Ginji sighed as he sat down on the motel room bed. He was feeling antsy. It wasn't because the job he and Ban-chan had just finished had gone badly. In fact, the problem was more that the job had been too easy. There had been no psychopaths, no old comrades, and not even one person with unusual powers.

A young man had hired them to get back his stolen violin. Ginji thought that it might be like the time with Madoka-chan, but Ban-chan had quickly pointed out that the violin was no Stradivarius, the client far from a prodigy, and it had been stolen during a routine burglary.

The retrieval had been even duller. Hevn-san had used her connections to find the burglar and where he lived (and charged them highly for it too). Armed with that information, it had been child's play to break into the thief's house and steal back the violin. All Ginji had had to do was short circuit the alarm system, and Ban-chan hadn't needed to do anything.

Ginji knew logically that he and Ban-chan should have been glad that the job had gone so well. But Ginji still felt disappointed, and from the look on his face, Ban-chan agreed.

Man, was it so much to ask that a job be just a little bit interesting?

Eep! thought Ginji with alarm. I'm beginning to sound like Akabane-san.

"Hey." Ban-chan's voice was a welcome relief from that line of thought. He poked Ginji in the side. "What are you looking so serious about?"

Ginji grinned. "I was just thinking that things were kind of boring this time around."

Ban-chan scowled. "At least we're going to get paid this time."

Ginji nodded. "That's true." He looked around the room, and his eyes rested on the violin. "Hey, Ban-chan?" he said, tilting his head.

"What?"

Ginji pointed at the violin. "Play something for me."

"That belongs to the client," Ban-chan pointed out.

"Ginji laughed. "Aw, come on. You don't care. Please, Ban-chan?"

Ban-chan shook his head, resigned. "If it will shut you up." He walked across the room and picked up the violin. After studying it for a few moments, he lifted it and began to play. Ginji closed his eyes and let the music wash over him.

The tune was comforting and deceptively simple. It made Ginji think of country meadows and rolling hills—a world far removed from the harshness of Mugenjou or the chaos of Tokyo. It was the kind of song that could remind you of a home you had never been to.

After what felt like only a moment, Ban-chan stopped playing. Ginji opened his eyes and blinked a few times.

"Why did you stop?"

Ban-chan set the violin down. "That's all I know."

Ginji's face fell. "Oh." Then he perked up a bit. "What was that called?"

Ban-chan walked over to the bed and sat down next to Ginji. "'The Girl with the Flaxen Hair,'" he answered. "By Achille-Claude Debussy."

Ginji considered that. "What does 'flaxen' mean?"

Ban-chan smiled. "Blond," he replied, running a hand through Ginji's hair.

Ginji beamed. "It was beautiful, Ban-chan. Really beautiful."

Ban-chan glanced back toward the instrument. "I could play it again, if you wanted me to."

Still smiling, Ginji shook his head and gently pushed Ban-chan back onto the bed. "Maybe later," he said before kissing Ban-chan solidly.

His playing was beautiful, but Ban-chan could make other sounds that Ginji liked even better.

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The song Ban plays can be found at http ://www .sendspace. com/file/hm7gl4 (Remove the spaces.) The recording skips a bit, which is terribly unfortunate, but it's still lovely.