DISCLAIMER: Don't own Lupin III, but finally picked up Season 1, Vol. 2 of He-Man. WOO! Yeah, good luck getting me away from the TV now…

You're right, you're not crazy; it was indeed shorter,

And this would've been out a lot sooner, but yours truly took a trip to the hospital last week (I'm fine, though, so don't worry—Please!) and now I'm working my way through exams and the mess of paperwork upon paperwork known as my 'job'. Ah, summer's on its way, and with that more opportunities to write. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me with through-inconsistent updates over these past few months. With my first year of college beneath my belt, I hope that things only go more smoothly from here. Note the presence of the word 'hope', heh. Please, enjoy!

Fun Fact of Boredom: In the last chapter, you may be wondering about the phrase Fuji utters, 'Honey, FLASH!' it's from a popular 1970's anime that had several incarnations over the years, named Cutey Honey. If you can find a translation of the lyrics, you'll also see where Fuji borrowed some of them : ) If you really want an interesting piece of trivia, Cutey Honey and Fujiko Mine were and are voiced by the same Japanese voiceover actress. Well, there's our lesson for the week!

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Nothing like a Broadway Show

"And you're sure this'll work?" Lupin glanced over the plan, to which Fuji only gave a nod.

"Yeah. What do you think about it?"

"I dunno. Ari?"

Leo bent over the table while Avery chewed happily on a pacifier in his arms, "Looks like it'll work….. Sounds crazy, but hey, if your giant duck could work, Dad—"

"Let's…. Not go there this second," Lupin held up his hand for his son to stop, and folded the sheets of paper. "I guess it's settled then, neh?"

"….We're gonna need a lot of high heels," Leo murmured as the baby moaned and struggled in his arms.

"There's actually an opening act to my masterpiece…. Jirokichi's got a brother in the showbiz, so he ought to be used to it…. Right, Toshiro?"

"Hrm?" Toshiro looked upward from his plane tickets, and gave a nod, shoving them in his gi pocket. "And you swear he'll—"

"He'll never bother you again! I've got everyone backing me on this one…"

"Yeah, but how you got Heiji to, I'll never understand," said Lupin with a chuckle.

"Eh, not easy," Fuji admitted, and rolled up her plans. "Dad you sure you don't want to, I dunno, maybe take a part?"

"I'm out," said Lupin with a shake of the head. "In the carefully-edited words of Danny Glover, I'm too damn old for this!"

"Your loss," Fuji sighed and shoved the plans underneath an arm. "Well, Bloom, you want to get ready?" Fuji continued, taking Avery from Leo's arms.

"I guess so… What other choice do I have? Your dead, I don't know if you'll curse me from the grave!" Leo chuckled and pulled on a green accountant's cap.

A local theater:

"Why'd you even agree to meet them!" Nancy hissed to her husband as they entered the darkened theater. "This could be a trap!"

"Shut up. What could they possibly do—Dance us to death? Besides, we have reinforcements!" Jirokichi hissed and scanned the theater suspiciously. "Now where in the hell is she…"

"She's really turning in her own husband?"

"Well, she did seem unhappy with your presence…"

"Aw! Glad you could make it, folks!" said the wavy-haired, ascot adorning usher. "Why don't you two have a seat, eh? The show's about to start!"

"Show?" Jirokichi and Nancy blinked in surprise.

"Mm-hm! It won a Tony, from what I understand…" she added, and handed both a pamphlet. "These are on the house, of course! Where's our concession guy?"

"I refuse to do this…" Victor hissed from the back of the theater.

"Heh, fine, I'll tell Ryo you put premium in her car," Yukiko said with a wicked smile, and pushed Victor out with her foot. "Now get out there and sell!" she whispered, and made her way to the rafters of the old theater.

"You set?" Jordan asked as he looked over the catwalk at the back of the stage, and then back to Yukiko.

"You bet… Hey, what's going on between you and Dori?" Yukiko wondered aloud as she loaded her gun.

