DISCLAIMER: I do not own Lupin III, but I've got a song in my heart and a dance in my soul… Eck that sounded crappy…
Hola, que paso?
Heh, this would've been out sooner, but have prom , and Grad Nite, too… Oi. Anyway, I'm glad that everyone's been soo super patient with me. And in an answer to a question posed to me in a review for the last chapter, yes, I had heard vaguely of Heiji Zenigata, and no, you weren't wasting my time, DragonLegendRickGreen. I'm really grateful that you took the time to tell me this, actually! But, yes, since Heiji Zenigata was a famous family member from the Zenigata Clan and there was also an Uncle Heiji on Goemon's side (Goemon's uncle's name and the Zenigata connection was unintentional; I had not heard of Heiji Zenigata at the time when I had written his character in), I figured that naming Goemon and Amaya's son Heiji would act as a bridge for the two families. Well, that's about it, thank you Rick, I'm glad I could answer your question, and I hope everyone enjoys the following chapter!
Fun Fact of Boredom: Toshiro's shocking relationship to Goemon is based off of a storyline in indie comic Usagi Yojimbo, which is loosely based off of the story of Miyamoto Musashi, who mastered the two sword technique (note, this is also why Toshiro carries two swords). But, unlike how Goemon first thinks that Toshiro is his brother, the character in the comic, Usagi, is aware but is unable to tell a young boy traveling with him that he (the boy) is not his nephew but his son. As a side, Usagi is the same rabbit samurai featured in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My goodness that was a long one…
Chapter Eleven: Hot For Teacher
Russia:
"Where do we go from here, Fuji?" Heiji inquired.
"I don't know—What do I look like, the leader?" Fuji snapped in return as she watched the cart disappear over a hill.
"Um…"
"Let me think, let me think…" Fuji said, turning away from him.
"Don't try too hard…"
"You ever think that I only play an idiot for show?" Fuji asked, looking back at Heiji with a severe look of annoyance. She suddenly turned on a dime, snapped her fingers, and smiled, "I've got it!"
"Really?" Heiji blinked a few times in surprise, "Well, what is it?"
A Little While Later:
"You two don't look like professors," admitted the principal of the high school.
"You would not either, if you had been robbed and left for dead," Fuji responded.
"What are your names, again?" asked the principal in perfect English.
"Mr. and Mrs. Ikeda," Heiji replied before Fuji could speak. "We just married a little while ago, and they even stole our wedding rings! Bastards…"
"No need for language here, sir," the principal shook his head, and rose. "I'll find someone for you two to board with… It makes me wonder why my other English and Computer Applications teacher left in such a hurry, though."
"They said something about Moscow," Fuji said with an innocent shrug.
"Moscow?" the principal blew up at this, "Those ingrates, I—Never mind… I've got two foreigners, now… Let's see Moscow beat that! You two will start tomorrow… I'll give you a little money out of my own pocket you can pay back later. Just enough to buy yourselves a few school-worthy outfits. Mrs. Ikeda, I'd strongly suggest something with not as deep a cut in the neckline."
'And I'd strongly suggest you kissing my ass,' Fuji thought as the corner of her mouth twitched with anger.
"Come on now, Dear, I suggest we go and take a tour of the facilities," Heiji took Fuji by the shoulders, and led her out, a nervous smile upon her face. As he guided her out of the office, her accidentally bumped into a young student, who as a result dropped her textbooks. Heiji apologized, and bent down to help, but when he tried, the girl quickly pulled her fallen belongings over to herself, and delivered what was probably one of the nastiest glares Fuji and Heiji had ever received.
"That was… Slightly creepy…" Fuji admitted as she watched the young girl run hurriedly down the hall.
"She looked scared," Heiji added.
Fuji narrowed her eyes, "…She looked familiar…"
New York:
Leo heard the tea kettle whistle, and grumbled to himself. He quickly set his iron back on the ironing board and ran into the kitchen. He and Max were in a surprising upscale hotel, which included a kitchen, a shower with hot water, and springs in the mattresses that wouldn't rob either him or Max the opportunity to bear children. He poured himself a cup of a tea, and contemplated brewing one for Zenigata as well. After a few moments, he shrugged, and decided this wouldn't hurt, and also brewed Max a cup.
Zenigata was still in the shower, where he had been for quite some time. Max had been quieter to him, Leo had noticed. But this could be expected… After everything that Max said, how could it not be?
