4
Temper, Temper
As soon as Giroro was out of Natsumi's room- and earshot- he let out a cry of frustration. What am I going to do? he wondered. Natsumi has less of a chance of loving me than ever. I'm… I'm a…
He couldn't even say it. It was one thing to kill if you were in the army. It was quite another to kill in cold blood. And then an even more disturbing thought came into his mind, one of a night long ago, when Natsumi- then Christine- tried to remove his mask for the first time. He had yelled mercilessly at her, and the memory came flooding back into his mind.
He leaned into her touch, savoring the sensation. But the feeling of absolute serenity didn't last, for her hands pried the one thing that shielded his face from the world off.
"DAMN you!" he shouted, flinging her to the ground. "You little lying Delilah! You little demon… is this what you wanted to see?!" He strode over to the mirror, cast a quick glance at his face, and then whirled around to scream at her again. "CURSE you! You little prying Pandora! You little viper! Now you cannot ever be free!"
Natsumi/Christine lay on the ground, cowering in his fury.
With that image in his mind, Giroro sank to the ground, mentally beating and cursing himself for the pain he had caused her, whether it was in a previous life or not.
Finally, he pulled himself back up and, running a hand through his hair, he proceeded to work his way down, into the secret base, and to Kururu's lab.
"Ah, so there's our favorite Phantom!"
"Shut up," Giroro said, then realized Kururu was back to his normal self. "You turned back."
"We all did."
"Well then, what about me and Natsumi?!"
He considered this, then laughed. "I think I'm going to see how this plays out first."
"You little-" Giroro started but then took a deep breath. Once Kururu had made up his mind, you could torture him to unconsciousness, but he wouldn't give you the answer you wanted- he had learned that the hard way.
"Fine," Giroro muttered. "But I need a favor."
His eyes arched. "Oh?"
"Can you make a machine that can transport a place from a movie to reality?"
"Of course I can," he replied smugly. "What for?"
"None of your business."
"It's going to cost you."
Giroro groaned inwardly. He always owed this guy something… but then as he shoved his hands in his pockets he felt, not yen coins, but something else.
"Monsieur Lefévre used to pay him twenty-thousand francs a month."
Giroro gave a small smirk of his own, then said, "Kururu? Do you know how much francs are worth today?"
"From what date?"
"1860 through 1868."
He sucked in his breath. "Look, this is gonna get complicated. Francs usually are worth next to nothing, now that they aren't in circulation anymore. But with a mid-1800's date… well I might be able to offer you a deal, despite my better judgment."
Giroro rolled his eyes and pulled out the wad of cash that was even bigger than he expected. "How much?"
Kururu's eyes widened, then he smirked. "Ten thousand francs."
Giroro sighed and passed him the money. "How long will it take?"
"How long until you need it?"
"Tonight."
"That'll cost you extra."
Giroro sighed again and gave him another hundred francs.