Chapter Seven: A Finish

Even now, everything that happened since my father took me under his control is a blur. I remember waking up, strapped into a chair, my mouth gagged. I was dressed differently. I sported a pair of jean shorts and black t-shirt that was way too big on me. It slid to the side, exposing my left bra-strap. It was long enough that it went passed the jeans and stopped just above my knees. I don't know how they got there or how they even knew about the place, but Ginji, Kazuki, Shido, and (of course) Ban were standing a mere ten or fifteen feet away. They were each fighting some of the men I had seen earlier around the table. I mumbled around my gag. Ginji had to leave! My father blamed him for my running away, and once you were on Hiro's shitlist, there was no way of getting off. He would do everything in his powers to acquire revenge.

Ginji sent an amazing blast of electricity towards three of the men before turning to look at me over his shoulder. Seeing my wide, fearful eyes, he rushed over to my side. Quickly as he could, he broke the bonds that held me to the chair. The gag was removed and I sucked in a huge breath before thanking him.

"Are you okay? Where's Yamamoto?" Ginji asked, helping me to my feet.

I shook my head. "Dead. Listen, Gin, you've gotta get out of here!"

"Dead? Did you…"

"I wish I could say it was me, but, no. Listen to me, Ginji, you have to leave."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know what's on that stupid disk, but I promise to get it for you, just PLEASE get out of here."

"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on!"

I looked at him in wonderment. Couldn't he just, for that one time, listen to me? I released a defeated sigh. "Yamamoto's 'client' was Hiro!" I replied hastily.

Ginji's eyes widened in surprise. "Your FATHER!"

I nodded before taking his wrist in my hand and half-dragging him over to the other three men. Kazuki, Shido, and Ban had already finished cleaning up the rest of my father's crew by the time I reached them. They all looked from me to Ginji and back again. I nearly shoved Ginji into Ban. The Jagan Master caught the blonde by the shoulders, glaring at me.

"Get him out of here, now." I growled, feeling the anger rise in me. He was coming…I could feel him.

Ban's glare melted into a look of general confusion. "He rescues you, and you repay him like this?" he asked, the glare returning.

Ginji shook his head and looked back at me. "I'm not leaving you here with him!"

"It's too late! Please, can't you just do this one favor for me!" I snapped, growing frustrated.

"No! I won't let him just turn you into some mindless slave every time you don't do something he wants! We'll face him together and-"

"Forget it!"

"Then come with us-"

"Stop it! Just…just stop it! Can't you see that I can't! He won't LET me leave!" The tears were slipping down my flesh, caressing my face.

Ban looked thoroughly confused now. "What the HELL is going on?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No time. Ban, get him out of here. Knock him out if you have to, just GET HIM OUT."

A part of me thought he would say no just out of spite. I mean, I did hit him in the privates just the day before. But he nodded firmly before throwing a struggling Ginji over his shoulder and heading for the exit. Before he disappeared, he shot a look at me over his shoulder.

"Do me a favor, okay?"

"What?" I asked.

"Be careful."

Before I could even formulate a proper response, he was gone.

"You let him escape. How…boring."

I stiffened at the voice. "You would have hurt him," I replied.

"Yes, I would have. But now that other one is dragged in it as well."

"Other one?"

"Do you really think I wouldn't feel it?"

"Look, either tell me what you're talking about or leave me alone!"

Father smirked as he placed a hand on my shoulder. He leaned in close, whispering in my ear. "You've created a bond with that other one, Ban Mido. I can feel it. You've fallen in love with him since that moment. Because he has the mark of a demon…just…like…you."

I tore away from his touch and glared at him. Yes, I did fall in love with Ban in that moment. You can't become, technically speaking, one with a person and not fall in love with them. Especially when they seem to be the only person on the planet who could possibly understand what it feels like to think yourself as being a monster. He had it too, that unimaginable loathing for himself. And his darkness was so similar to my own that I drowned in it. I fell in love with that bastard.