Leo looked into his teacup and sighed, "How bad could it be, really?"
He knew one of the answers holding him back, and it was children. All he had talked about with Ryo was having Lupin the Fifth. He had driven her crazy with it. He was now afraid that the family name wouldn't carry on, but he had been recently informed that this was not so, and the name would indeed live on. Leo had yet to tell Max this, however. Many things had gone unsaid between the two.
"Some things are just better left to be kept secret," Leo said to himself. He sighed, walked back into the living room, and turned off the iron, and seated himself on the couch. "Okay, if it's not about the kid thing, anymore, what's it about now? Is it because he's a Zenigata, because he's a guy? And I've never had good luck with blondes… Cecilia was a blonde," he shuddered at this thought and sipped his tea, "Bitch…"
He sipped his tea again, and watched as Max exited from the shower, a towel wrapped about his waist and another one over his shoulders, "Hey, tea! Please tell me you made me some…"
"Of course. It's in the kitchen," Leo sighed, and flipped on the television. Max nodded, and walked into the kitchen area, quickly finding his tea and walking it back to the couch, where he seated himself next to Leo.
"Ironing again?" Max said, slightly amused as he looked back at the ironed pants on the board.
"It's a nervous habit… Like knitting… Before the knitting, I used to drum my fingers on tables… Drove my mom nuts," Leo chuckled. "I tried to take up smoking, but I went into an asthma attack and had to be rushed to the hospital."
Max laughed a little, and sipped his tea, and set it down on the coffee table. He then turned to Leo and spoke, "Listen, about a few nights ago…"
"Hey, I said it was okay."
"It's not that—I want to know what you think about that… About…"
"I don't know anymore," replied Leo with a shake of the head. "It's a lot you're asking of me."
"Just let me do one thing, okay?" Max pleaded calmly.
"Huh?" Leo drew back a little, obviously worried.
"Nothing bad, I swear. Just work with me, okay?" Max asked.
"Um, sure… I guess…" Leo's eyes immediately shifted to his right shoulder, where Max had laid a hand. Leo's eyes remained fixated upon his shoulder, so LeBlanc was completely unprepared when Max leaned in and kissed him. After the initial shock, Leo pushed Max back, and flew off of the couch, and across the room.
"You son of a bitch," Leo hissed, grabbing his jacket from the coat rack and throwing it over his shoulders. "You, you—"
"You what, Leo? Heh, you just try to find something that I haven't been called, Ari…"
"Don't call me Ari…"
"No, you save that for your family. Your sister, your mom, your dad—Ryo… I want a family too, all right?"
"I'm going out, and if you ever touch me or do anything like that to me again, I'll never speak to you again, Max," Leo warned. He stormed to the front door, and opened it, only to come face to face with Ryo, Odori, Ally and Veronica.
"What the hell do you all want?" Leo snapped. Even Odori drew her head back in surprise at this comment.
"I better go put on pants," Max sighed, rising and walking into the bathroom.
"We, eh, heard yelling… Who's killing who?" Ally inquired.
"No one—Yet," Leo responded, taking out a set of handcuffs and swinging them about once.
"Okay, no games—Where's Fuji?" asked Ryo in a businesslike manner.
"What do you mean, how should I know? Isn't she with you all?"
Ally shook his head, "We haven't seen her or Heiji since the airport."
"Well, maybe they got married. In that case, give her my blessing," said Leo, waving Ally off.
Max walked back out, still buttoning his dress shirt. He sported several pairs of handcuffs in one hand while he fumbled with the buttons.
"Zenigata, why do you bother—You know you won't arrest us," Ryo chuckled lightly.
"You never know with Max, Ryo," Leo said with a hint of bitterness. Max glared and gave a small growl beneath his breath in response. "He's just full of surprises."
"That's the pot calling the kettle black. Tell me why again your dad had to go to Great Britain? Something about DNA testing?" Max wondered aloud. "What was that all about, eh?"
Leo paled and felt his heart sink to his feet. Max knew, somehow, damn it, Max knew!
He turned back to Ryo, looked at the others, and after a moment's though, pushed Ryo out the door and closed it in their faces, "Sorry, we've got things to talk about!"
"Jesus, I know why everyone's saying Interpol's going down the crapper now—It's because of those two," Ally muttered.
"Now what?" Veronica, who had remained silent up until this point, inquired.
"Well, I'm going to go home and pray, for one," Odori responded. "After I find a hot dog vendor…"
"Wait, what about Heiji and Fuji?" asked Veronica.
