Hello Loyal Readers!

Thank you again for giving me this month to produce a chapter! This has been a difficult one to navigate, because I'm trying to figure out what themes and motifs I want to focus on and what message I want to convey with my story.

Here it is! I may re-post this chapter because I feel like I still haven't ironed ALL the kinks out… Oh! And just be warned, this first section focuses on Sho in a stressful situation, so be aware that he curses a LOT. *points to the T rating*

Extra long chapter this month for your patience! Hope you all enjoy!

-x-

CH36

-3 days before the re-vote-

Sho just wanted to go for a walk. Just a walk. Not a big deal. But there was a little problem… Given that he'd almost been assassinated a week and a half ago, now for his own protection, he was prohibited from going outside. In fact, he'd been stuck in a non-Fuwa-owned hotel room with his LME guards and Shoko for the past week.

Watch TV, they had told him. Sure, that had gotten him through the first few days of confinement. After all, he was now free to watch those gag shows without fearing his father's disapproval – there was nothing holding him back anymore. However 72 straight hours of binge-watching later, Sho had grown tired of it.

Play your guitar, they had said, you insisted on bringing it after all. Well, after a few hours of trying to compose songs, Sho had almost thrown his guitar down in disgust. Amber eyes and lingering regrets snuck their way into each and every verse. Sho didn't want to think about it – think about her, think about his mistakes.

Walk inside the room, they'd retorted, now half-sarcastic and exasperated at his cabin fever. The room at least was spacious enough for pacing. With four people stuck inside, at least the LME unit had decided to shell out for the presidential suite. An opulent and immense cage.

Eventually, after an hour of wearing down a strip of carpet from one end of the living room to the other, Shoko had snapped at him to cut it out. Her nerves had been frayed since learning of the failed assassination attempt in Yokohama, and the prolonged stay in the Tokyo hotel wasn't making things any better.

Actually, to make matters worse, two days ago, the LME agents had decided to stick Mimori in the same room as him and Shoko. The walls felt like they were closing in at every moment. He. Wanted. Out.

Thus, Sho found himself on one end of the couch, half-heartedly flipping through TV channels and trying to scheme some machination to keep the incessantly clingy Mimori on the other end of the sofa, far away from him. His best idea so far was begging the LME agents to switch him to his parents' room down the hall. But… was bearing with his father worse than enduring Mimori? …It was a toss up.

'Something,' Sho begged the universe as he flipped past the same cheesy direct-to-video rom-com for the ninth time. 'Please let something interesting happen!'

And that was when his phone rang.

From across the living room, Kijima instantly shot the heir a dirty look. "Hey, Fuwa. I thought I told you to shut that thing off–."

"Yeah, yeah," Sho huffed in annoyance, reaching for the Ignore Call button. "They can track us through the call… Blah blah blah…" Sho finished in a mutter under his breath.

However, just as he was about to tap the button, a text message notification blipped onto his screen. Normally Sho would've just ignored it – but the words jumped out at him.

"You shouldn't ignore this call."

Sho frowned down at his device, puzzled. Both the text and the call were from unknown numbers.

"Huh?"

Another text popped up. "Kyoko might regret it if you do."

The hotel heir instantly felt his blood run cold. He tapped the message to open the chat thread just as the next message came through. This time instead of threatening words, there was a picture.

Bathed in the eerie glow of a single naked overhead bulb in the center of the dingy concrete room was Kyoko. Her head drooped forward in the awkward laxity of forced unconsciousness. From some distant part of his mind, Sho saw the rough rope that cut into her arms, binding her to the metal chair. Kyoko was wearing bizarre rocker-style clothing and a long blonde wig, but he knew it was her.

"Fuwa-san?" Momose peeked over his shoulder, wondering what was taking him so long to shut his phone off. Her hand instantly flew to her mouth. Her voice escaped, a small and terrified gasp. "No… Kyoko-san?"

Shoko, Mimori, and Kijima scrabbled to their feet to see what was wrong, but Sho just shot the three an infuriated look before answering the phone. What the hell was that Tsuruga-bastard doing! Had he just let Kyoko get snatched under his nose?

