Twice as Much

A Get Backers fanfic by Riyuji and Rabid Lola

A/N: No, this is not (yet) the sequel. We just…missed Reiji. Yeah. :D We wanted to let you guys know that he's still alive.

"Reiji!" his mom's (loud) voice echoed through the house. "Ban and Ginji are here to see you!"

The eleven-year-old boy looked up from the comic he was reading. A few seconds later, the words hit. He closed the book. "Should I run away and hide?" he called back.

"Very funny," a familiar voice came from his doorway. Ban grinned down at the kid sprawled on his bed. "Yo, twerp, you've been really busy with school. How have you been?"

Reiji chucked a pillow in his direction. "Ba-an, stop calling me twerp!"

Ginji's grinning face came around the doorway. "Yeah, Ban-chan, I think Reiji will be nearly your height in…four years? Gets it from his tou-chan."

Reiji stuck his tongue out at Ban, who snorted. "Whatever," he grumbled. "Kid, we have a job for you."

"But I'm not a Get Backer," Reiji answered smartly. He yelped as the pillow came flying back into his face. "Oi!"

"I didn't mean that!" Ban rolled his eyes.

"Reiji, can you babysit Yamato and Teshichan for us?" Ginji asked. The kid could've sworn his eyes were twinkling evilly as he asked that.

"Ehhh? But…"

"Himiko-chan, Ban-chan and I are going to look at the house we're having built," Ginji butted in blithely. "We have jobs after. Natsumi is at the Honky Tonk trying to help Master with the inventory and monthly-clean up."

Reiji wondered, momentarily, why the man seemed to have such fun telling him this. He decided he didn't want to know. "But I don't know how to handle kids," he pointed out instead.

"Neither did we when we had you," claimed Ban. He stopped short, realizing how his words had sounded. A large sweatdrop appeared on his head.

A similar one hovered over Ginji's. "Eh, Ban-chan, that sounded wrong."

"Huh?" Reiji was confused. "Why?"

"Nothing," Ban told him roughly, surreptiously elbowing Ginji in the ribs. "And you accuse me of polluting his mind!" he hissed.

O…kay. Reiji decided to leave that, too, and insisted on, "I can't take care of kids!"

"You can try."

"I don't want to!"

"Reiji, if you babysit Yamato and Teshichan, Ban and Ginji will pay you." Chiaki appeared at the door, arms folded over her chest.

"Hey!" Ban sputtered, glaring at the woman. Who ignored him.

Reiji, however, was not your typical gullible kid. He eyed them dubiously. "How much?"

"Listen, your mother may be willing to pay you, but we…"

"They'll pay you whatever they want." Chiaki bent forward and looked her son in the eye. "And you will help them."

Chiaki was the one woman you didn't cross. "All right, all right…" Reiji sighed.

His mother grinned wickedly. "Of course, you can charge per hour."

"CHIAKI!" Ban wailed. Ginji wasn't sure whether to join in or laugh.

"You can afford it now," Reiji told him brightly.

Ban glared at him. Before he could say a word, though, Chiaki said sternly, "You should blame yourself. He learned stinginess and all its finer points from you."

Ginji had to snicker a little at this. A painful THWACK followed, and he immediately turned tare, pinned to the floor by an irate snake-man's foot. "Hidoooi! Ban-chan!"

"You're not helping!"

---…

"Why did your mother have to make us pay you?" Ban grumbled as they parked the ladybug outside the building the Get Backers' apartment was in.

Reiji smirked. "I don't know about you, but I'm glad she did."

"Shaddap."

Ginji's eyes were twinkling as he observed the two. "At least we managed to make him agree to 500 yen an hour, Ban-chan."

"Hmph."

"I can always walk back home and say you didn't want me to help out," Reiji said in what was meant to be a helpful tone.

Both Ban and Ginji grabbed him by both arms and marched him through the door and up the stairs, grinning all the while. "Oh, no. You're babysitting them, if it's the last thing you'll do."

"Heeeey!"

"Ginji! Ban-san! Reiji-kun!"

Ginji's eyes lit up at the sight of the woman coming down the stairs. Reiji grinned. "Hi, Natsumi!"