"You don't have to feign liking Fuji, first of all, Veronica," said Ryo. "And second, I'm sure they're fine… Ari's probably right—She probably kidnapped him and took him to some ultra-romantic resort…."
"Heh, probably somewhere where Fuji takes all of her other boyfriends," Ally answered in wry response.
Russia:
Fuji collapsed onto the bed of the small guest room, kicked off her heels, and moaned, "I hate Russia… I hate kids… I hate snow! I hope I never see another snow cone as long as I live!"
"I take it you didn't do so well?" Heiji said, raising his eyebrows.
"If those pervy little boys weren't ogling me, I was getting spitballs thrown at me!" snapped Fuji, "I wish I had my gun… I'd shoot all a' those little jerks," she rolled over in the bed and threw a pillow over her head, "Please tell me you got in contact with someone?"
"The next plane doesn't depart from here to New York in four days," Heiji answered, seating himself in a chair across from the bed. "You know, this would be a lot easier if you just swallowed your pride and let me call my parents, or had your parents wire some cash."
"For the last time, I can't do that!" snapped Fuji, "You don't understand—I've got a name to uphold!"
"Yeah, but for the price of your sanity?"
"I know… Ouch…" she muttered as she sat up in bed, "Someone put a tack on my chair… I didn't think people even did that anymore! I want to go back to France, where the people are rude to me in my own damn language!"
"Well, did you get in contact with Ryo?"
"No," Fuji moaned. "How about Veronica?"
Heiji shook his head, "I can't get to a computer, and that woman couldn't work cell phone to save her life."
"You smart people are usually like that—Smart in some areas, morons in others."
"I guess that makes you a smart person then, huh? We just need to find the areas you're actually smart in…" said Heiji with a smirk.
"Ouch… Not now… Someone put paste on the floor in front of me and made me slip…" Fuji grumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. She was a little more than surprised when she felt a set of hands over her neck.
"Just stay still," Heiji sighed. "I'd have to help Dad out sometimes after he trained, and do this… Truth me told, I like doing this more to a twenty-four year old girl than a cranky 50-something year old man…"
"Oh, really?" a smile grew upon Fuji's face, and in a quick movement, she turned around on the bed and threw Heiji down upon it, "You like twenty-four years old, eh? Well, you're in luck here, buddy! You just hit the jackpot…"
"Holy crap, look at that!" Heiji gasped, pointing to the window.
"Wha—Owww…." Fuji moaned after quickly turning her head back to the window. She fell back and rubbed the even more pained area, "There's nothing there! You tricked me!"
"Would you expect anything less of someone who's practically your form of Fujiko?"
"Huh? I don't get it… That's my name…"
"…Never mind…" he resumed rubbing her neck, and rolled his eyes as she began snoring, "Great… I wonder what else you fall asleep in the middle of, Fuji…" he sighed, and rose from the bed. He removed her high heels, and set her on one side of the small bed, throwing a thick blanket over her in the process. He then switched off the light, and also crawled in. "I hope they're having more fun in New York…"
Toshiro's Apartment:
"What's this?" Yukiko asked, picking up a magazine the samurai had tossed to her.
"Go to the dog-eared page," Toshiro instructed as he continued to search through his closet while Yukiko sat comfortably in a cushy chair in his bedroom.
"What do you think?" he inquired from inside the walk in closet.
"It's a house," Yukiko said with confusion as she looked at the picture.
"Two stories, plus a basement and two car garage… In the middle of nowhere… Surrounded by twenty acres," Toshiro continued. "There's a pool, and room for anything, almost… A small aviary, a shooting range…"
"Woah, what? You're going to buy this?" Yukiko gaped.
"I bought it this morning," Toshiro answered. "With the money I'd saved up over the years from doing things around New York."
"But… I thought you loved the city!" Yukiko said with confusion.
Toshiro stuck his head out of the closet door, "I love you more… Anyway, I hope that you like it… Sorry… Sorry about the secrecy… I just wanted to surprise you!"
"What are we going to need five bedrooms for?" Yukiko asked suspiciously. "Are we moving my mom in or something?"
"Well, actually… There's a smaller house on the property, too… I talked with your mother about it, and she's thrilled… She misses the country, actually."
"Everybody knew about this except me!" Yukiko laughed with disbelief, "Okay, if she's living in her own little place, and we're living in a house with five bedrooms, and we're only going to use the one, what are we going to do with the other four?"