"Is this really the place to ask?"

"What? You can't run," Yukiko shrugged. "So… You two… Y'know?"

"You're the last person who should know!" Jordan hissed. "When's the opening curtain go up?"

"When Heiji starts the overture and Ally starts the lights…"

"Go figure they put that guy in charge of pyrotechnics," Jordan murmured. "Did he hate Toshiro, too, or was I the only boyfriend of yours he hated?"

"He hated Toshiro more, if anything," Yukiko admitted, and stopped as the music began. "This is our cue to watch for our part."

"Almost time!" Leo whispered as he buttoned the top button to his suit and leaned forward to deliver a quick kiss to his partner. He then noted Max's frozen appearance, and tilted his head to a side. "Urm, you okay?"

"I get really bad stage fright," Max said with a whisper.

"….Please tell me you're kidding…"

"Does this look like the face of someone who's joking or someone who's terrified?" Max asked gravely.

"Your blokes' cue," Gabe passed by with a clipboard and spoke into a headset he had been given. "Alsenia, everyone set up? Would you two look at this, they gave me one of those headphone thingys! Makes me look distinguished, if you ask me!"

"Come on, we can do this," Leo whispered. "….Do a good job, and you'll get rewarded for it—Promise."

"What do—? Are you talking about what I think you're talking about?"

"Maybe… If you do a good job, then you'll know, now won't you?"

"Ehe… You got it! I'll wow 'um, in that case!" said Max with a pat on the back, walking out to the stage with Leo.

As they took their positions, Fuji found her way to the microphone system, and began in a booming voice which covered the entire theater, "Ladies an gents, we welcome you and thank you to our first and only performance of Shock of a Lifetime. We've got it all here tonight, folks…. Popcorn, peanuts, beautiful weather outside and a couple of gay actors—So you know they've gotta be good! Let's hear it for those lovable inspect—Er, producers!"

Gabe called for the curtain to rise, which Odori did with one swipe of the sword, while Gabe quietly motioned for the other 'actors' to take their positions at all of the exits of the theater.

"What in the hell is going on here?" Jirokichi demanded with a growl.

"Shush! This show's harder to get into than Wicked!" Ryo said with a whisper, putting a finger to her mouth.

"Always knew Max was light on his feet," murmured Fuji to Jordan as Yukiko as she climbed onto the catwalk an sat inbetween the two, looking down at the duo. "How much longer does their act have?"

"A little over two minutes," Jordan answered. "It'll take that long for the cops to arrive and set up outside, anyway."

"That's right, Max,… Don't you ever want to become a butterfly? Don't you ever want to spread your wings and flap your way to glory?" Fuji whispered as Max sang this line to a mousy Leo, who sat back on an office desk as Max took his turn singing.

"Bloom, don't you realize there's a lot more to you than there is to you!" Max shouted the final line while Jirokichi sat beside Nancy, both looking bemused by this entire incident.

"So this is what you do, Lupin? Treat us to musical theater?" Jirokichi rose and broke into a clap. "Excellent… Simply excellent… Perhaps an encore? I've been wanting to see The Phantom of the Opera for quite some time now."

Leo hopped off of the stage, and smiled sheepishly as he removed the green accountant's visor, "Well, you know, I'm not sure if I've got the right pitch for that… But I can show you a phantom, if you want!"

"Is that so?" Jirokichi smirked and drew one of the swords he had confiscated from Toshiro, and took another step toward Leo. Leo then pulled off his costume, revealing a short red dress and denim jacket, and then pulled off what turned out to be simply a mask, and beneath this another mask, this of Fuji.

Jirokichi took a step back at the sight of this, and sputtered, "This is just trickery!"

"Maybe," Leo said in his best impression of Fuji's voice, which was rather close. Jirokichi watched from over 'Fuji's' shoulder as Max did the same, revealing another Fuji-lookalike.

"They're gorgeous!" Fuji giggled and slid down the stairs of the catwalk, and hopped onto the stage, and then in between the two men. "Heya, Jirokichi!"