"WHO the FUCK?" Sho growled into the handheld. "This had better be some sick joke, you fucking bastard!"

A voice on the other end, smooth as butter and deadly as a viper, chuckled darkly. "Hello Shotaro-kun. I take it you received my message."

"Yeah," the blonde snapped, impatient. "I asked you who the HELL you think you are?"

"Your LME companions must be withholding information from you, my dear Shotaro-kun," the man on the line sounded appalled – a clear mockery. Still Sho shot a dirty look at Kijima and Momose who were now tapping in via their comm links. They at least had the self-respect to look embarrassed. The man on the phone continued. "I'm a threat of whom they have been well-aware for quite some time now. You may call me Delta."

Delta? Shaking his head slightly, Sho snapped back, "Whatever. Is that Kyoko? You better fucking let her go!"

"Oh, I can release her to you," Delta mused. "But it all depends on your actions from here on out, Shotaro-kun. You could save her or you could damn her to a terrible fate."

"What the hell–?"

"I hear that death by immolation is the absolute worst way to go," the voice continued, nonchalant as if discussing the best way to marinate a steak. "But I'd have to imagine that burning appendage by appendage would be far, far worse…"

Sho grit his teeth, only partially successful in banishing the mental image of Kyoko screaming and weeping in terror as flames engulfed her. He was barely restraining himself from cussing this Delta asshole out. Shoko caught his eye, and she shook her head at him gravely. Sho bit his tongue. "What do you want?"

"Something that only you and your father can give me."

"Cut the shit," Sho spat out, frustrated at this cloak-and-dagger act. "Just tell me what you want me to do."

"Do you have a pen?"

Sho's eyes flit to Momose, who brandished a pen studiously in her hand over one of the hotel's notepads. She gave him a curt nod.

Sho turned back to the call. "I can remember it."

"Hmmm. Alright then," the voice mused. "I want you to go down the hall to have a little chat with your father."

Shit, Sho thought, this bastard knew his father was here too. In the background, Kijima began making an urgent call to the police force guarding Fuwa Daisuke and Yayoi.

"I want you to tell your father to call in his favor with Representative Takemura," the voice continued indifferently, as if he hadn't just dropped a bomb of a revelation. "Daisuke-san will have Takemura and all his little minions vote for Mogami Saena of the New Change Party. Your father will also tell him to stop being a stubborn imbecile. Those words in particular, please."

Sho grit his teeth again. Was this Delta character trying to get Kyoko's mom elected? The reappearance of Mogami Saena had been earth-shattering enough – when Sho had seen her campaign ad on TV, he'd dropped and broken a china bowl full of cereal – but to think that she was being supported by this power-hungry, kidnapping ass… Did Saena know that her own daughter had been kidnapped? Had Saena arranged it?

The wheels in Sho's head began turning more rapidly. Takemura was that idiot politician on the news refusing to step down even though his son had been caught wrapped up in all sorts of shady shit. In retrospect, Sho could remember his father mentioning a Takemura every once in a while. Was this Delta guy trying to fix the election? Was he behind the Mimori-kidnappings, the assassination attempts, and the run-in with that crazy psycho Kimiko? Was Takemura Delta's aim all along?

"And tell him that if he doesn't follow through," Delta continued, oblivious to Sho's whirlwind of thought, "then you will immediately run out of the room and into the relative unsafety of the street outside your hotel. Who knows what kind of unsavory characters are wandering around outside. Daisuke-san wouldn't want to risk his precious heir… Just as you wouldn't want to risk your precious childhood friend."

Sho knew he wouldn't actually run out to be killed, but he couldn't tell his father about Kyoko. Though his mother cared for her son's childhood playmate, his father couldn't care less. The only leverage against Fuwa Daisuke was against his business, and putting his only heir in danger of assassination again was certainly leverage enough.

Shit. They were all cornered. This asshole had found what made each of them tick and had dissected them piece by piece.

"If I do that, then you'll let Kyoko go?" Sho tried to keep his voice flat, but to his disgust couldn't help the tinge of pleading that crept in at the end.

"Absolutely," the Delta-asshole responded, mock-appalled at the implication that he would go back on a deal. "However, I am going to have to keep her as collateral for the next three days."

