Third time's the charm. It's the Under 5 Sentences Summary of Ch. 11-15. Huzzah!
C11- (POV: Heiji, Ai Haibara) Heiji and Conan reach Hakase's house, being greeted by the other Detective Boys. Once the duo, Haibara, and Hakase are alone, they began to search for the possible 'L' 's. Heiji and Conan find out about Lupin and Haibara begins to act strangely. Haibara shows the duo that they have listening devices on them. It ends with the kids bringing a raven to the room and Conan calling out the thief.
C12- (POV: Lupin, Haibara, Heiji) Conan asks Hakase to leave with the rest of the kids and it is learned that a game has began to be played on who can keep their cool the longest. Haibara leaves by the insistence of Lupin and then breaks down. Conan and Lupin both explain their observations of each other, while Heiji watches; Conan loses, badly. Lupin leaves on his end and the tantei duo leaves, to discuss plans.
C13- (POV: Inspector Zenigata, Kaito) Zenigata researches about Kaitou Kid concluding that there were two Kids in a span of years. Mouri rushes to the precinct to meet Zenigata dragging Takegi, as Megure, Satou, Kaito and Aoko enter. Switching POV, Kaito notes that Zenigata is acting strangely and Mouri finally meets Zenigata. Suddenly Zenigata reveals that Takegi is actually Lupin in disguise and it is proven to be true, to Mouri's shock and Kaito's giddiness.
C14- (POV: same as c13) Zenigatabecomes slightly concerned with Lupin's behavior, but decides to capture him again after the first failure; It also ends in failure. Kaito, who wants to meet the thief, tries to find him and ends up in a room by the thief. Kaito challenges Lupin to a trick competition at an unspecified place. Lupin leaves with Kaitohaving question for himself about Lupin. After the chaos subsides and the knowledge about the previous day's event (c4-5) is put to light, Mouri leaves determined and Aoko and Kaito leave as well.
C15- (POV: Kogoro Mouri, Vermouth) Kogoro makes it home and is questioned by the kids. He reveals that the people they met in c8-9 were the criminals Lupin the Third and co. and the inspector was an old associate. He learns of Heijiand Conan's involvement with Lupin as well (c11-12). At about the same time, a woman (Vermouth) receives a call from a supposed dead Black Organization member, named Champagne. After being graced by his presence personally, she wonders what the ex-member will do in the following days.
Chapter 16: La Persistance de la Mémoire I: Midnight Talks
Ces événements ont lieu entre les heures de minuit et quatre heures Vendredi.
"Monsieur, que faites-vous? Arrêter!"
"Lâchez-moi! Je dois aller là-dedans!"
"Vous ne pouvez pas! Ce bâtiment est en feu! Vous vais mourir!"
"Mais quelqu'un est là-dedans! Je dois la sauver!"
"Je suis désolé, mais je dois vous arrêter!"
"Non! Non! Lâchez-moi! Lâchez-moi! Marie! MARIE!"
She stood behind her sister as two people walked up to them. She was scared, really. What did they want from Akemi-neechan? The stern woman stared at them with nothing more than contempt. They were doing fine for them, they had been training Nee-san vigorously; they had very little time to play together. She had been lonely these past couple of weeks, and was tired sometimes; doing all that complicated homework about …che…mistry (She didn't know how to pronounce that word too well.)Why were they here? Were they going to take Nee-san away again? No, she won't allow it.
She stepped in front of her sister. Arms out stretched, she cried, "Please! Don't take my sister! She's tired and I haven't seen her for a while! Please!"
"Shiho-chan…" Nee-san gasped. The evil woman scoffed. She was about to walk up to her to smack her.
"Quiet!" she growled coldly. Shiho eeped and squeezed her eyes tight waiting for the teary pain to come. "How dare—." Nothing happened.
No pain? She opened her eyes to see the other person stopping the woman's hand with his own hand. The woman was about to scold him until she looked at him. She shuddered violently.
"I'm sorry," she murmured. She lowered her hand and coughed. "I am not taking Akemi away, Shiho. In fact I am here to bring you a guardian." She indicated the man standing next to her. The man was old and wrinkly; he leaned on a wooden cane. He had grey hair and moustache. But his eyes…
They were kind. She didn't understand why the woman looked scared of him.
