Disclaimer: Guess who owns the Get Backers. Yes, not us.

Chapter Nine: Clutter

The road was long and winding, bordered by tall, deciduous trees. The blue Mediterranean sky was calm and soothing, cheerful and pretty. But the beautiful scenery had no effect on the occupants of an Echo™ going on its own little way down the road.

The man glanced sideways at the red-rimmed eyes of the woman driving. She was Asian, petite and pretty, but very sad. He looked away, mindful of the privacy of his co-worker.

"I'm sorry to ask for a ride at a time like this," the man began.

The woman shook her head, and tried to smile. "No, it's all right, Raoul." She let out a quavering breath. "I don't mind. You and George are so close...and you know everything, anyway."

Raoul winced as another tear fell from the woman's eye and dropped onto her collar. "Chiaki, George wouldn't like to see you like this..."

"I know." With one fierce movement, Chiaki brushed a hand over her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. "We're here."

'Here' was a staid, peach-colored building with a clinical air to it. The blankness of the place was broken by the gardens behind it, where many people sat, stood, or strolled.

The Echo pulled up in front of the two figures standing at the entrance of the building...a young man in a doctor's coat, and a tall, sturdy man with red-brown hair and sharp blue eyes. The latter was wearing a business suit, and he looked...rather sulky.

Chiaki opened the door and stepped out. "George, honey?" she said tentatively.

The man hmphed, crossed his arms, and turned his back on her, bearing strange resemblance to a sulky, overgrown child. "I'm not crazy!" he yelled.

Raoul, who had also come out of the car, winced, feeling the strain to his eardrums. Chiaki sighed and turned to the other man. "Doctor?"

The man nodded sedately. "Quite true, Mrs. Schwarz. Your husband passed our month's testing successfully. He's perfectly sane." He fidgeted and added in a whisper. "Unbelievable as it may seem."

George "hmphed" again, picked up the duffel bag beside him, and stormed into the passenger's seat of the car, resuming his cross-armed pose.

Chiaki glared at the doctor. "That wasn't necessary," she said, trying to keep her temper. "Why is he so upset?"

"Some of the test were…a little humiliating," the doctor deadpanned.

Raoul snorted.

Chiaki turned to glare at him, and he shut up. Fast. "Into the car," she snapped. "And don't tease him!"

Still grinning, Raoul obeyed.

"Thank you for your time, doctor."

"Feel free to return if anything else happens."

Chiaki nodded genially as she drove away.

Her cheerful demeanor disappeared soon, though, and a heavy silence hung between the woman and her husband. In the backseat, Raoul began to silently pray for a minor explosion, at the most…

"I'm still sure I saw the stork," George said defensively.

"George…"

"What? White, long legs, has feathers and a beak! Now if I said I saw a chain-smoking priest carrying a cross that's actually a whole artillery set swoop in and capture our baby, then maybe you can be justified in sending me away for one whole months to endure…tests!" George fumed, waving his arms around in a somehow comical manner.

"You and your Trigun obsession," Raoul muttered.

"It wasn't me who wanted it!" Chiaki cried.

"It was your mother, then!" George retorted.

"Well YOUR parents wanted to, too!"

"Why d'ya let them?"

"I believed you, but I had no choice!"

"How can you believe me if I believe the unbelievable?"

"So you don't believe yourself?" Raoul suggested.

The couple turned on him. "Keep out of this!"

The silence that followed was extremely oppressive and uncomfortable. Then, George spoke, not looking at Chiaki. "So…did you find him?"

Chiaki burst into tears, stepped on the brakes, and slumped onto the steering wheel, head in her arms. "NO!"

The men were at loss, helpless in the face of a crying woman. Raoul tapped George's shoulder. "I think I'll leave you now, and catch a bus. Comfort your wife."

George glared at him. "Traitor."

Raoul grinned. "See you in Japan. You'll be leaving a week after me, right?"

"Get outta here," his friend grumbled.

Still grinning, Raoul left, carefully shutting the door. After a while, George patted Chiaki gingerly on the back. "It's okay…"

She continued sobbing.

George pouted, then sighed. "All right, all right, I'm sorry…."

