DISCLAIMER: I don't own Lupin, Lupin II, Lupin III, but I do own Lupin IV and possibly V.
Anyong!
Yay, another chapter that should've been posted long ago! I know that there's been some confusion over the why Leo's going to jail thingy, and I've had questions from several people about it. The thing is, Cecilia's pregnant with Leo's baby, and Leo's supposedly dead (remember in the last series Max destroyed all of Leo's information). Cecilia's claiming that the baby is Lupin IV's, so with DNA testing, it's only a matter of time before they find out that Leo's alive. Knowing the bitch Cecilia is, she'll probably direct them straight to Leo. See, kids, biology class can be beneficial, after all! (Heh, did I mention I'm an ex-science club nerd?)
Fun Fact of Boredom: Ironically enough, about a year after last writing his character into the story, I went to the hospital was given a new doctor—Named Ravi Patel. Heh, all I needed was a nurse named Collin Gilmore, and I was out of there.
Chapter Thirteen: Baby It's Cold Outside
Russia:
Peter cursed once again, and slammed down the phone. He turned to Ryo, Veronica, Yukiko and Toshiro and gave them a pained look, "I am sorry… Lupin and Ishikawa left a day ago…"
"Great! Great! So we've lost them again!" Ryo threw her hands up in the air.
"What now?" asked Veronica.
"How should I know? I'm not the leader!" snapped Ryo, turning away from them.
"Where're you goin'?" asked Yukiko looking above her fedora brim.
"To sleep… Everyone else might as well, too… We've got a long day tomorrow if we're going to try to find Heiji and Fuji," Ryo grumbled tiredly, and turned to leave the rest of the now divided group. She slammed her door shut before she could hear anyone's response.
"Sounds like a good idea…" Peter yawned, stretched, and exited to his far bedroom.
"Um… Yeah…" Yukiko nodded. She heard 'Mambo Italiano' hum throughout the air suddenly, and answered her cell phone, "Hello? Toshiro? Yeah, sure…" she passed Toshiro her phone, "Call for you…"
"Hello?" Toshiro asked, "Ally?" he covered the phone, and looked upward at Yukiko, "It's Ally…"
"His voice sounds like it was run through gravel; of course it's Ally," Yukiko smirked and rolled her eyes.
"Why are you calling me, Ally?" asked Toshiro as he uncovered the phone. "You… You did what?"
"What'd he do?" asked Yukiko.
"He delivered Dori's baby!" Toshiro said to Yukiko, "It's a girl, named Namiko!" he added excitedly.
"Hey, I'm an aunt!" Yukiko smiled widely with a Cheshire Cat grin, "Tell Bruce Lee, Jr. and Samurai Jaclyn that I'm gonna buy them a big fat box a' cigars when we get back!"
"Ally says he'd rather have a big, big bottle of Chinese beer," Toshiro responded. "…And Odori just wants sake."
"Hey, they've got it!" Yukiko pushed up fedora up from her eyes, accenting the smile which she had inherited from her father, although this would be difficult to tell, considering how little he had smiled.
Meanwhile, Ryo had settled into her room, after having changed for the night. She turned on the television, but gave up as she found that not only were all of the channels in Russian, but nothing decent was on any of them. She shut off the television, and rolled over to sleep.
She was more than a little surprised when she heard a clamoring, and jumped up immediately, grabbing hold of her gun. She went to turn on the light, but a voice quickly stopped her.
"No, don't," said a voice who Ryo knew sounded familiar, although she couldn't place it.
"Who in the hell are you?" asked Ryo in a growl.
"I'm the one who's been sending you all of those things," answered the masculine voice.
"Why?" Ryo ventured as she cocked her magnum.
"Please don't shoot; I'm unarmed," said the voice frantically.
"Then come out of the shadows," Ryo ordered.
"….I'd rather not… Then you would really want to shoot me…" he muttered darkly. "I have no weapons; I promise."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" asked Ryo.
"As many times as I've known your location, I could've killed you over half a dozen times," replied the voice.
