GetBackers Fan Fiction ❯ Water and Electricity ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: This was the third fic I wrote. That means the standard is lower than in my later works, but at least a little higher than in my two first ones. I hope you'll enjoy it.

 

Disclaimer: "GetBackers" and all of its characters belong to and were created by Aoki Yuya and Ayamine Rando. In this story they are used without prior permission. No profit is made through this story.

 

 

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Water and Electricity

 

Chapter one 

 

"Ban-chan! Look at me! I can do it! Look at me!"

 

Ban couldn't help but laugh at Ginji who was happily swimming in this little bay they had found at the coast near their vacation spot. It had been worth the effort, teaching Ginji how to swim. Those happy eyes and that grin in his face made Ban feel like he was on the top of the world.

 

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For the first time in a very long time the GetBackers had had some luck with money. They had been so well paid off for their last job that they decided to go for a vacation at the sea. Ginji had been really excited.

 

"The sea! Maybe you can teach me how to swim, Ban-chan?"

 

Ban had looked at him, hesitating. "Eh… as long as you don't kill everybody in the water. Water and electricity, you know."

 

"We can find a place where we can be alone, can't we?"

 

"Thank you very much, stupid. What about me? You wanna electrocute me?"

 

"Ban-chan… You know I can control it. I won't kill you or anyone else. I just thought it would be nicer to be by ourselves. At least sometimes."

 

That, Ban had agreed with. He preferred to be alone with Ginji. Sure, he didn't mind spending a day or two on a beach filled with pretty girls, but together with other people he always had to watch out. That was a habit he had developed long ago. It's what happens when so many people try to kill you.

 

Ban had thoroughly chosen the place. It was a small hotel, distant from other inhabited places; only a few other houses lay nearby, and they soon found out that the hotel didn't have many guests. It was close to the shore and there were steep cliffs going down into the water. Ban had made some diving from them, and he had to admit he liked Ginji's excited exclamations and admiration. `Ban-chan! You can do everything, can't you?' Ginji himself hadn't jumped, much less dived, from the cliffs. He wasn't very good at swimming, that guy. Only, right now he seemed to get the hang of it.

 

"You fool. Why didn't you do it like that in the first place? That's how I told you to do it all the time."

 

Ginji smiled. "I know Ban-chan. It's just that I couldn't figure out what you meant before."

 

This bay was perfect, Ban thought. It lay between some cliffs and it was just a coincidence that they had found it. They were out on an early walk and decided to leave the established paths and walk through some rough terrain to the cost. Their aim had been to find some lonely spot on a high cliff were they could watch the sun rise out of the sea. They had found it too; they had been sitting together, Ban with his arm around Ginji's shoulders, Ginji's head leaning against him, watching a beautiful sunrise. It had made Ban feel... well, not exactly soft, he wouldn't go that far, but his tension had melted the way it sometimes did when he was alone with Ginji, and that, together with the sunrise, made his worries seem to disappear somewhere, if he ever had any. They had risen quietly but didn't leave the cliff. Ginji had walked along the edge, looking down, no fear of heights, and suddenly he had called for him.

 

"Ban-chan! It's a little bay down here with a sandy beach, and I can't see any traces of other people there. Do you think we can climb down somehow?"

 

Ban had taken a look and agreed with Ginji; the bay looked tempting. Together they started to search for a way down the cliff to the bay. Since they didn't find any obvious, simple way down, they decided to try the climb anyway. It had been a hard climb, but they had made it and could explore the bay. Ginji had been right. There weren't any traces at all from other humans. No trash, no towels left behind, no broken twigs at the bushes near the cliff, no nothing. The cliffs almost completely surrounded the bay with only a small passage out to the open sea. It couldn't be easy to find this bay even from the seaside.

 

"Ban-chan. You can teach me how to swim here, right?"

 

So he did. They had left the hotel early every day since then, to swim in this bay. And now Ginji was swimming beside him, looking extremely happy.

 

"Do you think there are caves under the water, Ban-chan?"

 

"Probably, it's that kind of rock."

 

"Can we dive and have a look?"

 

"Moron. You barely learned to swim proper; don't you think you should practice some more first? Besides, if there are caves they might be deep down and we don't have any diving equipment. And you wouldn't know how to use them if we had."

 

"Do you, Ban-chan? Do you know how to use those things?"

 

"Yeah," Ban admitted. "I've got a diving certificate."

 

"It's amazing, Ban-chan. You know so much and've done so many things. Did you do anything but learn a lot of stuff when you were a kid? How did you find the time?"

 

"It was rather busy." Ban said shortly. He didn't want to talk about his childhood at the moment.

