“I thought you said we were going to the Honkey Tonk, Ban-chan,” Ginji ran to catch up with his partner who had turned down a back street, away from their usual haunt.  Ban shrugged. 

“There’s something I wanna show you,” he said flatly.  Ginji squeeled in delight and grasped his friend excitedly on the arm.

“Is it a surprise, Ban-chan?  Ooh what is it?!”

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you would it, idiot.”  Ginji laughed happily and, still grasping Ban’s arm, followed him through a maze of streets Ginji didn’t think he’d ever seen before.  After a few minutes of walking, Ginji noticed the buildings were starting to thin out and they were passing more open areas.  To their right was a large park covered in bright green grass with a few thick trees dotted randomly on the landscape.  It was strange, he thought idly, that no one was in the park.  In fact, it seemed they were seeing fewer and fewer people as they walked further from the Shinjuku Ginji was familiar with.  And he could swear it was getting warmer.  Back near the Honkey Tonk it had definitely been overcast.  But the further they walked, the sunnier it became.  Now there was not one cloud in the sky.

“It really got hot suddenly, didn’t it Ban-chan?” he said, finally letting go of Ban’s arm to stop and look up at the sky.  But he received no reply.

“Ban-chan?” he asked again.  Looking away from the sky now, Ban was nowhere to be seen.  Ginji was starting to feel slightly uneasy.  The heat, the parks, the quiet.  He thought he knew Shinjuku well but this place was unfamiliar and seemed at odds with the noisy, crowded Shinjuku he was used to.  Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t see the looming towers of Mugenjou anywhere in the distance, though he was sure they hadn’t walked far enough to be out of the shadow of that place.  It all felt wrong and empty, though he knew he should be loving the warmth and openness surrounding him. 

“Ban-chan?”  Ginji called again.  Louder now.  He wasn’t panicking, but there was no one around and the world seemed too quiet, too calm.  He began walking in the direction they had been headed.  He passed a few more buildings to the left, calling loudly down each of the side streets to make sure Ban hadn’t turned down one.  Still no reply.  He looked back towards the park.  It seemed to go on endlessly, but was flat so he was sure he would see Ban if he had gone that way.  Unless he was hiding behind a tree.  But Ban didn’t do things like that so Ginji didn’t think that was the case.  And still no sign of any other people.  Now Ginji was feeling distinctly disturbed. Like the world had all gone wrong.  Like he was the only one left in it.  Though he knew if he turned around and walked back the way he had come, he’d be back in the busy streets of Shinjuku in just a few minutes.  Well, if he could remember the way.  Ginji stopped walking and looked back.  Maybe he should do that?  He just didn’t feel right.  And where had Ban gone?  He looked forward again and was surprised to see Ban standing a few metres up the road.

“Oi, Ginji!  What you hanging around for?” he called.  Ginji sprinted up to his friend.

“Where’d you go?” he asked, “And where are we going anyway?”  Ban was looking at him through his purple glasses, which Ginji noticed were pushed all the way up his nose, so much so that Ginji couldn’t look into his friend’s eyes like he usually could.  Maybe Ban felt a bit uneasy too.  That was usually why he pushed his glasses up like that.  As well as to keep them from falling off, of course.  But Ban just shrugged.

“I told you.  It’s a surprise.”  And he turned around and continued up the street.  Ginji followed closely, not wanting to lose his partner again. 

“Ban-chan, this place feels weird.  What’s going on?” he asked after walking a few more metres in tense silence.

“Huh?  What are you on about?  It’s a warm day and there are parks everywhere round here.  Don’t you like that kind of thing?”  But Ban’s voice was low and expressionless and he didn’t turn around or stop to speak to him, just continued walking steadily, his hands shoved deep in his pockets.  Ginji stopped walking and stared curiously at the back of Ban’s head.

“Ban-chan?  What’s wrong?  You’re acting weird too,” he asked quietly, cautiously looking around, knowing now that something was definitely wrong.  A few steps ahead of him Ban stopped abruptly but didn’t turn around.  Instead, he slowly removed his hands from his pockets, bringing with them his pack of cigarettes and lighter.  Ginji watched as Ban slowly took out and lit a cigarette, then returned the pack and lighter to his pockets.  He sighed heavily as he exhaled the smoke, then spoke.

“I don’t know what you’re on about, Ginji,” Ban took another drag on his cigarette, “Nothing usually bothers you’re little brain, so I don’t know why this should.”  Ginji frowned.  Ban often called Ginji an idiot and told him he was stupid, but this time his words were cold and spiteful, as if he were talking to an enemy.  And even though he was sweating and could feel the sun burning his bare arms, Ginji felt suddenly cold as Ban turned to face him.

“I’m trying to help you, Ginji.  Can’t you see that?” Ban’s voice was quiet, dispassionate.  It didn’t sound like Ban-chan at all, Ginji thought.  His friend motioned towards the park.

“It’s my eyes, you see,” Ban smirked at the phrase, then started walking towards the grass.                    

