DISCLAIMER:
Hi!
Thanks for the definition, Junkyard Angel. Don't worry, Yukiko is no Mary Sue—I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Just remember whose kid this is we're dealing with, guys…. It's kind of ironic you mention her being kind of perfect because…. Well, you'll see… Godzilla, it'd be great if you could tell me the names of any local Chicago airports or docking areas. It'd be a really big help. Thanks a million, man.
Chapter Ten
Day Ten: Outside the Wall
'Listen,
Do you want to know a secret?
Do you promise not to tell?
Closer,
Let me whisper in your ear,
Say the words you long to hear,
I'm in love with you,'
--The Beatles, 'Do you want to know a secret?'
"It's quite all right, Sir. It's not like it's the first time that Lupin's gotten away," said Remy as he sat back on his hotel bed, staring upward at the ceiling.
"But this is different! He got away too easily!" Zenigata yelled in response, "Either he's getting better, I'm getting worse, or we're both going soft!"
"Maybe it's just time to throw in the towel," Remy suggested. Zenigata shot his head towards the young officer, and glared at him.
"Only someone in your position would say something like that," Zenigata snapped, "You have no clue how long I've been tracking this creep! Almost a decade now, ever since he was just a little bastard!"
"How do you track him down so easily, Sir?" asked Remy, "Sources?"
"No," Zenigata shook his head, "He leaves notes. He's always been cocky like that… It figures he would come to a big city like Chicago. I also check flight schedules, look for odd names that just seem like ones he and his filthy excuses for friends would use! I'm always only a step or two behind them, too! But always…. That one Goddamned step…"
"I'll turn on the TV… Maybe it'll calm your nerves," Remy said slowly, reaching over for the remote and turning on the television. He switched it to the news, where a young woman with a little too much eye shadow and hairspray was reading a breaking news story.
"Authorities at Paris-based INTERPOL organization say that they have discovered the true identity of one of the newest members in the band of thieves organized by the infamous Lupin the Third. She goes by Amaya Toshi, but now investigators say that in fact her real name is Toshiko Zenigata, the daughter of renowned INTERPOL inspector Koichi Zenigata, who happens to be the lead investigator on the Lupin case. We tried to reach INTERPOL for a comment on the potential conflict of interest with Inspector Zenigata and the case, but they declined…"
"Oh, boy…" Zenigata muttered numbly. The phone began to ring, and both men jumped upward in surprise, and then looked at one another.
A Chicago Park:
"Hey, I'm going to play with them, all right!?" Yukiko said to her father, pointing over to a group of children playing amongst some trees.
"Okay. Just don't get yourself killed," Jigen responded vaguely as he looked around the park for any sign of Collin, Natasha, or Ravi. Goemon, who was at his left, also kept a sharp eye out for the would-be assassins, "Thanks for coming with me," Jigen muttered to Goemon as the two sat down on a park bench, "Tonight's Halloween, so I want to take the kid out for a little fun later."
"Who is she going as?" Goemon inquired.
"Judy Garland," Jigen answered. Both gave a small shudder, and Jigen continued to speak, "It's what the kid wanted, so…"
"You know, Jigen, a little structure wouldn't hurt every once in a while," Goemon started.
"Yeah, but too much structure screws a kid up," Jigen retorted, eyeing the samurai briefly, "Besides, she has enough to worry about as is. I just can't keep her sheltered from everything when I know she's going to end up being exposed to it anyway."
"But perhaps if you were a little more paced in your exposing her to these things. Slow and steady wins the race," Goemon reminded him.
"Slow and steady will also get you killed nowadays," Jigen replied. The yelling of children then disrupted both from their dialogue. This yelling was not joyous; a fight had broken out amongst the children. Jigen and Goemon both rose and ran over, and Jigen gulped as he saw an angry mother pulling his daughter off of a young boy who now possessed a bloody nose.
"Where are your parents!?" the woman demanded.
"Let go of me!" Yukiko yelled, kicking at the woman, "You're hurting me, you old bitch!"
