Chapter Three

"Two delinquents spread mayhem and joy across the united states"

Near Bridgeport, California

Monday 30th November 1931

14:00

Several miles off the beaten track, and even further off the non-beaten track, there was an old mine set into one the massive mountains that made up the spine of California. The residents of the nearby towns and villages, including the soon-to-be famous ghost town of Bodie, had already dug out most of the mountain and come away empty handed, but two intrepid hooligans were determined to have a go at it anyway, certain that they would succeed and strike it rich when so many hundreds had failed.

Well, one hooligan and his minder, as Rin would like to have you know. But then again, she let Yugo drag her the whole length of the country on a whim without much more than an aggravated sigh, so she loses some points there.

The Rin in question had just reached the part of the mine that she and Yugo had taken over for their 'base'. It was a small hut built into the mountain as a rest stop for miners who needed a tea break in the dizzying darkness that remained even at the height of daylight. Ducking under the hammock stretched across the cave, she placed the items she'd retrieved from town at the base of the mount of dirt that Yugo was enthusiastically hacking away at with his trusty pickaxe.

Poor guy, still so certain after so long that he'd make that one smash that found the gold. Sort of like looking at those old people who had put their money into the lottery every week since their first pay check but had yet to receive much more than a hundred back, but still insisted on doing it hoping, or praying, to retrieve their lost millions, all while muttering how you have to 'be in it to win it'.

Rin, for the record, found this phrase about as inspiring as Yugo's 'if we haven't found it yet, that means there's a bigger chance we'll find it tomorrow!' saying.

"Rin! Rin!" Yugo grinned at her, bouncing back and forth on his heels as he continued to swing away at the rock face, even as he was looking at her rather than it "I found a centipede today!"

"A centipede? In a mine?" Rin was trying to remember if centipedes buried underground during the winter. If they did, she'd had to remember to stop letting Yugo leave half-eaten food lying around. "You know, in the orient, they say finding a centipede is the god of gold mining? That has to be good luck."

"Wow, I didn't know that!" Yugo seemed blown away by this revelation "Yeah! That has to mean we're going to hit it lucky soon Rin! I feel it! I believe in the noble centipede!"

"Well we might've gotten a little lucky already" she leant back against the hammock, holding up the one thing she didn't expect to collect on one of her rare journeys into town "Yaiba sent us a letter."

Yugo instantly stopped and threw down the pickaxe, jumping up onto the hammock to read over Rin's shoulder. "A letter! Awesome! What does it say?"

Rin smiled a little; alright, maybe some of his enthusiasm for life was rubbing off on her.

"'Dear Rin and Yugo, I can't believe it's been nearly a year since you decided to go off mining-'"

"We're not mining!" Yugo insisted indignantly "We are thieves!"

"Yes we are" Rin nodded along with the words she was so use to hearing him say.

"We are stealing gold from the very earth itself!"

"Yes we are" Rin again nodded along before continuing reading the letter "'While I don't understand why you're digging for gold when everyone else seems to be panning for it-'"

"Bah!" Yuto spat "Everyone pans and everyone fails! We are successful thieves, not losers! We must go against the grain! As the saying goes 'a wolf does not become the leader of his pack by following other wolves!'"

'Pretty sure that's exactly what they do' Rin couldn't help but think, but there was no point in ruining Yugo's fun "'but we wish you all the best and want you to know we miss you very much.'"

"Aw" Yugo's face went soft after his determined rant "I miss the guys too. It really has been a while, huh?"

"'In fact, we miss you so much, we're hoping you could come visit us in the city sometime. It's Masumi's birthday after the new year and we're really hoping you come visit to celebrate it. She's feeling a little melancholy at the moment, what with Hokuto and Damon so busy working now and me working on my promotion to camorrista. I'm sure a birthday treat from her best friends is just what she needs right now! Hope to see you soon, Yaiba.'"

"Hey Rin, what do melancholy mean?" Yugo asked with an anxious frown.

"I think it means sad" Rin told him, not entirely certain herself.

"She's sad without us?" Yugo's face fell "And she needs a treat from us for her birthday to cheer her up?"

"I guess that one's way of interpreting it" Rin turned her had sideways, trying to figure out the meaning of the words exactly "It could also mean us being in New York for her birthday is the birthday treat. But we should probably still get her a birthday present."

"We should get her the most expensive present ever!" Yugo declared, bouncing up and down dangerously on the hammock "To show her just how much we love her!"

"Well, at the moment we can't even afford a present, let alone an expensive one" Rin reminded him, already trying to calculate how they'd made it across the continental united states in just over a month with no money or provisions.

"Hmmm…you've got a point" Yugo admitted, scratching his chin in thought. Then Rin physically saw the lightbulb above his head go off "I know! We'll just have to commit a train robbery!"

Rin was stunned silent by this idea. Surely Yugo didn't think the two of them, without so much as a gun between them, having never robbed anything more than an unlocked grocery store before, could pull off a train robbery.

"And exactly how would we commit this train robbery, Yugo?" she decided to ask.

"Well," Yugo jumped down from the hammock so he could look her in the eye "We first take the train to somewhere. Then we commit a robbery. And then we take the train again to escape!"

As flawed as his logic was, it also wasn't a bad plan. Certainly more feasible than an actual train robbery.

"You know what, that isn't a stupid idea" Rin admitted "It's actually quite brilliant."

"All my plans are brilliant, Rin! Just like yours are!" Yugo declared "And we know the best people to steal from!"

Rin felt a grin creeping across her face. "You bet we do."

They clasped hands and raised them towards the sky.

…or, tunnel ceiling, I guess.

"The mafia!"

Eastside Chicago, Illinois

Tuesday, 29th December 1931

16:00

Teppei, for the record, had been having a nice peaceful day.

It was not long after Christmas, and he was getting back into the swing of work, manning the fish stall at the market. It was getting towards closing time and the amount of customers had slowed to almost non-existent. So Teppei took advantage of lull to put his feet up and turn on his radio to the broadcast of the baseball game happening around town.

As the game drew on with a more-or-less even score, Teppei watched as the guys in the warehouse opposite loaded up several sacks into the back of a car. He pretended to ignore them, just like everyone else in the market was doing. They all knew what was in those sacks. Just because Capone had been taken down earlier that year did not mean organised crime had stopped – others would always step up to take his place.

Just as it sounded like the Yankees were about to score a home run on the radio, Teppei was distracted from the terrible news by something even more unusual that the Yankees doing well against the Black Soxs. Two people, a man and a woman, dressed as baseball players in Red Soxs uniforms came running up behind the car being loaded. The two then, in unison, raised their baseball bats and brought them down on the heads of the car's waiting driver and loader.

Teppei couldn't even bring himself to move. He just sat there, stunned, the baseball game no longer registering in his brain as he watched the man and woman run down the street, holding their hats and bats with one hand, sacks with the other.

"Make way! Get out the way!" the girl yelled.

"Don't mind us!" the boy chipped in "We're robbing the rich to get presents for the poor!"

"Since when was Masumi poor?"

"No but we are!"

The two took off in a whirl of wind and dust, little green bills spilling out of their sacks as they ran.