"You could always have a sewing room…"
"Ha ha…" Yukiko said flatly. "What's wrong with your apartment that you can't keep living here?"
"…Too many memories…" Toshiro said after a long pause. Yukiko nodded, and looked over to a patch of newer carpet in the room. That must've been where Julia had been killed, she concluded. She had bled there, and Toshiro had promptly changed the carpeting. It was understandable why he could no longer live here. "Hey, let's go see your mom!"
"Good idea," Yukiko answered. The conversation was beginning to make her uncomfortable, anyway. She followed Toshiro out of the room, out of the apartment, and up to her mother's apartment. "She's already packing…" Yukiko said out loud to herself as she noted the boxes in the doorway. She became alert as she heard unusual noises from the other side of the door—Laughing? She wasn't sure, but there was definitely more than one voice in the room. She drew her gun, and slowly nudged open the door with her foot. She and Toshiro both gaped at the sight of Sakura and an unfamiliar white man around Yukiko's mother's age laughing as they attempted to move a table out.
"Wait, come on, just move it this way…" said the white man in a New York accent.
Sakura laughed, "Okay, okay… Hold on! I can't move the table that way!"
"It's because you're a midget…"
"I'm five-foot-four! I'm sorry I can't be half a foot taller, and closer to your height!"
"Um… Mom… You're here… With a white guy…" Yukiko coughed, and Sakura gasped, and then dropped the table. The American gave a pained look; her dropping it had surprised him, and it had fallen on his foot. Toshiro promptly helped him break free from the wooden prison by lifting the table up in order for him to let his foot escape.
"Yukiko! This is… A surprise!" said Sakura, walking towards her daughter and embracing her.
"Yeah," Yukiko answered, looking back at the white man with confusion.
"Yuki, I'd like you to meet my friend, Paul… Paul this is my daughter, Yukiko, and her boyfriend, Toshiro Ishikawa." Sakura added, turning back to Paul while keeping an arm about Yukiko.
Paul looked up at Toshiro and gave a wry smirk, "Heh, I heard you were tall, but jeeze! Do you think you could give that poor lady a few inches? Hey, thanks for helping me out with that tight spot, Buddy."
"Hey!" Sakura stuck out her tongue at him, and Yukiko continued to wear a perplexed expression upon her face. She looked at her daughter, and smiled guilty, as though she were a child who had been caught, "Well, I believe I've got a bit of explaining to do…"
"Um, yeah…" Yukiko responded numbly.
Paris:
"And that's about all of it…" Leo set his empty coffee cup down and seated himself on the couch in a reclined position.
"And your dad definitely knows?"
"Well, they did subpoena him…"
"He must've been—"
"Pissed? Yep… That's another reason why he's been stalking us around… He still tried to save me ass though, claimed it was his…"
"Didn't work?"
"Nope, because I've only got half of my genes from him… But he didn't tell Mom ahead of time, so she really thought he had an affair on her."
"Hey, what about your cousin? He's the son of Fujiko's sister and Lupin's brother, so he'd technically have the exact DNA structure as you!"
"I thought about that , but Remy is Lupin's half brother, so not really," said Leo with a shake of the head. "It's almost perfect, but only that—Almost. And now an entire government will know that I'm still out there somewhere, and since it's dealing with Cecilia, they'll probably investigate Interpol… That bitch just had to get the last laugh in!"
"Well, you've still got a few months, right?" Max asked hopefully.
"Yeah… They safely can't do DNA testing for a few more months," Leo nodded. "But when that happens, what am I going to do?"
"As long as they can't get your DNA you'll be okay, right?"
"They've already got me on file!" snapped Leo, covering his face with his slightly shaking hands.
"Couldn't she call it off? The DNA testing, I mean…"
"Yeah, but that'd involve Cecilia being nice. God, I'm sick of running from things I'm afraid of! It's all I've done for the past four years! Teh, what am I talking about? It's all I've done my entire life! Fuji always took the fall for me, or Ally! Everyone would always take the fall for Ari! You've even stuck your neck out for me before, Zenigata… You destroyed all of my information; made it look like I was dead—And I went and ruined it all… All of everyone's hard work."
