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rettrogue · 11 months ago

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The agony of being able to go through an entire tumblr tag from start to finish.... ANYWAY. we're back with more food for the hat trick niche ft. rare JigZeni pachislot (zeni acknowledges jigen for 0.1 seconds and jigen forgot he was there even tho he's driving)

One thing I like about rarepairs is the flexibility. They're a headcanon/hypothetical breeding ground of potential without having to sacrifice too much of the character's integrity, because they rarely ever talk/barely have a relationship to launchpad off of! yaay :'D

So let's talk about how! Five how's, actually. Might've gotten a bit carried away with this one.

As with anything involving these two, somehow, some way, it always circles right back around to Lupin. It kind of has to, given their shared obsession and/or dedication with the guy. But that can split up into all sorts of scenarios, with some equally varied results (and some exceptions!)

~ Getting together in spite of Lupin

In which Lupin's basically that "I messed up so bad that I turned my girl date gay/my guy date straight" joke but everyone's still queer and it's just his partner hooking up with his rival because of how much he's been frustrating them both lately (and oops the proxy hate sex turns out to be really good) INHALES. Does that even make any sense.

I'm sorry but Lupin fumbling the ball is just so funny to me. It is a bit deeper than that, obviously, and this'd have some weird love triangle logistics because Jigen and Zenigata are still hopelessly in love with Lupin, in their own ways. But dipping into that is always complicated and messy-- JUST HOW WE LIKE IT.

This one definitely has the most jealousy on all fronts. For me, there's always this little asterisk on the JigLup/LuZeni pairings because someone's getting left out. Tell me Zenigata's chest wouldn't ache every time he watches Lupin and Jigen escape, an arm slung over the other's shoulder, cheek to cheek, laughs fading off into the cold, lonely night. Tell me Jigen wouldn't hate waiting in the Fiat for Lupin to lose his dogged hunter, mind wandering as to why he's taking so damn long. He grits his jaw when Lupin finally saunters up, victoriously spinning yet another pair of handcuffs on his pointer finger.

There's a silent rivalry for Lupin's attention that they might not even realize is going on until they blow up at each other about it.

It's difficult to tell if Lupin is being genuine or just messing around, especially for Zenigata. He asks Jigen how he deals with him, how he deals with.... everything. Just everything. The "will they won't they"s and the "does he really mean it"s. How does he stay so collected all the damn time. Jigen says he doesn't have a single friggin' clue. Maybe they make out sloppy style about it. Maybe they keep meeting up to vent, drink, exist in each other's company. During chases, Zenigata keeps dipping after Jigen instead of Lupin more and more often. Lupin's standing on a rooftop Pulp Fiction John Travolta style wondering where the fuck everyone went.

Ohhh jealous Lupin, where have you gone. Where did the tms writers hide your unchecked narcissistic ego. The other points after this support Supportive Lupin in some capacity but this one does not. The slow-burn's done slow-burning but it ain't over yet, baby. There's trouble in paradise and its name is Lupin the Third. He is Not Enjoying This. The two guys that are always looking at him aren't looking at him anymore and that just won't do. Drama ensues.

~ Getting together because of Lupin

Matchmaker Lupin! This is if Lupin's relationships with Jigen and/or Zenigata are more platonic-leaning (which is totally valid). The paired fics in Disreputable Company nail this dynamic perfectly imo. But as far as my own separate take goes....

They're both just so. So emotionally constipated. Intentionally or not, Jigen's been screwed over in the romantic interest department to many times that he's intentionally reduced his acquaintance list to how many fingers he's got on his right hand. Zenigata practically unloaded an entire clip into his foot as far as maintaining healthy family/friend relationships go. Spoilers for Zenigata Keibu, but he 100% knew what he was saying when he told Haruka he'd go back to her once he caught Lupin (I can never be yours), and that Zenigata's supposed to be the freest one! Bound not necessarily to Lupin specifically, but to The Chase forever.

Anyway. Jigen and Zenigata are Isolated. The fact that someone would consider them attractive is so foreign that they'd think its some kind of sick joke or ruse to screw them over instead of anything that could ever be even remotely genuine. They need someone to shove them out of their little self-made paranoia bubbles, and Lupin just loves to meddle in people's businesses. I dunno. I just think he'd think it's funny.

*dramatic finger point* "haha zenigata, you are banging my partner!!" "you... you tricked us into our first date? made the reservations?? th- the tailored suits???" "lu you friggin roller-skated out in a waiter outfit and immediately bought us the most expensive top-shelf booze they offered. not even remotely conspicuous about it" "lol yeah. good times"

He's just happy two of his favorite humans are finally getting laid for once, y'know?

~ Getting together for Lupin

Jigen and Zenigata are forced to team up. Okay, this scenario only goes down if 1) Lupin goes missing or is KO'd for a prolonged period of time or 2) the Truce demands they separate for a while. On top of seeing this play out in other fics, my good friend duke and I have been messing around with (a variant of) this idea for a while now (aka they've been letting me run around in their au Rampant and Unchecked. ty duke).

In ""canon"", if these two were to become at the very least amicable towards each other, this'd be the way to do it. In all honesty (and my personal bias for them aside), I'm genuinely shocked they haven't done this before. Not even an episode, tms? That 4-ish minute block in POTP is all you're giving me? One bar chat in the kobayashi sendoff ep. Okay. I'm not miffed i swear

Like I mentioned in this previous post, the idea of the two of them being able to function together without Lupin as a crutch is upsetting at first. They're used to following him to the Ends of the Earth and they're used to him living rent-free in their heads. They've convinced themselves that they're hopeless on their own, that if he disappeared for good they'd just go back to being two husks vaguely shaped like humans meandering around with no meaningful north star to head towards. Don't get me wrong, if the situation was Bad, Goemon and Fujiko would be devastated, too. But they could move on, albeit with a heavy heart. They're kind of known for heading out on their own should the situation call for it. But Jigen and Zenigata are in for the long-haul for better or for worse, whether they like it or not (they do not).

They're on edge the whole time. Hostile towards each other and passive-aggressive at best to any unfortunate folk they have to interact with on this stupid side quest they've been unwillingly shunted onto together.

It helps immensely that they're both "cut that out" people to anyone but themselves, because they can be that for each other. There's a lot of bickering/conflicts of interest and methodology. "You're being too harsh", "You're one to talk", "You're so goddamn stubborn", "You're such a hypocrite", etc etc. But holy shit they're so freakishly effective together, to a frankly terrifying degree-- maybe even moreso than with Lupin because they're honing the fuck in and nothing else-- no banter or bullshit-- and that's what gets them through to the end. Maybe it helps them come to terms with whatever sort of issues they've got going on, maybe it doesn't. Bare minimum, they come out of this with newfound understanding of each other. At max, uh.... see the point after this next one.

~ Lupin-adjacent

A shift in fixation. The slightest glance, the slightest exchange of eye contact for a second too long, the briefest moment of consideration, and the thoughts start spiraling. This is "in spite of Lupin" without the spite. The urge to know absolutely everything about someone, down to the marrow, just gets shifted a little bit to the right onto another guy. It's just them, in-between heists, with barely any mention of the Chase and anyone else involved therein. Their own little adventure away from the status quo. It's weird at first, sure, but it's new and exciting and real dang nice having things not revolve exclusively around him for once. It's a shot for Jigen to mess with Zenigata for once and the closest thing to a willing vacation Zenigata can get. Win-win! Well. Sorta.

The loneliness, though-- that's what makes itself most prevalent during the in-between times. They really don't have much left outside of the Usual. Forgetting the bare essentials, days blending together, moving around the masses like a ghost.... it's familiar, and it's common, not being sure whether they actually like someone or they're just desperately lonely. Zenigata wallows in it, Jigen shoves it down. They've got images to keep. but getting noticed for what they are is simultaneously the worst thing to ever happen and the highlight of their day. Real wholesome bonding material, ain't it

"I tracked you down for only you". "I dragged you into this issue because I want you here". "You get it".

~ Secret fifth thing

*points at playbohz mag* "lol wouldn't it be funny if zenigata was jigen's type??" *points at y series, miyazaki's zeni, island of assassins, that one manga where they put him in a tshirt, etc* "oh my god zenigata is jigen's type."

It's just a one-night stand lmao. I feel like I see this one a fair bit too, mostly because it's super duper simple and doesn't require a crap-ton of emotional angst setup just to get them into the same bed. It's the above point diluted into, like, an afternoon lmao. It doesn't have a lot of depth by design. Curiosity gets the better of both of them, plain and simple. They get buzzed enough at a bar, skip off to some motel to do what they gotta do one time and never speak of it again.

A part of me likes that, but another part of me in the deep deep recesses of my psyche is hollering "TACKY YOU GOTTA TURN THIS INTO THE SPITE BULLETPOINT!!!"

NO. For this one they get one nice hookup and THAT'S THAT. Sorry not sorry.

Maybe it's easier because there's actually something to decipher. There isn't some esoteric idea of "Lupin the Third, Gentleman Thief"; a mystery man(?) with a million little gadgets and masks and smiles; this unwavering, unpredictable force of chaos that likes taking shiny things from one place and hiding them somewhere else over and over again with no real rhyme or reason.

It's easier to find solace in turning to the guy next to you and going, "what do you think that is?" than in going up to "that" and poking it with a stick in hopes it'll give some sort of answer. "That" won't. "That" likes watching you guys flounder around together too much :)

#i really really like them can you tell #its one thing posting art stuff for pairs i enjoy a normal sane amount but these two.... oh man. oh jeez #lupin iii #j #z #jigzeni #lots to stew in #honestly just glad to've finally gotten this outta my drafts lmao

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baileypie-writes · 1 year ago

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Can you please do head cannons on how Lupin III gang characters (including Zenigata) met female thief reader and how they fell in love?

A/N ~ Sure! I don’t write for Zenigata, and I don’t write female Readers paired with Jigen, but I can do the other two! Hope you enjoy!

~Lupin and Goemon Falling for a Female Theif~

Fandom: Lupin the Third: the First

Fanfic Type: Headcanons

Reader: Female

Relationship: Romantic

Characters Included: Arsène Lupin III, Goemon Ishikawa XIII

Genre: Fluff

Rating: PG

Warnings: Stealing(obviously)

Disclaimer: I have only seen the 2019 film, and Castle of Cagliostro. I have not yet seen the series. So if anything is inaccurate, I apologize.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Arsène Lupin III~

~ Lupin already has his experience with female thieves. Him and Fujiko have known each other for forever. So he knows what to expect when it comes to them.

