A/N: Alright, Here is the revised Chapter 1. New chapter uploads will be postponed until I get the revised versions of the current chapters up. According to Kaeru-sama my chapters were coming up cramped and difficult to read. I've fixed the spacing and broke up the paragraphs more so hopefully this will solve the problem. Please let me know. Hopefully I will have more time this weekend to finish this little project and then new chapter postings can resume.
"Nnngh," Ginji Amano groaned rubbing his head as he sat up, "Where are we?"
No sooner had he said it the thought struck him; 'Wait a minute, who's we?' Ginji stood up warily and looked around, it was pitch black out with nothing to guide him but the starlight coming through the thick foliage above. Ginji noticed he had awoken on a dirt path in the middle of a forest somewhere, but he had no idea where he was or how he got there. Ginji looked around a moment to see if he could recognize, even remotely, his surroundings; however, no such luck.
With no other options left he proceeded up the path he had found himself on. Ginji had debated calling out for help, hoping someone somewhere could hear him, but through the dark night he could see no signs of life; not even the stirring of forest animals. Ginji moved forward silently, 'Where am I? And why am I the only one here?' Ginji thought to himself, 'Last thing I remember was Ban and I going to meet Hevn-san and the others for a job and the next thing I know I wake up here (where ever here is) in the middle of nowhere.'
Ginji walked on trying to contemplate the situation he had found himself in, but yielding nothing more than a headache. 'Man, now I know why I like to let Ban do all the thinking, this is hurting my head.'
Ginji trudged on in silent misery up the path. He walked for what felt like ages as the night gloomed all around him growing steadily colder.
"What's that?" Ginji uttered aloud to himself as something bright in the distance caught his eye. They weren't city lights, they looked more like fire lights to him, but civilization of any kind was welcome at this point. 'Alright! People! Now maybe I can figure out where I am and how to get home,' Ginji thought as he put a little hop in his step and began to sprint towards the firelight.
The incline of the hill he climbed was a little steep, but nothing he couldn't handle now, although Ginji had noticed something rather eerie and foreboding as he climbed the hill; he felt strange, and the closer he got to the top the more uncommonly cold it got. However, still too excited to have found civilization to fully take in this realization Ginji pressed on.
When he reached the top Ginji found the firelight; there were crude torches lit at various spots on the hilltop and at the center was a strange stone structure. Odd as the scene was to him what he found more mysterious was there were no people in sight.
He walked to the other side of the hilltop and found himself looking down upon a whole village. The houses were huge but appeared to be run down. Ginji got a chill in his spine but he could still see lights on in various places around the village so he decided to venture down into it all the same.
When he stepped back from the edge to see how he was going to get down to the village he noticed there were two paths; one to his right and another to his left. Looking from one to the other he wasn't sure which path to take so he decided to try the left path first. There appeared to be dirt steps leading down somewhere so he figured it would probably be a better shot than the other plain dirt path.
Ginji moved toward the dirt step path and as he descended he began to notice the haze over the place growing thicker. When he reached the end of the dirt path he found himself standing in front of a wooden bridge. From what he could tell it looked very old and unkept, however he couldn't see most of it because the fog was so thick now he couldn't even see to the other side at all. A chill wind blew and Ginji shivered, 'I don't know about this...' Ginji thought to himself, but his thoughts were cut short. He had heard something move behind him and whirled around to see what it was, ready to defend himself if necessary. Ginji's guard was up now, something wasn't right here; in fact he felt there was something truly wrong with this place.
Ginji waited for his would be attacker, but nothing came, and nothing else stirred since. Ginji hesitated, but then proceeded cautiously back up the path from which he had come. Back at the hilltop Ginji took a moment to survey his surroundings before heading down the other path. He observed the stone structure with admiration, but there was something eerie about it too. Ropes with hanging talismans lined and linked the outer stones surrounding the center. He got the vague impression they were there to keep him away from the center stone, but he couldn't see why.
As he looked around it occurred to him that the only paths he could see now were the step path he just came from and the opposite path leading, he hoped, down into the village; but the path he had taken to get here in the first place was gone. He saw an old, partially fallen Shinto gate on the other side of the stone structure and figured the path had to be there. However, when he reached the gate and looked he found no distinguishable path. Ginji looked all around the fallen gate and all around that side of the hill but found no path. 'But, I could have sworn...' Ginji thought to himself, but again his thoughts were cut short by another noise behind him.
