"Where the hell is he?!" Ban stormed across the lawn of Madoka's home to scream in Shido's face.

"What are you talking about, snakes for brains? Are you already drunk at this time of day?!" Shido yelled back and flailed the rake he had been using.

"Don't play coy with me, Monkey Boy! Ginji! Tell me where he is! He's got to be here! You're hiding him, aren't you?!" He poked an accusing finger at Shido's chest.

"What kind of hallucination are you having? Ginji isn't here! What's the matter, did he finally come to his senses and take off?" he taunted while mentally making note of how Ban had scattered his pile of neatly raked leaves, moving him up three places higher on his shit list.

Ban shot him a glare that would have made any other mortal's knees buckle and bladder weaken. However Shido only saw it as a sign that Ginji may actually be in trouble.

"He's actually lost? What have you done now?!"

"So he really isn't here?" Ban slackened his fighting stance, but still eyed Shido skeptically. He could be bluffing, after all.

"No, he isn't. I haven't seen Ginji all week," Shido insisted and returned an equally sour expression. Ban knew exactly what Shido was thinking, and he would have loved to have punched that look right off his face, but there was no time for that now. He had to find Ginji first.

He'd come back to pulverize Shido later.

"How can a person be so irresponsible that they lose a fully grown human being?" Shido shouted, slamming his rake down to the ground, sending a shower of dead leaves into the air.

"I didn't lose him!" Ban shot back, his new eye spasm twitching harder. "I just don't know where he is right now!"

"That's the same thing, you idiot!"

"No it isn't! It's not like I forgot where I put him. He took off on his own! I—ugh, never mind that!" He pinched the bridge of his nose to keep the budding headache at bay. "I don't have to explain anything to you. If you don't know where he is, then I don't want to waste time standing here arguing with you." He turned to stomp back to his car.

"So he did take off on his own, then? If you've done something to hurt him…" Shido warned and was suddenly blocking Ban's path before he could take five steps.

"I haven't—" Ban stopped short. If he hadn't hurt Ginji he wouldn't be in this situation right now, would he? "This has nothing to do with you, so don't stick your giant nose where it doesn't belong!"

"Nothing to do with me? Ginji was our leader—!"

"Yes, was your leader! But he's my partner now, so will you just accept it already and back off?! Quit acting like Ginji's your baby and I'm the cradle robber! I assure you, once I find him I'll be able to straighten everything out and all will be hunky-dory again. Now if you don't mind, I have more important things to do." He side-stepped Shido and escaped to Miss Ladybug before that monkey trainer wasted any more of his valuable time.

Shido remained where he stood and scowled at the retreating car. "Regardless of whatever terms you and Ginji are on now, Midou, for Ginjis sake I think I'd better keep an eye out for him myself," he spoke after the car was out of sight, and placed his fingers in his mouth to give a sharp whistle, which signaled a flock of birds to ascend from the surrounding trees and spread out into the sky. He saw to it that his birds had dispersed in search of Ginji, and then grumpily turned back to rake up all the leaves that snake bastard had messed up.

-:-

'Well that was a complete waste of time,' Ban irritably bitched to himself as he drove. He had definitely given too much information to the enemy, and now Shido was most likely organizing his own search party for Ginji. Stupid Shido! And stupid Ginji, too – trust him to turn a perfectly good day into a mission to get back his own partner from absolutely nobody. He settled into a comfortable rhythm of cursing the world and driving through the city, backtracking to see which spots he could have missed in his frazzled state of mind.

He had already checked all of Ginji's usual favorites with no luck, but if Ginji was supposedly on foot he couldn't have gotten too far away. The sight of the Limitless Fortress looming on the horizon had briefly caught his eye, but he had barely even given it a second thought. Nothing this trivial would make him hide out there, so it wasn't even worth investigating…right? Ban banged his head on his steering wheel in frustration.

'He's probably right under my nose, too.' He slowed down for a group of young trick-or-treaters passing by. 'In any case it's getting pretty late and it looks like it's gonna rain tonight," he noted the ominous black clouds that hung heavy overhead. 'That bastard better not have gone back to wait at the Honky To—'

Found him!

A very familiar blonde haired and green-vested figure leaned against a wrought iron fence just a few feet ahead, watching a gaggle of kids scattering along the street collecting candy from amiable shopkeepers.

"Aaaa-HAAAAA!" Ban screamed his victory and slammed down on the brakes, causing the car to spin out and crash against the curb. He nearly broke the car door off its frame in his haste to jump out and screech bloody murder in the small distance between them. "GINJI! YOU HAD ME WORRIED HALF TO DEATH! What the hell were you thinking running off like that without a word? What are you doing just skulking around here like a creep?"

"Can't a guy have some time alone once in awhile?" Ginji didn't give so much as a glance towards Ban. "What does it matter to you what I do anyway, porcupine head?"

"You're angry?" Ban brilliantly deduced.

