Chapter 2
The first thing Lealah noticed when she woke up was that they were not in the same car. Before, they had been in a red '57 Corvette. Now, they were in some kind of a utility van. Someone had laid her in the back and put the green blanket under her head. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Are we there yet?" Jigen was the one to answer, because Lupin was up front with the driver.
"Not yet. Almost though." He rubbed his beard and looked at her. "So, what was Lupin like when he was young? Before he became a thief, I mean." Jigen knew perfectly well what Lupin had been like, he just said this as a test.
"Well.... Arggg, I can't think strait! I'm just still so sleepy." She shook her head to try to wake up more, but it didn't work.
"Side-effect from the stuff we gave you. Once you wake up, you have to sleep it off a second time. Oh, good, were there." He held up a bandana as he explained, "Put this on so you can't see where you are." After she put the bandana over her eyes, he led her to the back entrance.
"Watch out, we're going up stairs," she heard Lupins' voice say. After they lead her up 3 flights of stairs, down a long hallway, and into a door, Lupin took off the bandana. The room was medium sized, had a yellow couch in front of a T.V., and 3 doors on the left wall.
"The first door is the bathroom, and the next two rooms are bedrooms," Lupin explained.
"'K," she said as she started to walk over to the couch.
"Hang on, there are 2 beds in each room. You can have one of them. You don't have to sleep on the couch unless you want to," Jigen said. Then, to Lupin, "Man, she's pretty out of it. Think we gave her too much?" She was trying to decide which door to go in by walking in and out of both of them.
"What do I look like, a friggen Doctor? Come on Lealah, this door." He led her to the third door. After she got under the covers, he walked in and sat beside her on the bed.
"I see you finally got a holster for that gun of yours," she said, her eyes only half open.
He grinned down at her. "Yeah, yeah I did. I see you kept that green blanket I gave to you that night." Lealah nodded.
"Listen, Lupin, I'm really glad you decided to take me along. I promise, I... won't... fail... you." With that said, Lealah hugged her big brother for the first time in nine years. Lupin was a little surprised at first, but he too wrapped his arms around her. When he broke away, he found she was nearly asleep. Lupin gently laid her down, covered her up, and walked out of the room to join Jigen, and his other friends. When he got there, no one wasted time with formal greetings.
"Is she asleep?" a man with long, black hair asked. He wore a blue kimono robe with blue and white striped hakama pants. A long katana dangled at his side.
"Yeah," Lupin said with a sigh, as he dropped into a chair. He knew a long interrogation was coming from his two friends that hadn't been in the house.
"Good. Lupin, what were you thinking? When you said drive around to the back, I didn't know I was going to be picking up a hitchhiker!" The driver, Fujiko, was a very beautiful woman, with her medium brown hair, full lips, and a big bust.
She had on a revealing yellow shirt, with a red mini-skirt. Many times had Lupin tried to steal her heart, to no avail.
"Did you tell them anything that happened, Jigen?"
"No way, Lupin. You did this, you're explaining it." Lupin was not looking forward to telling Fujiko or Goemon about what happened in the house, because he knew they both thought she was just another bump in the path. Neither of them had any idea he had a sister. He took a deep breath.
"Guys, that girl in there is Lealah Lupin III, my younger sister by nineteen years."
"You never told us you had a sister. Where has she been up until now?" Fujiko asked suspiciously.
"Fujiko, I never told anyone I had a sister, and I told her to do the same. As for where she's been up until now, I thought she was in New York, but I found her in the house we were gonna rob. I have no idea how she got there."
"Liar! I bet you planned this all along!" accused Fujiko. "That's why we went to that house instead of someplace with something of value in it." Lupin decided to stick with the pearl lie. He told them everything that had happen at the house, and nine years ago, leaving out his first name. Goemon listened in silence, then spoke after Lupin had finished his story.
"A waiting bird does not build 2 nests."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Goemon?" Lupin had little patience for his ancient Samurai proverbs tonight.
"It means, if you left her in New York, and she was waiting for you, why would she just leave without sending you a note or anything?"
"My guess is that she didn't have a say in-wait a minute, what are you suggesting?" Apparently, Goemon thought, Lupin is very protective of her.
"Nothing to slight her loyalty to you. But what if she is not who you think she is?"
At this point, Lupin saw what he was talking about. "I know that's her because she knew things about me that only she could know."
"Like what?" Fujiko asked.