"I-it's just that he's been m-missing for so long and he c-could be DEAD and I d-don't w-want to move to J-japan without our baby!" Chiaki said, through tears.

"It's…your home country?" George tried.

"AND SO?!"

"Hey, don't cry anymore," George said gently, though worry for his son was clearly shown on his face. "We can have another when we get there."

Chiaki glared. "If I didn't love you, I'd have punched you right now."

-=-=-

Ginji sighed and let his hands slowly, slowly creep towards the baby on the table, while Ban growled, maintaining eye contact with Chibi.

"Chibi…"

"No." The baby pouted.

"Chibi…"

"No." The stubborn kid shook his head vehemently.

The baby was currently holding two slices of pizza, one in each hand. Previously, the pizza slices had been in the hands of the Get Backers…until Chibi had decided he was hungry and wanted more.

He would have made an excellent Snatcher.

Paul, Natsumi, and HEVN sweatdropped as a full-fledged wrestling match began at that particular booth.

"CHIBI!! Give that back!" Ban tried to snatch the pizza from his grasp.

Ginji opted for cajoling. "C'mon, Chibi, I'm hungry, and Ban-chan is too!"

Chibi stuck out his tongue and scurried to the opposite side of the table as Ginji lunged. Unfortunately, Ban chose to pounce at that moment, too, and the resulting loud CRACK made the three observers wince.

"That's what you get for spoiling him," Paul said, as he watched the three squabble.

"No we don't!" Ban shouted, as Chibi bounced on his back and scampered away.

"Yes you do!" Ginji exclaimed, grabbing the baby and trying to wrestle his slice from the kid's grip.

"Ban-kun? Spoiling someone? I don't think so…" HEVN was there, too, calmly watching the two men suffer.

"He does!" Ginji insisted. "Chibi! Don't eat my slice!"

"Between Ban and Ginji, who would you believe?" Paul asked the intermediary.

"…I'd choose Gin-chan over Ban-kun any day."

"Ano, guys, don't fight, I'll just give you more," Natsumi pleaded from where she was standing.

Paul shook his head at the waitress. "Don't spoil them, Natsumi."

HEVN turned a thoughtful eye on the café owner. "Then again, maybe it's your fault, Paul."

"Eh? What are you saying?"

"You're the one who lets Natsumi feed them."

A vein popped in Paul's forehead as he repeated, "Natsumi, don't spoil them…this time."

Just at that moment, the Get Backers' cell phone rang.

"You get it!" Ban flung the phone at Ginji. "I'll try to get our pizza back…hey, you! Come back here!" He chased after the kid trying to take refuge behind the counter.

"Ban-chan..! Forget it." Ginji flipped open the phone. "Hello?"

"Is this the number of the Get Backers?" a man said, in grammatically excellent Japanese…but his accent was terrible.

Another foreigner, Ginji mentally noted. "Yes, sir! How may we help you?"

Ban, by this time, had succeeded in grabbing half of his slice and cramming it into his mouth, while Chibi complained and hit him repeatedly. Ban glared. "Who gave you permission to do that?"

"Banchan bad!" Chibi crossed his arms, squishing the pizza effectively, and glared back.

"Oi! Be careful with the food!"

"Chibi, give me that." Natsumi gently pried the mangled slices from Chibi's grip, laid it on a plate, handed the lot to Ban, and gave Chibi another, smaller slice. "Eat this, okay? I don't think you'll be able to finish a whole slice by yourself."

Chibi pouted. As if granting them all a great favor, the baby set to eating the pizza Natsumi gave him. The adults sighed in relief.

"Ban-chan, we have a job!" Ginji cheerfully snatched his slice from the plate and ate it all, disregarding the state it was in.

"Good pay?" Ban finished his slice, too.

"Un! That is…I hope so…"

"Ginji! How many times have I told you…"

"Well, we have to retrieve the man's passport, his wallet, checkbook, important documents, keys to his new apartment and to his luggage…"

Ban stared in disbelief. "What?"

"He got robbed almost upon stepping out of the airport," Ginji explained.

Ban sighed in annoyance. "What is it with idiot tourists and loosing their belongings?"

