GetBackers Fan Fiction ❯ Uncontrol ❯ Anniversary ( Chapter 1 )

Note:

Okay so here it is, my first fiction. I adore Get Backers, and the complex relationship between Ginji and Ban. BUT… this story's eventually going to be a Shido x Ban, as I have been inspired by my fellow Shido/Ban enthusiast fallingfarther. Check out her story Smoke, a work in progress. It's amazing! I've only seen the series once, and haven't read any of the manga, so I'll be taking serious liberties, I'm sure. Just bear with me!

 

Please read and review! I'm new at this!

 

Disclaimer: Sadly, the Get Backers and all related materials, characters, and such do not belong to me. Trust me, things would be a LOT different. I'm just using them for my own entertainment.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One: Anniversary

 

 

 

 

It was a slow day at the Honky Tonk. Early November seemed to mark a distinctive lull in the number of potential clients for the retrieval business. Fuyuki Shido had come to the café early that morning, thinking that perhaps an early start would produce a client and a job to pass the time. Three hours and four cups of coffee later proved his assumption to be incorrect, as no paying customers of any kind had entered through the doors since his arrival. That wasn't to say that the café was empty, however. Paul Wan sat still as a statue behind his counter, only moving to turn the pages of his ever-present newspaper. Beside him a very cheerful Natsumi happily bustled around tidying up while chattering to Ginji.

 

The former Lightning Emperor of Mugenjou sat on a stool at the counter casually playing with a bent-up plastic straw while joining in the young waitress's chatter. His blond head would occasionally bob enthusiastically as he talked with energetic young girl, quiet laughter punctuating parts of their conversation. Shido watched from his quiet booth in the corner as his old friend seemed to effortlessly take on the persona of a carefree teenager. What ruined this nearly flawless image of normalcy were the strangely tense glances that Shido caught Ginji throwing at his partner who sat in the opposite corner beside a window. And it was more than the glances that caused a slight knot of tension to form in the Beast Master's stomach that morning.

 

About an hour after Shido arrived at the Honky Tonk, the infamous getbackers duo had quietly stepped into the café. Midou stepped in first, his dark purple shades completely guarding his eyes, followed closely by Ginji who seemed to be hovering over his partner's shoulder. Shido watched from the corner of his eye as Ginji leaned forward and asked Midou something so quietly that even his enhanced hearing couldn't pick it up. Midou shook his head minutely, and wandered off to the table by the window, and after watching his partner for a moment, Ginji turned towards the counter. The former emperor noticed Shido sitting at the booth and plastered on a smile to say hello.

 

Only on his second cup of coffee and not nearly ready to attempt socializing with the always-energetic Ginji and his bitchy partner, Shido merely returned Ginji's cheerful hello with a wave and sat back to observe the pair. Ginji's talking with Natsumi provided a light background noise to the otherwise silent Honky Tonk. Good natured chatter was common place in the café, but the overwhelming silence and stillness that dominated the atmosphere was not, and it unsettled Shido. By seventh time he caught Ginji glancing uncertainly at Midou, Shido relented and turned his attention to the shorter Get Backer.

 

Midou Ban sat hunched over the small table with his stare planted firmly on his hands resting on the polished surface-- an untouched cigarette burning out in one of them. His glasses and spiked bangs hid more of his face than usual, casting a shadowed look about him. Yet it was more than the dark atmosphere surrounding the young man that disturbed Shido. It had been a whole two hours since the get backers arrived at the Honky Tonk, and the abrasive man had yet to insult, provoke, or generally piss him off. There was no “Yo, Monkey Tamer,” were no jibes about his close relationship with Madoka, no cocky remark about his more distant relationship with Ginji. There was no acknowledgement of his presence at all, and Shido wasn't entirely sure why that bothered him so much. It's because he's dangerous, and could be turning into a bigger threat to Ginji, he told himself. It's because he's plotting something sinister and even Ginji's noticed. It's because he's finally stopped trying to hide the fact that he's a complete bastard—that he's evil. None of these thoughts felt right, however, and that in itself was confusing to Shido. It's because there's something wrong…

