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Hey, me again!

Getting tired of these messages yet? I'm not. I think of it as a way of keeping in touch with the reader. Wow, some freaky crap's going down, huh? Goemon got a girl's number, Jigen's might be blind as a bat, and Fujiko's being nice to kids. I think Lupin fancies himself being in a corner of the Twilight Zone about now. Poor guy. Well, here's the next chapter. We're almost halfway done already! Well, have a good read. I'll see you guys in the next chapter!

P.S.: Thanks for the positive reviews again! If you feel you have anything to shout out about, feel free! I appreciate any feedback.

The Promise, the Picture, and the Protectors

Chapter Five

Day Five: I Love the Nightlife

'When I get to the bottom

I go back to the top of the slide

Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride

Till I get to the bottom and I see you again'

--The Beatles, 'Helter Skelter'

"Holy crap!!!" a shriek was bellowed at a rural bed and breakfast just outside of Osaka on an early morning.

"What? What's wrong!?" Fujiko asked, running over to an ill-looking Lupin.

"I'm on the phone!" Goemon called from the bedroom.

"This map's a dud!" Lupin wailed unhappily, "It's a piece of crap that was drawn on some paper dyed with coffee!"

"I thought it smelled funny…" Fujiko muttered. "It's a fake, though!? Are you positive about it? I—I mean, couldn't someone have spilt coffee on it, or—"

"It's definitely a fake… Someone got to it before us…." Lupin answered. "I can't believe someone beat me to it! I knew this was too good to be true!"

"How do you know that?" Fujiko inquired.

"Because the cocky jerk left his name on the paper! He really thought I was so stupid I couldn't translate German!?"

"Well, you couldn't tell it was a fake…." Fujiko answered with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Anyway…." Lupin began to inhale and exhale deeply, as Goemon had taught him, "This punk happens to live in Osaka. I just need to find out where…"

"Try the Internet," Fujiko suggested.

"Fujicakes, you're a genius!" Lupin chirped happily, and crawled over to the laptop at the desk. He typed in the man's name, and read over the names, "Aha! Here's that bastard, right here! He owns—A roller rink!? C'mon, you gotta be kidding me!"

"Who is he?" Fujiko inquired.

"Kenji Tenshino," Lupin replied, "He's only done petty theft before this."

"Guess he decided to upgrade…." Fujiko murmured.

"Yeah, I know, really…." Lupin snorted, "Hey! Jigen! You still there!?"

"Yeah!" Jigen emerged from the kitchen with a cup of coffee, "What's up?"

"Do you know where this place is?" Lupin asked, pointing to the computer screen. He had to see if Goemon was right about Jigen, he couldn't believe it on words alone, not something this serious.

"I…" Jigen leaned in towards the screen little, and then stood up straight, "My bagel's burning. Read it off to me…."

"Happy Panda Rollerskating Rink," Lupin replied, "Boy, what a cheesy name! Who comes up with those name, crack-heads?"

The two, who had previously heard Jigen rustling around in the kitchen, heard dead silence for a few moments. Jigen came out, his face much more serious, "Yeah, I've heard of it. Why'd you want to know?"

"Well, our map is a fake. This creep, Kenji Tenshino, stole it from under our noses. We're going to get it back," Lupin replied, "I know it sounds a little guerilla for our standards, but this guy's got me totally pissed at him."

"Kenji…" Jigen trailed off, and looked down at his bagel, "I'll be damned, forgot the jelly! Be right back…" he ran into the kitchen once more, leaving a confused Lupin and Fujiko.

"What's up with him?" Fujiko muttered.

"I don't know," Lupin admitted, shaking his head. Jigen returned a few moments later, and sat down in the living room with them. Lupin noticed Jigen had the same look on his face that he had had when Lupin had mentioned going to Osaka in the first place.

"Jigen, have you heard of Kenji?" Fujiko asked.

"We go back a little…" Jigen admitted as he finished his bagel and then went to the kitchen again, "Lupin, are you sure you want to do this?"

"What, Kenji's just a petty thief!" Lupin chuckled.

"Like hell he is!" Jigen answered venomously, "Kenji's feared by fearless people, all right? That record is a sham."

"What's he wanted for?" Lupin inquired.

"What isn't he wanted for?" Jigen retorted as he exited the kitchen, "Listen, you want to be alive to reunite Yukiko with her dad, right? Well, if you do, I'd stay out of Kenji's way."

