DISCLAIMER: I don't own Lupin, and not even Doraemon-chan could help me with that problem (If you get that joke then you've really been watching anime too long).
Heh, miss me?
Sorry that this is so… Wow, yeah, it really has been a while. School's started up and my schedule is… Oi, let's just say I've been running all over the place trying to sort things out. I'm also still reeling from the expense of it all. Anyhow, I finally managed to pull out another chapter and hopefully my imagination won't revert back into the desert that it had become a few weeks ago. Please enjoy, sorry about the wait, as always.
Fun Fact of Boredom: Want to see a picture of a character you like? Just curious to see exactly what some of the characters look like? E-mail me—My address is viewable from my profile.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Tempted by the Fruit of Another
"Maybe I can just sneak out without him knowing…" Fuji said to herself as she rose out of bed and began to search for her things. She managed to locate everything, save for one of her heels. It was around that time that Fuji became aware of an odd noise coming from above her. She looked upward and saw her heel, flying along with the fan.
"How in the hell does that even happen?" she muttered. Fuji shook her head, and pulled over a desk chair, and stood on her tip-toes in an attempt to grab her heel. She didn't think to turn on the fan, and grabbed onto the paddle instead. She found her heel, but she also went flying in the direction of the bed, landing face-first on Ally. This of course awoke Jigen, and he looked down at his chest, stunned, as Fuji lifted her head.
"Eh hee hee… Hey there, Ally-chan!" Fuji sat up across from him and smiled, "Eh, how are you doing?"
"….Where are my pants?" asked Ally after he had lifted the sheets and then looked at Fuji once again.
"Ummm…. Not sure…" Fuji admitted. She took up and put on her shoe, and began to look about the room, trying to hide her apprehension. Ally gathered the sheets about him and walked into the bathroom.
"…Well, I found my shoes…" Jigen muttered as he fished them out of the full bath tub. "This is your room, Fuji… What am I doing here?"
"You must've sleepwalked!" Fuji called as she continued to find Jigen's belongings. She opened his wallet briefly and cursed as she found no money, and added this to his pile of other things, which she carried over one arm.
Ally sighed and washed his face off, and stopped dead in the mirror, "What the…?" he tilted his head to a neck and looked at the bite marks. He ran out of the bathroom, nearly tumbling over his sheets, "Did we—?"
"I… Um… Yeah…." Fuji nodded, and set his things on her dresser. "Ally, I—"
"Just stay away!" Ally said warningly to her as she approached him to comfort him. "Oh my God, I hope no one got any pictures of this…"
"I won't tell if you won't…" said Fuji in an attempt to calm him.
"Yeah, but there's the whole thing of my conscience…" Ally replied.
"Come on, like you've never woken up on the weird side of the bed?" Fuji laughed weakly.
"No, never…."
"Hrm?"
"Fuji, I've never slept with anyone! Well, now I have… But I hadn't before last night…"
"You were… You mean I did a virgin and I can't even remember it?" Fuji asked aloud angrily, "Damn it! Oh, Ally… Don't get upset…"
"I've got to call Carmen, tell her the wedding's off…. She doesn't deserve a two-timing jerk…" Ally rubbed his eyes and began to search around for a phone.
"We'll cover it up!" Fuji suggested with a smile, "It'll be easy! I've done this before!"
"How do you suggest these?" Ally inquired, pointing to his bruised neck, "Vampires?"
"Squirrels," Fuji shrugged. "But the scratch marks are going to…"
"The what!"
"Don't go freaking on me, Ally…" Fuji sighed tiredly. "Just don't take off your shirt for a week or two… They'll heal… As for the neck, I, um… Here…" she fished through her purse and passed him a small bottle, "Foundation ought to do the trick… Used to work when I was younger."
"I don't believe this…" Ally seated himself on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on his head. "I… I can't live with myself like this…"
Fuji sighed, smiled warmly at him and seated herself next to him, "It's okay, trust me… I'm sure it was all my fault, anyway… See, I brought the booze!" she held up the empty bottle and tossed in aside. "Point being, no one has to know about this… I won't tell—You have my word… I'll even pinky swear to it, and I never break those!"
"Heh, yeah, it's okay…" Ally waved her hand away and sighed, "I never figured me, of all people… I always thought you were going to end up like banging Toshiro!"
"Eh, yeah, go figure he's the only guy in the group who I haven't slept with… Besides Ari."
"What about Max?"
"That's what I like to call 'my little gray area'. Ryo-san'll kill me if she finds out about this… A part of me wishes it were even her before it was you. We even agreed that if we're both single by the time we're fifty we'll just go up to Canada and get married… Mom and Dad will just have to deal."