"They give you jobs," Paul remarked sardonically. "And hopefully enough pay to delete your tab…"

Trust Paul to insert that at any opportunity. Ban ignored him, asking, "What's this man's name?"

"Parentti. He just arrived today, and wants the job done as soon as possible…"

"Italian, is he?" Ban stared as HEVN stood up abruptly and made for the door. Ginji turned his head. "HEVN-san? Where are you going?"

"I just remembered, I have an important meeting in a few minutes." The bells jingled as the door swung shut, and Paul snorted. "She just wants to escape."

"Oh." Ginji and Ban looked at Chibi. "Damn. Now who's going to take care of twerp here?"

"Hellooooo!" The bells rang again as Emishi came in. "What's up, everybody? Chibi-han!" The Joker rushed over scooped up the baby in a bear hug. "How are you? I missed you so much!"

"Emishi!" The baby seemed equally happy to see him.

"I guess he'll have to do," Ban muttered in an aside to Ginji. He turned to the Joker. "Joker! Right on time!"

"On time for what?" Emishi looked warily at the snake man, not used to hearing such friendly acquiescence in his voice.

The snake man and his partner, though, were already waving from outside the door. "Arigato gozaimasu, Emishi!" Ginji called cheerfully, and then they were gone.

"WAAAIT! I had something important to tell you about MakubeX…" The Joker's call went unheard. Emishi sweatdropped and glanced at Chibi. "Looks like we're stuck together, ne, Chibi-han?"

Natsumi sighed. "This is becoming a habit of theirs."

"Idiots," Paul grumbled.

-=-=-

If Shido had had eyebrows, he would have raised them really high at the two truants standing in Madoka's main hall. "And you two are here again why?"

"I was bored, Shido-kun!" Emishi said cheerfully, as the baby beside him waved at 'Shiduh!'

Shido jerked a thumb at Chibi. "And he's here, with you, why?"

"It's okay, Shido-kun, I can take care of Chibi-han! We're FRIENDS!" The Joker nodded at the Beastmaster, irrefutably proving that he was a completely oblivious fool.

"Ginji I can believe being that idiotic…but Midou? Leaving him with you?"

"Aw, I'm so hurt! Shido-kun doesn't believe in me!" Tears streamed in rivers down Emishi's face, and he shook his head from side to side, moaning. "All the years we were friends, Shido-kun, and this is how…"

"Shut up." Shido rolled his eyes.

Emishi sniffed. "Fine! Let's ditch him, Chibi-han." He reached down and made a grab for the baby's hand…to find out that the kid was no longer there. He looked around. "Chibi-han?"

Shido sighed in exasperation. "See? You lost him already!"

"But how?" The other man began to panic. "Yikes! Ginji-han and Midou-han will kill me…!"

"The door's open, maybe he went out…don't just stand there, idiot, help me look!" Shido grabbed the hapless Emishi by the collar and dragged him outside, trying to figure out where exactly the baby went.

-=-=-

Chibi peeked into the open doorway of the garage adjoining one of the many wings of the Otawa mansion. His eyes went wide, and he was rendered speechless at the sight of so many cars.

To his little two-year-old mind, it was intimidating to see so many large black objects twice his size. Cautiously, he crept into the garage, staying as far as possible from the vehicles.

CLANG! CRASH! BANG!

The little kid stumbled straight into a mess of mops, brooms, oilcans, old bikes…you know, the random stuff you find in a garage.

"What was that?" Chibi heard a voice from inside the house exclaim. Uh oh, he thought.

A door on the opposite side opened, and a servant looked in. Chibi, being the tiny little twerp he was, could not be seen from that person's viewpoint.

As quietly as he could, Chibi scrambled up and walked straight into a car. Alarms went off, and he panicked and ran into another one, causing its alarms to go off too.

The servant screamed. "GHOSTS!"

Chibi panicked and dashed out the door, running up the front steps and into the house.

At the same time, Emishi and Shido rounded the corner and rushed into the garage. "What's happening?"

The servant grabbed Shido by the vest. "Shido-san! There's a ghost in the garage! First it knocked over the stuff over there, and then it caused the alarms to go off over there…"

The two men sweatdropped as the servant babbled on and on.