"Did you work for him?" Fujiko asked.

As Jigen was about to speak, Goemon entered the living room, "I'm glad I don't make many phone calls. She thought someone was trying to kill you, Lupin!"

"Yeah, someone was trying to kill me all right! This punk nearly gave me a heart attack!" Lupin answered.

"Who were you on the phone with?" Fujiko asked.

"A girl he met at the zoo," Lupin replied quickly, "Hey, Goemon, you're pretty good with your sword, right?"

"Are you joking?" Goemon asked skeptically.

"You know what I mean," said Lupin, "What I'm asking is if you could work that thing on a pair of roller skates."

Goemon paused, "Have you been drinking again?"

"No, I'm serious!" Lupin answered.

"I'm telling you, you shouldn't be messing with Kenji…. He's bad news…." Jigen reminded him.

"So I've heard," said Lupin. He then turned his attention back to Goemon, "But could you, man?"

"I didn't cover it in my training, but I think I'll manage…." Goemon replied.

"Who's going to look after Yukiko?" asked Fujiko.

"Well, Fujiko, since you brought it up, I'll consider that volunteering. Besides, we might be able to use the kid again. She's a great little actress," said Lupin quickly, "Jigen, are you coming?"

"Someone has to watch everyone's back…" Jigen answered, "If I don't come, Kenji will probably shoot all of you dead…"

"I'm going to go out to get some food," said Fujiko as she picked up her purse, "Is Yukiko still asleep?"

"Uh-huh. It's about time for her to get up, though," said Lupin, looking down at his watch.

"I'll go wake her, then," Fujiko walked into her bedroom once again, closing the door behind her.

Lupin stood and walked over to Jigen, and sat down on the couch with him, "Do you…. Uh… How do I put this? I… Do you know how to skate?" he sighed in defeat.

"Yeah," Jigen nodded, "Why?"

"You can teach Goemon," Lupin suggested, looking over at Goemon. Goemon shot him a cold glare, as if to mentally brand him a coward. Lupin looked back at Jigen hopefully, and Jigen shrugged in response.

"Sure, why not?" Jigen replied.

"Good. Now I'm off to go rent some skates," Lupin answered, rising and picking up his jacket.

"Is it really necessary to know how to skate?" asked Goemon.

"Hey, anyone who's at a skating rink and not skating is suspicious," Lupin replied as he turned and exited the hotel, "Don't worry, Goemon. I'd never make you do anything I knew you weren't capable of doing."

Later:

"Dammit, bend your knees, for God's sakes!" Jigen yelled.

"I'm trying!" Goemon answered shakily, nearly falling on the concrete outside of the hotel once more. He was clutching onto the railing of the building, trying to retain his balance, while Jigen desperately tried to coax him away from the handrail. Lupin had perched himself on their car, and looked on in amusement.

"Come on," Jigen took him by the hand, and began to skate around the parking lot with Goemon slowly.

"Ah, this is so cute…" Lupin chuckled to himself, "Makes me wish I had brought my camera…."

"Come on, slow now…" Jigen said to Goemon in a reassuring tone, "See, you have it! All right man!"

"Yeah," Goemon nodded. Jigen slowly let go of his grasp, and allowed Goemon to skate. Soon after, Goemon began to go downhill, and lost control of the skates, and careened out of control downhill. Jigen raced down after him, and he and Goemon skated out of control as Goemon clung onto him. Several trashcans at the bottom broke their fall.

Lupin's smile vanished, and he jumped off of the car and ran down to the two, "Are you guys okay!?"

"Yeah. Jigen broke my fall…" Goemon groaned as he sat up in the pile of overturned trashcans.

"Oh…" Jigen groaned and sat up and rubbed his head. When he did, Lupin saw something fall out of his pocket. An eyeglass case. Jigen looked down as he noticed it had fallen out, and then looked upward at Lupin, and then over at Goemon. Jigen silently rose and skated back up into the hotel, leaving Goemon and Lupin at the edge of the driveway.

"That is not how I wanted to approach that subject…." Lupin murmured. He picked up the eyeglass case, and began to walk up the driveway. Goemon tried to rise to walk up with Lupin, but this only met with defeat as he fell back into the trashcans.

"A demon must have created this devices of the devil…" Goemon said to himself.

