Disclaimer: Nope, Aoki and Ayamine didn't give me ownership of the Get Backers as a Christmas present.
Author's Notes: Again, I've updated this chapter just for those troublesome horizontal lines.
Ban and Ginji sat at one of the booths of the Honky Tonk, completely ignoring each other as they wolfed down on a plateful of Paul's sandwiches. Paul watched them from behind his dark glasses as he pretended to read the paper.
Ban seemed to be the more injured of the two. He had a lot of scratches and cuts on his face and arms. Plus, he was wearing his old turtleneck shirt, which Paul hadn't seen in years. That probably meant that he somehow lost his other shirt. Ginji, on the other hand, managed to get only a few scratches on his face.
Ban finished emptying his plate first. He eyed the last sandwich on Ginji's plate, still untouched as Ginji was munching on another. "Snake-", he started to say.
"BITE!", he yelled as he grabbed his partner's sandwich and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Ban-chan!", Ginji protested. "That's mine!"
"Not anymore!", he said with a smirk.
"You're so cruel, Ban-chaaaan!"
"Sheesh! Relax, Ginji", Ban said as he noticed the tiny sparks that started to appear from Ginji's fingers. "It's just a sandwich."
"Just.. a sandwich?" His whole body was now enveloped in sparks as he looked at his partner incredulously.
"Oi, oi, oi!", Paul interrupted, standing up and folding his newspaper. "I'll just make you another one. Any more damages to this place will just be added to your ever-growing tab, which, may I remind you, hasn't been paid yet even though you two got advance payment on your last job."
"We didn't pay you because we used the money to prepare for the job", Ban said.
Paul snorted as he made Ginji's sandwich. "By 'prepare', did you mean splurging on sushi platters and yakitori?"
"Hey, we can't work on an empty stomach, you know. Besides, you don't have to worry. We're gonna be paid the rest of the fee today. We PROMISE to settle our tab later, okay?" He then took a sip of coffee from his personal cup.
"Don't make promises you can't keep", Paul muttered. "Here", he said aloud, pushing the plate containing the newly made sandwich over the bar towards Ginji.
"Yey!", Ginji said cheerfully, standing up and taking the plate back to the booth.
"Hurry up, Ginji", Ban said. "We gotta be at the museum in half an hour."
Ginji nodded and proceeded to devour the sandwich as fast as he could. When he was done, Ban took the Mikazuki Munechika, which was on the seat right next to him, and stood up.
"Let's go", he said, then turned to Paul. "Just add that to our tab."
"Do I have a choice?", Paul asked.
"Well, you could just NOT add that to our tab, you know", Ban said grinning. "We would really appreciate that."
"I bet you would, but sorry to tell you that I'm not that generous."
Ban just snickered as he and Ginji started walking towards the door.
Just as they reached the door, Paul said, "By the way, you're not gonna carry that in plain sight, are you?"
They stopped. Ban looked at the sword and frowned. Paul was right. No one in his right mind would go around in broad daylight with a National Treasure in his hands for all to see.
Paul sighed. "I've got brown wrapping paper in the back. You can use it if you want."
"Thanks, Master!", Ginji said.
"Don't thank me", he said. "I'm adding it to your tab."
Ban made a face as he heard the word 'tab'. "Go get the wrapping paper", he told Ginji as he handed his partner the sword.
"Okay", Ginji said, taking the sword from Ban's hands.
While still talking to Ginji, Ban looked pointedly at Paul. "I don't want him to add something more to our tab, so I'll just go get our OWN tape from the car."
"Suit yourself", Paul said.
Ban then opened the door of the Honky Tonk, stepped out, then headed towards the Ladybug that was parked in front of the cafe. He walked over to the passenger's side, got out his key and opened the door.
He reached over and pulled the latch of the glove compartment. As it opened, one of its contents fell out. He quickly caught it and stared at the object in his hand. It was Iarra's sleeve.
His eyes unconciously went to the cut at his wrist, where the sleeve was wrapped around the day before. The wound was starting to dry up now. He sighed as he put the sleeve back to the glove compartment. It was Ginji who insisted that they keep it.
Snapping out of his reverie, he quickly rummaged through the markers, pieces of paper, and other junk that was in the glove compartment until he found what he was looking for. He took the tape then closed the glove compartment. After locking the passenger door, he walked back to the Honky Tonk.
Inside the Honkan (1), Wataki Taese handed the Get Backers a crisp check and bowed.
"Thank you, Get Backers, for getting our National Treasure back", Wataki said.
