"Sum of the Parts"
Disclaimer : The characters aren't mine, yeah, yeah, yeah...
A.N. : Based on some of the reviews, I've been seriously considering changing the genre of this fic from General/Humour to simply Horror! Unfortunately, it gets a bit weirder in this chapter, dealing as it does in, ahem, alternative lifestyles. So, if you're easily squicked by this kind of thing, my apologies in advance.
As always, please keep those reviews coming because I really do love to hear from you! Thanks for tuning in!
ENJOY!
---
Chapter 10 : Hotel To Hell
"Ban-chaan!"
Ginji's lip quivered and his eye twitched. Parched at the throat, he felt the vertigo from dehydration growing in his brain, but oddly, he knew he was sober. The surge of lightning burned up the rest of the alcohol in his blood.
Sweeping away the feather-light barriers before him, Ginji tried to tread cautiously in every direction. But every step he took made contact with a body on the floor.
Trembling, he froze in place and choked back the tears.
Ginji kept only a few snapshots in his memory. Most of the newer ones were in vivid colour. But those that were in black-and-white, he couldn't throw away even if he wanted to. And it happened that those pictures were the sharpest snapshots of all. Even in their drab grayscales, they were as clear and detailed as day.
One of them flashed in his mind, dated the day he first transformed into Raitei. Ginji could still count each and every one of the thirty or so roasted Beltline demon corpses in the highly charged pit; saw the bulging exploded eyes where the boiling vitreous humor had burst through; still felt the life draining from the broken body of the frail, innocent girl he held in his arms...
"No! No! Not again!" Ginji sobbed. He dropped down and began crawling over the sleeping angels in the cloud.
He thought he could hear the faint voice of Raitei whisper sadly. "Why, Ginji? Not only are you a demon slayer, now you kill angels as well?"
"Ban-chaaan! Ban-chaaan!"
With a voice calling his name piercing into his consciousness, Ban slowly stirred, eyes rolling back from the top of his head even as he kept his lids closed. With his heart slowing down into its normal rhythm, Ban rewound back to when he was engulfed by the purple haze.
The electricity was something else. It was a different colour and of relatively low voltage. Ban had been shocked enough by his partner to know the difference. This current didn't even short out the sound system or the disco lights.
Most of all, it was warm like the last spring rain before summer. It ebbed and flowed through his body, peaking and leveling off, and peaking again as though it had mood, emotion. This violet energy was not pure like the hot, slashing blue-green rage of Raitei. It caressed and cycled around until quietly being absorbed by his nerves and then suddenly spilling.
This one was solely Ginji's. Raitei could not possibly produce electric sensations that pleasing. So pleasant, in fact, they were almost – orgasmic.
Ginji, you're still full of surprises. Despite not being fully conscious, Ban's lips twisted into a silly smile.
Miraculously, Ginji finally crawled over to the curled body of his best friend.
"Oh no! I killed Ban-chan! I killed Ban-chan! Waaaaah!" he wailed as he tried to shake the Get Backer awake.
Exasperation forced Ban to reply hoarsely. "I'm not dead, dumbass!"
"Ban-chan?" Ginji turned him over onto his back. In his chibi form he latched onto Ban's chest and cried. "Ban-chan! Thank God you're alive!"
The brunette cracked open an eye and saw a shaking ball of fluffy foam spouting two fountains of salty water in front of him.
Ban's eyes flew open. "What the hell!" He paused. Chibi-Ginji was so tiny he had been completely covered in bubbles.
He bonked the soapy ball with his fist. "Change back, Ginji! You're freaking me out!"
In his full form, Ginji knelt beside his partner and wiped his tears. "Ban-chan, I thought Raitei... Just like the first time I turned..."
Ban propped himself up on one elbow and pulled the blond towards him by the collar. "You. Are. Not. Raitei." He enunciated carefully. "See?"
The boy turned his head all around him and happily realized the dancers were starting to pick themselves up in a drone of gasps, mumbles and giggles.
"Was that some special effect?"
"...I don't know, but it felt... real good..."