~ You met when you were attempting to steal his wallet. And you thought you’ve succeeded, only to open it and see it mostly empty. The only thing in it was a paper with a doodle of a face, with the words “Nice try!” written on it. Cue Lupin saying “Looking for this?” and showing you all his cash, in his hands.

~ He wouldn’t be upset. Instead, he’d give you tips on how to be better(which was annoying, considering that you were a pretty well known thief). And of course, he’d be flirting too. Before leaving, he’d say “I’ll be waiting for your next attempt.” then disappear.

~ Over the next few months, you’d follow him. You’ve made countless attempts at stealing from him, and each time, you’d fail. It was frustrating, because he was the only person you hadn’t successfully stolen from. Everyone else was a breeze. But you didn’t hate Lupin for it. In fact, you enjoyed talking with him. The two of you would share a nice conversation afterwards, before he would leave again.

~ During those periods of time where you weren’t around, Lupin would find himself thinking about you. He would laugh at all your failed tries, almost feeling bad for you. He even thought about making it easier for you to steal from him, but it was just too fun. And Lupin loves to be entertained. So it wasn’t long before his feelings for you were more than just the typical ones he felt for women in general. He was actually in love.

~ Eventually, you didn’t even care about cash. You just wanted to see him. And of course, Lupin knew this. It wasn’t until you finally successfully stole his wallet that you realized this for yourself. You opened it, and was surprised by the money inside. You checked and double checked to see if it was counterfeit, but it was the real deal. You expected to be more happy, but you were just disappointed that the chase was over.

~ You suddenly heard a voice behind you say “Guess you finally succeeded. Great job.”. You turned around to see Lupin. He wore his typical, mischievous grin. He told you to take the money as a reward for your improvement. But he knew you didn’t want to. So instead, he offered for you to join him and his gang. You accepted, and the two of you were inseparable ever since.

~~~🎩~~~🎩~~~🎩~~~

(He’s so pretty I can’t)

~Goemon Ishikawa XIII~

~ You first saw Goemon in an isolated park. It was late at night, and you were looking for someone to rob. He was meditating, and you thought it would be a good idea to try to steal from him. Little did you know, you were about to attempt to sneak up on the world’s greatest samurai.

~ You hid behind a nearby tree, and thought he wouldn’t notice you. But then, a branch suddenly fell right on your head. You looked down at it once it hit the ground. It looked like it was perfectly cut. You then felt a presence behind you, and saw Goemon. He actually recognized you from the news, and made a jab at you for trying to rob a stranger instead of something bigger. You started laughing, but he didn’t. His face was completely serious, and you could tell he was pissed. So you just apologized, and left.

~ It wasn’t until Lupin and the gang were on a heist that you met again. You didn’t know they were there until they met you at the safe. You and Jigen argued about who gets the money, and Goemon said you could share if you both did work. And that’s just what you did. Even when Lupin and Jigen tried to take it all for themselves, Goemon made them be fair. You were very grateful for that. You had no idea why he was so kind, considering your last encounter with him.

~ You “randomly” kept running into each other. But you were kind of seeking for him; hoping to meet you again. Goemon noticed this, but kept quiet. It wasn’t until you helped them out yet again, and you were celebrating your victory with the gang, that he said something.

~ You were embarrassed. And now that he knew, you decided to stop helping them. And you thought that was that.

~ A while later, you were robbing a museum by yourself, and you were having quite a bit of trouble. A squad of police was heading your way, and with the giant sack of artifacts on your back, you weren’t in a good place to fight. You prepared for the worst, when they all suddenly dropped to the floor. And there, standing with his sword in hand, was Goemon.

~ He asked you why he hasn’t seen you in a while, and you told him. His face was mostly neutral, besides a small bit of red on his cheeks. He told you that he enjoyed your company, and that he’d like if you came by more often. Then he left.

~ It’s safe to say that you did start stopping by again. In fact, you helped the gang with so many heists, that you became a part of their team. And you and Goemon became even closer.

~~~🗡️~~~🗡️~~~🗡️~~~

~~baileypie-writes

#baileypie-writes #lupin the third #lupin the third x reader #lupin the third: the first #lupin the third: the first x reader #jigen daisuke #jigen daisuke x reader #goemon ishikawa #goemon ishikawa x reader #goemon ishikawa xiii #goemon ishikawa xiii x reader #arsene lupin iii x reader

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scribblewise · 5 months ago

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Today, today, today, today I spent way too much time sitting around watching Northernlion, and way too much time looking at houses in states that are likely to be less awful about trans people than it might become in DC's future after we lose home rule.

The watery sloshing brain drifts around in the snow, meandering from home to business, business to business, business to home, until it finally reaches peace in a giant bowl of instant ramen noodles.

The frustrated mind sits blankly in its blanket (ytp Jigen voice) in front of the big computer screen, the text editor barely touched and almost shattered to pieces by the weight of all the considerations being put upon it.

The comic page is there waiting for its master, desperately and unfinished. It's not even animated.

All my snow got wet and died, so that's good.

Mixed dirty and clean clothes in the pile on the floor that's grown and shrank and only briefly disappeared a few hours at a time in the past five years. A plastic bag waiting to be filled with donations or trash. There's too many things in here.

#journal

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takeiteasyonmeimstilllearning · 5 days ago

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I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling: Ch 6

Warnings: graphic depictions of ppl burning alive, mild profanity

7,191 words

Lupin's hands were shoved deep in his pockets, his neck craned in front of him as he grumbled underneath his breath. He paced back and forth in the lavishly decorated hotel suite.

“Lupin, will ya just settle down. You're wearing out the carpet,” Jigen ordered from beneath his hat before sighing, “You know they probably just called him back to the station. They usually do.”

“Calm down? How the hell can I calm down! You have no idea how bad Pops not showing up messed up my plans!” Lupin huffed as he stopped dead in his tracks. He looked to Goemon who was sitting cross-legged by the window. His toe tapped anxiously on the floor, “Goemon, are you sure you counted right?”

“I would not make such a trivial mistake, Lupin. My Zantesuken cut only twelve cruisers. As worthless as they were.”

“Daaaaaammit.” He pouted. The thief scratched at his ear. His mind was weaving so many strings of thoughts that it resembled the back of a tapestry. Each thought left uncut, confused and in a cluttered mess of color. He growled in frustration. In a few short strides he left the room, his words muffled by the wall, "I gotta take a leak.”

Goemon waited for Lupin to close the bathroom door before speaking from his meditative pose on the floor, “Lupin has been acting strange lately.”

“Yeah, I noticed. He's been like this since the whole Black Scales business cropped up. He's holding back something. You don't suppose the scales are hotter than what he's putting on? Whatever it is, it just makes me nervous whenever he plays this game, man."

"When are you ever not nervous, Jigen?"

The door of their fancier than normal hideout openedJigen bolted upright on the sofa, drawing his gun. Goemon cracked an eye open and placed his thumb on the sheath of his almighty.

"Well boys, hope you didn't stay up too late for me." Fujiko's sultry voice announced, a smirk curling on her lips.

"Now she decides to show up. Typical." The gunslinger derided, laying back down on the well padded maroon chesterfield, "You better have a damn good reason for ditching us. Lupin's been high-strung since you didn't show and do your part. Again."

"Oh please," she waved him off, "You guys didn't need my help, you still got the Black Scales didn't you?"

"No thanks to you. Lupin was counting on you this time, Fujiko." Goemon added. "Although why he wanted Zenigata alone still remains unclear.”

"Where is Lupin anyway?" She asked, looking around, ignoring the two men's derisive remarks.

They heard the sink faucet turning off, the door to the bathroom open, and Lupin chuckling softly to himself. The thief turned the corner, rubbing his hands together and grinning as he spoke, "Well I think I have the -- Fujicakes?" He paused for a split second before it really sunk in who it was in front of him, "Fujiko where the hell were you three days ago with that extra cruiser!?"

"I'm sorry Lupin." the woman pouted, batting her long lashes, and letting her bangs fall in front of her child-like eyes. She sauntered over to him, putting on the most innocent voice she could, "Things got so busy, I just forgot."

"You forgot? Fujiko!" Lupin's face fell slightly in disbelief.

"I said I was sorry," she pouted, reaching up to rest her slender hands on his chest.

"Friggin' hell." Jigen grumbled. He turned over to face the back of the couch.

"To make up for it, I'll give you info I've collected on an underground auction," she tried to reel Lupin in with her sullen attitude. His face softened as he looked down at her, but she could tell he wasn't interested in the potential heist. Yet. "Word is that a new item was just added to their list. From what I've found out it's rare and valued around forty million dollars. Forty million Lupin! Do you know what I had to go through just to get that much? Isn't that worth letting bygones be bygones?"

Lupin sighed, "Oh Fujicakes, I know you wouldn't have ditched us on purpose. You're not that kind of woman."

"Friggin' idiot!" Jigen grumbled again.

"But you really don't know how much I needed you." Lupin continued, not even giving Jigen a glance.

There was something off about the way Lupin was acting. He was reacting exactly how she wanted him to, but there was something else going on. Something was bothering him, and it wasn't just her not showing up for that dumb museum heist. She looked up into his amber eyes. The sun was hitting on his face just right to make them glow like gold. There was that near imperceptible wrinkle in the corner of his eye. She could notice it, because she knew him inside out. Near no one else knew him as well as she, and she didn't like it when that wrinkle appeared. It made her heart sink ever so slightly. Fujiko cupped the side of his face and gently brushed the corner of his eye with her thumb.

"You're holding something back, Lupin. I think it's time for you to reveal the truth of the matter." Goemon piped up in a neutral tone.

"Gotta agree with Goemon," Jigen said, his gravelly voice muffled by the cushioning, "Whenever you hold back, things always turn to crap and someone usually ends up ringing death's doorbell. You're just damn lucky you're such good friggin' friends Lupin. Unless you tell us what you think is so frigging dangerous for us to know, you can count me the hell out!"

