To Defeat the Thunder Emperor. . .

Ginji walked through the rain slowly, getting soaked but not feeling it at all. He clutched his books tight and hunched over them slightly to protect them from the downpour. Leaving them in the car or at the cafe would have been a smarter thing to do, but since Akabane had given them to him three days before, Ban-chan had been glarring at them whenever he was reading. Ginji knew that Ban hated Akabane, and because of that, he also hated any gifts the older man bestowed on Ginji. He hadn't even finished the pizza that Akabane had bought. That was when Ginji knew that it was a serious problem, Ban never gave up food!

It was confusing and hurtful and it made Ginji sad to know that Ban-chan was angry with him over Akabane, but the fox eyed killer gave Ginji a feeling he'd never had before. It was like the feeling Ban gave him when they weren't fighting, but more full and kind of. . . lower down. He blushed at that, it was actually the first time he'd reacted like that to somebody. Ban used to tease him that 'it' must be broken because he never reacted that way Ban's did around beautiful people.

Girls, Ban's only reacts around girls, and Kazuki when he thought he was a girl, before. Is it bad that mine reacts to a boy? Is that why Ban chan is mad?

"Ginji-kun, greetings."

His eyes shot up and he blinked, "A. . . A. . . Akabane-san." He felt himself stiring when the other man smiled and blushed, dropping his eyes again. If Ban was mad because he was reacting to boys, what would Akabane-san think? Especially since he was the one being reacted to.

"Ginji-kun, you will become sick."

HUH?! Oh. . . the rain. He blushed. "Ban-chan is mad at me. . . and the cafe is closed."

"And so why are you not home?"

"We sleep in the beetle." He blushed, "But. . . uh. . ."

The black clad man smiled, "Come with me."

Ginji looked back down the road toward where the bettle was parked, it's occupant out of site but very definitly not out of mind. Still, it was wet and Ginji didn't want his books to be ruined. He'd never owned something like them before and he treasured them. "Okay."

They walked to an upscale apartment complex and Akabane used a fancy card key to open the doors and ushered the soaked blond inside. "Come, I live in the penthouse, we will use the elevator."

On the ride up, the Transporter kept a careful watch on his blond. . . friend. The man was silent and lost in thought, two things that rarely took president over the young Get Backer's mind. He looked miserable and he was clutching his books like a life-line. This was not one of the faces of Amano Ginji that he was used to.

When they reached his floor, he led Ginji to the couch and offered him a towel to dry off with, then started a fire to warm them. "Ginji-kun, you are not acting like yourself."

He gave a slight smile, "Sorry, Akabane-san, I just. . . I'm thinking."

"If it is such a painful passtime I suggest you stop."

The fact that Ginji didn't smirk at the soft barb just reestablished the fact that something was not right.

"If you remain this way our next battle will not happen."

At the reminder of their 'battle' Ginji cringed a bit. He'd been so excited! When they'd met again in Infinite Castle, they'd had so much fun! After reading over the books he'd been given and trying out various moves and ideas, he'd rushed to met Akabane and test them. Doctor Jackal and the Thunder Emporor clashed, hard, and in the end Ginji had won easily, but instead of being mad, Akabane had congradulated him and offered to buy him dinner in congradulations to his first win and the new tricks he'd gleaned from his reading. It had been a great day! Until Ban-chan had walked into the Honky Tonky and seen them both sitting there, Ginji bloody and dirty, and Akabane clean and composed. It wasn't that he hadn't been hurt, but he healed very quickly and the knock out punch had been given to his back, where his coat hid it from site.

Jumping to the wrong conclusions Ban-chan had been so angry. Even the next day he was mad. Ginji had slept on the roof of the beetle the first night but then, with the rain. . . he just didn't know how to make Ban-chan see that Akabane wasn't so different than he had been! And the look on the darker man's face when Ginji han admitted to having enjoyed killing. . . it hurt. Ban-chan had to have known what he'd been like. He'd witnessed it! But then, maybe he hadn't thought about it at all. That comment had been the begining of the cold treatment, if he really thought about it. . . and Ginji was afraid he was loosing his best friend.

"Ginji-kun?"

"Ban-chan didn't understand." He croaked hoarsely, "He didn't think about it, didn't know what I'd really done as the Thunder Emperor. . . He didn't realize, but I told him. . . What will I do without Ban-Chan, Akabane-san? I've never been just Ginji without him. Why doesn't he understand? Is that why he's so mad at me? Is it because I told him what I was? Or does he realize that my reactions to you are like his are to girls? Is he mad about that? Why is he so mad at me? We can't be the Get Backer's alone!"

Akabane hung the wet towel up and silently offered Ginji some of his own clothing to sleep in before sitting again and thinking about the boy's questions. Ginji had, surprizingly, come across a hurt that could not be cured with food.

"Am I broken?"

"Ginji-kun, you remember the attack Mido Ban used to shock you," He leaned forward and took the boy's mouth carefully, thoroughly exploring the moist cavern before pulling back and licking his lips, "This one?"

"Yes."

"It is not an attack. It is used as a sign of love and affection and also in many cases as an invitation for sex."

Ginji blushed. He never done. . . that. . . but he'd heard of it before. He realized that this was probably something he should have known, but once again, his strange upbringing in the Infinite Castle hadn't covered something that was common sense to everyone else. "Wait! That means that Ban-chan. . . that you. . .!"

"Yes Ginji-kun, and that is why Mido Ban is angry, not because you did anything wrong, and not because you are broken, but because he is jealous."

"Jealous?" Ginji whimpered, he was making connections he didn't want to and slowly realizing the situation he was in.

"Mido Ban made an offer which you did not understand and so did not act upon. He believed then that you rejected it and chose to remain close in other ways. Now he is jealous, because he has seen that I am making the same offer he did, but you aren't reacting to me in the same way you did to him."

"Then you want. . . and Ban-chan wants. . . but I. . ."

"This is just my interpetation of the things I've seen."

But Ginji couldn't write it off so easily, it made too much sense.

Akabane pulled the shocked blond to his feet and led him into the bedroom, pressing him down into the matress and covering him with a warm comforter.

"But, this means I have to choose." Ginji whispered and Akabane gave him a smile that would have chilled him to the bone before. Now though, he could see the difference in this smile compared to the others. He could see warmth there.

"I will not ask that of you. Good night, Ginji-kun."

Ginji watched the doorway Akabane had disapeared through and clutched his books tighter to himself. He could feel sleep grasping at him, but before it pulled him down into slumber, a simple thought crossed his mind. //But Akabane-san, I think I've already made my choice.//
______________________

Akabane walked quietly through the living room and to the large windows looking out upon the city. As he walked, he silently and methodically destroyed everything in his path with lightning quick slashes of his knives. Once he reached the window, he breathed deeply, walked out the door, and began the tedious task of replacing all of the damaged furniture. He Replaced cusions, statues, paintings and pillows with a calm efficiency that he didn't actually feel, and then locked the damaged pieces in the storage room with the furniture he would use to replace each of his . . . sessions.

He wanted to main, to kill, to paint his hands in blood. He wanted to hunt down Mido Ban and destroy him, eliminating his competition once and for all, but he wouldn't. He wouldn't because there was a blond man in his bed who would hate him for it, and for once, Akabane didn't want hate. Not from Amano Ginji.

He didn't know what he wanted from Ginji-kun, or how long this infatuation would last, but he did know that killing Mido Ban would end it.

Satisfying himself with resheathing his knives, laying back, and listening to the calm, even breathing in the other room, Akabane imagined all of the horrors that might befall Mido Ban in the mean time. . . and he smiled.