 

They got up from the water and lay down in the sand. The sun shone high above, and it became quite hot, but Ban didn't mind that at all. The snake inside him made him enjoy the heat and he slumbered in the sun. Ginji was wide awake though. He felt restless and after a while he sat up again. The thought of some caves beneath the surface put him in an excited mood.

 

"Ban-chan?"

 

No answer.

 

"Ban-chan, I know you're awake."

 

"No, I'm not," Ban slurred sleepily.

 

"Can we hire some diving equipment so you can teach me how to use it?" Ginji didn't care about Ban's glare.

 

"Ginji…no."

 

"Why not, Ban-chan?"

 

"Too damned expensive." Ban yawned and took a hold of his partner's arm and dragged him down beside him. "Lay down, you fool, and think about the food were gonna eat back at the hotel instead."

 

 

"That'll only make me hungry." Ginji said with a smile, but he obeyed, put his head on Ban's chest and closed his eyes.

 

When Ban woke up an hour had passed by. The sun had vanished behind the cliff and the air had become chilly. He thought he had heard the sound of an engine. Maybe there was a boat approaching. Dammit. He had hoped no one else would come here. Yeah. It was definitely a boat, and the sound came closer. Suddenly Ban got the feeling he shouldn't be seen here. He rose to a sitting position, making Ginji's head fall down to his lap instead. That, of course, woke Ginji up, too.

 

"Time to go back to the hotel, Ban-chan?"

 

"Ssch." Ban hissed. "Take your clothes and come. Hurry."

 

Ginji didn't ask any questions. He trusted Ban and knew when to do what he was told, without questioning the order. They hurried to the bushes near their climbing path, Ban making some effort to hide their tracks, and they threw themselves behind the bushes at the same moment as a boat became visible in the passage to the bay. It was a small motor boat with three men on board. They didn't steer to the shore, though; instead they drove the boat near the cliff to the right of Ban and Ginji. There they turned off the engine, and two of the men started to put on wetsuits and oxygen tubes. Their voices could be heard over the water's surface.

 

"You've got the box?"

 

"Yeah. Right here. Can you take it like this?"

 

"No problem. Three meters down, was it?"

 

"Correct. Under a projecting piece of rock, remember? It's quite a small entrance. Are you sure you can come through? It's not many meters to the cave from the entrance and it's not waterfilled so you could try without the equipment if you're good at holding your breath."

 

"No, thank you. I want to be able to breathe all the way in. It's idiocy to try it without the oxygen tubes."

 

"If you say so. But when we discovered this cave Isobe-san was there without anything."

 

"Isobe is an idiot. Besides, Kitayama-san measured it and said it would be alright, so we should manage."

 

"Alright then. Get off and hide it."

 

The two men with wetsuits jumped off the boat, one of them bringing a box about 2x2x3 decimeters in size, and disappeared under the surface.

 

Ban swore to himself. He had been right in hiding. At least two of these guys he had met before, and he had no wish to re-establish the acquaintance. Hell, he never wanted to hear from Kitayama and his gang again, but here they were, disturbing his and Ginji's vacation. He realized that if those men had been up at the hotel they might have heard that he was here. He had put up an advertising poster at the hotel's notice board and even put his and Ginji's name and room number on it. Dammit. Ginji had asked him not to, because they were on vacation, but no, he had to put it up in case they could make some extra money. How stupid could a man be? Ban angrily hissed to himself all the names he used to call Ginji, and made up some more to cover what he thought of himself. Ginji watched him but said nothing. After less than 10 minutes the two divers were back. The third man helped them up into the boat and they were off.

 

"Ban-chan. What was all that about?" Ginji wanted to know. "How did you know we should hide?"

 

"I don't know how I knew. I just did. But the men were criminals hiding something."

 

"Yeah. In a cave. I figured that out." Ginji said without sarcasm. "You seem to know them, Ban-chan."

 

Ban looked at his best friend. Ginji really wanted to enjoy this vacation and now he, Midou Ban, probably had led them into danger again. He sighed and began telling Ginji about Kitayama and his gang.

 

"That bastard who sat in the boat when the others were down in the cave is called Sensou and he's bad news. The quiet guy who didn't say a word is called Chikara and he is no plaything either, I can assure you. I've actually never heard their real names. They're both in a gang called Batsu, which is lead by a guy called Kitayama. That hell of a gang does just about anything, either for money, or just because they think it's fun."

 

"How do you know them, Ban-chan?"

 

"I've only met Sensou and Chikara and some other guys, I don't know their names. The first time I met them was when I was on my first job with Himiko and Yamato. They had the same commission we had, only from another client."

 

Ban went silent for a moment. How much would he tell Ginji? It was probably better to tell his partner the whole painful truth even if Ban didn't like to admit errors.

