The final part of the trilogy (ewwww...no more trilogies, no more!). Thank you for reading this far. I hope you like it. The lesson will get a scary practice drill.

Ban sauntered into the Honky Tonk, a bagful of groceries in one arm and a new cigarette in the other hand. "Ah, so Natsumi decided to save and not spend for a tutor! How's the math lesson going?"

Natsumi and Ginji had iced tea and sandwiches between them, one of which Ginji was munching happily. "We're done!"

"Seriously? Up to 12 times 12?"

Ginji's head bobbed up and down. He then pointed to the corner where the man with the black hat quietly sipped on a cup of coffee. "We had some, erm, positive reinforcement."

Ban did not even want to know why Dr. Jackal was there. He did not want to know what the creepy man did to make Ginji learn the entire times table in one afternoon. But he did want to know if Ginji's claim was true. "Alright, smart man, what's 9 times 4?"

The blonde sparker looked up at the wooden ceiling. "Um, um, it's an even number…….um, 40?"

"I thought so," Ban sighed. "4 times 9?"

"Hm……let's see……...32?"

It was then that Ban laughed hard. "I told you how hard it would be, Natsumi! Take your time! I gave you a week, didn't I?"

"I'll get it right, I promise!" Ginji pleaded, as he glanced at Dr. Jackal, smiling his creepy smile.

"When? When hell freezes over?"

"Not that long!" And the blonde young man pounced to knuckle his spike-haired friend.

The café telephone rang. Paul answered the phone, then covered the receiver with his hand. "Kids, call for Ginji. It's MakubeX."

Ginji took up the call, and soon heard a boy talking quickly in a panic. "Raitei-sama! Hurry, please! Need help fast!"

"Take it easy, MakubeX, take it easy," he tried to calm the boy. "What's the matter?"

"Major virus attack! People in Lower Town are acting like zombies! I'm making an antivirus as we speak, but I need help to quarantine the virus from outside, and keep it from affecting more people! Hurry!"

"On my way," Ginji said.

"Who's there with you?"

"Ban-chan and Akabane-san, would that be enough?"

"Hopefully. Hurry!"

Ginji repeated what MakubeX told him. It shocked both GetBackers that Dr. Jackal agreed to go with them. "At least it would end the current boredom," he smiled as he put on his large hat.

………………………………………

The boy prince of Lower Town was accurate in his concern. Even at the entrance to Mugenjou they were attacked by residents without seeing eyes, in little groups.

"One, two, three, four, five groups of approximately 10 people each," Ginji scanned the people encircling them. "5 times 10 equals 50. Hey, this multiplication thing really CAN help out!"

"Twenty-five people each, then, Ginji, how about it?" Ban grinned.

"And I?" Akabane raised a handful of daggers.

"NO killing anybody, Akabane-san! They're just hit by a virus!" Ginji pleaded.

MakubeX's voice resonated in the room the three were in. "This virus is much like Mr. Smith, understand? It takes over a body while it's useful to it, then moves on to another when it's threatened. In its pure form it is a distorted version of the previous body. Got it, guys?"

"Perfectly," and Akabane slashed vertically at a distorted image that ran past him. Ginji just had to clap.

The GetBackers gave it a try, and failed miserably, knocking innocents unconscious needlessly. Electric and Snake Bite attacks were slightly too slow for it. It was frustrating. But an unspoken consensus was made. Ban and Ginji stopped the infected as best they can, then Dr. Jackal slashed at the virus itself. In one minute, all their attackers were down, and free of the virus.

"Thanks, everyone," MakubeX said over them. "Unfortunately there are whole streets like this right now."

They opened the door further down the room, and ran. "Which ones?" Ginji called out.

"Six streets each at West end and North end."

"6 times 2 is 12," Ginji parroted.

"Then four streets each at South, East, and Northwest."

"4 times 3 is also 12," he grinned in spite of himself. "2 times 12 is 24. We have a total of 24 streets to fix."

"Wow, you catch on quickly!" Ban smiled. "For a dunderhead."

Ginji, however, was now serious. "How do we deal with 24 streets without Shido and Kazuki?"

"One street at a time," Akabane answered him, and threw out five darts, felling five distorted figures.

The operation was successful for the first few streets at the west end, as they cleared the six streets within an hour. By the time they reached the final street, Akabane was yawning as he sped and slashed.

"Let's make this a little interesting, since this will take quite a while," he offered. "I will slash an infected person each time you give me a wrong answer."

"No, NO, Akabane-san!" Ginji pleaded as he sparked an attacker.

"7 times 7, Ginji-san," he raised a dagger.

"Um….um……..it's close to 50, I'm sure………"

Akabane gave the closest attacker a bright red J to the back.

"AKABANE-SAN!" Ginji shouted, as the attacker fell at his feet.

"I told you I wanted to make things interesting," the man in black smiled at him. "12 times 12?"

"A….A……A……..144!"

And Akabane eliminated a distortion about to perch on Ginji's back. "Let's see how well the little waitress taught you. 8 times 5?"

