DISCLAIMER: Neither Get Backers or Bleach belong to me. No money is being made from this little venture.


Chapter 1 – "You lost WHAT?"

It was one of those days. Yes those horrid little days that said "Ban-sama, go back to bed. You don't really need to eat, or have your phone turned on! You can find a job tomorrow."

Sadly, Ban never really listened to those days until it was too late.

He and Ginji were sitting at the counter in Honky Tonk, Ban trying to Machiavelli food out of Paul who was decidedly not budging, but did pour the dakkanya a cup of coffee each. There were things that one should not be subjected to, one of them being an uncaffeinated Midou Ban.

It was a half hour before Hevn entered the Honky Tonk, bright eyed and busty.

"Good morning, Hevn-san!" Ginji chirped, turning his bright smile on the tall blond.

"Good morning Gin-kun, Ban-kun. Good to see you two here. I couldn't get a hold of you. Something about this line being disconnected?"

Ban shot the woman a snide look. "Stuff happened."

"I see… Paul, a fresh pot of coffee please?" the older man nodded to her and began fixing a new pot in that… thing that acted as a coffee maker. "Well, I have a job for the two of you, as well as Akabane-san, Himiko-san and Maguruma-san. I have a client who's the proprietor of a candy shop in west Tokyo." At the mention of Akabane's name, Ban twitched and Ginji appeared to mibble.

A few minutes later, Akabane and Himiko entered the Honky Tonk, Maguruma's truck parked out front. Akabane grinned at the occupants, while Himiko waved cheerily. "Good morning, Get Backers, Hevn-san." Akabane tipped his hat to each, a somewhat ominous look directed at Ban and Ginji, while Himiko cast him a sidelong glance.

As much time as she spent with the man, she really knew too much about him…

"Good morning Himiko-san, Akabane-san. I trust you both slept well?"

"I did, though I believe Miss Himiko has an exceptional night." Akabane relied, his humor displayed across his face.

"I hate you."

"I don't need to hear this…" Ban muttered, his face gone somewhat green.

Ginji looked absolutely lost.

"Aw, but Himiko-chan," the –chan said with a condescending tone, "I was merely commenting on how pleasant you're evening with Clayman-san must have been." The humor never once left his face. He truly seemed to be enjoying this.

"You're an evil, evil man."

"You're ever so kind." Not a drop of sarcasm was detected in that sentence, but the amusement could be detected around the world.

It was then that the bell rang, alerting the patrons to the entrance of a tall man with scraggly, dishwater blond hair wearing a green and white striped bucket hat and traditional sandals. In his hand was a ordinary wooden cane which he wasn't actually using, only carrying with him.

"Ah! There you are-"

"Sandal Hat." Ban interrupted Hevn, watching the new arrival closely. Hevn looked between the two, then noticed Paul watching the man closely as well. Ginji cocked his head to the side like a puppy, gazing at the man curiously.

The man had an amused smirk on his face as he looked at Ban. With shadow covering the top half of his face and leaving only one eye open, the shop owner was letting off a level of creepiness that rivaled even Akabane's (who seemed to be evaluating the man, looking him up and down discreetly). "Ah, if it isn't the Invincible Midou Ban-sama. I see you gotten modest as you've gotten older. Fancy meeting you here."

"Cut the crap, you knew I'd be here! What is it now, someone make off with Mod Souls this time, or is it that thing that got you sacked in the first place?"

"Ah, so hostile, Ban-chan. You're grandmother would be pleased."

"I'm sure."

"Ahem!" Hevn interjected, quickly seeing how this would turn out. "Why don't we all sit down at a booth. Paul-san made us a fresh pot of coffee, my treat."

After filling up several cups of coffee and making sure everyone was comfortably seated (or standing, as Akabane chose to do), Hevn got down to business.

"Everyone, this is Urahara Kisuke, proprietor of Urahara Shop in Karakura Town. Urahara-san, I believe you've already met Ban-kun. His partner is Amano Ginji. The transporters I've selected for you are Akabane Kurodou, Kudou Himiko, and their partner who's still in the truck is Maguruma Gouzou. They are all by far the best in their respective fields I assure you. Now, you were very vague about what it is exactly you needed to be retrieved. You mentioned something called a 'gigai'?

Ban's eyes bugged somewhat at that. "You lost a gigai?"

Urahara seemed to grimace slightly at that, and sighed. Adjusting his hat on his head, he spoke; "It's a type of synthetic body. This body was stolen from my shop sometime two nights ago. I've since tried finding it myself, as well as a few… associates of mine. But so far we have come up nil. While they are quite capable, they lack the proper contacts necessary to find something so… elusive, in certain areas. For instance, We've been able to narrow down it's location to somewhere in Shinjuku, but it's exact location is unknown to us. I have a picture of it here."

Urahara pulled out a photograph and slid it over to Ban. In the picture was what looked to be a young Japanese girl with long, blue-black hair and dark brown eyes. In the image she was wearing a knee length green dress that accentuated her body, which was unusually curvy for a Japanese girl. Indeed, upon closer inspection, ban noticed that her skin was darker then that of an average Japanese person, and indeed her face held traces of another ethnicity. Perhaps African? Her lips were full and pink and her nose somewhat wider and flatter then most Japanese. As for her figure, she had large breasts and her hips wide and round.

