Chapter 2
Shinichi had almost fallen asleep three times on the walk back to the hideout.
Jigen felt bad about keeping the obviously exhausted boy awake even longer, but he had to. The boy could slip inot a coma and never wake up and then what would he do? No, Shinichi had to stay awake, at least until he cleaned the wound up and properly assessed it.
The boy yawned and shifted in Jigen's arms, trying to get closer and away from the cold. At least the weather was good for something; no one was outside, otherwise someone would definatly call the police about the strange man carrying a bloody child.
It took twenty more minutes, but eventually the pair arrived at the Tokyo hideout. It wasn't much, just an old, rundown warehouse with new shudders. "We're here."
Shinichi wrinkled his nose at the sight of it. "It looks like a place where murderers hide," he said distainfully.
Jigen hid any reactions he had from the rather blunt child. The kid had pretty much hit the nail on the head, even though there was rarely any killing since he'd joined Lupin. Or at least, less killing than there used to be. "It looks better on the inside," he told the boy.
And it did. Lupin was many things, but unstylish he was not. Lupin wasn't one to live without comfort when it was unnecessary and his hideouts reflected that. There was a fully stocked and working kitchen, clean bathrooms, and cable. It wasn't their best hideout—the bed were hard and the air conditioning didn't work half the time—but it was good enough. Jigen walked over the red couch and set the kid down on it. "Stay here," he ordered. "I'm going to get the first aid kit."
He couldn't spot any sign that Lupin had been back in a while; there were no signs of Goemon or that woman either, which was good. He didn't want to overwhelm the kid and meeting both Lupin and her at the same time would do the trick.
Returning to the couch, Jigen kneeled next to the boy, dampened a cloth with rubbing alcohol, and began to dab at the cut on the boy's head. Shinichi winced in pain, but allowed him the clean the wound without much hassle. "You're pretty strong, for a brat," Jigen told the kid to help distract him from the pain. "I've met many men who'd cry over the littlest scratch, yet here you are, getting a wound cleaned without the slightest peep."
"'m not a brat," Shinichi slurred, his eyes heavy with sleep. Sighing, Jigen snapped his fingers in the kid's ears.
"Hey, wake up. You can't fall asleep yet, brat." Cut clean, Jigen finally got a good look at the concussion. "Looks like you've got a hard head, kid. You'll be fine in a couple of days."
"Then we'll find my mom and dad, right?"
"That's right—"
A door banged open and a loud voice cut him off. "Hey, Jigen! I'm back—" Lupin stumbled into the room, growing quiet when he spotted Shinichi looking at him. Jigen bit back a groan.
"Jigen…" Lupin spoke carefully, like he wasn't sure if Jigen would snap. "I know I said we should spice things up for a change, but…kidnapping's a bit far, don't you think?"
"W-What!? I didn't kidnap him!"