GetBackers Fan Fiction ❯ Water and Electricity ❯ Three ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3.

Next morning after breakfast, they asked the hall-porter for the diving equipment. The man smiled a greasier smile than ever, and said in a voice that probably was supposed to sound regrettable, "I'm sorry. All our equipment is broken."

"All of it?" Ban sounded suspicious.

"That's right, we've had some heedless guests here, so one by one the units broke."

"And I suppose it was impossible to repair them?" This pissed Ban off. They were so close to be rich, and lack of the right equipment was not part of his plans.

"I'm very sorry. No one here can repair them, and we just couldn't find the time to take them somewhere. There are not many guests who asks for them anyway."

Ban angrily turned from the man. "Come, Ginji. We must talk."

Ginji followed him out on the empty terrace in front of the hotel. "What'll we do now, Ban-chan?"

Ban lit a cigarette while he thought. He didn't want to give up so easily, and there was another option. What would Ginji think about that, though? "I'll do the diving without any equipment." He blew out some smoke.

"No way, Ban-chan. You heard that guy who talked to Sensou in the boat, he said it was idiocy to dive without it."

"But Sensou said another guy had made it," Ban reminded him.

Ginji wandered back and forth on the terrace. If Ban was going to do this… "I'll go with you, Ban-chan."

Ban groaned. "No, Ginji. Don't be more stupid than usual. How the hell could you do that? Shit, you can barely swim."

"You're wrong, Ban-chan. I can swim now, you saw me."

Ban had to unwillingly agree. As soon as Ginji had got the knack of it, he had swum like he had known it for years. Shit, he saw in his partner's eyes that he wasn't going to give this up. That fool guy was so damned stubborn.

"Besides, Ban-chan, it's more about holding your breath, right?"

With a deep sigh, Ban gave up. "Alright, we'll dive together."

Ginji's eyes glittered when he smiled at Ban. "It'll be fun! Thanks Ban-chan."

They left the hotel for the bay. It was a good thing they at least had flashlights for underwater use. This time they held a thorough watch out. No one was following them; in fact they couldn't see any people at all. Ban did his best to hide their trails anyway, there was no need to take unnecessary risks. When they reached the cliff, Ban went for the spot where they used to climb down, but Ginji took his arm. "Ban-chan. Can we jump down from this cliff into the water?"

Ban considered it. It was about ten meters down, and the water was deep enough to make a safe jump. Heh, Ginji really enjoyed this. What the hell, why not?

"Okay. But jump with your feet first, and when you come down into the water, spread your arms and legs so you don't go deeper down than necessary. You can go first, but move away before I jump, so I don't fall on you."

"You sound like Teshimine-san, when I was a kid and wanted to do something I never had done before." Ginji laughed. "Don't worry, Ban-chan, I'll do as you say."

They both undressed, put on their swimming trunks and hid their clothes. Ginji blinked at Ban and ran to the edge. With a big 'whoopee!' he jumped, lamp in hand, out off the cliff. Ban looked down and saw him reach the water. Ginji's yellow hair disappeared under the surface but was soon up again. Ban heard him laugh and saw him swim a few meters to make room for Ban.

"This is so fun, Ban-chan! Come!"

Ban had to laugh himself; Ginji looked so damned happy. That guy knew how to enjoy himself and forget about troubles, and that made Ban happy, too. So, he laughed again and imitated Ginji. He ran to the edge, called out, 'whoopee!' and jumped in the same clumsy way Ginji had done.

The water surrounded him and he swam up to the surface, just to find Ginji waiting for him, splashing him with a cascade of water.

"Hahah, Ban-chan! Got you!" Ginji was laughing and splashing like he was a child who enjoyed playing with his friend in the water. Which, Ban smirked some, was what he was in a way.

"Hey… you damned fool, Ginji. We got a job to do."

"Sure, Ban-chan. I'm coming. Who'll swim first?"

"First of all, I'm gonna dive down to the entrance alone, Ginji, just to make sure we can find it. Then I'll come back and we dive together, and I'll show you the entrance. Before we go into it, we return to the surface. Then I'll go down again and swim all the way to the cave, and after one minute you'll follow me."

"Why can't we do it together, Ban-chan?"

"Fool, because if I have to turn back I don't want the passage blocked by you."

"Alright. Go find the entrance, Ban-chan."

