well, that was a hiatus if I've ever seen one. And thus presenting my first GetBackers fanfiction in almost two months. I am so so so so sorry for being so late with this. I'm sick now, and I was watching the GetBackers last night and had sudden inspiration.

PLEASE READ

As I wrote this, I had the song Reminiscence from the GetBackers OST 1 playing on repeat. I HIGHLY SUGGEST listening to it as you read this.

I don't own the GetBackers, I don't own the song. I just love them both a lot.

The rain was coming down hard, and to be honest, it was keeping her awake. She wasn't afraid- God, no. It just was distracting her from sleep. She had been on a job for the past few days, and only just gotten back about an hour prior. All she wanted was to sleep.

But no. The rain poured on the window right by her bed. The constant pitterpatter wasn't even in any kind of rhythm that she could keep time to. Himiko buried herself farther under her duvet, curling her slender legs up to her chest, and putting her hands on her ears. She could still hear it, and actually, it seemed to be getting harder. Like the water was pounding on the glass. Really, really pounding. Wait-

"Himiko!"

She shot up, staring at the closed door of her bedroom. The voice on the other side shouted her name out again, followed by a lighter, more high pitched voice going, "Hiiiimiko!"

She grabbed her blanket and wrapped it around her tan shoulders. Quietly, she stepped out of bed, and grabbed her perfumes off of her nightstand. She held an orange colored one in between her fingers, and carefully walked to her door. She put her free hand on the doorknob, took a breath, and threw the door open.

"Woah, woah!" the first voice yelled. Himiko looked. The two males that stood in her living room just made her groan. One had dark brown hair that spiked in every direction and navy eyes covered by purple sunglasses, and one had shaggy blond hair and brown eyes.

"Ban! Ginji- what the hell!" Himiko stomped her barefoot on the carpet lightly, hugging her blanket to her body as she recapped the perfume and tossed it to her bed. She stepped out of her room, and closed the door behind her.

"Its raining cats and dogs out there." Ban said, shaking his wet brown hair out as he unbuttoned his white long short sleeve shirt. Ginji grinned as he shed his green vest, letting it fall to the floor. Ban threw it his white shirt on top of it.

"Hey!" Himiko shouted, running over to them. "PIck those up, you assholes! You're not leaving your wet clothes on my floor!"

"Himiko," Ban leaned over so his eyes were level with her purple ones. She took a step back. "Relax. We won't make a mess. Go back to bed."

"I never fell asleep."

"Well, go try to fall asleep."

"Ban, get out of my house." she hissed back at him. Ban just rolled his eyes, turned away, and pulled his black tank top over his head. He threw it down.

"I'm gonna use your bath, cool?"

"No, not cool!"

"Come on, Himiko." Ginji put both of his arms around her shoulders, coming up behind her. She scofed. "Let us stay! We'll be quiet, I promise!"

"Get off of me, you oaf!" Himiko pulled away, stepping away from them. Her duvet felt heavier, and it took her a moment before she realized it was wet now. Groaning, she pulled it off of her shoulders and held it in front of her. She inspected the fairly large wet spot, before balling it up and throwing it at Ginji. "Dry off with this. If you use the bathroom, clean up after yourself. Stay out of my room and the refrigorator. If you eat anything, you're paying me back."

"So we can stay?" Ginji asked, smiling. HImiko sighed heavily.

"Yes, you can stay. But I swear to God-"

"Don't worry." Ban insisted. She turned around to look at him. He was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, a smirk on his face. "Go to bed, Himiko. You're only 17- you need sleep."

Himiko didn't answer at first. But then she just said, "Don't use all the hot water."

"Love you too." with a wink and a smirk, he vanished into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. But Himiko went to the door, knocked on it and told him to put his wet clothes by the door and she'll wash them. He said he would. She told Ginji to do the same, and then yelled at him for putting his wet tee-shirt on the couch.

She told Ginji to bring his clothes to the drier that was at the end of the hallway. While he did that, she ran into her bedroom, turned the light on and closed the door. She walked to the mirror and inspected her reflection. Her dark green hair was an absolute mess, and she had bags under her eyes. She ran her fingers through her hair quickly and straightened her white tee-shirt.

But she wasn't satisfied with what she saw in the mirror, so she pulled the shirt off completely and put it on her dresser. She pulled the drawers open, looking for a shirt- just any shirt that didn't make her feel so... so young. Ban said she was only 17. Only seventeen and that just pissed her off. Finally, she settled on putting on the best bra she had (which, even still, was just black and a bit small) and a tighter white tee-shirt. She left her blue shorts on, but slipped her feet into slippers, checked her reflection one more time, and then went back out, turning her light off as she did.

Neither of the boys were there, but she could hear the shower going in the bathroom. The clothes were off of the floor, and the rain was still pouring outside. She sat down on her sofa, crossed her legs, and waited, biting her lip. She was not waiting for Ban. She really wasn't. She just didn't like the two recovery boys in her house while she wasn't awake. It had nothing to do with the fact that the last few times her and Ban ran into each other, it ended up in having sex.