Ginji whirled around, but found nothing. He waited to see if the noise would come again, but nothing else stirred. 'Something's not right here, but I have to keep going. Maybe I'll be able to find someone in the village who will know what's going.' Ginji gave up the search for the first path and proceeded down the second of the two paths on the village side of the hill.
This path was hazy too, but the haze wasn't as thick on this path as it had been on the first. A little ways down the path Ginji tripped on something; catching himself before he fell he looked to see what it was that had tripped him. It was a small black bag with its contents partially spilling out of it, but before Ginji could investigate something else had already caught his eye. Not much farther down the path he saw what looked to be the entrance to the village; what's more was he saw a person walking into one of the houses.
"Hey!" Ginji shouted after them, "Wait! Can you help me? I'm lost!" But it appeared to Ginji that his cries fell on deaf ears because the person didn't stop or look, they just vanished into the nearest house. Ginji went after them, completely forgetting about the bag he had tripped on only moments before. He reached the first house and stopped, there appeared to be lights on inside, but they were faint.
Ginji gathered himself and went up to the door and knocked. "Hello? Please, I need help. I'm lost. I just want directions, please, can you help me?" Ginji waited, there was no answer, not even the noise of movement. Ginji knocked again, "Please! Help me!" Nothing. 'But I was sure it was this house I saw that person walk into...' Ginji thought and after a few moments hesitation he tried to open the door; it opened.
Ginji proceeded and found himself in a small foyer with another door on the other side. "Hello?" No answer, suddenly Ginji felt an ice cold rush up his spine, he turned quickly to the window to his left and saw nothing, but the chill lingered. Thoroughly unnerved now Ginji persisted. He opened the second door and found himself in a huge open room, but everything was in great disrepair. It looked as if no one had been there for a few decades, at least, if not more.
This threw Ginji off, 'But I KNOW I just saw someone come in here!!' he thought. "Hello?" Ginji yelled. Still no response, but this time he did hear the faint sound of someone crying. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Ginji called while trying to locate the origin of the crying. No one answered, but the crying persisted. From what he could tell the crying was coming from across the great room, but it sounded muffled, like it was coming from inside a closet somewhere or something.
Ginji moved forward heading down the long hallway opposite the door he just came through and noticed the crying became louder; but not clearer. Whoever it was they were still inside something somewhere. As he proceeded down the hallway the crying became fainter so he headed back into the open room. Looking around, Ginji noticed the most distinguishing feature of this room was the sunken fireplace in the center which didn't look like it was operational anymore. He also noticed a staircase against the far wall leading up to the second floor, but the crying was coming from somewhere on the first floor, he was sure of that.
Ginji looked around some more and saw that he was standing in between two doors, each on the opposite side of the room. Ginji moved toward the door closest to him on his left, but as he got closer the crying became fainter again, so his only option left was the door at the center of the house. Ginji moved closer and the crying became more clear, 'In here, whoever it is they're in here.' Ginji slid open the door and stood before what appeared to be an empty room, but the crying was coming from somewhere in front of him.
"Hello?" Ginji said as he walked in. To his left he saw an old kimono box and a barred window overlooking an atrium, to his right he saw a fish net divider, warped closet doors, lumped bedding on the floor and in the far corner, crouched beneath a hanging painted scroll, sat Himiko Kudo; curled up and trembling with fear.
"Himiko-san!" shouted Ginji with excitement and relief as he rushed to her side. "So it was you I heard crying, what's wrong?" Himiko looked up in amazement, but before she could respond, "Don't worry Miss Himiko, I'm here now. Come on, stop crying and lets find a way out of this place!" "But, I wasn't crying..." Himiko said looking mystified. Ginji was about to speak again when he stopped, confused, and looked at her. Her face was dry, no trace of tears; her voice trembled, but not from crying. "But...if it wasn't you crying, then who was it?" Ginji asked, confusion in his voice. Ginji looked away from Himiko a moment to try and think. Just then, however, he heard, "Whhhyyyyyyy?"
