Chapter 3

Shinichi tugged on Jigen's hand, looking up at him blearily. "Mr. Jigen, who's that?"

Jigen struggled to find an answer that didn't reveal any of their more criminal secrets, but Lupin answered for him. "We're coworkers, little boy." Shinichi glared at Lupin for the "little boy" comment. Jigen suppressed a snicker; Lupin did always have a way with children. At least this one wasn't calling him a pedophile yet.

Shinichi yawned as Jigen finished up with his head. "Sorry, kid. You can't go to sleep yet. I'll turn on the TV for you, though." The kid nodded his approval so Jigen turned the TV to some anime about…a host club? Eh. It had English subtitles and everyone knew how sensitive they were, so it had to be okay.

With the boy properly occupied, Lupin dragged Jigen into the kitchen. "What's with the kid?" Lupin asked, staring at Shinichi suspiciously.

Jigen groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oi, don't give him that look! He's six, if even that!"

"You're the one who brought a bleeding child into the hideout! What am I supposed to do!?" Sighing, Lupin leaned against a counter and lit a cigarette. He took a long drag. "So, who is he? New job? Secret love child?"

"Don't be perverse; not everyone sleeps with half the females in each city they go to," Jigen taunted, then sighed. "Apparently the kid was kidnapped by human traffickers or some shit. Got amnesia and a concussion before managing to escape. He only remembers a name: Shinichi."

Lupin's gaze on the child turned thoughtful. "Japanese?"

"At least partially."

"His English has a distinct accent," he acknowledged. "Why didn't you leave him at the police station? Or better yet, a hospital?"

"He wouldn't hear of it. Thinks his kidnappers will find him before his family will."

"Damn." Shinichi had changed the channel to some detective show, bored with the anime. "Do you want me to watch him while you look for a missing person's report?" Lupin offered.

"Thanks."

For the next hour, Lupin did his best to keep Shinichi awake while Jigen looked for any sign of him online. He found nothing. In fact, he couldn't find any reports of any missing Japanese, child or adult. Jigen clenched his teeth. It was only after he hacked the local police that he found any MPRs, but none of them were for the missing person on his couch, just missing locals.

Shit, had Tokyo's missing person's division always been this crappy!? He hasn't been in Japan for a while, but surely it hadn't been this bad!

Two small hands wrapped around his elbow and Jigen looked down to see Shinichi staring right back up. "Are you looking for my mom and dad?" he asked.

Jigen huffed. "Yeah. I haven't found anything yet, but I'll keep looking. They probably just haven't reported you missing yet."

"But why wouldn't they?" Shinichi asked, his voice wobbling. Against his instincts that were screaming at him not to get involved, Jigen picked the boy up into his lap. "Why wouldn't they call the police the moment I went away? What if—" Tears dripped down Shinichi's face as small sobs shook his body. "What if they gave m-me away, and that's why those men had me? I-I…I don't…"

Shinichi completely broke down, sobbing into Jigen's jacket. The gunman held the boy through his tears, rhythmically rubbing his back as he let out all of his pent up frustration.

A/N: So a bit about the Japanese missing person's: I'm not trying to be negative or hateful or anything, I'm just relaying what I've found. And it's not a lot.

Obviously I can't see if there is an actual missing person's site (as I cannot read Japanese), but originally I was hoping for at least something that explains their procedures and, best case scenario, an English translation. What I found was…disturbing. According to a website I found (one of the few that could tell me anything), nobody really knows how many missing children there are in Japan. I'll leave the link in the description, but it basically states that unless there is data concerning the living situation of the child, the government can disregard them and not pay attention to their whereabouts. On another website, I found a bit about procedure: the person who is reporting that another is missing has to do it in the missing person's home area. If a student went missing in Tokyo, but was originally from the other side of the country, the student would have to be reported there instead of where they went missing.

The reason I'm explaining this is that I've already gotten questions on why Shinichi will stay with the Lupin gang and this is part of it. I tried to describe all of this in the story, but I'm not sure how clear it was and I hope this blurb makes it better. If I've messed anything up, please feel free to tell me (preferably with sources) and I'll try to work something out.

Source: www .japantoday category /kuchikomi /view/ nobody-really-knows-how-many-children-are-missing