"…Good point… What do you want?" asked Ryo.
"Just let me come a little closer," he begged.
"I… Okay," she said quietly, and dropped her gun to her side. The shadowed figure of a man inched closer and closer, and Ryo gasped as she felt an arm around her waist. This, too, felt familiar.
"I hope you don't mind if I…."
"Might as well," Ryo answered quietly, and he leaned in, and kissed her. This felt extremely familiar.
He backed away, slowly, and gulped dryly, "That was a really bad idea on my part…"
"Hm… I don't know… But I'd like to know who you are, Mister Mystery," Ryo said in her usual calm demeanor. "Here, I'll just turn on the light…"
"Please, no," he begged.
"Ryoko?" it was Veronica. She began to open the door, and switched on the light. Ryo turned to get a good look at the mystery person, but he was just finishing ducking out of the window he had come in. He was dressed in black, though, he saw, and had a short haircut. Light brown hair, she noted….
A Russian Hotel:
"Where the hell were you?" Max inquired as Leo ran into the hotel room, panting, "It's the dead of night!"
"I went jogging," Leo answered, falling into a chair next to Max. "Did you get a trace on Lupin?"
"Well, where do you think she'd be?" asked Max casually.
"Probably after some great treasure, if she went here… It's not exactly a vacationing spot… Check articles online, and see if there's been anything recent… Better yet, let me… I can look at about sixty-odd world papers…"
"You know that many languages?" Max asked in shock.
"No, but they speak the same languages in a lot of areas—Especially French. I could go to Belgium and live relatively easily, well, in terms of communication. Same with Morocco and San Martin—They speak French there, too."
"How about New Orleans?" asked Max.
Leo shuddered, "Nah, I get drunk off of my ass every time I go. Remember last time?"
"Yeah, sorry… I really should've stopped you…."
"I told you it's okay," Leo answered as he pushed up his glasses and went to work on the computer. "Hm… Here's something!" he said after a bit of searching, "It's in Romanian, but I can read it to you…"
"Hey, it sort of looks like English!" said Max.
"Well, it is one of the Romance languages and—Never mind… It says something about Rasputin's diary; scientists are now on the hunt for it because of supposed magic cures that can be found in it…"
"Eh, yeah, right," Max snorted. "It has magical cures, and my dad isn't psycho…"
"What, you don't believe in horoscopes and things like that, Zenigata?" asked Leo with a small chuckle and an imploring look.
"It's all BS," replied Max.
"Hrm… I don't know about that sometimes, Zenigata," Leo responded with a shrug.
"Don't tell me you fall for this stuff, LeBlanc!"
"Hey, shouldn't you agree with me on everything, now that we're—"
"You tricked me into that!"
"Like you wouldn't have not agreed to it…"
"Well, we could've done something a little nicer…" Max grumbled.
"What'd you want me to do, find a Rabbi and dress up in a garter and veil?" Leo laughed, but discontinued this as he saw Max's stern expression, "Listen, Zenigata, you signed those papers so when the cops find me you'll have time to drain out the money in my accounts."
"How much do you have in the bank?" asked Max.
"Well…" Leo took up a pencil in his hand, and began to figure the numbers on a napkin, "My pay at Interpol, plus my translating fees, the allowance my parents send me because they seem to think I'm still twelve, the money I get from teaching classes on our downtime, plus money I've won by betting in those horse races…"
"You gamble!" Max choked.
Leo smiled bashfully, "It's a hobby… Gambling's purely mathematical, and I'm good at math… Now, getting back to this…"
"What about money you collected from heists?" asked Max.
Leo shuddered a little as Max said this, "I gave all of that back…"
"And how much was it?"
"Well, um… Nineteen… Hundred… Thousand…" Leo's face flushed, "But I had already spent a lot of it…. You know, I was planning a wedding at the time, so I lost a good fifty thou there… Plus I had to buy an apartment, and I lived off of that money for a while…"
"How much do you have in there now?" Max choked.