"You two… Think that about one another? Wait—You're bi?"
"Helllllll no! I am a one way street—A very open, but straight street! But if I'm fifty, by that time there's not really a good chance of me finding anyone at that point, so I might as well just spend the rest of my life with my best friend, right?"
"Makes sense… But Heiji's one of my best friends, and I wouldn't do… That… With a ten foot pole!" Ally yelped.
Fuji smiled and patted him on the back, "It'll be okay, Buddy. We'll be laughing at this years from now when I'm visiting the twenty kids you and Carmen are probably going to have."
Ally shuddered at the thought, and then looked up at Fuji with a sense of relief, "Yeah... This'll be like how your dad and Natasha don't tell anyone that they slept together! Just like that!"
"I wasn't aware of that and I just vomited a little in my mouth," Fuji said with disgust. She rose and stretched, and turned back to look at him. "I'm going to go get breakfast and check in on Mr. and Mrs. Ishikawa! Seeya!"
"Yeah…" Ally nodded. He looked down at the bottle, and shook his head as he laid his eyes upon his engagement ring, which he still wore, "She'd never forgive me…"
Yukiko and Toshiro's room:
"That's one hell of a wedding gift… Usually fathers give their daughters China or something instead of weaponry…" Toshiro set aside the top of the box and looked downward at the shiny new gun.
"Hey, he got you something, too!" Yukiko answered with a laugh, "What'd he give you, anyway?"
"Cigarettes… He said if your pregnancy was anything like Ming's, I'd need a ton of them… He bought me like ten cartons… Oh, and a lighter… It's a nice one, too."
"Yeah, Dad still has good taste in cigarettes, even if he hasn't bought any for himself in years…" Yukiko flipped open the lighter, studied the flame and then tossed it back to Toshiro. "Heh, you have fun with those…"
"Oh I will…" Toshiro laughed and placed the lighter in his gi, "We ought to be hearing more from the Fuma Clan today…"
"Yeah, keep me out of it; I have this thing about people who try to kill me," said Yukiko curtly.
"I've tried to kill you before…"
"Either in a joking manner or while you were under the spell of something… Hey, what do you want to call it if it's a girl?"
"Ummm… I haven't really thought about names yet… I'm not very good at them, honestly. It took me a month to come up with my daughter's name last time—Amanda. It's two letters away from her grandmother's…. We could always name her Haru…"
"After you biological mom? You want to be banished to the couch forever?"
"Heh, no, not really… Well, we'll think of something, I'm sure," Toshiro shrugged and laid down on the couch. "Right now, I'm going to do my best to get some rest before I deal with the headache known as yet another Goddamn clan!"
"Heh… This is why you should take a hint from my dad and run from any and all big-time crime syndicates," Yukiko tossed him a pillow as she passed by and went to looking through some of the other wedding gifts which she'd have to send to their house in New York later that day.
A Shopping District of Tokyo:
Ally looked at his reflection in the glass of the shop, and quickly turned away once again. He couldn't stand to look at himself at the current moment. It seemed as though Ryo wasn't the only suicidal Jigen anymore. He grumbled to himself and walked into a small tavern; it was never a better time to take up drinking.
He seated himself at a bar table and ordered from the attractive young waitress, Ally hardly able to look her in the eyes. She had a face similar to Carmen's; very innocent, very trusting. He wondered what exactly she was doing in a place like a bar.
"You're an American, aren't you?" Ally heard behind him. Jigen balled one of his fists beneath his table and barely looked about to face the voice behind him.
"What's it to you?"
"You were with Lupin the Fourth last night?"
"What, do I look like that kind of guy?" Ally asked with a small smirk. He had inherited his father's smartass gene, and it kicked in every now and again.
"Your fiancée would be rather upset to see these," Ally's attention was drawn to an envelope, and Jigen quickly turned his head and was face-to-face with an all-too-recognizable man. It was the same man Toshiro had tried to kill at the martial arts tournament… It was the same man who had killed Julia and Toshiro's unborn child… It was the man who now wanted his sister and her baby dead.
"Blackmail, huh? I figured something a little more showy…" Ally admitted.
"Here, take this…. I have more copies at where I'm staying, so even if you destroy those there'll be more where that came from… If you don't cooperate with me, your little Carmen will receive a very upsetting package in the mail…" the ninja rose, smiled at the outraged Ally once more, and then made an exit from the bar, not bothering to tip the waitress.
