DISCLAIMER: Um…. Me no own Lupin III…. But hopefully by the time this is posted I'll once again own an Internet hookup…
Hey!
Sorry about the rather lengthy wait, dear readers…. It appears as though someone accidentally uninstalled their Internet hookup, and was unable to locate the disk to restore it… (coughs uneasily). Anyway, please enjoy these next belated chapters, and, as always, comments appreciated! (Oh, by the way, I may have a scanner hooked up soon, so I'll try to put artwork to go along with the story on the Internet—But where, I have no idea. I'll keep everyone posted. Oh, and the Fan Fact of Boredom is exactly what it says—After a year and a half, you end up with a huge file of in-jokes, and I thought I'd just share some, hee hee…).
Fan Fact of Boredom: Dakota's name comes from the Dakota hotel, where ex-Beatle John Lennon resided until his death (literally—He died in front of the building).
Chapter Thirty One
The Next Day: Dream On
'I know that she's no peasant,
only ever has to give love forever and
forever,'
—The Beatles, 'She's a Woman'
Brazil:
"The kid asleep, finally?" Max wondered aloud as he looked downward at the little girl passed out over Leo's chest. Leo was in the process of translating a military document on a computer, and worked silently while the little girl slept on silently. His jacket was tossed aside, his tie hung loose around his neck, and his glasses looked as though they were about to slip off of his face at any moment.
"Yeah, finally!" Leo mumbled, "A bomb dropping couldn't wake up this girl, I swear! Heh, this happened with Lupin, you know… He got dumped with a little girl, too… Over twenty years ago…"
"Really? Huh… What happened?" inquired Max.
"Well, Yukiko's still there…" Leo replied as he opened another file upon his laptop and scanned through his documents, "It looks like she's taken a liking to me…"
"She did call you 'Daddy'," Max chuckled as he kneeled downward next to Leo's bed, "What are you working on?"
"Side project," Leo replied.
"You're a workaholic, eh?" Max chuckled, "You could always set that aside for a little bit, and just take a breather…"
"This, from a Zenigata… It'd be even better if you could learn to follow your own advice, Max, it really would. You stress out about too much, Zenigata…"
"Yeah, what else do I have room for, anymore?" Max sighed, "Our lives are owned by our work, LeBlanc! It's sad to think you're all I have in the world…"
"… What's that mean…?"
"I—Don't look too much into it, okay?"
"What, tell me…" Leo ordered, "Hey, I have a question… I don't want you to freak out, or anything, but I want a straight-up, honest answer…"
"Hn, what is it?" Max inquired with confusion.
"Er… Let's go talk about this on the patio… I don't want her to hear us talking about this…" Leo said with a small smile as he looked downward at the still-sleeping Dakota. He gently lifted the little girl onto the bed, and led Max out to the balcony. He opened the glass door for Zenigata, and then shut it behind him, "Okay, I wanted to ask you something, and I want you to answer me honestly…"
"Sure, sure, what the hell is it?" Max asked with a slight tone of annoyance in his voice, tapping his foot upon the concrete balcony as he spoke.
"I wanted to know…" Leo took a step closer towards him, and removed his reading glasses, and hung them for his shirt collar. He then leaned forward, and removed Max's glasses, making Zenigata jump back in surprise.
"Um, wha-what are you doing?" asked Zenigata with a confused choke, darting his eyes all the while, looking for an escape route.
"That's a really good look for you, you know that? You should look into contacts… Those glasses hide so much of your face!" Leo chuckled, bringing a hand to Zenigata and moving some of his hair from in front of his eyes.
"LeBlanc, what in the world are you smoking!?"
"Stop worrying, Zenigata!" Leo laughed, taking his friend by the hand, "I'm not going to do anything that you haven't wanted before!"
"Hey, what's that supposed to—" Max stopped as Leo pushed him forward, towards him, and brought his face to Max's.
"Gagh!" Max sprang up from his bed, and looked over to his left, where Leo was sitting cross-legged, his arms folded against his chest and his head slumped over. He was still wearing his reading glasses, and his laptop sat in front of him, the white screen staring back. Dakota lied next to Leo, and slept soundly as well.