"It was made for a client of mine. A masterpiece, by far."

"I'm betting you made it untraceable." Ban interjected.

"Indeed, but that shouldn't be an issue for you, am I right?"

"Of course not. But it explains why you couldn't get it."

"You've gotten so humble…"

"Humble is for people who suck."

Hevn once again found herself having to cut into the conversation. "Urahara-san, I believe it's time we begin talking about payment."

"Ah, yes. I'm willing to pay the Get Backers 200 million yen and the transporters 300 million yen. As for you, Hevn-san, you'll be receiving a fee of 70 million yen. I trust that's fair? I would also be able to fund anyone else may need to take on this job. It may very well require many resources."

Ginji was gaping at the man, while Himiko merely raised a brow. Ban was glaring full force.

It was Akabane who finally spoke "Why, Urahara-san, that is most generous of you. We shall make certain you're gigai will be returned to you promptly an unharmed."

Urahara smiled at that. "While I trust you will do all in your power, do not worry if it's not completely in one piece. The current... circumstances… may not allow for a full recovery. However, I assure you there will be no penalty for damages of any kind. I'm more concerned with stopping whoever it is that took the gigai then retrieving it."

"We'll start right away." Ban told him before standing and making his way to the door, Ginji close on his heals.

"Oh, and Midou-san, I would wish for you to work with a couple of people. They could be a great asset to you." Urahara added before Ban could leave.

The thin man stopped to glance at the blond who addressed him, then said "Send whoever you want."


"Ne, Ban-chan. Who is that guy? And what's a 'gigi'?" Ginji asked once they were in the safety of the Ladybug.

"Who he is… unimportant. The gigai however, is. It's a type of synthetic body, like he said. It is a human body with all the necessary organs and such to work properly. The only difference is that it's made completely devoid of a soul."

"No soul? Then, how does it work?"

"A human body doesn't need a soul to survive, only to have a distinct personality and function fully."

"What's it used for?"

"…Shinigami."

"Shinigami? You mean there are gods running around Tokyo?"

"More or less…"

"That's… wow…"

"And shinigami aren't the only ones that use those. You can also place a mod soul in one."

"Ban-chan, you mentioned a mod soul before, what is that?"

"It's a soul created for the soul purpose of combat. the project was supposed to be scrapped, but a few escaped destruction."

"Made for combat? Like fighters?"

"And then some. They were each made with a special attribute. There are some who have purely physical attributes. For instance, there's a type that can jump a school, another who can knock a hole through a solid cement wall like it's paper. If we're lucky, that's the kind we'll get, and not one of the ones who can teleport or anything, or worse, a ranked shinigami..."

"Ranked?"

"Like and officer. Ranked Shinigami are the strongest of all the other recruits. the top Shinigami are the captains, the strongest captain being the head of the first division."

"Oh… what happens if we have to fight a captain."

"It would suck. A lot."

"Should we call for backup, Ban-chan? Urahara-san did say he'd pay for any help we needed."

Ban sighed and mauled over this. "Maybe Monkey Tamer, and Thread Spool. Little happens in Shinjuku that they don't know about."


Meanwhile, in Maguruma's truck…

"What do you mean he was 'odd.' There's at least one person in this truck who fits that description, you're gonna have to be more specific." Gouzou said.

"It's intriguing, he gave off an entirely ethereal aura." Akabane replied, utterly delighted at the existence of their new client.

"That, and he knows Ban." Himiko added, chewing on the bit of information.

"A lot of people know him." Gouzou stated.

"They were snarking at each others if they were old friends, and Urahara-san mentioned Ban's grandmother, suggesting he also knows her. I don't know much about her, just that she raised Ban for some time and home schooled him. But If this guy knows her, and Ban, then that means he's a hell of a lot more then he let's on. Hell, and this gigai thing… It's supposed to be a synthetic body. What the hell is a candy shop owner doing a with a fake body? And what the hell is it for?"

"I believe, dear Himiko-kun, that we may have to get this information from Midou-san himself. He seemed to know what Urahara-san was talking about." Akabane told her, his ever present smile never slipping.

End Chapter 1

AN: This chapter is pretty short, I know. More like one of my short stories. I don't know if I want to continue working on this particular recipe of crack, it really, really depends, to be honest. I'm asking you all, my loves, my reviewers, to let me know if you want to see more. If you'd love to see an update, let me know. I'm not trying to hold the chapter hostage or anything, it's just I don't know if I want to continue it, or will be able to. All of my previous attempts at multi-chaptered fics have been for naught and I don't want to have another instance of "Yeah, I'll update soon!" and then poof, nothing. However, I need to be able to write a multi-chaptered fic if I want to try and make a living at this, or if I want to be able to follow through on any of my bigger projects.

As such, I need motivation, folks. So, please, motivate me.

-CPW