"Sum of the Parts"
Disclaimer : Still don't own and am 100 percent sure I never will (sigh).
A.N. : This chapter kinda rambles on, so I divided it into two parts. One more thing. If you notice UST (unresolved sexual tension) between certain characters, then by all means, see it. Intentional or not, it's pretty harmless and doesn't detract from the fact that this fic is, and will remain, non-yaoi. Though, I'm not saying it's not going to get a little naughty in places (wink, wink). As always, please keep those reviews coming because I really do love to hear from you! Thanks for tuning in!
ENJOY!
Chapter 7 : With Strings Attached (Part 1)
Ginji left the Sailor Moon table with his wig in disarray and lipstick all over his face. What he did to deserve such rabid thanks from those cute girls was way beyond his comprehension. Did he get back something for them, he wondered?
Clutching a coaster written with the girls' phone numbers and addresses, Ginji began to feel the effects of the champagne hitting him instantly. Tipsy, he stumbled towards where he thought he left his post.
But if Ginji was directionally-challenged when sober, he was hopelessly lost now intoxicated.
"Ban-chaaan…" he sniveled while passing a bank of dining booths. Finding one that was empty, he collapsed into the bench and curled on his side on the plush cushion.
Did I or did I not just give out my real name? Ginji tried hard to remember as he tightly shut his eyes in an attempt to stop the spinning in his head.
"Ban-chan's going to be so mad at me," he slurred.
---
BLEARGH!
Ban put a hand to his mouth, puffed out his cheeks and forced the vodka down his throat. Swiveling in his seat, he reached over the bar and with his hand, felt desperately for the spray dispenser of club soda.
What the bloody hell is Thread Spool doing here? Ban thought madly as he pulled at the hose, threw his head back and shot a stream of seltzer into his mouth.
More importantly, why did he keep allowing himself to be fooled into thinking Kazuki was this, this hot babe. First, there was that time at the hot springs, and now –
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Ban threw the spray back and kicked the side of the bar. With his hands, he covered the sides of his face and hoped Kazuki wouldn't see him as he neared his position.
Everyone made space and turned their heads as the statuesque, long-haired annaiya breezed through. Unknowingly passing the Get Backer just a few feet away, some sixth sense vibration made the cat bells in Kazuki's hair tinkle gently.
Making an abrupt stop, he doubled back and walked closer to the svelte, black-clad figure that slouched at the bar with her (or his) back to him. Following his highly inquisitive nature, Kazuki bent over and tried to catch the person's attention.
"Hello. Pardon me, I'm sorry to bother you but something tells me I know you from somewhere," he said in his usual genteel tone. Strangely, he made no attempt to make his voice sound more feminine.
The figure sighed, put his hands down and looked directly at the string-style master.
Despite the skillfully applied makeup, the long hair and the marked absence of purple glasses, the beautiful, penetrating, unnaturally blue eyes that stared right at him were unmistakably…
"Mido… Ban?" Kazuki gasped, one hand grasping the counter and the other flying to his lips.
"That was such a lame pick-up line Thread Spool," Ban taunted mischievously. "If you want to date me that badly you have to do better than that."
"But wha – why?..."
"For the mission, dum-dum! Why else would I be wearing this stupid outfit?" he snapped.
Smirking, he added, "Unlike you, I suppose. I see you've decided to use your cross-dressing skills to heh – supplement your income. Does the Fuchouin School approve of your secret life?"
Kazuki was having a hard time keeping his temper in check. Right now, he wanted to wind his koto strings around that arrogant jerk and –
"It's not what you think! I'm here to follow a lead."
"Yeah, right," Ban snorted. "Dressed like that?"
In reality, Ban hadn't really taken his eyes off Kazuki since he appeared in front of him. Except for a red chiffon veil and one braided pigtail where he tied his bells, Kazuki wore his hair loose and unbound down his back. His delicate face was similarly unadorned, with only a touch of blush, brown eyeshadow and shiny red lipstick.
