Goemon's part is small, since he has a bigger part towards the middle of the story. Jigen and Lupin always have the bigger parts since they are more funnerer to write. :D And, for me, easier... And I don't think it's chemistry I wanted, but it'll have to do because I can't think of the science class I'm looking for. And that's it, I guess. Just some goofy stuff leading into drama-ee stuff.
Chapter Eleven
"Goemon!"
"Yes, father," Goemon said, leaving his room and standing at the top of the stairs, his father, all dressed up, standing at the bottom.
"Your mother and I are going out for the night," he informed him. "You're expected to stay here until we get back. Is that understood?"
"Yes, father," Goemon said, trying not to let his complete hatred of his father show through.
"Good. We will return in a few hours."
"Why return at all?" Goemon asked under his breath as his parents left.
He sighed, walking back to his room and grabbing a piece of paper, some items written down on them. Waiting a few minutes for his parents to get out of the neighborhood, he left the house.
"We're in a hardware store why again?" Jigen wondered as he and Lupin wandered the aisles.
"I need some stuff for woodshop," Lupin answered as he looked over a wide variety of glues.
"What are you making this year?"
"Can't say."
"Code of silence in the Woodshopping Guild?" Jigen laughed.
Lupin gave him an annoyed stare. "It's something for your birthday."
"Aw, I love you, too," Jigen said sincerely as he hugged Lupin.
"Get off," Lupin growled, pushing Jigen away.
"What do I get this year? A set of monogrammed coasters?"
"That's your gift for next year," Lupin grinned.
"Now I won't be surprised," Jigen said sadly.
"You should be happy with this gift," Lupin nodded. "As long as you don't try and see what I'm making."
"I won't."
"Promise?"
"Yeah, sure," Jigen said with a shrug.
Satisfied with the response, Lupin dropped the conversation, grabbing a bottle of glue and starting towards the tools section, where he grabbed some drill bits and sand paper.
"I guess that's it," he thought out loud as he stared down at the items in his hand.
Jigen said nothing, following Lupin to the front of the store, both standing in a long line.
"I can make that," Lupin said as he pointed to one of the woodworking magazines, acting as though the so-called difficult project they were selling wasn't difficult at all.
"An arbor?" Jigen asked, staring at the picture before laughing.
"What?" Lupin asked in annoyance. "I could," he muttered.
"You pick the arbor," Jigen laughed, "and right next to it is a picture of a fucking cabin. Way to aim high, Lupin."
Lupin looked at the magazine and then glared at a still laughing Jigen. "Th-that's what I was pointing at," he said, trying to be confident about it. "Shut up," he growled, turning his back on Jigen as he glanced around the store.
He started to notice the others in line around him, seeing someone familiar three aisles down.
"Your friend's here," Lupin teased seriously.
"I don't have friends," Jigen answered as he flipped through a magazine.
"Aww, I thought he was special to you."
"Who are you-" Jigen looked up and saw Goemon. "Oh, that dumbass," he said, looking back down at the magazine.
"Hmm...he's got some pipes, a box of something, some wire, another box of something and a box of nails," Lupin observed.
"And?"
"Don't you make pipe bombs with that stuff?"
"Yeah, right," Jigen laughed. "Mister straight A student is a fucking bomb fanatic."
Lupin laughed. "I thought you'd like that."
"Pipe bombs," Jigen laughed as he shook his head. "I'll just have you open my locker from now on."
"I'll buy you a bomb sniffing dog and you'll be fine."
"But, I'm scared," Jigen whined, both then bursting into laughter.
"You want to go to my house so I can drop this stuff off?" Lupin said as his items were rung up. "And then I say we go to that game place and shoot some pool."
"Sounds fine by me. Hope you brought some extra cash."
"Didn't we get thrown out the last time we played for money?"
"Did we?" Jigen wondered. "I thought it was because we were both drunk."
"Maybe it was both," Lupin shrugged, taking his change and items and walking towards the exit.
"Yeah, that night is little fuzzy," Jigen said as he grabbed his keys from his pocket.
"Yeah, well, let's wait until after we leave to get drunk this time, okay?" Lupin grinned.
