He stepped out of the room as soon as possible and followed Megumi’s other instructions, supposing he came into the correct room. Well, it was a pink room… He found himself faced with only one door and another staircase as he stepped out of the room. He entered the room, and he realized that this was also the room Hibiki had led him into before. He sighed in relief and stared at the one door separating him from Solace. Now Megumi forgot to mention how to get in.

He tried knocking, just in case Hibiki would hear and open the door for him, which, to his relief, came true.

“Kasumi-san! I’m surprised that you remembered how to get here… and how’d you know I was here, anyway?” Hibiki greeted.

Kazuki couldn’t remember being so glad to see Hibiki more than he did now. He was so freaked by the Pink Room that he was still shivering now. “I didn’t remember, Megumi-san told me how to get here… she guessed that you’d be here, too,”

Hibiki laughed. “So that explains it,”

“What?”

“Why you look so ruffled. I’m surprised you didn’t come out of her room screaming. Did you, by any chance, touch her alarm clock?” he asked, amused.

“Well, I did, and I almost smashed it when it sang,” Kazuki shivered as he recalled the eerie sound he had heard a while ago.

Hibiki was laughing. “I knew it,” he said. Kazuki felt as if Minase was hiding something from him, though he had absolutely no idea what. “I would have run out screaming if I were you… well, actually, I did that before, when I was younger. Her old dolls just freak the hell out of me! I can’t believe she actually liked these things more than food. She skipped dinner a lot to play with them when we were younger,” he shared, shaking his head slightly.

“You know, she also has a collection of them somewhere in the house, I know it. She doesn’t tell me, because she thinks I’ll freak out when I find out that there are more of those dolls around… She just left those others dolls there in her old room to have me think that she stopped liking them already,” he chuckled a little. “Her collection’s probably bigger than what I have here!”

“But I do understand how she feels, though… loving some things more than anything else… Everyone would deem her crazy if they didn’t know how it feels like to have something so important, so precious to you that you’d sacrifice most things for them,” he said seriously, looking down at his jewels. “Do you think so, Kasumi-san? Do you have something you treasure above your life?”

It was hard to say no. Kazuki noticed the flame in Minase’s eyes as he spoke, which was somewhat hard to fight. He felt as if he’d be hurting him if he disagreed with him, so he just nodded.

“But for me, it’s not a thing, though… A person. I think it’s more sensible that way. That you like people over things. You know, coz these things don’t really have hearts that would make them appreciate and feel how much you love them…” Kazuki said, not knowing where those words came from.

“I guess you could put it that way…” Hibiki said thoughtfully. “Come to think of it, you’re absolutely right. Good thing it’s a person I treasure more than my things…”

Kazuki blinked a couple of times. Person? Isn’t it Solace that you’re obsessed with? “Well, I’m proud of you,” Kazuki said, thinking that it would be too personal a question if he asked who that person was. “For a second I thought you loved your jewels more than anything else!”

“Well, some things are really not what they seem,” he said. “Kasumi-san, do you know what person she’s like? The one I’m talking about?”

“No, not really,” Kazuki thought that that was a stupid question. How was he supposed to know? He didn’t even know who the person was…

“Well… she’s the best. She takes care of me all the time, since we were young…we were best friends. She’s very passionate. Once she likes something, she’ll like it forever. And she’s kind and gentle, always. Aside from being good in painting, she also plays the violin very well, plus she’s also authored a couple of books…Not to mention she used to be the star in theatre performances and some dance numbers…

“Plus, she’s the most romantic person I know…she believes so strongly that her Prince on a White Horse will come to her some day… If only she noticed I was here! She wouldn’t need any prince… But that’s why I like her very much. She’s also very kind to the poor, the sick, you know. She’s like a saint, actually, except that she’s the most beautiful one to ever cross the planet.

“But because she’s so kind, people take advantage of her… And she doesn’t really have the strength to tell them that she’s hurt. Once someone hurts her, that person can expect no mercy from me…” Hibiki said defensively.

“Wow… she must be an angel… I-is she your girlfriend?” Kazuki asked, a little hurt and jealous that Hibiki’s heart was captured by someone else, not him.

“Girlfriend?” he smirked gently. “That can never happen… No matter how much I love her, she can’t love me back like I love her. But I know she loves me, even if she doesn’t say it.”

Kazuki believed night air would do him some good after that incident with Minase in the ‘collection room’. And now, he was regretting he ever came out for a walk. He wished he just stay put and sat down like an obedient dog, at least he wouldn’t be bothered like he was now.

It was already 7 PM, and he was still walking outside by himself. Of all the places, his feet aimlessly brought him to a spot famous for being a ‘couple spot’. As highly suggested by its name, the place was packed with couples everywhere imaginable. And now here he was, walking alone, looking at everybody like a complete idiot.