As for a costume, he had on a midriff-baring gypsy belly dancer's outfit made up of a sequined red tank top overlaid with a sheer silk orange long-sleeved beaded blouse that fell off one shoulder. He also wore matching red and orange dyed wide-leg harem pants that were topped with a hip-belt made with a sparkling curtain of ruby crystals.
It nauseated Ban to confess he found Kazuki, looking the way he did – attractive, to say the least.
"What do you mean 'dressed like that'?"
"Oh nothing," the Get Backer shrugged defensively. "Just that seeing how you sling your string around, you're better off disguised as 'Spider-Man'. Er… woman."
The Fuchouin heir frowned with a slight blush staining his cheeks. "I didn't want to pay the club's entrance fee. And since I usually pass for female – " Kazuki paused. Shoot! I don't owe this guy an explanation!
"Anyway, I'm sure we both had the same idea." He bit his lip. "By the way, where's Ginji-san?"
"He's around," Ban said without elaborating.
Kazuki didn't push further. Frankly, he didn't want his former Thunder Emperor to see him, one of the Four Kings, dressed like a harem girl.
"Say, are you wearing a bra underneath that thing? 'Cause mine is killing me…" Ban reached out his hand to touch Kazuki's suspicious-looking chest.
"Stop it!" he whispered fiercely as he slapped Ban's wayward hand away. "Quit making fun of me and my school!"
The witch laughed.
Kazuki began to reach for one of the bells in his hair, but then thought better of it and dropped his hand. He leaned on the bar and crossed his arms.
"Look, I'll be out of your way. I just need to find a man named Kojio." He gazed up at the club's clock. It was past eight-thirty. "He was supposed to be here around eight."
Ban squinted his eyes and scowled. "Kojio? Kojio Kiyoshi? Hey! That's our man! How do you know about him?"
"Tsk. Tsk. You forget who I am," Kazuki coolly replied. Suddenly, he turned his head and looked down on Ban with a knowing smile.
"Oh, I get it. You're the enjo kosai girl Kojio's arranged to meet, huh?"
"That's right. I'm the prostitute!" Ban hissed, a little too loudly. People nearby glanced their way in curious interest.
Waving his hand, he shooed his rival away. "So, if you'll just move along now and find your own old coot to bother, I'd appreciate it."
Kazuki sat down and confronted Ban eye-to-eye. "I don't believe this!" he complained. "I thought we agreed… no… you decided, 'finders, keepers'?"
"Yeah. We found Kojio first, so we're keeping him." Ban leaned closer and shook a balled fist inches from Kazuki's face. He snarled. "So, butt out!"
Kazuki gripped Ban's fist to keep it from coming nearer. "Well, I don't see Kojio anywhere. So, N-O. No!"
"You wanna fight for him?"
The bartender, who had taken a depraved interest in the two, had been snooping in on their conversation.
With a lurid grin he said, "You two beauties should be taking your aggressions out in the bedroom, not here. Kiss and make up already."
The retrieval experts quickly pulled away from each other and shot the bartender wild-eyed looks.
"Shut up!" they shouted.
Next thing the nosy man realized, he had a gag of wound string around his mouth. Horrified, he ran away.
"He thought we were lesbians?" Kazuki gaped incredulously.
"That's the second time this hour I've been called that," Ban huffed. He glowered forbiddingly at the informant.
"Hmph! I guess there's no stopping you then. But you're wasting your time. Kojio's not even expecting you."
Kazuki entwined his long, graceful fingers together. "Oh, I have my ways. Watch me," he replied confidently.
I'll watch you, all right," Ban snorted. In more ways than one, the voice of Aesclepius came out of nowhere. Thwack! Shut up! Shut up! Ban's super-ego battled the hentai snake inside his head.
"You wanted this job to be a race, so race we shall," Kazuki announced with a determined gleam in his chocolate-brown eyes.
"Tch. And may the best 'woman' win," the Get Backer countered surreptitiously. He got off his seat and plodded off.
"I'm going after Ginji. Then we'll see who's better at weeding out information."