"His codename is Champagne and one of our top operatives. He asked the Boss to be in charge of you two, and that person agreed." The evil woman sounded a little surprised at this. But she continued. "Be polite and don't give him any trouble!" Turning on her heels, she walked out the room; slamming the door. There was a moment of quiet before…
"Scary woman, isn't she?" Shiho noticed the old man smiling softly at them. She felt warm when he did that. She nodded in agreement.
"I heard about you," said Nee-san in a hard voice. "You are a killer, and no-one knows who you really are!" She held Shiho tight and pulled her away from the old man.
"You don't trust me?" Nee-san nodded quickly.
"You're acting like you're nice to us but you're evil, as evil as that woman!" She held back a sob. Shiho stared at her usually strong sister.
"Nee-san… I don't think he's mean…" She let go of her sister's grasp and walked towards the old man. "Ojii-sansaved me. Someone mean wouldn't do that."
"But he's still a liar."
"Nee-san…."
"If I reveal my true face, would you trust me then?"
Nee-san was stunned at those words and looked at the Grandpa in shock. With a smile, he walked shakily to the door and locked it. He then looked around the room as if searching for something.
"There's nothing here," Shiho chirped. "They didn't add anything extra or I would have seen it. I've searched." Grandpa raised an eyebrow and chuckled. It sounded completely different from his voice. He sounded younger!
"Unfortunately," he began in that young voice, "I can't give you my real name, but…" He stood straighter and placed his cane to the side. The girls gasped. "My job is to protect you and care for you like a big brother, which includes and starts with, trust." With a big grin, he began to pull at his neck, peeling off the old man's face showing the girls his real face.
"Ojii-san!" cried Shiho in glee. She was glad his kind eyes still stayed. Nee-san gave a small convinced smile his way. Yay! She trusts him, like Shiho does!
He shakes his head. "No, Akemi-chan, Shiho-chan, call me Onii-san or Nii-chan if you like."
À Minuit
Ai awoke with a small growl in her stomach. No surprise, she had locked herself in her room for the rest of the day researching on the antidote on the apotoxin. She didn't want to think about the revelation that Onii-san was alive.
All those times… She stopped that train of thought. He probably had his reasons. That and there was sounds coming from the ground floor. Fear struck her hard. The rational, yet irrational fear that theyhad come for her will always be present, even though she was safe. She rushed out the room in a controlled panic and stopped in front of the door to the living room. She heard other footsteps signaling that Hakase, the man that took her in and cared for her (she was still grateful to him) was by her side. The old absent-minded professor noticed her and nodded, holding a bat. She wondered how he got one. She then noticed a button on it. Oh, it's an invention. Although she knew it was useless against the intruder who probably held a gun, she did hope it was functioning. Hakase had a strange habit of inventing things that didn't work. They then rushed out the door.
The first thing that hit her was a delicious smell. Her stomach growled in agreement.
"Working on the computer for about eight hours straight with no meal in between is quite bad. You might get sick or worse." The voice actually came from a person who was sitting on a couch, flipping the TV channels. He was dressed in dark clothes and wore a baseball cap, covering his eyes.
"Who are you?" asked Hakase, his thumb hovering over the button. Ai, though, knew exactly who he was. She unconsciously relaxed somewhat.
"That's not going to work," the man said. "I took the time to look at that bat, Agasa-hakase and took out the mechanism that made it go…" He, without turning around, showed them a spring between his gloved fingers. "It's just a regular metal bat. It will still hurt like hell, but by the time you start to swing it, I would be right behind you and probably knock you out with this stun watch I came across and improved upon." He raised his other gloved hand to show the spare stun watch. "It shoots up to 20 darts now!"
He lowered his hands and then lifted one up, pointing to the left of him. They followed where he was pointing and gasped. On the counter there was a candlelight dinner for two, nice and neatly arranged.
"It's for you two, especially you, Ai-chan. It's kind of cold, though; I made it about an hour ago, while you're asleep. When I realized that you weren't going to wake up, I purposely made some noise. Go on! Eat up! It ain't poisonous."
Hakase gave a worrying look at Ai. She said nothing as she walked to the counter and sat on the tall stool and gave onelong look at the plate. There was rice, pickled vegetables and chicken drenched in some sort of garlic sauce. Her stomach kept urging her to eat it. And so she did.