"Let's see what I did here…" Ally said to himself, unsealing the package and shuffling through the photos. With each picture he grew more and more distressed, until he finally placed the photos back in their envelope. As he was sealing it, he noticed an address on the back, as well as the time. It was only an hour away, Ally realized as he looked upward at a clock in the bar. He quickly left a tip and ran out of the bar.
The area was a large temple on the outskirts of town. Two guards stood in front of a looming red torii lit by torchlight, and Ally was allowed to pass as they got a good look of Jigen's features.
Ally scaled up the stone stairs to the wooden door of the temple, and slowly placed his weight against the door, pushing it open.
It was a large room inside structured like many of the places where fighting scenes took place in the movies Ally watched. He approached, and saw the same ninja he had seen almost an hour ago in the more urban area of Tokyo.
"What do you want from me?" asked Ally, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "How in the hell did you get those pictures, anyway?"
"Oh, I had a new associate do that for me," the ninja smiled.
"Yeah, well I want to meet this friggin' perv!" Ally shouted angrily.
"You already have…" the ninja smiled, and Ally gaped as he watched Heiji emerge from behind one of the large pillars. Heiji wore a scowl, which only deepened as he met with Ally's eyes.
"He… Heiji? What… What are you doing here?" Ally choked, taking a step back toward the wooden doors behind him.
"I'm not the only one who needs to explain something, do I?" Heiji asked him quietly. "How could you do that, Ally? I mean, I liked hardly anybody in that group to begin with… It's easy to say that other than Odori, you were the only person I really trusted… The rest are just a bunch of phonies and liars."
"Heiji, I was drunk, so was she! It didn't mean anything!" Ally sputtered. "A…And what about you? Hooking up with the enemy? They want to kill my sister!"
"Well, you always said I was the Fujiko character," Heiji smirked. Ally lunged forward, and in a surprise move, Heiji gripped onto Jigen's wrist and flipped him. Ally fell back on the mat and looked upward at the ninja and Heiji. The ninja placed a hand over Ally's neck and began to press down while Heiji looked downward motionlessly.
"You're the crazy one, so you'll try anything to defeat us. When we attack, if you try to stop us, not only will we kill your sister and send those photos to the Government of Cagliostro so they'll know exactly what kind of a low worm you are, we'll kill di Cagliostro and her mother, too… We'll let you live, though… We'll let you live with the guilt. Not before we break your legs, though."
The tall ninja moved his foot away from Ally's neck, and Jigen began to gasp for air while his attacker looked downward and smiled. He turned to Heiji, and motioned for him, "Ishikawa, come on… We have a lot of work to do…"
"Right," Heiji looked downward at Ally once more, with a hint of remorse in his eyes, and then followed the ninja out through a set of wooden doors.
Ally sat up on the wooden floor and rubbed his neck, "Well, I can say where I got the bruises now, and… No… I can't tell anyone about this…" Ally slowly rose to his feet, and trudged out, still trying to regain the oxygen he had lost. He placed his hands in his pockets as he had before, and pulled out a note in Heiji's handwriting, "What the…"
France:
Leo stuck out his tongue, and smiled as he watched Avery copy him, "Yay, Avery!" he chuckled and picked up the small baby, and spun him around once. Avery laughed happily in response, and waved his hands in the air.
"We're home!" Max called.
"Great—I just finished feeding him," Leo walked into the living room and began to search through the bags that Max and Dako had carried in.
"So is it true that I'm going to be traveling with you guys now?" Dako asked as she pulled out the new CD Max had bought her and began to undo the wrapping.
"We're going to see how it works," Leo replied. "Did you get my lens cleaner?"
"Damn it, I forgot…" Max sighed.
"No cursing in front of the baby," Leo said sternly.
Max looked upward at Leo and blinked, "I can guarantee you that he didn't hear me curse, Leo."
"You heartless bastard!" Dako gasped, holding the CD and preparing to throw it at Max.
"Dakota Angela Zenigata-Lupin!" Leo said in the same stern voice.
"What? That was so wrong!" snapped Dako. "Just because he can't hear doesn't mean he can't read your lips or understand you! Just like the fact that just because you're a bastard at times you still can manage to get someone to put up with you…."
Max glared at her, and then shifted this glare to Leo, who was chuckling at this comment, "You know, I wanted to send you to boarding school… Not one of the nice ones, either. Ones of those ones you hear about with the nuns and no boys…"
"Oh, you mean that one your parents sent you to?" Dako quickly retorted.
"You know, I'm sure that deep down there, somewhere, you two love one another…" Leo said with a heavy sigh.