It was highly strange how much seeing other couples struck him now. Back in Shinjuku, he was used to seeing a lot of couples too. But now, as he thought of it… he’d never really been given the chance to walk hand in hand with someone he loved… to show off to the world that he belonged somewhere… to someone. To his own prince…

And as if the gods were trying to tell him some undecipherable message, his cell phone rang, Ban’s name appearing on the screen.

“Hello?” A fresh, warm teardrop was silently trickling down his cheek as he spoke.

“Hey… Uhm, listen… This sounds unlikely, but, Hevn was involved, so… I just got fired a while ago, and I decided to tell you… I mean, I’m sorry it’s really too late–“ Ban paused as he got distracted by the sound on the other line. “Anything wrong?”

Kazuki tried to stifle the sound he made when he was sniffing, but it was hard. He wouldn’t be able to breathe if he didn’t do otherwise, so he had not much of a choice. He walked, heading to a dark corner behind the ramen stall he passed by so people wouldn’t think him crazy, still crying for no apparent reason. “Oh, no, everything’s fine…” he lied. “Just caught a little cold… So where’re you now?” he asked, trying desperately to sound natural.

As Ban checked the name of the fast food stall he was finishing his bowl of ramen in, he noticed the deadly familiar contour of someone he was certain he knew. He smirked silently and said jokingly, “I am… where I am. I can be anywhere I want to be,” he smiled delightedly as he added, “And right now, I want to see you,”

“Yeah, right,” Kazuki rolled his eyes as if Ban would see him. “No, really, where are you right now?”

“Right… here,” Ban appeared from the corner to Kazuki’s left.

Kazuki felt like a 90-pound weight was removed from his chest. Smiling widely, he continued to talk to him on the phone playfully. “I see. And, where’s your White Horse?”

“Dunno what you’re talking about…” Ban said, walking over to him.

“…Never mind,” Kazuki said pressing a button on his phone to end the call, now bursting into more tears, apparently without any reason conveyable with words. He was just glad that Ban was here in this very moment. And as if by instinct, or probably his body moved on its own, Kazuki found himself burying his face in Ban’s chest. He didn’t understand how a skinny, cold figure had done a very great job at calming him down and comforting him, but hell, he didn’t care. All he could think of was how absolutely thankful he was for Ban being here now.

“Now, do you still have the guts to lie to me and tell me everything’s alright?” Ban asked, patting his back gently.

For the next half hour while walking around the place, Kazuki told him everything that happened. How he felt about these and those things. He couldn’t remember being this open to anyone before, because he was a shy person. Shy and afraid that people might think him crazy or reject him. But now… he was talking freely to the most unlikely person in the universe. To someone any sane person would think was too intimidating to honestly speak of your feelings. Kazuki found it too ironic he could almost laugh.

Occasionally, they were talking about Solace, too, about what they should do now…and how Ban got himself ‘fired’ for no good reason.

“Don’t worry, I’ll negotiate it with her,” Kazuki said reassuringly. “So you can continue your difficult job of watching and protecting me,”

“I don’t need to be back in the job to do that,” Ban said lightheartedly, pinching Kazuki’s nose in a good-humored manner. “I’d do that without being told by anyone, especially without being motivated by money. Or else you’ll feel hurt, won’t you?” Ban made a long face, that of one who was saddened, to josh Kazuki.

“Oh, come on, stop trying to win me with wordplay…I don’t like that,” Kazuki said honestly, smiling dotingly at Ban’s baffled look as he waved a warning finger in front of his face.

“I wasn’t…! I’m a man of actions, remember? …And actions speak louder than words, as they say…” Ban stated, ending the conversation. What more was there left to say after Ban seized Kazuki’s lips, anyway? Right then and there, in a multitude of people, all that was left to exist as everything else faded away was the two of them sharing a kiss. A kiss not only defined as the pressing together of lips, but one that channeled an hour’s worth of conversation in a matter of a few seconds.

“Yahari, anata wa Dakkanya da ne, Kasumi-san [1]? I sensed it the moment I saw you. You looked a little too different than other ordinary women…or men,” Aira, one of the ‘Tannyeom-sisters’, said, raising a penciled eyebrow at him.

“Now, what should we tell Hibiki? Poor boy, he’d never have guessed that he’d been making out with a gay all this time…” Yuumi shook her head in the most sarcastic way she could.

Kazuki didn’t know how to reply. He was glued to his spot and petrified like a stone the moment he heard that familiar voice butt in to his and Ban’s conversation about retrieving Solace.

“Temme ra Mamoriya darou? [2]” Ban asked. He remembered hearing of a pair of sisters working for some rich syndicates, most often going undercover.

“Iya, we don’t deserve such a stupid name. And we don’t just ‘protect’… We’re not that boring,” Yuumi answered in a bragging manner, as if they surpassed all the others.

