The Joker and the Thief (OPEN)

[Arsene Lupin the 3rd]

Lupin downed his glass of whiskey again before responding. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he thought for a moment. "Honestly, I can't remember a thing, other than passing out in all that gas."

Looking his partner over, Lupin smiled. "So is this daughter of yours ever coming home, or do I have to go pick her up?" he said, giving Jigen his cheesiest grin just to piss him off.

[Jigen]

Jigen grunted and downed a shot of whiskey. "Yeah yeah don't worry Boss she should be here any time."

He cast a glance to the door behind Lupin just to be sure and then looked at Lupin. "And...she's not my daughter...not...really. Though I have adopted her in a sense...so I SUPPOSE she really is my kid. Heh...kind of an odd thing once you think about it."

Jigen chuckled before sealing the bottle of whiskey and placing it back in the cabnet and the used glasses in the sink before sitting down again.

[Kisa Sohma]

Kisa bounded up the stairs smiling. "I can't believe they're going to be my friends! Even after they found out that I'm cursed...maybe Akito and everyone else in the Sohma family was wrong after all?"

As Kisa reached the top of the steps she looked behind her to see Kasanoda a few steps away from the top of the flight of stairs, Saiga and Ben were still a floor below them discussing something.

As she turned around, Kisa felt water splash on her hand. Touching her face, she felt tears stream down her cheeks. As she tried to wipe the tears away, a handkerchief was shoved in front of her face.

She took it and wiped away her tears to find Kasanoda blushing a little and looking to the side.

[Ritsu Kasanoda]

"Hey...I won't tell anybody you cried all right? Just...try to hide it from the others. I have a feeling Saiga Sensei would get pissed at someone...and I don't think Ben would be much better."

"Then again neither would I..." Kasanoda thought to himself as Kisa dried her tears and handed back the handkerchief.

"I just hate to see girls cry. It makes me want to beat up whoever made them cry...so I hope it wasn't one of us. Because I'd really rather not have to get into a fight with either of them. I've never had any friends either...and besides, I don't have any powers so I don't think I'd last long."

Kasanoda chuckled and Kisa chuckled along with him.

"Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is...if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here for ya alright? You can call me anytime okay? Here..." Kasanoda handed her a piece of paper with his phone number on it. "I-I'm not trying to hit on you okay! I just...figured I'd give you my phone number in case you ever needed to call me for anything."

Kasanoda mentally face palmed. "Great...now she thinks you're a playboy. Oh this is WONDERFUL."

Kasanoda heard Kisa mutter a thank you and saw her blush before Ben and Saiga reached them.

Ben chuckled. "You live in a hotel?"

[Kisa Sohma]

Kisa turned to see Ben and Saiga standing behind them. She noticed Saiga had a strange look on his face. Like he was happy but sad at the same time.

Kisa shook her head and decided to ignore Saiga's look for now. "No, this is actually an apartment building...I'm not sure why it's called 'The Hotel.'"

Ben shrugged and placed his hands behind his head as he walked towards her and Kasanoda. "So how much farther is it? Man that was a lot of stairs."

Kisa giggled quietly and pointed ahead of her. "It's just a few doors down this hallway don't worry. There's no more stairs for us to climb."

Kisa thought she heard Saiga mumble something like, "This place needs an elevator." before he walked ahead of her and looked down the hallway.

Saiga glanced down the hallway again before looking behind them down the stairs. "Well...it looks safe enough."

He noticed the others blink a few times and look at him oddly. He chuckled in embarrassment. "Oh sorry about that. It's...an old habit of mine. Anyway, lead the way Kisa."

[Ben Tennyson (Alien Force)]

"An apartment building called 'The Hotel'?" Ben whistled. "Faaaannnn-cy." Crossing his arms behind his head, he walked along besides Saiga, following Kisa's lead.

I hope this Jigen guy can help me get back home. I don't exactly trust the world left in Kevin's hands... he thought, before letting out a big yawn. "I hope there's something to eat here too, I'm starving. Ooh! Do they have slushies?"

[Jigen]

Jigen pulled out his magnum, pointing it over Lupin's shoulder to the doorway behind him. He heard voices. Men's voices, along with Kisa's outside the door.

Hearing one of the voices yawn and mention something about food made him falter, but only just.

Jigen heard Kisa's voice outside of the door.

"W-Wait out here okay? I just need to tell Uncle Jigen that we have visitors.

Well it certainly didn't sound like she was being forced to open the door for thugs, or that she was in any danger. He holstered his magnum, but kept his hand on it just in case.

Kisa entered the door, closing it behind her before turning around to see Jigen standing and a strange man in a red coat sitting with his back to her. She jumped before placing a hand over her heart.

"G...Good afternoon Uncle Jigen and um...sir. I-I brought some friends over...they wanted to talk about The Pathways and...you were our only lead."

Jigen watched as Kisa bowed in apology. "I-I'm sorry sir! I just..."

Walking over to Kisa, Jigen placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "It's okay kid. I'm just glad you got some friends is all. Oh..."

Jigen pointed a thumb behind him to Lupin. "This is the Boss I told you about. Lupin's a pretty good guy, just don't let him anywhere near your wallet."

Jigen saw Kisa look around him to Lupin, who had turned around to look at the girl. She bowed but said nothing as Jigen sighed.

"Well I got her to open up a little at least. Though it looks like she still won't talk to anyone too much." He thought to himself.

Jigen glanced at the door after telling Kisa to sit down. "I guess I should let your friends in huh?"

Jigen walked over to the door and turned the door knob.

[Arsene Lupin the 3rd]

"Wow, your daughter sure is a cutie Jigen!" Lupin said jumping up to run over and place his hands on Kisa's shoulders, as he gave her a big grin. "Hey there kiddo. And don't listen to a word Jigen says, your wallet is perfectly safe with me."

Seeing the look on Jigen's face, he backed off a bit. "Seriously, it's great to meet you Kisa. Jigen was just telling me all about you. And you brought other people who got stuck here from another world? Let them in Jigen." He said, giving a nod with a more serious look on his face. "Maybe we can help each other out."