Concerned people began piling into the foamy bedlam as Ban sat up and brushed wisps of bubbles off his face. He could still feel the tingling in his spine – and other parts. Finding this hilarious, he laughed. And laughed some more.
Ginji gripped both of his fiend's shoulders with an urgent, beseeching expression on his face. 'Ban-chan! Stop laughing! I don't find this funny at all! What happened? What did I just do? I d-don't understand..."
Ban groaned. Oh, man... Now was not the time for a birds-and-the-bees talk. But he knew Ginji wouldn't shut up until he got some sort of answer. Scratching his head, he replied, "You know that feeling you get after a, umm... nice dream?"
"Oh, you mean like the one I once had where I won a year's worth of all-you-can-eat buffet dinners at a hotel?" Ginji sniffled.
"You can't remember what you just did yet you remember that?" Ban rolled his eyes hopelessly. "No. I meant a nice, niiice dream. Where something, you know, sorta, kinda happens when you, uh, wake up."
"When I wake up?" Ginji looked up and thought hard. After what seemed like an eternity, he went beet red. "Oh... that. I did that? To everyone?"
"Something like it," Ban said as he searched for his cigarettes inside his top. "God, I need a smoke." He fished out a stick from his pack, lit up and drew hard. Others on the floor were doing the same thing as the bubbles slowly began to dissolve and deflate.
"But how - ?" The naïve Get Backer asked quietly of himself. He bit his knuckles, discovering finally that he didn't know how he could do such a thing. But he could certainly guess why.
"What a huge irony," the snake man snickered. "You. Of all people. A walking, talking electric sex machine."
"Huh?"
"Never mind," he sighed as Ginji helped him stand up. Punching the blond's shoulder, Ban demanded, "What brought out that burst of lightning anyway?"
Ginji was hunched with guilt as they traipsed through the labyrinth of foam and baffled dancers towards their table. "I was dancing and next thing I know, this angel comes down from the light –"his eyes glazed over wistfully from the memory "– and kisses me." He added softly. "It was nice."
Ban crumpled his face. "What? You caused all of this because of some hallucination?" He branded Ginji's face with a letter "L" courtesy of his fingers. "You're such a loser! I mean, what moron gets kissed by an imaginary angel, anyway?"
"She looked real to me –at the time."
"Let me guess. She looked just like Natsumi, right?" the brunette smirked.
Ginji cast down his eyes in silent affirmation.
"Heh. You horny devil," Ban snorted. He then stopped his partner in the middle of the floor and exclaimed with a sudden realization. "Shit, Ginji! If this is what happens when you're kissing an illusion, I can't imagine what you'll do when you actually get lai –"
"Ginji-san! Ban-kun! Are you guys all right?" Kazuki appeared from behind the curtain of white. "I saw the electricity and rushed right in. What happened?"
"Just basking in the afterglow," the simpering Get Backer answered, blowing a column of smoke upwards. "You missed a hell of a party, Thread Spool. Dancing Queen here just screwed everyone over."
"What are you talking about?" Kazuki cocked his head to the side. "Ginji-san?" The blond flashed the 'ok' sign, though confusion still shrouded his pink, tear-stained features.
"... we apologize for the, um, technical difficulties. In the meantime, we're about to start our Sweetheart contest. So to all you lovely ladies out there, if you think you've got what it takes to be a 'Dolce Vita' muse..." the emcee announced enthusiastically.
Kazuki smiled with relief. "Anyway, the good news is, I think Kojio is ready to leave now. What do you think? Should we let him decide where to go next or do we get this over with by forcing the info out of him in some alley around here?"
It was obvious the string specialist was losing patience. The latter suggestion made him sound like a mafia goombah. All that was missing was the 'bada bing bada boom!'
Ban narrowed his eyes and creased his brow. To his annoyance, Kazuki was in "we" mode again. Gotta ditch the thread-head. The sooner, the better.
"Let's get you some water, Ginji-san. You're dehydrated." Kazuki took his Thunder Emperor's arm and began leading him away. His instinctive gesture brought the Fuchouin heir back to the old days in Mugenjou when Ginji relied on him, most of all, for answers. 'Kazuki of the Strings' who always knew what to do – even though that wasn't exactly true.
