"KINDRED SPIRITS"
by: Crazy-Fairy
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Disclaimer: I don't own getbackers. Just want to have fun and experiment with the characters while writing them. AU.
Summary: (Ginji/Natsumi pairing) Hevn sent the GetBackers to retrieve a certain statue that would appear or rather that would be presented as a gift to the only daughter of Mr. Mizuki, Natsumi, on her eighteenth birthday.
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Chapter One: History
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Honky Tonk, early morning
Ban perked up from his perched in front of the bar after hearing the door of the café opened. He was not disappointed after seeing who entered. It was Hevn, and that means they; the Get Backers has a new assignment, and that also means that there's a lot of money waiting for them after they finished that assignment.
"Hevn-san!" Ban chirped happily. "So glad to see you!"
"Hmp! I doubt if you'll welcome me that cheerfully if not for a mission." Hevn muttered as she made her way toward the first table and sat on the chair.
"That's not true!" Ban lied.
Hevn raised her brow amusedly, "Why Ban-san, I could already see the money sign in your eyes."
Ban gave an incredulous sniff before he turned serious. "So, what does the client want to get back?"
Ginji, who just finished the last of his breakfast stood from the bar and went to where Ban and Hevn was talking.
Paul who was at the bar, put his ever-present newspaper down for awhile as he glanced warily at the abandon empty plate and cup of Ginji before making a remark to Ban.
"I guess this would be added at you two's ever-increasing tab, so you freeloaders better be successful with your retrieving this time."
"Hey!" Ban looked at the café owner. "Always remember that the Get Backers retrieving skills is still one hundred per cent!"
"Yeah, well….." Paul re-arranged his newspaper to continue reading. "I still never see the fruit of those skills yet…."
"Why you---!" Ban was about to stand from his seat when Ginji tried to stop him.
"Ban-chan! You shouldn't be mad with Paul-san since he's letting us eat on credit." Ginji reasoned.
"But not without an insult coming from his loud mouth!" Ban said loudly as he was still glaring at Paul, who was already reading his newspaper.
"Well, who's the loudmouth now?" Paul asked nonchalantly without looking away from his paper.
"Ban-chan…" Ginji reasoned out again calmly as his friend was ready to come after Paul. "Why don't we hear out Hevn-san so we could have money already."
"Ginji's right, you know…" Hevn said as she watched Ban with amusement. Why, the spiky-haired Get Backer was really sensitive when it comes to their lack of money. "If you shut up now, then I could already tell your next high-paying assignment, hmm…"
Hearing the 'high-paying' term shut Ban up as he sat and became serious again, "You were saying…"
Hevn smiled before taking some printed photo from her portfolio and placing it on the table. "That's the piece that our client wants you guys to retrieve…"
Ban looked at the photo, criticizing every points and details.
"Wah, it's a statue…" Ginji said as he saw the photo. "And it's beautiful….almost…."
"…Life-like…" Ban continued Ginji's words before looking back at Hevn.
"Yes, that's right." Hevn said before continuing her information about the statue. "It was created in Rome way back around 1800-ish," she shrugged. "It was said that she's a goddess….but the thing was no one knew what kind of goddess she was…"
Ban frowned, looking at the photo once again. "What do you mean?"
"You see, she might be created in Rome but that doesn't mean that the creator based her from the Roman mythology…." Hevn pointed out. "She could be a goddess from someplace else…"
"A taboo goddess?" Ban muttered.
Ginji didn't bother following Ban and Hevn's conversation since he was so entranced looking at the photo. He could tell that the goddess seemed familiar, and yet he doesn't know why and how.
"Not really." Hevn gave a mysterious smile. "No one might know her powers, mythical history and all that, but….there's something very interesting about her, and I bet that's the only information that could replace the lack of others. And let me also tell you that the statue's owner was half-japanese half-british that was why he was familiar with the goddess the moment he purchased it several years back."
Ban tapped his fingers on top of the table impatiently, "Just cut to the chase, will yah?"
Hevn looked from Ban to Ginji and back to Ban again. She clasped her hands together on top of the table, her face became very serious and said, "From the bit of information I gathered from the owner, the goddess Reira was known as Raitei's lover and besides him and the four kings, no one ever laid eyes on Reira. Based on our client's historic lecture, Raitei was very possessive to Reira and whoever 'outsider' managed to accidentally glance on her would be killed by the Thunder Emperor. Reira was well guarded that was why nobody could tell what she really could do…"
Ginji's eyes were wide as he stared at Hevn, taking every detail that she was saying, while a deep frown was etched on Ban's forehead.
"What do you mean?" Ban asked.
Hevn sighed, "I mean, Reira could be a goddess of anything since as you know there was Aphrodite who was a goddess of beauty, Athena goddess of war…and so on and so forth…"
"Not that!" Ban bit out peeved-ly, "I mean, that bastard really had a goddess-lover, while I the greatest Ban-sama has no heroine right beside me!" he said, a little bit put out. "How come all the guys have to have a woman right beside them while I was left with nothing but an idiot partner!" he mused.
"Oh please!" Paul snorted in mock-disgust. "Those girls are better off without you."