Passing each other, they exchanged plastic smiles.
---
Ginji remained crashed on the cushy bench – hungry, lost, and hopelessly drunk. Trying to keep his eyes open, he focused on the floor under the table.
To his immense joy, he spotted a stray piece of fried dumpling in the corner.
"Food!" Ginji exclaimed hoarsely while drooling. Still lying down, he tried to reach for it with his arm. When that didn't work, he unthinkingly turned into his chibi form and crawled under.
Munching happily, Ginji didn't notice the scramble of feet and legs that suddenly threatened to trap him in.
"Uh-oh."
His puny figure tried to escape by weaving through the forest of limbs.
"Eeek! There's a rat on my foot!" The kogal dressed as Tomb Raider Lara Croft screamed.
"Kill it! Kill it!"
Her companions violently kicked, stomped and screamed after her. When it was all over, chibi-Ginji lay nearly unconscious on the floor.
Standing on the benches, the group cautiously peered underneath.
"Oh. It's just a doll someone left," the girl costumed like an 80's-era Madonna said. "What's it doing under the table?"
Lara Croft first poked at Ginji with her foot, then picked him up and held him high.
"Kawaii!" She brushed Ginji off and hugged him close, squashing his chibi head into her Lara Croft-esque bosom, which was to say, quite ample.
"Strange. It almost feels alive."
"Oooh… Can I touch it?" one of the girls asked.
"Excuse me, but I believe that's my doll you're holding," a grating screechy voice said.
Ban appeared ominously wraith-like before the girls as he demanded for his slowly suffocating partner.
Lara Croft squeezed chibi-Ginji tighter and suspiciously sized-up the dark figure. Jumping from her perch on the bench, the tall, buff amazon stood face-to-face with him.
"I suppose you're going to say this is your voodoo doll, huh, witch? How do I know it's yours?"
"You don't," Ban sneered. "Just give it to me."
"No way! I refuse," she threatened menacingly. "Finders, keepers."
He cursed. This whole 'finders, keepers' business was coming back to bite him in the ass.
"Then I'll have to take it back!" Ban grabbed Ginji by the head and pulled him off her chest.
"Let go, bitch!" Lara Croft shouted.
"Who you calling 'bitch', you skank 'ho!" Ban yelled back. Watching Himiko and Hevn's many PMS-fueled cat-fights evidently had its fringe benefits.
With one last jerk, Ban ripped his friend out of the girl's arms.
"Give it back, slut!" Lara Croft screamed.
"Ban-chan… What happened?" Chibi-Ginji groggily mumbled and flailed as they stalked off.
The kogals were dumbfounded.
"It… It moved…"
"A-a-and talked…"
Their shrieks could be heard throughout the club.
Ban carried his ragamuffin partner in a headlock. Rapping the top of his skull with his knuckles, Ban lashed out angrily.
"Didn't I tell you not to turn into this tare thing?"
"Sorry, Ban-chan. I'm sorry. I think I broke all your rules."
"All of them?" Ban's hold grew tighter.
Ginji coughed and sputtered. "I – gah! – left my post, and I – ack! – told those girls my real name, and… and…"
"And?"
"I electrocuted a bunny rabbit."
"What?" Ban stopped near the kitchens, quickly hid Ginji from view and let him revert back to his full form.
"He scared me. I think he caught on fire," he whimpered guiltily while keeping his head down.
Ban laughed. "You got assaulted by a fur-vert?"
"It's not funny," Ginji pouted, finally meeting his partner's gaze.
The brunette rolled his eyes and sighed. How could he possibly stay mad at that face? That kicked-puppy face with the huge remorseful eyes, smeared lipstick, tangled hair and lip imprints on his cheeks and forehead.
"Eh, Ginji. Looks like the rabbit wasn't the only one who molested you," Ban lifted Ginji's chin with his hand and examined him over.
"The girls who gave me drinks… They kept – kissing me," he blushed profusely.
Ban's eyes radiated with envy. "Were they nice?"
"Mm."
"Pretty?"
