Ban stood outside the restroom, arms crossed over his chest, waiting. He could hear humming from inside, punctuated by the occasional running of water, and he wondered for the hundredth time why on earth Ginji took so long to get ready in the mornings. It didn't help that they didn't have their own bathroom to use - the other people inside the convenience store were starting to look at him funny.

     It also didn't help that they hadn't had a good place to park the 360, and a policeman could happen by anytime. And, Ban thought with gritted teeth, he was really getting to the point where he could stand to use the bathroom. You'd think he'd have remembered to get in there before Ginji this time, he thought - they'd gone through this every morning so far since they met.

     Finally growing more than impatient, Ban reached over and gave a back-handed knock to the door. "Hey, Ginji! What're you doing in there?"

     "Ah - sorry, Ban-chan!" the cheerful voice called from inside. "You can come in if you need to, I'm almost done..."

     Ban did so, and ignored Ginji as he took care of the most urgent order of business. Having finished, he zipped up and turned around again to go to the sink - and stopped dead in his tracks.

     Along the back of the small public restroom's sink, aside from the toothbrush and toothpaste he'd expected, a small collection of bottles and tubes were lined up in various stages of use. "What's all this stuff?" he asked, picking up a small bottle and looking at it curiously.

     Focusing mostly on the mirror behind the sink as he carefully combed his hair up into their usual spikes, Ginji's eyes darted to the side to look at Ban's reflection. "That's conditioner," he informed his friend. "And there's shampoo, and styling gel..."

     Ban looked over at Ginji in disbelief. "What, you washed your hair in this tiny sink? But your hair..."

     "Of course - this bathroom has a blow-dryer!" Ginji told him, sticking his head under the machine next to the sink and reaching up to punch the button that turned it on, completely disregarding the operating instructions that clearly showed the device was meant to dry hands. "This is great!"

     Ban caught himself about to laugh - Ginji had a lot of things to learn yet about the world outside the Infinite Castle, but he sure was inventive. Instead Ban just grinned, setting the bottle back down on the back of the sink, and picked up the tube sitting next to it. "And styling gel? What are you, some kind of girl?"

     "Hey!" With a playfully wounded look, Ginji got up and tried to snatch it out of Ban's hand. Thanks to Ban's grip, he only succeeded in squirting some of the gel into Ban's hand before he gave up. "Just because I know how to make my hair look good, that makes me a girl?"

     This time Ban did laugh, shaking his head. "The fact you spend half an hour with hair care products every morning - that makes you a girl. At least now I know what you've been taking so long with - I was starting to wonder just what would keep a guy busy for this long..."

     Ginji blushed, understanding the implication. "B-Ban-chan...! It's not like that..."

     "Yeah, so I see." Ban tossed the tube of styling gel back to Ginji. "Finish up - we've gotta find some work, unless you want to keep using this public restroom every morning for the rest of our lives. The clerks are starting to catch on, and there's never any good parking."

     With a nod, Ginji went back to combing his hair, and Ban watched with amusement, pushing his glasses up his nose. "So that's how you get your hair to do that... I was starting to think it was residual static."

     "Very funny, Ban-chan." Still absorbed in his work, Ginji didn't even look up from the mirror as he combed his hair with the utmost concentration, then ran his fingers through it. "At least my hair does something other than just hanging there."

     "Hey, what's wrong with my hair?"

     "Nothing," Ginji said quickly, still preoccupied with his own. "I just like mine to have a little special something, that's all."

     "A little special something..." Ban muttered, looking down at the gel that had been squeezed onto his palm. "Hmmm..."

     Ginji looked up in surprise as Ban's reflection appeared next to his in the mirror. "Huh? Ban-chan, what are you doing?"

     "What does it look like I'm doing?" Ban ran his fingers through his hair slowly, slipping his own comb from his back pocket to spread the gel upwards more evenly, then reached for the tube again.

     "Hey! That's mine!" Ginji exclaimed, again failing to take the tube back from Ban despite his best efforts. "I wouldn't touch your cigarettes, would I?"

     Ban ignored his protests, and calmly combed more of the gel through his hair, regarding his reflection in the mirror seriously. "You can have one if you want."

     "I don't!" Ginji stared at Ban's styling efforts in the mirror and frowned. "Are you making fun of me? Your hair's too long for that - you'll look like some silly manga character!"

     Running his fingers through his hair again, Ban shook his head, sending the long spikes he'd formed sticking out every which way. Turning to Ginji, he grinned. "So, how does it look? Do I have that 'special something' you were talking about?"

     "Well... it's, uh... something, all right." Ginji peered at Ban for a moment, and then a wide smile parted his lips as he started to laugh. "Ban-chan, you look ridiculous!"

     Ban laughed too, from behind the few spikes that still hung down in front of his face. "That bad?"

     Ginji started to nod, then stopped. Looking Ban over more carefully, the expression on his face turned from mirth to interest. "Actually..."

     "Hmm...?"

     Ginji tilted his head to the side, then took a step sideways, still peering at Ban. Ban eyed him curiously over the edges of his glasses, his eyes darting back and forth to follow as Ginji examined him from different angles.

     "Actually..." Ginji said finally, looking somewhat startled as he came to stand in front of Ban again, "it doesn't look bad at all. Not after a second look..."

     Ban smirked. "Yeah?"

     "Yeah. Sort of... wild and artsy. Even if it's kind of weird..."

     "Hmm, wild and artsy," Ban repeated thoughtfully, staring at his reflection in the mirror out of the corner of his eye. After a minute, he shrugged. "Are you done with your hair?"

     "Yep - all done," Ginji affirmed. "We can go as soon as you're ready."

     "Okay, get your stuff together then," Ban told him, rinsing the residual gel off his hands in the sink. "We've already spent too much time here."

     "Uh, but... Ban-chan?" Ginji looked at him, questioning, as Ban dried his hands under the dryer. "You're going to go out like that?"

     "Sure, why not?" Not waiting for the hot air to fully dry his hands, Ban wiped them on his pants and reached for the bottles on the back of the sink. "Don't want to leave these behind, do you?"

     "But..." Ginji stuck his things into the small bag he'd brought in from the car, still staring at Ban.

     "You said it's not bad, didn't you?" Ban took another glance at their reflection, and smiled. "I like it."

     "Well, yeah, but..." Finally Ginji just shook his head. "...You're really weird, Ban-chan."

     Ban just laughed, dropping an arm around Ginji's shoulders as they exited the restroom. If anyone could help him find his own "little special something", it would be Ginji. Even if it was something as minor as a hairstyle.