"Another dream…. Another terrifyingly scarily creepily real dream…" said Max with a sigh of relief, "Maybe this job is getting to me… I ought to look into a vacation… Yeah, like Aruba… Aruba would be nice… I need to hit the mini bar, and drink that scary little thought away, once and for all… Oh…. I'm turning into a Jigen!" he added with a shudder. Max rose from his bed, walked over to the complimentary bar, and pulled out a small liquor bottle. He also took with him a jar of the complimentary cocktail peanuts, and sat back down in his bed.
"And I thought Dad was screwed up for hallucinating and singing Bette Midler! At least he never ended up doing anything like that in his dreams… I strongly hope…" Max muttered to himself as he looked over at Leo, "Who am I going to tell this one to? I can't say anything to Mom or Dad, because they'd kill me…. And Leo's certainly out of the question…. But I do have an older sister…." Max allowed for a weak, tired smile as he reached over and lifted the telephone from the table and set it on his lap. He shuddered at how he would explain this to Amaya as he began to dial the number.
Chicago:
Yukiko bolted straight up in bed and immediately drew her gun out, pointing it to the source of loud and long scream, definitely male in origin. She rose, and slowly walked towards her bathroom, where the door had been shut and, as she found out soon, locked.
"Hey, come out of there, or I'm shooting through the door!" she called.
"Dammit, don't do that! It's just me!" Toshiro snapped.
"What the hell happened?!" Yukiko inquired with an angry snapped, "Do you know how bad you freaked me out!? Come on out of there!"
"No, I'd rather not…" Toshiro answered.
"What in the world are you doing in there?" she asked as she heard the ruffling of packages on her shelves and in her cabinets.
"Nothing!" Toshiro replied.
"I'm opening the damn door, so put a towel on, at least!" she called, bending over the doorknob to examine it.
"If you open that door, I'll never forgive you for it!" Toshiro yelled.
"And if you don't let me open it, I'll key your damn Vespa and I'll also tell Ally that you took advantage of me!" Yukiko yelled in return. There was a period of silence behind the other end of the door, which Yukiko concluded to be an agreement, and she stood back as the door opened itself, "What… What in the hell…" she gasped. Her gasp was soon followed by a full stream of laughter, which caused Yukiko to bend over and eventually kneel down on the door.
"What happened to your hair!?" shed laughed wildly, "Ha ha! Oh my God, are you trying out for Annie!?"
"Shut up!" Toshiro growled, catching himself in the mirror as he did so. He was not sure how it happened, but somehow, over the course of the night, his raven-colored hair had become a shade of bright red, "Just, shut…. Up…."
"Ha, ha, haaHA! I, I can't!" Yukiko panted, "Oh… Oh my God…. Ha ha! What in the hell did you do last night!?"
"Nothing! I just took a shower!" Toshiro replied.
"Hey, Kids, I heard yelling!" said Jigen as he opened Yukiko's bedroom door. He blinked a few times as he studied Toshiro, and then let out a heavy sigh, "Son of a bitch…. I'm going color blind, now! Ming, call my doctor!" he called downstairs to his wife, "I'm going in for a Monday checkup!"
"Why!?" Ming inquired with an equally loud yell.
"Because the color black's starting to look like red!" Jigen replied, "Come here, and tell me if I'm just crazy!"
"I don't need to walk a flight of stairs to tell you you're crazy!"
"Get your ass up here, now…"
"Magic word…"
Jigen let out a grumble and sighed, "Please…?"
"Coming!" said Ming in a sing-song voice. She trotted up the stairs, and peered into Yukiko's room, and soon went into a fit of laughter identical to her stepdaughter's, "Toshiro, what did you—"
"I don't know!" he snapped in return, "Could you please both just quiet…. I'll pay you both, at this point!"
"Hey, Mom, where are the—Woah! What happened to you!? Trying out for Annie… You're a little tall for the role…." Ally whooped, "Oh, boy, this is great! Ha ha…. Finally getting what you deserve, if you ask me!"
"I'm going to go wash this out!" Toshiro snapped.
"Oh, no, I wouldn't do that… Well, you can't, actually," said Ming with a flippant laugh.
"What!?"
