Snowflakes danced gracefully to Earth's ground of dirt and light emerald blades of grass. A few leaves of crimson, light yellow, and brown were still left over from Autumn as the crystallized raindrops began to cover it all up as if it were hiding the world's former self. On the sidewalks of New York the crowds were an endless ocean of faces, presents, cell phones, and suitcases. The snowflakes seemed to dodge all of New York except the streets and the parks with their lakes as blue as sapphires. The ice skating ring held lonely skaters, friends, and couples all circling and performing to random Christmas music or music in general.
However one man walked past all the holiday hustle and bustle, past the joyous ice skaters and fake Santa's. He had already gotten his Christmas presents for everyone except for one person. This one person was the one that was always on his mind no matter how many times he tried to deny it. This one person was the one he had emotions for as much as he attempted not to. This was one person was in the gang.
And to hell it wasn't Lupin.
He had his times with Lupin and hell he didn't want them again. All those times of bondage, being the slave of it all...he loathed it ungodly. Sure, there were points in which the Master Thief treated him like a person but some other times, he didn't. The lit cigarette that dangled from his lips only reminded him of how much passion he had for his boss. But to him, it was kind of humorous as of how no matter where Lupin was always called the boss, even in the bedroom for crying out loud! And yet sometimes...he was the boss. He was the dominant alpha male. He was the one who got a chance to use his second gun in both terms of right and wrong in intercourse.
And then, things changed.
He was no longer the alpha but the beta. He was the recessive lowlife that Lupin made him feel like. When in truth he never was or so he believed. His secondary "weapon" was used rarely and was hardly ever exposed. He lost his lust for Lupin and soon found himself the prey of what became a horrid obsession. He managed to free himself from it by staying with his new love, Goemon Ishikawa the 13th.
Goemon was the opposite of Lupin. He was gentle like that of a glorified angel they called Gabriel and was easy to agree with and become closer to. They were both open with each other no matter the consequences and were almost complicated to break apart. Now the question was for the gunman: what to get someone you truly love?
Would you give them the brightest star in heaven?
No, you'd need a really tall ladder for that...and there wasn't any around or any that he knew of.
Would you give them the world?
No, because to them you already are their world.
Would you give them the moon?
No, because like in It's a Wonderful Life you'd need a rope to pull it down. And no one can throw as far as to that of the moon's height.
Would you give them diamonds?
Yes...wait, no,Goemon doesn't crossdress!
...Much.
Would you give them...the key to your heart?
No, he already has that.
The gunman's mind raced with questions as he figured he'd think this all over in the nearest bar which thank God was across the street. As he crossed with the river of people surrounding him he wondered if giving the perfect gift to Goemon this year would be impossible. But then again, he had witnessed his exboyfriend hypnotized by the old mask of Tutenkamen so then nothing can really be impossible. Can it?
No.
He entered a bar that seemed so familiar to him called The Lenox Club. He glanced at the alleyway next to it and stood before the long dark passage of memories of hustling, gunshots, and possible blood. He reminisced the time that he was beginning held up by a few gangsters that held him at gunpoint. But after what he did to them they ran off with no money in their wallets but a sense of terror in their guts. He smiled foolishly before entering the bar and ordering a dry Manhattan. He missed New York but he still liked the drink.
There were a few other people in the bar and a lone singer on stage. He swore he saw her name on the way coming in on a poster but he didn't really take notice. He turned his back to the bar with his drink in his hand and watched her. She looked so familiar to him, perhaps it was from a heist? He didn't know. She was a lovely black woman of youth wearing a purple dress of Mardi Gra violet. She wore gold bracelets, the same shade as her hair on her thin wrist of light chocolate. Her eyes glimmered in the spotlight that focused on her and no one else as she sung with a French accent.
He exhaled a bit from his cigarette as he took in another drag and noticed one of the people in the bar was wearing a red blazer. His hair appeared to be as black as the world around him as felt Jigen back teeth clench at the sight of the figure before him. If he didn't know it than it was none other than Lupin. However, when the man turned to leave he realized it wasn't Lupin but apparently a girl who had cut her hair short almost like Lupin.
The sharpshooter breathed a sigh of relief as the lights in the bar went out.
The singer was gone as well as the band and so was the bartender. But it was awkward how everything closed down in all one quick second. He searched everywhere for the time when he remembered that he was wearing a watch. He pulled back his sleeve and squinted into the shadows but realized that it didn't work. He needed a light. Not just for his cigarette but for his curiosity as well. He saw a glimmer of light flash before him as his cigarette was brimming with light again and that the face of his watch read nine o'clock. Nine o'clock was the closing time for a bar? It was a bit awkward indeed as the lighter that helped him read time was still ablaze.
"Thanks, man."
"No problem...Jigen."
He recognized the tone as he jumped a bit to see the lighter revealed the face of his old lover: Arsene Lupin the Third. Jigen knew he was missing from the gang a while, but he had only said that he was going to meet Fujiko in Moscow for some reason. Even that was strange, how he didn't want Goemon and Jigen to come along (and the Master Thief ALWAYS brought them along). He also acknowledged the fact that Lupin still had that unhealthy obsession over the sharpshooter. Surely, he believed that maybe Lupin had gotten over him now, and moved on...right?
Wrong.