That was how the three finished off the next set of streets at the north side of Lower Town, a high-speed math drill between Dr. Jackal and Ginji. For the former Raitei, it was almost brainless to shock and save citizens, because he had done it for such a long time. It was the times table that had his full attention. No one else will die just because he did not answer 5 times 12. He HAD to get it right, every time. For the people in Lower Town. For Natsumi. And yes, for himself.

"The antivirus is done," MakubeX called out through the public address system. "I'll be applying it first to the remaining areas, so be more careful. There will be fewer distortions present. I still need you guys to help contain the spread so the antivirus can work faster."

"Gotcha," Ginji grinned at the nearest video camera and raised the peace sign.

"And, Ginji-san….."

"Yeah?"

"7 times 9?" Ginji could hear the smile on the boy's face.

"You, too, MakubeX?" the blonde sweatdropped. "63."

"Keep it up, Ginji-san!" and the boy cut the line.

"Yare-yare……."

The math drill continued. None of them slackened their pace for it; they moved just as quickly through the streets and alleys, under Ginji's instinctive directions. Those who were not affected gave way as soon as they saw the former Raitei. Those who were infected charged directly into Ban and Ginji, and as they were shocked or punched to submission, Dr. Jackal had a fiery dagger ready to hit the distortion that emerged. And always, just before he struck, he would ask question after question. Ginji strained to hear accurately, then answered as quickly as the questions came. Always, correctly. There was no room for error, when lives were at stake.

"This is somewhat irritating me, Ginji-san," Akabane said as they entered the final two streets. "I have killed only once throughout this whole escapade."

"And it will stay that way!" Ginji replied with iron will.

It was one job where Ginji talked more than Ban, not that Ban was complaining. His friend had somehow managed to master the multiplication table in a few hours, something that took him a few days back when he was a lot smaller. He was quite pleased for his friend. Only one thing made this development saddening. He had lost the bet. He would be washing dishes for a month.

"One final question, Ginji-san," Akabane asked and held up a dagger, "0 times 12?"

Ginji shocked a resident at the last street, and made the final distortion to materialize. "Zero!"

Akabane made the final slash.

"Mugenjou is free of the big bad virus," Ban declared and cocked his glasses. "A total of 200 questions were asked, from 0 times 0 to 12 times 12, some repeated. Amano Ginji is cleared of the big bad times table." He smirked to his friend, and gave a thumbs up.

"That's the last of them, guys!" MakubeX himself appeared on a TV screen beside Ban. "Thank you very much for your help. You made things much easier for me." From behind him Ren was also waving and saying her own thanks.

"Anytime!" Ginji said and waved back. He then walked slowly to Dr. Jackal and twiddled his thumbs. "Erm, um, thanks, Akabane-san. We couldn't have done it without you, that's the truth."

"Well, no kills except one, but it had been an enjoyable afternoon, Ginji-san, intellectually stimulating," he said as he held the hat on his head. "Many adults can't do that perfectly with the multiplication table. Very good."

"It was either that or you killed an innocent bystander!" Ginji sulked.

"Say hello to the pretty waitress for me when you go back," Dr. Jackal said, and disappeared into the night.

The GetBackers looked at each other, and shrugged.

Ban eventually shouted at the ceiling, "Hey, genius, how are we supposed to get paid?"

"I remitted an amount already, equivalent to your current tab at the Honky Tonk," the answer came back through the speakers. "Take care of yourselves as you go out."

Ginji said thank you thank you thank you, but Ban said, "That's all? Such a tightwad!"

"Shall I take it back, Ban-san?" MakubeX asked.

"That's not what I meant," Ban laughed uneasily. He tucked his friend under an arm and started walking to the exit. "Let's get outta here before I change my mind. 8 times 4?"

"A…..A………30?" Ginji asked sheepishly.

"You need more practice," Ban knuckled his friend's head.

…………………………………………

The next day, Natsumi arrived after school, and found a thoroughly chastised Midou Ban behind a soapy sink, a tall pile of dirty plates on one side. "A deal's a deal," he said.

"But, but, Ginji-san hasn't been quizzed yet!" Natsumi protested.

"Oh, but he has, and I'm satisfied," he said. "Good work, Natsumi."

"But it wasn't me……."

"Can you try and teach him how to add columns of numbers next?" He chuckled. "Not a bet, just a favor."

She looked at Ban carefully. He was genuinely happy, both for Ginji and her. She had accomplished what he thought was impossible, and she had done his friend a good turn. She knew that Ban could probably tell. She did want to do it again.

"Of course."

……………………………

My cousin is a big Akabane fan. She would rant about Aka-chan, the way I used to rant about Enishi (major basis for Ban) being my boyfriend. Anyway, she was telling my mom and me that, because of health problems, she was doing most of her schoolwork now from home. We asked if she has a tutor, but she said no. Unfortunately, I started to giggle, having this vision of Dr. Jackal as her tutor, looming over my cousin and peering over her homework. Complete with big black hat, saying, "Hmmm, very interesting…….." She laughed, too, saying that would make a good fic. She suggested Himiko, but I said it wouldn't be funny that way. Ginji, then? That's it! And we had the start of a weird story. I'm somewhat sorry it turned out this way, with Natsumi being the principal tutor, but it's not so bad. Thank you so much for reading this little piece, and I hope you liked it!