"You probably took some of my hair dye last night…. That stuff's permanent, and if you try to put black on it, you'll probably end up as a blond…" Ming explained, "That stuff drives Jigen crazy, hee hee… The man has a serious thing for redheads…"
"Okay, I'm officially mortified…" Ally admitted, "Thank God at least—"
"Good morning, Allen," Ally heard, and spun about to see Carmen in his wake, dressed in a pink bathrobe and wearing a smile.
"Oh, you… Did… Hear that….Um…. How'dya sleep!?" Ally asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his head nervously.
"Fine, thank you… I was hoping maybe we could go out for breakfast, I'll treat you if you pick out the spot…" said Carmen.
"Hey, how're you two lovebirds doin', huh!?" Ally cringed as he felt Fuji slip an arm over both his and Carmen's shoulder, "Sleep well? I hope not!" she added with a wink, "So, Miss Cagliostro, you think you'll stick around with our little Ally, hm? What girl couldn't love that smile, and that personality! Well, me, for one, because it gives me the willies, but that seems to be your cup of tea!"
"Fuji, come here…" Ally gripped her by the back of the neck, and stomped over to an emptied part of the hall, where the two could talk in private, "Listen, could you do me a huge favor for five minutes and quit talking!?"
"So, you two still haven't you-know-what yet, eh? I know that look…"
"What?"
"Same one Ari had… Ryo-san was quick to change that, however…." Fuji chuckled.
"Listen, she isn't that sort of girl! We're taking it slow…" Ally responded with gritted teeth, "That's how she wants it, and I have no problem with keeping like that until she's ready because she isn't exactly as easy as other girls I know…"
"Like me, you mean?"
"Bingo. Now, quiet, okay?" Ally said with an eerie smile that made Fuji shudder before she returned to the group, who had assembled and now together chuckled at Toshiro's predicament.
"Hey, Carmen—Why don't we head out now? You get dressed, and I'll take you to the best place I know!" Ally said, wrapping an arm about her waist as he walked back towards her and kissing her once.
Brazil:
"And that's about the time I wake up…" Max sighed as he stared out at the moonlit view of the city, "…Amaya, you there?"
"Yes, I am, Max…" Amaya replied, "This is just…. A very odd, strange dream…. Dad would—"
"Have a fit, I know… And probably wonder if he had played baseball with me enough as a kid or not…" Max muttered, "I just don't know what the hell to do anymore… This is the fifth time that this has happened, and it gets harder to look at him in the morning each time I wake up…"
"I can see why… Well, it's not the only time this has happened… Lupin used to flirt with me, sometimes, and that was a little hard for me to take at first… You know, I couldn't help think that—"
"You wanted to cheat on Goemon!?" Max gasped.
"No, no! Good gods, no…. It's just that with him back those innuendo to me, things would run through my mind… I learned not to pay too much attention to them, though. My husband's the only one for me, thank you. Honestly I wonder how Fujiko's kept her sanity…."
"She hasn't, she's just kept Lupin on a short leash…" Max chuckled wryly.
Amaya let in a stiff breath of air, "You're not the first one to feel awkward about something like that, you know…. Your mom…."
"What about my mom?" Max inquired.
"Well…" Amaya sighed, "You can't tell Dad this, swear, okay? It would really send him over the edge."
"Yeah, yeah…" Max replied hurriedly, "What's up, Amaya? Why would I care about my mom and what she's done?"
"I found out from Fujiko that briefly before Natasha got together with Dad…. She tried to get in between Lupin and Fujiko, by having an affair with him…"
"What…? My, my mom…. She…."
"Yeah," Amaya replied, "Only once, though…"
"Well, that doesn't make everything seem so bad now, does it?" Max laughed wryly, "Amaya, what if I really…? I, I mean, I don't, but if maybe those dreams are telling me something…. Then what in the hell am I going to do? Something like that won't exactly go over well at Interpol…"
"Go over well? Aren't they French? They should be understanding," Amaya replied.
Max laughed, "Thanks for your understanding… I'm probably just exaggerating everything, but, well, they're still really disturbing dreams…."
"I understand. The kids are calling me now, Max…. Apparently their father has forgotten his medication and is scaring them with his cheery mood… He wants to go to Disney, Tokyo, and I have to beat him to the attic so he doesn't break into the suitcases…. I'd be unpacking everything all night… Again… I'll have to go check it out. Bye for now, and send my love to everyone!" said Amaya.
