SNAKESKIN (Tangerine) ✓

十二

The Cobra

I followed silently behind Tangerine as he headed up the train, into car 2. I held the case firmly in my grip, behind my back ,as I passed through the aisle. When we reached the last car—where I had intervened in the fight between Ladybug and Tangerine—we stopped.

"What is it?" I asked Tangerine, who had halted in from of me. He seemed to be observing something, so I poked my head around him to look over his shoulder.

Through window of the gangway door a familiar face grinned at us. Ladybug. He was standing in the gangway, leaning against the wall nonchalantly, like he was on top of the world. I glanced down at the case in my grasp. How could he? I had the briefcase.

"What the fuck?" Tangerine groaned in annoyance, stepping forward and triggering the door to open. I followed him into the gangway, moving to stand beside him as he stopped in front of Ladybug. "What are you up to now?"

Ladybug shook his head, the smile still lighting up his tired-looking face. "Nothing." He glanced out the window, where the rushing scenery was visibly slowing down. We were approaching the next stop. "You know what's waiting for us in Kyoto."

"Mhm hmm." Tangerine sounded bored already.

Ladybug glanced at me and I hid the case behind my back. "We should just get off the train," he suggested, turning back to my partner, with a pointed look. "Now."

"If you think I'm stepping off this train without Lemon or the case, " Tangerine started, side-eyeing me, as I held the case behind my back. "You must be mistaken."

"Okay." Ladybug gestured to the approaching platform. "Well, the case is in the first class lounge. It's behind the bar. It's in a trash can. It's yours. Me?" He gestured to himself, as the door behind Tangerine hissed open. "I'm getting off. I'm gonna go find a temple; re-evaluate my choices, or something."

He tried to slip past Tangerine and I, but we both took a step, standing side-by-side and forming a human barricade. "Ooh, that sound loverly, but here's the deal," Tangerine countered. "I still need a fall guy."

"Shit," Ladybug leaned back against the wall as the warning alarm sounded, indicating that the doors were about to close. "You still need a fall guy?" He glanced at me. "Just use her."

"Yeah, nah." Tangerine shook his head. "We're partners now. You think I'm gonna throw her under the bus?" He glanced at me with a tight-lipped smile. "She'd fuckin stab me if I did that. Nah, it's gotta be you."

I nodded in confirmation as Ladybug sighed defeatedly. "No, I understand," he said, glancing around the gangway. "I get it."

I leaned forward slightly. "It's a bit of a conundrum, really," I confessed, causing both men to glance at me. I had remained quiet until now. "Because I was contemplating whether or not we should hand you over to the White Death in one piece." Ladybug's eyes widened in surprise. "Or chop you up, into a bunch of little pieces and stuff you inside a Mammon."

"Yeah." Tangerine chuckled, nodding in agreement. "That's what was running through my head too."

"Hmm." Ladybug looked thoughtful, causing Tangerine to squint his eyes in confusion. "Or."

"What?" He asked demandingly. "You got a better idea, do you?"

"You know," Ladybug started, and I already knew an analogy was coming. "Before us now is just a wall." He shrugged his shoulders like he was just stating a well-known fat. "But it's an illusion, man. It's a construct."

"Get to the point," I growled, glaring at him impatiently.

Ladybug ignored me. "You know, within that wall sits a window. A window of opportunity." He paused, like he had forgotten what he was saying. "No," he corrected himself. "Dammit, it's a door. " He glanced down at his watch, which I didn't fail to notice. "Within that wall is a door."

"I'm finding it very hard to follow this story." Tangerine threw his arms up in exasperation.

"My point is," Ladybug said quietly. "That door is closing."

Before I could even react, the warning alarm sounded again and Ladybug lunged forward, kicking out his leg with a mighty thrust. His shoe collided with Tangerine's chest with immense force, just as Tangerine was launched out onto the platform, landing on the hard ground with a painful thud.

I instinctively dropped the case and launched myself at the door to save my friend, but it slammed shut without a shred of consideration, causing me to smack-face first-into the window.

"Ouch," Ladybug said mockingly, and he turned back to the window, pulling mocking face at what I assumed was Tangerine. I grabbed his leg from my position on the ground and tugged hard, causing him to stumble.

"Shut up," I hissed, elbowing him in the back of the knee. He grunted in pain and shock, before falling onto the ground beside me, a hurt look on his face. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" I demanded incredulously, jumping up to my feet and looking out the window as the train started to move again. Tangerine was nowhere in sight. "Why did you do that?"

Ladybug just shrugged, pulling himself to his feet. "You were going to use me as a scapegoat." He nodded to me and gestured out the window with his hand. "Did you expect me to comply?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, obviously." I stepped back, reaching down to pick up the briefcase, which he immediately noticed. "Were you just going to abandon the job?"

Ladybug ignored my question, though it was intended as rhetorical anyway. He nodded at the case in my hand. "You already had it," he observed with a frown. "You were acting like you didn't have it."

"Because we wanted to keep you talking so you wouldn't get off the train, dumbass." I removed my phone from my pocket. No missed calls or texts from Tangerine. "We didn't think you were doing the same."

Ladybug shrugged modestly. "It was an ingenious plan. Don't you think?" He winked mischievously, before heading into car 2. "I guess I'll just have to get off at the next stop." The door opened and he passed through.

"Don't count on it," I called after. He ignored me and I flipped him off for added measure. He didn't notice, but it gave me satisfaction in knowing that I had done it anyway.

A/N: Short chapter, I know. But, what is your favourite line from the film? Mine is "Let me put this bluntly. There's this soulless, psychotic leader with the largest criminal organisation on the planet shoved right inside our fucking asscheeks!" - Tangerine.