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It wasn’t Jigen’s best work ; it wasn’t even his usual work’s standarts. A botched job, not the “death upon you at the first wrong move” kind, just the type to leave Jigen unsatisfied on all ends : he didn’t have any bullets left in the barrel, he had been running around with cops on his tail for a little under an hour now, and he had to abandon the car when the battle against the tight streets of whatever godforsaken place Lupin dragged them to again was definitely lost.
All this to say that he was pissed, and since a well-deserved glass of wine in front of a cheesy western was in this moment very far away from him, he was in desperate need of an outlet for his pent-up frustration.
The boisterous voice of Pops ricocheting against the silent facades brought a mean smile to Jigen’s lips. Speaking of the devil. Maybe there was a way to save his evening, even a little bit.
The next street he dives into reveals itself to be a dead end closed by a tall wall, locked doors on either side, a true trap with a clear cut exit behind him. Jigen turns around to meet Pops, standing on his own two legs to block the only way out, having outrun the other officers as usual. His breath is not even impaired. The madman is grinning, and that is also usual, a pair of cuffs held tight in his hand.
“Daisuke Jigen, you’re under arrest !”
“Oh no Pops, looks like you’ve got me tis time” he snickers, his teeth tight on his cigarette. Zenigata doesn’t mind the snark -the man is vaccinated by now anyway- and stays where he is, not one to let himself be overjoyed by the prospect of arresting Jigen ; that’s been beaten out of him too, despite the huge smile that he rarely parts ways with when he thinks he’s as close as ever to catch one of them. Jigen lets a smirk twist his lips. Pops won’t have him behind bars tonight, despite what he might think or dream, but he might not get back at the precinct without a little gift all the same.
Jigen didn't like using Lupin's cheap trick to do the job, a well-placed bullet had always been a good enough problem solver in his book, but when push comes to shove... and if he was being honest with himself, he had other options, but it was Pops in front of him. He was the easiest person in the world to fluster, and the most satisfying to embarrass too. Besides, he needs to pass him somehow, he doesn’t have all the time in the world as blaring sirens come closer and closer, and he wants to convince himself that his day hadn’t been wasted, again, by Lupin’s antics. If he failed to steal the targeted loot, he could always steal a little kiss, as a treat.
Without warning he lunges at Pops, dodging the cuffs thrown at his ankle and he grips the man by his lapels. Now, Pops has a mean hook and has never been above fighting like a street rat, so the key to close-range fighting is to unsettle him enough that he forgets to throw a single punch ; luckily for Jigen, startling Zenigata had been the plan from the moment Pops made the mistake to follow him. As Pops’s grin turns into a snarl and his big hand clutches around Jigen’s wrist, Jigen brings his face closer to Zenigata’s, using their momentum to twist his body enough to slam him into the wall, and kisses him. Pops startles against him, a small surprised noise that Jigen swallows whole.
He drinks in the thrill that sparks through his body, from the point of contact of their lips to the tip of his fingers buried in Pops’ pocket, hooked around the ring of his car keys. He turns and lands swiftly, heels clacking on the cobblestones ; he doesn’t need to turn around to see the deep blush that must cross Pops’ face, but he still smiles at the thought.
"Don't let yourself be distracted, old man !" he says to the wind and starts to run, which would have been a cool and flashy escape that Lupin and him would have had a laugh at in the Fiat, except for the fact that Jigen does not flee as he intended. Instead, he nearly rips his arm off when his wrist stays behind, sending him to fall head over heels in a way that would have him mortified on the moment if only he understood what happened to him. An astonished glare shot above him sends him back the shine of a cuff around his wrist, locked around a stop sign, arrogantly red.
A shadow hides the spark of sun on the metal and Jigen turns his head to look at Zenigata, smiling wide with lips he can almost feel the taste of against his own.
"You shouldn't worry so much about me". There is indeed a blush on his cheeks, but it dissolves as he takes back the keys in Jigen’s open hand and, in a act so baffling coming from Pops, winks at Jigen before turning on his heels and run back to the chase, following Lupin’s cackles deep in the city’s guts.
A second after he left, Yata’s exhausted wheeze replaces him, the young man leaning against the wall and glance down at Jigen’s tangled of limbs thrown on the ground. His swift eyes take on Jigen’s flush faced, and a grin splits his face that eerily resembles Zenigata’s.
"Ah, the inspector really made you run for it this time".
"Huh" he can only say, choosing to ignore the puzzled look Yata sends his way. A small movement between two stones catches his eyes, just in time to see his forgotten cigarette shrivel and cough its last ashes on the ground. With his free hand, Jigen pats his pockets. Empty. The groan that tears itself out of his throat has Yata snicker at him, and that too, he ignores.