Livin' the Life

Summary: AU. Mido Ban is forced into the strangest circumstances—resulting into the most mysterious problems. Including high school with paranormal students, memory problems, people trying to murder him, ever growing debts and a certain special blond who has too many psychedelic mood swings for his own good. Shonen-ai

Disclaimer: I do not own Get Backers in any aspect.

NOTE TO MSHS peepz (particularly Del Mundo classmates): BASAHIN NINYO TO! Alam nyo naman that I'm an avid BanGinji fan (don't kill me, Stef!) pero may other pairings, such as Akagami… and maybe gagawa ako ng love triangle between Ban, Ginji and Kazuki, tapos isisingit ang ating beloved Jubei… Mga VOLTS, basahin nyo to! May pagka-mystery to and some humor…pero romance tlga and knyng main story…maniwala kayo!

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Problem One: Paranormal Students

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Once upon a time, inside the restaurant of Honky Tonk, there were two people standing, facing each other, throwing insults back and forth. Well, not really insults, more of…angry sentences. And since you can't throw angry sentences, we had to settle for the word insults. But that's not the point. The point is…well, points are undefined in the law of math, but since we all hate math, we'll define it anyway. These two people…one happened to be a tall, blonde girl with breasts you would swear had silicon implanted on them, and the other was yet a taller, dark-haired boy who was so skinny you would want to break his bones. Anyway, their conversation went like this…

"Why the hell do I have to go to a school? I don't need education!" Mido Ban hissed, glaring darkly at his blond guardian, HEVN. Yes, this Ban in this beloved alternate universe has a very fiery temper. Well, it's not like he didn't in the real world…

"Now, now, Ban," HEVN said, shaking her head casually. "You need to learn a few more manners, and school will help you get a good job when you grow up—and there's the fact you're only sixteen, and you still have to follow your legal guardian, yours truly." HEVN here is still the same carefree person who forces you into things you don't want to do, and bribe you with money. Lucky, lucky Ban.

And just for the heck of it, the two other people in the restaurant, a.k.a. an older looking male wearing sunglasses and cheerful high school carrying an empty tray stupidly, entered the conversation.

"And it'll make HEVN-san's job being a teacher look so much better if she has you in the school," Paul, the restaurant owner, commented unnecessarily.

"It'll be fun, Ban-kun!" Natsumi, the restaurant waitress, added cheerfully. "We'll be going to the same school! Wouldn't that be just great?"

(And because it'll be really awkward for us to keep telling you the story in our point of view, we move to the characters POV…)

At this, Ban fought the urge to roll his eyes. Natsumi was too cheerful for her own good. Too trusting, also…Ban remembered that he had saved the girl one too many times from people who had tried to mug her. He reverted his attention back to his guardian, who had an impeccably wicked smile on her face.

He had met HEVN when the plane they were both riding on—which, by the way, was headed to America—unexpectedly crashed into a forest. They were the only survivors. From this plane crash he lost his memories—most of them, anyway—yet he was able to bring them both back to safety. HEVN was quite indebted to him, and since he had lost his memories, and was not legally old enough to be living alone, she 'adopted' him, in a way. No one had yet to claim him, for the past six months, and Ban was comfortable with that. He liked the way he was living now. He didn't care about memories that much—memories are nice, but that's all they are. Live for the present, after all.

"Besides, no matter how much you complain, I've already enrolled you, so there's no point arguing," HEVN concluded with a tone of finality. "End of story."

Ban's left eye twitched. He couldn't argue anymore. Damn, life sucked.

Well, his did, anyway.

As HEVN continued babbling endlessly about his new school, Paul turned to look at him. "That ought to keep you away from pickpocketing people, that's for sure."

"Excuse me?" HEVN turned to him suspiciously, stopping her continuous chatter.

"It was only a few pockets," Ban answered defensively, glaring darkly at the other male in the room. Couldn't he had kept his mouth shut! This was his life, and if he wanted to steal, they could do nothing about it. And that debt he had was something they didn't know either. Damn it, if the food wasn't good here—and of course, Natsumi—he wouldn't be here!

Natsumi frowned. "Ban-kun, that's wrong!"

HEVN nodded. "I will personally make sure that your unwanted habits will stop!" She declared. She eyed the cigarette between his fingers, before taking it away from him. "Starting with smoking!"

Ban really felt like jumping off a cliff right about now. His life did suck.

And it was just about to get worse…

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"Ban, don't you want to eat at Honky Tonk first so you can go with Natsumi to school?" HEVN suggested as they took a leisurely walk to his new school. "And I'll be going with you too!"

"No thanks," he replied roughly. "I think I can get there myself."

HEVN rolled her eyes. Ban was such a handful… "You will regret it if you miss school, you hear?" she threatened.

Ban glared. "Yes, ma'am." And he quickly left his guardian.

HEVN sighed. What would she ever do with him?

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Once he had left his imperious guardian, Ban decided to take a shortcut to school. Well, that wasn't one of his greatest ideas, since he encountered a gang of kids harassing a girl who looked about his age.

"Just my luck," he muttered as he quickly turned back, hoping that none of the delinquents noticed him. None of them did, and Ban turned to leave, when the scene turned for the worse.

The kids began pushing their victim roughly. "Hey, there, little lady. What'cha doin' here?"

"All alone, to add to that…"

The girl backed against the wall, shaking with fear. "Onegai, yamete! Hanase!" She cried out as one of the guys took hold of her wrist violently.