"Ai-kun?" asked the old man in shock. There was silence as another stool scraped the floor as he sat down and started to eat. Ai had to admit, the food was good, a little cold granted, but still good.
"I'm glad I've fed you two so… my first job here is done." The man flipped through the channels until coming across a channel with the news. He smirked. He said nothing more as he watched. Aicontinued eating, a little faster because she wanted to talk to him… and she was a little hungry. Hakasegently leaned to the side.
"Ai-kun, do you know who he is…?" he asked worriedly. She knew that he held his cell phone, and would quickly call Kudou-kun's number to warn him of trouble. She gently grabbed his hand and shook her head. He wasn't here to hurt them, probably just to talk. He nodded in understanding and they finished their meal in silence, afterwards taking their plates to the kitchen.
"Who are you and what do you want with us?" the professor asked carefully. He had every right to be cautious, Ai knew. But the man seemed to be taking his time in answering. He had stopped watching the news and started flipping through the channels again.
He sighed. "My former codename is Champagne and I'm here to see Sherry."
"NANI?" Hakasecried, face pale with shock. So was hers but for a different reason. The old man immediately reached for his phone to call Kudou-kun.
"Hakase! No!" Ai cried. But it was too late. A small sound was heard and the professor gasped in shock, collapsing on the floor, the familiar stun dart in the center of his forehead. He would be asleep for about thirty minutes. She turned to the man as he lowered his hand, a frown on his face. Giving her this frown, she said, "He will be out for about thirty minutes, maybe more."
A satisfied smile crept up followed with a chuckle. Turning off the TV, he threw something at her. She caught and looked at it; it was the spring for Hakase's bat. Looking up at him she realized he was fidgeting, not looking at her, as if in shame. Without thinking, she ran up to him and hugged him. Tears threaten to flow down her cheeks.
But he lied to us! A part of her mind cried.He abandoned Nee-san and I! He left us alone!
"Why?" she mumbled through her sudden sobs. "After all this time, you came back?" She felt the tears flow but she didn't care. She squeezed his leg, hard. "You could have taken us with you! Then Nee-chan wouldn't have died!" She was yelling now. "Why? WHY ARE YOU HERE?" That last question echoed throughout the house. She refused to look at his face, she didn't know which would be worse, seeing him truly remorseful or showing her his usual smiling face just to cheer her up.
"Ai-chan." Why wasn't he using her real name? A hand fell on her head. She finally chose to look at his expression.
She didn't expect that his mouth stayed as a straight line or that his eyes were still hidden by the baseball cap. "At the time, I thought you'd be safer with Them. It's actually a lot more dangerous to be with me. Plus you know now they are like relentless dogs; you're 'valuable' to them. Do you think they would have let this go if they found out that I took you? I'm sure now that you know who I am; you can also see that my life is dangerous enough as it is.
A target for other ruthless bastards and…" In a move that surprised her, he went down on one knee and pulled her into his embrace. "The fear of losing you… it would have been just like that time.…"
Ai understood but she was still angry. "You have every reason to hate me; I deserve it. If you don't want to see 'Onii-chan' again, just say it and I'll be gone. At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing."
"And you did." The man looked at her as she stared at him straight in the eyes; she lifted his cap to see his face. He looked honestly surprised. "If Nee-chan was here she would have forgiven you. So would I and we wouldn't hate you." She gave her usually dreaded – deadpan - evil look (Kudou-kun called it that, she didn't know why) and he gulped. "I'm still angry at you and I want some compensation. A nice Gucci bag would be nice." It was finished with the evil smile.
The man burst out laughing. He rose from his position and dusted himself off, chuckling. "Of course, of course." He then turned serious. "I would advise you not to go to the party, since I see that Hakase-san got an invite."
"He's friends with one of the invitees."
"But you've been pushed by the kids to go, ne?" A nod. "You do care about them a lot." Another nod. She would try to protect them from the dangers that might follow because of her past… her eyes widened as she gave the man a horrified look.
"So you realized? The party will become a nice little focal point for everything to converge. Be careful then." He threw something at her and she caught it. It was a jewelry box. "It's a gift. It'll be very useful for us all." She opened it to see a nice pair of ruby red earrings. The little girl was speechless. Not only was it a beautiful gift but it was from her Onii-san. She felt happy but suppressed it.
