“Oi.  Ginji.  Wake up,” Ginji slowly opened his sleepy eyes to the sight of Ban standing outside the car door window vigourously toweling off his hair, “we’re supposed to meet Hevn at ten, remember?” Ginji yawned widely and slowly sat up.  He turned towards his partner who seemed to be giving him a strange grin.  Ginji frowned.

  “What?” he asked suspiciously.

  “Nothing,” his friend replied, “Now get a move on.”  Ban turned away from the window and walked back forwards the fountain he had been washing in.  Ginji watched him as he started brushing his teeth.  The blond was in no hurry to get up.  It felt like it was going to be a hot and sticky day and Ginji felt tired, like he had hardly slept at all.

  “Oi, you idiot!”  Ban was shouting at him, toothbrush being brandished threateningly,  “Stop watching me like a pervert and get up!”  Ginji grinned innocently, realising he must have been staring at his partner for some time for him to get so moody.  He got out the car and, taking his own toothbrush and towel with him, went to join Ban by the fountain.

　“You know stuff about dreams, right, Ban-chan?” Ginji asked sleepily. 

  “Why’d you ask that?” Ban said around his toothbrush.

  “Well I usually have lots of dreams but lately I haven’t had any,” Ginji replied, rubbing the soreness from his neck brought about by sleeping in a car.

  “Maybe you just don’t remember,” Ban suggested.  Ginji thought for a moment.

  “But I usually remember them.  It’s just weird…”  Ban turned his head and studied his partner’s face for a moment.  Ginji thought he saw Ban frown for a second, but then his friend shrugged and turned his face back towards the fountain.

  “Shouldn’t worry about it,” he said, and started washing his face.  Ginji stood watching Ban, wondering why he was acting so strangely when he noticed a pair of piercing blue eyes staring at him moodily.

  “What’s up with you today?  You’re staring at me like some weird stalker again,” Ban huffed.   　

  “How d’you know I’m not stalking you?” Ginji teased.  Ban glared menacingly. 

  “Well if you are, you’re a pretty crap one because stalkers don’t tend to be friends with the person they’re stalking.  Now shut up and brush your teeth,” he turned back to the water fountain and smirked, “don’t want clients to think you’re a slob.”

  “I’m not a slob!” Ginji murmured sullenly.

  “Never said you were,” Ban replied.

  “Yeah, but you implied it.”  Ban straightened up and faced Ginji, grinning evilly.

  “That was a long word for you this early in the morning.  You feeling alright?”

  “Stop being so mean, Ban-chan!  I’m not stupid!  It’s you who always loses all our money!”

  “I do NOT lose the money, it just…” Ban trailed off, trying desperately to think of something to say,

  “You just WHAT, Ban-chan?” Ginji prodded Ban moodily with his toothbrush.

  “Oi, stop prodding me with that!  It’s been in your mouth!” Ban shouted.

  “And you stop trying to change the subject!  We got loads of money from that job last week.  Where is it all now?”

Ban scoffed.  “Most of it’s in that bottomless pit you call a stomach!”  Ginji noticed how Ban had planted his fists on his waist and was scowling menacingly.  Sure signs that he was well on his way to a full-blown rage.  So Ginji scowled back and replied;

“What?  You eat way more than I do!  All you ever do is steal food from me!”

“How can I be stealing when I paid for it!”

“We earned that money together!”

“Like you did much!  I came up with the plan…”

“What plan?  ‘Let’s just go in the house and get it,’ you said, ‘nobody’ll be in,’ you said.  What kind of a plan is that?”

“It worked didn’t it?!”

“Oh yeah!  After I’D fought off those people who you said weren’t in the house so that you could slack off somewhere rifling through a desk!”  Ginji was starting to spark now, but Ban had no intention of losing to his partner.

“I was NOT slacking off!  You’re just too much of an idiot to have worked out where that guy’d hidden the file!”

“I WOULD HAVE WORKED IT OUT!!” Ginji shouted.  Now Ginji really was getting mad.

“No you wouldn’t!  You would have just thrown lightening at the desk until it had turned to charcoal because that’s what you do when you get mad…”

“Yeah.  Just like I’m gonna do to your arse right about now!”  Ginji made to grab Ban’s arm, but Ban pulled it back just in time to avoid being shocked.