"If I wasn't too busy trying to take them in, I would…" replied Max, "Amaya, don't you hate me in the tiniest bit for chasing after your kids?"
"Not really. Someone had to do it—Plus, you're the one who finally made Dad proud…. And, well, not to sound pessimistic, but I think they're all going to give you one hell of a run before they go off to any prison…"
"I know. Sometimes I wonder why I bother…" Max sighed, "Well, talk to you later, Amaya…"
"Bye, Max. Sleep well!" Amaya responded happily, hanging up the phone soon afterwards. Max sighed, set the phone at his side, and continued to enjoy the view outdoors while Leo and Dakota slept inside.
The Jigen Residence:
"Heiji-chan, you're back. Where were you!?" Fuji asked as Heiji straggled in.
"Out for a while," Heiji replied with a yawn, "I'm a little tired, honestly, so I'll catch you later, Fuji…"
Fuji gaped a little in surprise at this statement, "Wait, I—"
"Talk to you later, Fuji…." Heiji walked down the hall, and peered into Yukiko's room a moment, where Toshiro was seated on the floor, cross-legged, "What the hell happened to your head?"
"The same thing that's going to happen to yours, in five seconds," Toshiro snapped, standing and closing Yukiko's door. He turned back to her, and glared at her smile, "I know, it's funny—Ha ha…. Blue gi, red hair, yellow bike—I'm the primary colors…. Ha ha, if I bleach it, I'll look even more like a Foolie Coolie character with pink hair and a Vespa… I've heard them all, today, so I wouldn't bother with a new one…"
"I like the color," Yukiko answered.
"Eh?" he blinked a few times in surprise, and seated himself in a chair across from her bed, "You're serious?"
"Yeah… Well, hey, I'm just like my dad, right?" she laughed, "And Mom isn't lying about Dad liking redheads!"
"Um, thanks, Yukiko… That means a lot. Really…"
"Hey, no problem! What are friends for, anyway!? I have to make fun of you! I do that to all people I like, you know that…"
"You must freakin' love me, then…."
"Only as a friend, Buddy," Yukiko reassured him with a wink.
Toshiro rolled his eyes and sighed. No, he was too tired for this argument again. He glanced out the window, and saw Ally leading Carmen out to the car, so that the two could go out to eat. He watched as Ally opened the car door for her, kissed her, and then allowed her to seat herself, closing the door for her and walking around to the driver's side. He had had a similar life at one time, he recalled. He had been very much in love with Julie, which made it strange when he felt the same feelings for Yukiko when he met up with her once again.
"Hey, you're zoning out on me again, Toshiro…. Toshiro… Toshi… You there? Hel-lo…." she called, waving a hand over his face. Toshiro started to attention, and faced forward at Yukiko, a surprised look upon his face, "Where'd you go, man!?"
"Just off…." Toshiro replied, "Sorry… I was just looking out at Ally…"
"Oh, Casanova out there? He'd make his uncle Lupin proud…" Yukiko mumbled.
"Uh-huh. They sure both look happy…" he muttered, "I miss that a lot…"
"Well, at least you have friends to be depressed with," said Yukiko with a well-meaning smile which fell when she continued to look upon Toshiro's fallen expression.
In Heiji's guest room:
"Heiji, where were you? Why are you only getting home now?" Odori inquired as she opened Heiji's door and saw him typing away upon a computer.
"It doesn't matter, Dori…. I'm okay, really…" replied Heiji.
"But—"
"I'm fine…" he sighed, "Just… Just leave me alone for now, all right?"
"Hey, what are you doing on here? Talking with friends?" she asked with a small smile as she looked over his shoulder at his laptop. Heiji gave a small start, and looked back at the screen.
"Wha…" Odori quickly scanned over the instant message screen, and laughed, "You have a girlfriend!?" she inquired.
"She's just a computer nerd in need of some backup… She's a hacker, like me…" Heiji replied, folding his arms.
"What's her name?" asked Odori, poking him with the butt of Zantetsu, "Tell me or I'll put you in a headlock until you turn a light shade of blue…. And you know I'll do it…"
"It doesn't matter," said Heiji with gritted teeth, "She's just helping me track down the guy Fuji's looking for…"
"You're lying… You just told me you were serving as backup…"
"Could you please just go back to not talking!?" Heiji snapped.