She looked up just in time to see Onii-san lifting the watch towards her. "To answer one of those questions, I told Hakase the truth because I want Bespectacled-san to keep his guard up. As I've said and you can tell him yourself later, the party will be a focal point. He is a fine protector, that Silver Bullet." He pressed the button and she felt a prick on her forehead. As she fell, darkness welcoming her, his voice rang out.
"I'll tell you everything when the darkness leads to light. Now get some sleep."
À Une Heure Moins Le Quart Du Matin
Bourbon noticed in mild surprise that the lights were suddenly out next door to the house. It didn't matter though as he had the information he needed. His theories were proven true, Sherry is a little girl as well as the mysterious child Edogawa-kun being Shin'ichi Kudou being a little boy. The apotoxin did what it was originally meant to do.
But Champagne…
Pure horror etched on his face. The operative thought dead was still alive. Essentially it was improbable that it could have happened, this person was killed execution style, or so he heard. He suspect that Champagne did some sort of illusion to probably escape.
Rumors said he was like that.
Quietly smiling, he stopped the tape and placed it in a small pile of other tapes, irreversible proof of Sherry. He decided to go to the library room in the Kudou house to have a small glass of a congratulatory glass of Bourbon. He had been staying in the house for about two months since his apartment was burned down. Edogawa-kun had given him the keys to "Shin'ichi-niichan"'s house to stay for a while as he looked for a new apartment. He really did like that apartment, though. Reaching his destination, with a small glass of ice already in his hand, he poured his cup. Navigating to a couch in the living room, he sat to enjoy the darkness and the taste, occasionally glancing out the window to the sliver of light coming from the waning moon. He wondered how the Kid heist will go for Saturday.
"Will justice prevail or will chaos resume?" he murmured to himself, about to take a sip.
"I wonder personally myself."
Bourbon's eyes widened but he couldn't turn his head to the source of the sound, reason being that there was a gun neatly pressed to the back of his head. He also recognized the voice. How did he come here so fast?
"Champagne." He said quietly. He felt a gloved hand snatch his glass.
"You must be the recent member, Bourbon," he said in false cheeriness. "I hope you had fun listening in to our conversations. Did you know eavesdropping is a big no-no?" He heard footsteps as Champagne walked around the couch and sat next to him, his gun never once leaving Bourbon's head. It had instead moved to under his chin. This person was using the shadows well, combined with the dark clothes he knew the ex-member was wearing; he was essentially invisible, save for the soft glow of the glass/ice cubes in his hand and his dully shinning teeth.
Leaning back, Champagne drank the glass whole. "That's good!" he cried in glee. Bourbon, during that small exchange began to formulate a counter plan, mostly involving moving the gun away from him and alerting the authorities, plus some of the members. He realized that the hand holding the gun was surprisingly lax. He began to move his hand slowly to shadowy figure's hand.
"Subaru Okiya…" the man said slowly, grin never leaving the exposed lips. "You were going to take my gun, right?" The pink haired man froze. "Go ahead! Break my fingers in the process!"
A debate raged. He's bluffing! cried one side. He is telling the truth! exclaimed the other. Right now he wasn't so sure. There were too many factors that were not helping the decision, starting with Champagne sounding unnaturally jovial and his hidden and controlled movements. "What is your game?"
"Game?" the man shrugged. "No game, well not with you guys. Vermouth likes to play games. I usually get right to the point." The mask-like grin edged wider. "Who am I kidding? I like to play games too, but usually there's a point. You're distracting yourself with your choice, Okiya-san. To take or not to take the gun, that is the question. You have 10 seconds, before I make the decision for you."
Not enough time! He had to choose! With a frown, he grabbed the gun… and it easily slipped from Champagne's fingers into his.
Nani?
Without saying anything, the figure took out a cigarette, and lit it with a lighter. It closed with a hard snap.
Then it happened.
A hissing sound was heard. Bourbon gave a sharp gasp before almost throwing the gun as he felt some sort of gas hit his face. At least he tried to. He couldn't move his fingers holding the gun nor his entire body. He heard Champagne sigh.
"You shouldn't have gasped, then the paralysis gas would have taken longer." Without another word, he took back the gun. "This will last for about thirty minutes, maybe less. Whether you have chosen or not, I still would have gassed you." After placing the gun in the back of his pants, he rose and disappeared from Bourbon's field of vision.
