Hello again. Thanks for coming back. I do have to say this early that I take a while to finish, because I get busy. But I do finish what I start. Expect new chapters (hopefully) every 2-4 weeks. On with the story.
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"How much time do we have to get back the Jade Dragon, Hevn?" Ginji asked, with a determined composure.
"Are you SURE you're taking this, Ginji? With Ban like that?" She pointed outside the little café. Ban was no longer at the window. He had walked off. "I don't like it that Ban is turning down 2 million. It's very unlike him." She placed an elbow on the table, and her hand under her chin. "Do you think we teased him too much?"
"Odd of him to be so touchy, though," Paul added, as he took up the picture. He, too, moved it forward and backward in front of his eyes. "Still, the resemblance is incredible. If I dress Ban up in Chinese clothes and make a sepia print, I'd probably be able to duplicate this."
"You're not answering my question, Hevn," Ginji reminded. "How long do we have to crack this case?"
"The client didn't say, actually," she answered. "But I tell clients for big operations that it could take three months at worst."
"Let it sit for a while, then, until the messy-haired ogre comes back with a calmer head," Paul suggested. He then called out for Natsumi to ready a small pizza.
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea for now," Ginji nodded.
……………………………………….
What annoyed him was not so much that he could be the descendant of a yakuza or mafia or triad leader. It was not that. It was the simple fact that nobody had told him. It had to take at least twenty years for him to find out. His relatives could have dropped a line or a hint, and he could have done the rest. Now he did not even know for sure on which side of the family his doppelganger came from. He did not know if that man from a hundred years back had his same powers, or if he was the only one who had them.
His confused thoughts were disturbed when he saw an oddly familiar figure smile and bow to him, a few meters ahead of him. The man was short and wiry, dressed in an impeccable suit and tie. As he walked closer to the little man, he recalled that he was the same man in several of the photographs he had just seen.
"Chan Feilong," Ban correctly identified the man. "One of the Chans in the Hong Kong triads."
"Very good, Midou-han," the wiry man smirked. He motioned for him to follow to a deserted alley. "So you have been informed about it?"
"The White Tiger and the Jade Dragon? Yeah," Ban told him. "But I do want a guarantee that we will be paid the amount stated. A little jade shop doesn't have money like that. I want a guarantee that your Hong Kong branch will pay up."
The small man nodded, and took out a small box from a pocket. He gave it to the taller man. Ban opened it, and found a ring, thick and solid gold. He snapped it shut and returned it, unimpressed. He was better convinced by a small stack of bills, amounting to ten thousand dollars. This he folded and kept in his jeans pocket.
"We will not only pay, we will even give you a place among us, if you succeed," the man answered.
Ban took out a cigarette and puffed calmly as the man explained further.
"Many kinds of people have tried to find the statue over the last hundred years. Some wanted it for their collection. But most wanted to say that they had foiled the legendary White Tiger, and prove their place in the organization. All have failed. The legend has been passed on through the generations. The man in the triads who succeeds in finding it, will be one of its leaders."
"And you want to be that man," Ban concluded.
"No," Chan replied. "I want YOU to be that man."
Ban raised an eyebrow.
"The east branch of the main China triad has been disorganized for many years, ruled by men who abuse its history for their own gain. We need a leader that can unite them. The last one who did it was the White Tiger. Our spies and contacts have said that maybe you could be the next."
"I'm a freelancer," Ban explained. "I don't work well in organized groups. What do you want from me?"
"We have heard of your power to control people with your iron grip and your hypnotic spell."
Ban grumbled to himself. Those again.
"Use them for us. Strike fear where it is needed. You will get immeasurable wealth in return."
Ban puffed over the man's wispy hair. "Why do I feel that this Jade Dragon thing is just to get my attention?"
"Partly, yes, that is true," the man said with a slight bow. "Still, we do want you to find the Jade Dragon. That is how we will prove to the elders that you are indeed worthy. That is why the Jade Dragon must be found, Midou-han. The one who holds it will be recognized as one either directly descended from the legendary White Tiger, or one who has the same capabilities as he."
"White Tiger, White Tiger! You keep talking about this White Tiger, but you don't care to explain who he is!" Ban clenched his teeth, his right fist shaking beside him as he tried to stop himself from grabbing the man by the collar.
"The files we gave you have more than enough information on him, if you choose to read it carefully." Chan gave him a sly smile.
"But I already told that human power plant, we're not taking this case."
"You do not understand, Midou-han. Whether or not you take this case—and we still hope you do—this offer to join us in the triads stands," and he gave Ban a small card. "You don't have to tell this to your partner. This is between you and me. You only need to call me, and it will all be settled."
