Hello Skip Beat fandom!
I can't believe it's almost that time of the month again. One week and a few days (depending on the translators) left before a new chapter of the manga. How long has it been since I've started counting the days of the month according to their proximity to the 20th? I'm good and truly hooked!
Also, on an unrelated note, I will be switching my weekly upload date from Mondays to Saturdays. It'll probably just be easier for me, since my schedule this month gives me Saturdays off, whereas Mondays are a toss-up. I never know when I'm going to get off my shift.
CH4
Crouching in the shadow of the building, his ear to the wall, Ren concentrated. The amplification software in his earpiece allowed him to catch snippets of screams, wanton property destruction, and conversation cut by static.
"—son and the girl, where…?"
"—said… that way, but… conflicting reports…"
"Man, how troubl…some. All… for blackmail…"
"…Fuwa's… rich...… House… Represen…"
Ren tried to listen more closely. As ashamed as Ren was to admit it, Yashiro had been correct to suspect the field operative of an ulterior motive. After a very mysterious tipoff, the information tying these intruders to Rick's murderer was within his grasp…
Their voices dimmed. They were walking away from the wall.
Hurriedly, Ren cast about himself for a way into the Fuwa mansion. He was about to toss his grapple hook onto a third-floor balcony when the balcony's wooden door opened. Alarmed, Ren stepped back into the building's shadow.
To his surprise, a young woman emerged and carefully closed the door behind her. Teenaged, tattered kimono, long black hair, barefoot but carrying shoes – his sharp eyes assessed.
To his further surprise, she deliberately tossed one of her wooden geta sandals down to the grass below, and then the other. She then reached inside the front of her kimono and pulled out two bunches of cloth, which she quickly unraveled and tied to one of the balcony's railings. The sturdy fabric strip dangled far enough from the third floor to brush the cool grass below.
Ren watched her hastily roll up her kimono sleeves and tighten her obi, improperly tying it in a bow around her front and giving it a small, reassuring pat. She climbed over the railing, clutching the rails from the outside, bare toes gripping the wooden posts. She glanced down and shivered.
Suddenly, someone started banging on the balcony door.
The door stayed closed. The young woman yelped and wound the fabric around her hand a couple of times. Trembling slightly, she lowered herself onto the balcony one floor below. The fabric strip held her weight. He and the girl both let out a sigh of relief as she touched down onto the solid floor of the balcony.
Ren hadn't even realized he had been holding his breath.
Safely on the second floor, the girl backed away from her makeshift rope and expertly popped the lower balcony door out of its lock. She pulled the wooden door open and was gone.
There was a crash above as her pursuers finally broke through. Exclamations of surprise, then a man's head poked itself over the railing.
"There! Her shoes! She must have climbed down and run off into the forest!"
Ren crouched further as the man, dressed in black stealth garb and a flak jacket, barked orders into a walkie-talkie. He was quickly gone.
Blinking in realization, Ren broke from the cover of the building's outer wall and leapt to grab the base of the second-floor balcony. Pulling himself up with ease, he quickly clambered over the railing and somersaulted across the deck. He paused. Silent. Waiting.
Seconds later, six armed men passed under the balcony, straight past his previous hiding spot, and toward the forest.
Ren sighed as he followed the girl through the door and back into the house. It was going to be more difficult to try and gather information about Rick now that he had found his actual target. Something was off, though… but Ren couldn't quite put his finger on it.
-x-
Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief. Safe. For the moment.
Holding her kimono together so her upper legs were at least covered, Kyoko peeked through the bedroom door before starting down the hall at a cautious trot. Hopefully, her diversion sent the majority of the intruders into the woods on a wild goose chase.
She had gotten lucky. After leaving the kitchen and the pleas of her beloved Okami-san, she started for Fuwa-sama's office on the 2nd floor, only to be stopped by a pair of goons. Fortunately, she had grown up in the Fuwa mansion, and years of playing hide and seek with Sho privileged her with an intimate knowledge of every nook and cranny of the house.
However, the manor's intruders were extraordinarily intent on hunting her down. Slightly confused, Kyoko wasn't sure what to make of their seemingly single-minded pursuit of her. However, seeing as how the only other people she had seen were the Okami and Taisho, maybe the bad guys were just trying to catch everyone.
Kyoko felt uneasy. How did Sho-chan know they weren't here for his parents? Something was very wrong. She needed to find Sho, and fast.
After what seemed like ages, pausing at every noise and often backtracking to avoid capture, she finally arrived at the office. Cautiously, Kyoko pushed open the heavy oak door. Familiar wall-to-wall bookcases greeted her. She had lost count of the number of times she was tasked with dusting the entire room but had to sheepishly apologize when Fuwa-sama caught her lost in one of his tomes.
