Lupin The Third: The Gunslinger's Lament

Chapter 14

The next morning, the first item on the agenda was Ruby's appointment with one Ginerva Martine. As Lupin was busy putting the finishing touches on disguises for the event and Goemon would draw too much attention, Jigen was the one to escort Ruby to her appointment.

Ruby might have gone herself, but with the Riccis and Aderlass somewhere about, Jigen had no intention of letting her wander alone. And that was how the gunslinger found himself standing outside a fashionable women's beauty parlor. Not the kind of place where a man like Daisuke Jigen was commonly found, but at least Ms. Martine was doing this on the sly, as Lupin had made her aware of the situation.

Ruby entered through a back door off the adjoining alley, and the esteemed Ms. Martine took her down into the parlor's basement, which she reserved for very specific clientele – namely, the type who associated with men like Lupin the Third – which allowed Jigen to lean against a brick wall in a back alley, smoking a cigarette and looking like a proper gangster and not like a sugar daddy waiting for his teenage lover to finish a beauty treatment. Ms. Martine was said to be a master. How Lupin managed to get someone like her to do him a favor, Jigen never knew. In fact, sometimes Jigen just didn't want to know.

Perhaps it was because his mind was wandering, or perhaps it was because he was far too preoccupied with looking like he wasn't up to something as embarrassing as what he was actually up to; whatever it was, Jigen didn't even realize Ruby had emerged until she leapt up behind him and snatched his hat clean off his head before jamming it down low over her own.

"Done. Okay. Let's go." All monosyllabic, and certainly out of character for the girl as she sprinted ahead down the alley towards the waiting Fiat.

"Hey!" Jigen called after her. "Hold on a second, will ya?"

But Ruby was already tugging at the passenger door as Jigen came walking up the alley stairs and onto the street. When the door proved to be locked, she climbed through the sunroof and grabbed a blanket from the backset, which she proceeded to cover herself with, hiding.

"Uuuhhh... Oookay."

Jigen tossed his cigarette to the ground and stomped it out. Once he was in the driver's seat, he glanced in the rearview mirror. The figure he appraised in the was cloaked in both his hat and the blanket, leaving only her face peeking out. She almost looked like a little old lady huddled up under a quilt.

"So..." he said, "How'd it go?"

Ruby let out a choked squeak and collapsed onto her side on the backseat, hiding her shame... whatever it was she had to feel shameful about. Perhaps she didn't like the new look. She certainly didn't seem keen on letting anyone see. And the more Jigen listened, he was certain he could hear her softly crying.

Jigen turned in his seat, resting his elbow on the back of the driver's chair as he looked at Ruby with a raised eyebrow. "Hmm... That bad, huh?"

He frowned as Ruby huddled and sniffled. She seemed sincerely distressed over whatever the end result of her 'makeover' was, and Jigen found himself feeling genuinely bad for her.

"C'mon, honey... It can't possibly be that bad. Lemme see Ms. Martine's handywork. I mean, how bad could it really be?"

Maybe it was the way he called her 'honey.' Maybe it was how gentle and paternal he was being. Maybe it was absolutely, positively the uncharacteristic manner in which Jigen was giving a damn about a woman's shallow feelings in regards to her appearance that convinced her. Whatever the case, his encouragement combined with the fact that he didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave until he got what he wanted, prompted Ruby to slowly sit up and remove the blanket.

For a moment, she sat there with his hat still resting low over her head. Then, slowly, she took it off. A pile of silky black and purple hair tumbled out. A pretty deep purple, at that. And though it was as thick and wavy as ever, it was... short.