"Heh, yeah, start digging and tell me how close you are in a year," Max snorted. Leo rolled his eyes and shook his head; he almost felt like the father of three at times.
"The boss called…" Leo said tiredly to Max. "We have to head out to Japan…"
"Did you tell him about Dako and Ave?"
"I'm having Myra and Nina lie for us and say that they're going…"
"You did something illegal?" Max laughed in disbelief, "You're the same guy who tips anyone who gives you a ticket!"
"I know, I know… But how do you justify taking along your kids with you?"
"Ehhh…. Hey, I'm not gung-ho about this plan, so that's your field, man, not mine!"
"How convenient for you…" Leo looked over at Max tiredly and passed him the baby. "Here, I'm tired… You give him a bath this time."
"What? Le-Leo, c'mon! He bites me!"
"He's just a baby, Max… Don't act like such a sissy…."
"Zolst ligen en drerd (drop dead)!" Max said with a glare.
"Bei mir bist du shayn…" Leo returned, and kissed Max upon the cheek. Max rolled his eyes, sighed and turned around to Avery.
"He always gets me with that one…" Max muttered as he led Avery into the bathroom and began to run the bathwater for that one, "That's the line I used to win him over, you know…. I'll let you use it on someone nice one day. And unlike my parents I don't care if that somebody pees standing up."
Fuji's Hideout:
Katsushiro sat opposite of Fuji. Both were going over a plan she had concocted to get back his boss' daughter and making changes where necessary. Fuji looked above the paperwork as the door opened and smiled at the sight of Ally, but this quickly faded as he walked quickly past her and into his room.
"Is he all right?" asked Katsushiro, turning to Fuji.
"Yeah, we just had a mild confrontation last night," Fuji replied. "Would you excuse me?"
"Of course," Katsushiro nodded and walked Fuji walk over to Ally's room and press her ear against his door.
"Hello, is Carmen there?" Fuji heard Ally ask in a cracked voice through the wooden door. She figured he would end up telling her, now matter how secret they kept it. "Hey, Baby…. Um, not so good… I screwed up really bad… No, no, I'm fine… Everybody's fine. I just… I love you a lot, and… Some things happened last night that I wish I could take back."
"That damn moron," Fuji hissed, and banged upon the door. "Ally-chan, could I get some help, please?"
"I'll call you back, Carmen," Ally sighed, hung up and opened the door. "What, Fuji?"
"Just wanted to see how you were," Fuji replied with a wide smile.
"No you didn't," Ally snapped. "You were listening to me, weren't you?"
"Just a little," Fuji replied with a smile. "Why in the world would you do something like that, Ally-chan? Didn't we agree this would be a secret?"
"I… Fuji, I met with the guy who's trying to kill Yukiko," said Ally slowly. "He… He's got blackmail against me."
"What?" Fuji blinked, and then seated herself on the bed, never taking her eyes off of Ally. "How did they—"
"You have to promise you won't get angry," Ally continued.
"Umm…. Just spill it out, Ally, you're kind of freaking me out here…"
"Heiji's on their side. He's working with them."
"WHAT?"
"Yeah…. Here, he gave me this. Maybe you can make some sense out of it," Ally removed the slip of paper he had received from Heiji hours ago and passed it to Fuji.
"It's a code," Fuji muttered. "It's a computer code!"
"Figures… Can you make anything out of it?"
"No… But I know someone who's great at deciphering things…. He can even do those Cryptoquotes!"
"Hrm… So, how are you going to trick Ari into doing that?"
"Oh, I have my ways…"
France:
"Fuji, you wouldn't dare!" Leo shrieked into the telephone.
"Yup. You don't help me, and I send out those photos of you playing drunk DDR…."
"Well, I'll send out your fat pictures!" Leo retorted quickly.
"Hrm, you wouldn't do that… Because then I'd cry and you hate it when I cry. Let's face it, Leo, women are your weakness… You're so much like Dad sometimes…"
"They are not! Fine, fax it over!" Leo buried his head in his hands and then rubbed his forehead; he couldn't believe he was once again being blackmailed by his sister. He watched it print out a few moments later, and rolled over to it. He put on his reading glasses and looked over it a few moments before leaning back in his chair, chuckling into the phone, "You… You're kidding, right? This isn't an SVO language, this isn't even SOV…. It's all just BS! This isn't anything in my field, Fuji!"
"But you're a quick learner."
"Fuji, I don't even have time for this. I've got two small children, a needy spouse, and a ton of paperwork dating all the way back to the time I was arrested and almost put on death row. Oh, and I still have to develop the photos from my wedding and somehow manage picking up my dry cleaning, too."