But this room held other memories as well. Kyoko still remembered one quiet Sunday afternoon when she was in elementary school. Upon finding Kyoko mysteriously despondent and inconsolable, Sho had told her to follow him to his father's office because he had something to show her.
Giggling at the secrecy, Kyoko had kept watch out the office door while Sho fiddled with something under his father's lacquered mahogany desk.
"Ah! Got it!"
Sho's exclamation caused Kyoko to run and join him, facing the center-most bookshelf. She gasped as some unseen machinery clanked, and, like magic, the bookcase slid back and then to the right, revealing a metal door behind.
Six year-old Kyoko was ecstatic. "You can do magic too, Sho-chan?" she exclaimed as she clapped her hands together.
Sho frowned at the word "too."
"Who else does magic–? Whatever, doesn't matter," Sho said as he rolled his eyes and motioned Kyoko over to the metal door. He leaned in to whisper conspiratorially to her, "This is my dad's safe room. He told me to go here if anything dangerous ever happens."
Kyoko's eyes grew wide with awe and imagination. "What can be dangerous, Sho-chan?"
Sho stuck his nose in the air and crossed his small arms over his chest.
"Well, you know, I'm my dad's only heir and stuff," he said, self-importantly. "So lots of bad guys want to kidnap me!"
"But you'll fight them off, right Sho-chan?" Kyoko had inquired, eyes shining as her imagination ran away with her. "You'll protect me too?"
"Of course!"
Now, with a slew of assailants with unknown motives actually running around Fuwa Manor, Kyoko was sure that Sho was in that room. What if he had been wounded or he needed her help? And what had he been so secretive about? Something wasn't right, and Kyoko wanted to help her childhood friend and love.
Kyoko ducked under the desk, trying to find a hidden switch or lever. The solid wooden panel on the front and the drawers on the right and left enclosed her on three sides as she crouched, fumbling in the dimness. Only a small strip of pale moonlight shone from under the front panel, which didn't quite reach all the way to the floor.
Sliding across the wood, her fingers brushed something cold and metallic. Feeling more, Kyoko could make out a small metal toggle built into the underside of the desk.
"Found it!" she exclaimed.
"Who's there?" a loud voice barked out.
Kyoko froze. In her excitement, she had forgotten about the intruders. Hidden under the desk, Kyoko's heart leapt straight to her throat as she heard the heavy, deliberate steps of an adult enter the room. Scared to even breathe, she peered under the front panel. Black, rubber-soled combat boots stalked toward the desk.
Fear clutched Kyoko in a strangle-hold. He was going to come around the desk and find her! The boots creaked a loose floorboard as the man slowly approached.
Kyoko cast about herself for a weapon – anything! The desk, her kimono, the chair, her wig – Struck with inspiration, Kyoko grabbed the tortoise-shell pin from the back of her hair.
She had only one shot. Hopefully the man was looking the opposite way…
Heart hammering in her chest, Kyoko lowered her pin to the floor, and with a deft flick of her wrist, she sent it flying over the hardwood to bounce through the door and down the hallway outside.
The second of silence that followed seemed to last for a lifetime. Did he decide to ignore her distraction? Could he hear her heart thundering inside her chest?
Oh no. This wasn't going to work.
Then, with a shout, the man sprinted for the door and raced out into the hallway. Kyoko waited until his voice faded down the hall before all her breath wooshed out of her.
A moment later, Kyoko had closed the office door, locked it, and revealed the hidden room. She was about to pull down on the door handle when she heard voices through the metal.
It was Sho… but who was he talking to? The female voice didn't sound like his mother's…
Slowly, carefully, Kyoko pulled down on the handle and opened the door a crack. The voices were much clearer. The girl was–!
"What about Kyoko?"
Mimori? But why was she here if Sho-chan had asked herself to pretend to be her? Wasn't Mimori at home sick?
His voice dismissive and haughty, Sho scoffed. "What about her?"
"But you two are so close… I don't like her being near my Sho-chan!" Mimori started crying.
Sho sighed, and there was a shuffling sound. The sobs grew softer, muffled.
Was he… hugging her? Kyoko's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. He had never done that for Kyoko… Whenever she cried, she had to leave the house because she knew how awkward he felt…
"Kyoko–"
Hearing Sho call her name, she perked up, and almost called out in reply.