"Aa. They gave me their phone numbers and e-mail addresses." Ginji produced the coaster.
"Then all is forgiven. I'll take that." Ban grabbed the piece of cardboard and tucked it somewhere within his leather top.
"Ban-chan! That's mine!"
"What? Natsumi's not enough for you?" He whined pathetically. "Give me a break, will 'ya? I just got hit on by a fucking banana, for Pete's sake!" Ban put an arm around Ginji's shoulders and guided him towards the bar.
"You know what's weird? Chicks are kissing you, smothering you with their breasts and letting you hide under their skirts."
"Apparently, you're a bigger heartthrob dressed as a girl than you ever were dressed as a guy. How screwed up is that?"
Ban shook his head in awe. The wonders of Ginji's magnetism would never cease to amaze him.
---
"See that woman sitting at the bar?" Ban pointed Ginji over to Kazuki, who was now surrounded by a group of young business executives.
Ban seethed. Why is Thread Spool attracting all the decent guys while I get all the geeks?
"Want to meet her?"
"Would I?" Ginji blinked rapidly.
Kazuki spotted Ban, excused himself from his suitors and drifted towards the Get Backer's place near the stairs of the club's balcony.
"Did you find Gin – " He broke off in mid-sentence and stepped back in shock. "-ji?"
"Waah… So pretty…" Ginji uttered liltingly with a bewitched smile.
"Ginji-san." Kazuki's lip quivered.
How could the mighty Volts have ended up like this – with him, the sole Fuchouin heir, looking like an 'Arabian Nights' concubine, and the fearsome Raitei dressed as a pre-pubescent girl?
The string master thanked heaven Shido wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this. Because if the Beast Master saw both him and Ginji the way they were now, who knew what horrid, probably extinct, creature he would transform into.
Kazuki felt he could just cry.
"What's with the face, Thread Head?" Ban fakely enthused. Here we are, three gorgeous girls on a night out ready to par-taay, and you look like you're at a funeral."
"Oh, it's you, Kazu – burrrp – chan!" Ginji belched as he lunged at his former Volts lieutenant. The elevator finally reached the top floor.
Kazuki caught Ginji in his arms. "Kazu-chan… You smell nice. Like flowers, and… and… like… cookies!"
"Ginji-san, you're – drunk." His eye twitched as he propped the blond's head on his shoulder. He shot Ban a dirty look.
"Hey. I had nothing to do with that." He put up his hands in mock surrender.
"That's exactly my point," Kazuki replied harshly. "You did nothing."
Ginji lifted his head drowsily and smiled. "You're also in a dress Kazu-chan? Are you going to help us with the job?"
"He's not going to help us with anything!" Ban shouted, hooking his fingers into Ginji's apron and pulling him back to his side.
The sloshed Get Backer stood helplessly confused as he watched his two friends glower at each other. Suddenly, he crouched and drew his thighs tightly closed.
"Ehm… I think I need to go to the bathroom," Ginji squeaked as he gripped his skirt down.
"What?" Ban asked without taking Kazuki out of his sight.
"P-p-p-eee…"
"Good grief!" Kazuki exclaimed exasperatingly, eyes growing wide with alarm. ""I'll take him."
He took Ginji by the shoulders, blew past the brunette bastard and maneuvered through the thick crowd.
Kazuki gritted his teeth furiously. This never would've happened in Mugenjou. Never, ever, ever…ever. He was so angry, he was stunned to find himself talking like a spoiled eight-year-old inside his head.
Reaching the restrooms, he faced a dilemma.
Ladies or gents?
Kazuki hesitated in the corridor, standing before the two dreaded doors. Blocking Ginji behind him with his arms, he decided to think it through.
He never had a problem using the public loo he was supposed to use – the rude, bug-eyed jerks that stood beside him in the urinals be damned.
But he and Ginji were in women's clothes at the moment, and that put a whole new spin on Kazuki's bathroom politics.
"I need to go nooow…" Ginji whined miserably as he hopped on his chunky heels.