"Hey! You! Let go of my kid right now!" Jigen quickly ran up, "Yuki, what's going on!?"
"I think your daughter just broke my son's nose!" the woman yelled in response.
"What!?" Jigen yelped in horror.
"He called me a name!" Yukiko shouted back.
"The kid called her a Goddamned name, Lady," Jigen said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. This woman was huge; not fat, but tall. She saw eye-level with the top of his hat.
"Well, I see where she gets her mouth…" the woman muttered, "A word simply slipped between her and my Jeremy, and she began to pummel him."
"He deserved it!" Yukiko snapped.
"Shush!" Jigen hissed, and looked back upward at the woman, "Listen, I don't know what happened, but whatever it was, your son probably had it coming, anyway. If he went around calling other people names, and you weren't doing crap about it, he had it coming."
"Sir, I don't know about you, but I raised my child with manners. He would never call another child by any sort of derogatory name," said the mother.
"Yeah, and my kid would never in a million years beat the piss out of another kid. Yeah, they're all perfect angels, I completely forgot," Jigen said sarcastically, "Get a clue, Lady!" he growled.
The woman looked downward at Yukiko, "I only hope to God her mother has better people skills than you…" she said to Jigen.
"Her mother's dead!" Jigen shouted angrily in response, causing the woman to jerk back in surprise. Yukiko's eyes fell downward to the floor, and she stormed off with Jigen as he grabbed her by the hand and went back to the car.
No one said anything in the vehicle as Jigen drove. After a while, though, Jigen began to make attempts as to find out what exactly had happened between Yukiko and the young boy, "What'd he call you, anyway?"
"He called me something I don't want to say and he made fun of my eyes…" Yukiko replied quietly. Goemon's eyes narrowed slightly at this, and he and Jigen exchanged looks of quiet anger. Yukiko continued, "He really did have it coming—I wouldn't have hit him if he didn't, and--"
"Yuki, enough," Jigen held his hand up for a moment and then set it back down on the steering wheel. When they arrived back at the hotel, Yukiko quietly walked inside to her room while Jigen and Goemon stayed in the car, "I should've kicked that fat bitch in the ass while I had the chance… How dare her kid do that.… Why—Why the hell would she go and do something so stupid like that!?" Jigen inquired, leaning on the steering wheel.
"Because we're her only forms of role models," Goemon replied.
"Huh?" Jigen raised his head upward and looked to Goemon to continue.
"She has almost no social skills, Jigen," Goemon replied, "Now, I love her just as much as you, but perhaps you should think about staying in a single place for a while, and allow her to establish bonds with other children…"
"But Lupin and Fujiko are going to have kids, and I'm sure as hell that you and Amaya are planning on a few of your own!" Jigen replied.
"But they'll be much younger," Goemon replied.
"So?" asked Jigen, "I'm seven years older than Lupin, ten years older than Fujiko, and nine years older than you!"
"But we met when we had already grown up," Goemon said.
"Lupin? Grown up? Yeah, right…" Jigen said sarcastically as he folded his arms.
"I'm trying to hold a serious conversation!" Goemon growled. Jigen looked upward from the brim of his hat in surprise; Goemon now had his full undivided attention, "Perhaps you should think about settling down at least for a few years! She's reminding me an awful lot of you—Both your bad and good qualities! And I know I wouldn't want my daughter to start to keep secrets!"
"Are you saying my kid's going to be a liar?"
"I'm only saying that perhaps history will repeat itself," said Goemon, "Imagine her leaving us behind and changing her name. I can only think what your surviving family thinks, or if they know you're alive…."
"My family doesn't give a damn if I'm alive," Jigen said, rising out of the car, "Listen, you come and tell me how to raise a kid when you've gone through what I have, Goemon. There's no book of Zen that can give you every single step on taking care of a seven-year-old girl. There's always something that you're never quite prepared for…" Jigen slammed his car door, and began to walk towards the hotel.
Goemon looked downward briefly in order to regain his composure, and then exited the vehicle as well. He walked up the stairs, and opened the door to his hotel. Amaya was looking ahead at the television, numb with shock. Goemon walked over, and looked downward at the screen, "Oh, no…." he muttered as he saw the story was on her.
