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[Arsène Lupin III] - [Jigen Daisuke]
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Fashionably late, by choice. Festival-goers had been gathering in droves for the past few hours, which provided a safe amount of cover for the two thieves that weaved expertly through the crowd. Jigen took a step closer to Lupin, dropping his voice low so that the surrounding din drowned it out to all but the ear he leaned into. "Any sign of the bitch or the samurai yet?" he muttered. Lupin's brow twitched, and Jigen grunted as his side was hit with a bony elbow.

"Don't talk about Goemon like that. He's our friend," he joked, a goofy grin winding over his face as Jigen huffed out a curse and rubbed his ribcage. "And no. I haven't seen him yet, or Fuji. It might be for the better, til this crowd gets a little thicker."

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"In the meantime," Lupin continued, drawing Jigen's attention away from a glittering piece of jewelry around a woman's neck, "we could grab a bite to eat."

"You and eating. We're not here to sightsee, boss. Hell, we're not even here to swipe anything shiny, either. So don't let those magpie mitts of yours get antsy. We can not fuck this up."

"I wasn't planning on fucking anything up, except maybe some of those fried meat buns I see on the horizon," Lupin shot back with a lackadaisical tone in his voice, gesturing vaguely forward. Jigen's stomach made a sound, and he gripped it, grimacing at the sideways smirk Lupin gave him.

"Alright. A short pit stop. Then it's back to business."

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[Goemon Ishikawa XIII] - [Fujiko Mine]
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Goemon felt ridiculous. He often found himself feeling so, in the presence of one Fujiko Mine, but he detested this instance in particular. The glimmering faux scales affixed to his cheeks and forearms were starting to chafe in the hot sun, and their gaudiness was an atrocity to him. The horns felt heavy on his head as he turned towards the dressing room curtain, ceasing his leaning on his sword to stand and address his captor of the day.

Fujiko stepped out of the dressing room, and Goemon squinted against the light that flashed off of her golden attire. While he couldn't help but feel the risque nature of the outfit was probably not accurate to the actual Golden Seraph herself, he couldn't deny that she looked beautiful in it. His scowl softened marginally as she spun around, looking delighted at herself. "I think I may have outdone myself. Oh! You're wearing the horns still!" she exclaimed, reaching up to lightly touch them where they affixed to his head. She paused, then clicked her tongue and gathered some of his long black locks to try to hide the headband they were fastened to. "Well. It will do just fine. You look lovely, Goemon dear."

Goemon felt his face warm beneath the scales, but said nothing in reply save for a quiet, "And you, far more so." It came off as simple politeness, even if he meant it in at least some capacity.

Fujiko smiled knowingly at him and craned her neck to see the stage. Near it was an awning where many of the competitors in the costume contest were gathering.

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Lupin was currently filling his mouth with meat and fried dough, content as a cat in the sunshine while Jigen smoked and stared out at the crowd. Lupin reached out with a meat bun cradled in a napkin, gesturing near Jigen's face. "C'mon, eat up. I need you alert for this job," he said, though his words were muffled by food.

"I work better on empty," Jigen muttered back, but took the meat bun regardless, holding its unhealthily heavy weight in his palm. He could smell the grease from here, but he held it because he knew if he put it back down, Lupin would try to feed him, and he could only take so much bullshit in one hour-long span.

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As a result of their respective distractions, it was Jigen who noticed Goemon and Fujiko first. While having Goemon on their side would prove an excellent boon, Jigen couldn't deny that his current role in distracting Fujiko (even unknowingly) was far more useful. No matter how tightly knit their plans were as a trio, Fujiko always had a way of worming her way inside and landing them all on their asses. Jigen chewed the butt of his cigarette unconsciously, maneuvering it to the corner of his mouth.

Lupin... was going to notice. He always noticed. He had a nose for Fujiko like a fox to a rabbit... or perhaps in this case, a rabbit to a fox. Jigen pursed his lips in a whistle, a familiar thing that he knew the samurai would hear and notice.