"Lupin?"

"Maybe," Fuji answered with a shrug. "But they she might be Lupin… Or her…. Or them…"

"Them?" Jirokichi asked with a blink.

"Kichi, look!" Nancy gasped and bolted from her seat as more Fujiko Lupin, Jr. clones emerged from the shadows of the theater.

Jirokichi growled, and began to run for one of the random Fujis, only to have the sword shot out of his hand. And when he then attempted to recover it, Toshiro jumped down from a balcony and grabbed onto the sword, not for a moment breaking out of his run.

"There's one sword," Yukiko murmured from her position.

"I call dibs on the other one," Jordan answered as both continued to watch the fight unfold from the orchestra pit.

"Trying to even the score, brother?" asked Jirokichi with a chuckle as he looked to the seating of the theater, and saw Toshiro balancing himself upon the top of two of the seats.

"The police will be here soon for both of you," Toshiro replied. "There will be no mercy shown for either of you."

"Damn idiot… Just like Goemon…." Jordan looked into his seeker and watched while Nancy stalked slowly behind Max and Leo, creeping toward Fuji with a knife in hand.

"Hey, Leo!" Max smiled as he caught site of Nancy, and blocked her exit from one side. She turned about to exit toward the over door, but ran into Leo's chest. "There's part of our act with forgot?"

"Guten-tag hop clop?" asked Leo with a smile.

"Out of my damn way, or she gets it in the neck!" Nancy growled, lunging forward and grabbing Fuji by the neck.

"Guten-tag hop clop," Max said with an affirming nod.

"Is this really the time for that!" Fuji choked, glancing at the knife at her neck.

This went ignored by the inspectors, who busied themselves in a clapping game, Nancy in between the two. She looked to her right, and then left, and then Leo and Max decked her, with one punch coming from either of the men.

"You morons!" Fuji growled and gripped onto her neck as she hopped away from the fainted Nancy. "I ought to beat you both!"

"I'll kill you for harming my wife!" Jirokichi snarled at the two, and ran forward, his other sword drawn. Moments before he made impact with Leo's skull, however, Toshiro grabbed onto the sword from either side, and motioned for Leo to move, which Lupin quickly did. With him out of the way, Jordan managed to get a clear shot of Jirokichi, and the other sword went flying.

"So you're going to kill a defenseless man, now?" Jirokichi asked. "I suppose then, we aren't that different at all."

"The only thing we share is a family scroll," Toshiro snarled, and stepped to the sword which had landed in one of the cushy theater seats. He pulled it out, and tossed this to Jirokichi. "We finish this right now, no police, no Fuji Lupin clones; you and me, brother."

"Why mother preferred you over me I'll never understand," Jirokichi murmured as he began to circle Toshiro. "Perhaps it's because you reminded her so much of that bastard she fell in love with."

"It's because in the end I was the one who never betrayed her…"

"Why, Goemon? She ordered the death of your family…. I thought I would win her approval for that, at least!"

"Any man who kills a child is a coward. If anything, I would have banished you sooner for what you did," snapped Toshiro, he too beginning to cover his ground from the ever-creeping Jirokichi.

"You have caused so much pain in my life it is—"

"Aw, just shuddup!" Toshiro snapped. "You know, I blamed my father for the same things, but then I matured to learn how to forgive and move on! It is one of the hardest things that someone can ever do—Forgiving. That's a lesson you never have, and never will learn, Jirokichi."

"Would you forgive your brother if you knew he was the one who led me to Julia?" asked Jirokichi smugly.

Toshiro's concentrated features fell, and he blinked a moment in order to register this, and slowly looked to Heiji, who could not make eye contact with Toshiro as his brother's sight fell upon him.

"Oh, for what it's worth, it wasn't on purpose… The little idiot thought I wanted a reunion," Jirokichi answered with a shrug. "It kills me whenever I've overheard you two…. Perhaps I'm not the brother you need to be schooling in forgiveness."