Lupin looked at the back of Jigen's back. His insides twisted. Should he really let them in on what was happening? He wanted to leave right then and there without another word. He wanted to keep the matter private, just between him and Pops, but he wasn't able to corner Pops, and it was going to be difficult to get word to him on the low down. He would need to plan another heist and try again. And he would need his friends’ help to pull it off. Crap. Lupin exhaled through his nose, defeated. Gently, he grabbed Fujiko's hands and guided them back to her side. She noticed they felt slightly clammy.

"The Black Scales weren't always the Black Scales. I couldn't be sure until I had my hands on them, but if they were what I suspected, I wanted to make sure Pops could follow us. Alone. That's why I needed you, Fujiko, to be the driver of that thirteenth cruiser." Lupin casually sat down in the armchair.

"The Black Scales used to be a powerful talisman that was said to summon the mythical being Hakutaku. Legend describes it as a white ox with nine eyes and six horns that knew all the knowledge and insight of the universe and everything therein. That's what the Talisman was supposed to summon, before it shattered. I thought for sure that it was destroyed all those years ago." The thief began to explain. He leaned back in his chair crossing his legs. He propped his elbow on the chair's arm and rested his temple on curled fingers.

◇◇◇

The Chief paced furiously in his office, "Where the hell are they?" He paused a moment before repeating his earlier conclusion. "I still think something else had to have happened besides chasing that upstart thief!"

"I doubt it. You know how that Interpol wacko is. Explosive, completely unpredictable and insane. Like I said before he'll come back with empty cuffs, just you wait." The Chief's second in command excused from his relaxed posture in the chair in front of the Chief's desk.

"Wait?" He echoed in disbelief, "It'll be sixty hours since they've been seen last!"

"Chief, would you relax! They're not missing. That kook pulls this kinda thing all the time, just look at his record! I'd stake my career on it that Zenigata and his puppy are on a road trip taking in the sights right now."

"It's their records I'm thinking of!" the Chief replied curtly, tapping his index finger on his desk, "Something's wrong here. Sure Zenigata and Garasu are odd, maybe it's because they're Japanese, I don't know. But Zenigata is laser focused on bringing Lupin the Third in, in that, there is no doubt. It's that man's insanity that keeps him from even thinking of anything else except the case he's working on. Detective Yatagarasu, on the other hand, is the most by the book rookie I've seen in a long time. The kid probably sleeps with the handbook under his pillow, and I wouldn't be surprised if he has a damn waterproofed version in the shower so he can read it there too. I might agree with you on Inspector Zenigata not checking in and going off grid, but not his lieutenant. That boy doesn't strike me as the kind of cop to do that. Nearly sixty hours, Henrick. That's way too long for zero check-ins."

Henrik sat in his chair silently as the Chief walked over to the window and peered out into the bustling city below."I want you to put out an ATL to all our precincts."

"Stephen-"

"Do it Schmidt! My guts are telling me we should have done it sooner."

"Alright," his second in command conceded, throwing his hands in the air, "but it's not going to turn anything up."

"And contact Interpol. See if they happened to report back to them. Just in case." He added.

"Yes sir."

"Dismissed."

The Chief heard his good friend get up out of his chair and exit the door of his office. He peered out his window again surveying the city before him. There were well over one million, seven hundred and fifty thousand people in this city, but as of right now he was only concerned about two.

◇◇◇

"It was my first heist with Lupin the Second." Lupin remembered, "He had already stolen the Hakutaku Talisman, but he couldn't crack the code to open it. He tried for a solid week without success. Then one night out of the blue, a note was slipped under our mansion's door claiming to hold the key. In exchange for giving him the key, the note said all they wanted in return was to use the Talisman for ten minutes, and that was it. It named a time and place. As you well know, Lupin the Second was not one to share anything. Even a blind squirrel could see that he planned on just stealing the 'key' and leaving them high and dry.

When we arrived, I scuttled around doing incognito recon while he followed their instructions. The place seemed completely empty except for us and a handful of their people. Everything was going smoothly. They had no idea they were going to get ripped off, and all the balls were in our court. At least that's what we thought. We were about to make our move when crap hit the fan."

"I still don't see how Pops fits into this Lupin. Why is it so important for him to know about the Black Scales-Talisman thingy? What he do? Crash your party and arrest everyone?" Jigen interrupted as he readjusted himself on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees.

Lupin didn't acknowledge Jigen's jab, he simply kept talking like there wasn't an interruption, "Lupin the Second was going off the assumption that the key was an object. A thing that could fit in your hand. It never occurred to him that it was a person. That's when I first crossed paths with Zenigata. The Hakutaku Talisman could only be opened by a direct blood descendant of Heiji Zenigata." Lupin paused, waiting for someone to make a comment.

"So Zenigata was the key the note referred to." Goemon clarified.

"Damn, that's messed up." Was all the gunslinger could come up with.

"If it was just him, then my father would have only considered him as collateral, but they also had Pops' wife and daughter. Lupin the Second's number one weakness was women. His one saving grace." He added in a half mumble.

"Wife and daughter?" Jigen repeated, caught off guard by that bit if information, "I didn't even know the guy had it in him to even try a relationship like that. Let alone have the time."

"It's hardly surprising, Jigen. He has mentioned it before, albeit briefly." Goemon pointed out from his meditative spot, his eyes still closed.

"Who? Lupin?"

"No. Zenigata."

"When did he friggin mention having a friggin wife and kid!"

"He's mentioned having a significant other in his life twice to us directly. But that is inconsequential at the moment. Lupin has yet to finish his story."

The gunslinger thought about pressing the matter, but when he looked back at Lupin, he noticed the shadow that consumed the thief's face. It was like all the energy was being sucked out of him in real time.

"Bullets were flying. Grenades were thrown in every direction. Swarms of people came out of the woodworks. I never saw them when I was sneaking around, I honestly have no clue how they managed to hide so many people. There was shouting and screaming of course. Some were orders, some were of agony." Lupin trailed off lost in thought, "When everything was said and done, the building was reduced to rubble, and we all thought the Talisman was destroyed along with it."

"But it wasn't destroyed was it? It just broke." Fujiko finished. "Would it still work if we put it back together again?"

"Maybe. But I don't want to find out either. The damn thing belongs to Pops, and Pops alone."

Jigen tilted his head up to get a better look at Lupin from underneath his hat.

"Out of curiosity," the woman ventured, "How much money would the Talisman go for if you happened to sell it?"

Goemon opened his meditative eyes to glare at the insufferable woman. Jigen matched his glower and raised it two fold.

"What?" Fujiko asked with genuine innocence.

"We're returning it to Zenigata, and that's final." Lupin stated neutrally as he stood up from his armchair.

Well that's extremely rare for Lupin to hold his ground with Fujiko out right like that. Jigen noted.

"It is the honorable thing to do." Goemon agreed.

"Not that you know anything about honor, Fujiko." Jigen couldn't resist firing his verbal bullet.

"Hey! I was just asking!"

"Sure you were, just like you just happened to forget about the heist we pulled to get the damn scales in the first place." He snipped back.

"I don't have to take this from you mister!"

"Like hell."

"Lupin!" Fujiko pleaded. Turning her large lustrous eyes to the thief."

Just figure it out between yourselves this time will ya? I'm going for a smoke." Lupin said unamused as he waved a half-assed wave.

"Lupin?" She asked again, except this time in befuddlement. A small look of worry flitted across her face as she watched him exit the room.

Jigen tilted his head again to see Lupin walk out. Something was definitely bothering him, and it was more than just not returning rightful property. Perhaps he misjudged the kind of information Lupin was holding back.

◇◇◇

Mitch jiggled the jail keys in the lock, the door opened with an obnoxious metallic squeal, "Alright guys," he announced louder than necessary, "Time to wake up."

He entered through the first cell's threshold and jostled a shoulder here and nudged a leg there until he got one of them to actually wake up. He spread his attention to the rest, giving them turns between shoves, flicks and water squirts from his spray bottle. The bar fight was a real nasty one this time. The brawlers had black eyes and torn clothes, greasy ruffled hair, and they all stank of sweat, beer, and puke. The smell was always awful down in the drunk tank, that's why he usually tried to avoid this place at all costs, that and not a single one actually listened to any instructions.

As a few of them roused, he went back to the cell door. "Three at a time, let's move it. That's right. You. You and you. Nope. Did I say four? No. I said three. Hey you, Presley wannabe! Push the up button on the wall. No, the up! No, not that one. It's literally the only other button on the wall. Yeah, that one." He instructed, "Wait for the other two. Once upstairs, an officer will direct you to the processing window, where you'll be given back your personal items. You will provide your first name, last name, date of birth, and address!"

The officer waited for the three to disappear into the elevator, before waking up another three. Two minutes later the elevator dinged, announcing its arrival in the basement floor. He started the process all over again. Reciting what would happen when they reached the top before they stepped through. Two minutes passed, and another three sloppily shuffled their way to the only elevator. Three minutes passed. He roused, he spoke and shuffled more drunks. Now his throat was starting to get dry, so he decided to take a break by the water cooler after he had locked the cell behind him. This was going to take a while. By the eighth group, his face showed an immeasurable tiredness. At least he was on the second cell. As soon as these guys were processed, he could go home. He was well past his normal shift hours on account of Larry not showing.

At the twelfth trip he was finally down to the last two. Otis, and his friend. After this, he could go home and finally sleep. The over-tired officer made his way to Otis. He swore that this guy was literally the hardest person to wake up. He clapped his hands right next to the man's ear, "Otis! As much as you think that we're a hotel. We're not. Get Up!" He gave a hard push on his leg. The drunk man's snore barely even hitched, "Otis. Otis. Otis! Hey! Get up!"Mitch rolled his eyes. This guy. From the back of his belt, he pulled out his spritz bottle that he just refilled with ice-cold water. He aimed for Otis's face and pulled the trigger. Cold water splattered right between the drunks eyes. His snores gradually ceased, and a second passed before the drunk casually wiped the water from his face. His eyelids fluttered open.

"Mitch." He groggily slushed, "You know I hate that."

"Then get up." Mitch threatened to squirt him again.

Otis raised a few fingers to stave the trigger-happy cop.

