DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the aforementioned songs, characters, etc., etc., etc. We all know this by now, right, fellows?
Gutentag!
How're you doing? Great, that's good to hear. I'm glad you guys liked the idea of Goemon having a girlfriend, even if she is a Zenigata, which I know is a little weird. Don't worry, Jigen's past will all come to light in time, all right? Just bear with me. I appreciate the feedback I've been getting, thanks. And, you know, it depends—some Japanese do actually have middle names. I've known Japanese people for most of my life, and, to my knowledge, they had middle names. Don't worry, though I've changed it just in case I wrong about it. It's not that big a deal, really. Well, have fun reading the next chapter, and don't be afraid to voice your opinion. All are welcome.
Chapter Eight
Day Eight: Make Me Smile
'I can hear them laugh at me,
And I hear them say, ay, ay,
Hey!
You've got hide your love away!'
--The Beatles, 'You've Got to Hide Your Love Away'
Osaka, Japan, Ten Years Ago:
"Where'd you find this shmuck? A Blues Brother's lookalike competition!?" Kenji Tenshino said with a hearty laugh as he saw his newest lackey in a darkened corner of the room, "What's your name, man?" he inquired of the gunman.
"Daisuke Jigen," Jigen replied, looking upward at Kenji briefly.
"Kid, anyone who has the confidence to pull off an outfit like that has my respect. Now why do you want to work for me?" asked Kenji, leaning back in his chair.
"Because you pay well, from what I hear," Jigen answered bluntly.
Kenji found this very amusing, and leaned forward and outstretched his hand, "Welcome to the team, Jigen! Say, you don't have any family, do you? Those usually get in the way, so we try to look for bachelors."
"If I were anymore of a bachelor I'd be a monk," Jigen replied curtly. "What's my first job? Who do I hit on?"
"Well, I'll give you your job, but hopefully you won't hit on her. I'd have to kill you if you did," Kenji said, clasping his hands together as he realized Jigen did not want to shake. Must've had a fear of touching people, Kenji surmised, "You're going to watch over my girl, Sakura, and make sure she makes it from here to Tokyo and back."
"What!?" Kenji saw Jigen show emotion for the first time, and it was an emotion of great distaste, "I'm not a babysitter!"
"Nah, you're babesitter," Kenji chuckled, "Don't worry, it's okay. She won't give you that much trouble. And if you give her trouble, she'll let us know. Sakura, come on out, doll!" Jigen watched as a young woman walked out from some unknown and unseen corner, and was taken aback. He tried to put on his poker face, however, and not have it known that he had taken an interest in Kenji's girlfriend. She was Asian, with long dark hair and matching dark eyes.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mister Jigen," said Sakura with a small bow.
"Uh… Yeah… Same here," Jigen tipped his hat, and averted his eyes from her to Kenji. Lord, what did she see in him!? It must've been the money. It had to be the money, it just had to. It was the money or her vision was bad.
"Sakura, this is your bodyguard, Jigen. He's to make sure you're safe at all times. You got me, Jigen? At all times, or I'll make sure you'll never live, much less, work, in this country again," said Kenji, drawing Jigen's attention again.
"Yeah," Jigen nodded, and exited out of the back of the roller skating rink.
That Friday morning, Jigen met Sakura at the train station. He had his bag at his side, and extinguished his cigarette on the concrete ground as Sakura came near, and she looked down at the cigarette and grimaced.
"I hope you don't plan on smoking in my presence. I detest the habit," Sakura snapped, looking upward at a surprised Jigen. She began to board, and Jigen murmured to himself as he followed.
"It's always the beautiful ones who have the worst personalities," he said to himself.
"Did you say something?" Sakura asked, turning back towards him.
"No, no, not me…" Jigen answered as they boarded the train and went to their cabin. He seated himself across from Sakura and tilted his hat downward as to avoid the sunlight. He was near asleep when he looked upward in surprise as he heard low humming coming from Sakura, "What are you singing?"