Three days was the re-election day, right? Sho narrowed his eyes. This really was all about getting Mogami Saena elected. Kyoko was just trapped in the middle – and that Tsuruga-bastard had done nothing to protect her.

"Fine," the Fuwa heir snapped, trying to regain a modicum of control over his emotions. He paused for a second before blurting out, "But your people send me videos of her every four hours so I know you haven't hurt her. If anything happens to her, I guarantee that you'll never get those votes."

Delta laughed. He somehow made it sound derisive and flat at the same time. "A shrewd bargain. But a small thing to arrange. I'll know when your father makes that call, so be a dear and hurry up, Shotaro-kun. Kyoko is waiting after all."

There was a click as Delta hung up. Sho just numbly stared at his phone. For all his bluster and pride, Sho was not an idiot. He understood the stakes here. He was about to trade the fate of his nation for the life of one girl.

Kyoko would've punched him.

"Sho?" Shoko laid a hesitant hand on his shoulder.

Sho stared at the picture on his screen. The ropes seemed to cut into her skin and the open bulb cast a sickly pallor on her face. For whatever reason, that Bastard hadn't been able to keep her safe. But Sho would do whatever he could to protect her now. He'd already failed her so many times in the past.

"I'm sorry, Kyoko," the blonde muttered to himself as he clicked the lock button on his phone. The picture blacked out of sight as he rose. "This is the only thing I can do for you."

He turned to Momose as he strode for the door to the hotel hallway.

"Momose-san," Sho muttered gruffly. "Tell your superiors that Delta has the right number of votes."

The heir turned, swinging the door open before him and sweeping through. He snarled out, his voice echoing behind him, "You LME guys better fucking do something about it."

-x-

"You don't get it do you? Your reckless actions – your dogged pursuit of revenge to the cost of all else – are to blame. YOU are to blame, Kuon. And now we're all about to pay the price – Mogami-kun most of all."

Ren winced and rolled over onto his side. Sleep eluded him. Again. Two days Kyoko had been missing, and every effort, every clue, every snippet of a tip-off had led to a dead end.

Not that Ren had been able to go himself to chase each lead down. He was essentially on house arrest, stuck in very select parts of LME HQ. However, today, frustrated at the lack of progress in the hunt for Kyoko and Delta, Ren had forcibly stormed into the President's office to demand he be reinstated to field agent status.

Apparently the stony silence and disapproving look that Lory had shot him when Ren first got back from Chiba had been the master spy restraining himself. But given this second opportunity and now with his frustration apparently at its peak, the President had certainly had an earful for him.

Ren groaned and shifted onto his back again on his bed. President Takarada's thunderous tongue-lashing, made even more terrifying by the full samurai warlord armor complete with sharpened katana in hand, had struck home, rending a mortal wound through Ren's heart.

President Takarada was right. It was all his fault. Kyoko – the girl he cared for – was in the enemy's clutches, alone, afraid. Every moment, her life was in jeopardy. Kuon had been willing to sacrifice everything for his revenge. He hadn't considered that 'everything' could include Kyoko.

His only consolation was that she had clearly been taken for a reason. Delta would most likely keep her alive until the election was over. And then…

Ren sighed and sat up, wiping a heavy hand over his face. He looked over at the nightstand. The provisions manager at the HQ cafeteria had slipped him a full bottle of whiskey last night. After seeing the disgraced senior agent that everyone was whispering about, apparently the usually strict, grizzled old man had had pity on the scandalized Agent T. The bottle was now empty.

Ren was wondering if he could wheedle another bottle out of the manager when a soft, almost hesitant knock sounded from his door.

Ren paused a moment, unsure if he was just hearing things in his sleep-deprived state. There was a heartbeat of a pause, then another knock, this time a little louder. Trying to hand comb his disheveled hair, Ren scrambled from bed to open the door.

Who was it? Did they have news about Kyoko?

Yashiro greeted him with a tentative nod. "Hi… Ren."