Mitchell turned his attention towards the young man on the cot. He hadn't moved one bit since last night. He jostled the detective's shoulders to no effect. He clapped his hands loudly next to his ear. With no response, he brought out the squirt bottle and shot him in the face. There wasn't even a twitch. He just laid there. The officer's insides compressed slightly, this was a little out of the normal, but not worth worrying about yet. He fished Yata's wrist from underneath the blanket and held it above his face. He released his grip, and the hand fell deadweight, smacking Yata right on his nose. Mitch took his knuckles and placed it on the young man's sternum and ground them into his chest like he would with other committed fakers. Nothing. Not even the hard-cores could pretend that it didn't hurt. Crap. This was just great.

"Officer Mitchell to dispatch. I need the Rescue Service down in the drunk tank immediately. Unconscious male not responding to stimuli. Male in his thirties, roughly sixty-four kilograms, please stand by for a pulse. Over." His gut kept telling him that something was wrong, but he couldn't point out why.

"Copy Officer Mitchell. Rescue Service is being contacted. Over."

He started to unbutton the shirt sleeve when he noticed small specks of rusty brown color on the wrinkled cuff, trailing up the whole sleeve. He flipped the blanket down over Yata's legs. His sternum twist scrunched the dress shirt up and revealed the blood stains that had been neatly hidden by the vest. "Oh shit!" He exclaimed, taken a back by the streaks twisting in a spiral with the shirt. He unbuttoned Yata's vest to find out just how extensive the wounds were, "Oh holy crap! Holy crap!"

"Officer Mitchell to dispatch, male victim has multiple lacerations across his chest and abdomen. Bruises on neck and face. The victim's BP is... rapid and weak. Requesting assistance down in the drunk tank over." He said more urgently. This was definitely not a drunk who was way too excessive.

"Copy. Rescue Service will be updated. Officer Kristof will be dispatched. Over."

With the last button unfastened, it revealed the rest of the stains on his dress shirt. The officer swallowed hard at the sight. Each slash of mostly dried blood weaved across one line and over another, creating a gruesome kind of web. "Oh Jesus Christ."

He took off the rest of the blanket to examine Yata's pant legs, just to be sure they weren't covered in blood too. To his relief, they weren't, but they were covered in dirt and dried mud.

Mitch didn't know what to do. Should he check on the wounds? But what if he accidentally tears them open again by tugging the cloth off wrong? His training on vehicle collisions came to mind, when in doubt don't touch the victim unless life-threatening danger was imminent. So that's what he did. Mitch covered Yata back up with the blanket, and took out his notebook and pencil. He scribbled down everything he could remember since last night in bullet points. He'll put it in a report form later, he just needed to get the sequence of events down first. Three fourths of the way down his steno pad later, he heard the familiar ding and whoosh of the elevator doors. Standard issue rubber soles walked down the hallway, and made their way through the squeaky cell door.

"Rescue Service is a couple of minutes out, Mitch. How can I help?"

"If you could finish processing Otis and put him in interrogation room three, that'd be great." Mitch pushed the words out shakily, "He's got a lot of explaining to do."

His comrade craned his neck around to see the ICPO lieutenant lying on the cot, "Holy crap man, what happened to him?"

"I- I don't know. Otis and him were buddy buddy when I picked them up. I don't know how I could have missed all this when I brought him in!" Mitch told Kris worriedly.

The other officer hummed his acknowledgement. He wanted to console his comrade, but he didn't know what to say, so he settled for a calm response, "No worries Mitch, I'll take care of our town drunk then I'll come down to relieve you. Then you can go upstairs, take a nap, then finish your report." He picked Otis up who complained of the light and the buzzing noise it made, and carried him out of the cell, "I'll be back shortly. When you get upstairs, take a quick nap on the bench before you resume your report. You need to be able to think more clearly before you continue writing. That's an order, Mitch."

"Yes, sir." Was all the officer could respond with before resuming his writing.

◇◇◇

Jigen climbed up the stairwell of their swanky hotel and opened the door to the top of the building. He picked up the lock that Lupin had picked and looped the hook back on the latch. A rough breeze gusted against him, threatening to blow his hat off. The gunman's hand instinctively landed on his hat to keep it in place. At the edge of the building, he saw the familiar sight of Lupin leaning heavily on the ledge. His jacket was in his hands as he rested his forearms over the edge. His black shirt billowed in the wind. He walked over to him, landing his steps heavier than normal, so Lupin could hear them.

"Got a light?"

"Jigen-" Lupin protested without turning his head to look at his visitor.

"I know. You wanna be alone. But I also know something is really botherin' ya, and it's not just returning Pop's heirloom thingy in your time frame. You're keepin' secrets, and I don't like it."

"Says Mr. Open Book." Lupin muttered.

"Shaddup!" The gunman snapped harshly. "Let me finish! You're hiding something from us. Frankly, it's none of my damn business. And frankly, I don't give a damn about what the hell it is that's got your friggin' boxers in a twist. What I do care about is your performance. I don't wanna die because you felt like bottlin’ up your feelings. We've been partners a long time, Lupin. I know you as good as the back of my hand. When some crap or other is botherin' ya, ya mess up, Lupin. You make careless mistakes. I don't want you, me or Goemon to be at the butt-end of those mistakes."

Jigen looked out to the city's skyline and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly, "Look. All I came up here for was to tell ya that that jacket has been lookin' a little tight on you lately. Maybe it's time to switch it out."

Jigen stood next to Lupin at the building's precipice. The wind was especially powerful today. It whipped around, tugging at the green fabric in Lupin's clenched fists violently. The gunman eyed Lupin inconspicuously. The thief seemed aloof, fixating the entirety of his attention onto the jacket in his hands, watching as it flipped and twirled in the torrent wind. Jigen spit the unlit cigarette out of his mouth over the edge, and inhaled deeply once more.

"If you ever wanna- Friggin' hell, Lupin. All I'm sayin' is that you know where to find me." The man in black dismayed. He turned around to go back to their suite.

"You're right." The thief said quietly.Jigen halted, standing silently, waiting to see if Lupin would say anything else. The thief didn't open up very often, so he was very careful about saying anything.

"Something has been bothering me." Lupin conceded slowly, still looking down at his green jacket, "Old memories, more than anything else."

The gunman turned around again slowly, taking up the same leaning pose on the railing as his friend.

"You know how I had mentioned that my career as Lupin the Third started near the end of Lupin the Second's?"

"Yeah. Kinda figured you were at it a couple of years before your old man bit the dust."

"To put it simply, my first heist was my father's last."

"You mean with the Talisman?"

"Yeah."

"I knew you saw him go- never realized it was your first job with him."

"To be fair, I never let on that it was. I wasn't even supposed to be on that heist, Jigen. I snuck out of my room and followed him against his orders."

There was a silence between them. The gunman was at a loss for words, but it didn't surprise him that Lupin ignored orders. You tell him he can't do something, that only makes him more determined to do it.

"I should have died that night. Heh," the thief gave a depressed half chuckle, "My first heist, my first brush with death, my first encounter with Pops, and the last time I ever saw my father. What an introduction for the career of Lupin the Third."

Lupin gave a half sob pulling his jacket to the bridge of his nose, which conveniently hid a good portion of his face. Jigen stood in shock. Throughout the years, Jigen could only remember once maybe twice where Lupin shed a tear. It astonished him that Lupin was actually crying. The man never showed any emotion that wasn't anything else besides being a goof with the sex drive of a rabbit, "Maybe you should start from the beginning. It might help."

Lupin gave a half scoff half choked sob at the gunslinger's poor attempt at being a counselor. He was not smooth at all, but he was trying. Lupin gave him credit for that. He wanted to tell Jigen everything that had happened, holding nothing back. But he just couldn't. It was bad enough he let slip some details already. He couldn't let him know the whole truth about himself. Lupin had hidden his true identity brilliantly for years, that's the mark of a truly great thief after all, because if no one knows who you truly are, then every move you make will be completely unpredictable. That is, according to grandfather it was. However, he had already revealed information he considered deeply personal to Jigen already, not a lot, only bits and pieces over the years. Didn't that break the most important rule of thieves already? A weight grew in his chest. It felt like it was going to squash him flat. Then something deep down formed, a lurch in the pit of his stomach pressuring his insides til it reached all the way up to his Adam's apple. It prodded the back of his thoughts, urging him to talk. As embarrassing and as stupid as it was going to be.

"Lupin the Second had stolen the Talisman from the Zenigata family shrine," Lupin hesitantly began, "He had been trying for a week to open it, but with no luck. The note was slid under our door, and he caught me following him when he left, so he had me locked in my room with Rose to keep guard. With a bit of deception and a distraction I snuck out my window and tailed him again with my nursemaid none the wiser. The meeting place was an abandoned glass factory by the looks of it. While he followed their instructions, I did reconnaissance. That's when I first laid eyes on Zenigata. He must have just started his career as a policeman, because he looked really young. Twenty-two, maybe. Anyway, they had Pops separated from his wife and kid and were threatening to harm them if he didn't cooperate. I didn't stay too long, I had a lot of territory to cover. I scouted out a good portion of the place when I came across the exchange between the leader of the other party and my father.

The tradeoff was going just as I expected, Lupin the Second refused to hand over the Talisman, and he was giving them a whole monologue telling them why there was nothing they could do to stop him either, the cocky bastard. That's when they brought Zenigata's wife out, tied up and a gun to her head. It was right after that that things become a bit of a blur. Everything happened so fast. Pops came barreling out, guns ablazing. Henchmen swarmed out of the woodworks. All hell broke loose, bullets sprayed everywhere, friggin' grenades exploded. One of them blew out the support beam of the platform I was hiding on. I scrambled to find cover. By the time I had my father had disappeared, and Zenigata was standing alone in the middle of a crowd of henchmen, fighting with everything he had. I swear I saw him get shot a couple of times. There was no way he could have won, but that didn't stop him, even when like six guys managed to get close enough to jump him, he didn't give up. It took like fifteen men to hold him down."

"That certainly sounds like Pops alright." The gunman muttered.