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Sure enough, Goemon paused in his walk, immediately freezing while Fujiko made it a few paces forward before she noticed his halt. Instantly her tilted brow hardened into a serious stare, noticing the look on Goemon's face. Wordlessly, Goemon flicked his eyes toward the direction of the sound, and Fujiko followed his stare, taking note of the meat bun stand.

She stood up taller, missing her heels, but flat golden sandals did work better for the costume. Even so, she managed to catch sight of an all-too-familiar red jacket. A beckoning finger curled toward Goemon, and the samurai sighed inwardly, following her lead to the stand.

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"Well well," Fujiko mused as she placed her hands on the table Lupin was sitting at. The thief paused in his chewing and looked up in alarm, before his startled expression melted into that of a lovesick puppy.

"Fuji," he sighed almost reverently, melting forward in his chair to place his hands over hers. Jigen rolled his eyes away from the spectacle, waving Goemon over instead. "To what god in the heavens do I give thanks to be able to see you so ravishingly beautiful on this day?"

Fujiko slipped her hands out from under Lupin's and gripped his wrists instead, her expression lidded and smile pursed. "Flattery will get you somewhere, but not the place you want to be. Goemon and I are here on business. And just why are you here?"

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"On business," Jigen shot an interjection over whatever Lupin was about to spill. The sharp shove as Jigen muscled his way over startled Lupin, inserting his wiry frame into the conversation with his hat pulled low over his eyes. "Same as yourselves. You should get back to it."

"Uuuunless you'd like to join us for food?" Lupin chimed, peeking over Jigen's hat with hopeful eyes.

Jigen's mouth twisted into a deeper frown. Any time Fujiko was involved, it went south for them, and she made it out on top. One day Lupin would learn, but until then, Jigen would have to keep intervening.

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Goemon, who had been looking out at the crowds to keep watch, seemed to hear the edge in Jigen's voice. He cleared his throat and turned to Fujiko, lowering his voice. "We should get to the tent if we are to be early in line for judging. I think you said it best... the judges will get tired of judging quite quickly in this heat."

It was more words than he'd uttered in awhile, and Fujiko took enough notice to pull herself away from Lupin, her expression shifting from coquettish to serious. "You're right. Alright, boys," she murmured, turning back to Lupin and Jigen with a smile. "I'll leave you to whatever your little plans are. Try not to cause a ruckus until Goe-chan here and I are finished."

Goemon flushed a brilliant shade of pink under the scales at the embarrassing nickname, averting his eyes into the crowd. Fujiko led him away, and Lupin let out a dreamy sigh, leaning his chin in the dip of his joined hands.

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Jigen would thank Goemon later for leading Fujiko off their trail. "Be glad you're not playing the part of her dragon. Those scales looked itchy as all hell," Jigen tried to nudge Lupin back into good humors with the observation.

"Jigen, my dear, I would be her dragon any day of the week," Lupin sighed, until Fujiko had fully disappeared into the crowd with the samurai in tow. Finally, he seemed to snap out of it, a grin crossing his face. "Welp! I'm full. Let's get to work." Jigen stared at him for a moment beneath the brim of his hat, marveling at the man's twisted priorities and mood swings.

They moved away from the food stand and into the crowd once more. Jigen kept his eyes on Lupin, but kept the rest of his senses on alert. Their job was simple. Gather intel about the Lambastian Science Division, and deliver whatever information they could find about the Division's presence at the festival to their client. Get paid. Get out. Couldn't be cleaner, investigating a bunch of stuffy science types. And as a voice began to crackle over the intercom, Jigen couldn't help but feel this job would be even easier than he thought.

"Please vacate this area citizens! This is sanctioned by the Lambastian Science Division, do not be alarmed, this is just a routine inspection."

Lupin's nose pointed skyward, and he turned to glance at Jigen over his shoulder, eyes widening with his smile. A nod in the direction of the tent, where the crowd was starting to move away from, and they were off.