"Shush! Wait. I'm still thinking."
If they used the men's room, that would, technically, be the correct choice. But going in the way they were dressed now, he and Ginji would be taken for transvestites – which they weren't.
Kazuki frowned.
If they used the ladies' room, however, they would probably get away with it. But on principle, it would be like they were denying their very anatomy, their masculinity, their –
Ginji hurriedly went around Kazuki's outstretched arms and made the wisest choice he could make. He barged into the door that was closest – the ladies' room.
Kazuki smiled weakly. Well, I did vow to follow Raitei's every decision. He followed Ginji in.
To his horror, Kazuki found Ginji hiking up his skirt next to the wash basin.
As a couple of girls watched in astonishment, Kazuki rushed over and whispered sharply. "No! No! Not there!"
He pulled Ginji off the sink and gently shoved him into an empty stall. Closing the door behind him, the annaiya sheepishly apologized to the girls.
"She had six shots of vodka."
"Ohhh…" The girls nodded sympathetically and left.
Kazuki wiped the beads of sweat off his brow, leaned on the stall's door and exhaled a sigh of relief. As he waited for Ginji to finish, he wistfully mused.
"Your partner… He makes me so mad sometimes. I wonder how he manages to take care of you – if at all."
"You're always hungry, and broke, and in danger…" Outright, Kazuki's annoyed tone softened in sudden realization.
"But you've never been – happier."
"What's his secret, Ginji-san? He's greedy, cocky and hot-tempered. Yet at the same time, he's the smartest, most clever man I know…"
Kazuki trailed off. He knew he had said too much. But his curiosity about the dark, enigmatic Get Backer was – among a few others – one he had to satiate.
If the Thunder Emperor, whom a whole city had been devoted to, had in turn devoted himself to this one man, what did that make him?
Who are you, Mido Ban?
Kazuki's train of thought was broken by the sound of a flush. Ginji poked his head out.
"Ban-chan is hard to understand. But he understands all of us." In his drunkenness, he had sounded wise. Ginji staggered to the sink to wash his hands.
"Ban-chan… He doesn't mean what he says about you. He thinks you're – a lot of things."
Kazuki let this revelation sink in for a moment. He then shook his head and smiled, the hardness in his soulful eyes gone. Wetting a paper towel, he helped Ginji wipe off the lipstick off his face.
"I see you're a hit with the girls," he snickered.
"Natsumi-chan wanted to come with us." Ginji side-stepped the comment. "Of course, she can't. But I wish – " He looked at himself in the mirror.
"You know so much, Kazu-chan. Do you think she likes me?"
"Yes, Ginji-san. She does."
The string-wielder stared at his Emperor's reflection. The boy never really could see the vast wonders he possessed within. Amano Ginji with the brightest light in his eyes, the biggest smile to give, and a world's worth of kindness and love in his infinitely generous heart.
Happily, Ginji was beginning to get back some of that kindness and love for himself.
This never would've happened in Mugenjou. Never, ever, ever…ever.
For that, Kazuki was glad. And thankful. To that snake man.
---
"Honestly. Do I look like Akabane in drag?"
"I beg your pardon?"
Ban, Ginji, and Kazuki sat on the stairs as hordes of people passed up and down between them. Ban was practically lounging on the steps, idly puffing out clouds of smoke in as many shapes as he could.
Kazuki sat daintily opposite him with an elbow on his knees and head cradled in his dexterous hand.
Ginji, meanwhile, embraced the banister, trying to snap out of his sozzled state.
"Jackal. Our favorite homicidal maniac," Ban badgered on. "Do you see the resemblance?"
Kazuki looked at him funny. "Well, now that you mention it…"
Ban shook Ginji's shoulder roughly. "What did I tell you? Even Thread Spool thinks so."
"Why? Is there something wrong with that?" The informant philosophized. "You know, if he would just go out in the sun more often, and maybe if he used some conditioner on his hair…" He shrugged. "Akabane could be a good-looking man, I suppose."
Ban sat up and scrunched up his face. "Did you just insult me by complimenting Akabane's looks?"
