What Crooks Love

Mirror

When Lupin's troubled mental state begins to pose a threat to those around him, he is forced to face the mysterious entity that's been haunting him once and for all, as reality itself is crumbling all around him.

-----------------SUMMARY-----------------

A mysterious knock could be heard on the door.

Surely, it couldn't actually be him.

When Maria Isshiki received a phone call from a man claiming to be Lupin the Third... offering her an interview no less, she, as any sane person would, thought of it as nothing more than some juvenile prank one of her colleagues must have pulled on her. It was no wonder then that the woman was nothing short of awestruck as she peeped through her doorhole, only to see a lanky man wearing a green jacket lazily standing behind it.

She quickly unlocked the door and confronted her old acquaintance. "What the hell are you doing here?" Her tone could be described as not particularly welcoming. Unlike the last time she saw him, Lupin was, simply put, a wreck. His tie was loosened up, his posture uncharacteristically poor, while black eye bags betrayed his state of sleeplessness.

"I spoke to you on the phone, remember? Exclusive interview and all?" He sounded exhausted, shaken up, as if he'd seen a ghost.

"I never thought it'd actually be you!"

Lupin was too tired to argue. "Look, do you want the damn interview or not?"

While Maria was in no mood to deal with the man's bullshit again after their last death defying adventure together, if you could call it that, she reluctantly stepped aside, inviting the thief into her home. An exclusive interview with him was too much of a career boost to let it slide. Though it would no doubt come with a heavy price.

Lupin walked inside the woman's somewhat cramped apartment and sat cross legged at her table, only after disposing of his jacket, revealing his wine red shirt. She shot him a disapproving look. "I know you're a thief but you could at least take your damn shoes off! I just washed the carpet last week!"

Not one to deny a woman's request, Lupin untied the laces of his brown combat boots and tossed them aside. Maria momentarily headed for her bedroom, before joining him on the table with a pen and paper in hand. She was wearing a pair of navy shorts along with a gray sweater, probably on account of her lack of heating. Despite being May, the temperature was still prone to dropping dramatically after the sun had set.

Lupin pointed towards her small notebook. "Seriously? Don't you have a phone or something?"

Maria shrugged. "I'm somewhat old-fashioned, and my recorder broke. Now, before we start, why don't you start by telling me why you are here."

Lupin rubbed his eyes. "The interview, duh! What else?" He didn't even try to make his lie sound convincing. A fact Maria caught on to immediately.

"Bull-shit! A guy like you doesn't just walk through my door years later to do me a favor out of nowhere. Cut the shit and tell me what you're after. If it's a treasure or something, I won't-"

"Nothing like that, don't stress it." Lupin paused for a brief moment, making sure his mother's ghost was nowhere to be seen. "I'll spill the beans... if you bring me something to drink. I'm dying of thirst."

With an irritated sigh, Maria shot up and headed for her kitchen.

"Water?"

"You got any liquor?"

For a brief moment, Maria contemplated if the interview was worth putting up with the crook. Unfortunately, it was.

"I have beer."