So, chyeah, short but chyeah, whatever.:P I didn't know how to end this chapter, it's obvious. Soooooo . . . Enjoy!:D
Jigen fidgeted nervously at the dinner table, not making any eye contact with anyone. He picked his glass of wine up and brought it to his lips then set it back down without taking a sip. Lupin, who sat across from Jigen, noticed. He quirked an eyebrow in curiosity as he lifted his own wine glass to his lips.
"Jigen? You all right over there?"
"Huh?"
Jigen looked up to see Goemon, Lupin and Fujiko staring at him with concerned looks on their faces. He blinked and picked his glass up again to take a big gulp of his wine. He faked a smile as he set the glass back down.
"I'm good, I'm fine." He leaned back into his seat, looking around. "Where's that damn waiter?"
"You seem nervous." Fujiko said, crossing her legs underneath the table.
"Thank you so much for pointing out the frickin' obvious." Jigen muttered.
"You don't have to be so rude! If you're going to act this way towards me, then I'm just going to leave."
She made a move as if she was about to leave but Jigen reached out to stop her.
"No, don't. You have to stay."
Before anyone could say anything to him the waiter arrived to take their orders. He smiled at them as he took their menus before walking away. Lupin turned back to Jigen, eyebrows furrowing.
"Okay, spill it. What's going on?"
"Nothing, I can't tell you guys. I have to show you."
"Oh, yuck." Fujiko rolled her eyes, picking up her wine glass.
"You have a one-track mind, don't you?" Jigen snapped.
"Nope, that's me." Lupin grinned. "So, what is it?"
"I'll show you after dinner." He said sternly before downing the rest of his wine. "Waiter! Can we get another bottle of wine over here?"
After dinner, Jigen walked ahead of them, his hands in his pockets as he kept a steady pace.
"Jigen, where the hell are we going?" Fujiko asked, her arms crossed over her chest in an attempt to keep herself warm. "Couldn't we have just taken the car?"
"No, there's nowhere to park."
"You're not gonna kill us, are you?" Lupin joked, chuckling. "That's your plan, right? Get us all drunk and full of food then take us to some random spot where no one will find us and kill us?"
"Lupin."
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
Lupin snickered then put an arm around Fujiko, pulling her closer to him so he could keep her warm. She smiled up at him and leaned in closer. Goemon glanced at them, a disgusted look on his face as the two of them nuzzled each other lovingly. Jigen ignored them and kept walking until the park bench came into view. He stopped, pausing for a moment, then ran to the bench.
"Hey!" Lupin shouted, breaking away from Fujiko and running after Jigen. "What're you doing? Wait up!"
"Lupin!" Fujiko called, her voice high with exasperation.
Fujiko and Goemon chased after Lupin as he chased after Jigen, the four of them stopping at the edge of the lake, breathing heavily.
"What's your problem?" Lupin huffed as if he had just gotten done from an intense workout. "Running off like that?"
"This." Jigen grumbled.
"What?"
"This!" Jigen motioned to the lake. "This is what I have to show you."
"A disgusting old lake?" Fujiko grimaced. "Nice, Jigen. Really nice."
"You take us out into the freezing ass cold just to show us some dumb lake, Jigen? Man, are you crazy?" Lupin shivered.
"Would you two shut up?" Goemon snapped, giving the two of them a sideways look. "Obviously if Jigen brought us here, it has to be important."
Lupin and Fujiko stared at Goemon in disbelief for a second before blinking and turning their attention back to Jigen.
"All right, buddy." Lupin started. "Why'd you bring us here?"
"I . . . want you to meet someone." Jigen mumbled. "Someone important to me."
"What?" Fujiko gasped. "You have a girlfriend now, Jigen?"
"No way!" Lupin laughed. "Don't tell me – it's that short chubby bridesmaid from that wedding, right? Or that redhead waitress that works in the restaurant? The one with the big black girl butt?"
Fujiko glared at Lupin, her arms crossed over her chest again.
"Why are you looking at other women's butts, Lupin?"
"Oh, come on, baby!"
"No, you come on!" Fujiko said, pushing him away from her when he tried to get close enough to put his arm around her. "Go find that waitress with the fat ass!"
"It's not a fat ass, it's just round and sticks out a little – kinda like yours."
"Oh, thanks a lot!"
"Enough." Jigen said gruffly, putting a cigarette to his lips and lighting it. "She's not the bridesmaid or the redhead waitress, she's someone completely different. And she really wants to meet you guys, this was her idea."
"Okay, so where is she?" Lupin asked.
"She's . . . she's . . ." Jigen sighed. "In the lake."
"What?"
"Are you kidding me? You're joking, right?" Fujiko scoffed.
Jigen balled his hands up into tight, frustrated fists at his sides as he shook his head.
"No, she lives in the lake." He said through clenched teeth, knowing they weren't going to believe him. "She's a mermaid."
The three standing behind him were quiet. Jigen hunched his shoulders and lowered his head when Lupin let out a loud, obnoxious laugh. Lupin tossed his head back and laughed at the sky, holding his sides.
"You have got to be kidding me!" He choked out. "A mermaid! What did you drink?"
"Lupin, stop." Fujiko said softly, her eyes at Jigen's back. "You're being an asshole."