"I hope the ancestors kick your ass," Toshiro growled, and ran forward, as did Jirokichi. The swords clashed, and both men landed upon the ground, but only Jirokichi fell.

"He's just stunned," Toshiro explained, tightening the belt to his gi and retrieving his other sword from the ninja. "And you all can take the masks off. Personally, it's freaking me out."

"Heh?" Nancy blinked, and slowly sat up and looked about, and saw everyone concentrating upon a job well done, and this gave her opportunity to grab her knife, and slip behind Toshiro.

"Watch out!" Heiji shouted, and pulled Toshiro down to the ground just as Nancy released the blade from her hand.

"Heiji? Heiji!" Toshiro yelped as he gripped onto his dazed brother's shoulders, and his eyes trailed down Heiji's back, to see the knife sticking and red oozing through his sky-blue shirt.

"That's it; bitch has gotta go," Yukiko loaded her gun and took aim with Jordan beside her, and pulled back the trigger.

She was about to fire when the theater was suddenly raided by the local law enforcement. Ally was quick to set off his last special affect—Smoke bombs, which allowed not only for time to bind and secure Nancy and Jirokichi, but also offered an escape for the Lupin gang.

"You'll be okay, bro," Toshiro whispered to Heiji as he loaded him in the back of one of the Lupin family vehicles.

"I guess I've seemed like an ass to you, haven't I?" Heiji said with a husky chuckle. "I didn't want to be near you because I always felt guilty about it…"

"We'll get you to a hospital, you'll be fine, I swear."

"Toshiro, I'm so sorry…"

"I know, I know, just hang on…"

The following day, France:

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of a great man…" the priest began as he stood over the funeral plot.

"Fuji, this is morbid!" whispered Ryo as both women stood to a side in the distance, away from the mourners.

"What? Funerals are kind of cool," Fuji shrugged as she sat perched at the foot of an angel statue, who overlooked the occurrence quietly, as it usually did. "The food at mine was great!"

"Fuji…"

"Oh, don't be so prudish about it, Ryo-san! Just a funeral! The word 'fun's' in it, so how bad could it be?"

"Very. Not everyone wakes up like you did, Fuji."

"Eh, who told you I woke up?" Fuji hopped off of the foot of the statue and walked toward the exit gates, "Come on, let's grab some drinks! I'll buy!"

"Can't do…" murmured Ryo as she trudged off behind her boss.

"Huh?" Fuji looked over her shoulder to Ryo, and blinked. "Why, what's up? Got to do some repairs? Come on, it's a holiday!"

"I…. I know, and I agreed to go off with Victor for a little bit…" Ryo bit her lip and kicked at the thawing ground. "I hope you don't mind, but—"

"It's fine! You guys are married, after all, of course you'll wanna spend a little 'alone time' together… Just like Leo and Max, Ally and Carmen, Toshiro and Yukiko, Odori and Jordan and Heiji and Veronica!"

"….You're welcome to come, if you want…"

"Nah, I'll be fine! I'll just go bug my parents!" Fuji answered, knowing fully well that her parents had taken a cruise for the weekend, and her siblings had since gone back to their homes as well.

"Fuji, I don't want you to feel like you're left out or anything."

"Ryo-san, trust me, I don't want to get in the middle of yours and Victor's relationship. He's my cousin; it'd be disgusting."

"Fuji…"

"I'll be fine, don't worry!"

"Hey, here's an idea for you, since you're obviously lying… How about you go visit Heiji?"

"Nah, he's a little busy right now in Chicago," Fuji said with a shrug. "I'll probably just bum around and buy myself an Easter bunny."

A hospital in Illinois:

"Erm, Heiji, you awake?" Toshiro cleared his throat and knocked upon the door, and saw Heiji shoot his head up from the computer screen. "I, urm, brought you some things…"

"Easter Basket… Wow, you really are American," Heiji said with a chuckle. "Well, we better get this over with fast…"

"Get what over with?" Toshiro blinked, and watched as Heiji bent down, and pulled his hair away from his neck. "Heiji… What in the hell are you doing?"