How could he let himself be tricked like this? Completely unable to command his body to move, he instead tried to shout at Champagne. It failed; he couldn't make a sound beyond a pathetic whimper.
It was most likely ten minutes into this that Champagne returned, not before turning on a few lamps in the room, giving the place a much more illuminated presence. It also revealed Champagne and concluded a few things in Bourbon's mind. The person himself looked muscular but a little thin; the black clothes he wore were form-fitting but most likely flexible; he could only see the lower part of his face, his mouth and he was still wearing that plastic grin. Bourbon also saw that this person held a six shooter and placed in four bullets, humming all the while.
"Space, fake, real, space, fake, real. Let's play another game, my friend. It's called 'Russian Roulette'. Whoever gets the real bullet to the head, loses." Bourbon's eyes widened a tiny fraction. Is he mad? He will risk his life to destroy us?
"If you are going to create a plan that involves putting others on the line, you need to make sure you put yourself out there, too. It doesn't work if you don't do so, and failure is more likely. At the same time, you should have a plan that whether success or failure, you win."
He closed the circular bullet holder and spun it. The loud noise from it reminded Bourbon of a spinner wheel, its pointer heading towards its random target. "I did die, you know. But now I've returned, except with just an empty gun. I'm searching for some certain bullets that are of the right materials to take you down. I know some of your ins and outs, but that's not enough.
"This gun is real and unrigged. I'll start." The holder was slowing down as he placed it to his temple and pulled the trigger.
CLICK!
He got a space.
"Humph." He spun it again.
Bourbon had to move! He felt his left finger was twitching; that was a start. And he could move his mouth.
"Cham… pagne…!" The figure turned slightly in his direction, cocking his head to the side.
"Oh! It's wearing off a bit. You must have been really persistent."
"You…'re mad!" The figure pouted.
"You did all that just to say something that I already know," he said thinly. The bi-speckled man felt something vibrating in his pocket.
Champagne strolled to him and dug around in Subaru's pocket, fishing out the ringing cellphone. He spent only a few seconds on staring at the caller ID, before opening it.
"Moshi, Moshi," the figure said in the paralyzed man's voice.
Short pause. "Gin."
Pause. "That person sent us…. Hold on." With a few button presses, he found what he was looking for. "I apologize. I was too busy absorbed in one of my books."
The real Bourbon saw his hands becoming normal and he still tried to talk.
"GIN." He may not like to ask for help from the other members but he had no other choice. The man looked his way. Without a second thought, he aimed the gun at Bourbon's head.
"I see, Gin. Then, I'll be right on it. Whoever hacked into our systems shall be eliminated." Champagne suddenly smiled, waltzing towards Bourbon, the gun now just 1 cm from his head.
Something cold settled in the bi-speckled man's stomach. He knew what the ex-operative was going to do and there was nothing he could do about it. He once again gave a whimper, weaker than before.
"By the way, Gin," the person said, leaning forward a bit to show that smiling mask in Bourbon's face. "Do you like Champagne?"
He pulled the trigger.
And everything went black.
A Deux Heures Et Demie Du Matin
"I think there is a relationship between that thief and the scientist Nee-chan, Kudou."
"What makes you say that, Hattori?"
"The way she reacted when she heard that guy's voice and saw his face on the computer. There's a connection."
"!"
"Ya were too busy staring holes into the TV to really notice anything. That's why I was looking at his body language and his reactions in that duel."
"What do you think?"
Conan's eyes snapped open. With a frown, he glared at the cause of his recent bout of insomnia.
Why the hell am I sleeping with him again?
The 'him' in question gave a loud train-engine-snore to answer the boy's question. Toyoma-chan was lucky. Ran had insisted that she and the other girl share Ran's room… while the boys shared the living room floor with Mouri-san. Result: Conan being unable to sleep a wink while Hattori… wait.
He looked over the middle aged man to look at his detective partner. A lovely vein made its presence known on the boy's head. The Osakan had earplugs in his ears and a contented smile on his lips. It took all of the child's self control not to throw a pillow at him.
But thatreason was not just Occhan'ssnoring. He needed a QUIET place to think and the only place to do so was downstairs in the office. A secretsneak, key fishing, and a quiet tip-toeing later had the faux-child in the office staring at one of the windows with its blinds open, revealing the sliver of the waning moon.
Quietly sitting on the chair behind the desk, Conan just stared… and sighed.