"She knew my first name. The only thing that's keeping Pops from barging in here right now is that there are thousands of people posing to be me and not one of them have the same first name. The reason I never told you guys is that I absolutely hate my first name." Lupin glanced at Jigen, who had is hat over his eyes and was reclining on the couch. Lupin had no way to tell if he was asleep or not, but if he wasn't, he knew not to say anything.
Goemon approached his next question carefully. "What if she was tortured into telling?"
Lupins' face turned red, but he remained calm. "How would anyone know I was her brother?" Then Lupin remembered something Lealah said earlier. "When I left her in New York, I didn't have a holster for my Walther. In the bedroom, before she fell asleep, she said 'I see you finally got a holster for that gun of yours.' Do you think someone would think to pull that out of her? And I know what your next question is going to be, and if you ask it I'll kill you. I have no doubts about her loyalty to any of us."
"Well, I don't know what Goemons' next question was, but mine is what are you planning on doing with her?" Fujiko was fairly sure of the answer, but she wanted to make sure she was right. Would he really be that stupid?
"We'll train her, then give her a trial mission. She can learn lock picking from me, Marksmanship from Jigen, and Goemons' Samurai sword style from him. We have hundreds of guns, and I kept Goemons' old sword from way back." Lupin waited for their answer.
"Tell them about what you plan to do if she fails the mission, Lupin," Jigen said snidely. When nothing came out of his mouth, Jigen explained it to them. "If she passes, she's in. If not, Lupin says we will have no choice but to kill her."
"Lupin, no! She's just a kid!" Fujiko exclaimed.
"So? I was her age when I got my training. If I failed, I would have been killed. If she's a Lupin, she can handle it." Despite his cold words, Goemon saw that Lupin was very troubled about this.
"We will agree on one condition. If she fails, you let Jigen and me kill her. You would not have the heart, my friend." Goemons' words stung, but Lupin wearily agreed.
"It's settled then. We will train her and take her on the trial mission. Now, if none of you mind, it's been a long night, and I'm going to turn in." Lupin walked to the room where Lealah was sleeping and shut the door. After he removed his jacket, tie, and shoes he climbed into the bed across from hers. He wasn't expecting to sleep, but surprisingly it came easily for him. He fell asleep not ten minutes after his head hit the pillow, the words "I promise I will not fail you," still ringing in his ears.
The first thing Lealah noticed when she woke up was that they were not in the same car. Before, they had been in a red '57 Corvette. Now, they were in some kind of a utility van. Someone had laid her in the back and put the green blanket under her head. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Are we there yet?" Jigen was the one to answer, because Lupin was up front with the driver.
"Not yet. Almost though." He rubbed his beard and looked at her. "So, what was Lupin like when he was young? Before he became a thief, I mean." Jigen knew perfectly well what Lupin had been like, he just said this as a test.
"Well.... Arggg, I can't think strait! I'm just still so sleepy." She shook her head to try to wake up more, but it didn't work.
"Side-effect from the stuff we gave you. Once you wake up, you have to sleep it off a second time. Oh, good, were there." He held up a bandana as he explained, "Put this on so you can't see where you are." After she put the bandana over her eyes, he led her to the back entrance.
"Watch out, we're going up stairs," she heard Lupins' voice say. After they lead her up 3 flights of stairs, down a long hallway, and into a door, Lupin took off the bandana. The room was medium sized, had a yellow couch in front of a T.V., and 3 doors on the left wall.
"The first door is the bathroom, and the next two rooms are bedrooms," Lupin explained.
"'K," she said as she started to walk over to the couch.
"Hang on, there are 2 beds in each room. You can have one of them. You don't have to sleep on the couch unless you want to," Jigen said. Then, to Lupin, "Man, she's pretty out of it. Think we gave her too much?" She was trying to decide which door to go in by walking in and out of both of them.
"What do I look like, a friggen Doctor? Come on Lealah, this door." He led her to the third door. After she got under the covers, he walked in and sat beside her on the bed.
"I see you finally got a holster for that gun of yours," she said, her eyes only half open.
He grinned down at her. "Yeah, yeah I did. I see you kept that green blanket I gave to you that night." Lealah nodded.
"Listen, Lupin, I'm really glad you decided to take me along. I promise, I... won't... fail... you." With that said, Lealah hugged her big brother for the first time in nine years. Lupin was a little surprised at first, but he too wrapped his arms around her. When he broke away, he found she was nearly asleep. Lupin gently laid her down, covered her up, and walked out of the room to join Jigen, and his other friends. When he got there, no one wasted time with formal greetings.