[Investigate Commotion]

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[Head backstage with Wiks and question staff]

It wasn't particularly difficult to use the crowd to their advantage, but being called over by two official-looking types was difficult to purposefully ignore. Jigen had other plans, but a quick hand around his wrist and a jerk in the scientists' direction had him trailing after Lupin while muttering abuse under his breath.

The chattering one talked too much, and Jigen could feel himself aging the longer he had to listen to her, but there was one word she said that raised his brows. Chaos. He was lucky his eyes were hidden by his hat and mop of black hair, because he was determined to stay impartial. The presence of a Chaos was crucial to their purpose for being there. Now, they just needed to find it before anyone else did.

At least the other woman seemed more reasonable. Jigen stuck close to Lupin, leaning back slightly away from the chatterbox scientist, while Lupin flashed a smile to the other one--Wiks, she said her name was. "An extra pair of eyes and ears right here, at your service, Miss! I'll do you one better and give you an extra extra pair of eyes and ears!" he exclaimed, wrapping an arm around Jigen's bony shoulders and tugging him closer with a flourish of his free hand.

Searching the crowd wasn't a bad idea, either, but Lupin had a hunch about where might be the best place for a Chaos to hide. Wiks seemed to share his logic, just by nature of questioning the staff--it would be disastrous to leave her alone with such a golden opportunity.

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The inside of the tent was far less extravagant than the outside. It really shattered the fantastical illusion to see it held up by so many wires and metal posts. While the judges and outside employees sported beautiful festival attire, the people inside the tent were dressed far more functionally, in similar-colored button-ups and slacks with a patch on their breast pockets to indicate they were staff.

While Wiks made a beeline for who probably looked like the person in charge, Lupin gave Jigen a pointed look, and moved towards the Staff Entrance to the stage. There were a few people milling about, some of them with earpieces, one with a clipboard. It was a fine place to start.

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"Scuse me," Lupin leaned an elbow on the sturdy rail holding up the stage. He kept his voice low, but sharp enough to get the attention of the two staff. "We're here with the Lambastian Science Division. Either of you two got a moment to answer some questions?"

The two looked up, bemused, and exchanged a glance. "You... said you're with the Division?" one of them, a short and portly man, asked slowly. His eyes darted over to Wiks, then back to the two men, his eyes narrowing. "You don't much look like it."

"Undercover," Jigen interjected with a step towards the small group. His drawling tone of voice bore few arguments as he continued. "Cooperate, or it'll look real bad on our write-up of this place."

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The man and the staff behind him both stiffened, and it was the wiry individual behind the first man that spoke up in a strained voice. "A-alright. What can we do for you?" they asked, maneuvering their earpiece microphone away from their mouth.

"Have you seen any unusual activity around? Something like uhhh... you know, something like--"

"A big lizard?" Jigen interjected Lupin's looping hand gestures with a more frank question. It certainly startled the two, in a rather genuine way that seemed to suggest they didn't have much to hide.

"N... no, not a lizard," the taller staff stammered, shaking their head. "You mean like... a lizard lizard? Four legs... how big are we talking?"

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"Big enough that you would've seen it," Jigen muttered, glancing over his shoulder. A sudden bad feeling had run through him--keeping his back to Lupin, he stared at the entrance of the tent, slowly fishing a cigarette out of his pocket.

"Well... no lizards, but..." the shorter man mused, "I do recall there being a man with very strange eyes who signed up for the contest."

Lupin tilted his head, thinking back to Goemon's horns and scales. "Y'know, in a contest that involves half of the contestants dressing up like a dragon, I don't think that's anything special," he muttered. It sounded like the judging was about to start. Lupin wanted to catch Fujiko on the stage when she went up, but with luck, they still had some time. "But thanks for the intel. Y'said he was signed up for the costume contest?"

"That's right. A pretty late entry, too... at least the second half. Couldn't tell you his name, though," the taller one winced, gesturing to the long list of names on their clipboard. "Hope you find your lizard, though!"