" –means nothing to me. Why do you think I asked her to cover for you today? If she were snatched, no one would care about such a plain, boring girl…"
'Kyoko means nothing to me… If she were snatched… A plain, boring girl…' The kidnappers weren't there for Sho… They were there for Mimori. And Sho had asked her…
It took a moment for the words and implications to settle inside Kyoko's mind. Another moment for her heart to argue back that Sho was her love, her everything… And another moment for her brain to rudely assert that her so-called prince apparently lied to her and used her, even knowingly placed her life in danger.
Her prince, her fairytale, everything she had hoped and sacrificed for... were a lie. Useless. Worthless. Just like Sho had treated her…
Something inside Kyoko snapped.
"SHOTAROOOO!" Without hesitation, the infuriated young woman threw open the door with a loud metal bang.
Sho had one arm slung carelessly around Mimori's head, pulling her to his chest. At the interruption, Mimori jerked her head away in surprise. Sho's eyes widened.
"Kyoko?!"
"You… You liar!" Absolutely livid, Kyoko stood in the doorway, her kimono ripped and disheveled. Her black wig was a messy halo framing the pure fury on her face. "You used me! You knew I loved you! And you told me–"
Sho quickly glanced down at Mimori, then sneered at his childhood friend. "Well, it's not my fault. Who told you to go fall in love with me? No one asked you to be so damn gullible."
"…Gullible…?" Kyoko dropped her head, trembling, as his words echoed inside her head.
Seeing her apparently wounded, the proud heir scoffed, "What? Are you going to cry now? Geez, how annoying–"
"Hah…. HA… HA HA HA HA!" Uncontrollably, Kyoko burst into peals of wild laughter. Shocked, Sho stepped back. Mimori whimpered as a cold, unearthly pall swirled about the small room.
"What–?" He muttered, confused.
"What an absolute fool I was… To think, you were everything." Wiping a mirthful tear from her eye, Kyoko lips twisted into a sadistic smile. "But you were merely taking advantage of my affection… Playing around with my life…"
Sho took an uncertain step back.
"Prepare yourself, Fuwa Shotaro!" The golden-eyed fury declared brazenly and placed a hand on her chest. The hair of her dark wig swirled behind her, driven by some unknown, evil current.
"I am going to get revenge on you!"
Shocked, Sho hesitated a moment, trying to process. Then, per usual, he buried his apprehension in cockiness and smirked. "How do you think you're going to do that, you stupid girl? I'm untouchable! I'm rich and powerful – and you're nothing, a nobody!"
Sending him another dark glare, Kyoko opened her mouth to retort.
What she failed to notice were Mimori's eyes widening in terror, then Sho's horrified look as his mouth gaped open. But she did notice a large, black-gloved hand had appeared on her right, and oh, there was another one on her left. The arms connected to someone behind her… Kyoko made to turn around.
"Who–?"
The large hands snatched Kyoko, and in an instant, swept her into the darkness behind. She never even had time to scream.
-x-
"Nanokura-san… Nanokura-san…"
Kyoko shifted a little in her sleep, but didn't rouse completely. After all, someone was calling for Mimori, not for her. Besides, her bed was terribly uncomfortable at the moment… She wouldn't mind sleeping a little longer.
"Nanokura-san, it's time to wake up."
This time, Kyoko felt someone shake her shoulder insistently. Groggy, Kyoko batted the hand away.
"Go 'way," she mumbled, her voice heavy with sleep. "Not that stupid Mimori…"
A different voice asked, "What? Ren, what does she mean she's not Mimori?"
"Maybe she's just sleep-talking. I probably went too heavy on the tranquilizers. This is definitely Nanokura Mimori."
Oh, they though she was Mimori? Were they crazy?
Blinking blearily, Kyoko winced as bright light flooded her vision. It was too bright to be the lights in her bedroom. Maybe she had fallen asleep in Sho-chan's room after organizing his–? …Sho!
The events of the evening came flooding back, and Kyoko jerked up with a gasp. Unfortunately, she hadn't seen the man who had been leaning over her, concerned. When she snapped upward, she smashed her forehead into his. Both parties recoiled, hands pressed to heads.
The other voice yelped in alarm, "Ren!"
Groaning, Kyoko blinked repeatedly and tried to rub away the pain. The world sharpened into focus. She was lying in the back seat of what appeared to be a sports car… Bright light spilled into the car from outside, which looked to be a large concrete airplane hangar filled with other cars.
Two men stood outside the car; one was tall, dark-haired, and held his head in his hand. The other had lighter brown hair and was fussing a bit, but stopped when he noticed Kyoko watching him.
"Nanokura-san!" The second man straightened his wire-rimmed glasses with a smile and offered her a helping hand to get out of the car. "I'm sure you're wondering where you..."
