DISCLAIMER: I don't own Lupin, and my brain it soft from writing term papers xx
Howdy and hello!
Someone put a Mach 5 model car on my computer table, and I know this was out of spite, somehow… No offense to the Speed Racer fans, but not a huge fan of the show… ' Anyway, this chapter's uber late, but between holidays and finals and my mother's war with the neighbor across the street on who can put up the most Christmas lights, I've been a bit preoccupied. I only hope that the next chapter will come out sooner. By the way, thanks to Ashley for a really good idea…
Fun Fact of Boredom: Speaking of Speed Racer, if you ever take a look at the drawings I've done for characters, you'll see that Ryo's is indeed based off of Speed Racer's outfit.
Chapter thirty: Can't Take my Eyes off of You
"What are you watching?" Max seated himself beside Leo on the bed and glanced at the television, then to Lupin. "I didn't even know you watched TV, Leo…"
"I don't, usually, and it's Gigantor…" Leo shrugged then nodded toward the television.
"Testujin…. Please not this… My father watched this…. Between this and Manzinger…. I almost went nuts."
"Does old anime annoy you, Max?"
"It's crap… It's like twelve frames a minute… Annoys me to no end," Max muttered and took a handful of popcorn from the bowl at Leo's side. "The kids still mad at you?"
"Two aren't speaking to me, and the other one doesn't even know why everyone's mad…" Leo gave a small sigh and leaned against Max. "I guess I know what your world's like now that Dako won't talk to me…"
"Listen, you had the right to be mad… I can't blame you," Max sighed and turned to Leo, and gave a small smile, "C'mon, you look terrible when you look annoyed like that… I like you more with that worried expression that shows how neurotic you are."
"Ha ha…" Leo rolled his eyes, hopped off of the bed and walked over to Avery's crib, and lifted the little boy out. "So who goes and who stays for his surgery?"
"… I hate having to make a decision like that…" Max murmured, and joined Leo by Avery's side. "…Poor little guy…"
"Hey, he'll be able to hear us for the first time… It's worth it. He doesn't have much to lose," Leo embraced the baby tightly then laid him back down in his crib. He then turned around to face Max, and three moments later was on the floor of the new house, out cold.
A hospital, the following day:
"So it's stress?" Lupin repeated into the phone receiver.
"Yup… Apparently it's starting to eat away at him… They're prescribing him some drugs to take, to keep him calm… He had a pretty bad blow to the head, too, though… He fell on tile. They don't know if it's a concussion yet, or something else," Max rubbed his forehead and looked across the hospital waiting room and the apprehensive Dako and Jared. Avery was in a carrier at his side, gurgling as he usually did. "I have to let you go now, Lu—"
"Dad. I'm Dad, now… How many times do I have to tell you that?" Lupin sighed. "Thanks for the update… Fujiko's been freaking out all day… She's done everything short of wanting to go to church!"
"What a bad time for a vacation, eh?" Max asked with a wry laugh.
"You're tellin' me. I'll talk to you later, Max. Bye," Lupin hung up his phone, and moments after closing his cell phone, Leo stepped out of the hospital room, his orange tie hung about his neck and his hands in his pockets.
"Are you all right?" Max asked, jumping up front his seat quickly to Leo.
"…I'm feeling better than I have in a while…" Leo answered, blinking a few times as if not fully understanding his feelings himself. "They put me on a few medications… A lot of relaxers…."
"You're staying with Ave while I go; you can't take the stress," Max ordered as he and Leo walked out of the hospital waiting room and then out of the hospital with the three children.
Leo nodded and stretched before seating himself in the passenger's side of the car. "You got it, Max… You look nice today…"
"Um…. Thank you…." Max answered, obviously perplexed. He had been complimented by Leo, and within an earshot of others.
"Anyone else hot here?" Leo looked over at Jared and Dako, and both shook their heads. "Heh, must be just me… C'mon, let's get going… Avery's doctor is just down the street."
Leo gave a nod and glanced back at the little boy with a frown, and then set his sites on the road ahead him.
New York:
"So it's going up now, huh?" Fuji placed a hand upon Ally's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze then seated herself beside him on the bed. They both looked out the window of the penthouse, down at Times Square, down at the giant Christmas tree that was being erected.
"….Yeah…." Ally muttered numbly. "You get that test done yet?"
