Hello loyal readers!

Today's chapter is more of an interlude between arcs, but I hope you enjoy some BFF time with Kanae. Kanae is really fun to write because she's kind of crabby like I am haha.

Thanks as always to those who take a moment to review! I always look forward to seeing what you guys have to say!

Enjoy!

CH10

She was going to get impeached for sure. She would have to resign as chairman, clean out her desk, and relinquish all of her duties to her successor... Wait, did she have a successor? She had to find someone to carry on her most important life's work, now that she herself was disqualified!

"Moko-san!" Kyoko suddenly burst out, her hands clutching the edge of the computer screen. "Moko-san, you have to carry on the Japanese Maiden's Protection Party on your own! I am no longer fit to be–!"

"MOU! Kyoko! Weren't you paying attention to me at all?"

Kyoko blinked once. Twice. Oh, right. Moko-san had been talking to her about the Prime Minister's birthday gala. And then the younger woman's thoughts had strayed to what happened on the bench in the courtyard two nights ago and how after seeing her mother, she had clung to Tsuruga-san as if he were a piece of driftwood and, goodness, she could never ever face him again–!

"Mogami Kyoko," Kanae's voice growled out threateningly. "I swear, if you are off in your own little fantasy fairy world again while I am trying to talk to you for the first time in a month…!"

The Number One LoveMe girl's eyes watered at the impending threat.

"No, Moko-san! My best friend!" Kyoko stared beseechingly into the web cam at the top of her computer screen. Tears threatened to spill from her comically wide eyes. "Please don't leave me! You wouldn't be so heartless as to desert a lost soul in the wilderness of confusion!"

Kanae jerked her head to the side and mumbled something that sounded to Kyoko like, "Manipulative girl! Crocodile tears!" and then sighed mightily. When Kyoko's best friend turned back to face the screen, she was scowling, but more thoughtful than annoyed.

"Hmph," Kanae snorted finally. "If you ask me, Tsuruga-san is the one being confusing… It's pretty suspicious actually." She finished in an incoherent mumble.

The other girl didn't hear her finish.

"Moko-san," Kyoko interrupted. "You know as well as I do – as well as the whole world does, or they would, if they knew who he was – that Tsuruga-san is a much more experienced and overall better agent than I. Even the movement of his left pinky finger has significance towards his cover story!"

Kanae looked bored as her friend began to proudly ramble about her senpai's skills.

"Yeah. And?"

"And, there's no way that he would do something like—" Kyoko abruptly froze, eyes widening as the seconds ticked by. Kanae was raising a hand to snap her fingers when Kyoko suddenly began again. "Something like thosethingsthatItoldyouabout, without a deeply thought-out purpose and mission-minded intent!"

"Well, maybe that wasn't his character," the LoveMe Number Two girl retorted defiantly. "Maybe that was Tsuruga Ren."

Feeling the blood drain from her face before rushing back up in a swift blush, Kyoko couldn't get her hands up fast enough. She waved both in front of the screen as if swatting the mere idea away. "No, no, no, no, no! There's no way. Are you crazy, Moko-san?"

She heard her friend sigh, but Kyoko tried to talk over her, launching into another lengthy explanation of how he was like a revered deity to her, how he only stooped to her level out of pity to lead her on missions, how he surely only looked at women who were beautiful and flawless–.

As her friend rolled her eyes yet again, Kyoko mentally interjected that the most damning piece of evidence had come directly from Tsuruga-san's mouth to Bo. He was already in love. And the girl – most certainly – wasn't her.

Kanae merely sighed and rubbed her temples. "Well, let's save that mystery for another time. What's the President going to do with the Delta agent who almost got you?"

"He's a weird one, that's for sure." At the mention of the purple-eyed creep, Kyoko wrinkled her nose in distaste. But she was thankful to leave the previous topic of discussion behind. "He said that he's already ingested several poisons. And he has this whole system of antidote pills, and if he doesn't take the right one at a particular time of the day, he said that he'll die. Or if he takes any of them before he's supposed to – he'll die. Sawara-san is trying to analyze the chemicals as fast as he can, but—" Kyoko shrugged. "That guy said that if the President tries to transfer him to the PSIA for interrogation, he'll refuse to eat any of his pills and then he'll die for sure!"