"One million, give or take… God, I'm pathetic… My parents must have like a couple of billion times that amount, as much as my dad's done over the years…" Leo sighed, scratching the back of his head, "My dad came from a rich family, but I guess that's what I get for running…"
"You've got a million?" Max choked.
"Close to," Leo shrugged. "I know that it's… It's not that much, really, when compared…"
"To what I have, it's a hell of a lot more!" snapped Max. "Why are we living in a crappy apartment, then?"
"Low upkeep, plus it's inconspicuous," Leo admitted.
"You're making my head hurt, LeBlanc…" Max held his head in his hands. One million… Plus Leo's parents were loaded… Well, it couldn't be said that he hadn't married into a wealthy family… And to think he remembered helping his mother cut coupons when he was a child. His family was well off, too, but… Millions… It made his head ache at the thought, to think that Leo had been living off of basic cable and TV dinners, and didn't even own a car.
"…Listen, we'll… After this, we'll go on vacation somewhere," said Leo. "We'll take Dako with us… Anywhere in particular you want to go to?"
"I'd like to visit my folks, actually," Max admitted.
"Let them know that—"
"No!" snapped Max quickly, "No, no, no—My dad would have a heart attack."
"He'd survive! Look at Goemon!"
"I'm serious, Leo, he can't know."
"…You have to come out sometime, Max. Your mom's still expecting you to get married; what are you going to tell her, huh? That you became a priest and took a vow of celibacy?"
"I'll just avoid her," Max answered with a shrug.
"Good idea…." Leo muttered sarcastically. "What about that on your hand, then?"
Max looked down at his hand, and then looked away from Leo, "It's so no one will get the wrong idea…"
"You're wearing a wedding ring, Zenigata, I think your friends will get curious," Leo chuckled.
"I don't have friends," Max answered. "You're my first, to tell the truth. I won't wear the ring, if you don't want me to. I don't think it's right to get involved in something if I'm taken now, even if it is just for financial reasons…."
"No, it's okay… You can wear it, Max, if it makes you feel more comfortable," Leo said reassuringly. Max was about to add onto the statement when Leo's cell phone went off, and LeBlanc promptly answered. He looked over his glasses at Max and smiled. "We've got a tip… Lupin's on the B train to Siberia, tomorrow morning…"
"Jesus, Fuji, what in the hell are you up to?" asked Max.
New York:
"Okay now, Namiko, here's the airplane coming for the hanger," Ally said as he directed the bottle to the baby. Odori had decided to take a shower, and Ally had gladly agreed to look after the newborn girl, "There you go… Good, good girl…" he said in a very unusual tone… Unusual for Ally, at least.
"How is she?" Odori asked as she walked out. Her hip-length hair was now down, and she was drying it with a towel. Ally rose and walked over to Odori with the child, and Odori looked down at Namiko, who was cradled in his arms.
"Dori, who's the father?" asked Ally with seriousness in his voice as his eyes turned away from the baby and towards the samurai.
"A good, good man," replied Odori as she grasped onto Namiko's hand.
"There's only one man you thought was like that," said Ally after a pause. "….It's him, isn't it, Dori?"
Odori said nothing, but simply folded her arms and turned away from Ally, and bent her head down, "I really love him…." she said, "But I knew that anything was impossible… That's why I carried out the pregnancy; I felt for the first time that maybe there was a chance that he could love me, too. I know it's not possible, though…. But at least every time I look at Namiko, I can see him, too."
"Let me and Carmen raise her," Ally suggested suddenly. Odori spun around, and looked at Jigen in shock. "Listen, it'll be perfect. She'll be able to get a great education! I know you don't like Westerners very much, but hey, you've seen Cagliostro! It's just begging for a rowdy kid to come on and rough it up a little bit! You should see the parks, and the castle! Dori, she'd love it!"
"No, that's all right…. Her father is a clan leader, after all…"
"Yeah, but the Miyamoto clan…. I dunno…. I mean, they're even more rigidly traditional than your dad's clan, and I don't mean to be racist, but you're Korean, Dori! How would they take to someone who's mixed? This baby even looks Korean!"