"Yeah, but I didn't tell Heiji," Fuji said quietly. "Not really a need to…"
Ally snapped his head in Fuji's direction and stared at her, wide-eyed, "Did you…"
"No, no… It's growing in a fallopian tube…."
"Meaning?"
"Here's the uterus," Fuji held up a fist, and then extended a finger on her other hand, "And here's the tube. It's growing in the tube… There really isn't anything for it in there… It, um… It can't survive in there."
"So you miscarried?" Ally gaped. "F-Fuji, I'm so sorry…"
"It's okay. I just kinda wish I knew if it was a girl or boy," Fuji shrugged. "I kind of would've liked to know whose it was, too."
"Well, you and Heiji'll probably go off and have some nice ones," said Ally with a sad smile. He placed an arm about her shoulders and sighed. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"I'll live," Fuji answered quietly. She jerked her head as she heard a noise from the front of the hotel, but her shoulders relaxed as Odori stepped in with Namiko.
"Dori-chan, how was the date? You take my brother for a test drive, yet?" Fuji asked with a wink.
"She and Young Lee should never meet…." Odori muttered beneath her breath as she let the little girl touch her feet upon the floor and run to Fuji.
"Mm, Namiko-kun! I thought we weren't gonna ever see you again, for a second!" Fuji said as she picked up the little girl and embraced her tightly. "Then I remembered who your mother was, and she wouldn't stand for anything like that!"
Ally simply looked, on stunned. How Fuji was able to go from the extreme depression she had been in moments ago to such a happy-go-lucky attitude was beyond him, but he knew that it probably required an unbelievable amount of strength upon Fuji's part.
"So, Jordan, are you a stepdad yet?" Fuji asked with a Cheshire grin.
"Heh, in your dreams…" Jordan muttered.
"Dada!" Namiko called and flapped her arms wildly, and Fuji looked over to Jordan once again, with a small smirk.
"She's just a little confused…. What, she's a baby! She's just… Confused…" Jordan muttered, folding his arms.
"That's a shame; I always thought you'd be the best parent out of any of us…" Fuji sighed and set Namiko down upon the floor, and allowed her to run to her mother.
"Heh, yeah… But Ari's the one with the wildlife, not me," Jordan smirked as Namiko ran over to Odori and tugged on the leg of her mother's gi and whined to be lifted up. Odori did so with a smile and a roll of the eyes.
"She's taller than you almost, Dori!" Fuji chuckled, then turned to Jordan. "Do you like have to put Dori on a stool or something so you two can make out?"
"My height and what I do in my spare time are none of your business!" a red-faced Odori snarled.
Jordan gave a chuckle and patted Odori on the shoulder, "Eh, she's just jealous of you, I'll bet."
"Ohhhh yeah, big time jealous," Fuji snorted. "Now if you two excuse me, I have to call and check in on our nephew, Jordan."
"Yeah, I sent Ari some flowers and a toy for the kid…. Putting up with a Zenigata and having a kid with a disability, yeesh…"
"I think God's seeing how much it'll take to see him snap," Fuji chuckled lightly, then walked into her room, closing the door behind her. She wiped her eyes from where tears were fighting to come out, then walked to the phone beside her bed. She dialed the number which she knew by heart now, and was surprised to hear Max answer.
"He took him in, I'm watching after the other kids," Max explained.
"You ever think about maybe quitting the chase, Zenigata?" Fuji asked as she reclined back upon her bed. "I mean… You've got three kids now… Either of you two running around wouldn't be fair to them."
"I'll quit running when you do, Lupin," Max answered. "It's my duty as a Zenigata to chase you until I catch you."
"But you caught a Lupin, already, Zenigata!" Fuji chuckled. "You've got my brother!"
"…..Doctor's here," Max lied after seeing he could make no smart retort to this very true statement. "I have to let you go."
"Okay, I'll call tonight to see how he did!" Fuji said in a singsong tone and hung up her phone.
"Yeah…" Max closed the phone, and looked down at the cheap linoleum tile beneath his feet, and then up as the doctor passed through the door, about five minutes later.
"He's sleeping now, but we'll wake him in a little while to check in on him…" the doctor explained.
"And where's my husband?" Max asked, glancing over the doctor's shoulder at the ER doors.
"That was your husband I was talking about," the doctor chuckled. "It's in a corner of an office…. You can go on back and pick him up. Your son's in surgery now, we estimate the time to be between two and three hours… There's a coffee shop down the street you can go to while you're waiting, if you like."