He could not believe he had let himself be tricked by that THIEFto lose that match. Thinking back on it now with the new information that Occhan told them, it was most likely that Lupin-san had to end it early to visit the police station. But why did he need to go there?
Then there was his behavior at the station. A lot more coaxing from the then-drunken man revealed this.
"'To find who I have lost and to kill who I have found.'" Conan quietly recited. That little phrase was the key and it helped explained that half second of shock Lupin-san exhibited when Conan told the thief his own suspicions on his presence in Beika.
And how does Haibara fit into this picture? AT ALL? The thief was looking for her adult form. The fact that he somehow found out about Conan really being Shin'ichi could extend itself to her. Does she fall under that statement? If so, then who is the other person Lupin-san is interested in?
Was Lupin-san part of the Organization? He came to the luncheon dressed in black and he was looking for Haibara, but it did not mean he was part of it. But you could never tell. This was more because of his paranoia than logical thinking.
Conan began to pinch his nose. He was gaining a headache. Perfect.
But overall…
The thief was good. Really good. In a sense, he was just like Kid. Then again, their styles were based upon the original Arsene Lupin. Conan was actually looking forward to the mental challenge these two thieves would bring to the party. To say that they have the advantage would have been an understatement, as Hattori expected. The teen-turned-child grinned despite the growing headache. Hattori and he had just thought of a plan to counter this handicap.
But again…
That growing uneasiness once again madeits presence known. Something bad will happen. Something that will probably involve everyone. He frowned. If he figures out Lupin-san'smessage then maybe Conan can take the necessary steps to protect everyone. But he was still missing pieces.
Then his phones vibrated. He honestly didn't know why he took them with him, it was a just in case.
Looking at his Conan phone first shown it was a text from Haibara herself. It just read:
'Need to speak to you later today.
-Haibara'
That was short and to the point. Okay….
Then staring at his Shin'ichi phone, it was a text from an unregistered number. This was strange. Very few people knew of this phone's existence; it was also unregistered. Conan's eyes thinned as he cautiously opened the mail. His eyes widened like saucers and his hands shook, nearly dropping the phone.
'The party is going to be a focal point for everything to converge
dear, Conan Edogawa. The crows will gather, blackening the sky, we all will be in danger.
What will you do, Silver Bullet?
-C'
A Trois Heures et Quart du Matin
They sat around the table, wary glances at each othersfaces. Rising to their feet, the three tensed.
I must win this, they thought individually. The prize sat quietly and innocently in the middle of the table, waiting to be used, not caring that it is the cause of this rivalry.
"Alright," one of the men said. "This is the last bout between us. Whoever wins will get the remote. Got it?"
The second man grunted, dragging on his cigarette, lifting his fedora hat higher to expose the determined eyes underneath. The third man gave one sharp nod, eyes snapping open, with the same amount of determination. The speaker himself grinned, hands at his side, shaking them slightly.
"Ready?" cried the first man, as he lifted his arm. The others did as well.
"ROCK! FOR MY DETECTIVE SHOWS!"
"PAPER! FOR MY WESTERNS!" screamed the fedora man.
"SCISSORS! FOR MY SAMURAI MOVIES!" cried the third man. Their arms trust out with speed unimaginable.
This was it! The winner will be…
BAM! BAM! BAM!
What… was… that? The three men were in shock as they fell to the floor. Three round things rolled in front of them. Focusing on these turned out to be red rubber balls. Footsteps came closer as the 'winner' grabbed the remote and plopped on the couch. Legs crossed, that person flipped the channel, to… to… that dreaded…
"OH! One Life to Live! In English!" squealed Fujiko. "I missed this episode earlier today. Glad they show late night runs."
"What the FUCK?" growled Jigen as he sat up, a red circular mark neatly shown on the left side of his cheek. "We are not watching that soap opera crap!"
Goemon nodded in agreement, same mark on his forehead.
"Fujiko-chan!" whined Lupin, same mark on the right side. "Why'd you do that? I was going to win!"
"Hell no you weren't!" Jigen grunted. "I was going to win!"
"Fujiko, may I ask what took you?" Goemon interjected. "And I was going to defeat you all."
"My date took longer than I thought. I called to let you know but no one was home." She gave a long look to Lupin. "I thought you said you would be here for the rest of the day."
