The sky was slowly transitioning from clear azure skies to the light orange-yellow hue. As the sun slowly began to descend, cumulus clouds remained as a remainder that the night was due to be cloudy. As the day got later, more people began shuffling to busily home or heading inside of stores to seek shelter from the slightly chilly air.

At The Honky Tonk, it was finally slowing down. Natsume was saying goodbye to the last of the customers and gathering up some dishes while Paul was wiping down the bar.

"Dammit." Ban mutters to himself. His flip phone was in his hand as he clicked the scroll button to check for any missed calls." We put up a lot of flyers last week, so how come we're not getting any business?" He started to tap his foot, feeling the urge to smoke but knows that he smoked his last cig earlier this week.

"Baaannn," his blonde haired companion whined, his chin down on the table with big brown eyes staring up at his spiky haired companion. "I'm so bored.." his chibi form began to manifest as his stomach growled in protest . "Plus it's been days since we last had a gig."

"Quit ya whining." Ban snaps at him. Though he could feel hunger pangs poke silently at his stomach which made the vein on his head throb.

"But I'm so hungry and we haven't had a job in days.."

"I said shut it ya overgrown baby!" Ban snaps as Ginji whimpers, quickly covering his head in case Ban decides to clobber him.

"Aww, you poor things." Natsume gives them a pitying face. The high schooler wanted to give in, give the poor guys a least a snack but with her boss watching she had to stay strong.

"These two," the owner, Paul Wan scoffs, "if you're just gonna sit there and complain, why don't ya get your butts back out there and pass out more flyers."

"We need money in order to do that," Ban quips back, "plus we already put a bunch out last week. Then we needed gas for the bug…"

Paul gives a disapproving frown at the dark haired man listing off why they couldn't go out and find a regular job. Despite his dark shades, he sensed the pride coming from the young slacker and tsked in annoyance.

Ban, noticing the owner's attitude grit his teeth in frustration.

"Just you wait! Ban declared, pointing his thumb in direction of the cafe entrance. "We're gonna have customers running through that door!"

Suddenly, the jingle of the bell could be heard, signaling that someone had come through the door. Natsume turns towards the new person, putting on her best customer service face.

"Welcome to the Honky Tonk."

A man walks into the cafe, nodding at Natsume. He was tall and lanky, wearing a blue button up with some black pants and dress shoes. He looked to be about thirty years old. He had cool beige skin with his black hair hanging over the frame of his square glasses.

"E-excuse me," he stammers, "Is this where I can find the recovery service?"

Paul looks up in surprise as Ban gives the Paul a cheeky grin.

"Hello sir!" Ban chirped, "please come right this way."

. . .

Later the man is sitting on one side of the booth while Ginji and Ban are on the other side. Ginji was all smiles as he introduced himself and Ban.

"It's a pleasure to meet Mr.."

"My name is Hotaru. Hotaru Watanabe."

"Now that introductions are out of the way," Ban says, " what can we help you with?"

The man-Hotaru took a sip of the coffee that Natsume had served. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes before opening them again. "I need you to find someone for me."

"Hold on, Ban interjects, "if this is a missing person, you're better off going to the police.

Hotaru shook his head. "Its not that simple."

"What's not so simple?"

"Now, now Ban." Ginji makes a placating gesture with his hands. "Lets hear the guy out."

Ginji smiled at Hotaru. "Tell us more about this special someone, Mr. Watanabe."

Hotaru nodded. "I'll start from the beginning. I'm a regular office worker at a big company. Day to day is the same routine. I was living my life on autopilot until one of my coworkers dragged me to this club to have some fun."

" I was way out of my comfort zone, I was surrounded by a bunch of roundy men who wanted to see some sexy girls and I wasn't sure how to handle it until I saw her."

Hotaru relaxed his shoulders, his face sporting a small smile as he recalled the memory: the young woman was about average height, wearing a blonde wig that stopped at her shoulders. a pure white bustier and short skirt that barely covered her thighs. She wore six inch high heels that were the same color as her attire. The the most striking was her eyes, they were a beautiful hazel brown that pierced into his soul.

"Her name was Angel-who I later found out is a young woman named Shiori. She's an exotic dancer and singer who captivated me with her solo."

Ban perked slightly this. This was going to be interesting.

Hotaru continued, "I went to that club every weekend so I could see her dance. Even if she never noticed me, I was satisfied. She was the radiant beauty that lit up my drab life."

"And then, I noticed something strange. I stayed later than I normally would. I went out to get a smoke and I saw three guys surrounding her.

There was some talk about money and I stepped in to help her. They beat me up and left. I was so embarrassed, but she asked if I was okay and thanked me for helping her."

"I told her if they bothered her again, she could call me. I gave her my number and she smiled at me."

Hotaru smiled warmly at this. "That was when she told me her name and that she noticed me coming to see her every weekend. It was a couple of weeks later when I got a call…"

Then the boys noticed how tightly Hotaru clasped his hands. His shoulders tensed and he began to bite the corner of his lip.

"I heard a voice calling for help…it was Shiori's"

As he felt his voice shake, Hotaru took a second to compose himself.

"I ran to the club as soon as I could but she was not where to be found. I asked her coworkers and they hadn't seen her at work that day. I tried to call the number again, but she didn't answer back and now I don't know what to do."

Ban glances at Ginji, whose face looked heartbroken for the poor man in front of him.

"Please, help me get back the Angel of my life."

He bowed his head on the table while Ginji waved his hands in protest. "Hey, you don't have to do that."

Ban nearly rolled his eyes. Great, there's a guy who's obsessed with some girl he barely knew and he was gonna pay for some guys to track her down.

"Look man," Ban begins but was cut off by Ginji.

"We're gonna help him right, Ban?" He cast his pleading eyes at Ban's indifferent blue ones.

Damn Ginji and his bleeding heart. All anyone had to do was spit him some sob story and he'd eat it right up. Just as Ban thought about rejecting the man again until he was hit with hunger pangs that nearly had him crying silent tears.

Damn his stomach.

"You know we're not cheap," he begins again, but we can discuss payment later."

"I'll pay you anything if it means you'll find Shiori." Hotaru lifted his head, his dark eyes determined.

Ban shifts his purple shades on his face as his signature smirk spreads on his face. Ginji smiles widely, a sound of triumph erupting from his mouth.

"Looks like the Get Backers are on the case."