DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the aforementioned copyrighted characters. They belong to their respective owners.
Hi guys!
I'm wondering when this thing started to go on the Yaoi side, because I have no bloody clue… Anyone got any clues? I barely remember how I even thought of that, or how that came up…. I usually write this stuff between eleven and three at night, and that's when the weird stuff starts to come in…. Well, be sure to send in your reviews, and tell me how I'm doing.
Chapter Six
Day Six: Blue Bayou
'Sexy Sadie she's the latest and the greatest
of them all,
She made a fool of everyone,'
--The Beatles, 'Sexy Sadie'
"We thank you for flying Delta airlines, we hope you had a pleasant flight," said a condescending female voice over the intercom in the coach section of the airplane.
"Pleasant my ass. The only thing pleasant about it was the fact that it's over!" one man grumbled in a familiar voice as he and six others stepped out of the plane and into the airport. They picked up their bags, and went to the car pickup, where another man with the group drove around to the front of the airport in a 30's model car. All put their luggage away, and hopped into the car, and began to drive off from the airport full-speed.
"Oh, man, that was great!" Lupin laughed happily as he ripped his mask off of his face and threw it out into the Louisiana swampland, "Welcome my friends to the Big Easy. To your right, swamps and alligators. To your left, swamps and alligators. Straight ahead, New Orleans!"
"It isn't all swamp," Jigen replied as he drove along the road, which became wider and more industrialized as they continued to drive onward.
"You ever live here?" Lupin inquired.
"Yeah, actually," Jigen snapped back.
"Oh," Lupin sat back in his seat, "So I'll bet you know some good bars, then?" Jigen looked at him, smirked, then turned his eyes back onto the road, "Oh, wow, you do, don't you!?"
"Maybe," Jigen answered.
"Now if you told me there was something worth stealing, I'd love you forever," Lupin said happily.
"Well…" Jigen looked upward in thought, briefly.
"Really? What?" Lupin asked excitedly. Lupin looked downward at the rubber band around one of Jigen's wrists, and snapped it back. Jigen jumped in response, and looked over at Lupin angrily, "Come on, what is it?"
"What was that for, you little son of a bitch?" Jigen demanded angrily.
"Huh?" Lupin drew back a little, "Jeeze, I didn't know you were in such a bad mood…. You really changed pretty damned quick. What the hell's up with you?"
"Nothing," Jigen replied, and reached over and snapped the rubber band. He clenched his teeth a little, but continued to drive onward.
"You know what…" Lupin frowned in concern and looked over at Jigen, "I just realized that the first thing you do is run for the smoking section after a flight, but you didn't this time. Are you out of cigarettes?"
"Sort of," Jigen replied, sinking lower down in the car seat.
"Dammit… This one never stops kicking," Fujiko mumbled, placing a hand on her stomach.
"Now what's this little treasure, huh?" Lupin inquired, leaning next to Jigen, "C'mon…"
"Listen, you didn't let me finish. I was going to say 'Well, why don't we look around' but you just jump on top of me before I can even finish a sentence," Jigen replied, and reached over to snap the rubber band. He jumped a little, grumbled, and made a right into a hotel parking lot. They parked, and Amaya went into the hotel lobby to check the group in while the others began to gather their luggage.
"Well, who's up for gumbo!?" Lupin laughed as he trudged in with the others to the hotel.
"Bonjour, tu monde!" said the hotel manager as the group made their way in.
"Bonjour, Monsieur," Lupin responded with a wide smile, "Tu es francias?"
"Oui, je francais, et je parlez francias tres bien," the man replied with a shrug, "Et tu? Tu parles francias?"
"Oui. Ma famille es francias," Lupin nodded. The two continued to converse in French for several minutes, while the others waited with rapidly decreasing patience. When Lupin had finally ended his conversation with the manager, he walked away with a twenty-percent discount for the rooms, and free breakfasts.
"What was that all about?" Fujiko inquired.
"Maurice is a pretty decent guy," Lupin nodded as they began to climb the stairs into their rooms. "His grandfather was a novelist in France. He comes from a long line of tradition, too."
"Yeah, what is it with you guys and your traditions?" Ming inquired. It was the first time she had spoken since they had gotten into the car; she and Jigen were still somewhat uncomfortable around one another due to the events of the previous night. Lupin opened the door to his and Fujiko's room, and tossed Goemon and Jigen their keys. Amaya took some of her electronic equipment from Goemon, and the two went into their room.
"Well, let's get going," Jigen said, and fiddled with his luggage while trying to open the door. He finally decided on dropping his bags and then kicking them into the room when he had opened the door. Yukiko and Ming soon followed him in, dropping their bags on the bed.