“We’re known by our surname, in case you airheads don’t know. We’re the Ikaris,” Aira paused to see the expression on Ban and Kazuki’s faces as they heard the name.

“Ikari?” Kazuki repeated. He had heard of them before, even when they were still in Mugenjou. They were highly famous for being able to sneak into very private organizations and accomplish their jobs without being noticed or caught even once.

“Huh! You’re just a bunch of kids!” Ban said in a scornful way. “We’ve got nothing to do with your job, same way that you’ve nothing to do with ours, so keep your noses to yourselves,”

“You’re retrieving the necklace for Summers, right?”

“So what if we are?”

“Then we won’t be ignoring you. Expect more of us from now on,” Yuumi warned with an air of superiority overpowering the cold atmosphere in the tiny alley they were in.

“Who cares about a joke like you? Do your job, and we do ours, period,” Ban said, ending the discussion. He turned to Kazuki. “Let’s go, before I’m charged for child abuse,” he said, both of them turning around to leave.

Ban was too busy thinking up ‘stop-kidding-me-you’re-just-ordinary-girls’ thoughts that he wasn’t able to sense the object one of them sent flying towards his direction. The sound of Kazuki’s tinkling bells as he entangled the little penknife in his strings alerted Ban.

“Oi! That nearly hit me!” Ban shouted, irritated.

“So what? I would’ve loved it if it did,” Aira said, crossing her arms over her chest in a careless manner.

Ban was starting to lose his temper. “Kuso gaki! If you want to live long, stay away from me...” Ban warned, his blood pressure shooting up.

“Huh! The nerve of you!” Aira said heatedly, raising her skirt to bring out, as Ban and Kazuki guessed, some sort of weapon.

Her sister extended her arm over Aira’s chest to stop her. “ Well, we’ll see about that soon… We’ll see ya when we see ya,” Yuumi flipped back her long red hair to the back of her shoulder as a ‘good-bye’ wave as they walked away.

Turning around, Ban cursed loudly enough for the other two to hear. Kazuki advised him to leave the situation as it is and verbally expressed how he didn’t feel like meddling with those girls.

“Why not? They’re just little kids with big mouths,” Ban asked, lighting a cigarette.

“Haven’t you heard of them? They’re very famous in the underground society, especially because they never fail in the jobs assigned to them…” Ban could detect from Kazuki’s way of speaking, that this wasn’t really what was bothering him.

“So? It’s not like we’ve ever failed. What advantage does a girl have over fighting a guy, anyway? They’re just a lump of breasts and nothing more,” Ban bragged, smirking naughtily as he shook his head.

“Well, that’s not really what I was getting at, but… They’re working for Kobayashi. They’d probably be in Hibiki’s house as early as –“ Kazuki checked his watch. “Eleven o’clock,”

“Oh, come on, it’s already 10:40! Are they some sort of super-powered killing machines that they could be that bold? They’d have to think up plans first and tell Kobayashi about it. Plus, transportation takes some time, too,” Ban said matter-of-factly.

“Okay, I know what I said was a bit of an exaggeration… But still! Shido-kun and Ginji-san haven’t even appeared yet… And how do I explain things back at Hibiki’s? Once those girls come, they’d be telling him about me being a Get Backer, that’s for sure,”

“So? You’re getting Solace back on that same moment they arrive, or even earlier. Just get it and leave that house. That isn’t so hard,” Ban convinced.

It wouldn’t have taken a genius to realize that Kazuki was having some sort of internal war, but figuring out the reason for the conflict would require the mental ability of a psychic. And luckily, since Ban always had a penchant for reading people’s mind, he had a hunch that this was not something so pretty.

Ban sighed and turned to look at Kazuki. “Whatever it is, you’d have no choice but to forget about it, Kazuki. Personal agendas are a no-no for our job; you know that very well,” Ban tried to let this out as gently as possible. Even before he spoke, Kazuki seemed really hurt already.

“Oh, yes, yes… How can I forget…?” Kazuki looked at Ban meaningfully, uttering a mental “Thanks,”

And as if hearing it, Ban replied. “Don’t mention it… I’m gonna send Saru-manshi and Ginji here first thing in the morning, so no need to worry. For now, just watch out for Solace and the two monkeys,” Ban said, Kazuki noiselessly nodding his assent.

“What about you? Are you just gonna leave it like this? I mean, I’m sure we can still fix things up with Hevn-san… You don’t really have to leave here, do you, Ban?”

Ban smiled and patted Kazuki on the head playfully. “Wherever you go, I’ll always be with you. And didn’t I just prove to you a while ago that I can be wherever I want to be? So just call me and I’m there, pronto,” Ban joked, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead.

Smiling, Kazuki said, “Didn’t I warn you just a while ago against buttering me up like that?”

[1] You’re a Get Backer, after all, Kasumi/Like
I thought, you’re a Get Backer, Kasumi.

[2] You’re Protectors, aren’t you?