"Ban..."
"We're broke again, Ginji."
Ginji didn't like the look on Ban's face. He'd seen glimpses of it before, but this was the first time he'd seen it, open and naked depression, like Ban had just given up. That was wrong. Ban never gives up, he thought, and frowned a little. "Ban-chan, we'll get through this. You just need to stop parking in the wrong places and we'll be okay! We always are, aren't we? We're the GetBackers! And I bet Hevn has a nice job all lined up for us, you'll see, we should drive to the Honky Tonk and -"
"We can't afford the fee to get my car back, Ginji."
"Oh," he said, a little put off. But then smiled, as only Ginji could, and ruffled Ban's hair. "Come on, cheer up, Ban-chan! We can walk to the Honky Tonk, it isn't that far, and even if you're lazy -"
"We still haven't paid our tab."
Ginji frowned again, a little cross now. "Ban-chan, stop it! It doesn't suit you. What happened to your little bit of pride huh? Or have we already eaten that?"
The light-heartedness fell flat.
Ginji conjured up the sweetest face he could, and made himself very small and cute. He bounced. He sang little tunes. He pulled Ban's hair. He found some money on the ground and bought food for them.
Finally, Ban cracked the tiniest of smiles. "Oh, stop it, you idiot. Let's go to the Honky Tonk and make that tab a little more expensive to pay off, huh?"
Ginji beamed.