Inside, Lupin walked up the flight of stairs into his room, where he found Jigen in the bedroom sitting down on the edge of his bed, the skates at his feet on the floor, "You dropped these…" Lupin said, handing Jigen the eyeglass case. Jigen nodded and took the case and placed it back in his pocket. Lupin exhaled heavily and sat down next to Jigen on the bed, "What's going on, Jigen?"

"They're only temporary…" Jigen said, closing his eyes, "They'll be able to operate on me in another couple of months. Some of the nerves came loose, but they can reattach them, but only after my eyes adjust."

"How long has this been going on?" Lupin inquired.

"Ever since I knocked my head on a flight of stairs about three months ago. Things started to get a little blurry after that," Jigen replied, "I went to an optometrist, and he explained it all to me. I have to wear these glasses until the operation."

"You should really wear them, then," Lupin replied, "It's okay. I'd rather you look a little funny than have you get killed."

"Fine," Jigen said after a pause and removed the glasses case. He opened the case up, revealing a pair of gold-framed glasses. He unopened the glasses, and put them on and turned to Lupin, "See. I look stupid. I can see you're trying not to laugh."

"You don't look stupid, just Amish…" Lupin said, trying to hold back his laughter. "Don't worry, Pal. You look all right. It's not like you're afraid the ladies won't find you attractive anymore."

"Hey! There are plenty of girls who liked me!" Jigen protested.

"Yeah, and most of the time they try to kill you or all of us, too!" Lupin retorted, "Let's go check on Goemon."

"Jesus! I forgot all about him! I hope he's okay down there!" Jigen added, rising and following Lupin into the living room. As they were about to leave, the front door opened and Fujiko walked in, followed by Yukiko. As Fujiko locked the door and looked upward, a look of shock came over her face as she viewed Jigen with his glasses.

"Oh, you told them?" Yukiko asked, walking over to Jigen, "I thought you wanted to keep it a secret."

"Yeah, I did. But all secrets come out sometime," Jigen answered with a shrug, "Where'd you guys go?"

"Grocery shopping," Fujiko answered with a bit of suspicion in her voice, "What's with the glasses?"

"I need them for a little while," Jigen replied, "I hope that isn't a problem with you."

"Just curious. Jeeze…" Fujiko grumbled as she walked into the kitchen with her arms full of groceries, "Oh, by the way, guys? Why is Goemon outside trying to roller skate?"

"Realism," Lupin replied.

"Well, he's going to be real dead soon if we don't go out there," Jigen retorted, "Come on, let's go."

"Well, he wasn't doing so bad out there, actually," Fujiko admitted.

"What?" Jigen and Lupin turned, then looked at one another, and ran down the stairs to the parking lot. They found Goemon skating outside. Both looked on, stunned, as they saw him skating like at lifetime professional. Goemon stopped, turned, and looked back at the two.

"It's all about finding your center," Goemon explained. He looked over at Jigen, and gave a small smile, "You're wearing them now?"

"Yeah," Jigen nodded. "You know, I wish I had your persistence sometimes…"

"All right. So, tonight we're getting our map back," Lupin said, clasping his hands together.

"No letter?" asked Jigen.

"Hell, no! On other terms, I would be a gentleman, but this is war!" Lupin yelled passionately, "I wouldn't waste the paper on him!"

Later that Night:

"All right. You guys know what to look out for," said Lupin as the group entered the roller skating rink, "I'm going to go try to find the place. Fujiko, you try to find Kenji. Jigen, Goemon, you two watch her back. Yukiko, you come with me."

All went in their different directions; Fujiko to the snack bar, Goemon and Jigen to rent skates, and Lupin and Yukiko to find the map.

Fujiko found Kenji at one of the tables, along with several of his friends, all dressed in suits. A man who wore Gucci seemed a little out of place in a roller rink, she noted. She walked over, and rested a hand on the back of Kenji's chair. He discontinued talking to his friends, and looked upward at Fujiko. Fujiko had to hold back her shudder of disgust as she looked Kenji over. He reminded her of an insect.

"Can I help you, Miss?" he asked.

"Yes," Fujiko nodded, "Are you Kenji?"

"Who wants to know?" he inquired.

"You're just as handsome as my girl friends said you were!" Fujiko gasped happily.

"Huh? Oh… Really…" Kenji inquired with a smile.

The Skating Rink:

"You seein' what I'm seein'?" asked Jigen as he and Goemon went around in another circle. A young boy bumped into Goemon, and glared at him. His eyes traveled downwards and caught sight of Goemon's sword and Jigen's gun, and he let out a small gasp of horror. He quickly skated away from the two, towards his mother.