"Sod off, old man!" Ban bantered.
"Hey, another bad mouthing from you and that's going to be added on your tab." Paul countered.
Hevn sighed.
"So," Ginji finally voiced out as he looked at Hevn, tuning out the two immature ranting insults to each other. "Reira is—was Raitei's lover?" he asked, his features all serious without a trace of goofy Ginji.
Hevn nodded. "Yeah."
Ginji once again looked at the photo and trace the features of the white as porcelain statue of the Goddess Reira. "She's very beautiful….breathtaking…and she was Raitei's…..and…" then his eyes widened, looked back at Hevn and in a panic yet steady voice said, "Hevn-san, I just realize something…"
This time, Ban and Paul's bantering ended and Ban heard what Ginji was telling Hevn.
"….Raitei is still a part of me, right? Then, there's a possibility that Reira is still around and she could be anybody!"
"You have a point, not to mention that she's a goddess…"
Ban hissed. "Damn, knowing Raitei, I bet Reira could be just as nasty!" he clenched his fist. "And if your theory is near the truth or the truth itself, then we have a handful of problems!"
Hevn started to worry, "And I thought Goddess were just myths."
"You said it yourself, Reira is not a part of the mythical goddess." Ban pointed out. "Then the question is….who has the statue? Where was it taken? And why?"
"Well, the client told me that he and his family were relocating the statue to their new home in London when it was stolen from them by several thieves….he has no doubt that they took the statue here in japan…" Hevn informed them. "That was why our client decided to come here to get his art piece back…"
"There's still the unanswered why? What's the purpose…" Ban tapped his chin.
Ginji shrugged, a little pensive himself, "At least we could say that there's someone wanting that statue here…"
"But WHY?" Ban gnashed his teeth.
"Like Ginji said, there's a possibility that the goddess herself is still around." Hevn shrugged, a little bit frustrated herself.
"But there's gotta be some connection there…" Ban said as his brain cells started to contemplate. "The thieves can't just suddenly decide to fly to Europe just to steal a goddess statue of the infinite city just for the heck of it!"
Hevn snapped her fingers, "You got your answers Ban. Whatever you need or want to know about the goddess Reira could only be found at the Infinite City itself!"
"You're shitting me!" Ban growled. "I promised myself never to return from that city ever!"
"But that was where Reira came from…" Hevn reasoned.
"….and also Raitei…" Ginji whispered.
"And there's a possibility that the thieves were from the Infinite City itself…." Hevn continued.
"Why would they want to steal a statue?" Ban still couldn't believe Hevn's theory. "When the real thing could be anywhere?"
"Hevn-san said that no one except the four kings has seen Reira, maybe the others are curious to see what Reira looks like or maybe the people of the Infinite City believed that the statue belonged there." Ginji deducted. Much as he himself doesn't want to go back to the Infinite City, well, he would if it means unlocking the secret and getting back the statue. But…would it be right to get it back? Or would it be better if the statue remained there? Besides, Reira came from Infinite City.
Ginji shuddered at the thought that Reira exist only for Raitei, and Raitei is a part of him. Hot, delicious current ran down his spine. Just the thought gave him hot chills, as if his other awareness were waking up. It was as if the Raitei part of him that was hidden deep inside his soul was stirring, sensing that the search is on for his goddess…and that means the statue could lead to the real one.
'Reira…' Ginji thought.
Ban flicked Ginji's ears hard to wake him from his own lala-land. "This is not the time to reminisce thoughts about your lover!" he yelled right through Ginji's ear.
"Ban-chan!" Ginji whined as he started rubbing his ear.
"Why I could tell without difficulty that something's happening to your senses, pervert!" Ban muttered with a snort.
"But Ban-chan…"
Ban cut Ginji's litany with a swish of his hand, "Think of your former lover as long as you like after we retrieve the statue and get the money, I don't care…but for now, FOCUS! I can't drag you around the city looking glazed over!"
"As usual, it's all about the money…" Hevn chirped.
"But of course!" Ban gritted.
"Here's a food for thought, Ban-san," Hevn said with a sly smile. "It's only a thought though…"
"Go ahead, shock me?" Ban gave a reckless smile.
"What if the goddess herself was the one who asked the thieves to steal her statue back?"
Ban's face became very serious as he fished for his cigar, lit it and put it in his mouth, after several seconds, he took the cigar with his fingers and blew the smoke. His eyes taking a deeper shade of blue. "Of course, that's possible. But she's the goddess who was kept out from the public's eye." He raised his brow. "So, I don't think she wants to start being notice now."
"But you're forgetting," Hevn pushed her luck to challenge Ban with mind contemplation just for the heck of it. "The Thunder Emperor is outside the Infinite City, Reira could do anything, and the volts were disbanded….but, of course….there's some loyal members to her still whom she could ask to do her bidding…."
"Jubei, Sakura, Emishi……" Ginji trailed off. He could follow what Ban and Hevn was talking about but what he couldn't understand was, if it's true, why would Reira want her statue?
"Was Reira a commanding-leader kind?" Ban tilted his head sideward.