"Once they caught him, the ballistics stopped. Boy was the big kahuna angry. To make his point, the boss shot his wife in front of him. Not in a place to kill her but enough to demonstrate they weren't bluffing. Like the friggin' armada wasn't enough already. I remember the boss saying the next bullet would be in her brain if my father didn't turn over the Talisman. Out of the shadows, the Talisman rolled out, and my old man started talking filler. He was buying time, but for what I don't know. One of the goons picked up the thing and took it to Zenigata. Of course Pops complied when they told him to open it. The thing shimmered and glowed. Blinding gold light shrouded the place before hot steam flooded out of the thing. Pops dropped it, and it rolled away, leaving a trail of smoldering fire. A cloud of smoke erupted from it like one of my tear gas bombs, and in the middle of the smoke, I'll never forget it, a huge white ox thing appeared. It had three eyes and two horns on its head, three eyes and two horns on its side, where the ribs would be, and another three eyes and two horns on the other side. I'm tellin' ya, it was one of the ugliest looking things I've ever seen. I wanted to look away real bad, but I couldn't. It was like someone was holding my head, forcing me to look at it.

It stomped its hooves and the concrete shattered beneath it like glass. It did the whole cliché 'who summoned it?' bit, but in a way that made it sound like it already knew the answer. You know I expected it to sound intimidating, but it wasn't. It was soft-spoken to where you could barely hear it. It said that to tap into the knowledge of the Hakutaku could not be without compensation. It said something else, but I couldn't tell what.

The boss interrupted it, flattering the thing like I flirt with women. It stood there, and listened to his groveling. Hakutaku's eyes rolled and clouded with white, steam rolled off its hide, and started talking some sort of language I didn't recognize, but it sure as hell made the boss man turn white as a sheet. He looked like he was about to crap his pants. Then it said that his life would end in fire, for believing he could deceive the Hakutaku who knew everything that was, is and will be and all that other divine stuff.

Then it said something about 'Koichi Zenigata being true to the something or other of his ancestor Heiji Zenigata, and for that he and his blood would be spared of the compensation required for summoning the Hakutaku. The debt would be transferred to those who sought to gain selfish advantage through the Hakutaku's truths.' Or something like that. It roared, rearing on its hind quarters and its tail whipped and cracked like thunder behind it destroying everything it touched.

I-I ran. I was so scared I didn't know which way I was running, only that I was running away. A piece of rubble from one of the concrete columns tripped me. I fell. Before I could scramble to my feet, a steel beam came down and pinned my legs. Man it hurt like hell. I tried to crawl out, but it wasn't working, and that's when I saw my father not twenty feet away. I screamed for him. I- begged him to help me. He looked me square in the eyes, he saw me, Jigen, and he- he... he left. He just left me there. To die. So he could save his own skin.

Then an explosion like a volcano burst my eardrums. The Hakutaku landed on its front hooves, fire bursting from its feet. It looked around and people started to catch on fire, their flesh burning and melting right off as it called their name, and in one word described their irredeemable yokai."

Jigen studied Lupin's face as he retold his story. Lupin's voice had tightened, and a tear ran down his cheek. The gunman stood in silence, not knowing what to say or do.

"I caught sight of Pops carrying his wife to safety. He looked back and saw me pinned in the rubble. But he kept going. For some reason, at that moment, I felt like he was my last chance of rescue. When he went out of view, I was certain I was going to die. A piece of metal chain flew past my head, it was like some hellish tornado in there; metal twisted like putty, concrete boulders with pieces of rebar were like feathers in the wind..." the thief paused for a moment, as if reliving that moment in all its intensity, before taking a deep breath and continuing, "I saw Lupin the Second making a break for the Talisman, when the white Ox called his name. It named not one but three of his yokai. A blood curdling scream came from him as flames engulfed his body. I remember watching his face contort in ungodly agony as he tried clawing the fire off him."

Lupin swallowed hard, "He ran towards me. His hair melted, and his skin dripped away. I remember seeing his jaw bones open and close trying to talk. Or scream, I'm not sure which. I heard his bones and organs squeal as he burned. I could see his ribs and spine through the flames the closer he got. He fell, sparks exploding from his body, yet he kept crawling. He reached out to touch me...and a piece of wood slapped his hand away and beat him til he stopped moving. What was left of him turned to a small pile of smoldering ash right before my eyes.

Next thing I know, Pops was lifting the beam off the ground with one arm and dragging me out with the other." Lupin's voice cracked, threatening to break like a dam trying to hold too much flood water back, "He asked if I was hurt, but I couldn't talk. I didn't even notice that he picked me up until he covered my eyes with his hand... Well... As they say, the rest is history."

"Damn, that's one hell of a story Lupin." Jigen finally said, completely at a loss. He couldn't process the information fast enough, there was a lot to unpack in that story.

"That's why you were so dead set on luring Pops out alone after the heist. You thought maybe you could pay him back for what he did for you when you were like fourteen."

"Twelve. He didn't even know me, Jigen, he came back for someone who he knew absolutely nothing about."

"He saved a kid, Lupin. He didn't need to know anything else."

Lupin loosened his grip on his jacket and his back shuddered as he heaved a big sigh. The pressure in his chest eased, but now he had a massive headache. He passed the jacket to his right-hand man, and surveyed the city before him, "I think it is time to hang this jacket up for a while, Jigen. Thanks. For everything."

"Hearing you get mushy gives me hives, man." Jigen took Lupin's jacket from his hands and tucked it underneath his arm, "We'll return the Talisman to Zenigata. You can bet on it."

◇◇◇

Diffenbaugh pushed open a heavy, solid oak door into the Handler's office. The strong scent of ancient books and stale taxidermy filled the air. He walked past the floor globe and past the oak and glass cabinets brimming with artifacts of long-extinct civilizations to an imposing desk made of ornate, hand-carved mahogany. He used his foot to push a smooth leather chair to the side. With his elbow he scooted an antique brass desk lamp out of the way, carefully setting down a large file box on the corner of the desk.Soft natural light filtered through the two floor to ceiling windows adorned in velvet green draperies. The light fell gently from the latticed windows and highlighted the back of a worn leather wing back chair. The large chair cast a long shadow that reached over the desk and to Diffenbaugh's spatted Italian loafers. The Handler spoke from his shadowed seat.

"The item is stripped?"

"Yes, everything is in this box. We disposed of Arnold's body, and we set up the twenty-four-hour surveillance system, as you ordered sir."

"Good." The man in the chair drawled, "How is our property handling its training?"

"Not as well as I had hoped. This one will be tough to break. Although, I believe I can use the video on Arnold's phone to my advantage. He is fiercely protective of the runaway, and when he slips, I believe letting him hear what we did to his pet as a result will make him pliable to everything we want him to be."

"You keep saying 'him' Hans. It is not a him. It doesn't have an identity. If it is referred to anything else other than an it, you will find yourself in its position. Am I made clear?" The Handler reached out of the shadows with a velvet glove, fishing a cigar out of a smooth hand painted wood box.

"Of course sir."

"Good. Now, the one that escaped, have you heard anything from our contact?" He asked as he lit the end of the cigar.

"No sir. The only news was that a preliminary 'Attempt To Locate' has been issued, but nothing has turned up yet."

"Keep in close contact with him. I want that kid back, he can still be useful. But if it turns out we can't get him," a puff of pale blue-grey smoke billowed up from the chair, "then I want him killed."

"Yes sir."

"And one more thing," the man commanded, "I want you to shave it. And I want you to do what we do with all the others. Mark it and let the boys have their fun. Just make sure it stays alive this time. You know the routine."

"Indeed sir. It will be broken before the sale, you have my word."

"See to it Hans. I'd hate to lose the best foreman I've had in years."

Diffenbaugh gave a slight bow in acknowledgment and exited the room. The man in the chair stood up and meandered to the edge of his desk where the cardboard box was. He opened the lid and poked the neatly folded contents inside around. Coat, pants, belt, buckle, boxers, shirt, socks and a few other clothing items, but what caught his eye the most was a jutte in its sheath, jumbled in with an array of handcuffs. He gingerly picked it up with three fingers as if the jutte and sheath was a delicately hand-carved eggshell. He shook a handkerchief from his breast suit pocket and laid the sheathed jutte on top. The Handler fastened the lid back on top of the box and carried it to an obscure corner of his study, pushing it snug against his bookshelves and placing some classic literature on top of it.

The man went back to the desk and picked the jutte up with the handkerchief. He carefully flipped the artifact over in his gloved hands, examining it minutely. It was an amazing specimen, practically in pristine condition considering it was a genuine article from the Edo period. Luck, it would seem, was on his side. This would be the perfect item to list, and it would save him the trouble of having to part with one of his antiques.

@tiredcatiwannaslep beta never have I ever related with a user name handle until now my friend It is a mood rn thank you so much for helping me with this fic bro

#lupin the third #lupin iii #inspector zenigata #koichi zenigata #lupin the 3rd #zenigata #jigen daisuke #jigen #goemon ishikawa xiii #Fujiko mine #i hear a sweet voice calling #chapter 6 #IHASVC #Lupin the Second was a rotten father #And my headcanon is that Lupin saw him die as a young boy for multiple reasons #Fan fiction #I'll link the other chapters and etc later I'm too tuckered to do it now #Ch 7 is a good month ish away from being published assuming nothing goes horribly wrong this time

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girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 1 year ago

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tuesday again 3/5/2024

really fucking around in Breath of the Wild and not defeating Ganon, even though i think i am fairly well prepared, which is probably indicative of something or a metaphor for some larger issue. oh well! guess we'll never know!

listening

Rock the Jungle by The Daniel Pemberton TV Orchestra, off an album of music from and inspired by LittleBigPlanet, a video game i have never played. Daniel Pemberton is a remarkably prolific british composer who mostly does film these days but also does a lot of BBC stuff.

youtube

this is the kind of scrubby pad to the brain electronica i need sometimes. i think these are heavily filtered and processed kookaburra sounds? at about the minute fifteen mark it adds a rolling, rollicking bassline that is, as im sure we all know by now, fucking catnip to me. at about 2:20 it adds alarm blares that fade in and out of a sort of disco-y organ? it uses its five minute runtime pretty well imo. i think this was off the spotify discover weekly.

reading

T Kingfisher's The Clockwork Boys, recced by @rae-being-naughty lo these many months ago, and my library hold finally came in. the goodreads blurb is a remarkably accurate sales pitch so let's yoink that