The retrievers returned the bow.
"You're welcome, Wataki-san", Ginji said.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you", Ban added.
The Get Backers had exitedthe Tokyo National Museum to walk back to their car. When they turned to the street where they parked it, something caught their eye, making them stop in their tracks. Their jaws dropped open as they saw a towtruck pull the Ladybug across the street.
"Ban-chan", Ginji said as they watched the car disappear around a corner. "Why didn't we just pay for the parking fee?"
"Well, I didn't think we'd be gone that long", he grumbled. "Darn."
Having no choice but to walk, the Invincible Retrieval Duo weaved through the crowded streets of Tokyo. The fact that it was also rush hour made it worse. When the pedestrian light turned green, they made their way across the street, then passed by a building that had a large viewscreen up on its front wall. In the viewscreen was a pleasant-looking woman behind a desk, announcing the local news.
"... have been confirmed to be Dark Fleet headquarters", the anchorwoman was saying.
Ban and Ginji stopped in their tracks and looked up at the viewscreen, which was now showing a top view footage of burning buildings and trees.
"Firefighters, with the help of the downpour yesterday, have successfully contained the resulting forest fires, which were estimated to have been burning for three hours before the authorities were contacted", the anchorwoman's voice said.
The camera showed another angle, and the retrievers recognized one of the burning buildings as the one where they had passed by last, the one where they saved a certain Dark Fleet agent.
Their eyes widened at her next sentence. "The explosion has killed at least seventy-six, most of which are suspected to be members of Dark Fleet."
The scene reverted back to the anchorwoman, who continued. "Police have arrested and are now questioning several members of the smuggling group called the Burning Dragons, who were also found at the scene." She paused. "In other news..."
Ban and Ginji were still staring at the viewscreen, but they were no longer hearing the words that the anchorwoman was saying, both of them lost in their own thoughts.
"Ban-chan, do you think she's alright?", Ginji asked as he turnedworried eyesat him.
Ban continued to stare at the viewscreen. After a long moment, he continued walking, not answering Ginji's question.
"Ban-chan...", Ginji said, catching up with him.
Without looking at his partner, Ban said softly, "I don't know, Ginji." He then shook his head. "I really don't know."
It had been three days since they've returned the Mikazuki Munechika to the Tokyo National Museum. The Get Backers had spent a great deal of their money on paying for the Ladybug's towing fees on two seperate occasions, getting the Ladybug her much needed repairs, and of course, finally paying their tab at the Honky Tonk. For once, the Get Backers didn't have money problems.
Ban sat at one of the stools by the bar of the Honky Tonk, resting his chin on his hand, an unlit stick of cigarette dangling from his mouth. He was still wearing his turtlenecked shirt.
Ginji was sitting next to him, sipping a cup of hot coffee as he related the woes of their latest job to the part-time waitress standing behind the counter.
"We couldn't get close enough, so we're not sure if that's the guy we're looking for", Ginji was saying.
Natsumi frowned in confusion. "You're not sure?"
"Well, it was pretty dark, so it was hard to see."
"Didn't you bring your night-vision goggles?"
"Well... ummm", Ginji said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "We kinda lost them at the job that we had before this one."
"Oh", she said sympathetically. "That's too bad."
"So why didn't you just buy a new one?", Paul asked, not looking up from his paper. "You have the money now, right?"
Ginji glanced at his partner, whose thoughts seemed to be somewhere else, then turned back to Natsumi and Paul. "Well, we wanted to get one just like the one that we used to have, but none of the stores that we looked at has it." He took another sip from his coffee. "But it doesn't matter. We'll manage. We're gonna go back there later to observe the guy."
"Well, I'm sure you'll get the object back. You always do!", Natsumi said, smiling at him.
Ginji gazed at Nastumi's face, her smile so sweet that he found it impossible not to smile back. "Thanks, Natsumi-chan."
He then took another sip from his cup and watched Ban out of the corner of his eye. His partner had been a little quiet lately. He had asked Ban about it the day before, but he just shrugged and answered, "Nothing."
Ginji took the last sip of his coffee and placed the cup down on the bar. "Thanks for the coffee, Master", he said.
Paul nodded in acknowledgment, but said, "You do know it's not free, right?"
Ginji smiled sheepishly. "Well, just put it on our tab."
"Why do you always have to have a tab? Why can't you just pay now?"
"We'll pay you tomorrow", Ban said grumpily, then stood up and headed towards the door. "Let's go, Ginji. We have to work now."
Paul raised an eyebrow at Ginji, who shrugged.