"They know I'm Zenigata's daughter…" she mumbled, "Oh my God, I think I ruined my father…. Oh, God…. He's going to be kicked off of the case for sure now!"
Goemon sat down on the edge of the bed with Amaya and put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry. Everything will be all right. These things too shall pass."
"Just…. Just save it for now, Goemon," Amaya said in a choked-up tone, "I need to use the bathroom." She quickly rose and ran to the bathroom. Goemon could hear her crying from the other side of the door.
"I appear to be setting everyone off today…." Goemon muttered to himself bitterly, "It would be best if I closed my mouth from this point forward." He crossed his legs and began to think to himself, and he then heard his door open. It was Lupin. The young thief walked over to Goemon and leaned on the bed railing.
"You have any idea why Jigen's in such a pissy mood?" Lupin inquired.
"Why don't you ask him?" Goemon snapped back.
"I did; he said if I wanted to know so bad, that I should go to you, because you seem to have the answer for everything," Lupin answered.
"I tried to give Jigen a little friendly advice, but I think that hat's latched onto his brain, and he's become a little irritable over it," Goemon replied.
"Really? Advice about what?" asked Lupin as he sat on the bed and then laid down on it.
"Yukiko beat another child who called her a name up," Goemon answered.
"What!?" Lupin raised his head, "Yukiko? What made her to do that?"
"I think it's perhaps because it's what she learned from us," Goemon suggested, "I told Jigen he perhaps should be thinking about settling down for a little while."
"Nah… If Jigen a Mafioso, I swear he was a Gypsy by blood. He's always moving around. The guy looks lazy, but he can never be in one place to long. Damn, come to think of it, neither can old Pops…. I wonder how he's doing…." Lupin thought with a distant smirk.
"He's probably receiving a pink slip by fax," Goemon replied.
"What!?" Lupin sat up on the bed, and look of disbelief on his face.
"Look at the television," Goemon instructed. Lupin looked over to his left, and watched the screen for a few moments. He then looked back at Goemon, a look of pale horror on his face, "I guess it's a dream come true, Lupin…"
"No, it's a nightmare!" Lupin jumped off of the bed and stood in front of Goemon, "What the hell is Pops going to do now—Get a house in Miami and call it a day!? Besides, now that he's been fired, that means he doesn't have to follow government laws and procedures. And I'm sure the guy's racked up enough frequent-flyer miles to chase me from here to Jupiter and back. And they're going to get a hold of a new young guy who's going to come and kick my ass across the globe. At least Zenigata's predictable!"
"Zenigata could very well blame you for his downfall and come after you in retaliation," said Goemon.
"But it wasn't me! How the hell did the reporters get hold of that!?" Lupin asked quizzically.
Both suddenly came to attention and wore matching looks of grimness on their faces, "Ming…" Both quickly rose and walked out of the hotel room quickly, in hopes of finding Ming.
Jigen, Ming, and Yukiko's hotel room, about ten minutes earlier:
Yukiko was helping Fujiko with the plans for her newest steal in the hotel room down the hall. Jigen was cleaning out one of his guns silently at the hotel table, thinking angrily to himself, and wondering if perhaps Goemon had a point about Yukiko. Maybe she was going to be a little too much like him. He had noticed that she had picked up some of his habits. But he would kill her before she joined a mob; that was for sure. He hadn't meant to get as angry as he did at Goemon, but Yukiko's surprising assault was just one of many nasty discoveries he had made recently.
The door opened, and he looked upward briefly. He watched as Ming closed the door behind herself, and walked across the room. Jigen tilted his hat downward over his eyes and went back to working on the gun. Ming sat down across from him, and watched silently for a few moments as Jigen pieced his gun back together.
"What's up?" Ming inquired finally.
Jigen jumped a little; he had been too concentrated on his gun and had been surprised by the sudden sound. He looked upward briefly, "Nothing much…. The kid beat up a boy, Goemon's trying to give me parenting advice…. The usual…" he said casually.