"I know this is what you want, Toshiro…"

"Well, I've thought about it, but… No, damn it, sit up," Toshiro snapped.

"How can you even stand me now?"

"What, you were acting like a jerk to me before, and now you're still just as good at it… Nothing's changed, Heiji."

"Toshiro, it's my fault—"

"Shut up and have a Cadbury egg, I know you want to…"

"Well… Just one of the little caramel ones…"

"I just happen to have some of those… A little birdie told me you loved caramel, and I'm not talking about my pigeons."

"Why am I thinking it's a little birdie in a red dress?" Heiji heaved a sigh and turned onto his side. "Maybe it's a little birdie I've got to have a word or two with…"

"Those two first words being 'I'm sorry'," Toshiro added, and seated himself beside his brother's bed. "You've caused a lot of troubles and created a great rift because you were just too frightened of the truth of the matter."

"Are you going to start on a lecture?" Heiji moaned. "Just warn me ahead of time so I can get the nurses in here to up my morphine…. You're just like Dad; he loves a good lecture session…"

"Nah, I'm not going to lecture," Toshiro said, glancing out the window at the miles of trees ahead of them. "Just… Fuji's an airhead, Heiji, but she's got a good heart. Jurgis saw that, so I think you can."

"Jurgis was evil."

"Not always," Toshiro cracked a smirk and sighed. "People change… Look at me and Yuki, for example… It took her years before she wore down and decided to, well, give me a shot… All of those years we could've had, but she was just stubborn…."

"And you were obsessive," Heiji added quickly, and sipped from the glass of Gatorade at his bedside.

"Now let's not point fingers," said Toshiro quickly. "Well, to cut a long story short and to get me home in time, let me just leave you with these parting words…"

"'Heiji, you're a god?'"

"Only in your morbid dreams," Toshiro snorted and stood. "You don't meet someone like her everyday, so don't blow it, Heiji. You might regret it."

"You really know how to lighten up a holiday," Heiji sighed. "But, I'll think about it…."

"Good; now I've gotta rush home while I still can! We're staying at Jigen's place for a little bit, and I don't want to miss the cooking or the free babysitting!"

"Have some potato salad for me!" Heiji shouted as Toshiro hurried out of the room. Heiji then laid back and closed his eyes, and thought over his brother's words; he would not admit for all of the hard drives in the world that Toshiro had actually made some sense.

Later that evening, Toshiro made one last spot before returning to Jigen's home, praying Yukiko was at least in the mood to now speak with him.

"What is it?" Yukiko sighed as he gave a knock upon the door of Saiyuri's guest nursery. She was just setting the little girl down as Yoko and Mako scurried from beneath the crib.

"Oohhhh!" Yoko began.

"You're still in trouble!" Mako added, and the identical twins gave a giggle.

"…I know I'll get over that someday," Toshiro murmured, and pulled out a few bills from his gi, and passed one to either child. "Make your pop go out and buy you somethin' nice, girls."

"All right!" both exclaimed, and nearly toppled the tall samurai as they ran off to find their father.

"That really ain't fair," Yukiko chuckled and shut the door behind them, leaning against it to make sure there would be no further entry or exit. "Now what are you in such a jolly mood about? They have to do blood testing on Heiji and you got to put in the first needle?"

"Nah… We're good," Toshiro answered with a shrug. "I… I'm really sorry about all of… Everything… I could've killed you both."

"Not you, that crazy guy you share genes with," Yukiko answered bluntly.

"Yeah, well… Could you just take an apology for once?" Toshiro muttered, and looked to the baby.

"Eh, I'll do it 'cause I know taking care of her on my own would kill me," Yukiko admitted and stepped over to her daughter's crib. "…Damn it…."

"Hrm? What's wrong?"

"She's gonna friggin' look like you!"