"You think he'll say anything?" asked Jigen.

"He's probably too afraid we'd shoot up the place," Goemon replied coolly, "How's Fujiko doing?"

"All right," Jigen answered, "Has Lupin said anything to you through the earphones?"

"Nope. All's clear," Goemon replied, "So do we just keep going around in circles?"

"Yeah, I guess," Jigen answered.

"This could be an allusion to our lives, you know," said Goemon.

"The only thing I know right now is that my feet are starting to hurt," Jigen retorted.

The air vents of the back offices:

"You see anything yet, Yukiko?" Lupin asked as he and Yukiko crawled through the air ducts.

"Here! I came see his nameplate on the desk!" Yukiko said, and abruptly stopped in front of a grate.

"Okay, move up a little," Lupin whispered. Yukiko crawled forward a little and allowed Lupin to go to work undoing the grate. He removed a mirror from his pocket and looked around, and then stuck his head down. "Damn, it's right there!" he whispered happily. "Okay, Yuki. You know the drill."

"Yeah," Yukiko backed up a little, and Lupin took her by the ankles and slowly eased her down to the desk, where she lifted the map up from the desk. Lupin pulled her back in, and Yukiko tumbled in. Lupin took the map from her hands and placed it in his jacket pocket, and placed the grate back on. Yukiko slowly turned back around, and Lupin was able to undo his joints in order to turn around in the air vent.

"Okay, guys! Mission accomplished!" Lupin whispered into his microphone, "Piece of cake!"

"Says you! Get your ass down here, now!" Jigen hissed back.

The Roller Skating Rink:

"Hey, let go of me, you creep!" Fujiko yelled, trying to let go of Kenji's strong grip.

"You're Lupin's little bitch, aren't you!?" Kenji yelled angrily, "I'll show him what happens to people who invade my territory!"

"Uh-oh…." Jigen murmured.

"Let's go," Goemon added, skating away with Jigen. They came up to Kenji and his thugs, all who drew their guns as they saw the two armed men approach them. One thug fired a shot into the air, causing a light to break and the entire room went into a panic. Many exited, and the skating rink was soon empty.

Jigen and Goemon stood opposite four of Kenji's cronies. Goemon made the first move, with a quick flash of Zantetsu. One of the cronies fell over dead, a pool of blood growing quickly under him.

Kenji went to take a shot at Fujiko, but was stopped by one of Jigen's bullets. Kenji looked upward, and smiled, "You know, I knew a guy who could make a shot just like that… But he supposedly died off a few years ago…" Kenji quickly shot, knocking Jigen's hat off of his head, "Good God, it is you… Dear, sweet God…. Sorry, old pal, didn't recognize you under the coke bottles. But the stupid hillbilly looking beard should've given it all away, come to think of it… I told you to get the hell away, didn't I, Jigen? Wasn't shooting your idiotic ass enough!? You just don't learn, do you!?"

Jigen quickly picked up the hat and went back into his stance, and glared at Kenji, "Let her go…"

"You know, I could've shot you right then…" said Kenji with a laugh, "But that'd have been too easy. You see, now I'm going to shoot you." Kenji went to, but Fujiko gave him a swift kick in the knees. Kenji fell down, briefly, and one of the cronies grabbed hold of her hair. Then, as quickly as Kenji had fallen, the crony fell to the ground. Behind him stood Lupin, with a still-smoking gun in one hand and Yukiko's tiny hand in the others.

"You little bitch!" Kenji growled, and went to shoot Fujiko. Goemon swung his blade once. The gun slowly slid apart, one half falling to the ground and the other remaining in his hand.

"You're…" Kenji looked downward at his gun and dropped it onto the ground. Fujiko ran back to Lupin, and stood next to him.

"So you're Lupin, huh?" Kenji asked with a smile, "Nice to meet you, finally. You're Jigen's buddy, right? Well it's finally nice to meet you… You know, my buddies have still got their guns, you know…"

"They won't soon…" Lupin said with a laugh.

"Hey, Lupin. Get the kid out of here, will you?" Jigen asked.

"Huh?" Lupin shot his head up in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"I have a little something I need to settle," Jigen replied, "I'd like it if everyone got out. I can handle this…"

"Jigen, I—"

"Now!" Jigen yelled. Lupin nodded, and motioned for the others to leave. As they opened the door to the rink, Lupin held the door open for the others. And as he closed the door, he heard three shots. That meant one of two things—Jigen had shot three times or he had been shot three times. The others stopped, and looked back at the glass doors. Jigen exited the building while still putting his gun in his pocket.