"Loser buys," Jigen said as both got into the car.
Goemon got back to his house after taking a long walk back from the hardware store. He was happy to see his parents still gone, having free reign of the large house.
And even though he did, he still felt constrained, afraid to wander in his own home.
Standing still in the foyer for a few minutes, he sighed and bowed his head as he slowly made his way up the stairs to his room.
He tossed the plastic bags he held on his bed, mumbling something about his childish chemistry project and telling himself he'd do it the next day.
Content with his decision, he grabbed a notebook on his desk and walked to his bed, pushing the bags out of the way and laying down. Pen in hand, he began to write, finding it one of the few things that calmed him when he was too stressed to meditate.
Writing what was on his mind, his body began to calm until he was drifting into sleep.
The night started out well for Jigen and Lupin, mostly for Jigen as he was all ready up three hundred dollars over Lupin.
"Do you have enough to buy me another soda?" Jigen joked.
Lupin gave an annoyed look, turning to get him another drink when he ran into a taller and much larger man.
"Watch it, ya little piss," the man spat out in a drunken slur.
"I'm sorry," Lupin said, wanting to leave it at that as he started around the man, who blocked his path. "Look, I don't want any trouble, okay. I should have watched where I was going and I'm sorry."
"Is the little fucker scared?" the man said with an evil grin.
Jigen had been watching this and, seeing the man wasn't about to forgive and forget, he approached him. "He said he was sorry. Now get your drunk ass out of his way."
"Who the fuck are you?" the man spat.
"I'm the one who's going to fuck you up if you don't leave him alone," Jigen said as he stood up to the man.
The man scoffed and took a step towards Jigen. He had a foot and one hundred pounds over his oppenent. "Ya got some balls, you know that?"
"Yeah," Jigen said, grabbing a pool cue and smashing it over the man's shoulder.
The man winced in pain, but that was it, looking up at Jigen with a wild look on his face, his breathing heavy and his teeth showing as he growled lowly.
"Hey!" Lupin yelled, getting the man to look his way and then hitting him with a continuous stream of billiard balls.
By that time the owner had called the police, deciding to stay out of the fight and let the cops deal with it.
Jigen saw him on the phone and grabbed another pool cue, this time hitting the man right in the back of the head as he lunged towards Lupin.
Lupin jumped onto one of the tables, the man dizzy from the hit and stumbling to the floor.
"Lupin, let's go," Jigen said, tossing the now broken cue to the floor and running out, Lupin right behind him as the owner yelled at them.
They practically dove into the car, Jigen then tearing out of the parking lot and speeding away.
Once they realized they were free, they began relaxing some, looking over at each other and laughing.
"What the hell was with that guy?" Lupin wondered as he laughed.
"Forget him. What was with you? You acted like you wanted to fight him for a second."
"He could have killed you," Lupin said in a serious voice. "I just...I don't know. I just reacted, I guess."
"Yeah, well, thanks," Jigen said with a smile. "I probably shouldn't have gotten so pissed off about it. I could have gotten you killed..." His words and smile faded as he stared off at the road in front of him.
Lupin looked at him in worry, but decided not to ask, figuring it was something he wasn't really supposed to know or understand. "So, I'm still buying, right?" he asked to lighten the mood.
Jigen looked over at him and grinned. "I think I took all your money, didn't I?"
"I still have a twenty," Lupin said as he held it up.
"I say we just go back to my house and drink what's there. We can get drunk and watch some porn or something."
"Sounds good to me," Lupin laughed.
The two arrived at the darkened house, Jigen's mom fast asleep.
"We have to be quiet," Jigen whispered to Lupin before making his way to the kitchen, grabbing some cold leftovers and a few beers.
The two made themselves comfortable in the living room, eating, drinking and watching TV until both fell asleep.
Jigen stirred hours later, hearing his mom in the kitchen, his eyes squinted from the brightness that filled the house. He looked around, seeing he fell asleep on the couch, Lupin snoring on the floor nearby.
"You boys need to get up," Jigen's mom said as she walked out of the kitchen and to the garage.
"What time is it?" Jigen mumbled.