"I'm guessing that Sawara-san actually found chemicals in his blood work or tox screen, but probably doesn't know what they are…" Kanae mused, a thoughtful hand stroking her chin. "But then again, Sawara-san is only a doctor; he doesn't actually specialize in chemistry and pharmaceuticals…"

"That's not the worst news," Kyoko muttered darkly and slouched down in her desk chair. "It sounds like the President is going to keep him after all. Because the creep said he would only talk to me."

"YOU?" Her eyes blazing with anger, Kanae gripped the edge of her screen and wagged a finger at the camera. "You aren't thinking of actually going in there to talk to that psycho, are you? He almost killed you! And then kidnapped you!"

"I think he was just trying to kidnap me—"

"That's beside the point!" Kanae snapped. Agitated, her normally pretty face pinched into a frown. "What is that crazy, love-obsessed President thinking!"

Kyoko's forehead hit the wooden desk with a loud thump. Her words came out muffled as she said, "I don't know, Moko-san! I don't want to go in there either! He really…really scared me…"

Kyoko raised her head, so her chin was tucked onto the desk and her arms wrapped around her bent knees as she perched on her chair, a dense human ball of self-protection. She noted that her best friend's expression had softened.

"But… I'll probably be ok," Kyoko said with a small smile. "Because Tsuruga-san promised that he'd be in the room with me, and he wouldn't leave no matter what."

Unbidden at the mention of Ren, the horrifying memories came pouring back, and Kyoko felt her smile slowly but steadily transform into a horrified grimace.

"Oi, Kyoko. Focus." Kyoko heard Kanae snap her fingers.

To her credit, Kyoko came back to reality quite quickly. A look of epiphany crossed her face.

"Ne, Moko-san," she began slowly, a small frown forming on her brow. "Do you know someone named Mogami Saena?"

"Yes," Kanae said and rattled off quickly, "She's one of the Diet members in the House of Councilors. One of the fastest rising female politicians in Japanese history. Used to be a private attorney until 5 years ago when she joined the New Change Party and quickly rose through the ranks. She doesn't represent a particular local district, but was one of the Councilors appointed through the proportional representation vote for the House of Councilors. What about her?"

Pensive, Kyoko stared off into space, thinking about how to answer. Then Kanae gasped.

"She is your mother, isn't she?"

"W-what?" Wide eyed in surprise, Kyoko spluttered.

"The thought had crossed my mind before, but I didn't want to bring it up, just in case I was wrong. You said your mother abandoned you when you were young."

"Is it because the last name is the same?"

Kanae shook her head. "I've seen video footage of your Natsu. They're the same."

Kyoko's eyes widened further, and she put her hands up defensively, shaking her head in denial. "No, but—"

"She's a very cold, calculating woman," Kanae continued solemnly. "Ruthless on the floor when they're discussing bills to pass. But very intelligent, I'll give her that."

Kyoko was silent for several moments, processing. Had her mother really abandoned her for a bid at political power? She supposed that if the public knew Saena was a single, unmarried mother, the opposition could use it in their favor to degrade her character in front of voters. Other politicians had their careers ruined for much less.

A dark, twisting feeling clenched at Kyoko's stomach.

"Hey, are you ok?" She heard Kanae call softly.

Kyoko looked up with a quick smile before dropping her eyes again. "I thought that where my mother was concerned, my heart had become as elastic as jelly, where every barb she threw my way would just bounce off…"

"Until two nights ago," the older girl finished for her, not unkindly. "And now you're wondering what happened."

Kyoko could only nod her head, not trusting her voice.

"I could do some digging for you," Agent K mused, her head tilted to the side in thought. "Maybe ask around, casually gather info on the side…"

"Would you!" Instantly Kyoko sprang forward, hands clasped to her bosom and eyes shining. Roses seemed to blossom out of thin air behind her head. "You're my best friend after all!"

"Geh!" Kanae lurched back, as if the excited girl could launch herself across cyberspace and through her screen to tackle her. "It's not like I'm doing it because we're friends or anything. I just happen to have a lot of free time on my hands–"

"Oh! Moko-san! Don't you start patrolling soon?"

Kanae swiveled around to glance at the clock behind her. "Oh, you're right. I have 5 minutes."

All smiles again, Kyoko enthused, "I forgot to ask you! How are your duties as Prime Minister Ogata's guard going?"

Kanae shrugged as she reached off-screen for a hair tie and began to gather her long black hair into a high, slicked-back ponytail. "Same as when we talked last month. I follow him around, take notes, be the best personal assistant I can be, gather info to send back to the President, and foil the occasional fan girl mobbing when I can."