  “Ban…chan.  I’m going back,” Ginji said loudly, trying to hide the fear in his voice.  This wasn’t Ban-chan.  This wasn’t Shinjuku.  And Ginji just wanted to go back to earlier, when he’d been in the car with his best friend, trying to steal one of the rice balls Ban was hoarding.  But this Ban didn’t stop, or even turn around as he said;

“I thought you would.  Eventually.  But you can’t.”  Ginji was really starting to get annoyed with Ban’s cryptic replies.  So he told him so.

“Like I said,” this Ban laughed humourlessly, “I’m just trying to help.  So do what you want.” Ginji felt hopelessly confused and could think of nothing to do but follow this Ban, quashing the panic rising from the pit of his stomach as he ran to catch up.  It seemed this Ban was heading towards a clump of trees not far off.

“Is this the surprise?” Ginji asked skeptically.  Ban stopped and turned to Ginji, his eyes still completely hidden behind those purple glasses.  Still smoking, Ban replied slowly, as though speaking to a child.

“In there,” he pointed to the trees, “Go in there.” Then he started walking back the way he came.  Ginji stood for a moment completely perplexed.  The Ban thing was quickly walking back towards the street now.  He didn’t even look back.  Now Ginji was completely convinced that that had not been his Ban.  But still, he reflected, he had come this far so he might as well see what this was all about.  Then go and find Ban-chan.  Ban-chan knew about weird stuff like this.  With this in mind, Ginji walked resolutely towards the coppice, prepared for the worst. 

As soon as he had passed between the first trees, Ginji felt the temperature drop and the light lessen even though the trees were not particularly dense.  It was easy to make his way through the trees though he had no idea which way he was supposed to be going.  So he just walked in a straight line as best he could, looking cautiously around all the time for any signs of attack.  So focused was Ginji on the area around him that he didn’t notice a ball in his path and, flapping his arms frantically, tripped on it landing solidly on his back. 

“Owww…” Ginji sat up and rubbed his back tenderly, looking for the cause of his fall.  The ball sat a few feet in front of him.  Ginji wondered if this was what he had come all this way for.  He pushed himself off the ground, walked over to the ball then picked it up cautiously.  Nothing happened.  The ball looked and felt completely ordinary so Ginji let it fall to his feet, not wanting it to get in the way should he get attacked, and continued walking.  Strange, Ginji thought, that ball being there.  And the fact that on the outside it hadn’t looked like the forested area was very big.  But he’s been going deeper into the coppice for at least 10 minutes now. 

Then he heard it.  Almost inaudible at first.  A quiet ringing somewhere in front of him.  He followed the sound, though it never seemed to get any louder.  Instead it was overtaken by a gentle rustling of undergrowth and a few twigs snapping.  Sensing a presence, Ginji moved even more cautiously onwards until he saw a small figure walking slowly through the trees.  He stopped.  From where he was standing, Ginji could see it was a small girl, maybe 6 or 7.  Seemingly sensing someone watching her the girl stopped and looked in Ginji’s direction. 

“Is anyone there?” she called a little fearfully.  Not wanting to scare the child, Ginji stepped out from behind the trees and waved at the girl.  He smiled as kindly as he could.

“Ah…hello.  It’s only…um…me,” he called back, but then realised that the girl didn’t know who “me” was, “I was just walking through the woods.  Have you seen anything strange?”  The girl looked at him oddly, then smiled and began walking over to him.

“Only you!” she giggled as she came up to stand in front of the blond man.  Ginji laughed.

“Sorry if I scared you,” he said, scratching his head guiltily, “But what are you doing in here on your own?”

“I was looking for someone!” the girl replied brightly.

“Who is it?  Maybe I can help you?” Ginji was worried the girl would get lost and the uneasiness he felt still hadn’t left him.  He certainly didn’t want the little girl to get hurt, like…

He didn’t want to know why he had just thought of that, but he didn’t want to think about it.  The girl was giggling now. 

“It’s okay.  I don’t want to find them now.  I’m going home,” she said.  Then walked away in the direction Ginji had just come waving as she disappeared into the trees.  That was the second time today someone had walked past him without explaining anything.  The day really was becoming very annoying.  Ginji wondered if he should go after the girl, but she seemed to know where she was going and he had just come from that way so he supposed it was safe.  So he went on for a couple more minutes.  The trees started to thin out and it was getting warmer again.  Maybe what ever it was he was supposed to see was the other side of the trees?  He sped up a little bit, quickly arriving at the edge of the tree line, then walking out onto the concrete path.  There were lots of people here.  And noise.  It was as though someone had turned on the sound as soon as he stepped out of the wood.  Looking back into the trees, nothing seemed unusual about them anymore.  Not quite knowing what to do, Ban followed the path a little way before it suddenly hit him that he knew exactly where he was now.  This was Shinjuku Park.  But that was the other side of Shinjuku to where he’d been with that Ban earlier.  How had he got over here?  And where was the thing he was supposed to see?  Ban had said it was in the coppice.  Maybe it had been the ball?  Or maybe…maybe the girl.  Not understanding any of it, Ginji broke into a run, mind set on finding Ban-chan who he was sure would know what had just happened.