"Thanks, Doctor," Max nodded and followed the doctor through the swinging doors and into an office where Leo sat in a chair, slumped over snoring. Max kneeled down in front of him and shook him awake, and Leo opened his eyes and blinked as he began to focus.
"Hey, sweetie," Leo smiled and kissed Max briefly, then rose and straightened his tie. "Let's go wait outside..."
"….Urm, s-sure," a confused Max replied, and followed Leo out to Dako and Jared. "H-how are you feeling, Leo?"
"Great, thanks… I'm worried about Avery, but I know those doctors'll do a great job on him," said Leo with a confident smile. "That one surgeon, he was kinda cute, don't you think?"
"….How about you go head to the gift shop with Dako…? We'll need a warmer blanket to take Avery home in," Max shoved his hands in his pockets and tried not to let it show that he was beginning to actually become a little frightened.
"Good idea," Leo lifted Dako up from her chair, much to her surprise, and chuckled. "Come on, Dako, you want to race for it?"
"I'm fine…. Crazy…." Dako replied. Leo ruffled her hair and walked out of the room with her at his side, and Jared turned to Max.
"You didn't tell me he got like that," Jared pointed to the doors which still swung, and Max shrugged his shoulders and seated himself next to his older son.
"I… I didn't know he got like that…" Max answered, seating himself in one of the uncomfortable chairs of the hospital.
Upstate New York:
"All right, snow!" Yukiko smiled as the first flakes fell onto the ground of Toshiro's property. The samurai came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders and also looked happily at the sight.
"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly as he felt Yukiko jerk and grip onto her stomach.
"Yeah… It just kicked…" Yukiko answered.
"What's 'it' going to be, anyway?"
"Na-ah… Not until Christmas," Yukiko warned.
"C'mon… Yukiko…" Toshiro sighed and sat down in the window sill and looked upward at her beggingingly.
"Nooo way," Yukiko adjusted her fedora and made her way into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door in search of leftovers. Fortunately for her, both she and Toshiro celebrated Thanksgiving, so there were plenty to be found.
"Our visitors are here!" Toshiro shouted from his perch.
"Great… The whole gang… Color me thrilled…" Yukiko muttered with a roll of the eyes as she peeled back a sheet of tin foil and retrieved a knife from one of the drawers.
"Eh, I was wrong… It's just these two," Toshiro said with slight dismay as he followed behind Ryo and Victor. "…I'm gonna go string up lights…"
'Yeah, leave me to deal with Ryo's freaky boyfriend… You're so getting the couch tonight, Toshiro,' Yukiko thought with a glare as Toshiro hastily exited with a large ball of lights underneath his arm.
"Hey, Yuki!" Ryo embraced her sister and then stepped back and joined hands with Victor.
"Do you want me to cut that? I'm good with knives…" Victor took a step forward, and Yukiko immediately took a step away from him.
"I know, that's why I didn't really want you in here," Yukiko said defensively.
"Hey Yu—bastard!" Jordan stepped into the kitchen, followed by Fuji behind him. Fuji rolled her eyes and vanished into the living room, where the other members of her group were situated, and figured she would leave the fighting to them.
"You know, I'm trying desperately to redeem myself, but you're not exactly helping," Victor growled.
"Maybe that's because I don't trust you," Jordan shot back.
"Hey, guys… Come on, not in my kitchen…" Yukiko sighed and set down her knife as she saw the fight begin to escalate.
"Yeah… Victor, come on…" Ryo quietly took him by the arm, but Victor only wriggled out of her grasp and took a step toward Jordan. He attempted to intimidate Jordan, but Jordan was nearly half a foot taller than Lupin, so this failed.
"If you're gonna fight, do it outside," said Toshiro sternly as he appeared in the kitchen doorway.
"Listen, I don't even let my parents tell me what to do, I definitely don't need you doing it," Jordan snapped.
"Seems like we finally agree about something…" Victor smirked.
"Don't even start to categorize me with you," Jordan hissed.
"Do you want to take this outside?" Victor stepped closer to Jordan, and Toshiro took a step closer inbetween the two.
"Come on… Not this close to the holidays…" Toshiro said warningly.
"Do I have to tell you again to butt out?" Jordan snapped in Toshiro's direction.
"This is my damn house!" Toshiro shouted.
"Toshiro… Jordan…." Yukiko muttered beneath her breath as Ryo laid a hand on her shoulder. "Guys… Come on, knock it off…"
"Do you want to start something here, too, samurai?" Victor asked with a chuckle.