"Wait, woah, backup…. I destroyed all of your information!" Max said with slight cheer in his tone. "That means that there isn't anything on file! Meaning unless they find you, they can't find out…" Max paused for a while, as if in deep, deep thought, which he was, "It'll be easy! I used to date a guy who fakes passports! You could stay with my parents, and I could pull some strings, and you could teach at a school for migrant kids! It'd be perfect! You could even look after Dako twenty-four seven!"
"Listen, if I don't go, they'll arrest my parents, they'll arrest Goemon and Amaya and then they'll know about all of the kids they've illegally adopted, and then they'll arrest Ming and Jigen, find out Jigen owns a weapons store, and take away their twins! Then they'll go after my sister, and have her and everyone else killed."
"They?" Max inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Listen, everyone's happy with their lives, and I can't go disrupting them! I'm not running from anyone anymore!"
"I guess this means we just wait for the inevitable, then…"
Leo shivered at the thought of this. He knew exactly what that meant—Prison, solitary confinement, death row, and finally he'd be killed He literally only had a few more months to live. He rose and walked to the bathroom, and collapsed, leaning asking the bathtub.
Max immediately ran over to Leo and knelt down beside him, and placed his hands on LeBlanc's shoulders, "It's all right, Leo… We'll think of something… I won't let anyone hurt you, okay? You have my word…"
"Thanks, Max," Leo said in a far-off whisper.
New York:
"Turn on the news," Veronica instructed, rushing into the room and changing from Ryo's Western to CNN. The getaway driver looked quite perturbed at this, and gave a small glare.
"Well, what's that?" Ryo inquired, folding her arms and sitting back.
"Look—They've opening Rasputin's grave… There's supposed to be a grand treasure in it! You think… Perhaps Fuji and Heiji…"
"Nah, no way… Fuji wouldn't leave me behind! We've been a team for years!" Ryo said confidently.
"Hm… Well, I don't know… I just had a hunch… Psychics supposedly run in our family…"
"No offense to you, but I don't believe any of that crap…"
"Hold out your hand," Veronica said after a few moments silence.
"What? Why? I hope you've got a present for me, Vic—Veronica…"
"What's that?" Veronica asked, tilting her head to a side.
"Nothing… What are you doing? You aren't going to spit in my hand or something, are you?"
Veronica chuckled, and looked at Ryo's hand, studying the palm, "You're going to meet someone soon…. If you haven't already…"
"Heh, yeah, right," Ryo rolled her eyes. There was then a knock on the hotel door, and Ryo rose to answer it. She rolled her eyes and opened the door, coming back with a vase of flowers and another note from her secret admirer.
"See?" Veronica laughed a little at this.
"I'm surprised Heiji doesn't do this to you…" Ryo muttered.
"Why would he do that? We're friends; I'm getting married, after all!" Veronica chuckled.
"Woah, really?" Ryo gaped a little, "What's the guy like?"
"Well, knowing the people who found him, he's probably very educated," Veronica responded.
"Found him? Huh?"
"Well, my parents chose him. I meet him on Tuesday."
"What?" Ryo shrieked, losing her famously calm personality for a few moments.
Veronica laughed, "That's usually the reaction… I get to know him, first! And if I don't like him, then my parents will find someone else. Everybody has to be in agreement over it…. I sort of hope it's that neurosurgeon I work with…"
"That's so backwards!" Ryo choked, "Wouldn't you be unhappy if they chose someone for you?"
"No," Veronica shook her head. "I'm not very good at meeting people, so this would actually be good for me… It's customary in my culture. Heiji knew it years ago when we dated. We knew it was just temporary then… Don't look like that, Ryoko…. It's not like how they show it on the television and movies. I'm not going to live with an ogre in a tower. My parents love me too much to marry me off to a jerk. Plus my father's ultra-protective of us… If any men ever start acting like idiots, he always pulls out his sword and talks about how he stabbed the great Goemon Ishikawa once. That usually puts them in line."
"I could not have your faith, Veronica," said Ryo with a shake of the head. "Knowing my parents, they'd set me up with some Italian that my dad had become friends with during his poker games."
Veronica appeared amused by this, "Well, I think we'll each stick to what works for us, then. Besides, I don't think your boyfriend would like it if you were to get married…"
Ryo put a hand on her forehead, sighed, and shook her head, "I don't have a boyfriend…" There was then another knock upon the door, and Ryo rose to see who it was. She was greeted with a shiny, well-wrapped package with her name written upon the tag. The same handwriting, the same fancy handwriting, and the same tone in his letters.
"No boyfriend, huh?" Veronica smirked.