A paladin, an assassin, a forger, and a scholar ride out of town. It’s not the start of a joke, but rather an espionage mission with deadly serious stakes. T. Kingfisher’s new novel begins the tale of a murderous band of criminals (and a scholar), thrown together in an attempt to unravel the secret of the Clockwork Boys, mechanical soldiers from a neighboring kingdom that promise ruin to the Dowager’s city. If they succeed, rewards and pardons await, but that requires a long journey through enemy territory, directly into the capital. It also requires them to refrain from killing each other along the way! At turns darkly comic and touching, Clockwork Boys puts together a broken group of people trying to make the most of the rest of their lives as they drive forward on their suicide mission.

i had a lot of fun with this! very pratchett-esque in its imperial critique through bureaucratic loopholes thereof, which is catnip to me, but i do think Kingfisher is simply better at writing women. the forger is an only child and it fucking shows.

i think if it were 5% more devoted to Humorous Bits and didn't have some nice character work between the forging accountant and the big sad blond paladin man, i would have gotten frustrated with it. i think it is simply more of a comedy than any of its blurbs suggest, and it can be difficult to ride that line between comedy and character growth through desperate acts without getting a little bit of whiplash. this is me being very depressed and a bit nitpicky though. the line "Time passed, like a kidney stone" is going to stick in my brain for a while. i already have the sequel on hold

watching

if you do nothing else today could you please watch this car chase for me? ok thanks

youtube

Gunsmith Cats is a three-episode OVA that's a fancam of the american city of chicago and the cool girls that live and shoot and drive there, but let's just yank the MyAnimeList description

In the dangerous suburbs of Chicago, skilled bounty hunters Irene "Rally" Vincent and "Minnie" May Hopkins run Gunsmith Cats, a firearms store of questionable legality. One day, Bill Collins, an agent for the Chicago branch of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, blackmails Rally and May into working with him on a case. The stakes are high, but Rally’s gunmanship and May’s knowledge of explosives are unmatched. As Rally and May unravel the secrets of the case, the two will need to use guns and grenades while being faster, stronger, and better than everyone else in order to stay alive.

youtube

all three episodes are free (in really nice quality) on youtube. i pitched this to wendy as "rally is jigen lupinthethird's little sister" and her driving skills and marksmanship... i'm not sure who would win between them but i wouldn't like to live on the difference.

animators, historically, hate animating guns and cars, except for the masochistic ones who use it to flex. there are at least three shots in each episode where i want to stand up and hold my cat above my head and hoot like a fuckin tusken raider. in the first episode, there's a raid on a smuggling warehouse (you know, a warehouse) where the BATF agent and Rally throw each other their guns and have a really cool FALLING OFF A CATWALK back to back shootout. it's hard to describe. watch the episode. i wish there were more than three episodes.

this is an OVA that, aside from the requisite panty shot and WHOOPS my whole shirt tore (one of each per episode per girl) is fairly normal about women? rally and minnie are...roommates. that bicker and eat pizza. they have a cool network of other slightly shady women they interact with a lot, and the big bad for most of the episodes is also a woman. this isn't like a bastion of feminism or anything it's just neat. sort of middling on the ass portion of the Weeb Ass Shit scale. low on the weeb and shit parts too. again this is a fancam of chicago with cool girls

i watched this bc i was trying to use up kanopy credits and came across the precursor to this, Riding Bean, which i did not love for several reasons (the big one being the legitimately pedophilic lesbian relationship) but the creator took the concept of Rally out of that forty minute...experiment? and that led me to Gunsmith Cats. thank u ppl who put free anime on youtube

playing

still futzing about in breath of the wild. fucking around with sidequests and a sudden need to at least discover all the shrines.

for example, i did all the labyrinth shrines. underneath the akkala labyrinth is the scariest room in the world, bc six of those fuckers are alive and they will all target you the instant you open that chest.

cannot be bothered with the eventide island shrine yet (the roguelike) bc it frustrates the hell out of me. did the thyplo forest one, which was extremely annoying bc it dimmed my whole TV screen (including the UI) instead of just dimming the game itself. im sure someone thought that would be such a cool detail but instead i found it extremely annoying and vey difficult to swap weapons or start campfires.

and then i trundled through a list of shrine quests, bc i apparently had TWELVE missing?? three were korok trials, one was eventide (apparently it only shows up as a quest if you are on the island or have finished it, bc if u die on the island it kicks you back to a pre-island save lmao) so for the others: three i just had to talk to people to officially start and then immediately complete the quest. remember when i was anxious about softlocking myself out of the jungle dragon shrine quest bc i went right there instead of talking to Kass? never fear, nintendo's got my back

"kay how did you possibly miss reading the giant stone tablet to start this quest--" i am not a clever woman. i go "oh i know what to do!!!" when i see the Orb and hare off without looking around further.

A Brother's Roast i missed bc i forgot to talk to everyone in Goron City after defeating rudania, didn't run across Test of Will (the Goron challenge in the Gerudo highlands) bc i forgot to look off that side of the tower and was very focused on gliding into the labyrinth at the right spot, and didn't run across Guardian Slideshow on the far south beaches bc i hadn't explored there yet.

A Stolen Heirloom was deeply annoying. i had four out of five quests complete to unlock this, but there is an unmarked side quest where you have to go into this lady's house at night to figure out she wants fireflies. maybe she has some ambient daytime barks about this? i have never heard them. this was a little obtuse. also i don't love the stealth in this game. this game's stealth really works when you are well out of detection range bc u have a sniper bow, and i find it works less well for me when i have to follow a target. no i haven't finished the korok stealth trial either.

non-shrine nonsense:

ive been using Stasis as a sort of VATS equivalent. in fallout, i like to hit VATS every once in a while just to see who's out there. how many radroaches are nearby. this also highlights most interactable things which i think is nice of the game

gerudo town stuff: i missed this sand seal racing challenge by SO little the first time which annoyed me so much, it took me six more tries to beat the damn thing. i am very charmed that they actually put in a garden for the kid who was trying to grow a garden!

some beach vegetation mysteries: im really baffled by this singular hearty radish growing in full sun in what is essentially sand with a dusting of palm bark. all the other hearty radishes i have seen are in deep forests with partial sun and lots of leaf litter. what the hell is this then. plus a neat little unique sea wrack? korok circle instead of the usual lilypads.

i didn't know this game knew how to do rainbows at all, let alone double ones!

i will leave you with my many attempts to make stamina potions.

making

making things requires both the perfect levels of anxiety (too little anxiety and im out doing normal people things, too much anxiety and i shut down, a medium level means im frantically making things to distract myself. we are at the high end of medium) and some level of income bc i inevitably need one or two things to finish projects. eg we are at the level of anxiety where i am only able to do simple things like repainting a whole bunch of big frames for my maps (procured when i had money) but i need more matboard. so they are sitting, 90% finished, in my office closet.

garden update: more than half my bush beans came up with no leaves and promptly died, which could be due to any number of things but im choosing to believe it's bc my bestie's five year old planted them a little too deeply. so it goes. all the sweet peas are fine, all my normal peas and most of my regular climbing beans came up. a little annoyed bc only a third of my nasturtiums came up even after soaking them for 24h as recommended. the shit i Bought (tomatoes, marigolds, mint, rosemary) is doing fine. the spinach and dill i planted are doing fine too, although the spinach also had about a 50% germination rate. this does mean i don't need to thin them but. Hm. yanno?

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem

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nanowired-lover · 2 years ago

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Bc of some shitposts and my gf, transmasc no-op Zenigata lives in my brain rent free. Like how cool is that.

The guy is so big and square that he never get anyone doubting his masculinity. He's like those old fashioned transmascs, who are some of the most beautiful people existing in my brain, that you see and you're like "oh yeah we've been here since forever, it's so cool".

And just him comforting some younger trans kid, because he knows that it's scary, when you see none like you getting old, and he doesn't want another child like he was to believe that he had no future because of who he is.

But also, funnier and more in character.

Lupin teasing the shit out of him, then leaving with the slight frustration Zeni didn't even have a boner, and Jigen just staring at him like "he probably don't have one to begin with" and Lupin just staring at him, shocked Pikachu meme style, because it makes too much sense.

#lupin iii #zenigata #im main tagging but im actually scared ahah !!!!#im gonna try and draw transmasc Zenigata tho #me loves old transmascs SO MUCH #i love seeing older ppl being trans you don't even know #it gives me life and im happy to have a goal in life #nano.txt

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rainbow-riddle-art · 11 days ago

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Speaking of trans Jigen, heres a thing i made a little while ago to vent some small portion of my frustrations on the state of the world lmao

Happy Pride everyone 💕

#Trans rights #pride month #jigen daisuke #daisuke jigen #lupin the third #lupin iii #lupin the 3rd #I was self concious about sharing this but i like it a lot even if the anatomy is wonky as fuck #// smoking

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pinkjacketorangetie · 2 years ago

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i don’t know if you do requests right now. You have masterlist, but how do you think Lupin and Jigen would deal with falling for the same female reader who’s personality compliments them both and has not backstabbed them? Reader is chill and wouldn’t want to see them fight, but she is also hilariously oblivious there might be romantic rivalry going on.

STOP I LOVE THIS!!!! i am always happy to do requests :)) imagine is below the cut, hope you like it!!!! I may have took it in a slightly different direction than you intended so let me know what else I can do to be more true to your vision, whether that be a part two or anything else.

(sorry it took me so long to write! trauma is hard to come back from pls forgive me)

You didn't know how you got here, but all you knew now was that two dangerous men fell for you.

The jests and jeers turned into insults overtime. Lupin and Jigen stopped playfully commenting on their "rizz" (you came to regret teaching them that term) and hat, respectively, and they began to not speak to each other for days. They would avoid each other and spend their new free time trying to entice you to their corner. As you live out your days believing you were acting as a mediator, you were unwittingly the stake that drove them apart.

And now you blew it. You held your head in your hands as frustrated tears ran down your cheeks. Your unintentional ignorance caused a blow out and now no one was friends with anyone. This type of mess is inevitable when partners mixed work with pleasure, the tension boiling over at a fancy party that was supposed to be the site of a heist. The plan was ruined all because you accepted an invitation to slow dance with Lupin.

"How did I end up here?" You whispered into the dark, your feet dangling over the edge of a balcony. Your heels barely hung on to your toes, the wind picking up your dress and blowing it over your legs. How could you have been so blind?

