Convergence Zone

Disclaimer: This series doesn't belong to me.

Teaser: What will happen when Saena meets Lori? Is it really a good idea for Kyoko to come along?

Chapter 12 – A drama in one act and a moment of clarity

Up until this point in her life, few people had looked past the soft, meek exterior of Mogami Kyoko to see the iron will at her core. It was that iron will that helped her to learn her difficult lessons as the future "lady of the inn." It was that iron will that kept her strong while she worked three jobs and kept house for an ungrateful Fuuwa Sho. It was that iron will that gave her the strength to perform a perfect tea ceremony while kneeling on a broken foot. And it was that iron will that helped her to reach deep inside and find the characters that propelled her to early stardom.

Now that iron will was confronting a flustered Lori Takarada. Until now only his deceased wife and, occasionally, Julie Hizuri had been able to back this powerful man into a corner. Now he had met a third person, in the form of his newly discovered daughter.

He realized belatedly that it was a major mistake to relate the details of his planned meeting with Saena. He had intended to comfort Kyoko with the idea that, with the help of Interpol, her mother would no longer be in a position to do her any harm. Instead she was insisting that she go along. Not even the dual opposition of Kuu and Ren had made an impact.

"I'm going, respected father." Her use (in Japanese, of course) of the most formal address was a demonstration of her unwavering determination. She did not wish to offend Takarada, but she also did not intend to be deterred. "That woman abandoned me, and now she comes back into my like just to black mail me. I spent my childhood just trying to earn one milligram of her respect; now she is going to acknowledge what I have made of myself without her."

The argument must have struck a chord. First Ren, then Kuu, and finally Lori himself bowed to her will.

* * *

Senior Detective DeGarmo was a strong woman as well. She didn't like it, but she couldn't bring herself to argue with Kyoko on her decision. Maybe she'll be enough of a distraction that it will be easy to grab Saena.

Still, she felt uneasy about this change in plans. Part of the problem might have been that Kyoko had arrived at the staging area in her newly crafted public persona. The male agents were more than a little distracted by the young Japanese lady's presence.

Things were made worse by the fact that father and daughter had come with a very large shadow. Tsuruga Ren had only consented to Kyoko's demands on the condition that he be allowed to remain close. Ren was impossibly handsome all of the time. But his current stone-cold expression was perfectly suited to make the hearts of the young female agents swoon. This is becoming a circus.

Five minutes before the agreed time, father and daughter strolled into the restaurant and walked back to the same seats as Lory had used before. More than a few heads turned at the arrival of the handsome pair.

Agents of all ages, shapes, and dress were strategically placed throughout the dining area. They had arrived at different times and ordered differently, ensuring that the brunch traffic looked perfectly ordinary.

Saena walked in just as she had done before. Five years of playing in dangerous waters had made her an extremely cautious woman. She quickly and professionally scanned the restaurant, but didn't find anything wrong. As she turned to walk down the aisle towards Lori's table she froze.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it can never truly show the viewer all of the fascinating and muriad images and feelings that a face-to-face meeting can. The last time that Saena had seen her daughter in person the girl had seemed to be a sniveling attention-hungry brat. Saena had always been disappointed that her daughter had shared none of her own sultry beauty. In short, she had always envisioned her as a plain, ordinary, and uninteresting waste of space; until that moment.

The girl who sat next to Lory now was anything but ordinary. She had short-to-medium length blond hair. She was dressed as a moderately well-off, stylish older teen. She sat her chair with perfect posture. But none of these things made any impact of Saena. It was her aura, her attitude, the strong spirit inside of her that seemed to radiate out from every pore of her svelte young body and made her beautiful. Saena knew before she ever reached the table that she had been overmatched by the daughter who she had always disregarded.

The normally confident and domineering woman displayed definite signs of nervousness as she sat facing her daughter and the man she had once sought to rob of everything. Still, she tried to establish control, "Lory. Kyoko. I trust that you are ready to meet my demands?"

Public persona-Kyoko replied in a controlled and sophisticated voice, "Now, mother, aren't you even going to ask how I've been? We haven't seen each other for such a long time."

Saena felt herself being overwhelmed by this stranger masquerading as her daughter. "Kyoko, I don't have time for that! Now Lory, I need you to answer my…"

"Mother, since you aren't in a relationship with my father anymore, don't you think that it is more appropriate to speak to him in a polite form of address?"

It should be noted that Lory Takarada, who had been nervous only moments before, was now thoroughly enjoying the sight of Kyoko overpowering the arrogant woman who had tried to do so much harm to both of their lives.

Saena's own carefully crafted mask was falling now, for the first time in almost twenty years, "Polite! Don't give me that, you little brat! If you don't give me what I want, everyone will find out about you before this day is over! Your pretty little career will be over and you'll be back waiting tables for those pathetic Fuwa's!!!"

It was Agent Jeff Parker, the same one who had commented on Kyoko during the morning brief, who broke protocol. Made nervous by the outburst, he unintentionally "cleared" the pistol in his ankle holster. It was non-regulation, but it had always made him feel secure to have the second weapon.

Saena saw his actions and immediately understood their meaning. With alarming speed she pulled a pistol from her purse, leapt around the table, wrapped one arm around her daughter's neck and yanked her backwards. The move was so totally unexpected that she had backed herself safely into a corner with Kyoko in front of her before anyone could react.

Now the agents who were scattered throughout the room threw off all pretense They drew their weapons and aimed them at mother and daughter.

Lory Takarada was a lover, not a violent man, and he was at a loss for what to do. "Saena, Kyoko's your daughter. You can't be like this." He started to rise.

"Don't you dare come any closer or this little brat dies!"

Nobody moved. For a moment Kyoko's public persona began to slip, not from fright, but from the idea that her own mother could treat her so callously.

Then a tall figure enveloped in the wrath of the gods stepped through the front door and began storming down the aisle towards them, careless of his own danger.

Kyoko saw him coming. She understood his danger. She knew now, beyond a shadow of a doubt that the woman who she used to call mother was capable of shooting Tsuruga down. She was capable of gunning the man that Kyoko loved down without a second thought. And now all of the demons were back.

It is impossible, in retrospect, to say whether it was Mio, Natsu, Kyoko-ojou-sama, or some new figure from the depths of hell itself who suddenly grabbed Mogami Saena's pistol arm and squeezed so hard that the pistol fell uselessly from her numb fingers. Suddenly the victim was the attacker. The woman who had so casually discarded her weak daughter was held fast and helpless by her neck against the fake paneling of the restaurant wall.

Kyoko wasn't choking the woman at all. Instead the older woman felt as if her very soul was being sucked out of her failing body. She began going black, and might have been lost to this world forever if two strong arms hadn't wrapped around Kyoko and pulled her back.

Only Kuon, who had walked through hell itself as a teenager, could understand what was happening. And only Kuon could bring her back from the place where she had gone. He leaned over the trembling girl and whispered three words: "Don't leave me."

As she collapsed Ren scooped her into his arms and walked through the stunned crowd of agents out into the fresh November air.

* * * * * *

Special note to Kyoko-minion: I believe that you requested a stronger Kyoko. I hope that you like her.