Ming looked at him, eyes wide, "Well…. Um…. Jeeze…. Hey, thanks again for the…" she put a hand to her neck and felt the necklace. She had toned down her makeup and other jewelry to accent it, Jigen noticed. Perhaps if he found a bracelet to match she would give up on the whorish makeup altogether, he concluded. Although, come to think of it, the makeup had stopped bothering him a long time ago….
"It's no problem," Jigen replied in a mutter as he loaded his gun, closed it, and spun the chamber around once, "You earned it; I told you…."
"You remind me a lot of my dad, you know that?" Ming said absently. She looked at Jigen in confusion as she watched him involuntarily cringe, and she smirked, "What'd I say? I'm not saying age-wise…. Jesus, I've never met someone so touchy about their age in my life!"
"The age isn't the problem…" Jigen responded as he sat his gun down on the table and looked blankly down at it, "You ever been to California?"
"No," Ming shook her head.
"I almost went there once with Yukiko's mom… She had family there, I didn't—It would've been perfect."
"You two don't really talk about her much," Ming noted.
"We talk about her when we need to," Jigen replied quietly, "What about your folks? They got shot up by the mob, didn't they?"
"Yeah," Ming answered, squirming in her seat a little, "I don't like to talk about it, though. It—It happened a long time ago…. It's all the past; and the past is the past, right? I mean, you should know, of all people. Your best friends don't even know your real name, from what I've heard. Did Sakura know?"
"Yeah—She thought it sucked and my mother must've been a real bitch to name me what she did. She always called me Jigen or Daisuke when she was especially happy or when she wanted something," Jigen replied bluntly.
"What is it?" Ming inquired, leaning inward.
"Huh?" Jigen snapped his head upward in surprise, "I'm not telling you!" He then realized how close Ming was, and backed away a little.
"You're no fun," Ming muttered, and sat back in her seat, "I'll bet it's Chris."
"Chris!? I look nothing like a Chris!" answered Jigen.
"Uh-huh," Ming nodded and folded her arms across her chest, "It's probably something really stupid and really ethnic, too. Is it Donnie? It's an Italian name, isn't it?"
"Leave me alone," Jigen rose and began to walk towards the balcony. Ming followed him over to the balcony, and leaned against the glass doorway, "Just move out of the way. I need some fresh air, okay?"
"Come on. First name at least," Ming smiled devilishly.
"No! Now…." Jigen put his hands on her shoulders and began to move her over to the left.
"Bastard! Let me go!" Ming snapped and knocked Jigen's feet out from under him. Both fell to the floor, Jigen landing on top of Ming, "Do you mind!?" Ming asked angrily, pushing Jigen away from her.
Jigen picked up his fallen hat from the floor and put it on his head, and glanced over at Ming. Maybe now is time for a down payment on my services, he thought as he remembered the first time Ming had tried to 'repay' him, but stopped himself in his own self-loathing and disgust. She was just a kid, after all. But she sounded much older; older than twenty, older than thirty-eight; old and downtrodden.
"Hey, Dillinger, you feeling okay?" Ming asked waving a hand in front of the gunman's blank face.
Jigen suddenly came to, "Yeah. Just pretty tired, that's all. I wanted to shoot that old bitch for grabbing onto Yuki like that…."
"I probably would've taken a shot at her, too…" Ming admitted, "I can't help but feel a little protective of her myself. I can't really imagine you when she starts dating…. Wouldn't it be funny if she and one of Lupin's kids hooked up? Jigen and Lupin, together at last."
"Listen, the kid isn't even out of the oven yet and—What!? What's that last crack about!?" Jigen inquired in an angry snap.
"You never read tabloids? People were always writing about how you guys were gay lovers, and Fujiko was just a cover-up because Lupin was too afraid he would ruin his macho image," Ming said with a laugh.
"I guess I missed that…." Jigen admitted, "Even if he was the prettiest girl on earth I would've even think about it. He's a good friend, but he's also obnoxious, annoying, arrogant, and—"
"Sounds pretty-much like your description of me…." Ming muttered in a bittersweet tone.