"Musashi would never let anything bad happen to her!" snapped Odori. She shirked back a little at Ally's shocked expression, "I… I'm sorry… It is just a very stressful time for me right now; I'm dealing with a lot of things. Thank you for your offer though, Ally. I'm sure Namiko would be very happy with you and Carmen, but I already promised someone else…"
"It's okay… I mean, it's just that Carmen loves kids, but I… Let's say that there've been more relationship problems than me playing runaway groom…"
"Such as?" Odori tilted her head to a side and inquired.
"Well, I… You see, sometimes over the years, we'd try and…. But I'd get nervous… I was always good at talking to girls, and you know, on some levels, I was better at communicating with them…"
"Well, you did do a year at cheer camp."
"How in the hell do you find those things out?" Ally growled, "It was only because they kicked me out of martial arts camp for busting open a kid's skull with a bokken!"
"All right, anyway, you were talking about relationship troubles?" Odori continued.
"Yeah, I mean… I know she wants to, and we've been dating for years, so it's not like we're going too fast or anything, but I just choke up!" Ally shrugged.
Odori gave way to a small smile, "You're afraid, huh?"
"I won't admit that!"
"You don't have to; I can see it. The only reason you're impotent is that you're intimidated."
"By what?" Ally threw his head back and laughed, "It's just Carmen!"
"And she's going to be ruler of Cagliostro, someday, meaning you will, too. Don't worry, if I were in your position, I'd probably be in the same position as you… Have you ever thought of maybe reading up on it?"
"…..I tried…." Ally flushed at the thought of this memory, "My dad found the book I'd been reading, and then took me fishing. Him and me in a little boat in the middle of a freezing lake, no escape, and him talking with me about sex. It was perhaps the worst day of my life. It was even worse when he got drunk… You know, there are some things that you should never know about your father, and I found out all of them. I'll never eat on Lupin's kitchen counter again."
"Well, perhaps the internet would be a better source…. You already tired the psychiatrist… And well, it was Victor the bastard, but perhaps you should try it again…."
"Yeah, yeah… I'll think about it… I really want kids," Ally admitted as he looked down and smiled at Namiko, who simply looked up at the shaggy-haired, pointy nosed young man in her presence.
Siberia:
"Woah…" Heiji blinked in disbelief as he watched several beautiful Russian women walk past his and Fuji's train cabin. One looked back at him and smiled, and Heiji returned the smile. Fuji glowered, and buried herself in her white fur coat even deeper.
"They're just looking at you in hopes of a green card. It's because you dress like a Westerner," Fuji said through clattering teeth.
"How could you be cold?" Heiji inquired.
"How can you not be? You divide your time between Japan and Hawaii…."
"Do you have any idea how cold a computer tech center has to be kept?" asked Heiji.
"I didn't realize you did your work in a meat cellar," Fuji grumbled. "I hope that this train leads us close to the spot…"
"Actually, it's thirty miles out of the way," Heiji answered as he glanced over his map. Fuji let out a moan, and hung her head in defeat.
"I can't give up on this, though! My family reputation is counting on me!" Fuji cried.
And then Fujiko Lupin had a brilliant idea, and began to cry, "It's just that everyone expects so much of me, and what am I supposed to do?" she wailed.
Heiji looked genuinely horrified, and walked over to Fuji's side of the cabin, and after a few pauses, embraced her, "Um… There… There…."
Fuji tried to hold back her clever chuckle of success while Heiji embraced her, and continued to speak to him, "I just don't know what I'd do without you sometimes, Heiji-chan!"
"Well, it's all right, Fuji—I'll be around a while…" Heiji responded.
'He would've thought I was a perv if I had just wanted to hug him, but I really need the warmth… Is this like using him? Oh, well, shut up, Fuji, you're not freezing your ass off now…' Fuji thought as her eyes grew heavier. She was soon asleep and leaning on Heiji.