"Is she asleep?" a man with long, black hair asked. He wore a blue kimono robe with blue and white striped hakama pants. A long katana dangled at his side.
"Yeah," Lupin said with a sigh, as he dropped into a chair. He knew a long interrogation was coming from his two friends that hadn't been in the house.
"Good. Lupin, what were you thinking? When you said drive around to the back, I didn't know I was going to be picking up a hitchhiker!" The driver, Fujiko, was a very beautiful woman, with her medium brown hair, full lips, and a big bust.
She had on a revealing yellow shirt, with a red mini-skirt. Many times had Lupin tried to steal her heart, to no avail.
"Did you tell them anything that happened, Jigen?"
"No way, Lupin. You did this, you're explaining it." Lupin was not looking forward to telling Fujiko or Goemon about what happened in the house, because he knew they both thought she was just another bump in the path. Neither of them had any idea he had a sister. He took a deep breath.
"Guys, that girl in there is Lealah Lupin III, my younger sister by nineteen years."
"You never told us you had a sister. Where has she been up until now?" Fujiko asked suspiciously.
"Fujiko, I never told anyone I had a sister, and I told her to do the same. As for where she's been up until now, I thought she was in New York, but I found her in the house we were gonna rob. I have no idea how she got there."
"Liar! I bet you planned this all along!" accused Fujiko. "That's why we went to that house instead of someplace with something of value in it." Lupin decided to stick with the pearl lie. He told them everything that had happen at the house, and nine years ago, leaving out his first name. Goemon listened in silence, then spoke after Lupin had finished his story.
"A waiting bird does not build 2 nests."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Goemon?" Lupin had little patience for his ancient Samurai proverbs tonight.
"It means, if you left her in New York, and she was waiting for you, why would she just leave without sending you a note or anything?"
"My guess is that she didn't have a say in-wait a minute, what are you suggesting?" Apparently, Goemon thought, Lupin is very protective of her.
"Nothing to slight her loyalty to you. But what if she is not who you think she is?"
At this point, Lupin saw what he was talking about. "I know that's her because she knew things about me that only she could know."
"Like what?" Fujiko asked.
"She knew my first name. The only thing that's keeping Pops from barging in here right now is that there are thousands of people posing to be me and not one of them have the same first name. The reason I never told you guys is that I absolutely hate my first name." Lupin glanced at Jigen, who had is hat over his eyes and was reclining on the couch. Lupin had no way to tell if he was asleep or not, but if he wasn't, he knew not to say anything.
Goemon approached his next question carefully. "What if she was tortured into telling?"
Lupins' face turned red, but he remained calm. "How would anyone know I was her brother?" Then Lupin remembered something Lealah said earlier. "When I left her in New York, I didn't have a holster for my Walther. In the bedroom, before she fell asleep, she said 'I see you finally got a holster for that gun of yours.' Do you think someone would think to pull that out of her? And I know what your next question is going to be, and if you ask it I'll kill you. I have no doubts about her loyalty to any of us."
"Well, I don't know what Goemons' next question was, but mine is what are you planning on doing with her?" Fujiko was fairly sure of the answer, but she wanted to make sure she was right. Would he really be that stupid?
"We'll train her, then give her a trial mission. She can learn lock picking from me, Marksmanship from Jigen, and Goemons' Samurai sword style from him. We have hundreds of guns, and I kept Goemons' old sword from way back." Lupin waited for their answer.
"Tell them about what you plan to do if she fails the mission, Lupin," Jigen said snidely. When nothing came out of his mouth, Jigen explained it to them. "If she passes, she's in. If not, Lupin says we will have no choice but to kill her."
"Lupin, no! She's just a kid!" Fujiko exclaimed.
"So? I was her age when I got my training. If I failed, I would have been killed. If she's a Lupin, she can handle it." Despite his cold words, Goemon saw that Lupin was very troubled about this.
"We will agree on one condition. If she fails, you let Jigen and me kill her. You would not have the heart, my friend." Goemons' words stung, but Lupin wearily agreed.
"It's settled then. We will train her and take her on the trial mission. Now, if none of you mind, it's been a long night, and I'm going to turn in." Lupin walked to the room where Lealah was sleeping and shut the door. After he removed his jacket, tie, and shoes he climbed into the bed across from hers. He wasn't expecting to sleep, but surprisingly it came easily for him. He fell asleep not ten minutes after his head hit the pillow, the words "I promise I will not fail you," still ringing in his ears.