Restless Dreams: Chapter One
"Got a job for you, boys!" a loud, brazen voice yelled.
"Hevn-san," Ban and Ginji groaned.
"It's nothing too dangerous, is it?" Ginji whined.
"No kidding," Ban said. "We're still recovering from your last mission. You trying to get us killed or what?"
Hevn leaned against the doorframe, and a chilly October wind blew the door closed behind her. Outside the Honky Tonk, leaves stirred about the busy Shinjuku streets as jacket-clad people watched their breath float away in the glaring afternoon sun. Hevn herself was wearing a loose-necked white angora sweater, though her short black miniskirt made up for the unusual modesty. Her long pale hair was pulled into a bun, and she sported a pair of thin black sunglasses on her forehead.
She smirked. "Perhaps. I'd make better commissions then, wouldn't I?" she said.
Paul, reading a newspaper behind the bar, snorted. "Wouldn't make any difference," he said, "It's not like they make any money anyway." He gestured at another free coffee and pizza that the couple was eating. Ban glared at the both of them, looking ready to injure.
"Who's the employer?" Ginji asked, putting a hand on Ban's shoulder.
Hevn uncrossed her arms and pulled out a small planner from her purse, rummaging through it for a moment before finding a gray business card. She handed it to Ginji who looked at it for a second, head cocked in confusion.
"Gimme that!" Ban said and snatched it out of Ginji's hand. Eyes scanning over the small print, he raised his eyebrows and whistled in appreciation.
The classy business card was a glossy light gray. On the left-hand side was a hand-drawn wineglass with a bottle of red Merlot leaning against it. Next to the picture were wispy black Roman letters that read, "Enoteca Pinchiorri".
Ban felt Ginji's fidgeting presence leaning over his shoulder. "Ban-chan, what's---" he squinted, struggling to read the English, "Eno..." he trailed off.
"Enoteca Pinchiorri. It's a place where we'll never freaking be, that's what," finished Ban.
Hevn smirked. "Gin-chan, ever seen the Ginza Core building a few blocks down? It's on the seventh floor, and it's---"
"---One of the most prestigious, expensive restaurants in all of Japan," Paul cut in. "Serves Italian food mostly. It's famous for its Italian wine and crystal wineglasses."
"Which is exactly the reason I'm here," finished Hevn.
Ban and Ginji stared at her.
"No way in hell did you get us a job with Enoteca," Ban said, eyes intense. "No way."
"Well, if you don't want the job, I do have other clients, you know," Hevn said airily, and turned to head out the door. Ginji quickly recovered.
"Hevn-san, wait!" he cried. She stopped, looking back at them.
Ban glared at her. "How much does it pay?" he inquired skeptically.
"200,000, plus business referrals."
Ban arched an eyebrow in disgust. "In yen?"
Hevn smirked. "In Euro."
It took Natsumi half an hour to wipe the drool from the floor when she came in for her shift later that day.
This guy, Ban decided, was extremely creepy.
Well, not so much creepy as incredibly unsettling. As he, Ginji, and Hevn stood on the ascending elevator, the man's eyes dissected them, as if sizing them up.
The elevator crawled upward, only reaching the fifth floor after a couple minutes. It seemed like an eternity.
The man was foreign, his Caucasian silver hair balding. He stood tall and well built, and was dressed in a Japanese business suit. His hard-set face was stern and scrutinizing, and Ban could feel his gaze boring into him.
The brunette hardly spared him a glance, while Hevn shrugged it off nonchalantly as if this sort of thing happened to her all the time (which, Ban supposed, it probably did).
Ginji, however, appeared deeply disturbed by the close scrutiny and kept fidgeting, troubled brown eyes frequently darting toward the man. "Ban-chan," he whispered nervously, sliding closer to Ban in the cramped elevator, "Why does that guy keep starin' at us?"
"Because he's a damn creep," Ban replied curtly. "Ignore him."
The elevator came to a halt, and all its occupants stepped out into a wide hallway decorated with warm golden colours. Walls lined with sweeping arched molding framed a black-veined marble floor, and at the end of the hallway was a closed arched cherrywood door. Above it, emblazoned in sparkling green marble were the words "Enoteca Pinchiorri", and just above the sign were small katakana. Ban snorted as he heard the happy sounds of Louis Prima drifting through the air.
'I'm so sad and lonely...'
Ban set his mind loose in the distinct Italian feel of the foyer. He could even smell the asiago from here.
'So lonely, so lonely.'
Ginji snapped Ban back to reality with a tug on his sleeve. "Ban-chan," he said restlessly. "The dude's still here."
