While he preferred cutting any obstacle or lock in his way with Zantetsuken, this particular job required a bit more finesse than he was used to.
So, as much as he disliked doing so himself, slow, careful lockpicking it was.
The one upside to tonight's target was that he just had to pick a hotel room lock and not an overly complicated safe. He'd even lucked out in that his target had picked a cheap, old fashioned hotel that relied on metal keys in the door and not the flashy ones that required a card to swipe through.
A small smirk tugged at his lips as finally, the smallest click emitted from the door, signaling he'd broken the lock. It was nice, to have an enemy as old fashioned as him sometimes.
Slipping into the room after that was insultingly easy.
It wasn't that he had high hopes for the security of the place, cheap as it was. It was, quite frankly, amazing the doors had locks at all.
But he'd assumed that Zenigata at least would set up some sort of precautions against a would be thief or, god forbid, someone worse with far more sinister intentions than just theft. Suzuki may have been taken care of, but that didn't mean he didn't still have a few lackeys out there eager to take petty revenge in the name of their former employer.
Instead, the room was dark, open, and clear as any room checked out to somebody without a huge target on their back.
Honestly, as 'useful' as Zenigata's honesty was to Lupin and the rest of their little gang, it was frustrating how much the man seemed to think the rest of the world was just as moral he was, despite years of experience proving otherwise.
Although, all the frustration paled to the fury he felt catching sight of the item currently resting carelessly on a nearby table.
The way that Lupin had droned on about the fight on the aircraft, with Zenigata holding his own against guns with just his own fists and a small 'old fashioned weird-looking baton' had given him the false impression that Zenigata had some respect for and training with older forms of weaponry.
False, because no one, with an ounce of basic respect for their weapon of choice, would just leave it out in the open for some two-bit thief to steal. Hell, it wasn't even being stored properly!
Stomping forward, Goemon quickly made it to the table and swiftly picked up the jutte, studying it as he did so.
Even in the darkened room, he could tell the weapon was well cared for, making being left thoughtlessly on a table all the more infuriating.
Goemon frowned. Cared for or not, if Zenigata couldn't bother to give a weapon this old the full proper care it deserved, than he didn't deserve it.
Decision made, Goemon clutched the jutte tighter and moved to place it with the folds of his clothing when the lights flicked on.
"Not you too."
Goemon turned slightly to find Zenigata staring tiredly at him from the open room door, arms half full of towels. As soon as the inspector's eyes landed on the jutte in Goemon's hands however, all of his previous exhaustion vanished and was replaced with the same furious fervor he had whenever he chased Lupin.
Before Goemon could even blink, Zenigata was standing in front of him, taking the weapon back with a swiftness and ease that would make even the best pickpockets proud.
"Where you seriously just trying to steal this?!"
Goemon narrowed his eyes at the inspector. "I was liberating a mistreated blade from a careless owner."
Zenigata's eyes widened. "Careless…? I was getting some extra towels to set it on you dumbass! Which you might have figured out if you even bothered to do some basic surveillance first. What kind of thief are you if you can't even do that?!"
Goemon took a slight step back at the other man's vehemence. Of all the things he'd thought Zenigata could have said in return, insulting his skills as a thief was not one of them.
"I...my intention was not to steal from you tonight." A loud, disbelieving snort escaped Zenigata at that but he mercifully let him continue. "But when I saw that, and how carelessly it was placed, I could not allow it to be in your possession any longer."
Zenigata closed his eyes and took a deep breath before slowly looking at him again. All the anger and fury seemed to have left him with that one breath and the exhaustion from earlier had returned.
"...guess I can't exactly fault you for that. In your shoes, I'd probably have done the same."
Suddenly, Zenigata shoved the armful of towels at him. "Might as well make yourself useful if you're going to stay here and judge me."
Goemon's gaze dropped down to the towels and then back up at Zenigata. "...what?"
Zenigata rolled his eyes and gestured to the fabric. "You were upset I didn't place the jutte on anything better than an old beat up table right? Well, arrange that into 'something worthy' to lay the thing. God knows you'd find fault in whatever setup I tried."
Frowing slightly, Goemon studied the table for a moment before taking the bundle of towels and carefully lying and placing them in a suitable enough manner for the lackluster materials he had at hand.