She pulled her legs up to her chest again, silently cursing that damn rain. She stayed there for a little bit, before she heard the shower turn off, and in a few more minutes, the bathroom door opened. Steam poured out, making her a bit annoyed, but she tried not to care. Ban stepped out, wearing just a towel around his waist.

"Where are my clothes?" Ban asked, rubbing his hair with a towel.

"In the drier. Where's Ginji?"

"Probably watching the clothes in the drier. Do you have any clothes I could borrow?"

"Uhm," she thought for a moment. "I might have something."

She stood up and walked into her bedroom. Ban followed. He closed the door behind him. Himiko pretended not to notice.

She went to her closet, opened the doors and looked through the clothes she had strewn in the back until she found a pair of jeans. She handed them to him and said, "These might fit."

"Great, thanks."

Then he dropped his towel.

Himiko gasped and turned her back to him, blushing. She folded her arms, listening to Ban laugh.

"You're such a prude."

"Ban, put the fucking pants on already."

After a moment, she felt his arms wrap around her waist. She grabbed his wrists, starting to pull away, but he put his chin on her shoulder and said, "Himiko, do you realize that you always push me away when I just want to be near you?"

"Well, considering you've lost my trust about four times in the last two months, I don't really care." she pushed him away and walked to sit down at the foot of her bed. Ban sat beside her, putting one hand on her back. "I'm tired so please just go so I can go to bed."

"Himiko-"

"No, Ban-"

But Ban put his hand on her neck, turned her head and kissed her. At first, she started to pull away. She tore her lips from his, putting her hand on his chest. They shared a bit of eye contact- just for a few seconds that felt like so much longer- before she kissed him ever so lightly, and pulled away in an instant.

Himiko shut her eyes and kissed him again, this time not pulling away. This time, she moved herself to sit on his legs, her knees by his hips and his hands on her back, holding her close to himself. Arms around his neck, Himiko let herself relax, sinking into him. She let her body melt onto his as he just held her, only kissing her back as hard as she was.

It wasn't even sexual. Well, it wasn't at first. It was just simple kissing that didn't seem like it would go very far. Just kissing. Until, after a short nod of approval from Himiko, Ban tightened his arm around her waist, turned them over, and laid them both down on her bed, her head cushioned by the pillow.

Himiko kept her hands on his shoulders, but he soon pulled away, leaving her feeling cold. She watched him stand up and walk to the door. Thinking he was leaving, she started to ask where he was going, until he simply turned the light off, locked the door and went back to her. She felt his weight on the bed, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness. But she could feel his hand find her waist, and the other touch her chin. Just like that, it was happening again. It was just them in the dark, all alone.

"Himiko-chan, you're the only one I want make love to."

"You're the only one I want to touch."

"You're the only one- you're the only one I want to hold."

It had been close to two weeks since she heard these words come out of Ban's mouth. But they still swirled around in her head whenever she had a spare moment, or if she let her mind wander. Usually, the memory made her chest ache or her stomach turn. Now, she just clawed harder at his back, tightened her fist in his brown hair, and kissed him again, the sound of the pouring rain playing in the background.

And when it was over, when Himiko found herself sweating and shaking underneath him, everything he ever said to her just kept playing over and over in her head like a film. The exact moment, which words he emphasized, where he took a breath, everything.

"Even if we aren't dating, its still you and me together. And that scares me. Because its you and its me and its us. And its surreal because its-its... its you."

"Ban?"

"Yeah?"

She curled farther into his chest, her head on his arm. His free arm was draped lazily across her. They both laid on her bed, without a blanket. But they kept their arms around each other, preserving what warmth they had.

"Never mind."

"Come on, tell me."

"No, its nothing."

"You have to tell me now. You brought it up, so you have to."

"No, I was just-" she paused. "Sometimes, I stop and remember who you are."

"I don't want to kiss you."

"You used to want to kiss me."

"Things change."

"Explain?"

Himiko took a breath

"I almost apoligized but you don't own me. Its none of your concern who I decide to kiss."

"I know. But I made a promise to keep you safe and I can't if you're with someone else."

"Its like-" Himiko sat up in the dark, hugging her knees to her chest. "Our lives. All of our history and every single thing we've done and then... it seems so unreal that the two of us... that we're even... well, alive for one." Ban chuckled. Himiko smiled. She bit her lip. She could feel tears pooling under her eyes that she wasn't about to let fall. "I tried to kill you the first time I saw you after almost four years. And you wouldn't hurt me."

"Himiko, if there's one promise I'm going to keep until the day that I die, its that I will never intentionally hurt you. And if I do, you can guarantee that its a part of a bigger plan."

"I know."

"Yeah, I know you know."

"Himiko-chan, you know that I know you're right. Alright? You are one hundred percent right and that scares the living shit out of me. I don't want you to be right. I don't want you to know me as well as you do, and I hate that. And I hate it even more that something I said or did made you think that maybe kissing another guy will make it go away."

The rain poured down hard. Himiko went to lay back down, but Ban stood up, walked into her closet, and came back out holding another blanket. He sat down beside her, and spread it out over the both of them.

