Worth More Than a Sapphire

Chapter 14: The Bitter Goodbye

The jewelry store employees were thankful, blissfully unaware of the real horror of the situation, thinking that you'd merely recovered it from a nasty thief. They weren't entirely wrong, though.

    The sapphire sat on its velvet pillow, the microscopic scratch soothed by the cushion. You were sure the jewelers had noticed it, but had decided not to say anything to you. You did think that putting the gem out in the center of the room was a continuous mistake, but who were you to tell them how to run their easily-robbable business?

    You'd accepted fairly quickly that by this point, you really didn't care about the sapphire. You cared about The Baron's weather ray, but that was mostly because it put a lot of people in danger. What really mattered to you about this situation was the jolt back to routine.

    You would be returning to your job soon. No one would have noticed your absence, but you needed to work to be paid. You would go back to spending your evenings alone watching movies in your apartment, with not even a pet to keep you company. Once more, you would blend in with the crowds you had passively watched only a week ago when the stupid rock had been swiped. No more surprise visits from Lupin, no more subtle insults from Jigen, and-- You'd rather not think about it while he was standing right there.

    Zenigata took the praise from the employees with pride, clearly happy that even though he hadn't captured Lupin, he'd saved the day somewhat. He made it clear to anyone who would listen that it was really you who had retrieved it, but conveniently left out parts of the story that involved breaking in, conspiring with a group of thieves, and breaking numerous traffic laws to and from The Baron's mansion.

    You sat down on the bench by the door as he told the story for the third time, watching him fumble between trying to look cool and getting really into the narrative. From here, his exaggerated motions looked exactly like they did when you met him.

    Only a week ago.

    It felt fake, really. It was like going on a vacation for a week, knowing it'll be over, but still not really believing it until it was gone. That said, this had definitely been the most stressful vacation you'd ever had.

    As the other officers worked out more details with the staff, Zenigata joined you with a sigh. Not an unfamiliar sound, but this one was accompanied by a smile. "That should change the score some."

    You gave an amused half-smile. "What is it now? Lupin two-thousand, Zenigata five?"

    "Ha ha, very funny." He went quiet for only a second before turning to you. "How did you keep it?"

    "I gave him the fake one instead."

    Zenigata blinked. "That's it?"

    "That's it."

    "B-- B-but!" Zenigata stammered. "He'd-- He'd know if you gave him the fake!"

    "If he knew, he didn't say anything." You remembered what Lupin had said during his second visit. It's okay to let him win sometimes. You leaned onto Zenigata's shoulder for comfort. "So what are you gonna do?"

    "What do you mean?"

    "Now that this is done, what comes next?"

    "Whatever Lupin throws at us."

    You looked up at him. "Us?"

    It took a moment for him to process what he implied. "I-- I just thought that you might want to--" He stopped and leaned onto your head. "I dunno," he shrugged, rubbing his neck as an excuse to busy his hands.