From the corner of his eye, he watched Zenigata look over the jutte with an intense concentration, perhaps born from worry that Goemon had scratched it somehow when he'd first picked it up.
His frown deepened.
Clearly, Zenigata cared for the blade. Almost as much as he himself cared for Zantetsuken. But before tonight, Goemon had had no idea Zenigata owned such at item. It was puzzling.
"Earlier; you said if our positions were reversed, you'd have stolen it. Is that how you obtained it? You recovered it from some unworthy owner?"
Zenigata 'bout dropped the jutte at the question, only refraining from doing so from muscle memory from years of handling and catching it and other, smaller blades.
"Wha-? NO! I didn't steal this! This jutte has been in my family for generations! Right from Heiji Zenigata himself!"
Goemon nodded. "So it is a family heirloom then."
"Yeah." he deflated a little as his gaze dropped back to the jutte. "The only one I have left."
Carefully, he placed the jutte on the pile of fabric Goemon had set up before sitting down in front of it.
"I know it deserves more than just some shitty towels from some cheap, half rundown hotel." A wry smile crossed his face. "You should have seen the shrine I'd set up for it back at my apartment. That I think even you would have approved of."
Goemon cautiously sat down next to him. "You have an apartment? Why are you-?"
"Here and not there?" Zenigata interrupted. "Suzuki had the whole place burned to the ground after Lupin and I got arrested and he kidnapped Mariya. Turns out she had an apartment there too, so I guess he thought torching the place would be a good way to cover his tracks. By the time I got there, the whole place was up in flames. When everything settled down, just about everything was destroyed or a pile of ash."
"The only thing left really was that." Zenigata's smile turned a little more genuine as he stared at the jutte. "Guess they don't make them like they used to."
Goemon found himself thinking of his own blade, how much Zantetsuken had been through, and how, after so many years traveling and fighting by Lupin's side, it still gleamed as brightly and remained as sharp as the day it was forged. "No, no they don't."
For a moment, they sat next to each other in silence. It was strangely...nice.
Whenever he was with Lupin or Jigen at their hideouts, it was usually loud and busy, mostly due to the fact of Lupin loving the sound of his own voice so much that Goemon silently suspected the man couldn't be quiet for longer than five minutes.
He'd always assumed the inspector was the same way. Zenigata was always so loud and bigger than life chasing them the thought of the man being quieter, more reserved in his downtime had never crossed his mind.
...and how lazy was that? To pay so little attention to one's adversary that their habits and hidden, unused skills were barely even a second thought.
"Why have you never used that in our fights?"
Zenigata turned to look at him in confusion. "Wha-?'
Goemon tipped his head towards the jutte. "Lupin made a comment that you were rather skilled using it in a fight earlier. I am curious why you've never tried using it against us."
A disbelieving laugh escaped Zenigata. "Because I'm not fucking stupid that's why!"
One of Goemon's eyebrows rose as he stared at the inspector. Zenigata sighed and ran a hand down his face.
"Look, I'm not you. I can't just. Run around with an Edo period weapon and expect people to just. Fold. It's a jutte; not a goddamn sword that can cut through literally anything! What am I supposed to do? Wave it at the bullets Jigen shoots to deflect them? Hope Lupin stands still long enough for me to poke him enough times that he can't wiggle out a pair of handcuffs? Or, better yet, try my luck with you and hope to god I don't lose a hand when you use Zantetsuken to slice the blade into slivers." Zenigata snorted. "I'll stick to my handcuffs, thanks."
"I wouldn't destroy your jutte.'
"Maybe not now that you've seen it, but back when we first met, you can't tell me you wouldn't have cut it in half thinking it was some shoddy reproduction."
A small sound of reluctant agreement escaped him at Zenigata's comment. In his defense though, most people didn't exactly carry around old weapons in a modern age where guns and other, more powerful long range weapons existed.
"...I don't suppose you know if Lupin's going to stay in Tokyo for a few more days or not."
Goemon felt himself tense, wishing for the first time that night he had brought his trusty blade with him. But after a long internal debate with himself, he had decided it best to leave it with Jigen and Lupin so that he'd be less tempted to slice down a hotel door and advertise his presence more openly than a stupid calling card ever could.
"If you think I would give you any information regarding Lupin." he began icily only to be stopped by a lazy wave from Zenigata.