Ren could only freeze awkwardly. After that fateful night in Chiba, Yashiro had stopped talking altogether with his assigned field agent. Yashiro's disappointed look when Ren was first brought into the President's office was all the answer Ren needed. For the first time, after all of his devil-may-care antics in the field and all of the last-minute scrapes that Yashiro had gotten him out of, the tech support was finally cold-shoulder angry at his charge.

"Yashiro-san…" Ren couldn't help but shuffle his feet in the doorway, feeling like a child about to be reprimanded by an older sibling. First Maria-chan with the heart-breaking tears, then Kotonami-san with the furious video chat, and now… "What brings you here so late at night?"

The techie opened his mouth, frowned, then sighed. He took his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I was going to come give you a piece of my mind…"

Ren winced internally, waiting.

"But it sounds like the President, Maria-chan, and Kotonami-san all beat me to it."

Ren felt his heart lift as Yashiro rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "So I guess I'm here now to ask if you need to talk. I'm the type of person who can't stay mad at his friends for long."

Feeling like a balloon deflated, Ren ducked his head, trying to hide the mist that had mysteriously crept over his eyes. Murmuring a thank you, Ren let his old friend into his room.

Tsking his tongue at the gloomy darkness, Yashiro immediately flipped on the light. Ren cringed away from the unexpected brightness. He suddenly felt very self-conscious about the empty beer cans and whiskey bottle on his nightstand and the relatively disheveled state of his living quarters.

Yashiro just stood there, his hands on his hips, and gave a low whistle. He glanced down at the floor.

"It looks like Amamiya-san told you off as well," Yukihito noted dryly as he toed a pile of crinkled papers that looked as if they had been torn from a spiral-bound notebook and shoved under the door. Each paper had words like, "GO BALD!" or "HOW DARE YOU!" or "YOU BIG FAT IDIOT!" nearly carved into them in ballpoint pen.

While Yukihito perused some of Chiori's more colorful insults, Ren busied himself in the kitchenette, making some tea.

The burning question on Agent T's mind finally popped out. "Any luck trying to ping Mogami-san's homing beacon?"

"None." Yashiro sighed heavily, pulling out Ren's desk chair to sit. The agent's heart sank. Yukihito continued, musing, "It's almost as if… they cut it out and shut it off. But how could they have possibly known about its existence? You called me pretty soon after they'd gotten her. Much too fast for even a tracking tech body scan. Unless they've developed a portable handheld unit–?"

Ren shook his head as he dug in the cupboard for the genmaicha teabags he knew Yukihito liked. There was a much simpler solution. "Morizumi. She's Delta's source of info on LME. I'm sure she told him about the beacon. It's standard procedure for all field agents and that policy hasn't changed since she left."

From across the room, the techie nodded. "That makes sense. Morizumi also must've told him about Kyoko-chan and Fuwa-san's childhood friendship."

Thinking back to the assassination attempt on Fuwa Sho, Ren nodded as he carefully settled two steaming teacups on his desk and sat, perched on the edge of his bed. He frowned pensively at the rising steam. "Since Delta had been trying to get to the Fuwa family all this time, maybe he kidnapped her to get to Fuwa."

Yashiro shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Agent T's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"The President didn't want me to tell you – to stop you from doing something reckless or something," the tech support sighed. "But… Momose-san contacted us today. Turns out Fuwa Sho got a phone call today from Delta."

Ren felt a sinking feeling in his gut. "He has the votes then."

"Yes." Yashiro removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes with the heel of his palm. "Apparently over the years, Fuwa Daisuke has been paying a great deal of Representative Takemura's campaigning costs. He even paid quite a bit out of pocket to get Takemura elected this year even amidst his son's scandal. Reports are that Takemura and his loyal cohort are going to shift from Ogata to Saena in three days."

"What have I done…" Ren whispered to himself, the heavy sinking feeling in his gut dropping even farther. He had let this happen. If it wasn't for his damned attempt at killing Kaiso… Delta wouldn't have any fodder to blackmail Fuwa. Worst of all, Kyoko was trapped in the middle of all this… She was alive, but for how long? Feeling a wave of despair drag him down, Ren hung his head in his hands.

"Ren…"

He heard Yashiro scoot his chair closer.

"Tell me about Rick."