Old habits die hard. The informant almost forgot Ginji already had a partner he could rely on. For better or for worse, that partner could offer more to the boy than he ever could.
Realizing this, Kazuki paused and looked back at Ban. "Are you coming?"
"Aa. I'll just be a sec."
He sighed. It seemed like every time he left the wily Get Backer behind the guy would hatch up a conspiracy and proceed to stab him in the back.
---
Lose him in the crowd? Lock him up somewhere? Nah... too easy. With his hands on his hips and his foot tapping on the floor agitatedly, Ban wracked his brain for ways to get rid of the long-haired pest. Then the spritely club events coordinator / emcee – who was outfitted like a bumblebee and was earnestly buzzing about on the job – passed by him. Suddenly, supernovas exploded in his cursed cosmic eyes. I'm an evil sonofabitch. Yes I am, Ban chuckled as he went after the girl.
"Excuse me, miss," he gently grabbed the emcee's arm. "I was wondering if you're still registering names for the Sweetheart contest."
The busy bee spun around and hugged her computer clipboard close. "Oh, sure," she answered cheerfully through the racket. "This isn't a formal pageant or anything like that. It's just for fun. Would you like to join?"
"Heavens no. Not me," Ban / Midori laughed with a limp 'Oh, come now' wave of his hand. "But I'd like to volunteer my friend. It's that long-haired girl wearing the gypsy costume."
He pointed through the foam and criss-crossing crowd toward the neon pink and orange illuminated bar where Kazuki was opening a bottle of water for Ginji.
"She's gorgeous," the emcee whistled.
"But she doesn't know that," Ban cooed in his fake female croak. He crammed back a cackle down his throat. "That girl is much to shy and it's not helping her self-esteem any. A little public exposure would do her confidence good, you think?"
The coordinator smiled back and winked. "I'll see what I can do. What's her name?"
"Keiko. Kazuki Keiko."
The woman entered the name into her computer. "Don't worry, we'll have Keiko strutting on that bar in no time. She's lucky she has a friend like you. Most girls would be intimidated by her beauty."
"That's what friends are for, right?" Ban grinned. "Thanks!"
Taking his sweet time, Ban smugly strolled back to the table where he found Kojio sitting with his hands folded in front of him. The snake man blinked, making sure this was the same disoriented, gabby windbag they had left a few minutes ago, and not the seemingly hard, cold and calculating stranger before him now. Whatever Ginji had done to stun the racketeer into unconsciousness had apparently knocked the lush out of him as well.
Now, Ban wasn't sure if he wouldn't have preferred to deal with a drunk Kojio rather than a sober, suspicious one.
To be on the safe side, he forced himself to sound a bit more feminine and phrased his words carefully. "Kojio-san, would you rather we continue our arrangement somewhere else?" Ban suggested.
Kojio answered with a greasy grin. "You read my mind." As he slowly stood up from his seat, Ginji and Kazuki arrived. Ban nodded while Ginji and the old man swapped curious glances, as if trying to snatch memories of the last half hour from each other in order to recall their own.
Kazuki regarded the blond's wavering expression as they let Kojio lead the way out. "May I know where we're going?" he asked.
"Some place on the hill. It's all been arranged," the man replied. His tone reeked of sinister anticipation.
The string master halted Ban half-way towards the club's doors. "There's something strange..." He said in a low murmur. "Ginji-"
"Miss Kazuki? Kazuki Keiko?"
He turned abruptly at the sudden interruption and found the emcee's hand on his.
"Could you come with us please?" She began pulling Kazuki to the bar.
"What? Wait, I don't... There must be some misunderstanding –" Flabbergasted, Kazuki stammered and struggled feebly. Yet, his genteel nature would not allow him to contend with this impudent girl. He followed reluctantly.
"Good luck!" Ban called out with a wave and a smirk.
Kazuki shot the Get Backer one final dirty look before disappearing into the rabble. Reaching the exit, Ban, Ginji, and Kojio assembled and took one last, sweeping scan of the club.
"Where's – what's her name?" The bag man inquired.
