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The room was mostly silent, the only noises cutting through the quiet were the sounds of Fujiko’s nail filer at work and Goemon diligently cleaning his Zantetsuken. They were both taking up the loveseat and couch respectively, Fujiko hogging up all the space by laying on her stomach and lazily kicking a foot in the air as she worked and Goemon sat in the middle of the couch, his legs pulled up and crossed. That arrangement left Jigen to settle with the recliner, his legs swung over one of the armrests and facing the black screen of the tv, the remote hanging loosely in his grasp as he contemplated whether to turn it on or not.
For all intents and purposes it was the picture perfect image of a relaxed lazy day and it really should have been if it weren’t for certain details. The most glaring of them being the fact that Fujiko was still here, usually she only stuck around for an extended period of time after a successful heist or during the planning period beforehand and even then only for a few days before she was off stealing the riches of gullible billionaires again. There was also the way she was currently holding herself, Jigen had noticed the way her eyes would linger on the door every other minute and her filing would slow for several seconds before picking up speed and then slow again. He knows that she won’t admit it out loud but she was worried and for once Jigen couldn’t blame her, he was worried too but he wouldn’t admit to that either. He had to resist the urge to pull out his magnum with every minute noise, not that it was out of the norm but usually he’s able to identify what’s a threat before going for his gun.
Goemon was also in the same boat as them, his shoulders were tense under his cool facade, he looked ready to spring into action at any moment. They were all wound up and all for the same reason.
Lupin.
It has only been three weeks or so since the incident with Tomoe went down and Lupin’s wounds had just barely started healing, namely the bullet wound in his chest, it was a miracle the man hadn’t bled out that day but Lupin always seemed to manage to pull those out of thin air like they were nothing more than loose pocket change. He refuses to wonder what would happen if those miracles ever ran out.
Jigen knows Lupin has made it out fine after taking similar injuries and worse ones too, but this time around he also had to deal with other types of wounds that weren’t just physical in nature. Lupin might think he pulled the wool over all of their eyes, but they had all seen how he struggled to bounce back during those first few days, no amount of his acting prowess could cover up the lost look in his eyes or the strained edge of his smiles. Though makeup did manage to cover up the bags under his eyes, it still hadn’t escaped their sharp notice.
His flamboyant theatrics which he usually used to sweep them up into their next scheme also didn’t have much life behind them either, not that it mattered much since they all refused to go on any heists until Lupin was back to a hundred percent health. That line of reasoning was met with a disbelieving huff from the man himself along with several protests before he gave up in the face of his friends united front on the matter, not even Fujiko budged when Lupin tried tempting her with some of their potential targets treasures.
Which led them to now, Lupin seemed to be doing better today mentally, some of the life that had been finding their way back to his eyes steadily over the days seemed to solidify and his smiles were genuine. He wasn’t back to being the personification of a reckless showboating peacock but it was good progress nonetheless.
But with that progress also came along with the increase of Lupin’s growing restlessness, they had all played some poker earlier that day which resulted in another loss for the man but instead of whining about it like he usually would, a look of realization had bloomed on his face, a look that usually led to disaster.
“Hey I know, instead of cooking something why don’t I run out and get us all something? My treat!” Lupin grinned and went to puff out his chest before thinking better of it and settling with shooting them all a wink as he stood up, already rushing for the door before anyone could protest, “Alright I’ll be right backseeyalaterbye!”
“Lupin, wait!” Fujiko called out but it had been too late, the dumb idiot was gone. They could’ve gone out after him, his chest wound was still tender and Lupin shouldn’t be doing anything too strenuous at the moment, but it was just a food run and maybe that would settle his restlessness for a while. Plus just how much trouble could he get in while getting food?
Jigen almost felt like slapping himself. They shouldn’t have let him go, at least not alone, but just as he was about to get up and tell the others about how dumb they were to let the thief go out on his own right now, the window behind him burst into shards of glass.
Reacting quickly, Jigen drew his gun out and spun around to face the intruder, the sound of Fujiko getting out her own gun and Goemon leaping up with Zantetsuken in hand could be heard behind him as he focused on the crouched figure of the intruder. His head was bowed as he slowly rose up from the floor, and Jigen almost stepped back in surprise when he saw his face, Fujiko’s gasp and a startled noise from Goemon let him know he wasn’t the only one.
The man held too much of a resemblance to Lupin, his hair was peppered with white and his face appeared to be fixed in a permanent frown and wrinkled but otherwise he looked like what Lupin could look like when he’s older. If this was who Jigen could only guess this was then he could only be grateful that Lupin wasn’t here right now, his partner’s desire to move around turned out to be a boon, now he just had to hope they could deal with this before he got back.
“Who are you? Identify yourself!” Goemon had recovered from his surprise and moved on to questioning their intruder. He wasn’t stupid, he knew who this could possibly be but confirmation wouldn’t hurt.
The man put up his hands in a placating manner and tried smiling, it didn’t fit his face in the slightest, “Relax, I’m not here to hurt any of you as long as you cooperate with me and as for who I am? I’m Lupin The Second, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
His face betrayed exactly how much of a displeasure it actually was, his smile edging into a grimace and his eyes scanned the room searchingly.
None of them let their guard down, if anything they tensed up even more at the confirmation. Jigen grit his teeth, for Lupin’s… Father to show up out of the blue couldn’t mean anything good, and so close after Tomoe too. Committing matricide was something Lupin was still processing, regardless whether Tomoe was or wasn’t his real mother she was still close enough that it left Lupin reeling. The guy had enough trauma related to parental figures, he didn’t need more, though Jigen was sure Lupin would scoff if he had heard that and say something about being more resilient than that.