They swam as near the place where the Batsu members had dived as they could calculate. Ban took a couple of deep breaths and dived to find the entrance. It should be three meters down and under a projecting piece of rock, he remembered Sensou saying. He looked at the surface, trying to estimate the depth where he was. Thanks to his earlier diving experience, he thought he could do this quite well. When he guessed he was on the right depth he started so swim along the cliff. Over there! There was a piece of rock that projected from the cliff. Ban swam down under it. Yes! There it was, the entrance to the cave. Now he had to get Ginji. Ban felt the excitement rise inside him. This was exactly what he had dreamed of. The first really big job on the way to make him and Ginji so wealthy they could do whatever they wanted to, and pick and choose among their jobs. Maybe they could employ the Monkey Trainer to do the lesser jobs. He would enjoy like hell being that Monkey's boss! And now the dream didn't seem so impossible anymore! He quickly swam straight up. Ginji was a few meters away.

"Did you find it, Ban-chan?" Ginji's voice was eager.

Ban laughed with pure happiness. "Of course, Ginji. It wasn't hard. It's right below this spot. The entrance is a bit small, but I looked inside it and it gets wider."

Ginji came over to him.

"Ready to have look, Ginji?" Ban asked. This was actually a test, too. He wanted to see if Ginji at all was able to dive down to the entrance and back up without problems. "Take some deep breaths, Ginji, and follow me."

They both inhaled deeply a couple of times and dived down. Ban had to admit Ginji at least had no problems at all moving in the water. He swam confidently beside him, flashlight in hand, eyes open and looking like he was expecting something wonderful. They reached the entrance, and Ban shone with his flashlight into it to show Ginji what it looked like. Ginji still looked expectant and it didn't seem like he was running out of air either. Ban pointed upwards to let Ginji know it was time to return to the surface. Back in the air Ban watched Ginji, but his partner showed no signs to be breathless. In a way Ban had hoped Ginji would have some problems, so he should back off and not insist on diving all the way to the cave. Ban didn't like the idea of Ginji running out of air in the middle of the tunnel, but he supposed there was nothing to worry about. Ginji seemed just fine.

"Ready, to go, Ginji? Remember to take some deep breaths before you dive. That way you got a surplus of oxygen so you can hold your breath longer."

"Yes, Midou-sensei." Ginji giggled a little. "I'll be alright. Ban-chan. Go on, I'll follow in a minute."

"Alright, see you in the cave, then."

Ban dived straight down, found the entrance and swam into it, letting his flashlight sweep over the tunnel's walls. At first there were algae growing on the wall, but a little bit further in the walls were empty. The tunnel was longer than he had expected. Not many meters, had Sensou said. How many meters did Sensou reckon was 'not many'? Maybe he should go back before Ginji came and blocked the tunnel. It was wide enough to allow him to swim easily through it, but if he had to swim back it had to be backwards. He still had quite a lot of oxygen in his lungs but if he had to return he had to do it while it still would be enough to take him out of here. Just a little more. There! In front of him the light didn't shine on a rock ceiling, but on a water's surface. Ban swam upwards and all of a sudden his head was out of the water and he knew he had reached the cave.

It was bigger than he had expected. He let the light shine in all directions. The ceiling was quite high and there was about three meters to the wall to the right, maybe ten meters to the left and one meter behind his back. About six meters in front of him he could see a narrow shelf in the rock, big enough for a man to stand on, and there was the box he had seen Chikara and the other man bringing down here. Ban's heart took a jump and he hurried over to the shelf, heaved himself up and sat beside the box. He tried to open it. Of course, it was locked, but the lid couldn't be kept shut when a hand with 200 kg's strength meant to crush it. Ban eagerly opened it. Inside wasn't the scroll he had been expecting. Instead there was an envelope. Ban shone on it to read what was written on it. It read: 'Midou Ban'.

---

Ginji saw Ban disappear under the surface and he could see the light from his flashlight. He counted slowly: 'one, two, three...'. Soon, the light disappeared too, as Ban went into the tunnel. Ginji giggled to himself; he felt like he was a little kid, playing hide and seek. Sixty, alright, Ban-chan, here I come! He obediently took the deep breaths he had promised to do, and dived to the entrance. Since it was directly under him he had no problems finding it.

He swam into the tunnel. He hoped the tunnel didn't divide into more than one. No, the men from Batsu hadn't mentioned it, and Ban-chan would have come back and told him if there were more tunnels. He wasn't out of air yet, but he started to wonder how long this tunnel was. But since Ban-chan hadn't returned it must be okay, so Ginji, trusting Ban, swam on forward. There was something. It must be the surface in the cave. Ginji moved towards it and crossed the surface. He could see Ban sitting opposite him, reading something. Ginji opened his mouth to call for him.

"Ban-ch…"

Then everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Ban turned his eyes towards him. His black hair flat on his head, and looking extremely angry. Suddenly a rumble was heard and Ginji felt how he was hit by something big and heavy, and he found himself under the water again, not being able to go back to the surface. Distantly he could hear Ban's cry:

"Ginjiii…!!"

TBC