"Ban?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you happy?"

If he was surprised, he didn't show it in anything more than a simple raise of his eyebrow. He laid down, put his arm around her waist and pulled her down beside him. After a moment of squirming to get comfortable, he asked, "Right here, in this moment, or in general?"

"Both."

"In general, no. I've made too many mistakes and done too much wrong for me to be happy without feeling guilty about being happy."

"Oh."

"But right here? Right now, holding you, yeah. Even with that fucking rain."

She smiled and lightly kissed him. "I'm tired."

"So sleep."

"I will."

"Ban, that was a long time ago. I was only 13- I was stupid and was totally charmed by this... this handsome stranger. I'm over it."

"I'm not."

"You're not asleep yet."

"Neither are you."

"Himiko, go to sleep."

"...hold me tighter."

He did. She closed her eyes, but reopened them, feeling his chest under her slightly callused hands. She raked her hand up to his neck, her fingers sliding up his face to his hair. His eyes opened.

"Himiko-"

"Shut up." she kissed him again.

"I don't think I chose you. I think you chose me and I just... followed."

"Wait, you mean the great Ban Mido-sama is pining for a girl?"

"Not pining. Just not... going a long time without being with her."

"Would you always chose me?"

"Even if someone told me that it was the wrong choice."

Ban rolled over again to lay on top of her, but she pushed him back and sat on him instead.

"Don't ever let go, Himiko-chan."

"I won't... same goes for you."

It was never just sex. Not even the first time. Its not possible for two people with a history like theirs to just have sex without a second thought about who the other person is or what they mean to them. Its just not physically possible.

And it wasn't until the next morning, when Himiko woke up to Ban's closed eyes, that she realized it . And when Ban finally awoke, and the first thing he saw was Himiko, he realized it as well. Neither said a thing about it, though. Instead, Himiko got up, gathered her clothes and took a shower before Ginji woke up from where he crashed on the couch. Ban got dressed, went into the kitchen and made tea. It was like nothing had even happened.

And even though they thought they kept it hidden from one another, the lingering glances and quick looks were all together more than enough to reveal what the other was thinking. Even Ginji saw it, but he stayed quiet, looking back and forth between the two with a small grin on his face like he had a secret.

"Huh," he said a bit later, stepping out of the front door. Ban and Himiko were talking inside still. "It stopped raining." Ginji waited for an answer, and when he got none, said, "Guys, did you hear me?"

He looked back through the doorway and smiled. Ban's arms couldn't have been any tighter around her waist, lifting her up off the floor completely. She had one of her legs bent slightly, and both of her arms around his neck. They were both so involved in each other- in their kiss together- that they didn't even notice him.

It had been a long few months. After saving Himiko's life as well as the future of the Infinity Fortress and the entire world, it seemed to Ginji that the two of them- two of the most unique people he'd ever met- had only grown closer. They were a sad love story that people cried about before they even knew who each of them were, and then continued to cry about when it was over.

But they weren't over. They were just beginning. Just because the rain had ended didn't mean they did too. No, they were going to last. He knew it. He was as sure as the rain fell from the sky.

"I'll see you." he heard Ban whisper.

"Yeah."

He put her down and walked to the doorway, joining Ginji with a short, "C'mon, you dork."

Smiling, they walked down the hallway to the stairs that would bring them to the parking lot. But they heard, "Oh, and Ban!"

They both turned around. Ban put his hands in his pockets and looked back at Himiko.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Thank you."

"What for?"

"Why does there have to be a reason?"

"I guess there doesn't."

Himiko nodded once before turning back into her apartment and closing the door behind her. Ban still had a smile on his face when he and Ginji returned to the car. It slowly faded, though, sitting in the driver's seat. His hands were on the steering wheel, his eyes focused on something.

"Uh," Ginji cleared his throat. "Ban?"

"What?" Ban looked up, blinking. "What?"

"You've just been... staring. At nothing."

"Oh. Shut up."

"I didn't-!" Ginji just groaned and sat back. "I hope you realize how in love with her you are."

"I'm not in love with her."

"Yeah, you are."

"Shut up."

"You loooooove her."

"I'm gonna kick you out of my fucking car."

But Ginji knew. And Ban knew, even if he didn't want to know it yet. And Himiko knew, though she didn't want to admit it just yet. It wasn't the right time. With a sigh, Ginji stared up at the sky through the sun roof. The sun was peeking through a few dark grey clouds as Ban pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road. The grey clouds weren't ominious. The sun was hopeful.

Ban's small smile was hopeful, too. So was Himiko's constant blush when she got called to the Honky Tonk by HEVN later that day. She went off on a job from there, leaving Ban and Ginji in the cafe. But not before Ban caught her outside and kissed her, telling her to be careful. She promised she would be. He held onto her waist a little longer than he had to.

"Do they realize-" HEVN started, but Ginji interrupted with a laugh.

"Yeah, they do. Now its just up to us to stay alive to see them actually get together."

Ban came back inside, but stopped to watch Himiko drive away on her motorbike. It was HEVN that smiled and said, "Maybe by the next time it rains."