The younger woman's amber eyes were as wide as saucers at this point. Kanae pointed an accusatory finger at her screen while she zipped up her black stealth suit.

"Don't think it's exciting or fun or anything! This is still one of the President's dumb LoveMe assignments."

Kyoko beamed at the screen happily. She was glad that at least Kanae was making headway toward overcoming her lack of love toward families. The Ogata family was a beautiful and peaceful one. Ogata Asami-sama was so elegant and kind, their toddler son was the nation's mischievous darling, and the PM himself was very gentle.

Suddenly recalling one of their previous conversations, Kyoko asked curiously, "So did you ever figure out how to get the Kotei security guards to leave you alone? They still don't know who you really are, or that you're doing your own patrols. Have they tried to chase you after that first night?"

"Those guys?" Kanae scoffed and expertly ejected and checked the magazine of her modified pistol. She paused a moment as a cunning smile crossed her lips. "A couple of ghost rumors, and now they don't chase after anything that goes bump in the night."

-x-

Winding down the interview with the NHK's political pundits was proving difficult. All three of them were passionately discussing the upcoming Prime Minister election – as passionately as Japanese men could while on national television. However, eventually the petite female newscaster bowed to the screen, and the studio cut the video feed. With only a slightly haggard smile, the newscaster turned back to face the camera.

"In other news, Tokyo police are glad to report no new victims of the feared serial killer Black Jack. The recent spate of murders that began two months ago and terrorized the country has suddenly and unexpectedly ceased.

"Black Jack, who the Tokyo police believe is a Japanese national and not a foreigner, has been well-covered in recent news due to the disturbing nature of his modus operandi. Bodies of victims are often mangled beyond recognition. Tokyo's district coroners have only been able to identify victims through dental records or personal belongings.

"Very little is known about this mysterious and terrifying murderer. But it looks as though the police may never know. Has Black Jack decided to stop his killing spree? Have the police forced him into hiding? Only time will tell…"

-x-

Ren doesn't know how, but he's back at that one sleazy accountant's house. Yamashita Sadao, is it?

The man's office is messy. Papers and old convenience store bentos are stacked in haphazard piles on every flat surface. Not even bothering to rifle through them, Ren – no, he is Katsuki right now – quickly makes his way to the desktop computer sitting on the man's desk.

Katsuki checks once over his shoulder, then unclips one of his silver cuff-links. He unfolds the metal and plugs the small, disguised memory stick into the computer's USB port. He wishes Yashiro's virus package was a smaller upload file. Mizuki is keeping watch, and Katsuki doesn't like to keep her waiting.

The computer beeps, and Katsuki pulls the USB stick out and reattaches his cufflink.

Suddenly he finds himself back out in the hallway, antique furniture and large portraits of stern Japanese men line the walls. At the end is Mizuki, but she is talking to someone.

Katsuki already knows it's the security guard.

'Oh no. It's happening again.'

The burly man leans forward, leering, and Mizuki, unsure if Katsuki is done, continues the distraction by flirting back.

Then Ren watches as if detached from his body, as a doppelganger Katsuki walks up and calmly engages the security guard, all smiles.

Behind him, the President sits in his Roman toga. He sips wine from a bronze chalice and smugly says, "Of course your love acting is atrocious! You've never been in love."

The chicken-guy is standing next to the President, and he titters back, voice muffled behind his costume head, "I agree! This poor, lonesome guy!"

Back with Katsuki, the security guard grows suspicious, Ren watches him reach for the walkie-talkie on his belt.

"Why are you two here? This area is for private access only!"

Then the room grows dark, and a cold gloom swirls in the air. A young woman in a dark, neck-high dress and a shockingly prominent scar on her forehead, steps forward.

Her face is twisted, all smiles of malicious intent. She ignores the poor security guard and strides confidently toward the couple.

"Well, well… What do we have here?" Hongo Mio croons dangerously. "While poor Onee-sama is helping father with business, her fiancé and cousin are sneaking off for some alone time."

"Mio-san!" Mizuki yelps, petrified. Unable to help herself, she clutches Katsuki's elbow. Katsuki places a protective hand over hers, turning to shield her with his body.

The security guard sees this exchange and steps forward.

Before he is able to open his mouth, Mio snaps coldly at him, "Enough, little man. I tire of you. Leave us."

He pauses.