"Listen, I didn't even KNOW vampires were allowed into a house without permission," Toshiro said coldly to Victor.
"That's the best you can come up with? Vampire? I've been called worse by my own blood…" Victor placed his hands in his pockets and leaned against the counter of the kitchen and looked upward at Jordan. "I think sometimes that my own blood would like to see me dead…"
"No, you think?" Jordan scoffed. "It took you this long to figure it out, you Hannibal Lector, Hans Gruber wannabe!"
"I have no idea who that second guy is, but you're going down!" growled Victor.
Jordan drew back his arm, clenched his fist, and punched, sending Victor to the floor, "He's the villain from Die Hard, dumb ass!" he shouted as he stormed out the back door, leaving Victor to wipe away the blood from his face while Ryo tended to him.
"This ends now…" Toshiro retrieved his swords from the living room and pushed his way past Yukiko to the sliding glass doors out to the back yard, and found Jordan smoking a cigarette. "I understand you wanting to visit, but don't think you can use my house as a battle ground for your personal quarrels!"
"Do you always sound like that?" Jordan wondered, tossing the cigarette on the snowy ground and turning about to face Toshiro. "…Just like Goemon."
"You don't know crap about my father… Don't pretend you do," Toshiro began to strap his swords upon his back, and placed his hand about the handle of one.
"You sound threatened…" Jordan said quietly. "I'm not here for Yukiko, if that's what you're getting at… I can't blame you for wanting to protect her. God knows I tried."
"No one has control of a girl like that, though," Toshiro smirked and spoke tensely to Jordan.
"You wanna fight me, Toshiro? It… I kind of seems like that, doesn't it?"
"I know barely anything about you except that when you look at my wife I get an uneasy feeling…"
"Maybe I just think she could've done better."
"What, like you?"
"And I didn't think they got more arrogant than Goemon…"
"What'd you say about my father?"
"You heard me… He's arrogant!" Jordan shouted. "I know mine's a deadbeat, so why don't you come to terms with your family?"
"Yukiko, this looks bad…" Ryo muttered as she and her older sister looked out the window of the kitchen.
"He punched me right in the jaw!" Victor moaned.
"Honey, here…." Ryo sighed and wrapped up a steak that Yukiko had left to thaw out on the counter with a dish towel and pressed it against his face. "Come on… We'll get you into the living room, all right?"
"I'm gonna go break up the little testosterone tango they've got goin' on out there…" Yukiko muttered, adjusting her fedora and pulling on a coat on her way out. She drew her gun and fired a single shot from the porch, landing in between Jordan and Toshiro. This, naturally, silenced both men.
"Hey, I need to get the Christmas lights up… You two are both tall. Have fun, ladies, they're in the garage," Yukiko said calmly.
"I know! I put them in there!" Toshiro shouted, but this fell on deaf ears. Yukiko was already back in the house, chopping away at the vegetables in front of her violently.
"….I'm afraid for people who'll have to be around your guys kids," Jordan said with a shake of the head as he followed Toshiro to the garage.
"Good to know I'm not the first one she whipped," Toshiro muttered.
Paris:
"So, they're relaxers?" Dako asked Max.
"Yeah…"
"And he didn't tell them he was already on another medication?" Jared continued.
"Apparently not…" Max stopped walking down the street, and sighed as he looked onward at Leo. Lupin came around and placed his arms about Max's neck, and chuckled. "What's so funny?"
"You listen to a lot of oldies, Max?" Leo asked.
"Eh…. Yeah, considering my parents are old…"
"You ever hear of a Frankie Vallie song?"
"Eh, which—Oh, no…" Max placed a hand over his eyes as he knew where this was going.
"Bah-dum, bah-dum, ba, da-dah-dum… I love you, baby! And if it's quite all right I need you baby, and if it's quite all right, I need you baby, to warm the lonely nights! Trust in me when I sayyyyy! Ohhhh pretty baby, don't bring me down on prayer, pretty baby!" Leo sang and took Max by the hands and spun him about once in the middle of the street while Dako and Jared stood looking at the scene with the rest of the stunned crowd that passed by.
"L-Leo!" Max sputtered.
"I thought you liked my singing voice!" Leo chuckled and broke hold of Max, jumping onto a light post and looking down at Zenigata. He swung about it once and looked downward at Max, and chuckled. "So I love you. So if they have a problem with it, they can go get on their soapboxes and say so… But I do not care. They can just go burn, for all I care! Ha ha!"