 

He shook his head, growing angry at himself for wasting time wondering about Midou's uncharacteristic behavior. Why should he care what was up with the Snake Bastard? He hated the guy, anyway. Watching Ban from the corner of his eye, Shido saw a sudden stiffness sweep through the still body. He looked up to see that Ginji had left the main area of the café to help Natsumi grab some supply boxes from the back room. It was time, he decided, to get things back to normal. Standing up from the booth, Shido stretched his cramped muscles as he strolled over to take a seat at the counter, close to Midou's solitary table.

 

“Snake Bastard,” he greeted the silent man by the window. There was no indication that Midou had even heard him. Shido asked Paul for another cup of coffee before turning squarely to regard the brunette. “You know what I think?” Not even a twitch of muscle. “I think you're up to something. I think that calculating mind of yours is planning something.” Not a single blink. “So tell me, Midou,” the words slowly turned sour in his stomach before they left his mouth. He pressed on anyways, “Have you decided you're done with pretending?” That earned him a slight clenching of Ban's fist on the table. Shido paused. Had he hit on something? So, he was right about Midou all along. A voice in the back of his head told him to be proud of himself, but for some reason the words fell flat. “I know you're a killer. Heartless, right Midou? So what… are you planning to kill Ginji, too? You're not much of a partner type, I hear.”

 

Paul suddenly cut him off by placing a steaming cup of coffee in front of him. The shop owner stared down at Shido for a moment, eyebrow raised, before returning to his newspaper and his place behind the counter. The Beast Master took a sip of his coffee, fully expecting the typical explosion of Midou's violent temper. Instead there was a boom of thunder outside as rain began to dot the street. Ban shifted his gaze to the window, but remained otherwise silent.

 

Without a bombardment of angry retorts, Shido felt suddenly unsure as to why he felt the need to goad Ginji's partner. Without the vicious insults spilling from Midou's mouth, the goading suddenly felt more like bullying a smaller kid on the street. And upon a closer inspection of the younger retrieval agent, Shido realized that he was, in fact, picking on the smaller kid. Ban looked smaller than usual, hunched inside a hooded sweatshirt that looked too big for him and definitely too old and worn. The ex-Volts member was struck by the fact that a quiet Midou Ban physically looked different than the usual obnoxiously arrogant Get Backer he was used to. He looked too small. Too young.

 

Shido was saved from further introspection by Ginji, who returned with Natsumi from the back room looking suspiciously flushed. The blond grinned at him as he moved to sit beside him at the counter. “Ohayo, Shido-kun. Are you bored this morning, too?” he greeted warmly. “Do you think any clients will come in today? The weather isn't very nice, but maybe someone will come anyway. How long have you been here? You didn't look very awake earlier,” Ginji rambled cheerfully. The chatter was back, pushing back the uncomfortable silence in the café.

 

Shido offered a small smile while sipping his coffee. “I've been here for a while, but I don't think there's much chance of a client today,” he glanced out the windows, “It looks like the rain's coming down harder. At least you're a better conversationalist than your partner,” he noted mildly. The serene mood of the café was shattered once again as Ginji threw another quick glance at Ban. To Shido's astonishment, Midou turned to meet Ginji's eyes before turning back to the window.

 

Ginji looked over at Shido with a slight wince. “Ano… you two weren't fighting again, were you?” Shido was once again left wondering why he suddenly felt guilty.

 

A third voice spoke up, causing both Ginji and Shido to turn to the windows. “No fight. The Monkey Tamer just likes to hear himself talk,” Ban said without looking at them, his voice low and neutral.

 

Ginji turned in his seat and opened his mouth to say something to Shido but stopped when Ban abruptly stood from his seat. Both the former emperor and the Beast Master, as well as Paul and Natsumi, turned at the first movement made by the retrieval agent that morning. Ban offered no explanation as he walked quietly to the door of the Honky Tonk. It was Natsumi who noticed the familiar figure standing fifty feet away outside the windows. “Himiko-chan…?” she murmured.