"Heh heh…. All right, Heiji… I'll see you downstairs…" she said with an amused smirk.
Heiji rolled his eyes, and turned back around to the computer, and began to type to his mystery friend once again.
DiwaliInd: What's wrong? Heij, u there?
Hhacker2121: Yea… Srry…
DiwaliInd: What happened?
Hhacker2121: My sister…. Dori's gone now, so don't worry…
DiwaliInd: I'd love to meet her and Toshiro, too. And you have other siblings, right?
Hhacker2121: Yea, my parents made a hobby out of collecting children…. --'
DiwaliInd: LOL! I guess I'm lucky--all I have is a sister! I still want to meet her, and Toshiro! Plse?
Hhacker2121: (sighs) Maybe later… I'm just afraid she'll freak… Her and Dad r the 1's I worry about….
DiwaliInd: Y? B/c I'm older, right? And not Japanese….
Hhacker2121: That and the fact your dad tried to kill my dad at one point…
DiwaliInd: I know : ( Go figure…. Can't blame you, I haven't told my father, either. I'm afraid of what he'll think…. This is definitely out of custom for my family…
"Heiji, come on!" Fuji called, "We've got to go survey the airport!"
Heiji sighed, and shook his head, "She'd kill herself if she went to live on her own…."
Hhacker2121: Gtg, see ya later!
DiwaliInd: Oh…. Well, bye for now! (hope to visit you again, soon!)
"Fuji's going to kill me when she finds out about Veronica…." Heiji said with a shake of the head as he logged off and walked out of his room and into the living room, where Ryo and Fuji already were standing.
"Were you talking to someone, Heiji? We didn't mean to disturb you…" said Ryo as she glanced in a mirror across the room and slicked her wavy hair back, only to have it spring back into its original form.
"No, it's okay…. My friend's understanding…." Heiji replied, "What is it you guys need? Spyware, hardware, software.…?"
"Any-ware…." Replied Fuji with a chuckle, "Whatever we'll need to help us track down this guy… They've been Interpol reports of a Lupin look-alike in Brazil…. He booked a flight to Chicago…."
"You sure it couldn't have been your brother?"
"Nah…" Fuji shook her head, "What in the world would Ari be doing in Brazil!?"
"With him, you never know…" Heiji muttered.
"Eh?"
"Nothing… I'll pack up some equipment and meet you guys out in the Romeo," Heiji said, scaling back up the stairs and muttering to himself darkly as he did so.
A Hockey Rink:
"I thought we were going to breakfast!" Carmen laughed as Ally pushed her onto the ice. She kept her footing as she skated along the rink, gliding about gracefully and smiling while she did so. Ally followed her out some after with the grace of an average hockey player, and chuckled as she briefly lost her balance but soon regained it.
"I know…. Slight change in plans…. I'll get you something in a little bit, but there's something else I wanted to talk to you about, first…" Ally replied as he skated a few circles about her backwards and stopped dead in front of her.
"Um… Like what?" she asked hopefully.
"Well, I… I… I have a big game soon…. I'm not here all of the time, but I'm good enough to skip some practices… Plus I'm a hell of an alternate…." Ally coughed uneasily.
"Oh…. Oh, of course I will…." Carmen sighed, a hint of disappointment in her voice. She had thought for sure that he was going to ask something different of her, but this was not the case.
"That's great! Well, after we get this mess sorted out, we can spend a few weeks over here, and I can show you around town! All of my favorite hangouts! Well, not all, hee hee… Shooting range ain't no place for a lady."
"I'd like if you taught me…" Carmen admitted.
"Taught you to what?" Ally gaped, "To fire a gun!? Well, I suppose I could…"
"I would just feel much safer if I knew, especially if I'll be following you all on your expedition," she admitted sheepishly, "You aren't offended, are you?"
"Nah, not in the least! Actually, I like the idea of being able to share something with you…. It's just so… Surprising!"
"Hmp… Well, Allen Jigen, you were the one who told me I was full of surprises!" she chuckled.
The Airport:
"My God… It's uncanny!" Fuji mumbled as she peered through a set of binoculars from her hideout vehicle.