Yukiko went to the closet and opened the door, and wheeled out the cot. From all of her recent travels, she had learned how to assemble a cot within seconds. When she finished, she looked downward at her handiwork and smiled. She looked back at her father and Ming, "I can sleep here if you guys want. It's a little small."
"I—Uh…" Jigen looked over at Ming and back at Yukiko.
"Thanks, Yuki," Ming reached forward and patted her on the head, "but I move around a lot in my sleep, and that'd just piss your daddy off. He gets cranky when he doesn't get his sleep because he's old now and he needs more of it than ever."
"What!?" Jigen snapped and looked upward at Ming. He glared at Ming, and she smiled back at her, "I'm not that old!"
"A little old for me, Daisuke," Ming chuckled as she unzipped her bag and began to unpack. Jigen took the rubber band, and snapped it a few times in silence. He would have given his shooting arm for a cigarette at that moment.
"Hey, Beetle Bailey, gimme a hand with this!" Ming called, tossing Jigen a black case.
"What is it?" Jigen asked, looking downward at the hard case.
"A Winchester," Ming replied, opening the suitcase and showing off her rifle to Jigen. He whistled as he looked down at the silver metallic device. He removed it from its case and examined the handiwork.
"This is nice… Pretty Goddamned nice…" Jigen murmured, "Where'd you get this?"
"E-Bay," Ming replied bluntly, "You like it?"
"It's a good model," Jigen admitted, handing her back the gun. Ming placed it back in its case and laid it down on the side of the bed and then looked downward at Yukiko. She was quickly falling asleep on the bed.
Ming began to speak, without ever taking her eyes off of the young girl, "What happened to her mother?"
"Died a little while ago. Cancer," Jigen replied, putting his hands in her pockets, "She was really nice, a real gem of a lady."
"I can tell," said Ming.
"Why's that?"
"Because she sure as hell didn't get her personality from you," Ming replied, looking over at Yukiko, "She looks sort of like you, though."
"And she can shoot just like me," Jigen admitted, "And that's kind of scary, since she's only a kid. She's going to be one hell of a fighter when she grows up. I just hope she won't have to fight. You know, every parent wants their kid to grow up to be a lawyer, or a doctor… I just don't know about her being a thief or a hitman for a living."
"What would her mother have thought?" Ming inquired.
"She probably would've broken my friggin' neck if she knew half of what I let the kid do," Jigen responded, and turned away from her in order to start unpacking, "I try to do everything that I can, but I'm just no good at this. I know that the kid still doesn't know exactly what to think of me. She gets along better with Goemon, and I know it. Sometimes I wish she had ended up with him as her father instead of me. That would've been better for her."
"You shouldn't talk like that," Ming sighed, and sat down at the table in the corner of the room. "You have security problems, don't you?"
"No, I just know I suck as a parent," Jigen replied bluntly.
"You don't," Ming shook her head, "You've given up a lot for her. I know she's the reason you aren't smoking like a chimney anymore. You do that because you love her, and that's what counts. Sure, she can talk to Goemon, but it's not unusual for a kid to have a person other than their parents they can talk to. And he seems like a pretty good listener."
"Oh, yeah. Good thing he's going to marry someone who can form a complete sentence without half an hour of thought," Jigen replied. He completed his unpacking, and sat down at the foot of the bed. There was a knock on the door, and Ming opened it. Fujiko was in the doorway with Amaya behind her.
"Is Yukiko asleep?" Fujiko inquired.
"She's a light sleeper," Jigen replied, "Why?"
"Amaya and I are going to take the car out into the city. Ming, you can come too if you want," said Fujiko.
Ming looked back at Jigen, who simply nodded, "You can take Yuki. I trust Amaya."
"What about me?" Fujiko asked with a smile.
"Don't get me started," Jigen replied, and took his hands out of his pocket to snap the rubber band. God, whoever thought that pain could help someone quit smoking ought to be shot, Jigen thought to himself as he felt a twinge of pain shoot up his arm.
"Why do you trust her?" Fujiko asked.
"Strangely enough, because she's Zenigata's kid, and she's gotten a lot of his good traits. She just as honest and determined as her old man. You can respect a person like that," Jigen replied, adjusting his glasses and looked up at the stunned women. He turned as he heard Yukiko wake up. She quickly put a brush through her hair, said goodbye to her father, and exited the hotel room.
Jigen was glad for the rest, and took this opportunity to lie down on the bed, and enjoy the silence. The silence did not last long, however. There was soon another knock on the door, and Jigen raised his head to see whom it was that was currently picking the lock of his hotel door. Lupin slowly opened the door, and smiled as he saw Jigen was still in his hotel room. Goemon entered after Lupin, and the two sat down at a table in the corner of the room.