"Did you kill them?" Yukiko asked in a low mutter.

Jigen looked downward at her and answered, "I did what I had to do, Yuki. Sometimes people have to do things they don't always like."

"Let's get going," Lupin said quietly.

They arrived back at the hotel that night, Yukiko playing quietly in her room. Goemon had gone out with Amaya, and Jigen had been in the bathroom for a while, which no one dared to question. Fujiko and Lupin were on the couch, watching television. Lupin had been flipping through channels for about fifteen minutes.

"Huh… Here we go, Discovery Channel… The channel you watch when nothing else is on…." Lupin murmured.

"Do you think Jigen's all right?" Fujiko inquired.

"I hope so," Lupin replied, "Jesus, he scared the crap out of me today, you know that? He hasn't scared me like that in years…."

"I know. But we got the map, and it's the real thing, right?" asked Fujiko.

"Yeah," Lupin nodded, "Hey! Holy crap! Look at what those monkeys are doing!"

"I can see that…" Fujiko mumbled, "You really need to grow up, you know that?" she laughed.

"Where's Yukiko?" Lupin inquired.

"Playing in our room," Fujiko responded, "I think she's a little spooked about what happened today. I did talk to her, though, and she seems all right with it. I wonder if she ever saw anything like that when she lived with her mother."

"I don't know," Lupin shook his head vaguely, "I never bothered to ask."

"You know, this would be a really unstable environment for a kid, right?" Fujiko said.

"I don't know. It was just like this when I was growing up, and my parents were all right with it…" Lupin answered, "I think I turned out okay."

"Besides having a maturity level less than a third grader?" Fujiko retorted.

"Holy crap! Look at those monkeys go!" Lupin said in shock, "How'd they do that!?"

Fujiko sighed heavily as she saw this conversation was going nowhere, and decided to go for the straightforward approach, "Do you think I'd make a good mother?"

"Sure, sure—What!?" Lupin snapped his head in Fujiko's direction, "Did your internal clock go off finally!?"

"Well, what do you think? Be honest," Fujiko said.

"Hell, I don't know! What is this, twenty questions!?" Lupin sputtered, "I guess… Maybe… But I thought you hated kids!"

"Only the obnoxious ones," Fujiko answered.

"Damn! It's like everyone's going crazy!" Lupin rose and walked into his bedroom.

"Lupin! Dammit! Grow up and get back here!" Fujiko yelled.

"I'm not going to have this conversation, Fujiko," Lupin replied, slamming the door to his bedroom, "Not right now."

Fujiko sighed in defeat and rolled her eyes, and walked into her bedroom. Yukiko looked upward from her dolls at Fujiko, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Yuki," Fujiko said reassuringly, "Uncle Lupin's just being a little difficult to hold an adult conversation with right now."

"Oh," Yukiko nodded, and stood, and walked over to Fujiko, "Do you want to play with me right now?"

Fujiko smirked, "Why not. Maybe it'll help get rid of some of my stress… I haven't done this in years, you know," she said as she sat down on the floor across from Yukiko.

"Is Jigen all right?" asked Yukiko.

"I don't know. But you never know with him," Fujiko shook her head, "I have no clue why I'm here half of the time. They're all insane."

"It's because you like Lupin, isn't it?" asked Yukiko.

"It's because I don't want to see Lupin hurt himself with his naivete. He's a sweet guy, really, but sometimes I think he lives in his own world," Fujiko answered, "That and the fact he's the best at what he does. I guess that's some of the appeal, the thrills of it. God, why am I telling this to a seven-year-old?" Fujiko asked herself.

"Do you want to be Midge or Barbie?" asked Yukiko.

"Well, I'm a brunette right now, so I guess Midge," Fujiko answered with some thought, "You know, Yukiko, I've never actually gotten along with a kid before. None of us have, really. Weird, huh?"

"I guess," Yukiko shrugged, "I never got along with kids, either."

"Why not?" asked Fujiko.

"They used to call me and my mommy names sometimes," Yukiko said calmly, "I got used to it, though."

"You shouldn't," Fujiko replied, shaking her head, "If someone calls you a name, you kick them right in the shins, okay?"

"Okay, Fujiko," Yukiko nodded, "Do you want to play now?"

"Sure," Fujiko answered with a smile.