-=-=-

"Wow. Big house," Chibi said softly, as if realizing it for the first time. Which, in fact, he did. He wandered among the many hallways of the mansion, totally lost, though he was too caught up in his adventure to realize it at the moment. He peered at his reflection in the marble floor, fascinated, and looked up at the large chandeliers. "Shiny."

Since he was all by himself, he managed to find his way into the largest kitchen he'd ever seen in his life. The first thing he saw was the refrigerator, something he vaguely remembered either from the Honky Tonk or from wherever he came from before the stork dropped him off. Opening it, he began to pull out the food. He managed to open a pack of bread and get a slice, and he munched on it happily as he continued to explore the kitchen.

Poking around, he found a huge door. It was a funny door, because it opened from above and had a long bar on top instead of a doorknob. Pulling the door down, he looked inside. What were all those wire racks for?

Hey, look, buttons. Chibi reached up on tiptoe and began pressing the buttons on top of the door. A light turned on in the space the door led to, and he turned that light on, and off, and on, and off…

Another button made tubes on the floor of the space glow red. Weird. Getting bored, Chibi left the strange door open and wandered to another part of the kitchen.

-=-=-

The servant who had asked Shido and Emishi for help stamped through the house in a huff, indignant that the two wouldn't believe him. He knew about bad spirits, they used to haunt his place a lot back home, and they had the ability to be everywhere at once…

From the kitchen, he heard banging and clashing, like many pots and pans being thrown around the room. Then, a child's high scream.

Gasping, the servant ran towards the kitchen. The ghosts again!!

The kitchen doors banged open and a wave of heat swept over him, Choking, the man covered his face with his sleeve, to see the refrigerator door wide open, the food in a heap on the floor, pots and pans all over the place, and the oven on full blast, the door left open. Dishtowels draped onto the racks burned merrily.

He screamed again, but failed to see the little brown head that escaped through the other door.

-=-=-

Shido looked up from where he was moving crates in the workshed, trying to see if Chibi was among them. "Did you hear anything?"

"It was the panicky manservant, maybe," Emishi said, as he rummaged in a closet. "Take no notice, I think he's cracked."

Shido thwacked him on the head. "Idiot! Chibi wouldn't be in there, that's too jam-packed with tools!"

"Eh, you never know, Shido-kun!" Emishi rubbed the top of his head. "That's Chibi-han we're talking about!"

Shido sighed in exasperation. "Why do I always get stuck with you?" He suddenly remembered something, and glanced at his watch. "Wait…Emishi, we have to look for him later. I promised Madoka I'd go and pick up Mozart from the vet."

Smirking, the Joker threw a glance at his friend. "Shido-kun, you are such a henpecked husband."

"I'M NOT EVEN MARRIED TO HER YET!"

Emishi grinned. "Yet?"

-=-=-

Chibi blew out a breath as he scurried through the halls. He'd never trust kitchens again. They were dangerous places.

He had come to the more homey parts of the mansion, some halls with bare stretches of floor, some with carpets. As he shuffled along, he messed up the carpets considerably, kicking portions aside when they got into his way and causing it to hump up in odd places. Something caught his eye, and he turned into the library.

For the hundredth time that day, he looked around, mouth open in a small o. Whoever owned this house was really, really rich, to have so much stuff! Look at all the books!

He'd been around people who read books long enough to know that books were sacred, and should be treated well. Therefore, he pulled them carefully from the shelves, and turned the pages with equal attention.

Unfortunately, the books didn't have much pictures, and bored, he left them lying all over the floor.

It suddenly struck him that he was all alone.

Curiously, he looked around. "Emishi?" he called.

No answer.

He stood. "Banchan? Jinji?"

Silence.

"Nats'mi? Master?" He thought for a while, and remembered whose house he was in. "Shiduh?"

No one came to get him, and his lower lip began to tremble. Sitting down again, he let out a scared, panicked wail.

-=-=-

Away in another wing, Madoka's head jerked up. "What was that?" She'd been worried at the past few noises that had been reaching her ears, something about ghosts and fires among them. As no one had come to her, she assumed everything was under control. This, though, was a relatively soft sound, something the servants wouldn't hear. Her extraordinary hearing, though, caught it perfectly.