Ban glanced casually over his shoulder and swore inwardly. He didn't mind the creep so much, but the guy was unnerving his partner and it was starting to piss him off. He glared back at the man and growled lowly.
Hevn stopped walking toward the doors and turned, glancing between the two of them. She sighed. "Really, boys, is that any way to behave in front of your employer?"
Ginji blinked. Ban stared. The man grinned toothily, and Ban noted vaguely that his teeth sparkled gray.
"My name is Giorgio Pinchiorri," he said, his voice warm, full, and rich with a foreign accent, "and welcome to my restaurant!" He walked toward the door jovially, pulling a key from his pocket, and fiddled with the door lock. Ban looked over at Ginji, who looked just as bewildered as the brunette felt. Pinchiorri apparently noticed and glanced over his shoulder at the pair, looking amused. "I apologize for my behavior on the elevator. I like to study people before I speak to them," he said, still grinning.
Ban arched an eyebrow at this Pinchiorri's eccentricity as the man unlocked the door. He heard Ginji whisper to him, "Ban-chan, he's kinda weird..."
"He's the top wine connoisseur in the world, which means he pays well. So can it, idiot," Ban hissed.
Ginji grinned at his partner's predictable reaction, and his own jitteriness seemed to have completely evaporated.
When Pinchiorri finally unlocked the door, a flood of light filled the hall, brightening it and allowing a clear view of the rooms beyond. Pinchiorri stepped beside the door and held it open, arm gesturing inside like a high-class butler. Hevn immediately strolled forward into the reception area while Ginji glanced at Ban, awaiting confirmation. Ban snorted dryly again and followed Pinchiorri, his eyes never leaving the man. The guy's eccentric behavior was freaking weird, and Ban was growing suspicious.
They marched silently through the beautiful antique redwood reception room and into the main dining area, furnished with Italy-imported masterpieces, and Pinchiorri smiled and hummed casually.
Ban thought Hevn seemed to fall right into place here, like a queen in the extravagance. In all honesty, Ban felt humbled, knowing he'd probably never see the interior of a place like this again. He suddenly became very aware of his and Ginji's shoddy clothing. Not that he cared or anything.
Ginji stared in wonder at all the luxuries he'd never seen before, and Ban felt a pang of guilt for having never been able to show Ginji true opulence. Quickly stamping out the thought, and stepped into the private room that the still-grinning Pinchiorri lead them to. Ban definitely didn't trust this man.
He sat down behind his cherrywood desk, motioning for the retrievers to sit down in the matching chairs opposite him, and Ban noticed that every piece of furniture in the room was made of the wood. Pinchiorri continued to smile. Ban was given the fleeting impression of a blackjack dealer.
"So," he said.
"So," Ban replied.
"...So?" Ginji asked.
Hevn smacked the both of them and sighed. "Let's just get down to business."
Pinchiorri folded his hands on his desk and kept grinning. "Of course, Miss Intermediary." Hevn smiled and Pinchiorri looked at the retrieval agents. "Miss Hevn tells me that you two are the best in the business."
"Yeah, we are."
"Glad to hear it. And surely you know that my restaurant, ranked in the top ten percentage internationally, is the best in the business as well?"
"Yeah, we do."
Pinchiorri's eternal smile disappeared. "Then you know," he said, voice suddenly cold, "that it would be best for the both of us if this whole business stayed confidential." He was looking only at Ban, who stood firm under his chilly gaze.
"Yeah, we know," he said resolutely, completely unfazed by the change.
As quickly as it came, Pinchiorri's threatening manner left and he grinned again. "Good. Now that that's out of the way, let's discuss terms." He nodded to Hevn, who crossed her arms and stepped forward.
"Now you both know," she began, "that Enoteca Pinchiorri is among the top-rated restaurants in the world and the major wine seller in existence."
"In fact, the wine is rated so very highly that it is sold only in the finest crystal glasses, and in fact sold only in this restaurant," Pinchiorri interrupted, a smug grin on his face.
Hevn nodded and continued. "Unfortunately, the wine cellar in Enoteca was recently broken into and 150,000 of the 250,000 some-odd wine bottles were stolen. With that and every crystal wineglass in the Tokyo collection, their market value is easily two hundred."
"Thousand?" Ginji asked.
"Million," Hevn replied.
Ban and Ginji both choked.
Pinchiorri grinned wider and Hevn sighed exasperatedly. "Now," she said, "because of the nature of this grand theft, it is obviously not an amateur we're dealing with. No official solid evidence has been yet found, though private detectives have been able to trace it to a Takamura Sanada," she shoved a picture towards them and continued, "who recently bought a huge pagoda with sudden wealth. He's an ex-con recently released on parole."