As he saw Lupin's coy smile ignited by the flame he also felt something be pressed over his heart. He heard it click as his eyes widened a bit and he jumped out of the way. He took in the sound that echoed after the click, a gunshot. Lupin fired his Walther P 38 at him. Was this some sort of a sick joke? Jigen had only hoped so as he looked back into the eyes of his former love.
"Boss?! What the-"
"Jigen...I've realized something. Every time I watched you get into the shower," Jigen felt his heart burst. " Every time I watched you with Goemon...sexual or normal...," Jigen felt his mind race with all thoughts of the impossible and strange. "Every time...I watched you in general, I realized something...something that I should've seen before..," the gunman placed the pieces together in his mind and soon started to see through everything. He finally saw what made the noises on the roof, what footsteps he heard running across the attic, what whispers of longing and lingering seduction he heard at night when Goemon wasn't there. It was all Lupin.
"What boss?"
"That if I can't have you...," he clicked his gun again, "then NOBODY WILL."
"Boss!"
"Shut up, Jigen! I've seen you with Goemon. I've seen what you've been doing with him! Why? We had that together, but it was better, you know it was! Jigen, why did you leave me, why damnit?!"
"Boss,I-"
"No more...no more. It is settled, neither Goemon or I will have you...but Hell will."
He fired another shot at Jigen as the marksman whipped out his Combat Magnum as he dodged the bullet and the gun fight began. Bullets went astray as the two hid behind objects to defend themselves and often reloaded their weapons. They took no time to throw curses and names at each other, at least until they were down to their last bullets. Both of them had only one bullet in their gun and none in their pockets as they now stared at each other. Both panting, both grazed, both hit with blood covering them one places of their body. They were like savages on an island of survival with the last piece of food as their prize. In this case, death was the ultimate score. Their eyes met in the darkness as they breathed heavily. Jigen's cigarette was still in tact and clenched between his lips as Lupin's lighter was still in his pocket.
"Boss," Jigen spoke through his breaths," what the hell is wrong with you?"
"Nothing, Jigen. Tell you what. I'll give you 5 seconds to get out of here and NEVER come back again."
"Boss-"
"1."
The sharpshooter started to make a run for the door. He was timing himself in his head how long it would take to run from the stage to the door. If he counted correctly, it was a perfect 5 seconds. Luck was on his side or so he believed as he kept his smirk. He dared not brag about how he would escape in 5 seconds, especially to Lupin.
"2."
He felt his heart racing with his ribcage as he still gripped his combat magnum and ran even faster. His legs seemed to carry him with every trace of lightspeed there ever existed. In his mind he could see Goemon. He could feel the soft strands of darkness instead of his gun, weaving through his fingers. He swore the wall held his beloved's eyes as blackened as the shadows from whence they came. His samurai was smiling at him. His meditation and sword gone. As if his mind were fooling him he heard Goemon calling his name softly as if it were balanced on heaven's fine air of passion. But what he heard next made his heart sink to the ground and his mind multiply with unlimited consequences of torment and terror.
"5."
His eyes widened and even though he kept running he felt his heart stop. The next thing he saw was a lighter fly before him and ignite the door causing it to burst in flames. Jigen stopped dead on his heels and looked everywhere for the Master Thief.
Nothing.
No one.
Nobody.
He was gone.
Jigen felt his heart regain consciousness as it banged against his bones like that of a thousand lightning strikes against the darkened clouds of naught. The rain was his sweat trickling down his forehead as he attempted to find a way out. His weapon was still gripped firmly in his hand as his darted left and right but sadly he didn't look up. It was at the last moment that he heard something click from above him. He dashed out of the way quickly as he felt the fire's heat gaining up on him. Lupin jumped down and shot him straight through the arm. The gunman winced in pain as he cursed madly and clamped his eyes shut. He opened them in a split second to see Lupin now pressing him on the edge of touching the fire. Jigen felt his heart race as he brought his gun to his boss' abdomen. As for Lupin he didn't hesitate and brought it to the gunman's heart. The Master Thief's smile was as twisted and demented as that of the Devil's sick games. He didn't wait for any words to escape his lover's lips and fired the gun.
At that moment blood splattered all over Lupin's abdomen as he saw his obsession fall back into the devastating flames. He wouldn't allow that, oh hell no. It was as if life and death were in a dance together as Lupin pulled him close and dipped him away from the fire. He looked down at Jigen now. His eternal love now eternally asleep, never to awake again.
"Poor fool...you could've easily surrendered...but no, you had to take the hard way," he kissed the dead and allowed him to fall from his grasp. His body hit the floor with a thud as the lord of all thieves smiled with a sadistic manner. As he went to search for the hidden trapdoor he realized that the smoke was blinding him from trying to find it. He placed his hand over his mouth to keep it all away but that didn't help him any as he found himself starting to cough. And before he knew it, the worse thing occurred. One of the beams from the ceiling fell on the small of his back and trapped him from going anywhere.
----
A few weeks later their bodies were buried side by side in the nearest cemetery.
To the left, the gunman's' read:
Jigen Osaka Daisuke
1970 - 2006
"Darkness was his night
Darkness was his day
Until his love showed him the way"
To the right, his killer's read:
Arsene Lupin the Third
1973 - 2006
"The Wolf has come
the Blue Arrow has passed
Although his memory shall forever last."
However, there was one awkward thing no one could ever decipher about Lupin's grave. Over time the word 'memory' was crossed out and above it the word 'kill' was written in blood in Japanese.