"So, how is everything with your kabuki friend?" Goemon asked.
"I don't know, how is everything with your gay wanna-come-over-for-a-little-while-and-have-some-fun friend?" Jigen snapped mockingly. Goemon drew his head back a little in surprise, and Lupin interjected before this could escalate any farther.
"So, who's up for a game of cards?" Lupin asked quickly, "What do you guys say?"
"Why the hell not?" both shrugged, and Jigen rose and walked over to the table while Lupin went to go find the cards from his room. He came back, and began to deal the cards.
"Who would've thought a few years ago that'd we'd be just a bunch of family-committed watered-down versions of our old selves?" Lupin sighed in a bittersweet tone as he looked down at his hand.
"I'm family committed, but not watered down," Jigen replied as he laid down his hand.
"Yeah, right. I haven't seen you with a cigarette in the past few days. You quit cold turkey, and that's why you're so bitchy," Lupin threw his a few of his cards down.
"So what? What's that got to do with it?" Jigen snapped.
"What's up with you and Ming?" Lupin asked as both watched Goemon toss a few cards in.
"Huh?" Jigen glanced upward at Lupin, "What do you mean? She wants me to teach her how to be a better gunfighter. Beyond that, it's nothing." He looked upward, and noted the severe glance Goemon threw at him. Jigen cleared his throat and shifted in his seat uncomfortably before he threw his cards down and drew a few from the deck.
"You sure? I mean, I should know a little about these types of things. They way she flirts with you is astounding, even to me," Lupin muttered as he took his turn, and smiled at the fact that he was now leading the game.
"What do you mean?" Jigen snapped, "Listen, nothing like that is going on!"
"What about the black lipstick?" Goemon said as he finally spoke. Lupin shot his head up in surprise, and looked at Goemon, and then at Jigen.
"What about it?" Lupin inquired.
Jigen looked downward at his cards, trying desperately to concentrate on his game, "She… Uh… Thought I wanted to be paid back there in Miami, and she didn't have money, so she thought I'd settle for…."
"Oh my God, you didn't, did you!?" Lupin yelped.
"Of course not!" Jigen replied quickly.
"Well, why not?" Lupin inquired.
"What!? She's twenty, for Christ's sakes!" said Jigen irately.
"So? Sounds like fun," Lupin smiled. Jigen growled at him, and snapped at the rubber band, "Jigen, you know I'm just kidding. You really ought to let yourself have a little bit of fun every once in a while, though. Keeping it all in there can't be good for anyone."
"And letting it all out isn't good for anyone, either," Jigen retorted, "You pretty-much prove that."
"You know, not paying attention to the game and allowing me to win isn't exactly the best idea, either," Goemon said, lying down his cards and smiling.
"Huh?" both looked downward and saw the cards Goemon had thrown down onto the table in disbelief.
"I don't believe it!" Lupin said in shock, putting a hand on his head. He looked up at Goemon, "I had no clue all of that Zen crap would pay off when it came to playing cards!" he took the cards from the pile and began to shuffle them, "So, what about you and Amaya?"
"I'm probably going to ask her to marry me soon. I would like to start a family with her, but not until we're married. A part of my family runs a Shinto temple, so it wouldn't be as expensive as usual to hold a ceremony," Goemon explained.
"Three sentences—Wow, I'm really proud of you, Goemon!" Lupin laughed, "But you're really going to marry her? Wonder what Zenigata's going to think."
"Well, I don't think he hates me. If he did, he wouldn't have bothered to have tried to kill me," Goemon explained, "He would not have taken the time if he did not care about Amaya. He wants to see her happy above all. What about you and Fujiko?"
"Oh, right after this. This is kind of like a pre-honeymoon celebration," Lupin replied, "We're thinking France. I have more family members—"
"Because you killed off most of hers," Jigen smirked wryly.
Lupin looked over at him and glared, and then began to speak again, "Like I was saying…. We're going to get married in Paris. You're both invited."
"Can I bring a gun? I want to feel safe around your family," Jigen said.
"What, they're good people!" Lupin insisted.
"They're thieves before they're good people," Jigen retorted.
Lupin nodded in agreement, and dealt his cards, "Almost makes a guy want to run off to Vegas and get eloped…"
A shopping district of New Orleans:
"This place is amazing! We really ought to come back here for Mardi Gras," said Amaya as the three women and young girl walked along the New Orleans streets.