 

"I guess they had heard of me and knew I was coming, because they were ready for me. They had chains that could stand my strength and a damned hood to put on my head to avoid my eyes. They caught us off guard, or me actually since it was I who underestimated them and thought them to be just some ordinary thieves, tied us all up and then beat me half to death and left me, probably thinking I was done for. If I had been alone they would have been right."

 

"Ban-chan!" To Ban's relief Ginji sounded more like he was upset that someone had done such a thing to his friend, than embarrassed that Ban had let someone do this to him.

 

"The bastards also got away with the requested item. Himiko and Yamato weren't badly hurt so they could free themselves. Yamato had to carry me away while I was unconscious and bleeding. Himiko and Yamato nursed me back to life afterwards. So because of my damned mistake, we failed our first mission together and didn't get paid. "

 

Ban was surprised by himself. This was a story he never had thought he would tell anyone. Not even Ginji. It was enough Himiko knew about it and she had never mentioned it. But now when he had to tell his friend about Batsu and make him understand the danger, it was best for Ginji to know what kind of guys they were. That way neither of them would underestimate the gang.

 

"But you survived, Ban-chan." Ginji's voice was quiet and soothing. "That's what matters. I'll always be grateful to Himiko and her brother for helping you that time. If they hadn't I would never have met you and I would still be in Mugenjou, maybe already having lost myself... But you said that was the first time you ran into them?"

 

"The second time was pretty much the same, at first. We had the same job. But this time I was ready for them, and since they had defeated me before, it was they who underestimated me. I still couldn't use my Jagan, because as an extra precaution they had sunglasses, but this time it was I who won the fight and Chikara who left it unconscious. Don't misunderstand me though, it was a damned hard fight and if they hadn't underestimated me and left him alone with me, maybe they had won again. But this time we completed our mission instead of them."

 

"What's so special about them? I mean, we have met dangerous guys before."

 

"I've been told that Chikara and Kitayama are from the same tribe in the north. I think they are cousins or something like that. That tribe is divided in two halves. One consists of normal people, but the other half consists of people with special power or abilities. When a child is born in that tribe, their wise men carry out a ritual where they find out if the child has any special powers. About 25 percent of all the children have. If it does, it will be raised in a manner that helps the child to increase his abilities. I've heard that they even use some special drugs to help them to do so. Chikara has about the same strength as I have, and about the same speed."

 

"What about that Kitayama guy?"

 

"Kitayama isn't a fighter. What I've heard is that he has the power to foresee parts of other people's future. When he have chosen what to do with his victim, he can look into the victim's eyes and see what's going to happen to that person in the near future. If that future doesn't suit Kitayama, he chooses to do something else. That way he always knows how to handle his opponents. If he wants to, he can show the future to the victim."

 

"Show it? How?"

 

"Kind of my Jagan actually, but it isn't Kitayama who rules it. He merely shows a vision of the victim's future to him or her.

 

"I don't think I'd like that", Ginji admitted.

 

"No", Ban agreed. "If Kitayama shows your future it must be bad for you or else he wouldn't show it."

 

"What about the others in Batsu?"

 

"Sensou is a true master of different kinds of swords and knifes. He is trained by the legendary swordsman Fujishima and is said to be his best student. Both Chikara and Sensou have an incredible fighting aura and they enjoy fighting and causing pain to others. The other ones in the gang I don't know much about, but what I've heard is not good. There is especially one guy that people hardly dare to talk about, but I don't know why. The only thing I've heard is that he's supposed not to be human."

 

Ginji smiled at Ban.

 

"It's alright, Ban-chan. We've both been temporarily defeated at other situations, haven't we? Remember when we should retrieve the arms of Venus? Miroku Yukihiko managed to take my joints apart so I couldn't move."

 

Why was it Ginji always was so understanding, Ban wondered? Ginji had the ability to know how he felt and always seemed to understand why, sometimes better than he knew himself.

 

Ban sighed. "I know you won't like it, Ginji, but maybe we should interrupt our vacation and go back to Tokyo."

 

"Why, Ban-chan. They're not after us, are they?"

 

"I don't know. They have sworn to kill me and it could be that they saw our posters at the hotel, and if they did, they'll come after me, and you too, because you're my partner."

 

"Well, let's get back to the hotel and find out, Ban-chan. They don't know me, do they? I'll just walk inside and ask the hall-porter if anyone asked for us. He would think I asked if anyone wanted us for a job, right? If anyone from Batsu is there he won't recognize me, so it would be safe."

 

Ban thought about it. They needed to get their stuff back from the room anyway. Still, there were things that could go wrong. Someone could have described Ginji so he got caught. Of course, Ginji wasn't a defenseless baby, so he guessed it was the best thing to do.

 

"Alright. Let's go."

 

 

TBC