"How often are you going to do this to me, Fuji?" Heiji wondered out loud as he leaned back in the seat, "God… You look like an approachable person when you're asleep… Who'd guess that you were so obnoxious?" he remained quiet for the rest of the duration of the trip, and shook Fuji awake when they reached their train stop.
Fuji grumbled as Heiji shook her awake, and slowly walked out of the train, lagging behind Heiji. The two were more than a little surprised when the first bomb went off, and even more when the second and third bombs went off, blowing up portions of the train in front of their very eyes.
It so happened that Leo and Max had been on this same train, and gaped at the horrors about them. Max shouted as he spied Heiji and Fuji, and the chase began.
"Lupin! Get back here, now!" Max screamed.
"Um, Interpol, excuse me—Woah, pardon me!" Leo sputtered as he worked his way about the crowds, trailing behind a more active than usual Max. Leo concluded that it had to be the weather, it just had to.
"Hey, let's hitch a ride!" Fuji yelled to Heiji as they ran out onto the streets and saw a truck zooming towards them. Fuji jumped first, soon followed by Heiji. Fuji waved good-bye as Max simply growled, balled his fists, and cursed, much in the fashion of his father. Fuji's eyes snapped to attention at Max's hand. Zenigata had never worn jewelry before, but there was a ring on Zenigata's left hand. She knew the placement of this ring well; she had worn numerous on the ring finger of her left hand. Engagement rings. But did Zenigata even have time for anyone? She doubted it…
"Well, that was possibly the worst way to start off this trip…" Heiji muttered.
"Heh, yeah, tell me about it," Fuji rolled her eyes, and laid back on the hay of the truck bed.
"Why in the hell is it so damn cold?" Fuji muttered to herself as she wrapped her coat around her closer.
"Okay, according to this map, we have thirty miles until we reach the grave…" said Heiji as he laid out a map in front of Fuji and showed her the mark upon a map. "Hey, shouldn't we be concerned about those explosions?"
"Explosions aren't anything out of the ordinary for us, Heiji-chan," Fuji said with a shrug. "It's just letting us know that the welcoming party knows we're here…"
"But who's the welcoming party?" Heiji inquired.
Fuji shrugged, "I wish I knew… My ears are ringing from those explosions, still."
The Siberian Train Station:
"Wow… If my Jigen sense is kicking in, then Fuji's been here," Yukiko said, removing her cherry lollipop from her mouth and staring at the wrecked trains about them.
"Now we just need to find out where…." Toshiro added.
"Where'd your friend go, Ryoko?" asked Veronica.
"I don't know where Peter ran off to," Ryo admitted.
"Hey, look!" Yukiko called, pointing to the same wagon that carried Heiji and Fuji, "Isn't that a polar bear?"
"That's even better than a stupid bear—That's Fuji!" Ryo replied, breaking off into a run. Veronica cursed at this; no way would she be able to run as they did, with her brace on. Her prayers seemed to be somewhat answered when Toshiro scooped her up, and took her along for the run.
"Fuji!" Ryo shouted, "Fujiko, hold up!"
"Wait, you hold up!" Max growled, red with frustration. He sprung forward to catch Ryo with his handcuffs, and instead was greeted with his handcuff locked to a train car handle. Both Leo and Max worried when the train began to start, but Leo finally managed to free Max after some lockpicking on the run.
"Ouch…" Max groaned as he rubbed his sore wrist. "Come on, LeBlanc, let's get them! We don't have time for pain right now!"
"They're running towards that wagon, c'mon!" Leo took Max's hand, and the two soon confiscated a small old and typically poor working vehicle.
"Ryo-san!" Fuji screamed happily as Ryo, Yukiko, Toshiro and Veronica jumped onto the wagon. This naturally surprised the horses and the driver, and the wagon was now in a full run, Leo and Max right behind them in their small vehicle. Leo was doing the driving, maneuvering expertly in and out of the tight traffic.
"Hm, I taught him that," Ryo commented coolly as she watched Leo manage to make a tight turn, just as the wagon made a tight turn.
"How in the hell can we stop this wagon, or at least get some control?" Veronica shouted.
