Disclaimer: I own no part of GetBackers. Dammit.
Warnings: Non-canon, alternative pairing. Er. A little weird and implausible. Gulp.
Summary: (ONE SHOT)(BanNatsumi) Ban is addicted. And, well, it's a funny story how that happened, actually…
Dedication: For Nikki, whose addiction to lip products was even greater than my own. I miss you, you bitch.
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Like Addiction
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Ban is addicted.
And, you know, it's not like being addicted to cigarettes or caffeine or anything. It's this itching, this crazy-impulsive need, this lick-his-lips-gotta-have-it-now-now-now addiction.
It's a funny story, really. Or maybe it's not. Maybe it's just funny to him. Because it is. He thinks.
It was just a little wandering thought at first, you know? Just something that occurred to him one day out of the goddamn blue. And then it just kept nagging at him. Nag, nag, nag. Like an empty stomach (and God, does Ban know about those). And every time they go back to the Honky-Tonk, it bothers him.
Why are Natsumi's lips so shiny?
Man, that sounds so stupid when he says it out loud. And especially in front of Ginji. Ban can only imagine what that idiot (which is an affectionate term, you understand, because Ginji is just a liiittle thick sometimes) would say if he asked—what he would tease him with.
So it just keeps on bugging him. And he keeps on watching Natsumi. And he doesn't think she knows.
But she does. And she corners him.
Natsumi's a pretty girl, you know. He knows.
And she is still pretty when she corners him in the Honky-Tonk. Ginji went to the bathroom or something and Paul is…somewhere else and she just leans over the counter and asks it.
"Ban-san, why do you keep staring at me?"
"I'm not staring at you," he denies, lighting a cigarette.
"You were!"
"Pssh."
And he looks away. And she turns back to the coffee machine.
And then she spins around.
And she catches him staring.
"See! You were staring, Ban-san!"
"Was not!"
"You were too!"
"Nope!" he crows, and turns away, shoving the cigarette into his mouth and taking an extra-long drag, which means End of story in Ban-speak
Natsumi's a persistent girl, you know. He knows.
"C'mon, Ban-san. Does my hair look weird or something? I wanna know!"
"Your hair's fine," he snaps back.
"Then why do you keep staring at me, Ban-san?"
"Jeez, is Ginji taking a shit or something? Where the hell is he?" Ban says out of the blue, panicking a little.
"Pleeeease, Ban-san?"
"Fine!" he bursts out. She's driving him up the fucking wall.
"...Well?" Natsumi asks when no answer is forthcoming.
"It's stupid," he warns her, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and stubbing it out in the ash tray.
"That's okay! I promise I won't tell anyone!"
He eyes her face, and, seeing only honesty and the promise of secrecy, sighs, though he can't tear his eyes from her mouth.
So he leans over the counter as though to whisper the secret reason to her.
And she leans over, too, so that she'll be able to hear.
And he leans the rest of the way and kisses her.
Her lips taste like raspberries and cream, sweet and—Ban thinks—oh-so-good. His lips taste like cigarettes and coffee, bitter and—Natsumi thinks—oh-so-good.
Ban breaks away after a few seconds, the kiss lingering on both mouths. Natsumi is flushed, of course, and Ban would be, too, if he hadn't been pushing it back. Blushing, you know, just isn't him.
"What," Ban begins, unable to wrench his eyes from her again, "is that stuff on your lips?"
"Um," she starts, breathless not because it was a long kiss, per se, but because it was just that kind of kiss. And, well, she hadn't exactly been expecting that. "Lip balm."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Tastes good."
"Yeah."
And then Ban leans forward and presses another kiss on her lips, this one needy-heavy-heady because he's addicted to that taste, that taste that's mingling with the flavor of cigarettes and coffee. Natsumi's addicted, too, to that taste, that taste that's mingling with the flavor of raspberries and cream lip balm, and she feels that thrill run down her spine at knowing that they're both so mutually addicted. Somewhere along the line, they'll have to break apart and breathe, Ban and Natsumi know, but until that moment comes, they'll just keep savoring that flavor, that flavor, that flavor.
So they just keep kissing.
Ginji, who had indeed been taking a shit, walks in, sees this spectacle, turns around, and walks back into the bathroom.
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.notes.
Written while listening to Rewrite (Asian Kung-Fu Generation) and Vanilla (Gackt). Yeah. I like Gackt. A lot.
My first dive into GetBackers. Er. Mercy? Please review, in any case, and if it's bad, then, well, do something about it. Tell me. And so on and so forth.
Thank you!
--raspberry