A/N: For the Christmas Shopping challenge at tempsmort.

Disclaimer: Get Backers does not belong to me. And for the record, neither does 'Frosty the Snowman', though I have no idea who that belongs to….

Christmas. It was a time for families to get together, to decorate the house with Santa Claus and reindeer cut-outs, to adorn Christmas trees with colourful, flashing lights, and— in Ban's opinion— to play the same annoyingly cheerful Christmas carols over and over again in shopping malls. If the length of each song was approximately four minutes, then this would be the thirtieth time that he would have heard "Frosty the Snowman" in the two hours that he had been stuck with Ginji in this shopping center jam-packed full of other shoppers picking up last-minute Christmas presents.

Ban sighed as he ran a hand through messy dark hair. They hadn't found the need to celebrate Christmas lat year, or the year before, so why start now? It wasn't as if they had a lot of extra cash to spare, either. The Jagan user growled under his breath as a middle-aged lady roughly pushed past him, her arms laden with more shopping bags than Ban had ever deemed possible to carry. She glared back at him, but before Ban could hurl insults at her back as she waddled to the parking lot, he felt a tug at his sleeve, and was met by a pair of big brown eyes as Ginji blinked up at him.

"Ban-chan… What are you doing? I was halfway across the mall before I realized that you weren't following," The blonde-haired boy pouted at him. "What's the hold up?"

Ban resisted the urge to gape at him. What was his partner, blind? Could he not see the throng of people that flooded the mall? That obstructed their paths? That shoved and pushed at them and jostled each other to get their hands on the supposed 'Best Buys of the Season'? As if on cue, another shopper forcefully pushed past him, squashing him against a shop window.

"Hey, what's your problem?" Ban yelled, only to be answered with a "stop obstructing traffic!" that was thrown over one shoulder as the aforementioned shopper continued to barge his way through the crowd.

"Ban-chan! Are you okay?" Ginji asked, as he wriggled his way through the shoppers to where Ban still stood pressed against the glass.

The swear word died on his lips and was hastily changed to a muttered "yeah… sure" as the slightly shorter man saw the look of genuine concern and worry on his companion's face. Ban sighed. He just couldn't stay angry at anyone or anything when Ginji was around. There was something about him that made Ban just want to protect him and keep him happy all the time.

That was probably the reason why they had ended up shopping for Christmas presents in the first place. Ban just hadn't known how to say no to the other boy when Ginji had bounced up and down in excitement as he asked if they could spend the money earned from their latest retrieval on getting Christmas gifts. He had promised Ban that he wouldn't use all of it, but knowing Ginji, he would want to buy something for everyone, and so instead of having cash left over, they'd probably be heavily in debt again.

Ginji flashed him a wide grin, and Ban felt his face flush slightly as Ginji took his hand and pulled him through the crowd.

"What do you think Kazu-chan would like for Christmas? Or should we shop for Natsumi-chan first? Do you think she would be easier to get a present for? We can shop for Hevn-san at the same time! Girls are easier to shop for, right? Oh, and of course something for Madoka-chan or Shido will kill me…" Ban smiled faintly the 'electric eel' rattled on about gift ideas. It was kind of cute, really. Though Ban had absolutely no interest in what that stupid beast master wanted under his Christmas tree.

His thoughts started to drift as he glanced briefly into shop interiors whilst Ginji dragged him along. He had never really been shopping. After all, he had been rarely given the chance as a child, and now he seriously lacked the spare cash. Sure, he had been into malls before, but he had never actually gone shopping for gift items, and thus never paid attention to what the shops sold.

I wonder what Ginji would like for Christmas. The thought floated into his head as they finally entered a shop. Ban blinked. He had totally forgotten about that. Of course he had to buy his partner a present! But what would Ginji like? Ban thought he knew the other boy well enough, but now that he actually thought about, he really had no clue what Ginji wanted for Christmas.

"…Okay, Ban-chan?"

"Huh?" Blue eyes blinked as they found two liquid brown ones locked onto them expectantly.