Ban looked at the man for a few seconds, then threw away his cigarette butt. He then stepped in front of the short man, firmly covered his eyes, and looked down at him with his full height. With his iron grip, he took Chan's left hand, and thrust the thousand dollar bills into it. "The answer is no."
The man was unfazed. He simply nodded. "I understand, Midou-han. You need time to think. I hope you would reconsider." He bowed respectfully, and started walking farther from Ban. "I wish for the continuing good health of Amano-han over the coming weeks."
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" Ban yelled out to him.
"And good health to you as well, sir," the man bowed again, then finally left him.
Ban took out his cigarette pack. Finding it empty, he crumpled it with the strength of the Snake Bite, dropped it on the street and stepped on it with unusual vengeance.
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When Ban returned after an hour with empty pockets and even emptier stomach, Ginji, Paul, and Hevn no longer brought up the new case. It is best to keep a bomb defused. Still, the three found it hard not to stare at Ban, and compare him with the picture they saw. The man in the daguerreotype had come to life, and now wore a loose white shirt and faded jeans. He sat on a bar stool, and greeted nobody. He kept staring at the row of bottles and coffee bean jars. When Paul slid a plate of new pizza to him, he silently took up a slice and began munching.
Ginji scooted closer to Hevn and placed a hand over her ear. "You know, Hevn," he whispered, "Ban really could've been a syndicate boss in another lifetime, don't you think? He has the connections, the smarts, the attitude……."
"Shut up, Ginji," Ban grumbled as he munched on his pizza. "I can hear you from here."
As Ginji meekly scooted back to his place, he noted a deep brooding seriousness in his friend's eyes. They were different from how they usually looked, calculating and decisive. Before he realized it, he was gazing into Ban's dark irises, and maintaining the gaze.
He saw Ban stand up, and declare for all of Honky Tonk to hear: "From this day forward, the GetBackers are dissolved."
"WHA?!" was all Ginji could say. "But what about our combined tab----"
He saw Ban point a gun straight at Paul's chest, then fire it. The man slunk to the floor almost immediately, behind the counter. "Anything else you wanted to know?" Ban asked him.
"Yes," Ginji stood up and spoke bravely. "Why?"
"Because it's either I kill you, or they will," Ban said, as he raised the gun again, and pointed it at Ginji's head. "If you don't mind, I'd rather have it that I kill you."
"Have you gone crazy, Ban-chan?!"
"Maybe," Ban answered. "It was nice knowing you." Then he fired.
Ginji saw the bullet head straight for his forehead, and hit him, before he could scream. As he dropped with a thud on the café's wooden floor, he barely saw his best friend's smug face, before everything turned dark.
The vision of breaking glass and the loud click of Ban's fingers knocked Ginji back to reality.
He rubbed his eyes in surprise. He had activated Ban's Evil Eye by mistake.
"Just ippon," Ban murmured and sighed, as he leveled his glasses well over his eyes. "Ginji, what business do you have staring at me for so long?"
"Oh, sorry," the blonde young man scratched his head. "I'm just, erm, worried about you?"
"Don't be," Ban curtly said.
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Ginji and Hevn let it rest for a few days, while the retrievers took in the smaller jobs. The cat in the tree, the misplaced important file that got thrown with the trash, and one of Shido's wayward animals.
"You'd think that zookeeper would have his pets always under control," Ban complained in the car on the way back from Madoka's mansion. "And if Shido were there, we would never have been paid!"
"At least it was a cat, not a tiger or a lion, or something BIG and ferocious," Ginji replied with glee, as he fumbled in a pocket for a small notebook. He hastily ran through a small list of pending jobs. "I think we're done for today, let's head back for dinner, OK, Ban-chan?"
He flipped over a page of the notebook. His eyes fell on the end of the list, where he noted the Jade Dragon case. Status: No progress. Ban kept his eyes on the road absentmindedly. It was not the best time to remind him, so he closed the notebook and put it back in his pocket.
He placed a hand over Ban's shoulder. "Hey, Ban-chan, you OK?"
"Don't bother me, I'm driving," his partner answered.
"Well, maybe it's nothing, but you seemed rather spacey over the past few days," Ginji explained. "What are you thinking about? Tell me, tell me!" he purred and rubbed his head against Ban's shirt sleeve.
"If you don't stop doing that, you pesky cat, I'm stopping the car and throwing you out!" Ban suddenly shouted, and pushed him away, making Ginji knock his head on the window. "Don't you be getting too close to me anymore, understand?" He then almost whispered. "You might pay for it with your life……."
"What did ya say, Ban-chan?" the blonde retriever asked as he rubbed his bumped forehead. "I have no money on me right now, so I can't pay for it, whatever it is."
Ban sighed as he turned to the street of their unofficial headquarters. "Never mind."