Ginji just slumped over and sighed. "No, I'm not angry…just embarrassed."

"Embarrassed? Why?"

"Why? Gee, I dunno, maybe because I made a complete fool of myself today?"

"You didn't make a fool of yourself."

"How can you even say that? I thought it would be a good idea to tell you how I felt, but…" He trailed off and finished the remainder with a dejected shrug..

Ban slowly began to inch closer until they were standing side by side. He assumed the same slumped posture against the iron rails and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I know my initial reaction earlier was bad…but that was only because I didn't know the card was from you."

"You said it was stupid. And crap."

"I—But—Ginji, I didn't mean…" Ban sputtered, his voice stuck in his throat. What perfect timing to be at a loss for words.

"I know it's more common to give stuff like that on Valentine's Day, but that's still three and a half months away." Ginji finally looked up, a defensive frown contorting his features, "Halloween was the next holiday coming up and I just didn't want to wait any longer to tell you how I felt. I know it's kind of dumb to tell your business partner that you love them, but sometimes...with the way you act, I just…" He averted his eyes again and clutched at the wrought iron bars digging into his back, "I just thought it wouldn't be impossible for you to have the same feelings for me."

"It's not impossible, Ginji."

It took Ginji a few moments to let the meaning of those words sink in before he looked over at Ban with the expression of someone who had just been informed that the sky is blue. "Wha'?"

"I'm sorry that I can be such an asshole sometimes. My reaction to your card earlier… I didn't mean to be such a jerk about it."

"Wha'?" Ginji still gaped at Ban dumbly.

"I gotta tell you, I felt like a piece of shit when Natsumi told me about the trouble you went through to plan it all. I wouldn't have reacted that way if I had known it was from you."

"Who else did you think it could have been from?" Ginji finally snapped out of his trance. "Natsumi? Paul?"

"I didn't know! It just never crossed my mind that it might have been you. I never thought you could be interested in me like that."

Ginji looked stunned. "Are you kidding? I was worried I was being too obvious." He shook his head in confusion. "So are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"You big dummy, I'm saying that I love you, too." He got Ginji in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

"Waah! Ban-chan!" Ginji flailed and wriggled out of the attack to look him straight in the eyes. "Are you being serious?"

"Driving around for five hours searching every nook and cranny of the city to apologize to you is pretty damn serious, don't you think? You're a very troublesome person, you know that? I put myself through some very unpleasant things just to find you!"

"Is that how Shido got involved in this, too?"

"Hmnh? What makes you think Shido…?" Ban trailed off, wondering if he really wanted to know.

Ginji motioned towards the murder of crows staring at them intently from their perch on a power line across the street. "Oh, just a hunch."

"That son of a bitch! I knew he was gonna—"

"You didn't actually tell him what happened, did you? I mean, you didn't mention the card or anything, right?"

"Why would I tell him anything that's none of his business? I only went over there to see if that's where you were hiding. But when I was talking to Shido, something suddenly occurred to me that I had plenty of time to think about while I was driving around." He forgot about the crow spies and turned to face Ginji, his demeanor softening.

"And what is that?"

"That the reason I get so worked up when he talks about how you should leave me and go back to work with him is because I always want you by my side. It makes me sick to my stomach to think of you choosing to work with him again over me."

"Ban, you know I'd never leave you to go back to them."

"I do know that, but it still gets on my nerves the way he never lets it go."

Ginji smiled. "Shido's possessive, but I think deep down he understands that my feelings for you are different than the feelings I have for him and my other friends. I mean, his crows have been watching me for hours, but he hasn't shown up here even once. If he didn't recognize my desire to be with you, he probably would have tried to take advantage of this situation to convince me to go stay with him."

Ban puckered his mouth and grunted thoughtfully. He still thought Shido was akin to a pile of dog crap, but maybe Ginji was right about a few things. At least he had had the decency to leave the situation in Ban's hands. 'Thanks, Monkey Trainer. You owed me one.' He smirked briefly before turning his full attention back to Ginji. "Well anyway, this is supposed to be a joyful time for us, so let's not talk about Shido anymore, okay?"

A loud crack of thunder rattled the pavement under their feet and was followed by a heavy downpour not two seconds later.

"Ban, I think it's raining."

"I knew those clouds looked ominous. Well let's not stand out here like dumbasses!" He grabbed Ginji's wrist and they ran to the parked car to seek shelter.

"Ahh, home, sweet home!" Ginji settled into his seat.

"Oh! I almost forgot—" Ban retrieved something wrapped in tissue paper from the dashboard and held out the small object for Ginji to take. It was a little pumpkin-shaped cookie with icing hearts drawn in place of the traditional triangular eyes. It was pretty dorky, but something in Ban's gut told him Ginji would like it.

Ginji couldn't hold back a small smile at the sight of it. "Did you actually go out of your way to buy this?"

"Nah, I stole it from some kid that was trick-or-treating a couple of blocks back."

