When Jigen started pairing up with Lupin, he met Death less and less frequently.

It surprised him at first, that Lupin saw him as more than just a gunman to use and replace. The early days were awkward at best. Lupin had already decided on a long-term collaboration with his new right-hand man, but Jigen was still tormented by all the treasons and sellouts he had been the object of. Their personalities were complete opposites, and it took time before they understood each other's boundaries.

But Lupin the Third was such a lovable sonofagun that it didn't take long before Jigen saw himself starting to smile again. The thief had a natural charm and he was just enough of a bastard to excel in what he was doing. His acts were pure and his word of gold. He made Jigen trust him as easily as if they were childhood friends. He had one thing in mind and one thing only: them, partners, forever.

Jigen couldn't believe that the thief was human at first. It was hard for him to accept that he had finally found someone he clicked with. Every person he had ever worked for had betrayed him at some point, resulting in a myriad of scars scattered all around his body. But he knew he was safe with Lupin. For the first time in forever, he could sleep in the same room as someone else without worrying about his imminent death. He was safe. Lupin the Third was somebody who actually took care of him and didn't leave him behind each time, so there was little to no reason for Jigen to end up at Death's threshold each week or so.

It didn't mean that it didn't happen. Jigen had his fair share of injuries, even under Lupin's new protection. He had been severely burned by a newby named Pycal. A lot of various objects had exploded directly in his face – flowers, a rugby balloon and a lot of cars. He had been under policemen's fire several times. He had been tied up, electrocuted, betrayed, drowned – that one had been really close, Death had almost used her scythe on him. He even jumped from a helicopter once and passed through a skyscraper's windows at full speed, resulting in glass embedded everywhere on his body and multiple days of recovery.

.

Death didn't seem bothered by their meetings becoming less frequent. In fact, she looked quite happy to know that Jigen wasn't on the verge of death so often anymore. Moreover, since Jigen's help with dealing with Immortal Jiles, she often made time in her calendar – whatever that meant – to appear out of nowhere to talk with him. It was a mystery to Jigen how she managed to do her job and visit him at the same time like that.

The subject of their discussion was often centered around the gunman's new adventures with Lupin. She was herself an invisible guest of those, so Jigen just cleared with her what she had missed. Sometimes it was about the heist itself, sometimes about their enemies, and even sometimes about how the thief's genius brain had managed to awe him once again.

Then, with time, the terrible Fujiko Mine joined the topics of their conversation, then the prodigious samurai Goemon Ishikawa and even – occasionally– a persistent inspector from the ICPO. Jigen was rambling. About good times and how scared he was that reality would catch them someday. Death was the only one he could tell those things to. She was her longest and closest friend. The one that he could trust and whose intentions were an absolute certainty.

Death was more than glad to hear so much about Jigen's life. Through him, she felt the thrill of living and having friends to rely on. She had been Death for so long now that she couldn't remember her time as a human, or if she even had one. She appreciated each of their meetings so much that she forgot that Jigen was merely human and that, some day, their meetings would stop.

.

It had started like it often did, with Lupin sending a card. Although this time, the situation had quickly slipped through their fingers. They were targeting a gang called 'The Sharks', led by 'Steeljaw Finn', a guy so crazy that he had his teeth replaced with those of a shark. His mansion was filled to the brim with various sea animal trophies, but also fishing rods, golden baits, nets and more fishing stuff than necessary.

Anyway, Finn had been more prepared than they thought. Fujiko had been sniffed out and captured. Goemon, usually so calm and trusting, hadn't accepted Lupin's plan. He feared for Fujiko's safety and thought that Lupin's plan was too slow to start. Jigen was with him on this one. Steeljaw Finn had a bad reputation, and sometimes acted more violently than necessary to make his point. Waiting wasn't a game he was willing to play with this guy. Knowing that Fujiko was in his hands was making all of them itchy however, Goemon's decision to go alone was something neither Lupin nor Jigen had expected. The samurai couldn't have chosen a better time to be rebellious. He had gone alone, katana blazing, and gotten captured nonetheless. Lupin had Finn's voicemail to prove it. It was up to the original duo to save the day, with a plan that was leaving the gunman anxious.

.

On the evening before the heist, Jigen was smoking outside on the balcony. His guts were telling him to turn back and run away. His guts had never been wrong before. They were the reason he was still alive after all this time. Lupin had learned to trust Jigen's instincts, but this time there was too much on the line. They couldn't run away and they didn't have time to make another plan. That left Jigen chain-smoking out of stress and eyeing the mansion above the sea that was their objective tomorrow.

He heard the door open, and the characteristic light footsteps of his boss joining him. Lupin appeared at his side, with his ever-present cat-like grin and two glasses of their best wine, as well as the bottle to go with it. Jigen would have prefered scotch but red wine was one of Lupin's favorites, and his boss looked like he needed it more than him.

"Jigen-chan! Isn't it a beautiful night?"

Jigen didn't respond. He took his glass but didn't drink from it. Instead, he went back to watch the mansion. Now was not the time to have a chit-chat about the stars and shit.

"Ooooh! I know someone who's angry!"

Lupin tried to mess with his cigarette. Jigen batted his hand away with a growl.

"Alright. Not in the mood, okay."

They stayed in silence for a while. Lupin took a cigarette out of his own pack, one of the shitty french brands he was so proud of. Jigen took up the binoculars that he had used all day. He knew the mansion by heart now, and it was painful to admit that the shitty bastard had really good taste. The mansion was well-decorated with a balcony right above the sea. Since the mansion was perched on a cliff, the balcony led directly to the water below. Jigen guessed the balcony was not used to dive from. The sharp-looking rocks underneath didn't look so appealing.

