(Reqs Closed!) Lupin III x Reader One Shots

Christmas Special: Zenigata x Lupin Gang Reader

-- Author's Note:  Happy belated holidays! From my understanding, Christmas is celebrated in a non-secular way in Japan, but since Lupin is half-French I figured he'd want to celebrate wherever he was. But regardless of traditions there's something else special that happens on December 25th! --

"Why do I have to give it to him?" you groaned.

"It is quite obvious," Goemon replied. "You're the least likely to be persecuted for it."

"Goemon's right! You're not as sinister as we are," Lupin agreed, wiggling his fingers for emphasis. "He'd be willing enough to take it from you, but if it were me, he'd probably trample the thing scrambling over to cuff me."

December 25th, Christmas Day. Normally, it'd kind of be another day, but since this heist was stationed right in Times Square, and Lupin had seen Home Alone 2 at least 50 times, he was in full jolly mode. At least he was smart enough to not try to wedge antlers on Goemon.

But there was another occasion that happened regardless of where they were located, or who celebrated what: Pop's birthday. God, how old was he now? You eyed Lupin subtly. How old were any of them, for that matter. It wasn't like the birthday cards were any hint.

"It's early enough, he might still be sleeping. Just drop it by his bed or something. Or under the tree!"

"You think he set up a tree in that 2-bit hotel?"

Lupin smiled and shrugged. He was annoying enough on a normal day, but it seemed his smarmy joy had no end currently. You grabbed the gift bag, stuffing the card in it and walking away with a huff.

"That's the spirit!" was the last thing you heard before you were met with a wave of snow.

You walked through the city to where you knew he was, likely not dozing as Lupin imagined, but probably still up at 4 in the morning, fussing over paper and clues. The thought made you grin a little, splitting your chapped lips. Idiot.

Lupin had taught you you could get nearly anywhere by acting as if you knew where you were headed. Confusion led to doubt, thus, the opposite rang true. It worked, as it always did. You walked right through the lobby, smiling at the receptionist as you boarded the elevator like you owned the place. You knew his room number, because of course you did. You were starting to wonder if too much of the others had rubbed off on you, reaching for the doorknob, finding it turned with you.

A second too late, you remembered that doorknobs turned when people opened doors, and doors worked both ways. The door pulled inward, taking your arm with it, and you lost balance slightly to be met with the birthday boy himself. Initially, neither of you dared move beyond blinking emptily at each other.

It was as if he'd only just woken up at the exact second he recognized your face. "YOU!!"

"Shh! It's early, people are sleeping."

"Why are you here-- Oh." His hard glare relaxed as he looked at your little delivery. "I almost forgot about that."

"Surprise," you muttered flatly, holding it out to him.

He looked aside, his mouth twitching like he was fighting a smile. "Not... Really."

You looked at him like he'd told you he dipped his fries in peanut butter.

"They do it every year. I just didn't expect to get it from you this time."

They did WHAT? "So you're telling me Lupin woke me up this early for nothing? He told me he'd get thrown in jail if he gave it to you!"

"Oh, no, that would still happen. But he and the gang always give me something. I think of it as a yearly apology." His tone soured near the end, but the beginnings of a smile still clung to his face.

Maybe this was some sort of rite of passage for you. "Are you going to open it?"

"Now?"

"It's 4:30 on Christmas morning. You might as well."

"Uh, usually they... Leave. By now."

"Usually I think you're trying to arrest them by now."

He huffed. "Well, would you rath--"

"God, I'm tired, Inspector. Please, just open it."

He frowned, but did as he was told, just leaving the tissue paper on the floor for the time being. You already knew the contents, but that was never the fun of a present anyways. It was seeing how he'd react.

He lifted out a single purple tie, a vague look of interest on his face. That look quickly scrunched into annoyance, as he smacked his forehead and groaned. The sudden change startled you. "What? Do you already have that?"

"No, it-- Ugh, you know what this means?" You shook your head. "He's gonna change his whole outfit again, and I'll look stupid if I don't too."

You blinked. Had you never realized the only thing that evolved about their appearances was color schemes? Despite scolding him earlier, you laughed, loud and full. "Look, there's a card in there too. I'm going back to see if I can sleep more before he decides we're gonna steal like, the big tree or something. Merry Birthday."

You left peacefully, still giggling a bit, as Zenigata reached into the crevice of the bag, locating the card. Inside, as always, was a note, basically saying that Lupin, Fujiko, Jigen and Goemon hoped he liked the tie that was definitely purchased legally. The new addition was your name, right in the corner next to Jigen's.

Strangely, he fixated on that signature for a minute, looking at the dents in the cardstock where your pen had died on you before just switching to a blue one, tracing the loops with his eyes, until he started to feel like he was being weird. Was he? 

He hesitantly set the card down, tie still wrapped around his hand as he looked out the window. Zenigata didn't trust himself to think about you too much, or he felt guilty, but was that weird too? He was downright obsessive about locking you guys up-- Wait, why hadn't he threatened you? He was starting to get a headache, and he hadn't even put his coat on yet. Maybe he needed coffee.

As he picked up the lukewarm, neglected coffee from last night, a glimmer caught his eye. At least he could see the giant tree from his room. That alone was worth the loud pipes and stuffy heat in here. Then another ornament gleamed. And another. It wasn't that windy, why were--

Oh my God, you hadn't been kidding. Lupin was really going to steal the Times Square tree. He scurried out of the room in a rush, not bothering to check if he'd spilled his coffee on the brand new tie.

Next Christmas he'd dwell on this more. Maybe.