That would be mistake number four…

PRESENT TIME

Somehow, I found myself strapped back into the chair. Kazuki, Ban, and Shido were knocked-out cold and chained to the wall. Ginji was lying on the ground only a foot or so away from me. Father undid my restraints and dragged me to my feet. I was crying hysterically. Ginji was covered in bruises. His arms were bleeding. He stirred awake and picked himself up with some effort. He swayed on his feet and fell back to the floor. Again, he forced himself up, this time only to a kneeling position. Our eyes met.

"Usagi!" he cried out, jumping into a standing position. He tittered for a moment before regaining his balance. He took a step towards me. I held out my hand…

Now, now…I didn't say Simon says…

I gasped at the invasion into my mind as my grip slipped. Father took over my body. With no way of stopping myself, my outstretched hand turned into a fist, which connected with Ginji's jaw, sending him sprawling onto the floor. He got back up and again my father forced me to hit him. Ginji tried to hold me down, but my hands shot up to his chest, trying to drain him. Sensing this, he jumped away quickly. Father said just the right words to make me feel unwanted, unloved. Ginji yelled at me not to listen, but what else could I do? He lunged for Hiro, but I smacked my body to his, sending us both the ground in a heap. Ginji crawled out from under me and placed his gloved hands on my cheek. I was in a daze as I heard him whisper an apology in my ear. A surge of electricity went through me, knocking me into darkness.

Light seeped in through the curtains. It tickled and teased me out of sleep. A dull pain had formed in my limbs and my head was pounding. I groaned and threw the cover over my face. A laugh filled the room and I peaked over the material to see who it was. I sat up quickly, feeling my heart thudding in my chest.

"Ginji!" I squealed. The blonde smiled brightly.

"We're here too," said Kazuki.

I looked over and saw him with Shido, the girls from the Honky Tonk (Hevn and Natsumi), Paul, and Ban. I smiled at the latter and he smirked back at me. My attention drifted back to Ginji as I took in his appearance. He looked like CRAP! His arms were bandaged, his face was covered in small bruises and cuts. I couldn't stand seeing him like that and turned away.

"I'm…I'm so sorry you guys," I mumbled, feeling my face go pink in a mixture of embarrassment and shame.

Ginji gave me a tight hug before pulling away. "Forget about it! You didn't do a thing. It was all Hiro's doing!"

I tensed at the name. "What…what happened to him?"

"Your Dad? Oh, well, after I knocked you out, I went after him, but he tried to use his Manipulation technique on me. It didn't work though, so next he tried to use Control, but it was too late, Ban had gotten free of the chains and used the Jagan on him before…er…" Ginji stopped and looked at Ban. I followed his gaze.

"Before you what?" I asked him, drawing my knees to my chest.

"Before I used the Snake Bite."

I swallowed hard. "You…you killed him?" I whispered, tears jumping to my eyes.

Ban looked down at the floor. It was the first time I had ever seen him act so…regretful. "Yes," he replied.

I jumped off the bed and slammed into him. We fell to the ground, my arms wrapped around his waist and face buried in his chest. He looked down at me, startled before patting me on the back and finally hugging me back. The moment his arms were wrapped around me, I felt safe. I linked back to his mind, except this time I allowed him to feel the connection as well. His eyes shot wide as he felt me.

When I asked Ban when was the first time he knew he loved me, he said it was in that moment. When he finally got to see the real me. It wasn't like in the fairytales, when the Prince falls in love with the Princess the moment they meet. It was like in real life. When he finally saw deep down into my soul. Knew me. Understood me. Then, and only then, did he fall in love with me. I smile now, after all these years, I've finally found my cure. And I love him so much.

Fin.

A/N Damn…it's so RUSHED! Ah, well. I was seriously losing interest in it anyways…but it was fun to write! I'm going to do a prequel and sequel at some point, but for now I have A LOT of other stories I need to get up and some that I still need to finish. AS2 is in desperate need of completion after all this time. SO I'll be focusing on that and probably a Gravitation fic I'm doing…haven't exactly decided yet! Until then folks! I hope you enjoyed this crazy mess I call ficcie!

Maria aka LadyFiend