"Stalkers don't count," snapped Ryo, sitting back down and undoing the wrapping on the box and then opening it. She blinked a few times at what she found. She pulled out a set of keys with a note attached, 'The car's being sent to your home in Chicago… I hope you like Packards…'. Ryo clutched onto the keys, and thought quietly; who the hell was it that was doing this to her?
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Ally had been suckered into cooking for Odori, who waited at the kitchen table somewhat impatiently for Jigen to finish his omelet.
"How much longer, Ally?" Odori inquired.
"I don't know; I've never made one with seaweed before!" Ally responded as he flipped the omelet in the pan. "I hope not all women get like you do when they're pregnant…"
"You mean you hope Carmen won't get like this…" Odori replied.
"Hm, well, you always have been able to read me best, Odori… Better than any of those other clowns out there…" Ally grumbled darkly as he placed the hot omelet on a paper plate and walked over to her with a cup of tea in hand in addition to the seaweed omelet.
"Well, I am the only one who knows you're still a virgin," Odori added as she took her tea from a stunned Ally. "…What?"
"How did—I mean, I'm not saying, but…."
"You've got that aura about you," Odori responded, sipping her tea and biting into her omelet. "This is a good omelet… Squid, you put squid in this… Sweet gods this is the omelet that surpasses all other omelets…"
"That aura isn't easy to read, is it?" Ally asked with slight worry.
"You're just like you're dad in that sense…" said Odori. "Your father, from what I hear, was much similar… Ari was, too, on the subject of women…"
"Yeah, we were both really inexperienced with women…" said Ally slightly solemnly. "Truth be told, I was slightly jealous of him when he finally got a girlfriend…"
"And now you're dating a duchess' daughter and his idea of a romantic outing is sipping Ramen noodles by television light with Zenigata…"
"You're trying to turn this into one of those karma things, aren't you?"
Odori shrugged, "I'm just saying that I don't get along well with children, and now look at me… I look like I'm a whale…"
"How, how are you going to manage? With the kid, I mean?" asked Ally.
"Well, he's going to stay with his father," replied Odori. "Receive training that way… Besides, he'll have a stepmother…"
"What? You… The guy… He's married?" Ally gaped.
Odori nodded, "They wanted children more than anything… After what occurred, occurred, we had a long talk… She came to an understanding, which obviously surprised me. I thought she'd be jealous; here they had tried and tried for a child and here I come and find out I've got something in the oven after only once… But after I told her that I'd allow them to keep the child, she was delighted… Called me her 'angel'."
"You're freakin' kidding me…"
Odori shook her head, "No… It's all true… I was about as shocked as you are…"
"Then why were you in that dojo? Is the father Korean?"
"No, he's full Japanese… In the same line of profession as my father; a samurai. I should've known then to run, but I didn't… He kept insisting that I further his training, so I did."
"Well, then how did that, happen?"
Odori paused, and looked at Ally questioningly, "You're lonely enough that you want details, Jigen?"
Ally flushed a little, and drew back slightly, "No, I mean, it's…"
"It's okay… Take a seat… I'm glad I finally have someone to speak to about this. Anyone else would shoot their mouth off, at least I know that you're enough of an antisocial ass to associate with anyone, much less speak gossip."
"Um… Thanks?"
Odori smiled a little, and a far off expression came over her face a little as she thought back to almost nine months ago, when she was still training her child's father. "He wasn't exactly my type, but I enjoyed his company… I think he's what made me realize that I was really a stuffy bitch, and that I needed to relax and 'let loose' every once in a while. That's why I've mellowed out recently…"
"You've mellowed out?" Ally quickly say the glint from both Odori's blade and eyes at this comment, and quickly apologized, and allowed Ishikawa to continue with her story.
"I even dressed in Western clothes a few times, something I would've rather faced torture than do, at one point. But it didn't matter, as long as he was there, too. His wife was out of town during the course of this; she had sick relatives and other matters to attend to at the time. I knew that it was wrong, but I couldn't exactly fall out of love with someone. You ought to relate to that, Jigen—You're pond scum who fell in love with royalty. How in the hell you landed her is an anomaly to all, you realize."
"….Has anyone told you that all of your comments are really backhanded?"
"Hm…" this went ignored by Odori, who continued, "I loved him… I still do… But, well, I know that nothing could ever come of this… At least I have the child, though, so I've made him happy. More than anything it's important that someone you love is happy, even if they don't love you in that sense, don't you think?"