It was all so painfully clear to see now. You felt like a ditz, and not in the cute Chrissy from "Three's Company" way, but in the way that guaranteed that the men who meant the most to you would never trust you again.

Watching you from across the room turned Jigen on and horrified him at the same time. You were so pretty when you cried, so vulnerable and gentle, just the kind of treasure he wanted to protect. He also felt like a sick bastard, because it was his reaction that made you cry. He knew he could see the top parts of your legs as your skirt flew around you, he could see the gentle curve of your ankle flow into your calf.

He blacked out with rage when he saw Lupin spin you around in his gangly arms. When he saw you giggle, smiling up at him with your doe eyes. The same doe eyes that were now filled with tears, thinking that it was all her fault. He didn't remember what he said, but he knew he hurt you. Whatever damage he did between him and Lupin would be solved within a week's time, but he knew the stakes were much higher with you.

Lupin had retreated. He left you on your own in the aftermath like the squirrelly little shit he was. If Jigen apologized to you, that had to mean something, right? He wished this decision was on his own accord and not another ploy in the contest to win you, but he didn't feel hardly as gratified as he wished.

Jigen let out a heavy, smoke-laced sigh as he took tentative steps towards you. You heard his movement stop when he reached your side, and you didn't look up at him. Instead, you kept your eyes trained on the lights from beach houses reflection off of the waves below you. You watched the pattern of the tides crashing into the sand, and in a second, you knew Jigen was, too.

That was the one good thing about this night. You had the brief comfort of knowing your intellectual connection with Jigen was still intact, albeit probably at a cost.

"You mind if I joined you?" Jigen asked, his voice hardly above a whisper but matching the rhythm of the waves.

"You still want to sit by me?" You shakily returned. You didn't dare look up at him for fear of seeing the malediction you placed in his eyes once again.

"Oh... of course I do." Jigen knelt by your side, assuming a squatting position. "None of this is your fault, you did nothing wrong."

You leaned your head on a railing, his soft voice coaxing you to turn to look at him. "I had no idea any of this was going on."

"I know. You should have known." Jigen tipped his hat up to show you his eyes, the brown in them now calming. "You deserved to know."

"Thank you," you whispered back, looking down at your hands, "I still can't help but feel like that isn't true."

Jigen hesitantly laid his hand over yours, not making any move to hold or squeeze or caress them. His hand just covered your shaky fingers. "I'm sorry for what I said to you. You're a brilliant woman, nothing about you is weak. Especially not your mind."

You let a small breath past your lips, but didn't respond.

Jigen took this as his cue to continue a true confessional. "I'm not sorry for telling you that you were my everything. You still are. Whether or not you want to be with me is up to you but I would choose you every time."

"Even now?" You squeaked out, turning one of your hands over so your palm was against his.

"Especially now." Jigen blushed as he wrapped his fingers around your hand. "That's the only thing I remember saying. That's how I know it was important."

"You called Lupin a man whore." You let out a weak, sad little giggle. It broke Jigen's heart.

"Meh... I meant it."

You looked up at Jigen and bit your bottom lip the way he thought was oh so adorable. "I never wanted you two to fight. Definitely not over me."

"We shouldn't have pulled you into this," he swept his fingers through a piece of your hair that fell behind your shoulder, "Whatever him and I have to settle is between us. You didn't make us fight, you hear? Him and I will make up in a week, that's just how we work. But you and I? That's something I would never put at risk."

"So you're not pissed?"

Jigen chuckled softly and held his arm above you, "may I?" When you gave him permission, he placed his arm around you. "Am I pissed? No, sweet girl. Never at you."

#lupin the third fanfiction #lupin x reader #jigen x reader #lupin and jigen fight over you #stop i'm obsessed #jigen daisuke x reader #arsene lupin iii x reader #jigen daisuke #lupin the third #LUPIN AND JIGEN FIGHT OVER YOU!!! AAAHHH!!!!#sorry it took so long i was in college #but i graduated!!!#this one is prolly more jigen x reader tbh #maybe do a part two idk #i am such a jigen simp thats why he gets the bulk of the dialogue #in my mind jigen gets the girl but it is up to the reader

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louhilainen · 1 year ago

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Olympia Soiree Lis as Dads, part 2/2 Kuroba, Himuka and Akaza

Contains some spoilers, especially for Himuka's route!

Kuroba:

When he was first informed by Byakuya’s pregnancy he made sure to read everything related to pregnancy and childbirth, even asking a midwife to teach him lol. He went a bit overboard with monitoring Byakuya’s health… She had to yell at him that he was stressing her out to back him off xD To be honest, I think all of LIs Kuroba is the best dad! He definitely plays and jokes around with his children, and does a lot of physical activities with them, but he’s not just some Disney dad! He can be strict when needed, and their kids know that when daddy says no, it means no. Also, his dad jokes cue eye rolling and frustrated groans from his children when they grow up to understand how lame his jokes are xDDD. Kuroba’s only weak point is working a lot and his unhealthy habits of staying late and not getting enough sleep. But over time he realizes he needs to prioritize his health more to show an example to his children and so that he can live as long as possible with his family.

Himuka:

Byakuya’s pregnancies are fascinating for Himuka due to changes in her body (as a boob man he would appreciate certain changes xD) and he’s in awe of what her body is capable of. Out of all the LIs he is, however, the most uncertain of becoming a dad as he exactly didn’t have good parents lol. Also as someone who’s just learning humans and human behavior, he struggles a bit understanding the logic which human children operate on. He also struggles with discipline, leaving Byakuya to take charge of it. But he gets better, as he doesn’t want to leave everything to Byakya. His asset is his wisdom and experience that he uses to guide his children. He’s also very patient, and very rarely, if ever, gets angry. In time, he grows up to be confident in his role.

Akaza:

Akaza is the perfect husband so of course he's the perfect dad as well! When Byakuya is pregnant, he makes sure to cater to her cravings by cooking for her. Having children helps him to relax a bit and people start to notice the famous Iron Mask smiling a lot more. He takes a deeper interest in cooking as he wants to provide their children with healthy meals. He always encourages their children to follow the path they have chosen and teaches them to value human life despite their color. His only weakness is spending much time at work, but when he’s home he’s 100 % present. Jigen tries to spoil their children a bit too much so Akaza has to reil him a bit xD

#olympia soiree #byakuya olympia soiree #olympia olympia soiree #kuroba olympia soiree #olympia soiree himuka #olympia soiree akaza #family fluff #just posting this here in case someone likes this #i ran out of steam when i started writing about akaza

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riddle-me-ri · 9 months ago

Note

Gonna humbly request Zenigata X Reader with my absolute favorite fanfic trope: Thinking they are in love with someone else.

Unfortunate circumstances have led to reader insert having to be saved over and over again by Lupin and of COURSE some people in the media took that to interpreting your relationship as „Oh, clearly they are in love with each other.“ „How tragic, on the opposite end of the law…“ „how romantic!“ even tough reader and Lupins relationship is strictly platonic. Unfortunately this includes Zenigata, who’s been crushing on reader for a while now…. Even tough he’s ACTUALLY the guy reader is in love with. Chaos ensues.

(Bonus point for Lupin actually being totally on board with ReaderxZenigata and trying to play matchmaker somehow, because APPERANTLY he’s gotta be the one with the braincell in this scenario)

a/n: man, you guys really, really love some Zenigata lmao not that I mind, he does deserve it lol. I had no idea how much I loved this trope until I started writing it. It felt like I was writing a possible episode plot lol. Hope you guys enjoy~

Content Warning: misunderstanding/miscommunication trope, can’t really think of anything else.

Word Count: 2.4 k

Inspector Zenigata x Reader - Front Page Fiasco

GENTLEMAN THIEF SAVES PRETTY BYSTANDER ONCE AGAIN

THIRD TIMES THE CHARM! IS IT LOVE OR COINCIDENCE?

LUPIN III SEEN CARRYING MYSTERY LOVER AGAIN! WHO COULD THEY BE?

Admittedly, you've had your grievances with the newspapers before but never due to the trends being directed at you.

You wanted nothing more than to crumble up every newspaper with the misleading headline and toss them into a fire--and then promptly crumble yourself into a ball and slowly disappear into nothing.

You didn't even know where to begin to fix this.

To show the world, you weren't having some star-crossed affair with the infamous Gentleman Thief…in fact, your heart yearned for his adversary.

Now any possibilities for that relationship to flourish may very well be ruined.

Little did you know Zenigata was just outside your apartment complex, with a content smile and a pretty bouquet of flowers clasped firmly in his hands. He finally gathered up the courage to properly ask you out…

However, when he glanced at the newspaper stand, his smile fell along with the bouquet.

A rage boiled up in Zenigata unlike any he's ever known.

He’s always been frustrated with Lupin's antics…causing his heat rate to go up, his blood pressure to rise to the extreme.

However, this was a new personal blow.

After causing considerable damage to a couple prints of the magazine and newspaper to the newstand owner's chagrin. Zenigata briskly left to his squad car to prepare himself for whatever Lupin is cooking up next.

He silently hopes deep down that you stay out of this one.

Lupin groaned as he hung his head over a couch armrest. Jigen just showed him the cover page of the latest tabloid magazine.

The photograph was a close-up photo of him, carrying you sheepishly in his arms as he caught you from falling out of a museum window during a heist to steal a priceless painting.

Lupin sighed. “I've always imagined myself on the front page…but not for this!”

“At least it's showing you in a more positive light.” Goemon observed.

“Who are they anyway? This is…by the journalist's account…” Jigen briefly skimmed through the story. “This is the third time you've saved them?”

The answer caused Lupin to wince. He knew exactly who you are…and that's what made this situation all the more complicated.

“I honestly only know a little about them. We've crossed paths before but not…like this” He gestured to the heroic display printed on paper. Lupin sat up to glance down at the coffee table. “And I know that…Zenigata has a thing for them and vice versa.”

Jigen and Goemon both straightened their postures in surprise.

“Pops?” Both asked in unison.

Lupin nodded. “I've seen them chatting a few times…I've never seen Pops smile so much…whenever they have to leave, Zenigata always has a giddy delirious look on his face…”

Lupin couldn't help but smile earnestly on the memory.