Hevn shrugged. "Only the emperor and his knights could tell."
Both of them turned to Ginji.
Ginji sweat dropped. "Don't look at me. It's not like I could recall all of Raitei's doing. The only thing I could say is that I feel something weird since the mention of Reira being Raitei's lover."
"Useless." Ban sighed. "The only thing you could say is all about your newly acquired, or should I say re-known-ed libido."
"Ugh! This is all making my head hurt!" Hevn sighed. "Let's not think out of the box and focus on the assignment. Just get the statue back and then you'll be paid with a million yen. That's it! No more thinking about Raitei's and Reira's love story."
Ban's eyes turned greedy, "Did you say 'a million yen'?"
"Yes."
"You're right, we'll just have to retrieve the statue, who cares about its history anyway." Ban shrugged cheerfully.
"And don't forget about your tab, hmn…"
Ban gave Paul a sharp look.
"But it still ended with the thought of going to the infinite city…" Ginji said. Without voicing his inner thoughts, he would love to know about Raitei's connection with Reira.
"Maybe you don't have to…" Hevn swished her index finger in front of them.
"Huh?"
"You're forgetting that the four kings followed the Thunder Emperor when he left the Infinite City, ne…"
The Get Backers nodded.
Paul put his newspaper down and frowned as he lean at the bar. "You got a point but here's another food for thought… if the emperor was so possessive with his goddess, how come they separated, shouldn't the goddess follow the emperor too?"
"But Ginji could barely remember a thing about his past since he's a very different person when he was Raitei…." Ban deducted.
"But of course, the goddess still has memory of her lover, so why didn't she follow him?" Paul added.
That shut Ban up.
"And not to mention the four kings who protected the emperor and the goddess, two of them should have stayed to protect the goddess but why did they followed the emperor? Does that mean that their loyalty lies only to the emperor?" Paul smirked, loving the mind twisting game that made the ever-clever snake speechless. "Does that mean that the goddess was only a figment of imagination? And if she can never be seen except for the emperor and four kings, how come someone knew how she looked and even made a statue of her?
"Okay, old man, enough! You had your point!" Ban growled, vein popped all over his head.
Paul chuckled.
Hevn was amused seeing Ban's feathers being ruffled.
"Well, anyway, why don't you try to go to that birthday celebration at the Mizuki mansion, I heard from my source that everyone who's who at the country would be there." Hevn said before she stood. "I gotta go….good luck." Then she was out and gone.
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Mizuki Mansion
9 pm
"Dammit!" Ban cursed as he kicked the tires of his ladybug.
"Ban-chan, relax." Ginji said as he tried for the nth time tying his necktie.
"That big boob hag, when I see her again I'm gonna strangle her!" Ban muttered as he lean his back on the side of his car. He scowled as he looked at the well-dressed people entering the main entrance of the celebration and being welcomed by a few doorman and securities. The whole place was water tight. "She really love giving us a hard time." He scowled.
"Maybe Hevn-san just forgot to give us an invitation."
"Forgot? My ass!"
That's right, the Get Backers were already outside the Mizuki mansion, their car was parked a bit out of place near the luxury cars around them and they were also wearing a three piece suit that they borrowed from Paul. The only problem was they couldn't enter since Hevn didn't give them an invitation for the party.
"This is not my night!" Ban bit out as he fished for a cigar inside his jacket pocket.
"Ban-chan! We're still lucky!" Ginji said happily.
"Huh?"
"It looks like Madoka-chan and Shido-san are here too."
Ban scanned the area and Ginji was right, he saw the couple near the main entrance. Not the one to waste time and opportunity, Ban tugged Ginji with him as they made their way toward the couple.
"Let's go."
When they were near the two, Ginji greeted his friends. "Madoka-chan. Shido-san!"
"Ginji!" Shido greeted with a smile, which turned sour when he saw Ban. "And Ban."
Ban smirked.
"Hello, Ginji-san, Ban-san." Madoka greeted.
The boys greeted Madoka in return.
"So, what's up, Ginji?"
"Eh, Shido-san…" then Ginji started telling his friend about their new assignment and why they were at the celebration.
"So, you don't have an invitation?"
Ginji shook his head.
"Don't look so smug monkey-boy, I bet you're only here because of Madoka-chan." Ban quipped.
"Ban-chan…" Ginji said worriedly.
"Be thankful that you're with Ginji, damn snake, or I'll let you rot out here." Shido retorted. "And for your information, I work for the Mizuki's, I only left to fetch Madoka."
"That's good to hear, that means you don't have to try to be a get backer."
"Who said I wouldn't be?" Shido talked back.
Ban threw his cigar and stepped on it. The only thing that was keeping him from killing Shido was because he's Ban's ticket to get inside the celebration and not to mention that Shido is also Ginji's friend.
When they finally entered, soft music stream through their ears.
Ginji marveled at the elegant interior of the place and not to mention seeing the who's who in Japan; celebrities, politicians, businessmen, etc.
While Ban bit his tongue to suppress from cursing again as he spotted Kazuki wearing a black three piece suit. How come string boy was also at the party?
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Thank you for reading and hope you like this. Yorishiku.