Ginji then stood up, waved at Paul and said, "Good night, Master." Then his eyes lingered on Natsumi. "Good night, Natsumi-chan."
Natsumi smiled at him and replied, "Good night." She turned a concerned look at Ban. "Good night, Ban-san."
"G'night", Ban muttered.
Ban stepped out of the cafe, and turned right to where the Ladybug was parked. He suddenly stopped and dropped the cigarette from his mouth as he stared at his car. Ginji appeared behind him, saw what Ban was looking at, and stared as well.
Sitting on the hood of the Ladybug was Ginji's backpack. Ban frowned, then quickly scanned his surroundings, looking intently at each person that was nearby. All he saw was an an old woman with a walking stick, two high school girls chatting loudly with each other, and a young man whistling as he passed by. Not finding anyone who looked suspicious, he turned back to the backpack, and took a few steps toward it.
He slowly opened the zipper. Cautiously, he peered inside and was surprised to see his white shirt neatly folded. As he took it out of the backpack, his eyebrows shot up as he was greeted with a fresh-smelling scent, like it had been newly washed. He held the shirt by the shoulders, taking out of its folded state, and saw that the blood stains were out. It looked as good as new.
Ginji had already stepped up to the hood and was now looking inside his backpack.
"It's still here!", he exclaimed with glee, taking out their night-vision goggles. He placed the goggles on the hood next to the backpack and continued to rummage through the knickknackery that were the backpack's contents. "Everything's still here!" He took out a small plastic bag filled with scary-looking onigiris. He held it out to Ban's face. "Even our snacks are intact!"
"Ugh! Ginji!", Ban exclaimed, making a face. "That's disgusting!"
Ginji laughed at Ban's facial contortionist skill. Before long, Ban was laughing with him.
When the laughter died down, Ginji said, a wide grin still on his face, "She's alright, Ban-chan! You can stop worrying now."
Ban's grin disappeared as he looked at his partner incredulously "What? I wasn't worried about HER, you idiot! I was more worried about my shirt."
"Really? Not even alittle tiny bit?"
"No."
"How about mildly concerned?"
"No!", Ban said, glaring at him.
"How about..."
"Ginji", Ban interrupted, gritting his teeth. "Just shut up and get in the car. We have a job to do."
Ginji grinned as he took the goggles and his backpack, and made his way to the passenger side of the car. He was glad Ban-chan was back to normal.
Above the Honky Tonk, up on the roof, a dark figure slowly stood up and stepped out of the shadows, its feminine outline silhoutted against the backdrop of the full moon. The figure was wearing a black jumpsuit, with her hair up in a bun, her hair beads glistening under the moonlight as she chuckled.
"Get Backers", Iarra said. "You really are a very fascinating pair."
She stood there smiling as she watched the white Subaru 360 speed away, its taillights disappearing into the distance.
Notes: FINALLY! It's finished! I made it before the year ended! Yahoooo! I couldn't help myself from inserting a little Ginji x Natsumi hint in here. They're just so cute :D Well, thanks to those of you who've read this far :-) And many thanks to those who left reviews. This is my first fic, so your encouragement really means a lot :-) And as a little treat, here's my rant on my OC.
Iarra
The cover of the Tsuya artbook by Nakajima Atsuko inspired the character of Iarra. That cover had a picture of Ban, my favorite character (bet you already knew that), in a tuxedo, and a really cute girl behind him holding a gun. The girl, I found out later, was a character from another series. I thought they looked gorgeous, so I thought, what if there was a character like that in GB - somebody who seemed so cute and innocent, but turned out to be really deadly?
I originally thought of writing a story that had the Tsuya cover as one of the scenes. But then, the story I came up with assumes that the Get Backers had already met the girl. I thought of a backstory for it, but soon decided that the backstory seemed good enough to be its own fanfic. Thus, the plot for the Silver Claw was born.
I do realize that Iarra had evolved to be very different from the girl in the Tsuya cover. Since I wanted to stay true to the GB mood, the fact that no good fighter in GB uses guns made me decide to change her weapon of choice.
Okay, I'm done with my "Behind the Scenes" portion hehe :) Have a good year ahead, everyone!
EffyDurach: Well, here it is. Hope you're satisfied with this ending :)
rabid lola: You just knew she had to return Ban's shirt. You're good :D
Atropos' Knife: Of course I left it open. We don't want to narrow our options down, do we? ;)
(1) The Tokyo National Museum is made up many buildings. The Honkan is the Main Gallery where Japanese art is shown.