"Because if it wasn't you crying Himiko-san, then I want to know who it was," Ginji said turning back to Himiko, but her eyes were wide and looking past him. Ginji turned to see what she was looking at and saw a woman standing just behind him. Ginji was about to say something but stopped at the sight of her face. She was pale and there appeared to be a mold green tint to her; what's more was Ginji could see right through her. Ginji's eye twitched, his own face growing pale, and just as the woman reached out to grab him he grabbed Himiko by the arm and ran full force. Himiko grunted from the sudden jerk, but Ginji didn't let go, nor did he stop until they were both outside the house.
Once outside Himiko dropped to the ground to catch her breath and Ginji simply stood motionless. Neither one of them spoke for a moment; the only sound that could be heard was the sound of their breathing. Gathering herself Himiko stood and looked at Ginji who was still not moving. She moved closer to him, "Ginji..." "Please tell me that wasn't what I think it was," said Ginji, still not moving. Himiko frowned, "I don't know what's going on here, do you have any idea where we are?" Ginji shook his head and finally turned to face her, trembling and tearing. "Have you seen Ban-chan?" Ginji whimpered. Himiko, surprised, shook her head and Ginji broke out crying hugging her leg. "I don't wanna be in a ghost village!! BAN!!!!!!"
Himiko became a little annoyed, "You mean you don't know if Midou's even here?" Ginji looked up at her, eyes teary, and shook his head. Himiko took a deep breath and then glared at Ginji. Ginji stood immediately and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, blushing slightly. "What about you, Himiko-san? Did you wake up alone too?" Ginji asked. Himiko's expression turned grave and she shook her head. Ginji whimpered, knowing the answer, but not wanting it to be true. "A-a-a-kabane?" he stammered. Himiko nodded and Ginji broke into another crying fit. "Would you cut it out!? I think Akabane's in trouble!" Himiko yelled at him.
Ginji stopped with a dumbfounded look. Himiko proceeded, "Akabane and I woke up not far from here in front of a huge wooden gate. We were about to have a look around when it happened." Himiko stopped a moment lost in thought. "When what happened, Himiko-san?" Ginji asked. "All of a sudden we could hear laughter, loud, maniacal laughter..." "You sure it wasn't Akabane," Ginji said under his breath, Himiko shot him a look and continued. "Then came the screaming. We turn to see the figure of a girl in a white kimono, but it was covered in what looked like blood. She was laughing hysterically and a giant white cloud began forming behind her. The cloud took a hideous form, I don't even know what it was, but it screamed louder than the girl laughed and it came after us. Akabane threw scalpels at it, but they went right through it; they had no effect whatsoever on it, and neither did my poison perfumes. So we ran, and as I was running I heard Akabane scream. I turned to look back but the girl was right behind me so I just kept running until I was inside this house," she gestured with her head the house they had just come from.
"So..." Ginji said, vacantly staring at the house, "You don't know what happened to Akabane?" Himiko shook her head. Ginji turned to her and smiled, "Well I'm sure Dr. Jackal can handle himself!" Himiko simply stared at him, Ginji became uneasy, quickly finishing his sentence, "But I guess it couldn't hurt to go check on him..." Himiko nodded and began walking, "It's this way," she said taking the lead. Ginji frowned, 'Great, the last thing I ever imagined myself doing was rescuing Dr. Jackal...Why me?' and followed Himiko down the road.
As they walked everything they passed was desolate and decrepit. There was no sign of any kind of life as far as they could tell. Himiko followed the road to a fork and stopped. She stared on in front of her, Ginji stopped, glancing around as he asked, "What? Did you forget which way?" Himiko shook her head, "No, look," as she pointed down the road in front of them. There were shadows in the distance moving. Ginji readied to fight. "I don't know how much good you'll do against a ghost," Himiko said. Ginji whimpered, "Aw, Himiko-san, I was kinda hoping that wasn't true..."
Himiko looked at Ginji who readied anyway and began to charge. "Wait, Ginji!" she shouted, but it was too late, Ginji was going for it.
The haze on the road was thickest at the other end making it hard to see what exactly he was heading for. Ginji couldn't make out anything, but he charged himself up as he ran. When he reached the other end a dark figure emerged from the fog and Ginji went straight for it.