Ban snorted at that. "And you're sure he's our man?"
"Positive," Pinchiorri concluded.
"Now of course, we're not asking you to bring back the entire order. Since retrieval agents are licensed professionals and recognized by Interpol, all you have to do is bring back evidence and maybe a case of glasses so as to merit a police search warrant."
Ginji looked up. "Where are the wineglasses, and how tight's security at this place?" he asked.
Ban struggled with the urge to smack him before Hevn spoke again, "We're not sure, though it's nothing you two can't handle, I'm sure." She grinned.
"As for the location," Pinchiorri said, "we estimate that it's somewhere in the deeper interior of the structure."
"So we'll make sure we check the exterior first then," Ban said, smirking.
"Miss Hevn informed you of my offer, yes? 200,000 in euro?"
Ginji grinned as Ban perked up immediately. "Yeah," he said, "and we'll do it for 250,000."
"Done," said Pinchiorri quickly. Ban was so stunned he didn't even think to wish he'd asked for more.
"Mr. Pinchiorri," Ban said, standing up, "you've got yourself a deal." Ginji stood as well, taking his place beside Ban. "Just leave it to the GetBackers!"
Pinchiorri smiled. "Please, call me Giorgio. And it's in your capable hands now."
Hevn couldn't help but snort.
Three hours later, Ginji and Ban were driving in the Subaru through Honshu towards Kyoto, where Takamura had allegedly set up his fortune. The meeting with Pinchiorri left them both confused, but they'd decided to move out immediately.
The sky was a myriad of warm colors as the sun set on the horizon, and Ban half-smiled at Ginji nodding off on his shoulder. For two hours they'd driven in almost complete silence but the serenity of it seemed almost a foreshadowing of good fortune. His thoughts wandered mainly to how much money they were going to make off this job, oh man!
"Yo, Ban-chan?" Ginji asked quietly, interrupting the silence. He sounded sleepy. "You think this job will work out? And we'll be rich when it's over?"
"Dumbass," Ban answered, though he slipped an arm around Ginji's shoulder. "Of course we will be. We're invincible, remember?"
"Good," said Ginji, tired from the long drive, and nestled into the crook of Ban's arm. He smiled, but it was a worried, apprehensive smile. "It's just that..." he hesitated, "I just have kinda have a bad feeling about this is all. It seems too good to be true." He smirked, "But hey, it's not like you've ever strayed us wrong before."
"Damn right," Ban said smugly, ignoring the sarcasm, and tightened his arm around the blond. Things were finally looking up for the two. This was an easy job, like something right out of a videogame, and the reward for success was sky-high. Nothing would stand in their way.
Except, perhaps, that big-ass wall that now loomed ahead of the car. Ban snapped to attention. He had gotten lost in the moment and let his mind wander while he drove, but now he was back on track as the gigantic stone fortification quickly drew nearer. Fuck, this must be it, he thought. That is one damn big wall.
Ginji sat up out of his daze and watched animatedly as Ban stopped the car on the side of the deserted road. He turned off the ignition and both stepped out of the side of the car. Ginji stretched for a second before turning to the barricade. His eyes narrowed at the stone giant that towered in front of them, wind blowing through his loose blond hair as the sun set in the distance.
A few brown leaves fluttered about before crackling on the pavement under Ban's shoes. He held a map in his hands, glancing over it for a second before shoving it back in the glovebox and shutting the door. "This is it, Ginji. Beyond this bastard thing is twenty-five million yen." Ginji nodded, the lines around his mouth tightening, and he looked toward the top of the many traditional turrets. The lighting was electrical.
Ban looked at his partner, their faces flushed violet in the final setting of the sun. He grinned at Ginji. Ginji sighed and grinned back. "You know what to do," Ban said. The blond understood, nodded, and stepped forward.
The sun disappeared.
Ban's watch beeped 18:00 hours.
Searchlights suddenly flickered on and roved over the perimeter.
"Son of a bitch!"
The night began.
-tbc
Author's notes: Yes, the Enoteca and Mr. Pinchiorri really exist. The only thing I made up was his weirdness. At the moment this seems a rather normal GetBackers retrieval fic... but give it one more chapter and I assure you, your opinion might change. R&R, it makes me happy XD
Beta work is all done by Marumae, the gods bless her soul because without her this fic would be shit.
a/n '04: Edited a bit for your bettered reading pleasure.