"I want doubles of those, by the way. But I really need you to do this for me, Ari."
"Fuji, I wouldn't know where to start, honestly. Computer language isn't like anything else out there. It's math, you get that?"
"And you're good at math!"
"Not that good…"
"Then get Zenigata to do it!"
"Max couldn't count to twenty with his shoes on. I can't help you here."
"Wait… He's Jewish and Asian and he sucks at math?... Who… What did you marry?"
"A very loving and occasionally perverted man."
"Well… If you come up with anything, let me know. This whole thing's turning into one big mess. The Fumas want to kill Yukiko, then they want us to help them, then Heiji goes to the dark side."
"Heiji did what?"
"I've got to go. I'll do some work on it, too," Fuji sighed tiredly. "You just work on it. I have a feeling it's something really important."
"You got it," Leo hung up the phone, and then turned his attention back to his son, who was sleeping upon his chest. "Your aunt is going to drive me crazy yet."
Fuji, meanwhile, walked back to her ninja companion and seated herself next to him, "Sometimes being the queen really sucks, you know that?"
"I wouldn't know," Katsushiro responded. "What's that?"
"A code," Fuji mumbled, sinking down and resting her head upon the table. "You wouldn't get it…"
"Hrm… Looks like one of those things in the paper…" Katsushiro muttered.
"Huh?" Fuji raised her head and blinked a few times, "What things in the paper?"
"Well, I saw your one friend doing one earlier. The one who dresses like a man…."
"…Oh, Yuki-chan!" Fuji bolted out of her chair and ran excitedly to Yukiko's door. An annoyed gunwoman answered the door.
"What?"
"I was wondering if you could do me a teensy, tiny favor?" Fuji put on her best puppy dog expression and waited for Yukiko's answer.
"Fine. It better not be too big, though. I'm in the middle of something," Yukiko snapped as Fuji handed the paper to her, and she looked it over a few moments. "Be at the local mall at eight. Be in front of the fountain. Wear something nice. Heiji."
"How… How did you…?"
"You take the number to the right and subtract it to the one of the left, and you use that letter. If you get twenty-five, it's a space. What, you've never played it?"
"No, I have a life."
"Heh, well, here you go, princess. I've got a paranoid samurai to worry about."
"You kids have a good time, now. Don't do anything too strenuous, you could hurt Goemon the fifteenth."
Yukiko slammed the door in Fuji's face, and Fuji walked away chuckling. She stopped when she heard a scream, however, drew her gun and quickly busted down the door. Toshiro had been knocked out cold, and a window was broken.
"I heard a scream—What happened?" Ryo also ran out with her weapon, as did Victor, Odori and Ally.
"They took Yukiko, and…. Ow… Toshiro's bleeding, someone get me a warm towel!" Fuji demanded, bending down in front of him.
"I'll look after him, you all go get the people who took her," Victor quickly walked into the room and removed Toshiro's gi belt and wiping the blood away from his head. "Odori, you may leave Namiko with me. I won't harm her."
"Victor, if you lay one hand on her—" Odori began in a warning tone.
"Dori, don't worry, he won't," Ryo answered, looking down at Lupin and pausing. "He'll keep his word for me."
Odori nodded sternly, and passed the baby she carried in her arms to Victor, who took her and set her down on the floor next to him.
"Let's get going," Fuji placed several clips in her purse, and began a sprint down the stairs with the others following close behind.
"You have any idea where they'll be?" asked Odori, who was the first to reach their car.
"I have a few clues," Fuji answered, hopping into the car and right onto Ally's lap. She paused a for a moment, blinked ,and then climbed into the front seat beside Ryo, who had already started up the car. Fuji fell forward, her high heels in the air, as she climbed forward, for Ryo had taken off at at least forty miles an hour, zooming through traffic and even a construction site as they caught site of several Fuma ninjas in black van. One threw a small bottle out of the back of the van, which Ryo quickly realized was a Molotov cocktail and swerved out of the wait to avoid. Instead, a fountain exploded, causing a domino effect in traffic which led to more than a few crashing cars.
"Come on, faster!" Fuji shouted.
"I'm going as fast as I possibly can, damn it!" Ryo barked.
"Oh I doubt that!" Fuji placed her own foot atop Ryo's and accelerated the gas. Ryo ran through a kiosk, Ally picked up a fedora as it went flying by, and placed it on his own head.
"I hate using these," Ally stood up on the seat of the car and shot, knocking out one of the windows of the van. He fired several more times, but these were misses.