Jigen gave a look of shock, "No—You have good qualities, too. It's just that your obnoxious childlike side takes over a lot. I don't think of you like that. I never even made that connection."
"What did you think of me?" Ming eyed him suspiciously.
Jigen went to speak, but then stopped dead. What exactly did he think of her? She had looks, and had a good personality when she wasn't bouncing around everywhere. He knew the answer, but was perhaps a little too afraid and a little too proud to admit anything to himself or to her.
"Jigen? You're spacing off again on me, buddy," Ming said, waving her hand in front of his face once more. Jigen quickly grabbed her hand, and Ming looked upward at him, a look of uncertain dread growing on her face quickly. Was he going to break her arm out of frustration? It wouldn't be the first time a man had treated her like complete crap, she thought with deep regret.
Jigen set her one hand down on the floor, and leaned inward to her. Ming was very confused now. Jigen put a hand behind her neck, and briefly kissed her. He quickly sat back afterwards, in a form of shock. The dam of repression that he had built up over many, many years had suddenly come tumbling down in one fatal swoop. Ming looked downward, her mouth half-open in surprise. Her eyes traveled back up to him, and regained her composure, "What was that all about?"
"Sorry. Happens every once in a while," Jigen replied, resting his chin on his knees.
Ming leaned over, and put a hand on top of his, "Do you… I mean…"
"I know, I know…. 'I'm too young and I want to experience life'. I've heard it," Jigen replied, "Listen, just forget it. It'd be best for both of us if we did. I mean, I'm supposed to protect, not…. Besides, I've got Yukiko to take care of, and…."
"Quiet for one minute. Let me finish," Ming whispered, "Did you mean that, or not?" Jigen remained stern and silent, "I guess I'll take that as a yes, huh? Believe me, I don't expect you to be drooling all over me. The fact that you just did…. That… Is mind-blowing…. I don't mind Yukiko, and I don't mind the age difference. I know you're a good guy—That's all that counts, to me. I… I know I was sort of scared of you the first time, but I'd like to try again…."
"Try what?" asked Jigen. Ming leaned inward and kissed Jigen, and the gunman fell back onto the floor.
"That," Ming smirked, removed Jigen's hat, and put it on her own head.
The Present:
Lupin and Goemon steadily opened the door to the hotel room, and both stopped dead in their tracks as they saw Jigen and Ming on the floor. Both seemed a little too busy to acknowledge the presence of the two as Goemon and Lupin quickly fled.
Goemon closed the door behind him, and looked over at Lupin, "Now what?"
"I think things just made themselves a million times more difficult…" Lupin answered, leaning against the white hallway wall, "I just—I know we told the guy that—But I never thought he actually would—Dammit!" Lupin stomped his boot on the floor, "This is freakin' unbelievable! Of all the times for him to find someone! What made her so different from the others!?"
"Perhaps we should tell him later. It'd be even more difficult to break the news now, seeing as how he's a little preoccupied at the moment," Goemon replied.
"God almighty," Lupin put a hand on his forehead, "What now, Goemon?"
"You're the leader," Goemon answered bluntly, and went into his own hotel room to see if Amaya had unlocked the bathroom door yet. If not, Goemon contemplated kicking the door in.
Lupin sat down on the floor of the hotel hallway and thought to himself, and how he would break the news to Jigen. But he wasn't even sure if Ming was the source of the leak. There was one other possible suspect, but Lupin doubted this. Why would someone out to get him want to get Zenigata fired?
"That bastard never did make much sense…" Lupin muttered, not sure if he were referring to Zenigata, Jigen, or his assailant. He sat there for a while, thinking to himself, and jumped to a start as Jigen's door opened. The gunman was wearing a small smirk as he walked down the hall to get a newspaper. He only noticed Lupin as he walked back.
"What's up with you? You look like someone shot your dog…" Jigen murmured.