Ginji started to frown slightly, before turning it into a pout. Ban hated it when he pouted. It meant that even if Ginji asked him to run around the shopping mall naked while singing the national anthem, he'd do it, because he just couldn't resist it when Ginji looked at him like that.

"I suggested that we should share the presents. We could write 'From Ban and Ginji' on the cards. That would save a lot of money, since we wouldn't have to buy two presents!" Ginji beamed, obviously proud of himself for having thought that up, and from the way he was looking at Ban, he expected his partner to be equally as pleased with this idea on how to further cut costs.

"Um… right." Good. Cutting costs was good. Writing their names together on the card was not. Didn't only married couples do that? But Ban couldn't even begin to formulate a sentence to try to dissuade Ginji. Not when the blonde was excitedly bouncing from aisle to aisle like that. Ban sighed, for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day. Sharing the gifts would definitely save them a lot of cash. Right. He would use that excuse if anyone—namely Natsumi or Shido— tried to tease them about it.

"Hey, let's get this for Shido!" Ginji waved a pink mug with the words 'Animal Lover' and a huge heart printed on it around wildly.

"Don't drop that or we'll have to pay for it!" Ban snatched the mug out of his hands. He almost smirked at the thought of Shido's expression when he opened the gift. Then his expression turned serious, and he carefully replaced the mug on the shelf. Taking Ginji gently by the arm, the dark-haired man turned him around to face him.

"Ban-chan?" Ginji looked at him quizzically, but his cheeks were tinted slightly pink. He didn't try to remove Ban's arm, but Ban didn't have any intention to, either.

"Listen, Ginji," Ban took a deep breath, "You know, you keep on wanting to buy presents for people… But what is it that you want this Christmas?"

Ginji's blush deepened by a fraction. "You don't have to get me anything! Really! You're already the best partner and friend anyone could ask for!" He smiled warmly at Ban before continuing, "I should be the one getting you a present. In fact, I already did. You might as well have it now." The blush was on full force now, as Ginji dug into his pocket to reveal a small white box.

"Merry Christmas, Ban-chan!"

"Ginji…" Ban wasn't really sure what to say as he gingerly accepted the box and slowly opened it. He unwrapped the bubble paper that the gift was nestled in to reveal a small metal photo frame. Ginji had included a photo of the two of them, grinning at the camera, with arms slung around each other. Ban remembered taking the photo a few months back with Hevn's new camera after another successful retrieval.

"I wondered when the photo was going to be developed," he murmured, running a finger over the frame.

Ginji laughed softly. "Actually, Hevn-san gave it to me less than a week after we took it. Sorry if I didn't show it to you. I thought it would look nicer in a frame, and that it would make the perfect Christmas present."

He planned this gift months ago? And I didn't even remember to get him anything until just now! Ban mentally berated himself. Suddenly, his finger ran over a small groove in the part of the frame underneath the picture. He had been so busy looking at the photograph that he hadn't even realized that there had been something engraved on the frame.

"'S?'" Ban asked, as he ran a thumb over the single letter engraved there.

Ginji smiled, and murmured, "'Because the 'S' in Get Backers…'"

"Means that you're never alone," Ban finished quietly. He lifted his eyes off the frame and looked steadily at Ginji. "Thank you."

Ginji's smile widened, but the reply of 'you're welcome' didn't manage to find time to escape his lips before Ban leaned in and claimed them as his own.

The kiss was chaste, and rather unexpected, but that didn't mean that it wasn't welcomed in the least. Ban's mouth was warm, and soft, and the kiss everything that Ginji had ever dreamed.

Ban pulled away slowly, but not far enough such that their breaths still mingled.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Ginji."

The blonde smiled gently, and it lighted up his whole face, making brown eyes dance with merriment, joy and something akin to relief.

"You know what, Ban-chan? That was exactly what I wanted for Christmas."


End

A/N: So how was it? Hope it wasn't too bad for my first time writing Get Backers… Haha…

Here's an early 'merry Christmas' shout-out to all of you readers! Oh, and Happy early Birthday to Midou Ban-sama, whose Birthday falls on the 17th of Dec.