"Well, let's just hope she doesn't act like me," Toshiro added, and placed a hand on Yukiko's lower back. "I'm sorry…"

"Yeah, you really are sometimes, you bastard," Yukiko chuckled, and kissed him on the cheek, then patted him on the hand. "Let's head out before we wake her up… She's had enough excitement until she's, oh, I dunno… Seventeen?"

"Pfft, I'm betting my Vespa that she'll know how to shoot before you did," Toshiro snorted, opening the door for Yukiko. "Hey, picked up something… Thought I might as well show you…."

"Hrm? Crap, what'd you bring home? Another pigeon?"

"Better," Toshiro answered with a smile, leading her downstairs and out the front of the house.

"Holy crap!" Yukiko yelped. "Where the hell's your Vespa!"

"I gave it to Ally," Toshiro answered with a melancholy sigh as he looked over the new Austin Martin. "I hope you like it… Not exactly a mob car, but seats four…"

"Four, huh?"

"Well, you know, just in case… You know how things happen… Urm, I'm gonna go hide the eggs for the girls."

"Wise decision… Better than Dad doing it; last year he thought he put one on a lawn blower and didn't realize it was the chainsaw case."

Outside of Paris:

"A holiday where you clean!" Dako exclaimed in disbelief. "Do you believe it!"

"Hey, he's making latkes. I'd scrub the toilet for those," Jared answered. "And Easter candy, too… I officially have nothing to complain about."

"This is child labor… There've got to be laws against this!" Dako moaned, and resumed dusting above the mantle in the living room. The doorbell went off, and both children ran to the door, only to be beaten by an already-busied Leo.

"Urm, hey…." Fuji gave a weak smile and wave as she looked over Leo, who held in one arm a basket of laundry and in the other a stack of books. "Spring cleaning?"

"Well, since we're all off," Leo shrugged. "Do you want to come in? Urm…. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah!" Fuji gave one of her practiced smiles and sashayed through the door with several bags in hand. "I was just in the neighborhood, and I figured I'd drop off some stuff…" She handed a bag to each child, and they gasped in delight as they pulled out treat-filled baskets.

"Since when do you celebrate?" Leo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I just… I dunno," Fuji sighed and clasped her hands together. "Got in the spirit of things, I guess. What about you, huh? I don't remember you ever getting all gung-ho about it."

"That's before I got bullied into it by Max and the little demons here," Leo seat down his laundry on the coffee table and let the books lie beside them, and took a seat beside Fuji.

"I brought you some, too… And Avery and Max…. Don't let the kids' near Max's, though, I packed in a bottle of Vermouth."

"He's been drinking that an awful lot lately," Leo pulled out his basket and noted the knitting needles and large bottle of Bourbon, and set this on the coffee table as well. "So how's Heiji doing?"

"Urm, wouldn't know," Fuji admitted with a shy chuckle. "I haven't visited him yet… Call me a chicken…."

"Kids! Latkes are ready!" Max shouted from the kitchen.

"YES!" Jared hopped to his feet and jumped over a footstool as he ran into the dining room, Dako trailing close behind.

"Jeeze, should I follow?" Fuji blinked and looked to the excited children then to Leo.

"They like Max's cooking," Leo answered. "He just can't do it much."

"Yeah, looking after me must take a lot out of you!" Fuji smiled widely and slapped Leo on the back.

"Well, might not have to worry about that much more, either…."

"Huh? What the hell does that mean?"

"I got offered a high-end job in Washington, D.C., and there's a school for Avery, too."

"W-what happened to chasing me until I gave up!" Fuji demanded in a small voice.

"That's when you were all I had to watch," Leo answered with a shrug. "I… I've got kids now, Fuji, and someone to look after. I'm a grownup."

"Me, too!"

"Fuji, you still watch Saturday morning cartoons."

"So do you!"

"Against my will," Leo answered tiredly. "I don't think I can keep it up! I don't want to be like Max's Dad…. I don't want to be sixty and be a laughingstock!"