"I know a way!" Yukiko smiled and removed her gun from her fedora.
"Yukiko Jigen—No way!" snapped Toshiro, pushing the gun away from the horses. He slowly walked up to the driver's seat, where the wagon leader had long since bailed, and took the reigns.
"You didn't tell me you were dating the horse whisperer!" Fuji laughed.
"Ha ha, kiss my freezing Asian ass," Yukiko replied as a tranquilizer whizzed past her head and lodged into the back of her fedora. "Heh, Leblanc, Zenigata, before I was annoyed with you two—Now I'm pissed…" She aimed her gun in the fashion her father had taught her, and shot at Leo and Max's wheels, causing them to wipe out into a crystal shop on the corner of the Siberian town which they had found themselves trapped in.
"All right!" Yukiko cheered loudly.
"See you boys later!" Fuji blew them a kiss, and soon the more docile yet still hurried wagon was out of their sight.
"Crap, crap, CRAP!" growled Max as he rose from the mounds of building, car and crystal.
"Ow… My freakin' head…" Leo moaned.
"Excuse me…" the shopkeeper approached the two young men and smiled nervously. "Who pay this mess?"
"Put it on our tab," Max answered wearily.
A Small Inn:
"So it's supposed to have all sorts of cures, huh?" Yukiko repeated after Fuji had relayed her story.
"Yeah, what do you think, Yukiko-san?" asked Fuji, tilting her head to a side and waiting for her coworker's response.
"I think this whole story's filled with more holes than some of the corpses I've hid in rivers over the years," Yukiko answered plainly.
"Well, I don't know—All sorts of miracles have happened in the past, and there's no clear explanation for them," replied Toshiro with a shrug.
"Yeah, but you also read horoscopes," Yukiko reminded him.
"We leave in the morning," said Fuji. "It's a long hike up that mountain, but I think we'll survive it."
"You think?" Ryo asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, you never know—The Yeti could be out there!" replied Fuji sincerely.
"I'm going to bed," Yukiko grumbled, turning away from Fuji and toward the door.
"Me, too," Toshiro rose from his chair, and followed Yukiko out.
"What? Hey, my dad got tears from a Yeti once!" Fuji snapped.
"Fuji, now's the time when all good little crazies go to sleep," Ryo said in a matronly tone.
"I'll share my room with you then, Ryoko," Veronica hobbled a bit to Ryo, and Ryo picked up Veronica's bag, and the two were soon gone.
Fuji smiled and clasped her hands together as she saw who was left; Heiji.
"All right, Heiji-chan! Guess it's a sleepover!" Fuji smiled widely and laid back on the bed.
"You know what, you're absolutely right, Fuji!" Heiji returned the smile, "Come here, I've got a present for you!"
"For me? What is it?" Fuji asked intently. She struggled as Heiji covered her nose and mouth with a damp towel, and she was soon limp.
"Chloroform. Good night, Sweet Princess," Heiji flipped off the switch, and safely went to sleep.
Another Hotel, Across Town:
"Ow… Ow… OW! Damn it, LeBlanc!" Max cried in pain.
"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not the one who crashed into a crystal shop and got part of a crystal rabbit ear lodged in his hand," Leo replied.
"You crashed the car!" Max said.
Leo cringed a little; yes, this was true, "But I didn't get the crystal lodged into my hand…. Just thank God nothing got in somewhere where this would really hurt…"
"Like wh—Ouch, yeah, you're right," Max admitted with a nod, but gave another cringe and yell of pain as Leo extracted it.
"Shush, it's okay, I've got it," Leo whispered as he poured hydrogen over the wound and then bandaged it, "There, all better!"
Max took Leo's chin, and brought LeBlanc's face to his, and then kissed the fellow inspector lightly, "…Thanks…"
"Heh, it, it wasn't a problem," the shaken Leo replied, rising and cleaning up the mess he made in the bathroom. A set of arms came around his waist, and Leo immediately shot his head up. If he hadn't been so appalled/shocked, he would have thought it amusing the Max, who was almost four inches shorter than Leo, struggled to rest his head upon Leo's shoulder, but still managed.
