This story was originally going to be fifty chapters, but looking at the notes I had, I felt that would be stretching it. And so, I cut this thing down to forty chapters.

Twenty

Jigen stared down at the shiny surface of the table he sat behind in the interrogation room. His busted lip had long stopped bleeding, but the pain was still there, continuing to remind him of everything that led up to the mess he was now in.

The door opened, Jigen not even bothering to look up as his dad entered the room.

"You want me to stay, sir?" the officer who let him in asked.

Jigen's dad shook his head. "I'll be fine."

The cop nodded and shut the door, leaving father and son alone in the small quiet room.

"So," his dad said as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest and began to pace. "Aiding and abetting a murder suspect and attempted assault on a police detectives son. Really nice, Daisuke."

Jigen kept his head down and his mouth shut.

"And for what?" his dad wondered as he walked up to the table and slammed his hands down on the surface, his body slightly bent as his eyes glared down at his son. "For the sake of some jackass kid? A jackass kid I told you long ago to stop hanging around? You put your family through all of this shit for that?!"

Jigen continued to stay silent.

His dad pushed himself away from the table and let out a loud sigh. "So, you have nothing to say for yourself? Tch, typical."

"What am I supposed to say?" Jigen mumbled as he still refused to look at his dad.

"I don't know," his dad spat. "How about an apology?! How about an 'Oh, gee, I'm sorry dad for being such a pain in the ass'?! Or I know, let's just start with you explaining how you became such a fucked up kid!"

Jigen lifted his head slightly, his eyes rolling up and meeting his dad's eyes for a split second before looking back down. "Sorry," he said in a low voice.

"Yeah," his dad sighed. "I'm sure you are." Annoyed by the visit he got nothing out of he walked to the door and knocked on it. He stood and glared at his son while waiting for the door to open. "You better get your shit together, kid. Because I'm not risking my ass to save yours."

Jigen looked up, narrowing his eyes at his dad as the man left the room.

...

"Dad," Katsumi said as his parents entered the house. "What's going on? How's Daisuke?"

"Still being a stubborn little shit," his dad muttered in anger.

"Honey!" Katsumi's mom said as she slapped her husband's arm gently.

He looked back at her and grinned. "Yeah, so the cops said they pretty much used your brother and got what they wanted. They said that detective's son dropped the charges, so he'll be getting off with warning and a mark on his record."

"When is he coming home?" Katsumi wondered.

"They're holding him overnight, just to mess with him a bit. Give him a taste of what the life of a criminal is like. Your mom is going there tomorrow to pick him up."

Katsumi nodded. "Mind if I come with?"

"No, not at all, dear," his mom said with a gentle smile.

"Great. Oh, can I use the car to pick up sis from the studio?"

"You sure you can drive with that thing?" his dad wondered, pointing to his metal hand.

"I'll manage," he joked, getting stares from his parents. "Yes, I can drive with this. I just won't take any tight turns."

His dad grunted and tossed him the keys, Katsumi grabbing them and heading out the door.

...

"Psst."

Lupin looked to the side in annoyance, thinking it was the creepy kid he shared a cell with. He turned on his side and faced the wall.

"Damn it, kid, wake up," came a hushed yell.

"Dad?" Lupin sat up and looked at the cell door, his dad standing there and dressed as a guard.

"So, you finally got your taste of prison," his dad laughed. "What d'ya think?"

Lupin stood and walked to the door. "Just hurry up and get me out of here," he whined. "That guy is weird." He glanced over his shoulder as his cellmate slept.

His dad grinned. "This is your moment to prove yourself, son. Get yourself out. And when you do, meet me and your mother at this address." He slipped his son a piece of paper with the location scribbled on it.

"And how am I supposed to get out of here?"

His dad stared at him. "You didn't come prepared?"

"I was scared, dad," Lupin said angrily. "I wasn't really thinking about a plan."

"Hmm, so you failed, then?"

"I thought you said Lupin's don't know failure."

"We don't." His dad smiled and reached through the bars to ruffle his son's hair. "Take this," he said, handing him a thin metal tool about three inches long. "And since disguises won't yet work for you in a prison, you have two guards patrolling outside the side door, in the yard. And there's two up in the towers. Stay in the shadows and don't get caught, okay?"

"Dad, I can't do this."

"You can. And you will. The lowest part of the wall is to the south. I'll leave a little something there to help you out."

"Dad," Lupin said in a loud whisper as his dad began to walk down the hall. He looked down at the tool in his hand and sighed.