Total out of character-ness! Yay! xD Thought I'd give Jigen some story depth or whatever to add to the drama. Although I would have taken this storyline bit of drama rather than the lame "i r kan no shotted witout mai hat lawlz!1!one" Hey, let's give everyone a weakness and give Jigen the lamest weakness of all of them. Yeah, great idea. They should have left it at "he can't shoot worth crap with his left hand" since that's more believable. But, that's just me. Hopefully there aren't many mistakes here. Once again I'm too lazy to reread this to check. xP
Chapter Ten
Jigen moaned as he started to wake up after hearing several knocks on the front door. He lifted his head, wincing from the morning light. "Mom. Mom! Someone's at the door!"
He lowered his head, annoyed when the knocking continued.
"Fuck," he mumbled, getting out of bed and stumbling towards the front door.
"Ow, fuck!" he blurted out as he stubbed his toe on the coffee table. "Who the fuck moved the damn table?!" he yelled, not yet realizing he was the only one home.
"Hold the fuck on!" he yelled as he made his way to the door, yanking it open and glaring at Doctor Robinson, who glared back at him.
"Good morning to you, too, Jigen," she said sarcastically.
"Sorry," Jigen said in a low voice as he looked down, embarrassed.
"I take it you're the only one here."
"Looks that way."
"Get dressed," she told him.
"Why?" he asked, annoyed.
"We're going to resume our session."
"Today?"
"Today."
"Fine," Jigen muttered. "Come in, relax, help yourself to the fridge."
She glanced at him, amazed by his total lack of manners.
"I'll be out in a few minutes," he said, turning and leaving her as he walked to his room.
The doctor sighed, knowing she had a lot more work to do.
Ten minutes later Jigen came out of his room, wearing a simple outfit of blue jeans, a gray t-shirt, sneakers and a baseball hat.
"Are you ready?" she asked, still standing by the front door.
"You driving?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Can we get something to eat on the way to your office?"
"I'm choosing where we eat."
"Fine."
The two left the house and started for the car, both getting in, Doctor Robinson starting it and driving off, towards the freeway.
They stopped at a small diner along the way, walking in and getting seated.
As they looked over the menu, Jigen started to laugh. "Hey," he said, lowering the menu, "what you did yesterday, for a woman you have a lot of balls."
She stared off in confusion. "Thank you? I think..."
"I mean, my dad yells at me, but I know he's full of crap. With you, I know you're not fucking around. And if you are, you hide it well."
"I usually don't, as you put it, fuck around, Jigen."
"You're not that bad, you know? I'm sorry for what I said yesterday."
"Jigen," she sighed, staring down at the cup of coffee in front of her, "I am that bad. I'm ruthless and do what I think is right for my clients. I go beyond sitting in an office and talking with people. I push people, I lie to people, I ignore their mental well-being."
"Is that why you're taking me out for breakfast? You're pushing me to eat?" He grinned at her as the waitress came.
"You do seem too thin, but no, that's not why we're here." She looked up at the waitress, now standing at their table, taking both orders and walking off.
"So, we're not going to your office?"
"No," she said, the word followed by a long sigh. "We're going to the hospital."
"Damn it," he sighed in anger as he sat back in the seat, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Look, Jigen, you've put it off all this time and I think that you-"
"Yeah, you think! But, you're wrong!"
"I think this will help you," she said, continuing her thought.
"How the hell do you know that? I've been this way long before my dad was shot! Did my mom tell you that? Did she tell you about all the schools I've been to? And about all the fights I've been in? You didn't know anything about that, did you?"
"No, I didn't," she said as she slowly bowed her head.
"I already told you why I didn't want to go to the hospital. If I go, my dad will just see me as some sort of pussy. And do you know why? Because I'll show some level of affection towards him."
Both became silent as the waiter came, placing their plates of food in front of them, asking them if they needed anything before leaving.
"I call my dad," Jigen said. "It's easier for me. It's easier to have a casual conversation with him over the phone about school and sports."
"When did you last call him?"
"Last night. I told him about the game, about how we kicked the other teams ass. We had a good laugh over it."
"How close are you and your dad?"
"When it comes to drinking and sports we're close. Everything else, not so much." He took a bite of his food and looked up at her. "We still going to the hospital?"
She looked up at him and shook her head slowly. "No. I'll take you back home when we're done eating."
"Do...do you want to know why I'm like this?" he asked as he stared down at his plate.
She had started to bring a fork full of food to her mouth, her hand stopping short of getting it to her lips and slowly lowering as she looked up at him.
"We're still under our privacy thing, right?" he asked, still not looking at her.
"Yeah, we are starting now," she said.
"When I was seven I went to my uncles house," he began, his voice soft and emotionless. "I was there while my parents were going through some personal things. When it was time for me to go home, I asked him to take me to this amusement park that was on the way to where I lived at the time. He told me no, so I begged him. I whined and cried until he got pissed off and gave in. We had to go on this little highway to reach it. I was so happy. I remember bouncing in the seat, I was so excited. And then the next thing I know, I'm waking up in the hospital, my mom sobbing something about me being awake. Turns out some guy lost control of his truck and hit us. My uncle never made it."