"I'm humming, and it's something I've had stuck in my head for the past week!" Sakura said with a laugh, "It's in English, though… It's silly, I don't even know what I'm singing!"
"Sing it to me. I know English real well," Jigen said, leaning forward.
"You do!? What! Sing? Here?" Sakura laughed.
"Yeah. Come on," Jigen replied.
"Well… All right…" Sakura looked upward, and began to sing it.
'I know you
I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you
The gleam in your eyes is so familiar agleam
Yet I know it's true
Visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you
I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
The way you did
Once upon a dream'
Sakura stopped and looked back at Jigen, "Well, do you know it?"
"Yeah, it's from a kid's cartoon!" Jigen said with a laugh, "Sleeping Beauty, right?"
"Yes! That's it!" Sakura said cheerily, "Can you translate it for me?"
"I'm not much of a singer, Lady," Jigen replied.
"I'll tell Kenji you made a pass at me," Sakura said with a vicious smirk.
"What?!" Jigen shot his head upward, "Well, uh, all right…" he looked upward, and could not believe he was singing a Disney song in Japanese. Lupin, Fujiko, and even Goemon would be laughing their asses off at him. Sakura clapped as he ended, and he removed his hat and placed it on his chest in a mock show of humility.
"Is that what I've been singing all along!? You underrate your abilities, Mister Jigen," said Sakura sadly, "You have a lovely voice, you do, honestly. I should know; I used to be a voice teacher. Before… Before I fell in with the likes of Kenji…"
"What happened? If you don't mind my saying, how'd you hook up with an ass like him?" Jigen inquired.
"It's a rather long story…" said Sakura with a heavy sigh.
"It's a rather long train ride," Jigen countered.
"He used to be very good to me… Bring me flowers, go to the movies with me, take me to plays… Then, things changed, and before I knew it, I was trapped in his game. I can't escape from him What about you, why are you here?" asked Sakura.
"I'm on sabbatical from my buddy's business. You might know Lupin the Third," said Jigen with a small smirk of pride. He then realized he was bragging to the woman, and mentally slapped himself on the forehead. He was usually seamless when trying to keep things hidden.
"You work for him!?" Sakura gasped in surprise.
"With him," Jigen responded, "He's a pretty swell guy, you know. Doesn't deserve the wrap he gets. Well, yeah he does, but you know how it goes, right? I'm just taking a little time off right now…"
"You're taking time off to work for Kenji? It makes no sense!" Sakura said.
"I'm a workaholic," Jigen answered with a shrug, "So, Lady, you know any American jazz songs?"
"Yes, why?" Sakura inquired.
"Just a little homesick," Jigen murmured, resting his elbow on the window frame, "You feel like singing something?"
"Why not?" Sakura sighed, and began to sing an old Billie Holiday song.
Later that night, they arrived in Tokyo. Jigen had to awaken Sakura from her sleep that she had fallen into a few hours ago, and he helped her with her luggage as they boarded off. They took a taxi cab to a hotel Kenji had rented for them, and Jigen went to unpacking his weapons while Sakura sat down at a piano Kenji had specified be placed in the room. Jigen heard the piano playing as he went through cleaning his weapons, and he set the gun down and looked behind him into the next room. Sakura had taken out sheet music and had begun to play. Jigen shrugged and went back to his work, but sighed heavily in defeat and walked out into the main room, where Sakura was playing.
Sakura looked upward from her sheet music as she heard someone coming, and saw the reflection of Jigen in a clear flower vase. She screamed in fear as she saw he had with him a gun, and she picked up the flower vase and threw the water at Jigen.
Jigen stood there a few moments, covered in flower pieces and fowl-smelling water, and then exploded, "Why the hell did you do that, lady!?" he screamed, leaning inward, "What's your freakin' problem!?" She cowered back, and Jigen looked down to see he had his gun in his hand. He had forgotten to set it down on the counter before he went out to see her. He put the gun in his holster and stormed into his bedroom, slamming the door.
