GetBackers Fan Fiction ❯ Sightless ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Sightless

Chapter 7


The dinner table was a traditional low table where you sat on cushion and ate. Ginji looked at Ban with a small sad smile. At the head of the table was Hestia in all her glory, to her right Sang Chun, her left Ban. Beside Sang Chun there was Celeste, then the twins. Next to Ban, Kerasi was seated then her Mother, then Himiko. Kazuki was beside one of the twins and Shido beside Himiko. Ginji was at the other end of the table facing Hestia. He didn't want to be, but Mirai said it was to help Ban out so he did. He said Ban was placed on the Left as a sign of his fallen position. Of how he was the black sheep in the family. To help him Ban's friends were to be honored, his partner the most.

"So Ban, how is your 'business'?" Hestia asked as she sipped her wine.

"Rewarding..." Ban replied stiffily. Ginji frowned as the dinner was served. Ban was only served wine, which he hadn't touched. Shido leaned into Ginji and whispered into his ear.

"Himiko says don't worry about Ban, he'll eat later. He is not allowed to eat with the family."

"But what of his wine?" Ginji whispered back.

"Without his eyes, Ban can't be sure if it is poisoned or not. So he isn't taking a chance. I'm sure he would smell it though, but some poison are ordorless." Shido responded. Ginji just nodded and watched as everyone else ate but Ban.

"Hey Ban, when you mean rewarding do you mean more so than what the family could give you?" Sang Chun asked smugly before taking a bit into his steak.

"With the exception of four people, this family has given me nothing but a hard time and some minor wounds." Ban replied with a glare.

"Minor wounds?" Hestia smirked. "Don't forget I have to 'talk' to you in private after dinner Ban." Mirai flinched visible as Ban simply nodded. "Anyway..." Hestia looked at Ginji and the others. "How did you three come into contact with Ban? Surely he was out to kill you all?" Kerasi's wine glass broke in her hand.

"Kerasi!" The twins yelled. "You okay?"
"Fine..." Kerasi murmured. Mirai took a napkin and was wiping up the glass and wine.

"You are cut...." Kazuki said pointing at the blood dripping from Kerasi's hand.

"Don't worry about Kazuki...just tell Hestia what she wants to know." Ban said as he took Kerasi's hand in his own. He lifted it to his mouth and sucked the glass out of the cut.

"Yes, do tell me..." Hestia continued as Ban ran his hand over Kerasi's whispering slightly.

"Well, he and I met because of a retrieval...we were working together." Kazuki said vaguely.

"Ban working with someone? Ha!" Hitoshi laughed.

"You Beast Master?" Hestia asked with a smile.

"We fought...at the time we were on opposite sides." Shido said with a glare at Hestia. She bristled at his glare and smirked turning her eyes on Ginji. He was watching the cut on Kerasi's hand heal under Ban's hand.

"Thanks Tou-san..." Kerasi whispered. Ban smiled at her.

"No problem Kerasi," He replied. Kazuki also saw this and wondered about Ban's place in this family. Perhaps there is something he is not telling them.

Hestia was about to ask Ginji, but Celeste beat him to it.

"He helped you didn't he Lightning Emperor?" She asked. Ginji blinked and looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"All sound in this house, except what happens below I can hear. I am sound itself. I hear the stories Ban tells Kerasi." She replied. Hestia narrowed her eyes and glared at Ban. Ginji blushed.

"Er...yes...Ban-chan did save me. He saved me from myself."

"How noble..." Hestia sneered. Shido's hand twitched, Himiko put a hand on his and shook her head slightly. "But do you know the real Ban? The murderer he is?"

"Murderer..." Ginji murmured confused.

"Yes, he has killed for the pleasure of it..."

"Hestia-san! You know that's not true. You know Ban would never kill for pleasure." Himiko turned to the woman.

"He killed Yamato did he not? Do you deny this fact?" Hestia asked with superiority.

"I don't deny it but..." Himiko was cut off.

"So then why would he kill someone he said was his own? Hm...?" Hestia raised an eyebrow. Mirai reached over to Ban's thigh and gripped it as his hands flexed.

"That is a low blow Hestia..." Shido said.

"Really? And you three assume you know the real Ban Midou?" Hestia asked again. "Hey Ban...how does it feel to be blinded by your trump card hm...?

"Tou-san's blind...?" Kerasi said looking up at Ban. He was glaring at Hestia.

"Kerasi, perhaps you should leave..." Mirai said to her daughter.

"But Kaa-san...."

"Do as your mother says Kerasi..." Ban said sternly.