"…Aren't you supposed to call the doctors if he acts weird?" Dako asked.
"Yeah…" Max nodded, and let out a yelp as Leo jumped and landed in front of him.
"Come on, Ave is coming home soon, and it'll be great!" Leo kissed Max on the cheek and placed an arm about his waist, "Now what do you say we head back to the hospital for a bit, eh? And then home…"
"Errrr….. Track down… Lupin… We have to…"
"Eh, she'll be there when we get there—She wouldn't pass up the chance to make fun of us," Leo shrugged.
New York:
"You mind finishing up?" Toshiro looked up at Jordan and clasped his hands together for warmth. "It's just plugging in, now."
"Where are you running off to?" Jordan set down another strand on lights on the roof of the two-story home and glanced at his handiwork.
"Work," Toshiro smiled and stepped onto the ladder perched aside his house, jumping off of the ladder after only stepping down a few rungs.
"Work? Like… Work work?"
"It isn't work if you like doing it…"
"Yeah, but… You work? What the hell do you do, anyway? Sales?"
"Broadway."
"….She left me for a Broadway pansy? Am I a jerk and don't know it?" Jordan muttered to himself as he watched Toshiro pull his gi tighter and walk to his Vespa, and hop on. "And he drives that!... She must've hit her head, or something…. Please tell me she hit her head…"
"Yo, you finished!" Yukiko called. "You want a drink?"
"You call the lowly worker in while the husband's out? What am I, your pool boy?" Jordan chuckled and climbed down the ladder, and took one of the coffee mugs Yukiko held in her hand. "What is this stuff?"
"Hot chocolate… I don't like drinking a lot of caffeine with the baby," Yukiko shrugged and took a sip from her cup, and noted Jordan's curious expression at this statement. "….Too cold out for you? Why don't we go out for a walk?"
"…That sounds good," Jordan nodded, set the cup down on one of the wooden stairs of the deck in the backyard, and zipped up his jacket as he followed Yukiko into the woods surrounding the house.
"I can tell that you don't like him," Yukiko did not turn to face Jordan as she spoke, but only continued to walk through the white forest beside him.
"Well… I don't hate him or anything… He just doesn't seem like you type, is all. I mean, nothing like you. At least we had some common interests!"
"Well, you know what they say about differences, eh? Now… What about you and Dori?"
"She's nice," Jordan said with a shrug.
"Nice, that's it?" Yukiko smirked. "Come on… She's a lot younger than you and I know you've gotta love that. You're gonna be forty in what, less than a decade?"
"Shush…"
"Ha, you really haven't changed, when it comes to vanity…."
"No, I mean, shush," Jordan grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled a gun, and circled about the dead woods.
"Damn it, look out!" Yukiko shouted as she spotted a snipe from a tree a few hundred yards away. There was a shot fired, and she and Jordan took off running, this being a little more difficult in her present state. She still managed to retrieve her gun and fire a shot, but missed, and soon after lost her balance and began to fall. Jordan was quick to catch her and set her on the ground, and looked about for the sniper silently.
"Come on… Where are you….?" Jordan whispered. Another bullet was sounded off, and both looked in the direction of it, just in time to see the sniper tumble out of one of the many black trees onto the earth beneath him.
"I told you following them would be a good idea…" Fuji smiled and placed her gun back in its holster, and Heiji nodded in response.
"F-Fuji? What the hell?" Yukiko choked. "You were spying on us!"
"I was looking for you… As usual, some things went wrong," Fuji rolled her eyes and sighed, glancing over at Heiji briefly. Heiji simply shrugged and walked over to Yukiko to help her stand upon her feet.
"How many things? One moment we're stealing practice session tapes for A Hard Day's Night and now some bozo's trying to shoot at me!" Yukiko cried, and gripped onto her aching lower back. "Why is it when it rains, it pours?"
"It's all connected, believe it or not," Heiji said.
"What? I know there are some rabid fans of the music out there, but I don't think I've met any that crazy in a while," Jordan glanced over his shoulder at the snipe and then turned his attention back to his walk with the others.
"Apparently there's a lot more to this than we imagined… Those tapes are fake," Fuji said with a heavy sigh.
"Told you," Heiji muttered.
"….There's a bunch of fake merchandise, and it's all coming out of one area," Fuji continued, ignoring Heiji's previous statement.
"And where's that?" asked Yukiko.
