Ms. Brightside

Disclaimer: Lupin isn't mine, but Lealah is. Leave her alone. The song isn't mine either.

A/N: I've always wanted to write a short fic about Lealah actually being in one of the episodes, and this is what I came up with! Lealah's thoughts during Shot Through the Heart. Poor kid. Featuring Mr. Brightside by the killers. I only did the last verse because it's my favorite (just because of the way they do the "It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss" part Shut up, I'm a band nerd! ) and the song's just so repetitive.

I followed them to make sure Jigen would be ok. I had a bad feeling about that girl all along. Not just because Jigen liked her. I'm not that shallow, or stupid. Anyway, the point is, I followed them. I think he knew; God only knows if she did, and I called Lupin to let him know what I was doing. He didn't like it, but he was in no position to chase after me. Something about tiny handcuffs. I remember wondering if Fujiko was there.

Anyway, up until then I'd been really excited about traveling places and just getting out of Georgia. My foster parents' house had almost been like a prison. When Lupin and Jigen got me out, it was freedom! The thought in my head was 'I'm young, I'm a Lupin, the world is mine!' I thought I was invincible. I guess that's what this little episode in Barcelona taught me; no one is invincible, even the ones who you most think are.

Time and time again I think back and try to see what the catalyst was so I could see what, if anything, I could have done. The wink didn't do it; he was suspicious. Neither did the rose, though it was the hook. The line would have to be the kidnapping, and the sinker would have to be the kiss. Before the kiss he was talking about darts. Pft, I could play darts a thousand times better than her. After that first kiss though, things went downhill. I had to grab the wheel, still screaming for her to stop and him to watch the road so none of us died. After we pulled over, I sensed they needed time alone, or what they thought was time alone, and I got out and I followed them. Sometimes I wish I hadn't. Jeez, it was just a kiss. One, little kiss, and from that, so much heartbreak and pain. Just one kiss.

Coming out of my cage, and I've been doing just fine,
Gotta, gotta be down because I want it all.
It's started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this?
It was only a kiss.

It was only a kiss.

I followed them. Heh, you're probably really annoyed at me for saying that so many times, but it's when my problems started. So I'll say it one last time; I followed them. It was hard, them in a car and me on foot. Then the car swerved off the road and hit a tree. It wasn't head on or anything, so I wasn't too worried, and I rolled my eyes, thinking, correctly, that she had started kissing him again. I climbed a tree to hide as Jigen climbed out to assess the damage. I guess the car was unusable, because the next thing I knew, she was on a cell phone calling a cab. The cab took a long time to get there, and I had almost fallen asleep by the time it got there. I woke up in time, though, and followed them. Yeah, I know I said one last time. I lied.

Do you know how hard it is to follow a car on foot? It's insane. I had to pull out all the stops just to keep up with them, then use skills I didn't know I had to stay hidden. But, I'm a Lupin, and I'm just that good, so I managed to keep up with them. They ended up at a hotel. I saw them in a window and a tree branch from a tree nearby was the perfect place to keep watch, so I climbed up there. Jigen had lit a cigarette, of course, and was offering her a puff, which she took. Then she was kissing him again, loosening his tie. I felt ill at the sight, knowing where it was going, but I couldn't look away just yet. At first he seemed a little hesitant, but that was lost very quickly. He stared to take off her dress and I couldn't watch anymore. I sat on a branch with my back to the window and cranked my iPod volume to the max. Yeah, I know it seems weird to carry around an MP3 player on something like this, but it can hold much more than music and I had tweaked the programming on this one. I didn't want to see them or hear them, I wished that I was too naïve to know what they were doing. I wished I hadn't followed them. Heh, I might as well stop fooling myself on that. I wasn't following them, I was following him.

Now I'm falling asleep and she's calling a cab
While he's having a smoke, and she's taking a drag.
Now they're going to bed and my stomach is sick, and it's all in my head
But she's touching his chest now,
He takes off her dress now
Let me go.
I just can't look, it's killing me
And taking control.

All I could do is sit in the tree and mull in my own misery. I wanted to kill her! To watch her die slowly. And painfully. Very, very painfully. With guns and knives, and maybe… I stopped thinking, shocked at myself. I know I'm a thief and all, but to a small extent I try to live a semi-Christian, not-really-but-kinda-halfway religious life, like Goemon. I was horrified at myself.

I sunk my head in my hands. God, I was screwed up. Here I was, 16 years old, and I couldn't get over a guy twice my age. I should be happy for him. I would certainly never have a chance with him, and I knew it. I should be happy that he had a shot at happiness. A song came on my iPod about being unable to tell someone you like them. It mocked me, but it was soft and soothing, calming me at the same time that it roused my anger. I contemplated just throwing it and smashing it, but I needed it to drown the world out, so I opted to change the song. Heh, we come on the Sloop John B, my grandfather and me…

Oh, Jeez, I was going to have to come up with a story on where I was for Jigen. I knew he'd ask where I went when I left the car; he always tends to worry about me like that. I think it's because he lost his little sister. Who knows?

This is what I get for falling for him, I guess. I shouldn't be worrying about stuff like that anyway. I have a legacy to uphold. The first female Lupin in history to become a thief! Why can't I just forget about all guys, not just him? I don't need a boyfriend. I need to focus on my destiny. That's all that matters, not Jigen, not anything else. He obviously doesn't need me, and I don't need him. I turned my eyes to the rising sun in the distance. It was a new day, and I felt much better. I just had to think positive.

Jealousy, turning saints into the sea,
Swimming through sick lullabies,
Choking on your alibis,
But it's just the price I pay, destiny is calling me,
I open up my eager eyes,
Cause I'm Mr. Brightside.

Well, you've seen the show Monkey Punch did on most us (screw you, too, Monkey Punch!); you know how it turns out. She ends up betraying him, betraying us all, and he kills her. All I could do was be a good friend and help him through his pain. Eventually, he got over it and we went back to the way it was before. After a few weeks he confronted me about what I saw and I told him, and it was all okay. The last thing he ever said to me about it was "At least she didn't kill us. It could have been a lot worse."

I told him, "See? You just have to look on the bright side."