"Yes, and take the twins with you." Celeste added. Kerasi and the twins bowed their heads before nodding and standing. They immediately left leaving only the adults.

"With the children gone, what do you hope to accomplish Mirai?" Hestia turned to her in-law.

"I will not have you bad mouthing Ban in front of Kerasi. He has helped me raise her more than I can say for you." Mirai glared. "At the time Kerasi's was born, you wanted to be rid of us. But Ban and Aleera took us in and helped us. You have no right to call him a murderer and bad mouth him in front of someone who looks up to him."

"Would you defy me to protect Ban?" Hestia asked with a evil glare.

"Hestia...she doesn't need to protect someone who can protect themselves." Ban said dangerously.

"Ban...let's not forget what happens with the collar. Let's remind you..." Hestia pulled out a remote and turned the knob before pressing the button. Ginji's hand twitched with electricity. He blinked and looked at the collar.

"Electric Shocks...." Kazuki said.

"It's tighten down too!" Shido said standing. Ban let out a breath before his hand shot up to his throat. Mirai gasped as she put her hands on the collar too.

"Hestia! Hestia! Stop it! You are going to kill him!" She shrieked as Ban's face contorted in pain. Kazuki and Ginji stood up also.

"I want him to scream...." Hestia said maliciously.

"He won't do it and you know it!" Himiko said going to Ban trying to help Mirai. "Hestia stop it he can't breath!"

"That's the point." Sang said with a smile.

"You son of a ---" Ginji ran past Shido stopping his comment and sat behind Ban and put his hand on the collar.

"Ban-chan hold still." He said as he began to feed off the electricity on the collar so it wouldn't go into Ban. Kazuki had enough of this for one night and pulled his bell of his hair. His threads were sent and he tug it slightly.

"What the!" Sang cried as Kazuki tugged the thread around his neck. Hestia's head snapped to Sang.

"Threads..." She looked at Kazuki who had a stern and angry look on his face. "Let him go."
"Let Ban go first..." Kazuki said.

"Kazu...don't..." Ban struggled out.

"Idiot, save your breath. I know you can hold it for a while so do it!" Himiko said. Mirai and her were still trying to get the collar off as Ginji diverted the electricity.

"Hestia please!" Mirai was crying. "Let him go!" Hestia seemed to be weighing her options. Ban's hands slipped from his neck. "Ban....Ban..."

"Oh no..." Himiko shook Ban a bit. His eyes were partly open as he stared blankly at the ground.

Celeste snapped her fingers and shrill noise cause the remote to fly into her hand.

"Celeste! What are you doing?" Hestia asked.

"I will not watch as you kill him. Nor will you kill him before the ceremonies..." Celeste said as she returned the collar to normal. "I will keep a hold of this until Aleera gets here."

"Ban-chan..." Ginji whispered as he let go of the collar. Ban's body took a breath before he started coughing.

"You added electricity..." He said glaring at Hestia.

"You need to learn to be subdued. A safety measure...now get your friend to release Sang Chun." Hestia glared.

"She's right...Kazuki let Sang go..." Himiko said. Kazuki turned his head away as he cut the thread letting Sang loose.

"Hey....Ban you alright?" Shido asked.

"Been better..." Ban stood and went to Hestia bowing his head. "I will be moving them to my old room."

"Do as you wish...but meet me here in two hours." Hestia said as she and Sang stood and left the room. Ban sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"She's getting power hungry...." Celeste said as she stood. She looked at them with a neutral face.

"She's always been power hungry Celeste...there's nothing any of us can do..." Mirai said.

"There is one thing..." Celeste said walking to Ban.

"What would that be?" Shido asked crossing his arms. Kazuki put his hand to his chin as he watched Ban.
"I can't say yet, but when the time comes Hestia will be knocked down a few notches." Celeste said.

"Why are you helping us now Celeste? Why not all the years ago?" Himiko asked.

"I've always been one to talk Hestia down behind the scenes Himiko, but she's taking it too far." The white haired woman said. "Ban..." Ban tilted his head slightly toward her. "You may think I'm against you, but I'm not. I don't want to see this family turn into a dictatorship. I refuse to let that happen."

"This family appoints one person to control the rest. How can it not be?" Ban glared at her. "That is one reason I walked from it. That's why I escaped from it all." Ginji walked to Ban and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Ban-chan..." Celeste smiled slightly.