 

All eyes quickly sought out the teenage girl standing in the rain, clearly staring at Ban when he opened the door and took one step outside.

 

“Ban-chan—” Ginji started quietly as he reached to grab the forearm of his best friend.

Ban stopped at the grip on his arm but didn't turn. “Wait here, Gin,” he muttered softly under his breath.

 

“But Ban-chan you ca—”

 

“Just wait here, Ginji,” Ban interrupted more strongly as he removed his arm from Ginji's grip. Paul's brows knitted together slightly and he shook his head before going back to his paper, while Natsumi and Shido curiously looked on.

 

“What the hell is going on here, exactly, Snake Bastard—” Shido began, but Ban had already walked out of the café.

 

Ginji pulled his hand back but his eyes pleaded with the back of his partner's head as Ban walked out into the rain. “Don't do anything stupid, Ban-chan,” he ordered his partner in defeat. Shido's eyebrows rose up high at that comment, and when Midou stopped in his tracks he fully expected to have to protect Ginji from a throttling for that remark.

 

To add to his confusion that morning, however, Ban's shoulders merely slumped a bit further as he continued walking toward the soaked figure of Himiko outside on the street. The café's occupants watched as Himiko turned and disappeared deeper into the foggy streets upon seeing Ban's presence, until she and then Ban were completely out of sight. Several emotions seemed to war on Ginji's face. Shido thought he looked torn between running out after his partner and attempting to make a joke about the situation.

 

Natsumi stepped out from behind the corner to stand beside Ginji who gazed fixedly out the door in the direction his best friend disappeared in. “What's going on with Ban-san, this morning?” she asked quietly.

 

Shido turned to Ginji waiting for a response as well, but the blond only stood staring out the door, tension running down his spine. Natsumi sighed and returned behind the counter to quietly unpack a box of glasses that Ginji had carried out for her. Shido opened his mouth to ask for himself, but Paul interjected.

 

“Yamato,” the redhead spoke out into the still café. “He died three years ago, today.” The shop owner leveled a gaze at Shido from over his newspaper. Natsumi gasped and turned her attention back to the windows. Ginji flinched and worriedly watched the open door.

 

The Beast Master furrowed his brows as he frantically tried to register why that name sounded so familiar, and why he should care in the least. He followed Natsumi's look. Himiko… Kudo Himiko. And her brother Yamato. Yamato… Ban's old partner…

 

 

“So what… are you planning to kill Ginji, too? You're not much of a partner type, I hear.”

 

 

The knot tied a little tighter in his stomach. In the back of his mind he tried to remind himself that the Snake Bastard deserved to hear it, because it was true. The little voice told him that he had the right to call the man who stole his emperor away what he truly was. The man was a killer. The man had killed his old partner. The scrawny guy was a bastard. The young guy was a walking curse.

 

Shido's mental reaffirmation stuttered as an image of Midou looking strangely small, hunched over the table at the window flashed through his mind. And I am a fucking glorified bully, he thought to himself, frustrated.

 

Shit.

 

He glanced back at Ginji cautiously, unsure of what to say. His stomach rolled in yet another circle as he heard the blond muttering under his breath to the door, “Don't do anything stupid. Don't do anything stupid, Ban-chan…”

 

Shido decided that in light of his previous provocation of the Snake Bastard on an obviously sensitive day, he would allow himself a minute to worry about what “stupid” translates into when it comes to an arguably psychotic master of the Evil Eye. Just one minute.

 

… Maybe two minutes. Maybe just until the Snake Bastard came back.

 

Shit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: haha okay so it's my first fic. No, I don't know if Yamato died in November, but I mean, come on. Who's paying attention to such tiny details? Anyways…. Review, `cause it makes me feel special, and yes, it makes me want to continue it.

 

Next chapter: Himiko vs. Ban. And a little more of a changing relationship between Shido and Ban, if I can work it in so soon. Stay tuned!