Ally let a murmur to this in response, and thought to himself. How many times had he let Carmen down by not being there for her? He knew that he always felt some kind of relief when the wedding was cancelled, but what about her? She was always the ones who sent out the apologies, the one who the public paid more attention to. But she still loved him, and understood.
Ally shoved his hands in his pockets, and walked out of the room, "I've got to make a phone call, Dori… Hope you like the omelet…"
"I expect another upon your return. More shrimp this time," replied Odori.
Sakura's apartment:
"People your age date?" Yukiko wondered, turning her head to a side in confusion.
"I may be older, but I'm not dead, Yukiko," Sakura said with a chuckle.
"What did you do anyway, Paul?" Toshiro inquired.
"Oh, I was an FBI informer for years," Paul gave a nonchalant shrug, and Yukiko gave a look like she were about to have a heart attack in her seat. "I still remember you coming into the office a few times, Kid…" he turned to Sakura, and looked at Toshiro with a smile of nostalgia, "Came in with crooks, and evidence, to boot! I know cops are supposed to be tight asses, but you were a real bastard if you didn't find that kid freakin' adorable. He always came in with the sternest expression, too, heh heh… Hey, if you ever decide to give up thievery, you should really work for the FBI… Pay's great, and they have the best dental plan in the world. From what I understand, Lupin the Third works with the French government closely now."
"Yes, he tests new safety and anti-thievery equipment for the government. In return, he and his family are saved from arrest. That doesn't exactly apply to Fuji, though."
"Yeah, what a waste that kid is…" Paul sighed with a shake of the head. "God love her, she tries, but no one could beat her dad, and the closest who could is MIA."
Yukiko folded her arms, and Paul caught the suspicious glare she threw him, as did Sakura. Sakura sighed heavily, "Yukiko, he doesn't have a wire or anything on… He's retired… He didn't even know that I was your mother when we met."
"God love my wife, she's passed, but she was from Japan, so I picked up the language and culture. I met Sakura in a Japanese restaurant that I haunt nearly every night of the week."
"Does Dad know?" Yukiko asked suddenly.
"I don't think your father would mind, Yukiko," said Sakura with a chuckle. "He can't really say anything to me… He married a girl half his age who was in a rival Mafia of his. They're the living epitome of blind love—Your father was even blind when she met him. You have to hand it to Ming, she certainly went through a lot with that man… His moodiness alone, good God…"
"Hey, we have to be heading back, all right?" Toshiro nudged Yukiko.
Paul smiled and rose from his seat, "Well, it's a shame you all have to go, but it was a pleasure meeting the both of you. So, go out and have a good time, all right?"
"We'll do that…" Yukiko said from underneath her fedora, which was pulled down over her eyes in Jigen style.
"It was very nice meeting you, Sir," Toshiro shook Paul's hand, and walked out of the apartment with Yukiko.
"Come back and visit soon!" Sakura called as she closed the door behind the two.
"Well, you seem thrilled," Toshiro said as he scaled down the steps with Yukiko.
"Yeah, as thrilled as I am about a root canal," Yukiko grumbled, shoving her hands in her pockets and shaking her head, "I need a drink, seriously. You want to come? I'll buy, really…"
"As long as you're not cheap," Toshiro responded. "No Wild Turkey or anything…"
"Damn," Yukiko sighed. She suddenly turned to him, and shoved him a little, "You never did tell me about those bedrooms…"
"Well, we'll have lots of guests over… Between my family and yours, it'll be a zoo."
"Yeah, but you like animals… You don't want to bring the zoo to your house, you want to start a zoo!" Yukiko said, pointing a finger at him accusingly. "You want kids…"
"Well, of course," Toshiro shrugged.
"If I ever do consider, which I doubt, it's not goin' down until I'm married. There's going to be at least one birth in my family that isn't out of wedlock and planned for!"
"The three who meet both of those criteria, Ryo, Ally, and Sachiko, are crazy," said Toshiro with concern.
"Point taken, but hey, I've got standards! The bastards end with me, right here!" said Yukiko in a shout of declaration. "But I doubt that there'll be kids, anyway, so we don't have to worry. Where the hell can a girl get a drink around here?"
"There was also a point where you said I'd never be anything more than a friend…" Toshiro said to himself as Yukiko walked out of the building. "You're going to wear me out one of these days, Jigen…"
He followed her out, and both walked to his Vespa, and drove back to the hotel.