"You're right, Fuji…. He looks just like Lupin… It's creepy and fishy… I don't like the looks of it at all…" admitted Ryo as she sat leaned back in the driver's side. Heiji sat in the back seat, his equipment spread out about him on either side of the seat and on the floor.
"I'll zoom in…" Heiji called from the back, clicking on a few keys, "Hey, Fuj, it's a latex mask he's wearing…. Maybe we should follow him, or at least figure out where his car is and get the plates…."
"Say no more, I'm on it! Boy, will Blondie freak out when he sees me!" Fuji crowed as she opened a suitcase and slid out of her seat onto the floor of the vehicle.
Moments later, an aged woman stepped out of the vehicle, nearly toppling over but rescuing herself with the help of her cane. She picked up a bag of groceries, and followed the Lupin-like man to a parking lot. Conveniently enough, she dropped her groceries right as he approached his vehicle. He sighed, turned about, and began to help her collect her groceries.
"Thank you, Young Man…" choked the 'old woman' gratefully.
"No problem, Ma'am… I'd love to help you more, but I have to get to my daughter…" said the man hurriedly.
"Oh? What's the dear's name?" inquired the woman.
"Dakota," he replied with a smile, "I was supposed to visit her in Brazil, but that didn't turn out… So now I'm off to visit the people who were supposed to send her to me…"
"Well, good luck… And say hello to her for me!" she smiled, and cackled in a manner eerily like her father as she watched him pull out.
"Why that sap…. Didn't he even stop to think to wonder what someone was doing in an airport parking lot with a bag full of fruit!?" Fuji laughed, "Ah, I adore bleeding hearts…. They make my job so much easier!" She tossed her cane to a side, and much to the shock out of others in the airport, she ran back to the graduate vehicle and hopped into it. Ryo slammed on the gas, and they sped off back to the Jigen household.
"The guy's name is Daniel…" said Heiji from the back seat, "He's a thief, like Lupin… One of the best…. He's arguably as good as your Dad, Fuji…."
"Then way haven't I heard of him!?" Fuji wondered aloud.
"Because you always opt for cartoons when the news is on and it's not about you…" Ryo answered in her usual deadpan tone.
"Hey, don't get me wrong, Tom Brokaw's awesome, but when he can shoot lasers out of his eyes like Starfire from Teen Titans, I'll sit through an entire program of his…" Fuji replied with a bubbly smile.
"The greatest thief in the world still isn't above eating cereal out of the box on a Saturday morning and watching cartoons…. Everyone's right, this society's gone down the crapper…." Ryo sighed heavily.
"Undoubtedly…. But let's get back now and analyze this information…" Heiji said as he enhanced the photo of the license plate on his laptop and frowned in concentration, "Huh… Hey, I know how to get this guy's address!"
"What?" inquired Ryo with surprise, "How?"
"It's a handicapped plate… And it's local… So they probably go to the local hospital a lot, too…."
"So, that means… What?" Fuji asked.
"Well… I have a friend who works there…." Heiji explained hesitantly.
"What's his name, Heiji?" Ryo inquired.
"Eh…. Veronica…." Heiji said with an uncomfortable cough.
"What!? You have a girlfriend and you didn't TELL ME!? What's she like!?" Fuji asked excitedly, looking over her seat at Heiji. Ryo, angered by Fuji's annoying badgering, sped up upon contact with a speed bump, and therefore sending Fuji flying into the back seat.
"Hey, watch it! I could've cracked my skull!" Fuji moaned to Ryo with pain.
"Heh… Well, at least you wouldn't have damaged anything…" Ryo muttered.
"I heard that!"
"Good…. Now, Heiji, which hospital does she work at?"
"The same one where your dad gets his eyes looked at…" Heiji added, "She's actually one of his nurses…."
"I can't wait to meet her!" said Fuji with a smile, "She must be some looker if she's cuter than me!"
"Does the mirror crack under the weight of your vanity when you look into it, Fuji?" Ryo asked jokingly.
"If I had a clue what 'vanity' met, I'd probably agree with you…" Fuji admitted, "Well, step on it, Ryo-san! I want to meet Heiji's girlfriend!"
"She isn't my girlfriend…" Heiji grumbled, his face flushing red.
"If Heiji likes her, I can only imagine what she's like…" Ryo said to herself as she switched lanes and sped onto the exit towards the hospital.