The Imagination Latibule: Bullet Train - A Sour Taste

Chapter 3

You pointed into the carriage and at the Twins, moving your head to the side as Ladybug's filled the door window. 

"Shit. Fuck! No," he whined, sidestepping from the door and pressing his back to the wall nervously. He clung to the briefcase like it was his lifeline, chest rising and falling rapidly. 

"Shit fuck what?" Maria asked.

"Remember those two wackos from the Bolivia job? Killed all those people?" Ladybug asked. You raised a brow; you hadn't realised he'd been there too. 

"The twins?" Maria repeated.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure they're twins," you said.

"Stop it," she said. "Everyone knows they're twins." You and Ladybug glanced back through the window. Definitely not twins. Then, as an elderly lady passed between the carriages and the door slid open, you heard the remnants of the angry conversation Tangerine was having with the White Death's son. 

"Our job is to keep you safe and to recover the briefcase with the ransom money inside. And I plan on completin' my job and keeping... Lemon."

"Hmm?" Lemon asked, drawing his eyes from the window where the scenic Japanese countryside went by. 

"Where's the briefcase?"

"Oh, I stashed it." Lemon glanced down the corridor and you all but threw yourself from his line of sight.

"The case, lemon. Go get me the fucking case." 

Ladybug grabbed the phone. "Well, one of them is walking towards us right now," he murmured. 

"Well, now we know who the owners of the case are," Maria said as the two of you rushed into the next carriage, sliding into a pair of empty seats.

"See, this is exactly what I'm talking about," Ladybug whispered. "We have to have a hard discussion about the calibre of people we are surrounding ourselves with." And with that, he hung up on Maria, handing the phone back to you as he let his forehead fall on the seat in front, where he banged it light. "y/n..." 

"Why are we whispering?" 

"Because," he groaned. "You met them once, didn't you? And I'd rather not meet them again." He tapped his chin thoughtfully, and then an idea bloomed as he gripped the briefcase handle tightly. "New plan. You keep them distracted whilst I get the case off at the next stop." 

"Why do you get the case and a holiday at shin-Yokohama and I get the twins?" you asked.

"With my luck?" 

"Fair point," you said, squeezing the bridge of your nose. You were good at lying, great even, but Lemon and Tangerine were trained to know when people were lying, and the longer you hung around them, the more likely it would be that they found out. But, act cool, you told yourself, and everything will be fine. You stood up and headed back towards Lemon and Tangerine, to find Lemon throwing suitcases out of the storage space with an aggravated groan. 

"Y'alright there Lemon?" you said with a whistle as he lobbed a full suitcase over his shoulder, denting the faux wood panelling behind him.

"It was just here," he muttered.

"What was?" 

"A briefcase." 

You glanced at the empty storage. "Well, it's not anymore." The door slid open and you waved, sarcastically greeting Tangerine as he marched in. "Tangerine." 

"Fuck she still doing here?" 

"It's gone mate," Lemon said, and Tangerine looked like he could kill him. But then he took a deep breath. "We need to find the person who took that case."