"Here I go!" Ginji yelled. He latched onto the figure and let out a huge surge of electricity. "Aaaaarrrrgghhhhhhh!!!" the figure yelled deafeningly and fell to the ground. Ginji stood a moment and then began to bounce, he turned back to Himiko, "I did it!!!" Ginji yelled back to her. "I did it, Himiko-san! I got one! I got a ghost!!!" Himiko, amazed, ran forward to meet him.
"A GHOST!?!" the figure yelled as it heaved itself from the ground. The haze had thinned some from all the activity and the figure became more clear the closer it got. "Ginji, you dumb-ass, it was ME you just shocked the hell out of! ME!!!" Ban yelled. Ginji stared blinking at him as Himiko caught up, just as surprised as Ginji to see him.
"Ban-chan?" Ginji said, then pounced on him weeping. "Oh! I'm so glad you're here! Himiko and I ran into ghosts, Ban-chan, GHOSTS!!! And now Himiko thinks Akabane's in trouble somewhere! Where are we Ban-chan!?! What's going on!?!" Ginji exclaimed weeping as he clutched Ban's leg. Irritated Ban yelled, "What the hell are you talking about? And where the hell have you been?" beating Ginji on the head as he spoke. "We don't know where we are," Himiko said calmly.
Ban stopped and looked at her, "Himiko, you ok?" Himiko chuckled, amused at his concern, but looked at him straight and said, "Ginji's not lying, we've seen ghosts around here. Akabane and I were attacked by two of them. And Ginji and I just escaped an attack from another one in a house down the road. Something's wrong here, Midou."
"Tsch," said Ban, miffed, "Yeah, I'll say there's something wrong here. None of us knows where the hell here is and you two are off your rockers! Ghosts, really, what the hell do you two take me for!?" "But Ban!!!" Ginji pleaded, "We're not lying!! We're serious, we really saw ghosts!" "Yeah, whatever, let's go. I want to get the hell out of here," Ban said walking away from Ginji and Himiko in the direction the two had just come from.
"But what about Akabane?" Himiko yelled, "Are you just going to leave him here? He was called for Hevn's assignment as well so that makes him your partner too!" Ban stopped and thought on this, then turned to Himiko, sighed and said, "Fine, we'll go look for Dr. Jackal first..."
Ginji whimpered. Himiko looked from one to the other in disbelief, "Don't bother if it's too much of a task for the Get Backers, I'll go find him myself!" Himiko proceeded in the direction they were going but Ban caught her arm. She struggled and reeled on him but he caught her in his snake bite grip and pinned her to the ground. "Damn you, Ban!" Himiko said still trying to wriggle free. "Calm down," Ban said cooly, "I said we're going to look for him and we will. You'll just have to excuse my irritation because tonight just hasn't been my night so far." "You think it has for us!?" Himiko yelled, still struggling.
Ban held her until she stopped, then released his grip and they both stood. She glared at him, but he maintained a cool demeanor. Ginji looked from one to the other not knowing what to expect next. "Something is very wrong here, Midou, and I would like to get out of here just as much as you, but Akabane is our partner in this and I won't leave him behind." "And I said we ARE going to look for him, but lets take a sec and assess ourselves. Does anyone remember what happened before they woke up here?" Ban asked.
"Well, Ban," Ginji spoke finally, "You and I had just left the Honky Tonk and were on our way to meet Hevn-san and that's the last thing I remember before waking up in the middle of the woods here." "Right," said Ban, "We had only gotten about a block from the Honky Tonk when I blacked out." "Me too," said Ginji, "That's the last thing I remember, then I woke up in the forest outside the village." "And I woke up in the village graveyard," said Ban, "And you Himiko?" "Akabane and I had just met outside of Shinjuku and were both headed to meet you guys and Hevn for the assignment. The last place I remember was Infinity Fortress, then Akabane and I woke up somewhere over there," she pointed back toward the fork in the road, "Down that other road in front of a large wooden gate where we were attacked. I managed to get away, but I don't think Akabane did."
Ban sighed, the lack of information bothered him, but there was nothing he could do; not yet. "Alright then, lets go," said Ban and Himiko led the way back to where her and Akabane had first woken up.