"Huh?"
"So you're saying I should be grateful I look like Jackal because, according to you, he's sooo attractive," he griped petulantly.
"I said no such thing!" Kazuki exclaimed. Aghast, he leaned as far away as possible from the lunatic Get Backer.
"Why are you so obsessed with Akabane, anyway?"
"Because. I shouldn't look like him, dammit! I should look like Me! Get it? Me! Me! Me!"
All this talk about Akabane's so-called "attractiveness" was making Ginji sick to his stomach. He muttered. "Ban-chan's always like this when he's hungry."
"It better be." Kazuki glanced furtively at Ban, who was cursing under his breath. Whispering to Ginji, he added, "Because this whole Akabane-channeling thing is scaring me."
"Ban-chan. How much longer do we have to wait here?"
"For as long as it takes," he replied, instantaneously breaking out of his Dr. Jackal-induced delusions.
Kazuki struggled to read the club's wall clock through the pulsating disco lights. It was a few minutes past nine.
"Are you sure Kojio hasn't stood you up? He's awfully late."
"Absolutely. He was totally smitten with Midori –"
"Natsumi-chan," Ginji corrected.
"Whatever. Kojio wouldn't pass up a chance with her… Me," Ban reiterated confidently. He flicked his cigarette butt into an unwitting passer-by's drink.
"Besides, whatever happens, we're going to get back those parts, even if it means we have to hijack his plane tomorrow."
"I have no doubt," Kazuki said, deftly playing cat's cradle with his strings. He created a cute airplane figure which delighted Ginji to no end.
"Oi. And why are you so calm about all this?" Ban demanded. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like the thread's answer.
"Did you think I spent the whole afternoon choosing a costume for this gig? If you care to know, I've already recovered some of the missing robot parts. Five pairs of limbs, to be exact."
If there was such a thing as polite bragging, the string master had done so.
"Not bad for an annaiya, huh?"
Ginji turned to face his friend behind him. "Wow! Kazu-chan! You're done with the job? That's great!"
Ban was livid. "Tch! So what the hell are you doing here?"
"I'm just playing your game – with your rules," Kazuki winked. "Finders, keepers, remember?"
The dark-haired Get Backer punched his fist into the stair he was sitting on. One could hear the wood splintering underneath the carpet.
He desperately wanted to wring that long, pretty neck.
"Leave this job to us, or I'll – "
"Or you'll what?" Kazuki ranted incredulously. "Why do you insist on being such an asshole to us all the time? Shido, Emishi, and I – we have a right to make a living, too, you know."
"… What's your problem? Even if we're on your side, you still seem to have an on-going grudge against the Volts. Is it because we kept Ginji –"
The fire in Ban's eyes cooled. He was surprised Kazuki had used such strong language, at least strong for him.
"Don't fool yourself, Thread Spool. You overestimate my regard for your silly gang. I'm an asshole to you guys as much as I'm an asshole to everyone else."
Snidely, he continued. "But that grudge? That stays. You don't all try to kill me at one time or another and expect to get away with it."
Ban and Kazuki exchanged deliberative sideward glances as if studying the finer points of each other's psyche. Above the din of the club, the tense silence between the two agents was deafening.
"Ban-chan?" Kazu-chan?" Ginji implored with concern.
Kazuki broke first. Shaking his head, he chuckled, mostly at himself for sounding so foolish in front of this enigmatic, shrewd man.
"For the record, I've never tried to kill you," he confessed, dark eyes softening. "Not yet, anyway."
"Heh. I don't think we've even actually fought," Ban answered with a roguish smile. He paused.
"Not yet, anyway."
What you think? For the record, I'm not a BanxKazuki shipper. But I've always found their mutual teasing quite interesting. And Ban's slight (misguided) attraction to Kazuki is part of canon so I've allowed myself to have some fun with it. Did I offend? No? Please tell me what you think. Thanks in advance!
Next chapter : The elusive Kojio appears, FINALLY. Really! And poor Ginji…