"And what is your problem, you under-educated hick!?" he heard Sakura yell through the door as he changed. She continued with her stream of insults as he lied of a new set of clothes and put them on, quietly brewing to himself, "You get out here right now, you barbaric baboon!"
"A little too much alliteration," he muttered to himself as he knotted his tie and then walked back out. He pushed Sakura back into a chair and glared down at her, "Now you listen, you little bitch! I'm here to take care of you, not take your abuse, all right!? I'm sorry I forgot to set my gun down, but you know what? That gives you no right to dump a jar of extremely cold water and flowers on me!"
"Stop screaming at me, then!" Sakura yelled.
"Fine, I will!" Jigen screamed in response and went back into his room stormily. He came out a few minutes later out of guilt and looked down at Sakura. Okay, so maybe he had been a little bit out of line for calling her a bitch, he admitted. She was sitting in her chair again, in a semi-state of shock, "Listen, I'm sorry, okay?" he sighed. She made no move to accept or deny his presence. Jigen kneeled down, and smiled, and began to sing, "Freude schener Gotterfuken tochter aus Elysuim…" Sakura looked upward at him and laughed.
"Very funny…. Where did you learn Beethoven in German?" she inquired.
"Around…. Well, it was a bar in Hamburg…" Jigen shrugged, and stood, "You up for a drink?"
"Why not?" asked Sakura, rising and walking with him into the kitchen.
The Tokyo Opera House, one week later:
Sakura had come to sing at the opera house; Kenji's gift to her. She had always wanted to be in an opera, and with a voice like hers, she deserved it. Jigen watched from his box as Sakura stepped out in a white and pink kimono. Jigen leaned back and rubbed his eyes tiredly, "No way… Women bring you nothing but trouble, man…. You know your run of luck with them… And a mob girl, to boot! You've really got your work cut out for you, Jigen." He looked around, and saw no apparent danger. He continued to enjoy the show while looking for anyone who might potentially be out to get Kenji back by killing his girlfriend.
Living with Sakura had not been easy, but there had been no other incidents like the one on the first night. No more incidents like the one of the first night, but there were many, many pranks at his expense. Sakura loved to play tricks on people, especially him. One that stood out for him was the two A.M. wakeup calls each night. Jigen had also learned more showtunes than he had ever wanted to. Sakura still found his smoking habits disgusting, and, knowing this, Jigen made sure to keep an ashtray in each room in a small form of revenge. What was hardest on Jigen, though—More difficult to handle than the pranks or annoying showtunes that flooded his mind--was the fact that he had actually started to like Sakura, and he was not sure how to handle this. He did not know if he wanted to kill or kiss Sakura at times, but it was usually one extreme or another.
At the end of the show, Jigen walked back behind the stage to escort Sakura to their car. "You were pretty good out there, Sakura," Jigen said as he waited on the couch of Sakura's dressing room. She was removing her makeup as she spoke, and she looked at him from the reflection of her mirror.
"Thank you, Mister Jigen. I'm glad the night went off without a hitch," said Sakura. She completed the makeup removal and went to undoing her hair, "Damn it all! Could you give me a hand here!? This comb's stuck!"
"This isn't in my job description," Jigen muttered as he rose and went to help her with her hair. He stood behind her and began to try to undo Sakura's hair.
"Ow! You're pulling to hard!" Sakura snapped, and slapped him on the arm. Jigen growled and continued working, swearing that if he ever had children, he would have only sons.
"There, done," Jigen stepped back from Sakura. Sakura smiled in thanks and went to brushing her hair. After some brushing she looked upward and noticed Jigen was still staring at her. She turned around, and was about to speak when the door to her room slammed open, and a man with a gun jumped in.
Jigen drew his gun and took a shot, but the man moved away too quickly for him to get a clear shot. He ducked behind a couch, and pulled Sakura next to him, and dodged a shot form the opponent. He rose and shot, and then rolled down onto the floor. He shot the gunman in one of the arms, unfortunately it was the one that did not contain the gun. Jigen came close enough to the sniper and shot at his feet, and the gunman in returned kneed Jigen in the jaw. Jigen fell back, and was nearly shot in the skull by the other hitman. Jigen shot once more, this time landing right in the heart. The gunman fell back and onto the ground, and Jigen rose and quickly led Sakura out of the theater and into the car.