"You won't believe it," Fuji said with a shake of the head. "I doubt I do."
Inside the house:
"No way!" Ally shouted. "There's no way she'd EVER allow that!"
"Al, all the signs point to it," Fuji sighed and looked downward at the tape on the coffee table. "There's information written all over this tape… And it's in Capran."
"You don't know what it says, though!" Ally shouted. "It might not be anything bad!"
"They already made pretty good forgeries… There's got to be a reason. These have got to be part of something bigger."
"But we don't know anyone that knows Capran," Ryo pointed out.
"Maybe you don't, but I do," Fuji smiled and rose. "Just gimme a few days, and I'll have a translator here!"
"You don't mean…." Ryo trailed off, not even daring to speak what she knew Fuji was thinking.
"These can't be fakes… They look legit!" Ally sputtered.
"They're fake…" Victor said reassuringly.
"Oh, like you've ever said anything honest in your life! How in the hell would you know?" Ally growled.
Victor rose and towered over Ally as he spoke, "Because on the tape John Lennon wouldn't be able to hit a high note like he does in one of those songs, which is why Paul McCartney had to sing a part of A Hard Day's Night for him, because his voice couldn't reach that pitch!"
"….How do you even KNOW that?" Heiji asked after a pause. "I'm a nerd, and I didn't even know that!"
"I grew up in Great Britain, I know a thing or two about the musicians from there," Victor snapped, and stormed away from Ally. "I may be a bastard, but I'm not an idiot…"
Ally shook his head and exited the living room, and ran out of the house through the back door. Yukiko went to run after him, but Ryo put a hand on her sister's shoulder.
"He just needs some time to himself," Ryo said quietly, and looked over at Fuji. "You're going to take care of our translation?"
"Yup… Done and done," Fuji smiled.
Two days later:
"…He's smiling again," Dako looked up from her video game controlled at Max, and Jared shuddered. "You know what that means, right?"
"Ew…" Jared shuddered, and both children looked over as Leo followed Max out, dressed out of his character. He had shed the orange tie and purple jacket and opted for wearing the black dress shirt and jeans.
"Heya, guys!" Leo ruffled the hair of both children as he passed, and Dako gave a heavy sigh. She had spent almost a half hour on her hair, and now it would have to be redone. She would not say anything to Leo, though; Max had told them to be as understanding as possible.
Leo's MRI was inconclusive, but the doctors had agreed that something had been jarred in his brain from the hard fall he had taken. The medication had affected him very little, and Max was stunned to find that Leo had not even taken one of the relaxer pills. So it was unknown if the affects of his blow would be temporary or not.
"How are we doing today, eh?" Leo lifted up Avery from his crib gently and smiled at the baby, who still wore a bandage over the one ear that they had performed surgery on.
"Leo, we got a call…" Max began as he walked back into the living room with his gun holster now over his dress shirt. "I already talked with your parents, and Avery can stay with them…"
"It gets harder and harder to leave them each time, don't you think?"
"Eh, yeah…"
"You know, I've thought about being a stay-at-home dad," Leo announced to Max as Zenigata took a sip from his coffee mug on the table in the middle of the living room. This statement made Max choke upon his coffee, and Dako and Jared attempted to hold back a chuckle.
"….W-Where did that even come from?" Max wiped his mouth clean and walked back over to Leo. "C-Could I talk to you for a few minutes in private?"
"Sure," Leo smiled, and turned to Dako and Jared. "You guys wouldn't mind watching your brother, would you?"
"No," both answered in a monotone voice, never turning their attention away from the television screen. Leo set the baby done, and Max promptly yanked Leo out onto the back porch.
"What's going on with you?" Max asked in a whisper. "I-I mean, this is nothing like you!"
"What, you want the neurotic back?" Leo smiled and seated himself on the swing in the corner of the porch. Max joined him soon after, and continued while looking out around the property. Paris was lit up for the holidays, and was visible from a ways away.
"No, it's just…"
"Then don't worry about it," Leo shrugged.
"Huh?"
"Just don't look a gifthorse in the mouth… I'm sure you're familiar with that phrase…"
"Wha—I… O-oh, yeah…." Max flushed as he recalled the last time Leo had said this to him, and cleared his throat. "We'll talk about you maybe staying home with the kids later… The last time we tried that a guy ended up dead."
Leo laughed and nodded in agreement, "Okay, Max… So where're we working from now?"