"Didn't you listen to Aleera when you were here Ban? Her time of ruling is gone...Hestia won't listen to her unless threaten. The new blood must step up." She opened the door leading down a corridor. Ban snorted and turned his head away. "Himiko and I already prepared your old room and two spare rooms for your guests. Mirai will led you to Kerasi. I'm sure you will want time with her before you audience with Hestia." She began to walk away. Ban turned his head and whispered something that no one but her could hear. She stopped and turned to them.

"I am your cousin Ban. We were born under the same star...I will do anything you ask me to. You deserve that." She said before disappearing down the corridor.

"Ban-chan?" Ginji asked. Ban put his hand over Ginji's.

"I'm fine..."
"You keep saying that Ban, but are you really?" Kazuki asked. "Why aren't you telling us?"

"You guys don't need to know." Shido was fed up with this. He grabbed Ban by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the wall next to the open door.

"Shido!" Ginji said as he immediately attached himself to Shido's arm. "Don't hurt him."

"I'm not going to let him go Ginji, not until we get some information." Shido said. Ban looked at him and sighed.

"What do you want to know Shido?" He asked in a deeper voice.

"Ban, you don't have to tell them..." Mirai said.

"They want to know Mirai..." Ban smiled his devious smile. "Do you really want to know Shido?" Shido looked at that smile and wasn't so sure anymore. "I was shunned for being born into a family that didn't want me. I was turned away to the only person who could help, no who would take me in. I walked out on them because I didn't want to manipulate the lives of others just because of what I am." Ban gave a short humorless laugh. "Welcome to the home of the Midou Clan, Monkey Tamer. Welcome to my hell." With that Ban shove Shido away from him and walked down the corridor by himself.

"I'll go with him...I'm sorry guys..." Mirai said before running off after him.

"What the hell was that about?" Shido rubbed his neck.

"Ban-chan..." Ginji murmured.

"Guys....I'm sorry." Himiko said fooling around with her sleeve. "Coming here....to this place...to Hestia...it brings out the worst in him."

"We understand Himiko." Kazuki smiled. "But I would like to know about Aleera..."

"Oh...that's Ban's grandmother...supposedly from what Mirai has told me. Aleera is coming soon, but sending her bodyguard ahead of her to make sure Ban is alive for the ceremonies."

"So do you know what Hestia wants Ban for in...." Kazuki looked at the clock. "An Hour?"

"There can be many things...I just hope it isn't the one of thinking of..." Himiko said.

"Will Ban-chan be okay tomorrow?" Ginji asked.

"One can only hope Ginji..." She replied. "Knowing Ban though, even if he's hurt in some way he would come waltzing in like nothing happen. Just like when Akabane hurt him at the Limitless Fortess." Ginji looked down the dark corridor that Ban went down.

"I hope he'll be alright..."

"We all do Ginji..." Kazuki said. "Let's get settled into our room..." Himiko walked to Ginji and smiled.

"You can have Ban's room Ginji...I'm sure he wouldn't want Kazuki or Shido using it."

"So true..." Kazuki laughed as Shido snorted.

OoOoOo

Ban walked back into the dinning room an hour later. Hestia was there with a few tough looking guards. She grinned as Ban came up to her. He knelt before her and lowered his head.

"You remember the rules...good." Hestia said. "I think a lashing will do tonight...so let's go..." She had the guards led Ban down into he basement and into a room with two columns.

Ban didn't speak, nor did he object to anything. Once in the room, Ban's shirt was taken off along with his ear cuff and wrist bands. Hestia then had the guards set him in between the two column then tie his wrists with thick titanium alloy wires. These wires however were enchanted with Hestia's sorcerery to make them strong. Ban remained obedient throughout this. He was bare from the waist up, tied between two columns by an echanted wire. It meant he was going to be whipped. He heard Hestia crack the whip.

"How many tonight back? Three hundred? That sounds good, one hundred for each uninvited guest you brought into my home." She laughed and began to whip Ban.

Ban would neither grunt or make as sound. His fingers curled around the wire as he bared the beating with a straight face. The whip crack loudly against the silence of the room. Ban's mind wandered back to when Kerasi was born. How Mirai's grip on his hand almost rivaled his own. When his mind came back to his body he felt a paddle being slapped onto the first 200 lashes to make them hurt more. Ban hissed when the guard made to paddle hit a particularly deep lash.

"A sound...now Ban, what have I told you about making a sound." Hestia cracked the whip on his lower back. "Never make a sound..." Ban heard her arm go up but never come down. Whispers....what was going on? "Her bodyguard? You? Che....whatever...I had my fill for now. Tell Aleera never to interrupt my fun again. Come on boys..." Hestia walked out with the guards. Ban lifted his head slightly and turned it as if to look around.
"Well now, you are a bloody mess..." A voice said as it came closer. "And your wrist, you must of pulled a lot of control to not break the wires and snap at her."