“Now, now, Ginji,” he said holding his hands up placatingly, “you don’t need to get so angry…I was just kidding…”

“Well I didn’t think it was funny.” Ginji approached Ban slowly.

“Come on!  I’m your best friend!” Ban argued.

“Oh yeah,” Ginji replied moodily, “My best friend who beats me up all the time and STEALS MY FOOD!”  With that, Ginji stretched out his right arm towards Ban and channeled the electricity as he had done a thousand times before so that it surged from his hands and hit his partner square in the chest.

                                      ***

  “I said I was sorry, Ban-chan,” Ginji dragged alongside his slightly charred friend guiltily as they made their way from the car to the Honkey Tonk.  Ban hadn’t spoken a word to him since he’d electrocuted him back in the park.  Once the shock had passed, Ban had simply stood there, fists clenched, bearing his teeth and giving Ginji a look of doom.  The way Ban was smoking slightly and a bit blackened round the edges would have made Ginji laugh if it wasn’t for the fury in his friend’s eyes.  That friend had then said something Ginji couldn’t understand and walked angrily back to the car.  Ginji had been following him, apologizing profusely, ever since.  And Ban had not said a word. 

  “I didn’t even fry you that much,” Ginji tried again to get Ban to say something to him.  Ban snorted, which was the most reaction Ginji had got from him yet so he pressed on;

  “And you’re used to it really,” Ban turned his head towards Ginji and gave him another one of those looks.  Ginji tried smiling sweetly, but he had the feeling it came out more like a grimace.  He was starting to worry about the evil looks Ban was giving him.  He wondered if Ban would use the Jagan on him in revenge.

  “Aw, come on, Ban-chan.  I’ve used higher volts on you before.  It couldn’t have been that bad…” Ginji could tell immediately he had said the wrong thing from the way Ban’s eyes widened in fury and he stopped walking.  He turned to face Ginji and shouted;

  “I was covered in water!  That damn well HURT!”  Well, at least he’s talking to me, Ginji thought, sort of.  He turned around and started walking again.

  “And now I can’t touch any metal without getting a static shock.  I’ve a good mind to whack you into next week.  AND we’re damn late meeting Hevn…” Ban was mumbling moodily as they approached the Honkey Tonk,  “…if she’s given our job to that idiot monkey boy I’m gonna let you starve…” Ban paused for a moment, thinking. “What’s up with you anyway?  You wouldn’t usually fry me like that.”

  “Haven’t been sleeping much…” Ginji mumbled in reply, “…it’s making me a bit…”

  “Why didn’t you say?” Ban set off up the street again, “What is it? Dreams or something?” Ginji shook his head.

  “No. That’s what I was asking about earlier. I haven’t had a dream in ages.”

  “How long is ages?”

  “About two weeks, I suppose.” Ban made no reply, but he was frowning as though he knew something. 

  “What is it, Ban-chan?” Ginji asked.

  “Nothing,” Ban replied flatly.

  “Ban-chan, it’s not nothing…” Ban shook his head dismissively causing Ginji to frown at him.

  “Don’t make me shock you again,” he threatened, only half jokingly.  Ban turned to his friend, unsure what to say.   

  “It’s just…it’s weird you should mention dreams,” he began.

  “Why’s that?” Ginji looked at Ban expectantly.  Averting his eyes, Ban answered;

  “I’ve been having strange dreams…for about 2 weeks.”  Ginji stopped walking.

  “Why didn’t you say?”  Ban stopped briefly but did not look back at his friend.

  “Weird dreams are nothing unusual for me…” he said thoughtfully, then started walking again turning soon after down the back street on which the Honkey Tonk was located.  Ginji followed after him. 

  “I didn’t know that…” Ginji frowned again, wishing Ban could tell him things the way he could tell Ban anything.  Ban shrugged in reply.  Most people would have said Ban looked angry, but Ginji could tell it was more concern.  “What could it be?” he asked.

  “A lot of things.  Or nothing.  The dreams, though, are like someones’s trying to tell me something…”

  “What are they trying to tell you?”  Ginji looked at his best friend and partner worriedly as they finally came to their destination, “Is it bad, Ban-chan?” Ginji asked.  Ban stopped in front of the door and, pushing up his glasses, replied quietly;