Lupin The Third: The Beast of Lykanisches

Chapter 30

At 11:57 PM, a pair of brown shoes alighted onto the balcony.

Ruby didn't even stir.

Even when the man's arms scooped her up from the reclined patio chair, the girl continued to doze. She let out a rather unladylike snore, which might have terribly embarrassed her, had she known. The volume of Sherlock Holmes still rested upon her girl's chest, and the voice of Ruby's carrier chuckled quietly.

"Nice try, RuRu," he murmured with soft amusement.

Ruby had the vaguest sense of floating, as though being carried. But she was too sleepy to consider the implications. It wasn't until she felt herself lowered to her bed, and the subtlest sound, as of a prowler, that Ruby's eyes snapped open. Through bleary eyes, she saw the figure in the dimly-lit room setting the Arthur Conan Doyle novel onto her beside table. There, the digital clock changed from 11:57 to 11:58 PM.

At first, her sleep-basted brain – the part that doesn't remember truth, time, and place – thought it was her father, whom, when she was a child, had often carried her to bed when she fell asleep. But then, suddenly, in that moment it was as though some unknown power brought greater wakefulness and clarity to her; enough to catch sight of the man in the red jacket and yellow necktie as he leaned over to switch off the bedside lamp.

"L-Lupin?" she murmured drowsily. "Is it you?"

"Oops. I guess I'm not a stealthy as I thought. Hehehehe!"

That impish chuckle...

It was Lupin!

Ruby instantly sobered up. Heart pounding, she sat up and rubbed at her eyes. For a moment, the two of them just looked at one another. A wide grin spread across Lupin's face. Then, softly...

"Heya, RuRu-chan. Happy Birthday, honey."

"You're late!" she told him, those full, pouty lips trembling with offense. "And you were gonna turn the light off and leave, weren't you?" she accused.

Lupin straightened up with his hands on his hips as he glared incredulously at her, though the glare was hardly a serious one. "Late? Are you kidding me? Lupin the Third is never late! I always arrive exactly when I mean to."

"Psh, yeah. Okay, Gandalf," said Ruby, crossing her arms petulantly.

Lupin glanced surreptitiously at the bedside clock and smiled. "Aaaand... if my unrivaled master detective-like know-how is to be trusted... I know for a fact that you weren't born until 11:58 at night. So that puts your official birth time right now."

Ruby's jaw dropped. Quickly, she glanced at the clock, just in time to see 11:58 give way to 11:59. "Y-You... How did you...? I am seriously creeped out right now. Dare I even ask how you know what time I was born???" But in actuality, Ruby was immensely pleased to see him.

"I promised I'd come, Ruby," said Lupin softly. "And here I am. So again, I say... Happy Birthday." His smile wasn't teasing. It was sincere and warm; so rare of the mischievous rogue. Somehow, this girl seemed to have a knack for getting such smiles out of him.

Ruby let out a ragged breath, only to quickly bite it back as she took her lower lip between her teeth. For a moment, she struggled to compose herself. Oh, how badly she wished to throw herself into his arms and cry and hug him and love him. But she didn't want to seem desperate or pathetic either.

"L-Lupin..." There was so much she wanted to say, but she didn't know where to begin. 'Think, Ruby, you imbecile. Think! You can't waste a moment like this!'

But for all her dithering and deliberating, the only thing she could think to say was...

"D-Do you want a cupcake?"