"Yeah. The kids'll be out by then, and I can load up on Bourbon," Fujiko replied with a whimsical smile, "I don't what I miss more—Drinking or fitting into a size six…"
"You're a size six?" Amaya inquired.
"Funny, I thought she looked a little fatter than that…" Fujiko heard.
"Hey! That wasn't nice at all!" Fujiko snapped angrily to Amaya.
"That wasn't me," said Amaya, shaking her head. Fujiko frowned, and looked over at Ming, who also confirmed that she had not uttered the sentence. And Yukiko saying it was certainly out of the question; this was a woman's voice. Fujiko tried to shrug it off as nothing and continued walking, but something bothered her. The voice sounded to familiar; deep with a slight accent of some sort.
She then noticed that the crowds were beginning to clear, and the four found themselves walking along an old, eerie, deserted alley, "How's your boyfriend doing?" they suddenly heard, "Tell him I said hi, all right? But I'm not sure you'll have the opportunity, considering you'll be dead, Fujiko Mine…"
"Huh?" Fujiko turned her head, and saw a blonde woman standing in front of their only exit, pointing a gun toward them, "You!" she yelled as she placed the face with the voice, "You're—"
"Natasha Yalkzalta," Natasha replied, looking towards Fujiko. She smiled, "I hope you ladies got all of your shopping done, because you all don't have much time left on your hands."
Amaya lunged forward and shouldered Natasha to the floor. She rose, and drew her sword out, and looked downward at Natasha. Natasha fired her gun once, but Amaya dodged this with her sword blade. The bullet ricocheted off of the concrete and flew up towards a building.
Natasha kicked Amaya's legs out from under her and rose. She pointed her gun towards Amaya's head, but it was shot out of her hands before she could put enough pressure on the trigger. She gasped at the pain in her burning hands and looked upward to see Fujiko poised, holding a still-smoking pistol. Ming was in the background, attempting to hold a struggling Yukiko back.
"The next shot is going to go right through your head," Fujiko hissed. Natasha looked upward at Fujiko, and could tell from her expression that this was no joke. Fujiko and she were in a remained locked in an icy staring contest, and Natasha suddenly turned to leave, only to find a blade mere millimeters from her throat. She looked upward, and glanced into Amaya's eyes, which also had a look to kill.
"Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree…." Natasha smirked, and took a step back. Amaya crouched down, and gripped the sword handle with both hands. Natasha walked back a few paces, ran, jumped off of the ground, propelled herself off of Amaya's shoulders, and landed on her feet.
"Good job," Natasha said with a smirk, brushing a few loose strands of hair away, "You're almost as good as your boyfriend… Although I've yet you see exactly how good he is…"
"Bitch!" Amaya screamed, and ran towards Natasha. Natasha looked over quickly, and saw an oncoming garbage truck. She grabbed onto one of the handrails of the speeding truck, and disappeared. Amaya turned to Fujiko, "Why didn't you shoot her!?"
"I couldn't get a clear shot!" Fujiko responded, putting her gun back into her purse, "Believe me, if I could've gotten a clean shot, I would've gone for it."
Amaya looked back over at Ming and Yukiko, and walked past Fujiko towards them. Fujiko gasped as she remembered Yukiko, and ran towards the three.
"Yukiko, are you okay?" Amaya asked.
"She's fine," Ming answered, "She wanted to go and fight with you guys, but I was too afraid to let her…"
"You did good, Ming," Fujiko replied, and turned her attention back to Yukiko, "You shouldn't go rushing into a fight if you don't have a weapon…."
"It didn't matter! I just wanted to help you!" Yukiko responded.
Fujiko sighed, rose, and rolled her eyes, "Just like your father…. Come on…" She stood, and took Yukiko by the hand. The two began to walk out of the alley, leaving just Amaya and Ming. Amaya turned to Ming, and looked at her with a quick glance of suspicion, "I thank you for protecting her… You may prove yourself a member of this team yet…."
"I don't want to be part, I just want protection and lessons from a great teacher," Ming replied.
"Yes," Amaya nodded grimly, "But, I warn you. Daisuke Jigen is a good friend of my boyfriend; they are the closest thing to being brothers with any blood between them. So, if you end up damaging his feelings, you will have both me and Goemon to answer to."
"I, uh…" Ming was at a loss for words. Before she could speak, however, Amaya's expression again turned cheery, and she gave Ming comradely smile.
"Come on. We have to catch up with them. I want to get back soon so I can install a new program I bought," said Amaya. She tugged on Ming's arm, and began to walk out of the alley, leaving Ming speechless once more.
"Jigen's right—She is as crazy as her father…" Ming muttered to herself. She sighed heavily, brushed some of her hair back, and began to follow Amaya out of the alley.