Natsumi ruffled his hair and smiled in greeting at Ban before turning to give Ginji a brief kiss. Ban snickered and whispered something to Reiji, who laughed. Ginji glared at them, but Natsumi only smiled impishly at them. "Hm. I'm leaving for the Honky Tonk now," she said. "Himiko-san's upstairs, cooking the lunch for packing. Thanks for babysitting the kids, Reiji!"

"Yeah, even if I'm completely clueless as to how…"

"Too bad, twerp."

"BAN!"

Himiko looked up as she heard the bickering males enter the apartment. Her mouth quirked into a smile. "I see you managed to convince him," she said dryly.

"You could say that," Ban snorted.

She noticed the sour look on his face and chuckled. "I told you Chiaki would manage to make you pay."

Ban glared at her as she smirked at him, before breaking into a wry smile and giving her a light kiss on the cheek.

"Eyuk." Reiji made gagging noises behind him. Which were abruptly broken off when a fist connected to the top of his head. "Yah!"

"Himiko-chan, what are you cooking?" Ginji popped up over her shoulder, peering over at the frying pan.

She rolled her eyes and pushed him away. "Be patient, Ginji, it'll be ready in time. And we have to let it cool before packing it for lunch. Oh, Natsumi may be in the Honky Tonk a little while longer than planned, and Teshichan's asleep in her playpen."

Ban looked around, and said to Ginji, "You know where your kid is, where's…"

"'To-san!" A bundle of energy shot out from the room and barreled into Ban. "'To-san, 'To-san, 'To-san!"

Ginji grinned as Ban tussled playfully with his son, and whispered in Reiji's ear, "You know, he spoils Yamato nearly as much as he spoiled you."

Foot met face. "I heard that," Ban growled, and Himiko rolled her eyes as he pulled Ginji into a headlock, Yamato giggling as he did so.

"There, done." She beckoned to Reiji. "Since those two aren't ready yet, I'll teach you how to make milk …"

She broke off as Ban and Ginji suddenly started snickering. Reiji looked uncertainly from Himiko to the Get Backers. "What are they laughing…"

Himiko's face suddenly darkened, and she hit both men on the head. "Oh come on!"

"But it sounded wrong!" Ginji protested.

Reiji was really confused now. "Huh?"

"Honestly, as if breastmilk were the only way to…" She stopped when she saw Reiji go pale. A sight escaped her lips and she hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Why do I even try?"

---…

Reiji looked at the sheet of paper in his hand—Ban's and Ginji's number, Himiko's number, Natsumi's number. Call if anything happens.

"Like what?" he muttered, before looking down. The kid beside him looked up at him, examining his face curiously. 'And what do I do with you now?" he said.

Bright blue eyes blinked once. Reiji, being bored and just in the mood to humor people, even babies, crouched down and tried a friendly smile. "Hey, Yamato."

"What's your name?" the baby asked clearly.

Reiji blinked, for a moment, before recovering his wits and answering, "Reiji."

Yamato cocked his head. "Reiji?" He cocked it the other way. "Oooooh." The eleven-year-old wasn't sure if Yamato had remembered who he was, or if it was just sound effects he was making. He was surprised that the kid could express himself so clearly…like now.

Yamato tugged impatiently at Reiji's shirt. "Reiji, I wanna go play with Teshi."

Steeling himself, Reiji stayed in his crouch, trying not to overbalance. Maybe through some residue of the Snake Bite, the baby's arm was strong. "Teshi's sleeping."

"No, I wanna play." Reiji showed no signs of moving, and Yamato's face darkened. "Reiji! Now!" He tugged hard.

Just as Reiji decided to stand. The boy lost his balance and crashed back to the ground. "Ouch! Hey!"

Yamato looked almost condescendingly down at him. "Reiji, stoppit lying down. I wanto play with Teshi!"

Reiji covered his eyes with a groan. An image of Ban and Ginji smirking at him flashed through his mind's eye, and he muttered, "What did I do to deserve this?"

---…

A wail cracked through the apartment. Reiji looked up from where he was pulling food out of the fridge. "Teshi's awake." He set the food on the table. "We'll heat this later. Let's get Teshi first," he said to Yamato, who had taken to tagging him around wherever he went. Like there was anything else for the kid to do.

"Reiji." Yamato tugged at the boy's shorts, the only area he could reach while the other was standing. The half-Japanese pulled out of the baby's grip. "Wait, I have to get the kid."