Caught off-guard, Ren raised his head and blinked at his tech support, confused. "I thought you already knew about Rick. Back at Fuwa manor, you said–"

Yashiro sat back in his chair and pushed his glasses up on his nose. "The communications between you and the President were vague. All I know is that you played a hand in a friend's death, and it was driving you to act abnormally. Out of professional… and personal courtesy, I stopped investigating there…" Yashiro paused, implying that he could find more if he wanted. "But I want to hear from you. I want to know why you did everything you did."

Ren broke off the gaze, pensively silent. Yukihito just waited. Finally, the dark-haired man sighed. Funnily enough after telling Kyoko everything, the idea of his best friend knowing his greatest sins and deepest, darkest secrets seemed like a cakewalk. Maybe telling the story was just getting easier with each iteration.

"My real name is Kuon Hizuri…"

An hour and two cups of tea later, Yashiro stared at his friend, mouth hanging open. Ren had just finished explaining why he had chosen to leave his feelings for Kyoko behind in order to pursue revenge against Kaiso. Ren grimaced, waiting for the condemnation.

Finally, Yukihito spluttered out, "You're an idiot."

Ren was quickly learning that his friend group would never respond as he expected. "What?"

Yashiro ignored him, rising from his chair to pace around the room, muttering to himself, "They're both idiots. Both of them! What kind of density are they going for? Diamond? Neutron star? Osmium? The densest of the dense!"

Shaking his head in disbelief and confusion at this sudden turn of tone and subject, Ren barked a short, nervous laugh. "Yukihito-san, what on earth are you talking about?"

As if realizing that Ren was still there, Yashiro froze, mid-rant. The techie suddenly spun around, gesticulating wildly with his hands. "You! Kyoko-chan! How are you still both this ignorant of each others' feelings?"

"F-Feelings?" Ren felt his face grow warm, as if he were still a grade-schooler talking about crushes at a sleepover. Despite his knowledge to the contrary and all the messy implications if it were true, he couldn't help that his heart skipped a beat at the mere idea of Kyoko returning his feelings. "Mogami-san has never expressed anything of the sort. And even if she did, I couldn't in good conscience return–!"

Ren had no idea that Yashiro's face could contort in such a manner. It looked like the man was trying, in a fit of pure exasperation, to drag his eyelids down and off his face with his hands.

"You belong in the LoveMe group too, you know that?" Yashiro snapped peevishly, brandishing a finger in Ren's direction.

"Have you been talking to the President? Because I really don't think–"

"Kyoko-chan," Yashiro enunciated each syllable as if talking with a particularly slow child, "loves you."

"Yashiro-san, this teasing is going a little far–"

"And you love her." Yukihito finished, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's a wonder either of you can claim you work in espionage, because your information-gathering skills are the worst. Everyone else knows but you two!"

"Nobody could love someone like me."

Yashiro blinked and commented wryly, "So says the man with the interdepartmental fan club!"

"That's different than love," Ren insisted, glaring down at his rug. His heart felt heavy. Each of Yashiro's words felt like battering ram to his gut. "That is merely physical attraction. They don't know the real me."

"You mean the real you who is petty and manipulative and childish and hates eating–" Yashiro ticked off on his fingers. He paused sarcastically as if to think before saying flippantly, "Yup, Kyoko-chan has seen all of it."

Finally unable to hold back anymore, Ren flew to his feet and burst out, "I can't have love because I don't deserve it!"

Taken aback, Yashiro looked at him in pensive silence.

"I owe Rick. More than anyone else. More than myself, even!" Ren swept his hand through the air to emphasize his point. "I'm just a friend-killer. A murderer. I cause everyone who ever cares for me pain and suffering."

Yashiro only stared stonily at him. Suddenly, Ren felt very, very tired. He sat shakily down and stated brokenly, "So I can't return her feelings. I don't ever want to force her to endure hardship because I'm too selfish to suppress my feelings for her."

After a gravid pause, Yukihito spoke, his voice low and irritated. "You're an idiot, you know that? You're trading a girl – a girl you love – a girl who loves you – a girl who has been scarred by rejection again and again – for a ghost. Why don't you get your head out of your…" He sighed. "Never mind."