"Who...are you?" Ban murmured.

"My name is Teshimine..." He said as he somehow got Ban's left hand free. Ban feel right into the man's arms. His right arm was still tied up by the wire. "I'm Aleera's new bodyguard." Ban's right hand was then freed.

"Tell me what is one of Ginji's old buddies doing as a bodyguard for someone in my family." Ban asked.
"She promised me I'd be able to see him again." Teshimine said as he helped Ban to his feet, putting Ban's left arm over his shoulders. "Said Ginji's partner was in trouble and might bring Raitei out."
"A little late for that....it already happened..." Ban replied. They began to move. Ban suspected going back to his prison of a room.

"I'm glad you brought him back then..." Teshimine said after a while. Ban smelt the fade scent of Ginji and assumed they were back in the room. Teshimine sat Ban down on the bed and went into the bathroom to get some bandages. "Tell me something....what did you deserve to be treated like this by your family?" He asked as he came back out.

"I was born..." Ban felt Teshimine lift his wrists and began to bandage them.

"It seems you had it worst that Ginji..." He said.

"Drop it alright?" Ban said turning his head slightly. Teshimine just nodded and finished Ban's wrists. "Why are you taking care of me, that's the real question."

"Aleera wants you alive that's one reason, but mainly because Ginji would be sad if anything happened to you." Teshimine responded. Ban felt himself smile. That's right, he had to be strong to survive for Ginji. "So turn around so I do your back." Ban smirked and did as he was told only to hear Teshimine gasp.

"I suggest you wrap my back anyway, It's only healed on the surface." Ban replied.

"How is it already heal liked that?" Teshimine asked. Ban laughed as he reached into his pants and pulled out a cigarette and his lighter. He put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it. Inhaling the smoke, calmed his nerves slightly.

"That is the mystery of being born a Midou."

"The mystery or the curse?" Teshimine asked as he bandaged Ban's back.

"Heh, both..." Ban replied.

"You know, Aleera wants you to break Hestia's hunger for power." Teshimine said as he finished the bandaging. He stood up and put everything away. "She wants you to change the way of the clan."

"Someone with as much blood on his hands as me can't change a thing." Ban put out his cigarette in the ashray under the bed. He then laid on his side his back facing Teshimine as he came back out.

"Don't be too sure about that Ban." Teshimine looked at the younger man. "Anyone can change the things they wish to."

"Just do me a favor and watch over Ginji tomorrow. Don't let them down here." Ban murmured. Teshimine smiled.

"Sure Ban." Teshimine went to the door. "Goodnight..." He said before leaving. When he closed the door though it didn't disappear.

Ban stared at his bandaged wrist. 'Grandmother wants me to take my right place in the clan. If I do, I will need to find a partner...someone to share my life with. No doubt someone that will have to pass Aleera's tests and examination...' He fisted his hand glaring at it. 'I'm not going to leave Ginji...I'm not going to ascend to my birth right.' Ban promised himself that he'd stay with Ginji and protect him. He wasn't about to break that promise. His eyes drifted close, his mind soon dulling with the pain he had endured.

OoOoOo

Teshimine walked up the stairs from the basement with his hands in his pockets. He looked up to see Celeste there with her normal neutral look. He bowed his head.

"How is he?" She asked.

"Stubborn but well." Teshimine replied. "He's worried about Ginji finding him in the state he's in now though."

"Don't worry, Kerasi will love to stay with the Lightning Emperor tomorrow." Celeste smiled slightly. "She adores Ban and his stories...I don't understand how someone like him...."
"Can be so kind?" Teshimine asked. "Ban regrets having so much blood on his hands. I don't think he wants anyone to know just how much."

"I'm worried....the only way for Hestia to stop her craze for power is if someone fights her. Ban is not in the condition to fight her." Celeste said.

"I think Ban can take her even though being blind. He is a very determined person as well as cautious. I think he'll be alright..." Teshimine countered. He smiled at Celeste. She frowned and stepped toward Teshimine.

"I'm just worried for the family..." She said as she hugged him.

"I know you are, but with the GetBackers here things should play out to the best results." He said hugging her back.

"I hope..."

OoOoOo


That's it for this chapter. Hehe! Hey Pixy, I don't know if it is true or not...but I might use that idea. The one of Ban's father...but on a bigger scale. Thanks!