"You're almost thirty and you're already a laughingstock," Fuji said with quick correction.

"I'm not the only one who's going to be thirty, soon," Leo said sternly.

"I… Well, I…"

"Fuji, come on… Decide what you want already. Just don't expect everyone to follow," Leo sighed, and brushed back his hair. "…Would you please stay for dinner, at least?"

"I wouldn't want to interrupt a family thing," Fuji answered, rising from the couch. "Have a happy holiday, Leo…"

"Fuji, wait!—"

"Piss off," Fuji murmured, and closed the door behind herself.

She then started walking… Down the neighborhood, into the cities… She had no idea where she was walking, but had the inkling that it was a long road to nowhere.

"I don't need them," Fuji murmured, "I don't need the Jigens, or the Ishikawas, or the Zenigatas, or the Lupins! I'm looking out for number one from now on… That's how it should've been all along."

"Do you make a habit of talking to yourself?" she heard and spun about to see a man looking over the same bridge as she. "You're kind of cute when you're doing it."

"Any other day I'd have some comeback, but right now I'd just like some 'me' time," Fuji snapped, during away from him and continuing her walk down the sidewalk.

"Don't tell me you were planning to jump," he briefly pulled away the bangs that partially covered his eyes, and smirked. "You're a little too pretty to end like that."

"It doesn't even matter to you! Do you know who I am, buddy!"

"No, and apparently you don't know who I am, either," he answered with a shrug. "I'm Mamoru Pikal."

"Pickle?"

"Close enough," he chuckled then looked down to the ground. "Now I've given you my name, how about yourself?"

"Fuji…"

"Like the mountain?"

"….Yeah…. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go drink until my heart stops," grumbled Fuji.

"Please, let me at least buy it for you!"

"Wha… Listen, I don't have time for crap right now… If… If what you're wanting is what I think you want, then look somewhere else…"

"Don't worry, it's not. I'm just thrilled you don't know me," he admitted with a chuckle. "It's kind of hard to find nowadays… I take it you don't listen to a lot of pop music."

"I'm more of a TV girl," Fuji admitted. "….You're being really nosy, you know that? Kind of annoying, too…"

"Please, let me at least buy you dinner… What could it hurt?"

"At this point? Anything and everything."

"Heh… Well, I—"

"Oh my God, look, over there! Do you believe it!" a girl's voice shrieked in the midst of the darkness suddenly, and the tired-looking young man shot to attention.

"Hide me and I'll do whatever you want!" he whispered, standing behind Fuji.

"Hey, do you think we could get an autograph!" one school girl giggled happily, pushing a pen and pad of paper toward Mamoru.

"He's not taking autographs now…" Fuji answered quietly, "So why don't you two go stalk Orlando Bloom…. Or whoever the hell it is you kids today like… And take those pretty little notebooks somewhere else, eh? We're busy."

The girls were too stunned to answer to this as Fuji grabbed him by the hand and pulled him down the sidewalk and turned the corner with him beside her.

"I don't know that much about you, Fuji, but I love you," Mamoru said with a smile. "Please, let me pay you back after that?"

"Well… It is a holiday, and you don't seem all too threatening," Fuji shrugged. "What'd you have in mind?"

"I saw a nice grill downtown," he answered, and walked down the sidewalk beside her, neither knowing that from a car farther away sat Leo Lupin, Jared at his side in the passenger seat.

"Dad's going to be pissed at you," said Jared quietly to his father.

"Jared, you told me you wanted to make ten dollars, and you're making it," Leo answered quietly. "You're my alibi, okay?"

"And you're a liar."

"Well… It's not really a lie…" Leo set down the binoculars and leaned back in his seat. "I'm just watching out for Fuji, is all."

"Hey, Papa, what happened to the crazy guy? The one who tried to kill Yukiko?"