"Jigen, I have to tell you something," Lupin said, rising from his place on the carpet, "Ming, she—"
"She's not as bad as she comes off as," Jigen answered, leaning against his door, "Once you get to know her, she's really likable," he unfolded the paper and glanced through it quickly.
"I'm sure…" Lupin grumbled, "But, anyway, what I mean is—"
"I know. I saw you guys…. I just had my hands a little full at the moment," Jigen chuckled lightly at this as he folded the newspaper back together.
Lupin clenched his fists; had he really been this irritating to Goemon and Jigen every time he spoke about Fujiko? Lupin continued, "Jigen, it's not that. What I mean to say is—"
"Can it wait? If it's about another heist, we can talk about it later, right?" asked Jigen, "I, I, mean, no offense, man, but Ming's in there and—"
"MING'S STABBING YOU IN THE BACK YOU LOVE-STRUCK SON OF A BITCH!!!" Lupin shouted in frustrated rage, banging one of his fists against the hotel wall.
Jigen looked at him blankly a few moments, and his face darkened, "What? What the hell are you talking about?"
"It's all over the news that Zenigata and Amaya are related. Ming's the only one who could've known," Lupin replied.
"What the hell about Fujiko!?" Jigen suggested, pointing to Lupin's room, "She could've done it!"
"I know for a fact she didn't. She has no motive," Lupin replied, "Jigen, I know what I said earlier about wanting you to be happy, but that girl's bad news."
"Yeah? What about your own girl, huh? Like she's never stabbed you in your back," said Jigen viciously.
"Yeah, but when we do it, we make up! You usually kill the bitch who double-crosses you! Remember Spain!?" Lupin inquired.
"I told you never to mention that again," Jigen hissed.
"Well, I'm mentioning it now. And what the hell are you going to do about it?" Lupin inquired.
"I don't have to take this," Jigen shook his head, and walked back into his hotel room. He slammed the door behind him, leaving Lupin still fuming.
"Fine!" Lupin kicked at the door, "We'll see what happens when she doublecrosses you! Freaking hell…" Lupin grumbled under his breath and shook his head. He stormed into his hotel room, and found Yukiko and Fujiko both in the living room.
Fujiko rose off of the couch as Lupin trudged through, "Lupin, what's wrong?"
"Jigen's acting like an ass!" Lupin screamed in response, slamming the bedroom door behind him.
"I just don't get him sometimes…" said Fujiko, shaking her head and sitting back down on the couch.
Meanwhile, back in Jigen's room, Ming had fallen asleep on the bed while Jigen went about straightening the room, looking back every once in a while to reassure himself that he wasn't dreaming. It had been a sudden transition, but one he was glad of.
Ming rolled over once, and opened her eyes, "What the hell are you doing?" she inquired.
"Cleaning this place up," Jigen answered.
"They pay people to do that!" Ming grumbled, and put her face into her pillow, "So, you still think I'm an obnoxious little bitch?"
"Yeah, but to a lesser degree," Jigen responded bluntly. Ming growled and threw the alarm clock at him. Jigen dodged out of the way quickly, "Ouch! What, a couple of hours and I start thinking you're a saint! It takes time, okay!?" He walked over at sat down on the edge of the bed, "Thanks again, Doll…"
Ming rolled back onto the bed, and looked upward the ceiling, "You've been really nice to me, nicer than anyone has ever been. Thanks, Daisuke."
"No problem. I… I…." Jigen found that it was now harder to speak, and the room began to spin. He began to feel numb, and blacked out on the floor.
When he awoke, he found that Goemon and Lupin had suffered similar fates. Ming, Fujiko, Amaya and Yukiko were all gone. The only hint that the kidnapper had left was a simple note.
Come on and get them—
Anonymous
"That bastard," Lupin hissed, "It was him all along!"
"Who was him!?" Jigen asked anxiously. Two of the people he had come to care about more than anything else had gone missing, and he wanted the blood of the unknown abductor.
"Follow me, guys," said Lupin, taking his gun from his dresser and taking out a box of bullets, "Goemon, go polish your sword. Jigen, load your gun. We may be shooting to kill for this… This guy's pretty damned good."