Sure, the Inspector gave him hell, but he made the jobs more exciting…and he couldn't deny he was happy to see the old man…be joyful (about something other than his capture).

Jigen and Goemon glanced at each other, not sure how else to respond other than shrug.

“Are you going to try and fix this, Lupin?” Jigen inquired.

Lupin thrummed his fingers. “I've got to…if not for the sake of cleaning up a clear misunderstanding that can lead to hell later…”

He stood up with a determined stance as he slammed his hand down on the table dramatically. “Then for the sake of true love…even for a workaholic like Pops!”

Jigen chuckled. “Since when the hell did you get into matchmaking, Lupin?”

“Oh, come on, Jigen…love is an amazing thing, any and every man succumbs to it in their lifetime!”

Jigen rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“It would be one of your more noble and considerate deeds…” Goemon commented with a sly smile.

“See? Goemon gets it!” Lupin rounded the other sofa Goemon was sitting on as he pulled the samurai into a side hug. “Even for a traditional guy like him, he’s a romantic!”

Goemon gasped softly, before turning his head bashfully, to hide his blush. “I gave no such indication.”

“How are you even going to get them to talk to each other? Knowing the old man, he's probably steering clear of them…” Jigen mentioned. “And Pops won't just want to see you behind bars, but your head on a spike..”

Lupin winked at his right hand man. “You leave that to me Jigen…for now, I will just need you two to ensure they don't leave the premises until words are shared…”

You knew this was a bad idea.

Even though you knew nothing was going on between you and Lupin, you couldn't help but feel like you were just feeding the rumor mill by accepting his invitation to chat.

Alas, you felt like you had no one else to talk to about this whole fiasco…the other victim of the press and who knows the truth.

It just felt shady going to a random abandoned warehouse down the street near a port dock.

While you didn't love Lupin as the media was claiming, you did trust the thief not to intentionally put you in any peril.

Perhaps this was just the most neutral and well hidden location from any sneaky paparazzi that could steal a snapshot at a restaurant or any normal meeting spot.

You creakily pushed open the barn style like door and made sure to close it behind you. You hesitantly walked around the warehouse. It was empty aside from some large crates.

“Lupin?” You softly called out.

“LUPIN!”

You nearly jumped out of your clothes at the intrusive shout that echoed you.

You immediately recognized the voice, though, as you turned around to face the person you were least suspecting.

“Zenigata?”

The Inspector responded with your name in an equally questioning manner.

“Ah, it appears you two have finally arrived!” Lupin slowly walked out from the shadows of the second level that surrounded the perimeter of the warehouse, overlooking the two of you on the ground floor.

Zenigata snarled up at the thief. “Lupin! What's the meaning of this?”

“Lupin, what the hell is going on?”

Lupin snickered to himself as he thought of how cute you two were copying each other slightly.

“I promise, it will all make sense soon…but first, you two have some things to discuss.” He giggled as he slid back into the shadows.

You reluctantly turned to take inventory on how Zenigata was handling this newfound predicament.

“Wait!” You groaned when he disappeared.

Then you two heard the sound of what could only be the sound of the doors being locked.

You ran to see if what you heard was correct. Yet no matter how hard you or Zenigata pushed and pulled, the doors weren't budging.

It was easy to determine that he was just as frustrated and confused as you were.

Zenigata was about to rush up the wooden stairs to the warehouse's second landing, where he last saw Lupin until you stopped him.

“I-uh…I'm not sure what's going on...or what he told you, but I don't think it's true..”

Zenigata huffed. “Well, you would know if it is or isn't, wouldn't you?”

You brows furrowed. “What do you--oh…the papers…”

“It seems you two have gotten pretty close…” Zenigata grumbled as he took a sudden interest in the floor.

“Zeni…it's nothing like that! Yes, I know Lupin, but those times he saved me were all just really, really huge coincidences…”

Zenigata sighed, his cheeks tinted red at the nickname.

Mentally, he rode the fence between believing you or not.

He desperately wanted to believe you so that he could court you, but he also didn't want to fall victim to whatever ploy you were playing to assist Lupin.

His eyes darted from side to side, debating between which side he should take.

“So you have no idea what his plans were tonight?” He questioned in a mutter.

You shrugged. “I have no idea what plot he forked over to you…in his note to me, he asked to talk one on one to figure out this media frenzy that's happening…apparently it's affecting his relationship with Fujiko.” You handed Zenigata the note as proof.

“Media frenzy?” Zenigata hummed in thought after scanning your note and huffed at Lupin's signature doodle.

It's not like the media hasn't taken photos or stories and twisted them before for ratings and sales.

Zenigata's brows unfurrowed, his face seemed to soften as he realized perhaps it was all truly a huge misunderstanding.

However, he wanted to be one hundred percent sure. “So…you and Lupin…truly aren't..?”

You shook your head, lifted your hands up as if to wave away the idea. “Nope, not at all! I just genuinely somehow found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time!”

You felt your shoulders fall when you noticed the corners of Zenigata's lips slightly lifting up.

You weren't prepared for the tiny leap of, what you can only imagine to be, joy along with a positive exclamation that Zenigata displayed.

Nevertheless, you were relieved to see Zenigata in a better mood as you beamed happily at him.

“I’m so glad I got that cleared up…” You mentioned in a relieved sigh. “Now to just…fix it with the rest of the general populace.”

Zenigata froze in his celebrating gestures. “I-uh…am sure they will blow over soon enough! This time next week, everyone will be talking about something different!”

“God, I hope so…”

What you wouldn't give for your life to go back to normal and worry about the man in front of you and not some ludicrous fake scenario with another.

You looked over at Zenigata who seemed to try and look everywhere and anywhere but at you.

There may be one way to fix the issue once and for all.

While the moment wasn't ideal, you felt like you wouldn't have any other moment to admit your feelings.

“Zeni…you seemed pretty excited that Lupin and I aren't a couple, can I ask why?” You had a decent notion as to why, but you wanted to get some confirmation.

“Uhh…I…well…” He turned his head as his cheeks flushed red again, he clasped his fingers to keep from fidgeting with them as he tried to find the courage he had on that previous day when this whole misunderstanding started.

Zenigata's bashful response made you smile, that was definitely more proof but you wanted to hear him say something.

You slowly walked over closer to him, you tilted your face so that he could still see you despite his shunned position.

Your soft sweet smile was mirrored by Zenigata's own lips once he saw it. The expression warmed him and managed to calm his nerves, something he always appreciated about you.

“Well…umm…I was glad because…then that would give me a chance to..” He gripped his hat and brought it down to his chest. Zenigata began to fidget the hat brim with the tips of his fingers as he worked through his words.

“Give me a chance to ask you if you would like to…umm..” He gulped down the last bit of anxious nerves that were determined to ruin this chance. “...go on a date with me?”

A brief silence filled the room, but just before all of Zenigata's hopes were dashed-- he heard you giggle.

You gently laid each of your hands on top of his tense ones that still held tightly to his hat. Your soothing touch put his digits at ease, so much so he almost dropped the signature accessory to his uniform.

Thankfully, one of your hands was able to catch his fedora.

“I'd love to…Zeni.” You beamed sweetly.

Zenigata chuckled sheepishly. “You can call me Koichi…”

“Koichi?” It was your turn for your cheeks to heat up as you tried the name on your tongue. “That's a handsome name.”

Zenigata's eyes lit up as his smile widened.

The sweet moment was cut short by a clicking sound and a bright flash.

“Beautiful, perfection, marvelous!” Lupin exclaimed with his arms wide open. “This should turn heads in no time!

Lupin appeared as he walked through the now unlocked doors. Jigen and Goemon were at his side, Jigen held a camera with a satisfied grin accented by a bent cigar.

Whatever tender expression Zenigata had for you was quickly shifted and scrunched up in disdain as he turned to acknowledge the thief.

“Lupin! Don't think I forgot about you! And why are you taking photos?”

Lupin threw his arms up in mock surrender. “Easy, easy, Pops! Can't you see I just solved our little misunderstanding, huh?”

Zenigata lifted an eyebrow incredulously. “Huh?”

“This was your plan all along…” You stated.

Lupin nodded. “I knew you'd catch on…the plan was to get you two alone, let you talk things out…and take a photo or two…” Lupin plucked the Polaroid out of Jigen's hand as it finished developing.

He continued. “Aanndd send an anonymous tip with photos exclaiming the so-called “mystery partner” of Lupin the Third actually has the hots for his long-time enemy... Inspector Zenigata of Interpol!"

Lupin winked at Zenigata. “Not bad, huh, Pops?”

“So…the note really was a ruse to get us together?” Zenigata grumbled.

“This is perfect!” You exclaimed as you glanced at the photo in Lupin's hand. “This will be a step in the right direction!”

“I thought so too!” Lupin beamed just as excited as you.

Zenigata was still stunned at the turn of events that took place.

“T-Thank you, Lupin…” Zenigata earnestly said.

Lupin cooked up a plan to get the two of you to talk out your feelings.

Granted, he figured Lupin did it as a means to make his own life easier, but Zenigata couldn't stop the side smile that crept up.

“Yes, thank you!” You echoed.

Lupin shook his head and playfully waved his hand in a dismissive motion. “Nah, it was nothing! Now maybe Fujiko will talk to me again…”

“Also don’t thank me too soon, Pops!” Lupin added.

“Hm?”

“There is one other note on your person…” Lupin mentioned, as he and his men began slowly walking backward towards the door.

Zenigata began searching through his attire and discovered a folded little note on the inside of his coat pocket.

You watched as Zenigata quickly scanned the note before shooting his head up from the paper.

“LUPIN!! You get back here!! I'll get you this time!” Zenigata immediately bursted into a sprint.

As quickly as he ran off, he ran back to you. The sheepish and tender expression fell back onto his face again.

“Umm…I'll call you later?”

You chuckled as you returned his fedora to its proper place on top of his head. “Sounds like a plan. Now go get ‘em, tiger!”

Zenigata's determined grin grew wider as he nodded at you and quickly turned around and got back to the chase.

As you waved goodbye to Zenigata, you couldn't help but sigh.

You knew your life would never truly be normal. That much was certain, but at least now people will have you pinned on the right side of the law.

#ri writes #inspector zenigata x reader #inspector koichi zenigata x reader #lupin the third #lupin the 3rd #lupin III

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