Ren could only watch in stunned silence as his long-time friend huffed, collected his jacket, and stalked to the door. As if deciding to give one last parting shot, Yashiro spun in the threshold, door half-open.

"You said you love her, but you really just love yourself. You said you're trying not to be selfish, but you're just running around doing whatever you want, trampling all over her feelings and safety," Yukihito snapped, his glasses reflecting the room's light harshly. "You said you rejected her to keep her safe? Well, look where your rejection has gotten her. Can't get much more unsafe than that."

And with that, the former hacktivist slammed the door shut behind him.

Unable to completely process the bomb of information Yashiro had just dropped, Ren slowly, slowly cradled his head in his hands and sighed deeply.

He really needed that whisky now.

-x-

For a room that was essentially a cage, it was objectively comfortable. Kyoko's cell interior was concrete with metal bars over the door, but the room was spacious enough to pace three or four long strides before hitting the other wall.

The room even had its own separate toilet area, and out of courtesy apparently the cameras had a blind spot directly above the toilet. She had no idea who would sacrifice security for the sake of a prisoner's privacy, but she was grateful at least for this small remnant of humanity.

She had even been treated well. A guard came through at least three times a day with substantial Japanese-style meals and fresh water. Ito-san – Kyoko had learned on her first day awake – was pleasant enough, even going so far to ask if the change of clothes she'd brought hadn't fit when the female guard noticed the prisoner hadn't changed out of her Setsu outfit. Kyoko had reassured her politely that was not the case, but thank you anyway. Kyoko had even been provided fresh supplies to re-dress the laceration on her left inner bicep – the place where her homing beacon had most likely been cut out. The first day, the cut had looked terrible, like the incision had been made in the backseat of a moving car or something. But as time went on, the wound was healing up nicely.

If it weren't for the bars, it would almost feel as if she were staying in a bare-bones motel, not a prison. It was both a relief and highly unsettling.

But her cot was a different matter. It was her third night here, and the thing was definitely defective. She'd toss and turn all night, no matter how much her logical brain tried to remind itself that she needed to maximize her energy storage. The cot looked exactly like the standard issue one she used during her LME unit wilderness training… but there was definitely something wrong with it.

It wasn't that she couldn't sleep because she kept on thinking about him. Wondering if he was worried. Wondering if he was relieved. Wondering if he was thinking about her or missing her as much as she was him.

Biting back a groan, Kyoko rolled onto her other side on the cot, trapped in what was looking like yet another sleepless night.

'Just leave me alone,' she pleaded with her own thoughts. 'Don't make me think about that.'

However, since it was the first night having fully recovered from her concussion, her mind decided to ignore her conscious entreaty and chug full speed ahead.

She loved Ren.

Kyoko tossed to the other side of her cot, curling into herself. Sure, she had come to terms with the idea of harboring a small crush toward her senpai and had been actively trying to squash it. But the realization that she was in love with the man…

Moko-san had called her out on her hidden emotions, and ever since then… Kyoko dug the heels of her hands into her eyeballs, as if trying to scrub away the memories hidden in her retinas, but the remembrance came unbidden anyways.

'What's with the call? Aren't you deep undercover right now?' Moko-san had sounded irritated, but Kyoko could sense a tight undercurrent of worry in her friend's voice.

Still on the couch in the Heel's living room, Kyoko eyed the bowl over the listening bug. She was confident the signal jammer was working, but she still felt bizarre talking in the open like this.

'I…' Kyoko hesitated. Why had she called Kanae? Advice? Reassurance? Comfort? What could she tell Moko and how much? 'N-Nothing is wrong. Can't I just call my best friend –?'

'Stop.'

Kyoko jolted in her seat, automatically sitting up straighter at her friend's foreboding tone. On the other end of the line, Kanae had launched into a lengthy diatribe.

'—same creepy tone of voice as when you're wearing that fake-happy mask of yours. Like that day you dragged me into the LoveMe division with you. What are you scheming this time?'

Kyoko's denial was automatic. 'I'm not scheming anything!'

If Kyoko didn't know Kanae better, she would've sworn that her friend snorted indelicately in disbelief. Then the dark-haired LME agent retorted with, 'Mogami Kyoko, if you don't tell me what you're hiding, I will not speak to you until this very hour next year!'