"Waaaait, Reiji!" Yamato tugged harder. Reiji pulled back, and some mini-tug-of-war ensued.

"YOU wait!" Reiji finally dragged the kid forward, making for the children's room and opening the door. Teshichan's cries abated, a little, and he caught side of the little Ginji look-alike…female look-alike…with shining gray eyes and fuzzy brown hair.

"REIJI!" With a final yank, Yamato got Reiji's attention…mostly because of the sudden breezy feeling around his lower area.

"Yaaah!" Reiji went red and jerked up his shorts….and watched in disbelief as Yamato ran cheerily past him and started babbling with Teshichan, taking no notice of their babysitter.

"FINE!" Reiji hollered, having the distinct feeling he was being laughed at. "IGNORE ME!"

---…

Reiji, unfortunately, was the eldest of the three. Therefore, he had to act the part.

Moodily he tried to feed Teshichan a spoonful of…mush. Blech, he thought. How can babies eat that?

Yamato poked at Reiji's shoulder. "Reiji!"

Reiji let out an exasperated breath. "What?" He turned to find himself face to face with a fistful of rice. "Oi! Yamato, put that down!"

"You."

Reiji stared. "What?"

Yamato shook the rice at him, grains squishing from between his fingers. "You!"

"Again…what?!"

"You, Reiji, YOU!"

Reiji turned to Teshichan ."I don't supposed you'd be any help?"

The baby gurgled in reply, fixing Reiji with a shimmery-eyed stare.

"Gah, you're just like your dad."

Yamato banged on the table for attention. "You!"

"What, you want me to eat that?"

"You!"

Reiji was fed up. "YOU!" A second later, "Aagh!"

Yamato and Teshichan giggled as Reiji glared at them, rice smeared over his face and in his hair. "That's it. Your fathers are going down, someday! Whatever it takes!"

Yamato blew him a raspberry, and Teshichan happily followed suit.

---…

Splort!

Reiji stopped reading his comic book at the loud, wet sound. "No. Don't tell me."

Yamato, again, ran up and tugged at his shorts. Reiji moved away. "Oh no you don't."

"Reiji, Teshi go poopie."

"No! No! No!"

"Nnngg…" Reiji and Yamato looked over to the baby seated on the floor, whose face was scrunched up in a pained grin. She was rapidly turning red, and generating the sounds of constipation.

"But it was coming out easy a while ago!" Reiji panicked.

Splort.

Yamato scuttled around Reiji's other side. "Eew. She stinks."

---…

Reiji looked at the paper in his hand. "Ban. Himiko. Ginji. Natsumi. Why do I have the feeling they're not going to come if I call?"

Of all the things he'd wanted to avoid, it had been a poopie-d diaper.

Yamato was whining. "Teshi stinks!"

"Wait!" Reiji was starting to panic even more. "Who can I call at a time like this?"

Somehow, he couldn't imagine Akabane changing a diaper, and Emishi…he liked Teshi. He didn't want to traumatize her. Yet.

His mom would just laugh.

He picked up the phone and began dialing. He hadn't thought it would really come to this…

"Hey… dad?"

"Son! What brings you to call your loving father at this hour, and this time! In…the middle of a meeting."

Reiji winced. "Oh. Okay. Thanks anyway, dad…"

George seemed to want to prolong the call. "No no no. You sound like you're in some sort of trouble! You didn't break your mom's favorite vase again, did you? If you haven't yet…" A pause. "Can I help you?"

Oh what a corrupt father, Reiji thought, not sure if he should be thankful or scared because of this. "You just want to get out of the meeting don't you?"

"Shhh!" George made a loud, shushing noise. "Not…so…loud…They…might…hear you!"

"Reiji! Teshi stinky!" Yamato insisted.

"Ah! You are up to something aren't you? You just stay there. DON'T MOVE! I'll be right over!"

"AH DAD NO YOU DON'T HAVE TO…!"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Crud."

---…

Chiaki stared at her husband, who had rung the doorbell to their apartment one time too many. "George, what are you doing here?"

"I heard Reiji needed help!" He struck an Emishi-like pose. "Super dad to the rescue!"

The woman looked at him suspiciously. "Reiji's at the Get Backers'. He's…Hey!"