"You… You killed him…." Sakura said in disbelief as they drove away to the apartment in an unmarked car.
"Yeah, point being?" Jigen answered. He didn't feel much like talking, however. His jaw hurt like hell, and all of his teeth ached.
"Are you all right?" Sakura asked, putting a face on his chin. Jigen jumped in response, and nervously glanced over at Sakura briefly.
"I'll, I'll be fine…" Jigen answered in a murmur. They returned to the hotel a little while later, in a darkened Tokyo. Jigen went into the bathroom to check and see if his jaw had been knocked out of place while Sakura tried to get her thoughts together.
"Are you sure you're fine?" Sakura inquired. Jigen spun around in surprise and saw Sakura walk over to him. "I originally planned to become a nurse, but my mother encouraged me to go into singing." She put both hands on his jaw and began to feel around for anything broken, "Maybe you should shave off—"
"No way!" Jigen stepped back.
"I need to check for potential swelling or anything else that might be wrong. I promise I won't tell your friends," Sakura said with a small smirk and took out a shaving kit from the medicine cabinet. She sat a protesting and grumbling Jigen down on the toilet seat and went to work, "Hum… There sure is bruise there… I can see why you kept the beard, though…" Sakura said with a laugh.
"Why!?" Jigen demanded angrily.
"You look almost like a witch with the pointed nose and chin!" Sakura said with a heavy laugh.
"I remember why I don't take many vacations now…" Jigen hissed angrily and rose. He looked in the mirror, both shocked and angered. She had been the cause of the large bruise he now sported. He looked back at her; she was still laughing at him, "Now if you excuse me, I need to take a shower…" he said, clenching his jaw out of frustration, which caused him a great deal of pain which he desperately tried to hide.
"All right," Sakura nodded and rose, and walked out, still laughing to herself.
"Bitch…" Jigen muttered to himself as he turned on the water and began to prepare for his shower, "Lupin would be having a ball with this. She's already got me whipped! Damn it all!"
He hopped into the shower, all while grumbling to himself. Meanwhile, Sakura heard the shower turn on, and decided to have a little fun with the burden that was her bodyguard. He had the shortest temper out of any of the other bodyguards Kenji had left her in the hands of, and that's what made him the most entertaining to watch when she played her pranks on him. She went into her bathroom and flushed the toilet. She heard an ungodly cry moments later.
Jigen quickly turned off the shower, and put his pants on, as well as a towel around his shoulders, "That's it! I'm going to kill her!" Jigen hissed as he walked out of the bathroom to a laughing Sakura. She saw an ominous figure in her doorway, and her laughing stopped immediately as Jigen walked towards her. She had never seen his this angry, "Is that your idea of being funny!? I saved your life, and you thank me by trying to freeze my ass! It's enough that my jaw hurts, now you want to turn me into an icicle!"
Sakura looked upward at him, somewhat hurt. Jigen's expression lessened as he read Sakura's face. She was frightened of him. He looked downward, as if at a loss for words, "Listen… This isn't a game, all right? I don't know how long you've been living on that cloud, lady, but you have to get off of it and realize you were almost killed…."
Sakura looked upward at him, "I'm very sorry…. I, I… I shouldn't have played those tricks on you… You've been rather kind to me, all things considering, and I've been a bit of a nag, I suppose. No more, I promise."
"No more playing the piano at three in the morning, either, okay?" Jigen asked hopefully, recalling how many times he had been awoken from his deep sleep by Sakura's playing or singing.
"Certainly. But only if you quit smoking the hotel," Sakura nodded.
"Deal," Jigen replied.
"You're the nicest person I've met in years, you know that?" said Sakura with a wry smile.
"You must've run with some real bastards then, lady…" Jigen chuckled. He stopped laughing as he saw the look Sakura gave him. She quickly looked downward at she realized Jigen noticed her.