"Keiko. She decided she had a beauty contest to win," Ban shouted over the whoops, whistles and claps of the crowd as a couple of very pretty girls now stood on the bar counter in a line as their names were called.
"That's too bad. I like that one a lot," Kojio mused cryptically. He then went out.
"Kazuki Keiko!"
The Get Backers turned in unison and watched dumbfounded as a flustered Kazuki was hoisted up onto the bar in a graceful flutter of silks and long, brown tresses. Beheld by all eyes, the string master's presence was met by a few gasps piercing into the chorus of cheers. He was easily the tallest and most striking of all the contestants.
Ban pushed the interior doors open and marveled at his own genius. Good riddance. Sauntering past the Frau Uni-brow receptionist, the wig-less Ginji caught her discerning eye.
"Hey, boy! Get back here!"
"Oh, go and buy yourself some tweezers, you sow." Ban made snake eyes at her again. "That caterpillar on your forehead died with Frida Kahlo years ago."
With that, he and his partner stepped out of the club, grateful to breathe in the warm, muggy night air. The party atmosphere was in full swing and young, ostentatiously dressed youths milled about. Conspicuously standing amidst this dynamic scene were Kojio and two black suits in dark shades waiting for their car.
Ban narrowed his eyes and snorted. Good news? Yakuza bodyguards meant there was something worth protecting. Bad news? Getting out what they were protecting was going to be a pain in the ass for sure.
---
"We're on track, Ginji. I'm positive the goods are on him already," he whispered.
Ban realized Kojio was dealing with the big shots. Dogenzaka was closed to traffic at night, and to have a limo transport him meant territories were being crossed and sums of money were exchanging hands. As always, the brash brunette approached these changing circumstances with a mixture of cool anxiety and giddy expectation. Anxious, for the trouble they were getting themselves into; and expectant, of the huge financial payoff they'd receive after they completed the job.
Ban couldn't wait.
Ginji interrupted his partner's money reverie. "Ban-chan?" He asked quietly. "Am I still your boyfriend?"
With eyes bulging, he backed away slightly. "What!"
"You said a while ago..."
"Oh, that." For a moment he thought Ginji had mistaken him for Natsumi or someone. "Of course not, dummy. I just said that to protect you. You know, so he doesn't think you're gay."
"Why would he think that?"
"Duh... Look at yourself," he scowled. "This way, he won't make you do... stuff."
"What stuff? I don't get it."
"It's better if you don't. Just shut your trap and leave everything to me."
A black, Mercedes-Benz S-class sedan pulled over in front of the club, followed by another black car. One of the goons opened the passenger door of the limo and Kojio stepped in, while the other herded Ban and Ginji and made them go in after.
"Nice car," Ban complimented, making small talk as the car rolled smoothly away.
"Being connected in the movie industry has its perks," Kojio explained as he tapped the big, brown briefcase on his lap.
Well-connected to the Yakuza, you mean. Out of the corner of his eye, Ban studied the way the bag man held his case. Its presence put doubt back into his mind as to whether the drop had been made or not. If the briefcase contained cash, then it was possible the parts weren't in Kojio's possession yet and the Get Backers would be forced to stick with him until that time. Ban held back a frown.
"Your boyfriend doesn't talk much does he?" Kojio observed.
"Mm. Most geniuses are like that, I suppose."
The balding geezer chuckled softly. "I can guess who wears the pants in this relationship."
The two boys looked at each other, unsure of what the man was trying to imply.
After a relatively short drive, they approached the 'love hotel' district at the apex of Dogenzaka and the cultural complex of Bunkamura (1).
Ban found it funny that a mere hill separated this hotbed of wanton, animal activity from the home of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. He and Ginji peered through the windows at the rows of hotels with names such as 'Pleasure Chest', 'Les Couchez', and 'Hotel Rainbow', where tackily lighted gaudy structures stood side-by-side with square, concrete boxes.
They watched in fascination at the human dramas that played out on the hotel sidewalks, parking lots and entrances. In a span of just a minute, they witnessed a very young kogal with pigtails dragging a slouched, old salaryman up some hotel stairs; a middle-aged couple on break from their kids, running from their parked car to an entrance while hiding their faces like criminals; and two teenagers who decided that walking up to a hotel and getting a room was too long a time to wait, so they started making out on the sidewalk.