"Now." Mio's scar and angrily cold eyes make her look like a demon. Her presence grows to fill the room with her frigid, choking authority.

Instantly cowed, the formerly brazen man scurries away.

Ren walks away from the scene with Katsuki. He knows how it ends. Kyoko's first mission with LME, back when he still didn't like her. She saved him.

The hallway swirls away, melting into a dark void. A man stands, lit from above by stage lights, and he beckons to Ren.

Lory is holding a manila folder out to him, and a wicked smile crosses the older man's face. Ren's strong self-preservation instinct tells him to turn and run. Instead a force compels him forward to accept the folder. Just as Ren's hands are about to touch the stiff cardstock, a small hand alights on his arm and yanks sharply.

Ren looks down but is not surprised. He knows her. It's his sister.

The petite young woman steps closer to him, her thigh-high black stiletto boots clacking on the city sidewalk as they walk together. His arm feels just right with hers wrapped possessively around it. His long, heavy black trench coat flaps behind them as they walk.

Ren doesn't gawk at her dangerously short leather skirt or the black cotton and lace camisole that clings to her every curve under a tough leather jacket. A tinkling meets his ears and he's not sure if it's her light laughter or the chain piercing that drapes enticingly from her ear to her lower lip.

Without hesitation, Ren sweeps aside her long mess of blonde hair with pink-dyed tips. He wants to see her face.

Her gaze is at once mischievous and affectionate. Amber eyes flash at him as her smirk widens, the piercing tracking with her smile. She parts her full, petal-soft lips to call his name–

Blinking, Ren lay on his large bed, sheets tangled like a rope around his legs. He sighed deeply and sat up, glancing at the clock. The electronic face glowed a warm green.

3:56 AM.

Groggy and disoriented, Ren groaned and rolled out of bed. He returned shortly with a glass of cold water that he drank in big, hasty gulps.

As strange as the dream had been, he was glad that he had merely been dreaming. It was maddening, merely imagining Kyoko in such revealing clothes and clinging to his arm as if she–.

By his bed, on the dark hardwood desk sat an unassuming manila folder.

Ren nearly spit his mouthful of water out. It wasn't a dream. Lory had given him the rough mission outline earlier that night. Choking and coughing, the dark-haired agent picked up the file folder. In his haste, papers spilled out onto his bed.

Some were mission briefs and paragraphs of long, bureaucratic text. But most were pictures – sketches really – and there she was, staring back at him. The girl from his dreams. Kyoko. But not his Kyoko.

Jelly Woods had the courtesy to provide a messy scrawl on the bottom of one of her sketches – one which depicted a tall, black-haired, villainous-looking man and a petite blonde in a scandalous leather outfit strolling arm in arm down a city street. A dangerous couple.

"Cain and Setsu Heel," Ren intoned begrudgingly as he read the names at the bottom of the rough portrait.

With a groan and a short curse aimed at President Takarada, Ren flopped back onto his bed, sending papers flying.

The Heel Siblings were no dream after all.

-x-

Was the dream sequence transition to real life off-putting? I hope so! If the tense and scenery change threw you for a loop, then I think I got the effect I wanted.

Thanks again for reading!

MAILBAG

JeremyVD – Oh! You do have an account! Haha, thanks for going through the trouble of signing in!

MWEH – I know right?! I have to suppress a fan-girl squeal every time I read that chapter. Admittedly, Nakamura-sensei's sense of body proportions is a liiiiittle off, but her ability to convey emotion and to weave an integrated story are absolutely masterful. Are you excited for the next chapter of the manga to come out? I can't wait to see how Kyoko's Momiji whips everyone's butt! Thanks for the compliments and the encouragement! You're one of my (if not THE) most faithful reviewers and I always look forward every week to reading your reviews!

Shizuhoe – Hahaha! It's true! It's not cannon, but I've always kind of wanted Ren to smack Reino around a little. We may… or may not be getting a little more of that in the near future… Hehehe… As for Saena, yup! That was the twist! She has arrived! Not to give away too many spoilers, but she's very important for the big-bad subplot that will be in the final arc of the story. Hehehe…

Big Unni234 – Thanks! And you shall find out the connection between Takemura Ryuji and Reino in the next chapter! Thanks for reading!

cleocat333 – Thanks for the review again! Yup, Sho's actions definitely speak louder than words sometimes. And hehe, glad you liked my little fan-girl moe moment at the end! I do aim to please… :3