"Get me next to the vehicle!" Odori demanded.
"If some bitch would get her heel out of my foot I'd gladly do it!" Ryo answered.
"Sorry! Damn it, lighten up," Fuji grumbled, scooting away from Ryo and folding her arms.
The hotel room:
"W… Where am I?... Yukiko!" Toshiro sat up, but almost too quickly, and found himself too weak to stay in this position.
"Fujiko and the others are after her," Victor replied quietly. "Don't worry, she will be returned. I have the fullest faith in all of them."
"Duck," Toshiro muttered.
"Hrm?"
"Duck, damn it!" Toshiro grabbed Victor by the jacket and quickly moved him out of the way, just in time to dodge Katsushiro's blade.
Victor then ran and took hold of Namiko, but not before falling victim to a second swing of the sword, and he tumbled down, gripping onto his arm.
"The Fuma Clan has a strict policy about what happens when we meet Lupins. We kill them," Katsushiro placed his blade on Victor's shoulder and then ran the cold blade against the flesh of his neck.
"You were a spy," Victor chuckled and shook his head. "Of course. There's no daughter, is there?"
"No, there isn't. But hopefully for you there's an afterlife," said Katsushiro with a wicked smile. "I'm going to make it look like a murder-suicide… Lupin kills small child and renowned actor. This won't play well. But it'd be just in your style, Victor."
"I've met my reaper, and I'm sorry to inform you that it's not you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you should look behind you every once in a while, you son of a bitch!" Toshiro shouted just before digging his blade into Katsushiro. Victor shielded Namiko from the sight of this, as well as the blood, and Toshiro faltered as he went to sheath his sword.
"Are you all right?" asked Victor as he approached Toshiro, taking hold of one of Ishikawa's arms.
"I'll be fine. I just want to save Yukiko."
"You really do love her, don't you?"
"Well, I did marry her. Jigen women are trouble, though… But I think we both know that."
Victor nodded, and helped Toshiro to stand, "Now what?"
"We're going for a ride… You'll have to drive, though. You familiar with Vespas?"
"I'm European, of course."
"Good, 'cause you're driving one," said Toshiro, removing his parted skirt and walking into his bedroom.
"What are you doing? This isn't exactly time for a wardrobe change…."
Toshiro walked back out in a full samurai outfit that bore the chest of the Rat Clan, and adjusted the mask, "I'll need you to find me a Fuma crest."
"Yes, I'll just pull it out of my magic bag."
"No, you're going to steal in for me, Victor," Toshiro shook his head, fighting off his concussion, and they walked out of the hotel room, Victor with Namiko in hand.
The Fuma Clan dojo:
The chase ended with the Fuma ninjas speeding through the gates before they closed, and Ryo barely zooming past the iron wall. The four then hopped out of the vehicle, and looked about. There was no sign of the ninjas… It was dead silent. Ally kept a fighting stance while he looked about tensely, and the three women kept their weapons drawn.
"I see you made it," they heard, and their attention was drawn to the top of the steps, where the very same Rat Clan ninja who had killed Julia years before now stood, Yukiko in his grasp. "Welcome…
"Yuki!" Ryo lunged forward, but was blown back by a ninja, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere and punched Jigen in the stomach—Hard. Fuji growled and looked at the coughing Ryo, and then back up at the ninja.
"Listen, take me. Please? Just let her go," Fuji took a few steps forward and dropped her gun. "I'll make it worth your while, trust me."
"What, it's not enough that you sleep with Daisuke Allen, now you're offering your services to me? I don't do cheap whores," snapped the ninja.
"Ally?" Odori looked over to Jigen, who wore an emotionless expression even with this said.
"Heh, I don't come cheap," Fuji smiled, and placed her hands on her hips. She removed her jacket, tossed it aside, and approached the ninja. Several of his guards went to stop her, but he shooed them away, looking Fuji up and down. "The whore, maybe… But I'm also experienced, and not just between the sheets. I can work for you."
The ninja smiled, chuckled, and then broke out into a wild laugh. "You, help me? HA! You're nothing more than a backstabber!"
"But a cute one," Fuji brushed her fingers through her hair and spoke in the most seductive tone she could muster. "C'mon… What do you say? I'd make a great ninja, and maybe an even better wife."
"No wonder Ishikawa left you," the Rat Clan ninja drew Yukiko's magnum from her hostler and held it up to Lupin, and smiled. "Now die, Lupin."
A shining object when flying through the air and that moment, and knocked the weapon out of his hand. He looked upward, and saw a tall man in complete ninja garb crouched upon a stone wall surrounding the dojo.