These were scenes that were replayed and recreated all over 'Love Hotel Hill' and it was time for the Get Backers to stage a little drama of their own.
The limo made a turn and crawled into the garage of a small, starkly elegant stone modernist building quaintly called 'Hotel Serenade'.
Curiously, unlike the other establishments which had hordes of people passing in and out of their doors, this one was quiet and seemed unoccupied. If not for its brightly lit lobby and softly illuminating exterior lights, the hotel might as well have been closed.
The driver killed the car's engine whence the two bodyguards opened the passenger doors and the three stepped out. Ban quipped. "Kojio-san, it looks like we're the only ones here."
"Actually, we have the whole place to ourselves," he boasted as the guards escorted them out of the garage.
The dark-haired retriever's optimism lifted considerably. Now, he was one-hundred percent certain the Hotel Serenade was, in fact, the drop-off location – if the robot parts weren't already inside. In hindsight, it was the perfect hiding place. Anonymous, temporary and secure; with dozens of places to stash them in.
Ban started making preliminary plans in his mind as they entered the building. Ginji clutched his arm just like he did when they walked the streets of Dogenzaka, but surprisingly, he made no attempt to shake him off this time.
"I have a weird feeling about this," the blond commented nervously.
As is with most modern 'love' or 'leisure' hotels, gone were the rickety rat traps with the peeling yellow wallpaper and flickering fluorescent lamps where an ashen, liver-spotted hand behind a curtain would give you a room key in exchange for your money.
Instead, they stepped into an air-conditioned lobby tastefully done in dark, lacquered mahogany, Tiffany-style lights and plush red carpeting. And no longer was there a need to transact with the ghostly hand of an obaasan, but rather with a large high-tech panel displaying pictures of the rooms available and their prices per stay.
Ban counted the guards he could see at four; one posted near the entrance, one at the stairs and two in the lounge watching a baseball game on TV.
Kojio spent no time at all mulling over which room to choose. He pushed the overnight stay button on the board displaying Room 204, after which its light went out and a slot beneath it spit out a key card. During this brief process, Ban tried to examine the panel for details that might come in handy later.
Meanwhile, Ginji was staring longingly at the vending machines nearby. His stomach protested quietly.
The stair guard led them up the wide, curving staircase to their room on the second floor. The layout of the floor was such that it branched out into odd corridors with a room on either side. They found Room 204 in one of these corridors, its door just like all the others – dark wood against clean, beige walls. Its very plainness could be counted on to betray whatever debaucheries and carnal pleasures that lay inside.
The guard bade leave as Kojio inserted the key card into the door lock. Without hesitation or a smidgen of surprise, he strode right in.
Ban followed, taking two steps and then stopping dead in his tracks. His eyes swept over the large, dimly lit room, mouth dropping lower and lower as he caught detail after shocking detail. He didn't blame his feet for wanting to turn on their heels and run the hell away from there.
"Oh. My. God." He mouthed numbly.
Kojio placed the key card on the small, pink writing desk next to the door and tossed his heavy briefcase on the waterbed, causing it to ripple wildly. He closed the door after Ginji and began taking off his jacket.
"Make yourselves comfortable," the man said indifferently.
Ban gaped incredulously at the overstatement as he continued to be struck dumb by the sheer audacity of the space.
Theme rooms were common features in 'love hotels' and this unit was decorated exactly like a little girl's room. Complete with frilly pink curtains on the windows, pink study desk, adorable character lamps, a 'My Melody' wall clock and a 'Hello Kitty' duvet covering the bed; it could've been a place a ten-year-old would be proud to call her own.
The kawaii factor of the room designed to attract young women shouldn't have been a strange sight at all, except –
The room was bathed in red mood lighting and instead of a pretty canopy on the four poster bed there was a steel chain link curtain. Plus, there was a full-size medieval torture rack opposite the bed that was upholstered in pink vinyl. And next to that was a winch-controlled chain on the ceiling with two leather restraint cuffs on the end – also in pink.