"BAN!" Ginji reeled back, wide-eyed and disgusted.

"Ah c'mon, I was only kidding! I saw it in a bakery window and thought it might help to bribe you into forgiving me."

Ginji relaxed and let his body lean in closer to Ban, his happy-go-lucky grin returning to brighten that adorable face. "Thanks, Ban-chan!" He accepted the treat and broke the cookie in half right down the middle.

"You broke my cookie!" Ban gasped.

"Well you ripped my card," Ginji stuck out his tongue and offered one half of the cookie to Ban. "Here, maybe you were just cranky earlier because you were hungry."

Ban accepted the treat but merely held it in his hand and gave a sidelong glance to Ginji, who cheerfully stuffed the other remaining half into his mouth. He knew he should just thank his lucky stars that things had worked out in his favor, but he still somehow felt guilty that Ginji always forgive him so easily.

"What's the matter, Ban? Don't you want your half? Because if you don't..."

"No, no!" Ban banished his thoughts to the dungeons of his mind to mull over later and gulped down his cookie before Ginji had a chance to take it back.

"Ah Ginji, you're nothing but an overgrown kid, aren't you?" Ban spotted a few errant cookie crumbs stuck to the corner of Ginji's mouth. He leaned in and touched the spot with his own lips before Ginji had time to register what was happening.

"Huh? ...Ban-chan!" His face grew hot when Ban pulled away.

"What? You don't like it?" Ban titled his head, the tip of his pink tongue darting out to lick his own lips clean.

"Th-those were my crumbs!" he cried and lunged at Ban's mouth in return. He enthusiastically sucked on Ban's lower lip, which, although now free of any sugary remnants, tasted perfectly sweet to Ginji. He felt Ban's mouth form into a smile against his just before he pulled away.

"No need to make excuses. I know you really like me better than cookies."

"Mmhmmn…" Ginji's reply was muffled by Ban's generous gift of leaning in to give him a better taste. His hands roamed over fabric and rain-wet skin until they found and grabbed hold of the limp spikes on Ban's head, pressing forward to deepen their kiss. The mood in the little car changed drastically since just thirty seconds ago as Ban began to lose focus on anything else happening in the world other than the softness of Ginji's lips and the faint sound of his own heart pounding in his ears. He could even feel the rhythm of his heartbeat coursing through his lips if he pressed hard enough.

Ginji couldn't hold back the whimper in his throat and Ban took advantage of his parted lips to invite the tip of his tongue in for a quick tease. "Hmm, so sweet," Ban whispered, his warm breath feeling nice against Ginji's skin after a day of wandering around in the chilly autumn breeze, and his hot lips feeling even better as they trailed from his ear down to his neck.

"What're you doing? You had just gotten to the good part," Ginji frowned; the touch of tongue against his had been so brief he hadn't even been able to enjoy it.

"Haven't you ever heard of the saying 'haste makes waste'?" Ban mumbled around the collar bone in his mouth.

"I didn't know that saying applied to this type of thing."

"Ginji, that saying applies especially to this type of thing."

Ginji sighed and surrendered to the slowly paced caresses, returning them in the form of stroking his fingers down Ban's back, feeling the sharp angles of his shoulder blades, the muscular groove of his spine, the meaty curve of his ass, drinking in every dip and curve he had only dreamed of.

Ban's hair stood on end from the ticklish sensations of Ginji's roaming fingers. Despite what he had just said, Ginji was making everything from his belly button to his knees ache, especially the area in between. This wasn't a very good omen for his strategy, considering they had only been at it for a couple of minutes.

"Damnit Ginji, why do you have to be so sexy?"

Ginji giggled and gave Ban a peck on the lips. "We've got all the time in the world, Ban-chan. But there isn't any reason why we can't just dive right in."

"All the time in the world, you say?" Ban rubbed his chin, considering this fact.

Ginji nodded. "Let me stay with you forever, okay, Ban?"

Ban cranked down his window enough to shout at the few remaining crows that still watched them from their perch across the street. "Did you catch that, you little bastards?! Now go fly back to your master and tell him to put that in his pipe and smoke it! HAHAHAHAHA!" He cackled maniacally as he rolled the window back up, since the rain was drenching his pants.

"Um…Ban-chan?" Ginji laughed nervously, wondering if he was in a bit over his head now that he saw the gleam in Ban's eye.

The spiky-haired maniac reached out and pulled the lever on Ginji's seat to make him fall back into a more conducive position."What say we do just dive right in to this 'forever' deal then? The night is young after all, and so are we…there will be plenty of chances to take our time later—" he propositioned as he crawled over to the passenger seat and straddled Ginji's hips.

"I agree. Because, you know Ban-chan, sometimes too much teasing can make waste, too." He pulled Ban down on top of him and reached for his zipper...

END

I hate fade to black endings but the rest isn't suitable for this website HAHAHAHAHAHA :'(