Standing, she walked off in the direction the crying was coming from.

She had lived in the house all her life; thus, she knew every floorboard, carpet, and piece of furniture like the back of her hand. She was surprised, then, to find a carpet out of place…she discovered it when she tripped over the lumps.

"What happened here?" Picking herself up, Madoka tried to straighten out the carpet. She stopped…the crying was coming from the library.

Cautiously, she made her way to the door and walked in, then gasped as she promptly tripped over a few books left lying on the floor. The crying stopped, and she lifted her head, turning it in the direction she'd heard the strange sobbing last. A few sniffs, a watery giggle, and then a tiny voice spoke . "Clumsy."

Madoka sighed. "Oh. It's you, Chibi."

-=-=-

Ban and Ginji let out deep breaths as they drove towards the Honky Tonk. "Another mission accomplished," Ginji said, arms folded behind his head. "This one was easy, wasn't it, Ban-chan?"

"Aa." Ban smirked as he pushed up his glasses, turning the corner and parking outside the café. "It didn't even take that much voltage, and he fell to the Jagan easily. As I knew he would."

"Hehe…of course, Ban-chan," Ginji grinned as they got down from the car. They strolled into the Honky Tonk, to be greeted by Natsumi's cheery, "Welcome back!" and the joyful barking of a dog.

"Mozart!" Ginji knelt, rubbing the dog fondly on the head. It jumped at him and licked his face, and the blonde man chuckled. He looked up, expecting to see the dog's owner…to find she was not there. Instead…

"Shido? Emishi? Why isn't Madoka with you?"

Wait…someone else was missing, too.

"Monkey man! Joker…where's the kid?" Ban stopped in his tracks and glared at the two.

Emishi poked his fingers together and smiled sheepishly up at the Get Backers, quivering slightly. "Would you believe I lost him?"

"WHAT?!"

-=-=-

Two hours…for two hours the four searched everywhere, any place Emishi could have gone while taking care of Chibi. They were beginning to panic, afraid for the baby out there, all along God-knows-where and with God-knows-who…

"Yaaah!" Ginji crackled reflexively as a hand came down on his shoulder. The owner gave a gasp and snatched his hand back. "Ginji-san, it's only me…"

"Eh?" Turning, Ginji rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Gomen ne, Kazu-chan…I thought you were something else."

"I noticed," the annaiya said wryly, as he rubbed his hand free of the sting.

"Kazuki?" Shido and Emishi appeared, both obviously worn out from searching.

"You didn't deliver the message, didn't you?" Kazuki asked Emishi sternly.

Immediately Emishi groaned and flopped down to the ground. "They wouldn't listen…"

"Thread spool? What are you doing here?" Ban rounded a corner, and stood with hands shoved into his pockets, cocking an arrogant eyebrow at the newcomer. "You popped up pretty fast."

"I sent a message with Emishi to tell you I have news…from MakubeX," the other explained, raising an eyebrow in his turn at the jellylike mass that was Emishi on the ground. "Apparently, he didn't get to tell you." The man paused, and the others looked up at his sudden silence, a sudden, foreboding feeling growing in their minds. The man avoided their eyes, then sighed. "MakubeX found Chibi's parents."

Stunned silence greeted his news. Ban and Ginji started, then looked at each other, their expressions unreadable. Kazuki cleared his throat and continued softly, reluctantly, "They're alive, and well, and really want their child back. MakubeX has their names and where they live right now…"

"Ah. Really?" Ban asked, apparently at loss with what to say. Shido looked at him, but the glasses hid the man's eyes.

"Um…that's great, Kazu-chan," Ginji said, not too convincingly. Kazuki glanced over the two of them. Having known the Get Backers long enough, he knew they'd gotten attached to the baby…and he wondered how they were taking the news.

"That's all well and good," Shido snorted, also sneaking a glance at the duo, gauging their reactions to Kazuki's news. "But we have to find the kid first." He whistled, calling to Mozart. He had sent the dog out a while ago, to try to sniff out Chibi.

Kazuki looked at him in surprise. "Find Chibi? Isn't he with Madoka-san?"