George was gone before you could say "Warrior of Peace and Happiness".

---…

Knock. Knock. Knockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknock.

Ah. Dad was there. But Reiji wasn't sure if he should open the door or not.

The crazy, deranged father kicked the door wide open. "Reiji, my sooooooon!"

Not like he was given a choice though.

"Dad, you really didn't have to…"

He went spinning several feet away as George barreled in and swept Teshichan into his arms. "I see the problem now! You should have called earlier! I know EXACTLY what to do at a time like this!"

Yamato was petrified, staring at the strange foreign man who had just…invaded his home. "Reiji, who that?"

Reiji groaned as he picked himself up from the floor. "Kid, it's best you don't know."

---…

Reiji stared at what his father had done to Teshichan and her diaper. "Dad…!"

"What?" George looked up. "It's on the right way."

"No, dad!" Reiji pointed to the mass of blue, green, and purple paperclips that were holding the baby girl's diaper up. Teshi was looking at them, a confused look on her face. "Why paperclips?"

"Aren't they pretty?" George asked, face dropping into something like a puppy-dog expression. Reiji slapped his forehead.

"Dad paperclips are for paper. Not for baby diapers!"

"But it worked well enough when you were a kid!!"

Reiji lost it. "No wonder!"

George looked up at his son. "You still remember those times?" His eyes sparkled. "Those happy, happy times when you were a little, little boy!"

Reiji was reminded, once again, why his father was friends with Emishi.

The doorbell rang. "Please let it be…" Reiji ran to the door and opened it.

"Mom?!"

He watched as his mother stormed in and took George by the ear. George yelped as his wife pulled him out of the apartment and down the stairs. "Your boss just called, why did you skip out on that meeting, Reiji can take care of himself…"

Reiji just watched, mouth hanging open, refusing to risk calling attention to himself.

Yamato hid behind his back, frightened by Chiaki's Wrath.

---…

Two hours later…

Ban and Ginji couldn't resist snickering as they climbed the stairs. Himiko elbowed Ban in the ribs. "Stop it. He just might get back at you for this someday."

Ban smirked. "Heh, it was payback already. It's been nine years, after all."

Ginji rolled his eyes. "Just remember, Ban-chan, it was your idea."

"Make sure Reiji-kun doesn't hear that," Natsumi remarked, as she opened the door.

They were met by two hyperactive, laughing kids. "'Tosan! 'Kaasan!"

The four adults stared at the kids. "Why are you out?"

"Where's Reiji?" Ginji asked.

"Reiji?" Yamato cocked his head. "Oh! There!" He pointed to the door of the kid's room, which was slightly ajar.

The four peered inside. Ban and Ginji snickered, Himiko had to laugh, and Natsumi whispered, "Poor Reiji-kun."

The boy was sleeping in Teshichan's crib, one leg slung over the edge, arms curled protectively around himself. An expression of intense discomfort was on his face.

Ban's eyes sparkled evilly. "Aw. Looks like he had a tiring day."

---…

They called his parents to pick him up. As Himiko and Natsumi put Teshichan and Yamato to sleep, Ban and Ginji helped carry Reiji to the car. Ban had this strange urge to just grab the kid by the leg and drag him down the stairs though. Like he hadn't had enough revenge, already.

Ginji ruffled Reiji's hair as they settled him in the backseat. "I kinda pity Reiji. He's really tired."

"It was fun," was Ban's only evilly-grinned comment. Chiaki smiled, and George stared at the two. "You mean…you mean this was a conspiracy?"

"Didn't say that," Ban said off-handedly. He waved as they shut the car door. "Tell Reiji I just wanted him to remember the good old days."

Chiaki looked at George meaningfully. "Consider it training."

George stared again. "W-WHAT?! You mean you're…"

Ginji stared at the woman, too. "Chiaki-san, you are?"

Ban had a forbidding feeling as Chiaki turned to smile at them. "Guess you two will have another regular babysitting job."

As Ban sputtered and Ginji laughed, no one noticed the evil little smile on the face of the sleeping boy in the backseat. Just watch, Ban. I'm still getting back at you.

--EnD--…

A/N 2: Reiji is a more mature version of Riyuji. George is probably Riyuji in the future. Oh, this takes place after the sequel. Yes, it's POSSIBLE!! :P