"Something else came up," the thief said dismissively. "I'm glad you're here. I just came up with something that we could do for tonight. It was on the fly and I thought that it would be really interesting." He told them his plan.
"Good idea," the gunman smirked. "What do we need to do?"
"Nothing actually." Lupin plopped next to Fujiko and snatched the remote from her hand. "All you have to do is show up at the designated place at 5 later today." His finger hovered over the channel button. With a frown, he placed the plastic thing back on the table. "I've already made the necessary arrangements."
"Lupin!" Fujiko squeeled and glomped him. "One step closer to the diamonds! Oh!" She stared at him straight in the eyes. "What about that girl you were looking for?"
"I found her Fujiko," he said, exasperated. "She won't ruin the heist, if that's what you were thinking!"
"Lupin!" she whined. Her mouth closed with a click when she stared at the thief.
"SHE WON'T RUIN THE HEIST," Lupin said quietly with a flat smile, eyes unreadable except with a hint of anger. "If you don't believe me then it's better if you don't participate at all. Got it?"
The woman nodded dumbly while the swordsman and gunman stared at their leader in mild shock. Fujiko rose and stretched a bit pretending the last few seconds didn't happen. "I'm going to bed." She rushed to one of the three bedrooms the apartment had.
A moment passed until Jigen said, "Where were you for the past few hours in the afternoon?"
A long exhale and Lupin sat back on the couch, arm over his eyes. He rummaged through his left-side red jacket pocket and showed it. The other two looked over it for a few seconds.
"Kid asked you for an audience in the police station," Goemonmurmured. "Then what happened after?"
"A competition of who can pull the best tricks and pranks," he answered without looking at them. "He didn't give me the specific time… but I still agreed. I'm interested in what he has in store for me." Rummaging inside his jacket produced a small stack of papers. Jigen took it and skimmed.
"These are…!" Raising an eyebrow, he looked at the man. Personally, he filed the disheveled man's appearance for later musing. "Then the place is…"
"Yep."
"Then you will be out for the rest of today, right Lupin?"
"Yeah, Goemon. I'm going to be there early if I want to start." Lifting his arm to expose an eye, he added. "What about you two?"
"Find some new bars to frequent."
"Wander around for a bit. I noticed a new shop to buy some more clothes for myself."
Jigen and Lupin stared at the samurai for a long moment. Then they laughed. Jigen noticed that Lupin's laugh sounded unnaturally forced and flat. Another thing to file for later about the guy's strange behavior; he will get to the bottom of this.
"I'm sleeping on the couch this time." Lupin said plainly. He waved his arm dismissively. "Good night." The two nodded and went to the other unoccupied rooms.
Only two minutes passed until he took the remote and turned off the TV reclaiming his previous position. Another two passed as he gave a dead chuckle. A minute and then he gave a choked sob and half a minute he murmured a thank you; all this while Jigen and Goemon watched quietly.
A Quatre Heures Moins Le Quart Du Matin
This couldn't be right!
How can my predictions be wrong so fast?
Lucifer had told me what will happen during the heist. The wolf will win over the dove but has a darker aim, to destroy a shape shifting crow.
Everything has changed drastically. The wolf, the dove and the raven will be in danger! The crows will destroy them all! All because of a shifty fox, a white colored raven, and a bloody gem. And the poor wolf cannot do anything as the past repeats itself.
How had the future so set in stone changed in a matter of three hours!
I must investigate this! Even if it takes all night, I will find out!
Notes:
A. A reviewer liked the darker portrayal I have for some of these characters. Me too. Everyone should note that the Lupin characters were originally a lot darker back then than they were now! And that we really don't know a thing about them. I like how this gives a lot of leeway for many writers using them to portray them, as long as their central personalities remain intact, of course!
B. Please review my French to see if it's correct, if you can. There is a reason I did this and it will be revealed later.
C. I'm sorry it took this long. My interest for this story waxed and waned throughout the year of 2010, as well a college interfering. I'm back for now. This chapter wasn't written in my notebook and this usually takes a lot longer to complete then what was already written down. I hope this chapterpleases you. Please critique.
D. Next up: Today is the fabled competition and Kaito couldn't be happier. But what's this, the introduction of another familiar blond and a mysterious new teacher! It's the start of an arc called the Playday next time on Conan vs. Kid vs. Lupin!