"And why would we?" The gangster leered. "How 'bout you give us your wallet and we'll leave you alone?"

"Tasukete!" The girl desperately tried to get away, but there was a little problem. She was blind, and she couldn't get away without outside help. Ban quickly noticed that certain handicap, and he felt a stab of annoyance at how they took advantage of a blind girl. That was the final straw. He wasn't a save-the-day sort of guy, but this was just too conscience-racking.

"How about you let her go?" Ban cut in, entering the scene.

The gangsters all turned to look at him, and they smirked.

"You picked the wrong time to play hero to this damsel in distress, dude," one of them replied, taking out a metal stick. The others did the same; taking out weapons.

Ban smirked. "You would even need weapons to take care of me? I could take all of you with my bare hands."

The guy twisting the girl's wrist flushed. "You've got a lot of nerve…"

Ban laughed. "Why don't you guys look in the mirror, and see what's it like to have NO brains at ALL."

"And what makes you think we're stupid!" all of them were now shaking in anger.

"That you even tried to pick a fight with me." And with that done, Ban moved quickly to disarm all his opponents and knock all of them out. Without even breaking a sweat. He turned to the girl. "You okay, miss?"

"H-hai. Arigatou!" The girl turned to sound of the voice and bowed low.

"Yeah." He held out his hand, even though he knew the girl was blind. "Now pay up."

"Uh?" The girl blinked.

"Money," he said, his hand still held out. "L-O-V-E. C'mon, nobody does these things for free."

"Oh…" She giggled a little. "Thank you, again." She took out her wallet, and gave him money. One thousand yen. Ban peered a little into her wallet, since she couldn't see him and all, and was nearly blown away. This girl must be rich.

"My name is Madoka," she introduced. "Thanks for your help."

Ban shrugged. "It's business." He stuffed the money in his pocket.

"Madoka!" A girl with short green hair suddenly jumped in front of the Madoka, glaring at Ban. "Hey, did you—" the girl suddenly stopped, her eyes widening.

"No, Himiko-san!" Madoka interrupted quickly. "He was the one who saved me!"

The girl named Himiko was still speechless. Her eyes were piercing into Ban's, and there was some unreadable emotion sprawled all over it. Ban started feeling uncomfortable.

"Um…uh, see ya then," he said quickly, and took off.

"M-matte!" Madoka called after him, but Ban was already gone.

She sighed, then turned to her friend. The girl's perfume had always been her hint to where she was. "Himiko-san, what's wrong?" she knew something was wrong.

Himiko shook her head. "I-it's nothing," she answered softly.

Madoka wondered why Himiko didn't want to talk about her problem. "Well…let's get to school then," she suggested after a minute of uncomfortable silence. Himiko nodded, though the girl couldn't see her, and grabbed Madoka's hand and they walked to school together.

"Madoka…were you able to get his name?" Himiko asked when they were nearing the school.

Madoka shook her head. "Iie, Himiko-san."

Himiko looked away. It was him…but it couldn't be…he…he was supposed to be gone

Ban looked around the school suspiciously. The moment he entered the school, he got this extreme case of paranoia that someone was following him. And his senses were well developed, so someone was following him.

Other than that, most of the kids seemed to be eyeing him like predators for their prey, and Ban could tell they weren't any ordinary kids. He briefly wondered how HEVN and Natsumi survived in these conditions. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if people randomly harassed those two.

As he got lost in thought, a male student came up to him. "New kid?" he said, smirking.

Ban glared at him. "Yeah. So?"

"Looks like we have to give you the customary welcome." At that moment a few dozens of other kids came toward him, evil smirks abound. Ban clenched his fists. What had he gotten himself into?

At that moment, one of them came surging toward him, and Ban managed to evade in time. They didn't look strong, but looks could be deceiving. Especially now.

A kick came from behind him, forcing him forward, where a ready student punched him directly in the face. Luckily, his sunglasses didn't break. His lip bleeding, Ban counterattacked with knocking out several students with lightning fast punches. Good, but not enough. Especially since someone had grasped his wrists and inevitably tried to break it.

Ban was used to pain, but the feel of his bones being dislocated wasn't very good. Scratch that, it hurt like hell. He yanked his wrists away, trying to come up fast with a plan that would not involve him getting suspended from school. Especially since this was his first day.

Then, there was a sudden sound of…bells? And at that moment, all the students stopped moving. Everyone just froze. Ban looked around. Why?

"Oh no…" Several of the students looked panicked. Some of them desperately tried to move, but it was in vain.

Ban looked closer at the students, and saw that they were trapped by strings. Crisscrossing everywhere, holding all the students fast, except for him. Unbelievable. Who could have done this?

"This school and it's barbaric traditions," a melodic voice behind him commented. "No wonder Raitei came here to fix everything up." Ban turned, and saw a girl with long brown hair holding all the strings with a small bell in her hand.

"Uh…thanks," Ban said awkwardly. He wasn't used to being saved, much less by a harmless looking girl. Yup, looks were certainly deceiving.

She pushed her long hair backward. "You ought to be more careful…your first week here will be rough," she warned softly, before leaving. Then she turned again, speaking to the trapped students this time. "It's up to Raitei if he wants to let you go. Personally, I don't think he should. Goodbye." And the girl quickly jumped up, and then she was gone.

Ban blinked. Why did strange things kept happening to him today?

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Hee hee hee….

First chapter done! Please review if you can!