Well, Kyoko couldn't bear that. It was a Leap Year after all! It wasn't long before Kyoko found herself revealing the events of the past several weeks to her best friend, barring only the details of the story Tsuruga-san had told her in confidence that night.

'So… you love him.' Kanae's voice at the end of Agent M's story was matter-of-fact. For some reason, that scared Kyoko.

'N-N-No! Love is the scourge of the earth! An alien toxin that boils the blood and poisons the minds of hapless maidens everywhere –!'

Kyoko thought she heard Moko-san mutter something like, '—both idiots, the two of them—' before saying more clearly in an exasperate tone, 'So you're just scared of getting hurt again. What's the big deal? Maybe Tsuruga-san loves you too–'

At Kanae's last sentence, Kyoko felt her heart buoy with hope, but in immediate retrospect at her own reaction, her heart instantly plummeted again.

'Kyoko,' Kanae was continuing, 'I think it's time you stopped lying to yourself.'

'Moko-san—'

'You're not outraged at love.'

'I—!'

'You're just scared of it–!'

'I am scared!' Kyoko stammered out. Shaking her head even though she knew her friend couldn't see her, she squeezed her eyes shut.

The dark-haired agent on the other line lapsed into silence.

'Yes, I'm afraid that I'm going to get hurt. But it's much worse than that,' Kyoko concentrated, struggling to find the right words to pin down her whirling thoughts and emotions. 'I'm… scared that I'm going to love him – to love loving him and love being loved by him. I'm scared that I'm going to love it so much that if – when – it… gets taken away, it's going to take everything of me along with it.'

'Kyoko…' Kanae usually gruff tone softened.

'I know if I let myself love him a little, then I'm going to get swept away completely. It'll be like trying to fight gravity – or – trying to swim up a whitewater rapid. Then when it ends–" Kyoko paused, surprised to find tears snaking their way down her cheeks. She swiped at them, angry with herself for her weakness, and fought the growing knot in her throat. '–When it ends, I'm just going to be this hollowed out shell of a person.'

After a prolonged pause, Kanae finally replied simply, 'Then leave him.'

At the mere thought, Kyoko balked. 'No, I couldn't–!'

'Sure you could,' Kanae stated nonchalantly. 'Just call the President and tell him you want out of your assignment. It'd be hard to reassign someone in your place, but the President has done crazier things before.'

'Moko-san…'

'If you're that scared and just want to protect yourself,' her friend pointed out, 'then leave.'

'Moko-san…' Kyoko wrestled internally. Her friend was just pointing out the logical conclusion, but something deep inside felt very, very wronged by the suggestion. 'I'm really worried that Tsuruga-san is about to do something dangerous.'

'I know,' Kanae said simply. Kyoko could imagine her friend flipping her hair over her shoulder in an haughty gesture. 'You just told me. All the more reason to leave.'

Kyoko spluttered out, 'But that's why I can't leave. I… I have to do something. I can't just leave him alone when he's clearly doing the wrong thing…'

There was another pause, then Agent K chuckled on the other end of the line. 'So you do love him.'

'Huh?' Kyoko was perplexed. She had definitely missed Kanae's leap in logic.

'People our age are idiots,' her friend intoned, oblivious to Kyoko's confusion. 'They think love is all about feeling good and comfortable and accepted the way they are. But that's not it. True love is about sacrifice.'

'Sacrifice?'

'Fake love runs away at the first sign of hardship. Real love seeks the good of the other person, even if it's at a cost to self. You're willing to sacrifice your own safety for his sake. You're willing to sacrifice your friendship because he's doing something wrong and you need to tell him.'

Kyoko thought about Sho. She'd been willing to give everything for him, and he'd given up nothing in return. He'd just taken and taken and taken…

'How did you become such a love-guru, Moko-san? The President should graduate you from the LoveMe section.'

Kanae barked a wry laugh. 'It's family love that I hate… And I've seen too many irresponsible members of my family shacking up with the wrong guy or girl to know what real love looks like.'