"Ishikawa, glad you could make it," he chuckled, and stepped forward, dragging Yukiko along with him. "I was always disappointed you didn't get to see me kill the first one."
"And I won't see you kill this one either, Tohru," Toshiro jumped down and landed in front of him, and drew his blades.
Tohru laughed and his grip around Yukiko's neck tightened, "Try it and I'll open her like a piñata."
"You always were jealous…" Toshiro said darkly. "You tried your best to become the leader of the Rat Clan, but you knew it was going to be me, regardless."
"You don't even deserve to wear that outfit, as far as I'm concerned," Tohru replied. "I worked for years to become the best only to find out the title was going to go to an arrogant little bastard. I even killed for your mother to win her favor, but it wasn't enough! It was all just a ploy to get you to take your so-called rightful seat at the head of the Nezumi Clan. So I took advantage of the Fuma's hatred for Lupin and her associates, and they agreed to help. Katsushiro never got around to killing Lupin, though, I see."
"He tried, but a certain blue-eyed relative of Fuji's helped me defeat him," Toshiro smiled, and lifted his mask over his face. "Now are we going to keep talking or will there actually be some fighting here?"
"As you wish," Tohru threw Yukiko to the ground, and Jigen immediately rose and went to throw a punch at him.
"Yukiko, don't you dare!" Toshiro shouted. "This is my battle!"
"Yes, that's right, be a good little wife…." Tohru chuckled in the livid Yukiko's face. "Women should be subservient, anyway."
"The gods will have no mercy on you," Toshiro narrowed his eyes, and ran toward Tohru. He ran towards the ninja, and Tohru in return jumped and launched several throwing stars at Toshiro. One ran across Ishikawa's face, drawing blood and opening his mask, revealing his mouth. Toshiro again ran toward Tohru, this time managing to cut him with his smaller blade. Tohru clutched onto the wound across his chest, glared at Toshiro and threw out a string of wire. This wrapped itself about Toshiro's wrists, and soon Tohru had the upper hand and stood with a blade to his adversary's neck. When the rest of the gang went to help, they were only met with Tohru's Fuma bodyguards.
Then, there was a whistling sound, a plunging sound, and Tohru let out a cry, and flailed forward, blood coming from his mouth. It was obvious to see what had killed him when he fell to the ground with a thud. Fuji looked at the arrow sticking out of his back, and then up at the wall, just in time to see a small figure hop off of it. Moments later, her cell phone went off and she answered it.
"Hello?"
"I hid bombs all over the place. You have one minute to get out," the voice on the other side answered.
"…Heiji?" No answer. The line had been cut. Fuji looked about, and saw the Fuma Clan ninjas now looking about her with murderous looks in their eyes.
"Guys… I don't want to scare you, but there's a bomb set to go off in thirty seconds," Fuji whispered to Odori, Ally and Yukiko.
"What!" the three shrieked.
"Well, guys, it's been fun, but I've gotta run now," Fuji bent down to pick up her jacket, and the ninjas took this opportunity to attack. She tossed the jacket out, and a net expanded from inside it, covering all of the ninjas and giving the Lupin gang the perfect chance of escape. Yukiko blasted open a new hole in the wall with her magnum, and then ran out to the Vespa. She revved it up and waited for Toshiro to run out, which he did just before the first explosion went off. She took his hand, seated him on the bike behind her and then started it up, although she had never driven one before in her life.
Ryo hopped into the car, and went to take the driver's wheel, but was stunned to see Victor already there, Namiko at his side, chewing upon his watch, which she found fascinating due to its shininess alone.
"You look like Little Red Riding Hood when she found the Big Bad Wolf," Victor chuckled, and started the car up. Another blast went off, and Odori, Ally and Fuji nearly missed the tumbling inferno which had once been a torii. Odori hopped onto the trunk of the car and then seated herself in the back seat, and then Ally climbed in. Fuji climbed in last, her hand inadvertently landing upon Ally's knee. She quickly moved it away as she noted Jigen's expression, and Victor took off, away from the wreckage.
"So… Did you two… Really…?" Odori raised an eyebrow as she looked Ally and Fuji over, and Ally exchanged this puzzled look with one of deep regret.
"I was drunk," Ally replied quietly. "Go ahead and saw that I'm immoral now, you might as well."
"You're remorseful, though. And that is what matters most," Odori replied. "In any event, I am still your friend, Jigen."
"What about me, huh?" Fuji smiled and looked down at Odori hopefully.
"…." Odori looked away, out toward the countryside. Fuji greeted this frown with a roll of the eyes, and leaned back in her seat.