"It's almost one," she said before closing the garage door.
"Hey," Jigen said, nudging Lupin with his foot. "Wake up."
Lupin groaned, trying to ignore the nudging, but unable to. "Stop it!" he growled, reaching back and shoving Jigen's foot away.
"Get up and I will," Jigen said, sitting up and yawning.
Lupin sat up and stretched. "We drank all these beers?" he wondered, looking around at the empty cans on the floor.
"I think you drank most of them," Jigen said, "which means you get to clean them up." He grinned as he got to his feet, on his way to the bathroom when a knock came at the door.
"Expecting someone?" Lupin asked as he looked towards the door.
"Oh shit," Jigen said in an almost whisper, spotting a patrol car out of the kitchen window. "It's a fucking cop."
"What?" Lupin said as he jumped to his feet.
"Grab the fucking cans," Jigen said as he ran over to get some, both grabbing them all and dumping them in the trash. He ran to the bathroom and grabbed some mouthwash, chugging it and then handing the bottle to Lupin, who took some.
Both ran back to the bathroom to spit it out when another knock came, Jigen's mom coming back inside the house, sighing in exasperation when neither were there to answer the door.
She walked over and opened the door, staring in confusion at the male cop who stood there.
"Misses Jigen?" the officer asked.
"Yes? What can I do for you?"
"Is your son home?"
"Well, yeah, but...is there something wrong?"
"I just need to speak with him for a moment."
"Yeah, hold on." She turned to call his name when she saw him. "A cop is here to see you," she said, almost as if questioning it.
"What's he want?" Jigen asked, acting dumb about the whole thing.
"Daisuke Jigen?" the cop asked when Jigen walked to the door, Jigen nodding. "We received a complaint last night at Smith's Gaming Parlor. The worker said you were there and started a fight, causing some damage to the store's property."
"I thought I told you to stay away from that place," Jigen's mom said as she glared at her son.
"We didn't start the fight," Jigen said as he glared at the cop.
"You're lucky the man didn't press charges," the cop said as he started to write up a ticket. "You still broke the law, though, so this..." he signed his name and tore the ticket from the book, "...is yours. You will also be receiving a bill from the parlor for damages caused. I'll be seeing you again if you choose not to pay it."
Jigen took the ticket from the cop and stared down at it.
"You all have a good day now," the cop said, tipping his hat and walking back to his car.
"You got into a fight?" Jigen's mom asked, taking the ticket from Jigen's hands. "Three hundred and fifty dollars?! How are we supposed to pay for this?"
Jigen stared at the floor and shrugged.
"It's bad enough you do this crap at school, but now you're doing out in public businesses?"
"Mom, it wasn't my fault."
"If it wasn't your fault, then why did you get a ticket? Disturbing the peace, running from the scene, damaging property?"
"Jigen didn't do anything-"
"Shut up, Lupin," Jigen said, stopping him from saying anything else.
"I think your friend should go home," Jigen's mom said.
"Can I give him a ride. at least?" Jigen asked.
"I can walk," Lupin said with a nervous smile. "I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow." He walked to the door and waved at Jigen before leaving.
"I can't believe this," Jigen's mom sighed, a headache starting.
"Why not? You're the one who said I needed a shrink," Jigen scoffed. "Besides, none of this was my fault. If you'd only listen to my side of this then-"
"I want you to go to your room," Jigen's mom said in anger as she pointed towards the hall.
"But, mom-"
"Now! And tomorrow I want you home right after school."
"I have an appointment with that shrink tomorrow."
"Oh? Since when?"
"Since I agreed to show up. She said that-"
"I make the appointments, not you! I'm calling her tomorrow to tell her you're only showing up on Fridays."
"She said I needed it, though," Jigen said in an angry whine. "I thought you wanted me to get help?"
"Go to your room," his mom said as she gave him her "do it now or else" look.
"This is bullshit," Jigen said as he stomped off. "The guy was fucking drunk off his ass and started fighting us!" he yelled from the hall. "Why isn't he being blamed?!" He entered his room and slammed his door shut.
Jigen's mom sighed, not knowing what else to do. She took another look at the ticket and groaned.