To top it all off, up on the wall, there was a large, plush 'Hello Kitty' doll dressed in black leather bondage gear, with tiny handcuffs on its furry, white paws, a studded dog collar on the neck and a blindfold strapped around its round head.
To his horror, Ban realized Room 204 was the 'Hello Kitty S&M Dungeon'.
He had conjured up some pretty twisted nightmares in his years of using the Jagan, but never anything as bizarre as what he was looking at now. Begrudgingly, Ban bowed down to the sicko behind the whole concept. Even this was totally beyond his imagination.
"What a cute room!" Ginji raved as he crashed through the chains and plopped down on the bed. He reveled in its wave. "Wow! This is like sleeping on water!"
Ban's eyes crossed. Sometimes his partner could get unbelievably dense.
With his jacket and tie off, Kojio took his briefcase and headed off into the bathroom. The case must be full of money if he was taking it into the bathroom with him, the snake man thought.
Ban shook off his initial shock and got down to business. "Now's our chance, Ginji!" he crowed, yanking the lolling boy off the bed. "Look for a case, box, or something that resembles a package."
They looked in every nook and cranny of the room, but any evidence of a non-descript package in this pastel twilight zone would have been obvious by now.
Ban crouched down and peeked under the bed only to be face-to-face with a moldy piece of underwear. "Gah!" he hollered while crawling quickly away. "Sonofabitch! Doesn't anyone think to clean under the bed anymore?"
"Ban-chan! Lookee!"
The brunette Get Backer turned to find a black-and-white PVC spanking horse that looked exactly like Tare Panda – with tare-Ginji sitting astride it doing galloping motions.
"Horsey, horsey, horsey... Giddyup! "he sang happily, swinging his tiny, stumpy legs.
Good lord...Ban was totally weirded out. What kind of deranged pervo wants to get spanked, flogged, or whatever over a freakin' doll?
"Get off there, Ginji! You don't know what sort of nastiness has been on that thing," he barked. "You might get a venereal disease or something!" Ban made a face, rushed over to the chibi and pulled him off Tare Panda by his hair.
"What? Ouch!" the blond complained as he transformed back to normal size.
"Dimwit! Stop playing games!" his friend growled with urgency. "When Kojio comes out of that door, you distract him while I use the Jagan –"
Suddenly, the bathroom door creaked open and bright yellow light spilled into the dark space, temporarily blinding the Get Backers. When their eyes were finally able to focus through the radiance, the look on their faces was that of deer caught in headlights.
Inch by inch, they slowly backed away, big, fat sweatdrops forming on the backs of their heads.
"Ban-chan?" Ginji squeaked timidly. "Why is he dressed like that?"
For once in his life, the loudmouth didn't know what to say.
The sallow, clammy-skinned figure that stood menacingly before them wore nothing but black latex briefs and a black leather hood that totally enclosed his head. It was studded with steel spikes and zippers and was buckled around the neck. Instead of a mouth opening on the mask, there were three small grommets in its place while the eyes were covered in fine steel mesh.
Kojio Kiyoshi, nerdy techno crook and racketeer, had been replaced by the BDSM executioner from hell.
Ginji's hand clamped tightly around his partner's forearm. Amazingly, the intrepid, invincible Mido Ban found himself doing likewise. He gulped and muttered under his breath.
"Holy. Crap."
---
The concept behind Ginji's "pleasant" low-voltage current is inspired by the late 19th century medical practice euphemistically called "pelvic massage" that used electricity to supposedly "cure" hysteria. What it was, really, was the Victorian precursor to the modern vibrator.
The violet colour is inspired by a certain implement which you'll find out about in the next chapter.
Yes. Amazingly, a 'Hello Kitty S&M Room' really does exist somewhere in a hotel in Osaka. Or so they say.
Bet you're wondering why I know all of this. Tee-hee.
Next chapter : The lines between nightmare and reality can be blurred, as the Get Backers find out.
(1) Bunkamura – Arts complex with excellent galleries and theatres. Site of Orchard Hall, home of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.