"What's up with the funny looks?" Jigen inquired.
"I don't think they're that funny," Sakura answered, "You—You've been looking at me the same way everyday this week."
Jigen was taken a little aback with surprise. Had he really been that careless? His questioning stopped as he saw Sakura lean inward and felt her kiss him. Had his jaw not hurt him so at that moment, he would have probably enjoyed it more. He looked down at her, more than a little surprised. Sakura smiled back at him, "Is this another one of your games!? I thought you just said no more!" Jigen demanded.
"No," Sakura shook her head, "I told you that you were the nicest person I've met in years, right? I need a nice person in my life, or else I swear to God I'll kill myself… I can't stand these people Kenji brings around. You seem like a complete ass, but you're nice, I know. I'd rather have you as a boyfriend than that toad… I won't tell Kenji."
"What about his spies?" Jigen asked, not sure if this was a test or not.
"Doesn't have any others. He relies on paranoid thinking, like yours, in order to save a few dollars," Sakura responded. Jigen looked at her skeptically, "I'm serious! If you don't trust me, you can leave," Sakura answered.
"Lady, I don't trust anyone in this world, but if you want help, I know a thing or two about disappearing…" Jigen muttered. He leaned inward, and kissed a surprised Sakura.
The Present:
Jigen slowly awoke and found Sakura's brown eyes had been replied by an equally pair of stunned and surprised ones. He then realized the owner of these eyes also had the beginnings of a five 'o clock shadow and bad cologne.
Lupin quickly jumped back and let out a yell of horror while the others looked onward and laughed, "Oh my God!" he screamed, and ran to the bathroom to retrieve the mouthwash.
"What?" Jigen pulled his hat upwards, adjusted his glasses, and saw everyone looking at him curiously, "What's going on!?" he demanded angrily.
"You were talking in your sleep," Fujiko replied.
"And you didn't wake me up!?" Jigen yelped.
"Sorry—Hearing you sing in German was quite entertaining," Goemon replied, "And why were you singing Disney songs? In two languages, no less."
Jigen could feel his face grow red from a mixture of anger and embarrassment, and rose off of the chair. Lupin came out from the bathroom, chewing on several mints, "You just let them sit there and listen to me talk in my sleep!?" he demanded angrily, grabbing onto Lupin's jacket collar.
"Yeah," Lupin loosened Jigen's hold and took a step back, "And I was going to wake you up, but then all of a sudden you grab me and start, well…. Let's just say I think you could've felt my tonsils if I hadn't had them removed."
"It was funny!" Yukiko chuckled.
"So, Lupin, is he a good kisser?" Goemon asked with a small smirk.
"Yeah, but the beard's a little bit of a turnoff," Lupin replied, rubbing his own chin, "I guess that makes us even closer friends, huh, Jigen?"
"Screw off, you jerk!" Jigen snapped, and stormed into his bedroom.
"Well, glad to see he's back to normal…" Lupin muttered to himself as he looked over at the door, "So, who wants breakfast? Even after all that brushing I have this awful aftertaste of gin in my mouth."
"I'm not hungry anymore," Amaya muttered.
"Me, either," Fujiko replied.
"I'm still a little to disturbed to eat," Goemon admitted.
"I'll go with you, Lupin!" said Yukiko excitedly.
"Okay, Yuki. Let's get going, shall we?" Lupin inquired with a wide smile as he exited with Yukiko out the front door of the hotel. Lupin turned before he had exited the room completely, "Hey, if someone could go over those police files on Kenji, maybe…."
"Why?" asked Goemon, "He's gone, we got the map. What's the big deal?"
Lupin replied, "Because I know there's something more to this guy than anyone's letting on to. I need to find something out about this guy that's been bugging me… Just do me this one little favor, guys, please."
Fujiko and Goemon groaned, "I hate computers!" said Fujiko as Lupin exited.
"I'll do it," Amaya said with a nonchalant shrug, and went over to the computer. Both Fujiko and Goemon looked in surprise as they watched Amaya's fingers quickly and gracefully hit the keys.