While Kyoko blushed at her friend's implication of herself 'shacking up' with Ren, Kanae sighed and ended in a mutter, 'My point is – if Tsuruga-san loves you, he won't put you in harm's way. He'll want to put you first, just like you put him first. He'll be willing to sacrifice for you.'

Moko-san's words had percolated in Kyoko's mind all that night until two days later when Agent M had hopped into Agent T's car. More aware of the depth of her feelings, Kyoko had insisted on tagging along, fully knowing what Ren intended to do during this meeting with Delta. She had gone half out of a desire to do everything in her power to keep Ren out of danger, but also out of this half-baked, convoluted hope that if he truly did love her, then he would turn the car around and give up on this revenge business.

But Ren had barreled straight ahead, regardless of her presence.

Sho had dragged her into a dangerous situation, almost getting her kidnapped. He had betrayed her trust, had cast her feelings for him aside for the sake of his own agenda.

This was different, a small part of Kyoko's heart argued back. Ren hadn't known that she was the target.

But, a larger part argued back, she had actually gotten kidnapped this time. All because she insisted on staying by his side even though he didn't want her. Love was a disaster. Maybe people like her were just never supposed to fall in love.

Clutching her head in her hands in the dark of her empty cell, she whispered to herself all alone, "Fool me twice… Shame on me…"

-x-

MAILBAG

Shizuhoe – Answered 1/3 of your questions in this chapter! ;D That's gotta be a record or something haha Usually I make you wait quite a bit more before my story answers your burning questions. So it turns out that Kyoko didn't call Yashiro or the President to report Ren, but called Kanae instead. Just needed some friendly advice. Hope you enjoyed this chapter even though there wasn't much "action" per say!

Moon-lit Shadows12 – Hehe! A nail-biter! Such a high compliment! I'm really glad that you're enjoying the story! Thanks for stopping by and saying Hi!

MWEH – You're back! Haha I was actually a bit concerned when you didn't review last time. Like, 'Man… I hope nothing happened to MWEH in real life!' xD And don't worry! I haven't glossed over her acceptance of her past… it's just going to be a bit more drawn out than the manga. ;) 3 dogs! What breeds? Mine is from the shelter and he's a mutt but he's the cutest frickin mutt ever! HAHA I take that as both a high compliment and an insult that my cliffhangers are worse than Nakamura-sensei. Last month she quite literally left Kyoko hanging… TT_TT Luckily this month, Kimiko finally gets what's coming too her! Crazy girl. And I wanted to include a flashback of what happened to Ren and Kyoko after he mistakenly took her instead of Mimori – but the story was getting too bloated at that point. Maybe I'll do like a one-shot afterward this story is done! And thank you thank you thank you for all of your encouraging words! I'm so glad that this story is being so well-received and that people are genuinely enjoying it! Today didn't have as much action, but a lot of emotional turning points. Let me know what you thought!

Guest – LOL, please don't have a heart attack! Haha, glad you're enjoying it! Leave a name next time so I can be sure to call out the right person!

Artloife – Yay! I'm really glad you liked last chapter! And how will Kyoko escape? ;3 we shall seeeeee~!

Brennakai – You were correct! Yay! Congrats! And yup, Lory really gave Ren a tongue-lashing when he came back. Figured I didn't want that to be the focus of the chapter, so I just talked about it obliquely. But Yashiro did end up giving Ren a piece of his mind! LOL

Erza – Delta wasn't lying when he told Ren who Kyoko's dad was last chapter. ;) And lol, yeah Sensei literally left Kyoko hanging – off a building – last month! At least by this month, she's pretty much safe and sound! Thanks for leaving a review!

Tabbykatroses – Yaaaaaaas, Delta is Kyoko's father! LOL. Hmmmm, what will he do to her….? We shall find out! Hehe Thanks for reviewing!

Guineapigs1 – LOL, I didn't even notice that parallel! My Kyoko's predicament is going to last a bit longer than canon-Kyoko's, especially since she's pretty much safe this month! And a bit of info I left out was that both drivers of both SUVs were wearing similar glasses; Ren just followed the wrong SUV. Bad luck for Ren (or good planning for Delta) – but you're right. I should've made it more clear. Thanks for reviewing!