Doctor Robinson sat silent, an overwhelming sadness coming over her.
Jigen looked off to the side and sighed. "He died because I wanted to go to that stupid park and I couldn't take no for an answer. My parents just thought he was taking a short cut. I've never told them the real reason. That he died because of me."
"Jigen..."
"I loved my uncle and because he was just trying to do something to shut me up..."
"It wasn't your fault, Jigen."
"I used to tell myself that, but I never believed it. Ever since then, whenever anything goes wrong with family or friends, I blame myself. Even if there was no possible way I could have prevented it, it's still my fault."
He turned his head and looked at the doctor, a serious and almost hurt look on his face. "Do you think you can still help me?"
She gave a sincere smile and nodded her head. "I never give up on my patients, Jigen."
Lupin lay, bored on the couch as he stared up at the ceiling. He rocked his head back and forth to the ticking of the grandfather clock in the next room.
The sound of the doorbell made him freeze.
"Finally," he sighed, getting to his feet and answering the door.
"Hi there," a man in a dark suit said. "This is for your dad." He handed Lupin a large envelope and turned and left.
Lupin closed the door, staring curiously at the envelope in his hand. Seeing it was sealed, he lost all interest in opening it, knowing that his dad would notice it was tampered with and begin his yelling fit.
"One thing I don't need right now," he said as he walked to his dad's office, opening the door and tossing the envelope on his desk, closing the door behind him as he left.
"Hopefully Jigen is still home," he said as he grabbed his keys, locked the door and left his house.
"Why did you open up to me?" Doctor Robinson asked as they were on the way to Jigen's house.
Jigen stared out the window, taking a few seconds to answer. "I could tell that you're not some phony trying to take advantage of me. You made me realize that you're really trying to help and not just humoring me into thinking I'm cured by some kind of miracle. And... I wasn't helping you by holding everything in. Besides, I'm sick of living with all this guilt every day of my life."
"I'm glad I was able to gain your trust. And I'm glad you opened up to me."
"So, when do you want me to come in? Still Fridays at four?"
"Are you open Mondays and Tuesdays?"
"I have practice, but that usually ends before six."
"How about Monday and Tuesday at six and Friday at four?"
"And an occasional free breakfast for me on Saturday?" he asked with a grin.
She pulled up in front of his house, looking over at him and grinning. "We'll see."
"Can't blame me for trying," he shrugged.
"I'll see you on Monday," she said as he left the car, both waving to each other before she drove off.
"Was that Doctor Robinson?" Jigen's mom asked as he walking through the front door.
"Yeah. She took me out for breakfast."
"Well, that was nice of her."
"Yeah, I guess," he said, trying not to act appreciative.
"Oh, your friend Lupin came over. I told him you'd probably be back soon, so to wait for you in your room."
"Okay," he said as he headed that way.
"Took you long enough," Lupin said, laying on his back on Jigen's bed, his hands holding a portable game system up in front of his face.
"Yeah, that shrink wanted to talk to me about crap."
"Ooh, Jigen's little girlfriend," Lupin teased, looking over at him and laughing.
"That stuff come for your dad already?"
"Yeah. The stupid envelope was sealed shut, so I wasn't able to read anything."
"Is it that interesting?" Jigen laughed, pulling out the chair from his desk and sitting backwards in it, his arms draped loosely over the back.
Lupin shut the game off and set it next to him. "Yeah," he sighed. "To me it is." He stared up at the ceiling and then turned his head towards Jigen. "My mom is filing for divorce. And those were the papers from her lawyer."
"Divorce? Geez..."
"Yeah, she called and told me about it Thursday, which is why I was so pissy. Told me that if dad wasn't back by Friday, to wait for the package and make sure he got it."
"So, what's gonna happen with you whenever this is settled?"
"Don't know. That's why I wanted to read the papers."
"Oh." Jigen stared off, his thoughts fading as the realization of losing his best friend hit him.
"Also, you were right. I never slept with Fujiko."
"Did she tell you?" Jigen asked, not really in the mood to gloat about being right and knowing it wasn't the time for that.
"Yeah, she told me more than I wanted to know, actually."
"Anything you want to share?"
"It was all a ploy to make me think I was the one who got her pregnant, but she likes me too much to lie to me."
"Wait. Fujiko's pregnant?"
"That's what she says. And oddly enough, I believe her."
"Whose kid is it?"
"She isn't sure. She knows it isn't Peter's or the guy she dated before him."
"Wow," Jigen said in complete disbelief.
"But...I told her that I'd help take care of it."
"It isn't yours, though."
"I know," Lupin sighed, "but I love her and...I just want to help her out."
"As long as she appreciates what you're doing for her..."
Lupin scoffed and shook his head. "I doubt it. She's too selfish."
"Not selfish enough to tell you the truth. Doesn't mean I hate her any less, though."
Lupin looked over at him and grinned. "I say we get out of here and do something. I need to get my mind off of this."
"Yeah, sure."
Both stood and left the house, seeking an escape from their personal lives, something that seemed to grow more complex with each passing day.