Ban and Ginji stood back to back, each facing a separate thug. Ban faced a burly man with shades on, and Ginji faced an even larger man with a bandana on his head. The thugs made the first move, each charging the GetBackers. Ban and Ginji shot each other knowing smiles, darting in opposite directions to give each other plenty of room to take care of their respective opponents. Ginji easily slid under his opponent's fist before launching a lightning-infused punch into the man's gut.
As the bodyguard doubled over, coughing and clutching his abdomen, Ginji turned to quickly check on Ban. Despite knowing that Ban could take these guys with his right hand behind his back, Ginji couldn't help the nagging feeling something would go wrong. When he turned, he saw his partner grabbing his opponent and lifting him up to throw him over his shoulder, so everything was under control.
Ginji turned back around to see his opponent back on his feet, charging him once more. The man lunged in and Ginji spun to the side, the fist just missing him. In a surprising display of agility the bandana man sprang to the side, landing in front of Ginji and punching him hard in the chest. Ginji felt his heart stutter, then stop altogether. Wha… Ginji thought as he gasped, knees buckling as he fell to the floor. Ban-chan… Ginji thought blearily as darkness crowded in on his vision.
Ban's attention snapped away from Shades, struggling in his grip, as he heard Ginji's voice calling him faintly. Unceremoniously tossing Shades over his shoulder and ignoring the crack as he hit the wall, Ban quickly scanned the room for his partner. His eyes widened as he saw Ginji's body 10 feet away, Bandana standing over him triumphantly. Ban was beside the man in an instant, grabbing Bandana and tossing him into the wall next to Shades.
Ban knelt beside Ginji, unsettled by how motionless his energetic partner was, and checked his vital signs. Ban couldn't feel a pulse, and when he put his hand on Ginji's chest and in front of his mouth he couldn't feel the blonde breathing. Something in Ban's chest tightened painfully as his brain processed all the signs and came to the conclusion he never wanted to face; Ginji was dead.
"No, Ginji, you're not doing this to me!" Ban yelled to his partner's body, starting CPR. "You are NOT dying on me and that's final! Got it?" Leaning over, Ban gave Ginji mouth-to-mouth, then went back to CPR. He continued the process for a minute more, talking to Ginji the entire time, trying desperately to bring his partner back. His frustration and desperation built up until Ban simply slammed his fists on his partner's chest, yelling "DAMMIT GINJI! GET UP!"
The impact re-started Ginji's heart and the blonde gasped in air, unconsciously curling in on himself. His chest heaved as his body drew in deep breaths, circulating oxygen to his deprived organs. Ban sat back and sighed in relief as he watched Ginji coming back to life, the knot in his chest loosening slightly; the blonde was unconscious, but that was still better than dead. Ban gathered his partner in his arms, absentmindedly running his hand through Ginji's soft blonde spikes. "You scared me, jerk," Ban whispered in his partner's ear. "Don't do that to me again, you hear?"
Slowly getting to his feet, Ban cradled his sleeping partner to his chest, savoring the sensation of Ginji's breath and pulse against his chest as he made his way to the Ladybug. He drove back to the Honky Tonk, and Paul took remarkably little persuading to let them stay in the apartment above the café. Ban carried his partner to the bed and gently lay him down, tucking him in carefully before going down to the café for some food. When he got back he pulled a chair next to the bed and settled in to watch over his sleeping partner.
Ginji came back to reality slowly. Groaning softly as he registered the soreness in his body, he opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. He relaxed when his eyes met Ban's and smiled at his partner before asking "Ban-chan, where are we? What happened?"
Ban leaned forward as he answered "We're in the apartment above the Honky Tonk. Paul is letting us stay here for the night. Do you remember anything?"
Ginji pushed himself into a sitting position with a little assistance from Ban, thinking hard. "There were those guys and we were fighting them and then the bandana man hit me in the chest and-" his voice trailed off as Ginji unconsciously put his hand over his chest, remembering how it had felt when his heart stopped.
"Ginji?" Ban asked, the sudden silence worrying him almost as much as Ginji's vacant expression as the blonde stared into space, hand still grasping his chest. "I'm sorry Ban-chan!" Ginji said, brown eyes beginning to fill with tears as he launched into Ban's arms, hugging the startled brunette. "What – but – Ginji, you have nothing to be sorry for!" Ban said in exasperation as he wound his arms around his crying partner. "But I died!" Ginji said, looking at his partner. "You must've been worried, and lonely, and I'm sorry!"
"Well you're not dead now so you have no reason to apologize, moron!" Ban growled, whacking his partner on the head. He hated when Ginji beat himself up like this. Pulling Ginji away slightly to meet his eyes, Ban lightly tapped the blonde on the forehead with his finger. "I won't let you stay dead if you die, so there's nothing for you to be sorry for," Ban said, smiling slightly at his partner. Ginji's face lit up with an answering smile, his eyes full of trust and happiness. "I know you won't, Ban-chan," he replied, hugging his partner once more.
Ban hugged Ginji back for a brief moment before extricating himself from the blonde's arms and lightly pushing him back down on the bed. "You should get some more rest, you're body is still tired from shutting down and restarting," he said when Ginji tried to sit up again. "Ok, Ban-chan," Ginji replied, lying down and pulling the covers over himself. Turning to face his partner, Ginji smiled tiredly and said "Thank you, Ban-chan. You always make it right whenever something goes wrong." Ban smiled back at his partner and ruffled his hair before saying "Go to sleep, Gin."
Ginji yawned and closed his eyes. In minutes he was fast asleep, snoring softly. Ban looked down at his partner and felt the small knot still in his chest loosen completely. "You dummy," he said fondly, "the only thing that's wrong is you not being here." He lay down on the couch to get some sleep himself, thinking No Ginji means no GetBackers, and there is nothing more wrong than that.
=GB=
Author's Note: Yes, your heart can stop if you get hit in the chest. I saw a story about a hockey player who somehow got kicked in the chest, and the impact stopped his heart. He didn't survive, but I couldn't kill Ginji again! I don't know if anything after that is medically correct though, so my apologies if it wasn't.