"You know about computers?" Goemon inquired.
"Well, you know about swordplay, Jigen knows about gunplay, Fujiko is the mistress of disguise and Lupin is a master thief. You didn't think I'd bring a special skill to the table as well? How do you think I found all of you in the first place?" Amaya inquired.
"You're dating a technology buff…." Fujiko said with a bit of humor in her voice to Goemon.
"Go figure. Well, opposites attract, I suppose," Goemon replied with a shrug.
"Here!" Amaya turned the screen to the both of them, and the three read it over. Fujiko, Goemon, and Amaya's expressions all turned to ones of shock as they read over the files. There had been a shootout dealing with Kenji some years ago, and there were still two people wanted for questioning in the affair, even after almost nine years. Daisuke Jigen, a man whom had been under Kenji's employment, and Sakura Yazuki, Kenji's ex-girlfriend.
"The name Jigen kept murmuring… Sakura…" Fujiko murmured.
"Do you think?" Amaya looked upward at the two.
"No way! He wouldn't be that stupid!" Fujiko replied.
"Jigen doesn't fall often, but when it rains it pours…" Goemon responded.
"I don't believe it! I can't believe it!" Fujiko said, shaking her head.
"You better believe it," Amaya replied.
"That's where he went off to all those years ago…" Goemon concluded.
Downstairs in the Hotel:
Lupin sat across from Yukiko in the dining room of the hotel and watched as the girl ate silently. After a short while, however, Yukiko began to speak.
"Lupin, I don't think I wan to go," she said, looking downward at the table.
"Huh?" Lupin stopped in mid-cut of his omelet and looked upward at Yukiko, "Go where?"
"With my daddy…. I know he probably wants me, but I don't know anything about him, and he probably doesn't know anything about me… But I have a lot of fun here, and I even help you guys out!" Yukiko replied.
"Yuki, trust me, I'll make sure your dad will be nice to you, I promise," Lupin replied, "Besides, you don't want a life like this! I mean, you live out of a suitcase most of the time, you're always on the run from idiots, and a lot of it's bookwork. You won't believe how much you have to use math, science, history—It can get boring, especially for a kid! Dangerous, too."
"I like it, though," said Yukiko with a smile, "Do you think my daddy will still let me visit everyone when I'm living him?"
"We'll come visit you, okay?" Lupin replied reassuringly, "We're kind of hard to track, you know."
"You promise you'll come and visit?" Yukiko inquired.
"Cross my heart and hope to become a politician," Lupin answered with a large grin, "Now, eat up. Long day ahead of us. Uncle Lupin's got to figure out how to get to the places on that map—More than one of the hiding spots are now parking lots…. You'll probably have a full day of watching movies, kid."
"All right," Yukiko nodded and went back to he meal, "Do you think we could watch Casablanca again?"
"I'll get Goemon to sit down with you," Lupin replied.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Jigen was in his bedroom, looking out a nearby window. He recalled what had happened that next morning when he and Sakura had awoken, and how he had thought about leaving while she was still asleep. He decided against leaving that morning, however, and didn't leave for the next two years, "I wonder if she still lives here… She wouldn't want to see me right now, though, I'm positive of that. She probably hates me. I wouldn't hold it against her." He turned as he heard his door open, and reached for his gun, but let his hands fall back at his sides when he saw it was only Fujiko. He could tell by the look on her face that something was very, very wrong.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Are you all right?" Fujiko inquired.
"Yeah," Jigen nodded, "My teeth are just bothering me again."
"Why don't you go to a dentist?" asked Fujiko.
"Don't worry, I'll be okay. Just need some rest."
"All right. But, if you need anything…"
"I know, I'll ask," Jigen responded, "I'm going to take a nap now, okay?"
"Sleep well, Jigen. No more singing, please. You're not horrible, but you're no Sinatra, either," Fujiko said with a good-humored smirk.
"Gotcha," Jigen replied, and watched as Fujiko exited, "I've got to find Sakura…." He decided after a long pause.