"New York. You sister swiped a full set of samurai armor," Max answered. "And possibly Cagliostro, too, on counts of forgery."
"Cagliostro?" Leo repeated with confusion. "We go from forgery to Cagl—Ohhhh yeah, they got in trouble for that before, didn't they?"
"Yup," Max nodded. "Lupin might only be one little piece in this puzzle…"
"I really hate when other players get in the game… She should really give it up already and take a nice long vacation…" Leo muttered darkly.
Max blinked a few times, and nodded numbly, then continued to look out at the scenery in front of him. He soon became aware of a pair of eyes staring at him, and turned his head to Leo slowly.
"How about eh… You just stay a while? It's just the two of us, you know…" Leo asked with a smile.
Max gaped, and rose from the swing, "Perv…"
"Later, then, I'm guessing," Leo chuckled, and followed Max back into the house.
New York:
"Did you have to steal something that ugly to get their attention?" Jordan sighed in disgust and looked in his rearview mirror at the hulking suit of armor and then back at Fuji.
"Hey, it was valuable, I was short on time, and I needed to get a message out to them," Fuji shrugged. "At least Toshiro's letting us store it at his theater until we get Blondie and bro here… It's no use returning something if they aren't here… They won't come for just nothing. Unlike Zenigata, they have lives."
"I turn here, right?" Jordan pointed to a brick building, and Fuji nodded in response. "And I'll get the jolly red giant to help me lug that in…"
"Good… Because I'm a princess and I don't need to be carrying things like that," Fuji chuckled. Jordan groaned, shook his head and parked in an alley on the side of the building, and found the back door opened easily. He was greeted with a loud series of noises, and cautiously continued deeper and deeper into the building, until he found himself at the back of a stage.
"Aki, gringo…" one small Spanish child whispered to another, and both gave Jordan a suspicious glance.
"Okay… Now, Tameela, I want you to try that bend again, more like this, though," Jordan heard Toshiro's deep New Yorker voice against the numerous chirps of the children's voices, and peered from behind a large red curtain, and saw Toshiro, surrounded by a large group of children of all different ethnicities, and all around three feet shorter than himself.
"Could we get the music?" Toshiro called, and moments later a holiday tune resonated from ancient speakers. "Great, that's great!" Toshiro smiled in satisfaction as the children began a dance routine which he had taught them. He walked up and down the aisles of kids, occasionally correcting one, or showing them an easier way to pull off a move. Jordan tried not to give off a laugh as he noticed many of the young female students, especially the ones who were near-teenagers.
"And lift," Jordan stepped forward and grabbed onto Toshiro by the waist, briefly lifting him up off of the ground and then setting him down once again, mildly confused.
"Okay, everyone… Break time," Toshiro called, and the girls especially moaned in disappointment.
"I think Yuki's got a little competition," Jordan chuckled as he watched the children disperse. "Fuji brought that stupid suit of armor and wanted me to tell you that as soon as Leo translates whatever that message is, you all are heading out to Cagliostro."
"You're not coming?"
"Eh, I've got my own gang to tend to," Jordan shrugged. "I work alone, usually, but they've kind of attached themselves to me."
"I know any of them?"
"Heh, yeah. Gabe, Peter, Alsenia and Chris," Jordan sighed. "They all lost their jobs after their bosses found out who their family was… So, yeah, they've prettymuch become my gang…"
"You don't sound thrilled."
"Between Chris being moody, Peter's praying me and telling me how I'm going to hell for not being a Christian, Gabe's just… Gabe-ness, and Alsenia's alpha personality, I don't get as much as rest as I used to."
"You mean that our gang's an escape?"
"Heh, hell no… Half of you guys are crazy, the other half's depressing, and Victor's going to wake up and find himself dead one of these days."
"Wake up to… That doesn't even make sense…"
"Like I said, I haven't been getting a lot of sleep. Anyway, what do you say we load up that armor?"
"Sounds good."
"Hey, do you hate me as much as I think you do?" Toshiro asked as he threw on a coat over his sweat-suit that he wore for practice.
"Eh, nah… You're just so mismatched with Yukiko I'm still trying to figure you two out."
"You and me both," Toshiro admitted with a chuckle.
The next day, Kennedy airport:
"You want what?" Fuji blinked once again, not quite understanding what Odori had said.
"I wish to take a sabbatical," Odori repeated.
"Where?" Fuji ventured to ask.