“And for what purpose have you seeked us out?” Goemon continued to question, his voice was steady and his sword was pointed at The Second menacingly, he could feel Fujiko slinking closer to them.
The Second’s eyes flickered down to Zantetsuken for a moment, something unidentifiable but dangerous crossing his eyes before looking up and meeting their gazes once more. “… It seems like your samurai friend has something of mine, but I’ll deal with that after I get what I need,” The Second said lazily as he stepped closer, hands still raised but unbothered at the weapons pointed at him.
“I have nothing of yours, but again what are you here for,” Goemon stressed, his grip on Zantetsuken tightening as The Second took another step.
“Why, it should be obvious! I’m here for my dear son of course!” The Second said with a smile that showed off too much teeth, greed becoming clear in his face once he revealed his objective. Jigen had to keep himself from shooting the smug grin off the man’s face right there and then. There it is again, someone’s greedy desire to control Lupin, to have him under someone’s thumb for their own gain, it’s a look he saw on Tomoe’s face right before she was shot and it’s a look he sees reflected on The Second’s face right at that very moment. It makes his skin crawl.
“Alright then but why are you looking for Lupin after all this time? Why now?” Fujiko spoke up, a frown covering her face as she passed up the idea of acting as anything but cautious.
“I heard what happened to Tomoe,” The Second took a moment to close his eyes and shake his head sadly, not giving anything away to what his relationship to her could be, “And I think this would be as good a time as any to come back, I’m sure Arséne will be… Happy to see me.”
Hearing the use of Lupin’s first name out loud was strange, he never quite seemed to like being referred to by it and not even Tomoe had used it for him during their confrontation, it was almost like he refused to acknowledge that he even had a first name. Which is why hearing it be used so casually from a man that Lupin could practically call a stranger, if the overwhelming lack of information about him that weren’t stories told to him by his grandfather was anything to go by, was unsettling.
A breeze brought him out of his thoughts and next thing he knew Goemon had the man pressed against the wall, Zantetsuken resting dangerously close to his throat.
“Stop with the lies, you want something from him don’t you? What is it that you want from Lupin?” Goemon asked grimly, he wasn’t going to risk any chances with this man, especially not after everything that had happened. The Second only raised an amused eyebrow, he strained to look down at the sword keeping him against the wall, “It seems like my boy has gained some loyal underlings.”
Jigen bristled at his words and Fujiko took another step forward at them, her face scrunched up in distaste.
“We’re not his underlings, we’re partners,” Goemon corrected harshly, he looked one more push away from decapitating his captive. Jigen wonders if the man had a death wish or was he just that overconfident.
“Really? That’s a shame and here I thought that boy had learned how to be a proper thief,” Disappointment laced his voice as he clicked his tongue, “I knew the old man would twist it around in his head but I was hoping Tomoe would’ve corrected that.”
“Leave. Leave now and don’t come back.” Goemon put more pressure on Zantetsuken until he broke skin, a thin cut forming on The Seconds throat before backing away, joining him and Fujiko. For his part The Second only looked mildly irritated, “Excuse me?”
“You heard him, get out before we decide to deal with you ourselves,” Jigen ground out, he would love nothing more than to put a bullet between the man’s eyes but it wasn’t his place to do that. It was none of their places except Lupin’s, but even then it shouldn’t be. Patricide shouldn’t be something he has to do after Tomoe.
“No I’m not leaving until you tell me where my son is and I get back what’s mine,” now freed, The Second reached for his gun but with quick reaction time Jigen shot it out of his hand, and a bullet between his legs joined it from Fujiko’s own gun.
“That was a warning shot. Get out.” Fujiko threatened.
“I’ll admit I’m cornered, but I’m not giving up, it’s not the Lupin way,” The Second slowly crouched down and retrieved his gun before slinking out the window, he shot them one last glare before disappearing.
Even after he was long gone, they remained in their positions.
“We don’t tell Lupin.” Jigen broke the silence and the other two nodded in agreement.
The door slamming open made them all spin around with their weapons still drawn before relaxing at the sight of Lupin standing in the doorway. Their Lupin.
He held a bag of takeout in one hand which was normal enough, except he was also covered in a pink foamy substance, he was missing his shoes and one hand was pressed against his chest as he slumped against the doorway.
“Oh hey guys, I got the food,” He said in between light gasps and held up the bag like a trophy before he properly looked at the state of the room. He stared at the broken window and at the bullet hole in the wall next to it.
“What happened here?”
“Spider.” They all said at the same time.
“The bullet hole I get then but why the window?” Lupin questioned as he set the food down on the coffee table and padded his way over to the window, “and why is the glass inside?”
“We tried getting it from the outside at first,” Fujiko lied weakly with an innocent smile.
Lupin looked at them all suspiciously, “Uh huh, okay then.”
He clearly didn’t believe them but was dropping it for now. He looked back out the window, “Well dig in before it gets cold… er.”
He walked closer to the window once he heard his friends attack the bag, careful not to step on any of the glass he looked closely at the windowsill. It was almost unnoticeable but Lupin saw it, the tiny “LII” stamped onto the wood. His eyes narrowed.
He discreetly wiped it away with his thumb before joining the rest of his gang. He wouldn’t think about it for now.