They arrived at the hotel room first, Toshiro and Yukiko following soon after, Toshiro with a few new white hairs after experiencing Yukiko's driving.
"Are you all right? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Toshiro inquired as he helped Yukiko off of the bike.
"Nah, I'll be all right. How about you? You look, um… Really tired," Yukiko chuckled and leaned into him. "Who scared you more, me or Tohru?"
"Your driving. Promise you won't do that again," Toshiro bent down, removed her fedora and kissed her atop the head, and Yukiko sighed and closed her eyes in response.
"…I could really go for a burger," she said quietly.
"What a way to kill a mood," Toshiro laughed, and led her into the hotel, an arm over her shoulders.
"Well, they look happy as ever," Ryo smirked as she watched her sister and brother-in-law walk down the hall and into their room.
Victor stood next to her, his hands in his pockets and leaning against a wall of the hotel, "Hrm. What she sees in him, I'll never know."
"Probably similar to what I see in you, Victor."
"What's that mean?" Victor frowned and blinked, a little unsure how to take this.
"I really owe you something for all of your help," Ryo stood in front of him and took hold of one of his hands.
"Um… Really… Heh heh, like what?" Victor switched in perverted Lupin mode at this point, complete with the Lupinic smile.
"Well, I dunno… Hrm, wait, I've got an idea…"
"Which is…?"
Ryo leaned forward and pecked Victor upon the lips, and then smiled, "There. I think we're eve now."
"You're funny. Now, I was thinking of perhaps a larger payment… Or two…" Victor smiled and placed his hands upon Ryo's shoulders.
"Heh, I hope you weren't talking about what I think you were joking about. I already kissed you and it wasn't forced, so let's just take it slow."
"How slow are we talking, here? I mean, neither of us are getting any younger, really."
"Calm down, Victor. I'm in no hurry to start a family."
"F-family?"
"Yeah…. Didn't you know that?" Ryo raised an eyebrow and smiled, "I want kids. I always have."
"I… Better get going," Victor cleared his throat, and placed his hands in his pockets, beginning the trek back down to the first story of the hotel and out to his car.
"Goodnight, Victor. Thanks again for your help," Ryo chuckled, and then disappeared into her room. Victor gave a tired, heavy sigh, and walked toward the elevator. After waiting a few moments, he opted for the stairs.
Later that night:
Fuji saw him sitting down at a café chair near the water fountain where she had promised to meet him. He had his laptop set up as usual, and there was an ignored cup of coffee in a Styrofoam cup beside the computer.
"You were the one who killed Tohru, weren't you?" Fuji said quietly as she seated herself opposite of Heiji. "Why did you…?"
"To come in at the last minute and play the hero," Heiji replied, never taking his eyes off of his monitor. "Ally'll never forgive me, though."
"So… You saw… What happened, huh?"
"Every second."
"….I'm really sorry, Heiji. I know I can't make up something like that. What I did was awful, and I'm being sincere with my apology," Fuji sighed and placed her hands on her lap, and bowed her head slightly. "Please… Just forgive me. I'm sorry."
Heiji paused, and looked up from his laptop screen before shutting it and moving his chair closer to Fuji. He took her hands in his and lifted them up. "I have a problem with forgiveness, I know. I guess we all have our issues, eh? I'm sorry I blew up at you."
"So you're going to come back?" Fuji's eyes lit up hopefully.
"Nope," Heiji kissed one of her hands and then looked upward at her with a smile. "I've got an even better idea."
"I…. I'm still nervous about the marriage thing, you know that, right?"
"What'd Fujiko sometimes have to do to Lupin in order for them to get what they were after? Even if it was all an act?"
"Stab him… In the back…." Fuji drew back, a little worried at where Heiji was going with this.
"Well, the world still thinks that I'm mad at you," Heiji chuckled a little, and sat back in his chair. "So I've got an idea…."
France, two days later:
"Maternity leave? This is crap!" Leo shouted, tossing down the letter and grumbling beneath his breath.
"Hrm… Well, you're the only man to ever go on it in Interpol's history. Congratulations," said the chief blandly. He then turned his attention to Max, who was even more annoyed by this turn of events. "Zenigata, I hope you know this means a new temporary partner for you."
"If it's a woman I want on traffic duty," said Zenigata with a snap.
"No. Apparently, the ICPO runs in your family," the chief stepped aside, revealing Max's new partner.
"Oh you're kidding me!" Max moaned.
"Inspector Heiji Ishikawa, reporting for duty," said Heiji with a wide smile and a salute.