"Relax, I don't...really care where Lupin's hiding. Not right now anyway." Zenigata shifted uncomfortably. "I just...want to know how much time I'm looking at to find a proper travel case for Heiji's jutte."
Goemon's eyes widened slightly. "I thought you said using it in a fight would be foolish."
Zenigata sighed. "It would. Is. But I don't exactly have time to find and set up a new apartment to keep it while I travel and like hell am I giving it to my ex-wife to hold onto. Knowing her, she'd probably give it to a museum."
An expression of disapproval must have crossed his face because Zenigata sighed again, this time a little heavier. "It wouldn't be anything personal." He frowned. "Well, mostly anyway. I mean, to her it wouldn't really be...useful. Like the house was. To her it'd just be an interesting bit of history that's better off displayed in a museum than collecting dust on a shelf where…" Zenigata trailed off, a distant look in his eye before quickly shaking his head. "Doesn't matter. Point is, until Lupin lays his sights on something in Tokyo again, I don't have a lot of time to secure a decent enough apartment to keep it. So, for now, it's staying on my person."
Goemon turned away, gaze drifting back to the jutte as he thought over Zenigata's words and what to say in return.
It'd be easy to dismiss everything the inspector had said as a ploy to learn Lupin's whereabouts, to trick him into keeping the rest of the group in Tokyo long enough for him and the rest of Interpool to swoop in and throw them all into jail.
And yet.
He couldn't help believing that Zenigata was being sincere.
It could be the tone of the man's words, the exhaustion that dripped off of him after a long, difficult case that had forced him to switch targets and work together with his usual prey, the possibility he had shared more of his personal life unintentionally to what should be an enemy, or, it could be, simply put, after the many years of knowing him, the fact that Zenigata was not the most stalwart police officer in the world.
Yes, he was dedicated to chasing Lupin and throwing him in jail, but, there had been a couple of rare instances where he had the three of them at his mercy, utterly incapable of escape, and just...let them go without a second thought or regret.
So it was safe to assume that Lupin and the rest of them were probably off the hook for the time being.
"At least a couple days longer."
Beside him, Zenigata gave a small start, apparently assuming that Goemon wouldn't give him an answer or even speak to him again.
Goemon held back a small smirk; it was always a little funny when others assumed a conversation dropped around him because it took him a little while longer to figure out an appropriate reply.
"Although, I probably could convince him to stay here a little while longer."
Zenigata's eyes widened. "I uh. Thank you?"
Goemon gave a small shrug. "That should give you more than enough time to find a more than decent traveling case for your jutte." This time, he let his smirk spread across his features. "Anything less than worthy of it and I will have no choice but to relieve it from so cruel a master."
"Gee, thanks." Zenigata grumbled, but there was no heat to the words. Either he was confident in finding a good enough case or he didn't think Goemon would actually steal it.
Goemon bit back a sigh. One of these days, the inspector's trust in others would kill him.
Swiftly rising to his feet, Goemon gave the jutte one last look before turning his attention back to Zenigata. "Thank you for your hospitality."
A look of surprise crossed the inspector's face. "You're leaving already?"
Goemon gave him a small nod. "I am. I've stayed out longer than I thought I would. I was serious earlier. If you do not find a case that is half as well crafted as the item it is designed to hold, I will relieve your jutte from your possession."
Zenigata rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I got it. So what, I'll see you tomorrow or the day after or something?"
"Something like that."
Without bothering to wait for another word or reply from the inspector, Goemon turned and left the hotel room.
To his slight surprise, Zenigata didn't follow or make any attempts to restrain him. Not that he was expecting the other man to do so, per say, but the risk was always there. That Zenigata would suddenly remember his duty to the law and arrest any criminal stupid enough to waltz into his current lodging.
Then again, the good inspector never did seem to have the strictest regard for the law despite claiming to dedicate so much of himself to preserving it. Truely, out of anyone Interpool could have selected for Lupin's case, they were fortunate it had been Zenigata.
A small, amused smile tugged at his lips.
Perhaps, if whatever travel case Zenigata found didn't match up to the standards something as old and well cared for as his jutte demanded, then he could give him the proper case himself.
A well crafted case would be the least he could offer in return for all the strange moments like this and truces they had shared over the years.
And, probably the only thing Zenigata would accept from a thief.