"You know, I honestly have no idea," Leo admitted with a shrug, knowing this to also be a lie. He knew for a fact that after their capture, Max had given Odori access to their holding cells, and she had made quick work of both. To say that this had strained their relationship slightly had been an understatement, and Fuji's running from their home had not helped it any. "They're probably in Japan by now, Jared."

"What are you doing?" Jared blinked as he watched his father pull out a small computer console hooked up onto the squad car's dashboard and began to type in information.

"Trying to find out who the hell she's with…"

"Did she ever do that to you?"

"She pushed me into most of my relationships," Leo admitted, scanning in a photograph of Mamoru he had managed to shoot.

"Even yours and Dad's."

"Jared, you will make an excellent inspector one day, because you're a natural at asking tons of questions…"

"Nah, I'm gonna be a ninja," Jared answered with a shake of the head. "Hey, I know him! Dako's got a picture of him on her wall!"

"What?" Leo blinked a few times, and looked to the photograph, then to Jared. "Why don't you call her and ask her about him? An actor? Fuji?"

"Hey, Dako… Yeah, I know… Oh, you better not have eaten them all!" Jared gasped. "Hey, who's that guy you have on your wall? The fruity guy with the keyboard."

"Jared!" Leo hissed at the word 'fruity', but was cut off by Jared's raised hand.

"Mamoru? What's he? No, I don't know… I don't listen to music like that! Some of us in this family aren't gay, you know!"

"Jared," Leo repeated more sternly.

"Fire 4? Oh, so they're flamers," Jared said with a nod, and Dako's screaming in response to this was even heard by Leo. "Woah! Sorry—Yeesh! Hey, I've got to go, you're breaking up! Bye!"

"She knows him?"

"…Yeah, Papa, she knows him…. She worships him, apparently," murmured Jared, looking down at the cell phone and then set it aside. "He's a musician, she said…"

"A musician… I thought he looked familiar…" Leo placed his hands on the wheel and paused a moment in thought. "I'm wondering if I should stick around… Maybe just for a little bit more…"

"Pop, she'll be fine, I'm sure of it!"

"Hm, you're starting to sound like your dad," Leo reached over and ruffled Jared's hair, and started up the car. "She ought to be fine, you're right… Plus she's always telling me I don't leave her alone enough, so, damn it, I guess this is my first step, huh?"

"In like what, a twelve-step program?"

"….Just like your father," Leo reiterated with a shake of the head. "You and Dako spend too much time wit him… I need to take you guys camping, or something… Come on, let's get back home, while the food's still hot."

Meanwhile, Fuji looked over her shoulder as Leo drove by, but thought little of it, and turned her attention back to her last-minute 'date' as he opened the door to the Italian restaurant for her and then seated them in a corner of the restaurant.

"Jeeze, I can't even remember the last time I've been on one of these… And I didn't even have to put on makeup," Fuji muttered as she looked about at the restaurant.

Mamoru simply chuckled and lifted up the menu, and blinked as he heard Fuji's cell phone suddenly sound.

"Who's that?" he inquired, leaning forward and motioning for a waiter.

"It's nothing," Fuji shook her head as she looked over the familiar number and shut the telephone on Heiji. "Just one of my brothers… They're all pains."

"Wish I knew how that was," Mamoru admitted, and pointed to the bottle of wine on the menu he thought best fit the evening. "My dad was an entertainer…. He never really had a lot of time to have a bunch of kids around."

"What about your mom, eh? Never left him?"

"Thought he was dead for a while," admitted Mamoru. "That's a long story I really don't want to go into over dinner, though."

"The beauty is that you don't have to," Fuji answered, sipping her water. "What'd your dad do, anyway? Was he a musician like you?"

"Nah, he was a magician," Mamoru answered. "What about your dad?"

"Repossessions," Fuji answered quickly. "Same went with my mom. They were busy a lot, too, but always had time for us."

"Like I said, lucky. Well, here's to hoping that we're never as busy," he said, raising his glass of water.

"I'll drink to that, whether it's with water, wine or Fanta!" Fuji added, tapping glasses with her newfound friend.