"Oh, come on, Fujiko. You, of all people, aren't gonna believe this, are you? Jigen in love with a mermaid!"
"Shut up, Lupin." She shot back.
"He's obviously fucking with us, you guys."
"Lupin, I'm dead serious." Jigen spun around to face them, flinging an arm out towards the lake. "She lives there and her name is Raquel. She and I have been talking the whole time we've been here. I swear. I'll show you."
He turned back to the lake and cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted.
"Hey! Raquel!"
He stood there for a moment, waiting for something to happen. All four of them did. Nothing happened; the lake didn't even make a ripple.
"Raquel! Come on!"
They waited a few more minutes, expecting something to happen but nothing did. Lupin let out another loud obnoxious laugh before taking Fujiko by the arm and turning her away from the lake.
"A mermaid!" He shook his head, laughing. "C'mon, Fujicakes, let's go."
Fujiko threw a strange look back at Jigen, as if she wasn't sure that she should leave the lake just yet, before turning away and letting Lupin guide back to the hotel. Goemon looked at Jigen, a mixture of concern and worry on his face. He sighed, shaking his head, then turned and followed Lupin and Fujiko.
Jigen watched them leave and didn't call after them. He felt embarrassed and angry. He turned back to the lake and gave it a good hard look. He took the cigarette from his lips then flicked it into the lake in anger.
"Fuck my life." He mumbled, yanking his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and putting a new cigarette to his lips. "That's it, I'm officially in-fucking-sane."
He lit the new cigarette as he turned to walk away.
The next day, Jigen avoided the lake completely and stayed in his room the entire time, trying to make conversation with Goemon. Goemon would either give him a small concerned smile and answer whatever Jigen's question was or not say anything at all and just nod.
"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" Jigen asked, sitting up on his bed with his back against the headboard.
"What?" Goemon turned to Jigen, a confused look on his face.
"You heard me. You think I'm insane."
"No, I don't."
"Yeah, you do. You think I got really drunk the other night and stumbled out towards the lake and imagined her. You think I'm so frickin' desperate that I made up a fucking mermaid."
"Jigen, don't get aggressive."
"I'm not aggressive!"
"Just calm down."
"I am calm!" Jigen shouted. "Just answer me, you think I'm crazy."
Goemon sighed and closed his eyes. He was quiet and still for a long time until he finally opened his eyes and looked right at Jigen.
"I don't know what to think. I want believe you but it sound so farfetched and ridiculous that I just can't. I know you're not the type or person to make things up like this. Part of me thinks you're a crazy drunk."
"And what does your other half think?"
Goemon sighed and grabbed the remote from the bedside table in between their beds and turned the television on. Jigen stared, waiting for an answer. Goemon watched the television intently with his eyebrows furrowed. Jigen sighed then got up and grabbed his jacket and left the room, slamming the door as loud as he could behind him.
He pulled his hat to cover his eyes completely and kept his head down and his eyes on the ground as he walked briskly away from the hotel. He had made it halfway to the lake when he heard a woman laughing. He looked up to see a woman sitting at the edge of the lake and Raquel talking to her from the lake. Cautiously, he walked over to them. Raquel was the first one to notice him; she smiled and waved.
"Hey, doll!" She greeted cheerfully.
The woman turned around to look back at Jigen and he gasped as he recognized the woman.
"Fujiko?"
"Good afternoon, Jigen." Fujiko smiled at him.
"What're you doing here?"
"Just talking to Raquel." She gave him a half shrug and patted the spot next to her. "Come on, sit down."
"What happened to you last night?" Jigen asked Raquel, ignoring Fujiko's invitation for him to sit.
"I don't know. I was scared." She said softly. "I didn't think you'd bring them all at once."
"Why didn't you just tell me you wanted me to bring them one at a time?"
"I don't know." She shrugged, smiling up at him. "It must have slipped my mind."
"Slipped your mind? You made my friends think I was crazy!" Jigen didn't mean to raise his voice.
"Jigen, don't yell at her!" Fujiko piped up, slapping at his leg. "She was just scared, leave her alone."
Jigen was quiet for a moment. He sat down next to Fujiko, sitting cross-legged.
"Fujiko."
"Hm?"
"You see her, don't you?"
"Yes, Jigen. Yes, I do."
"You see Raquel?"
"Yes, Jigen."
"The mermaid?"
"Yes, Jigen, Raquel the mermaid."
"So, I'm not crazy?"
"No, Jigen, you aren't." Fujiko sighed and turned back to Raquel, smiling widely at her. "You are so beautiful! I absolutely adore mermaids."
"Why, thank you, Fujiko!" Raquel beamed. "You're beautiful, too!"
Fujiko kicked her shoes off and dipped them into the water. She shivered slightly, still smiling at Raquel.
"The water's so cold, how can you live in it?"
"You get used to it, sweetheart."
The women laughed as if they were old friends. Jigen looked from Fujiko to Raquel to Fujiko again.
"Fujiko, what're you doing here?" Jigen asked again.
"Well, I was curious. I wanted to see if she was real so I got up really early and came here. She was swimming around when I got here."
"So, last night, you . . . you believed me?"
"Yeah, of course." She laughed. "I'm not always a cold heartless bitch, Jigen."
"Don't forget vindictive and spiteful."
"Okay, that's enough."