"Max, I—" Leo spun around and leaned away from Max a bit, "It's too soon, I think…"
"Listen, I don't want you to get treat like you've been in the past," Max said sternly. "That bitch practically raped you for years, and in the end, she's the one who gave you what you wanted—Listen, I'm sorry that I can't give you any biological children, but we've got Dako, and we'll try to get Cecilia's and yours, too. I know you want a big family, and I'll give you that, Leo, if you just let me."
"Max, I…" Leo could not finish. He removed his inhaler from his pocket and breathed; he was hyperventilating, "What about your family?"
"They'll have to get over it," snapped Max. "You're done denying who you are; you're going to face the cops, and I'm going to be there with you. But I'm done pretending who I am, too. I'm through with pretending I just want to be your friend, Leo. I don't want to have just married you for money. If you want to hear 'I love you', then fine, I'll tell you…"
"Listen, I just don't know," Leo broke out of Max's grasp, and turned away from Zenigata, and looked out the small window to see the snowy exterior.
"Would you like the night think about it?" Max asked quietly, "I just… I want to know if I should stop chasing or not… I want to know if you're still in love with anyone, Leo."
"Still?" Leo asked, and looked back at Max curiously, "….Ryoko, you mean… Max, what happened between us was a long time ago. We've both moved on…"
"Could you answer a question, then?" asked Max.
"Sure, why not?" Leo shrugged his shoulders.
"Would you date someone judged on their looks? I mean, if you really got to know them, and you got along with them?"
"Well, no, I'm not racist or anything, and I have nothing against a disabled person. One godfather is blind and the other's got a gimpy heart, and my mom has back pains…" Leo shrugged.
"Why don't you quit judging me by looks, then?" asked Max. Leo was slightly taken aback by this, and remained silent. "You're one of those 'love is blind' people, so come on and stick to your beliefs, already."
"I knew love was blind, but I didn't know she was gender confused, too…" Leo said to himself out of Max's hearing range.
"I'm going to go lay down," Max sighed, and rubbed his forehead. He was quite aware of how much of a jackass he was acting like now, but it took a back burner to all of his emotions.
"Good night, Max," said Leo from the bathroom.
"Yeah… Good night…" Max grumbled, turning off their bedroom light.
'Well, years with women, and still no luck… They say that there's someone for everyone, and maybe that's my someone… But Max? I used to be drinking buddies with Max, before he got all weird….' Leo thought as he leaned against the bathroom doorway.
'Maybe I'm getting a little weird….' Max thought as he laid in his bed, 'I don't want to push him away, and I've already destroyed any tight relationship we had as friends…. Dammit, Zenigata, why'd you have to open your big fat mouth? You would've been fine if you hadn't shot off your mouth like that, and you two would be just as good friends as ever… I'd rather be alone and see him happy than to have him afraid of me… Maybe after this I'll seek a reassignment… I don't want to push him away….'
'Well, here goes everything… Maybe you'll like this, Ari. If not, hey, screw it, you've already erased Max's memory once, so it'd be easy to do again, and you already live with enough traumatic memories…' Leo inhaled heavily, and walked over to Zenigata's bed, stood over it. Max rolled over, and looked up at Leo.
"Something wrong?" Max asked tiredly.
"No… I don't want to do anything too rash tonight, but um, is it okay if we share this one?" Leo asked hopefully.
"What, the bed?" Max choked.
"Thanks," Leo climbed in, all while Max remained wearing the same stunned expression. "If I snore, or start those weird dreams again, just punch me…"
"Yeah, sure," Max replied numbly. He didn't know what he had done to help Leo see his point of view, but it had sure worked.
Outside:
"So I guess Ryo's really out of the picture for him, now…." said a person dressed in all black as he sat perched outside Leo and Max's window. "Him and…. Well, that'll be a story to tell the kids… At least he probably won't kick my ass as severely… I'll get the girl, and the treasure of Rasputin, too…"