"Eh, she's going to help train a few of my guys," Jordan shrugged. "Nothing major. I'll have her home by Christmas."
"So… You? And you?" Fuji chuckled, and put a hand over her mouth. "Okay… You two have fun… Just remember to stay safe."
"We will," Odori reassured her, and adjusted Namiko in her arms.
"And if you two get married, don't make it shotgun!" Fuji said with a wave. "I want to get pictures of Goemon's face when he sees his son-in-law!"
"Die…" Odori began to run toward Fuji to pounce, but Jordan gripped onto one of her shoulders and shook his head.
"Come on, we'll miss the flight," he nodded, and Odori followed after a moment's hesitation.
"I thought he brought a little too much luggage to the airport with him," Fuji said to herself, and then looked over in the corner of her eye and saw Ryo saying her goodbyes to Victor.
"I'll be home in time for the holiday," Victor said quietly to Ryo.
"Okay… Just don't go looking at anyone else… You're engaged now," Ryo chuckled at Victor's stunned expression, and patted him on the arm. "In other words, that's a 'yes'…."
"I… Well, I may have to shorten my trip some…" Victor muttered. "We meet at my uncle's house, correct?"
"He's the only one with a place big enough," Ryo reached up on her tip-toes and kissed Victor goodbye, and waved to him as he walked to the terminal, and then boarded his flight to London.
"Well, that was precious," Fuji smiled and nudged Ryo. "So engaged now, eh? I guess this means bachelorette party, ehehehe… I'll plan."
"I wouldn't think anything less of you, Fuji," Ryo sighed, and then both women's attention fell upon Ally. He was more tired than usual, and barely spoke to anyone in the gang. Carmen would not pick up his calls, and after more research from Heiji, it was beginning to seem more and more obvious that Cagliostro had not only exported the Beatles' tapes, but other fake merchandise that had been carefully crafted to look authentic. With the country's tight shipping policies, and the miniscule size of the land, it would have been impossible for Carmen not to know what was occurring.
"Maybe there's a way we could cheer him up," Fuji whispered to her best friend.
"Nah, I'd stay out of it, Fuji… I heard, about… Well…" Ryo glanced down at Fuji's stomach and back up at the thief. "And he's depressed over that, too."
"So I guess you think I'm heartless for not caring, don't you?" Fuji asked quietly.
"You just mourn in your own way," Ryo shrugged, and glanced over at the gate for Paris. "They'll be off soon… Having the kids with them ought to slow them down."
"Yeah… Just watch out for those kids… Whoever doesn't want us to find out about their secrets already tried to kill a pregnant lady and… Is that my brother?"
"T-The one who just grabbed onto the blond guy and kissed him in the middle of the airport? Yeah, that's him…"
"If he weren't blood, that'd be so hot," Fuji whispered, and approached the duo. "Well, well, well… You two lovebirds having fun?"
"What, are you jealous?" Leo countered quickly.
"Eh… No… I just…" Fuji was caught off guard by this tone, and shifted from foot to foot for a moment. "…Don't you guys want to arrest me?"
"You bet," Max smiled widely and retrieved a pair of handcuffs from his belt. "I'll even give you a three second start, Lupin."
"Hey, we're hailing a cab, we'll be at the hotel waiting for you after they're done kicking your ass," Dako announced as she walked in between the inspectors and Fuji, tugging Jared along.
"Have fun!" Leo called.
"Damn it, focus, Lupin!" Max growled, "If we don't pay attention, she'll—Where the hell did she go?"
"Over there!" Leo pointed to Fuji, Ryo and Ally, all whom were running towards the exit. "Come on!"
They lost sight of the three eventually, and did not catch up with them until outside the airport. Ally hopped on the back of Toshiro's Vespa and clung onto the samurai as they sped off, and Fuji and Ryo joined Yukiko in the Romeo. Heiji was close behind them, with a police car ready for his fellow Interpol inspectors.
"Floor it!" Max ordered Heiji.
"No, let me have a shot at the wheel. Come on, trust me," Leo guided Max to the back seat and climbed into the driver's side, taking off before Max had even fully gotten into the cruiser.
"It kinda freaks me out that I'm blood related to him," Jared said to Dako.
"Yeah, but I've lived with them longer," Dako countered.
"You kids looking for a lift?" said the cab driver with a thick Eastern-European accent.
"Grand Hotel. Downtown," Dako replied.
"Sure thing," the cabdriver smiled, and zoomed off after the two children climbed into the back seat.