The other four stared at him, uncomprehending, and he elaborated, "I have a string lying somewhere around your house, Shido, and I'm pretty sure I heard Madoka find Chibi a while ago, messing up books in the library."

Emishi glared up accusingly at Shido. "I told you he went inside the house!"

"You did nothing of that sort," the Beastmaster snapped.

-=-=-

"Jinji, Jinji, Jinji," Chibi sang, as he perched happily on Ginji's lap on the drive back to the Honky Tonk.

Upon arrival at Madoka's place, they'd been exasperated (and all ready to kill Emishi) to find the baby cheerfully playing beside a napping Madoka, both obviously waiting for them to arrive. After explaining to the girl what had happened, they bid her goodbye and thanks, and piled into the car, ready to go back to the café. Kazuki was riding in the back, since he wanted to get a cup of coffee.

"The idiot Joker," Ban grumbled as he opened the café door, Chibi seated on his shoulders. "Remind me, Ginji, never to let him take care of anything next time…"

"Ban-san! Gin-chan! Your client's here, to pick up the stuff…" Both men looked up to see Natsumi, waving cheerfully, Paul, standing as usual behind the counter, and a tired, jet-lagged looking young man, in his mid-twenties. The man turned, opened his mouth to welcome them…and suddenly stared.

"REIJI!!"

Ban and Ginji stared.

"Who?"

To be continued…

Authors' Notes: Sorry, guys but this is the second to the last chapter so don't get shocked when we end abruptly on the next chapter. It's okay! This calls for a sequel. (insert cheesy background and background music here)
Riyuji: Hahahaha! (Riyuji strikes an Emishi-like pose)
Rabid Lola: I do not know you... (Rabid Lola hides face in shame)
Riyuji: I'm a genius! (insert evil laughter here)
Rabid Lola: This genius you speak of... Is it real? Or symbolic?

Watch out for the sequel in our joint account: Riyuji and Rabid Lola. It should be out in a month or so with our new fics and the sequel!

limelie: Thank you for the props.
obssdGB: We're sorry... but he's not. Have we answered your question in this chapter? Yeah, let's start a petition!
Invader Androgynous: "-chan" could also be for best friend just as "-kun" could be used for girl. (e.g. Tohru from Fruits Basket is could "Tohru-kun" by Shigure, Hanajima and Uotani)
Kaortsa Mused: We enjoyed Akabane and Chibi, too! Ban was bound to rub off on the kid someday. We won't be surprised if Chibi would begin saying curse words at the age of seven!
Atropos' Knife: O-O That... would be scary. Wow, Atropos! You are definitely trying to find new ways to scare the both of us! Wait... That's a bad thing... Thanks from Rabid Lola for the greeting and thanks from Riyuji for the acknowledgement of such an achievement!
Garnet: Oh, look! New reviewer! (Collective gasp) You're the only one who understood our joke.
Peter the Muggle: (Shakes head) We don't think anything will... but it really, really should.
Aissa: Rabid sez hi, Aissa. Not to bitter, not too salty?! (grins)
Purple.Neko-chan: My Emishi-like pose is all too familiar to you isn't it, Neko-chan? He's your hero?! (Rabid Lola faints) Riyuji: Hay, nakaheart-attack na si Lola. (Claps hands together) I pray for your soul.
Eizan Fujishima: DO YOU KNOW THE REAL NAME OF CHIBI NOW?!
kikio-sama: Belated happy birthday to you! Do you still think that Akabane is still the last person in your list? Oh yeah, and here's Kazuki again!
ManicReversed: Maybe..................... Maybe next time.
AmanoAndin: Thanks for the props.
the PIEROTT: It's okay... we post the new chapter after every two weeks anyway. Oh yeah and thanks for the luck!
Faye-chan: Rabid Lola could imagine you pinching Akabane-san on the cheek.
Iuno: Another new reviewer! Thanks for the compliment! (Stifles laughter in the background)
Wielder: We don't feel sorry for HEVN either. And Rabid Lola barely made it this time! You almost had to kill her. What were you planning? Hanging?
ViL: We don't blame you. As to whether Chibi will leave them or not...... Wait for the next chapter.