As soon as Ban parked their little car, Ginji got off with a hop and a skip, and entered the Honky Tonk. He flopped into one of the long seats, and opened a little tour guide book.
Ban meanwhile opened the car door with atypical deliberateness, then dragged his feet to the trunk and took out some soap. He spread out a garden hose hidden inside some of the café's large plant pots, and gave the little car a well-deserved washdown. Normally he let Ginji do this chore, after a little shouting and bargaining. Today he was in no mood for minor spats, and did it himself.
"Ban is too quiet," Paul noted from behind the counter, as he looked out his window. "What's wrong with him, Ginji?"
"Hm?" Ginji looked up for a moment from his book. "Oh, he's been like that all day. Just annoyed at Shido, I guess." He smiled and returned to reading.
Paul shrugged and set a kettle boiling.
Ban opened the café door as soon as the hot water was ready. He nodded his head at Paul, and shuffled nearer the tables in silence.
"Hey, Ban-chan!" Ginji greeted with a wave as his partner entered the café. "Did you know that Shanghai was an international port during the 1880's?"
"OK, nice to know," Ban smiled faintly, came to him and ruffled his hair. "But why are you reading about the 1880's?"
"It's research, Ban!" Ginji grinned as he closed his book.
"And since when did Amano Ginji do RESEARCH?" Ban chuckled.
Ginji looked up at him sheepishly. "It's for the Jade Dragon case."
Then he saw the chuckle and smile suddenly disappear, and the fire slowly blaze in his partner's eyes.
"I said, we're not taking the Jade Dragon case!" Ban shouted.
"Ban-chan, I have a right to say what cases we accept, too, you know!"
"It's my decision as much as yours! We're getting off this case!"
In the rising heat, which even Ginji found unusual, he who was most used to it, both blonde and dark-haired retriever forgot about Paul and the Honky Tonk. They continued shouting and screaming at each other as if for dear life. Neither one could be asked to calm down.
"But Ban, that's a million waiting to be had!" Ginji pleaded. "I know the case is tough, but we can do it! We can get back that Jade Dragon! You're the one who said that we should put personal feelings aside when we're dealing with a case, right?"
"But I told you, we won't take the Jade Dragon case, and that's final!"
"Why not?"
"It's preposterous, absurd, and……….and………."
"……….and might just be directly connected to you." Ginji quietly finished.
"That's none of your business!" Ban shouted.
Ginji maintained his soft, quiet voice. "I let you help on the case with MakubeX. I let you take on the case, even if I didn't want to at first. I'm your friend, as well as your partner. But you know more about me than I know about you. I want to help you know who your relatives were, whoever or whatever they were. Do you understand?"
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ban kept the high volume. "We know nothing about the client's backer! Who knows who we might step on in finding this, this, dragon thing……"
"It's not like you to back out of these big-organization deals!" his partner raised his voice again, beseeching. "You live for this kind of chase, and this is a big one! What in the world is stopping you?"
"I just don't want to--------" and he stopped in mid-sentence. He sought for the right words to explain, something even he did not fully understand. But one thing was certain…………whatever it was he felt about it, he did not want to involve his friend. And he was angry with himself that he could not tell him, that he could not involve him. "None of your business, Sparky!" he finally said.
"It is too my business! I'm your partner!"
"Then, fine! Take the case! Get yourself killed, see if I care!" Ban suddenly lowered his voice. "But I won't be your partner." He then turned his back on him, and placed his hands in his pockets.
Ginji heard him the first time, but he did not comprehend. "What……..did you say?"
"I know you're slow on the pickup, but I didn't know you were deaf, too," Ban murmured. He then shouted, "Find yourself another partner." He cocked his glasses, and walked away from his blonde friend. "Go on with the case. I don't care. But I won't be your partner."
"But Ban------" Ginji called out weakly.
"Good. Night. Ginji." He gently closed the door behind him.
Nothing more was said.
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Despite my frequent use, "White Tiger" is not an official title for Enishi. It's a title several RK fanfic writers have taken to using for him. It comes from a much respected fic, "White Tiger, Jade Concubine", an alternate pairing story, but one of the best renditions of Enishi. It also stems from a poster where a Chinese rendition of a tiger is placed behind him.
Sapphi-chan – Thanks much. I hope you like how I'm currently going. Send me your suggestions any time.
GeminiJackal – I'll try to be more consistent about the numbers next time, thanks. I double-checked that I wasn't going against the manga, and I hope I'm still in line. Do drop me a line just in case, though. Thanks a lot! Argh, the more I learn about the story, the more I want to get the manga for myself!
Rabid Lola – Thanks for liking the last line.
Yare-yare, I never imagined planning arguments and dialogue could be so HARD! Thanks for reading, and thanks for the suggestions. Please do give me more, so I can improve on this fic. See ya in a few weeks!