Jigen had looked at the mansion for a while now. He knew the pattern of the guards as well. Doing surveillance work was keeping him grounded. He didn't know how Lupin could lie down like that when Fujiko and Goemon were both at the hands of their enemy.

"Are your guts still telling you it's a bad idea?" Lupin asked out of the blue.

"I've never had a stronger bad feeling about a mission before, Lu."

Lupin fiddled with his cigarette. He passed it from one finger to the other like one would do with a coin. He looked lost in thoughts, but Jigen knew better than to trust whatever look the famous thief had on his face.

"We're prepared for everything, Jigen. Nothing can go wrong..." Lupin looked like he was trying to comfort both of them, and not only the gunman.

Jigen slowly put his binoculars down. It wasn't the first time that he had seen Lupin hesitant like this. It was weird seeing the man so calm. Jigen sighed soundlessly. He couldn't let Lupin go on a mission with a heavy heart. A timid smile drew itself on his face.

"Have I ever told you about the time people called me the 'Hound Dog of Hell'?"

Lupin looked at him with round eyes. It wasn't often that Jigen willingly talked about his time as a gun for hire. Curious as Lupin was, it had been a hassle to learn not to ask questions about his friend's past. That was what made those moments of confidence so precious.

"No...?" Lupin's voice was bordering the plea.

Jigen took a sip of wine.

"You ever heard of Immortal?"

Lupin agreed with him: Immortal Jiles was a dumb nickname. Jigen managed to tell everything without Lupin interrupting every five seconds. He willingly omitted talking about Death, as it was something that felt a bit too incredible and too personal. Lupin laughed at Jigen's poor display of subtlety and smiled as the gunman told him he broke the medallion. What seemed to amaze him the most was Jigen's calm throughout the whole ordeal.

Of course, Lupin bombarded him with questions. He accepted well enough the reason for Immortal's death – with the medallion being broken and all – but Jigen never said who had asked him to take care of Immortal in the first place. He let it slip that he had been commanded by a girl. Lupin barely contained his excitement over it. Now it was Jigen's turn to feel sour.

"Who was she?!" Lupin asked again.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Lupin groaned miserably. His glass had been empty for a long time, but he still had it in hand. Jigen wondered, with each arm movement that the thief did, if the glass would ever slip from his fingers and crash on the wall.

"C'mon! Don't be like that! I learn that Mr. Daisuke Jigen, professional woman-hater, has a secret girlfriend after all this time, and that she's still alive! You can't stop there!"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Yelled Jigen. "Also, I don't hate women, I'm just extra careful around them. They like to betray me over and over again or die in my hands after telling me that they love me."

Jigen retreated in his glass. It was empty. Shucks. He poured himself another one. Lupin calmed down a bit, but not enough to stop asking questions.

"Jigen-chan, pleaaaase. I won't tell a soul. And maybe... I don't know, we can try to visit her more often. Maybe I could meet her?"

Jigen laughed. Lupin's ignorance was kind of funny.

"She doesn't live anywhere, and if you're lucky enough, you'll only meet her once." Then he grumbled something that sounded like "'Am surprised you've never seen her before, actually..." which was completely ignored by Lupin.

"A charade, okay, I can do that. Let's see... A traveler that you only meet once... You're being extra cryptic today, bud."

The gunman smirked. No way that Lupin would ever find ou–

"Is it Death?"

Jigen coughed, choking on his wine. How the fu–? Lupin laughed and tapped his back.

"Calm down! It's a joke buddy! Even handsome little you can't befriend Death itself!"

Grumpily, Jigen decided to avoid further investigation, and took his binoculars up again, while Lupin started babbling a random list of girl's names to see which one got Jigen's interest. Later in the evening, he whined about how none of them had elicited a reaction as strong as when he had suggested it was Death.

.

The mansion was quite big, it was something of an art piece, and also a reminder that Steeljaw Finn was a crazy fishman. There was a giant net stuck on the ceiling. Giant marble sculptures in every room, fishing rods lined on the wall, and a swimming pool that led on a balcony. The balcony itself was straight above the sea. In the distance, Jigen could see the shitty apartment in which Lupin had spent the evening shouting random girl names. There was a cascade there leading to pointy rocks underneath. Highly dangerous if you asked him. It lacked plants.

Oh, and he was dying.

Lupin's plan had derailed as soon as they had freed their friends. They had deviated from their original escape route and that is how they had found themselves on this damned balcony. Goemon was missing his katana, Fujiko had just been saved by Lupin from being captured again and Jigen... He hadn't seen Finn creeping up on him. Nor had he heard the gunshot, but there was no mistaking the coldness that was spreading from his heart. Weird how the world gets silent when you live your last moments.

His heart had gone silent. It was still trying to beat, but it was slow and uncomfortable. The gunman caught a glimpse of his friends' faces. They were devastated. Lupin was watching him, mouth agape, holding Fujiko with an iron grip. Unprepared. So unlike him. Jigen coughed a bit of blood. Death had appeared at the other side of the room, scythe in hand, dark cloak falling from her shoulders. He couldn't get a good look at her face.

Steeljaw Finn was doing a stupid evil guy monologue, just like any evil boss they had ever fought, and Jigen wanted him to shut up so he could enjoy his last moments in peace. A white blur was moving towards them. It wasn't Death, it was Goemon, who had probably found zantetsuken at some point. He was slashing his way to them. Jigen didn't see the rest. Finn pushed him off the balcony, into the sea below, and Jigen slipped right before the samurai could catch him. The sky was blue.

He hit the water below.