He made eye contact with Kyoko.
"Amber?" He snatched back his hand, as if burnt. "But Nanokura's eyes were supposed to be dark brown… And her face looks different…"
Realization struck Kyoko. Oh kami-sama… These were the kidnappers… They though she was Mimori…
The glasses-man frowned, deep in thought, then he began to smirk mischievously. He turned to face the dark-haired man who had recovered from the head-butt and was also quickly approaching the car. "Re~n, did you grab the wrong girl?"
"Really, Yashiro-san, do you think I would make such an egregious error?"
Noting that her situation was becoming less and less favorable for an escape, Kyoko made a snap decision. She dove for the other side of the back seat, fumbling with the door handle before popping it open and tumbling out of the car.
"Nanokura-san!" The tall man called out, alarmed, and raced to the other side of the car. But Kyoko was up in a flash, sprinting as best she could in her kimono, away from her captors. Her bare feet struck the cement floor. There were plenty of options to hide. Several rows of cars – old, new, and various colors – beckoned to her.
"I told you!" she called out angrily from over her shoulder. "I'm NOT Nanokura Mimori!"
Panting, she slipped into a row of vehicles and tried to get her bearings. There had to be an exit somewhere. There! A metal staircase leading to a door!
Fast footsteps echoed behind her. One glance and Kyoko yelped, stumbling forward into a panicked sprint. The tall man was racing up the line of cars behind her, and his long legs made him incredibly fast.
The staircase was 15 meters away, now 10... and then 5. Kyoko snagged the railing just before she felt something clamp down on her wrist with an iron grip. With a yell, she was jerked back, the metal pole wrenched from her terrified grasp.
Panting, she collapsed slightly, not caring that her kimono was open to her knees. The only thing holding her up was her pursuer's unrelenting hold on her arm. She spared him a glance. The dark-haired man was breathing faster, but he was barely winded.
'Not even sweating,' Kyoko noted with a mixture of contempt and despair. She inspected his face further and had to try and stifle the blush that threatened to crest over her cheeks and ears. She had to admit that despite his freakish running abilities (and the fact that he was a kidnapper), he was extremely handsome.
"Ren…! Oh good… you… caught her…." The glasses wearer jogged up, panting from the exertion. He leaned bodily against the staircase while he caught his breath.
The interruption allowed Kyoko to collect herself. Refusing to be so distracted by a pretty face, Kyoko turned to glare at the man who had chased her down. He returned her killing intent with an overly-bright smile. The captive felt an uneasy chill run down her spine.
"There's no use hiding it from us, Nanokura-san," the tall man said evenly. His smile grew brighter and his grip strength only increased when Kyoko tried to wrestle her wrist from his grasp. "You are the daughter of Nanokura Daiichi, famous gravure idol, and fiancé of Fuwa Shotaro, are you not?"
Until his last statement, Kyoko had been contemplating biting the man's hand. However, upon hearing Sho's name, she immediately lashed back.
"HAH!" Kyoko snarled, "As if anyone would want to marry that jerk! His only useful function in life would be to serve as my throw rug, so every day for the rest of my life, I could walk all over his smug, lying, self-absorbed face!"
Taken aback by her ferocity, the man's smile slid neatly off his face, and he almost loosened his grip on her arm.
To drive her point home, Kyoko used her free hand to wrench the long, black wig from her head, tearing out the many clips that had been holding it in place.
"My name is Mogami Kyoko, not Nanokura Mimori–!" For emphasis, she hurled the wig to the floor. Her glare pierced the man in front of her. "And one day, I will get revenge on Fuwa Sho – even if it's the last thing I do!"
geta – Traditional Japanese wooden sandals (look like a mix between clogs and flip-flops)
obi – The sash that ties around a kimono at the waist.
cleocat333 – Thanks for the compliment! Hope I can deliver on expectations! Haha
pancakesareabsolutelydelicious – Thanks! And I absolutely agree with your account name.
MWEH – That's the beauty of AU stories: there's already a pre-conceived notion of the way things should be, which makes it easy to go in and upset everyone's expectations! Muhaha! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!
Aikori Ichijouji – Thanks again for the review! You're definitely my most consistent reviewer and it means a LOT to me. :,)
Athena7787 – Haha, anything to help out a fellow procrastinator! And I just realized this, but I guess the title isn't very accurate, huh? The LME unit aren't really "spies" but agents who work deep undercover. Too late to change it, I suppose! Also, "Secret Agent Beat" doesn't have quite the same ring to it…
Also, just remember that I will now be uploading on Saturdays from now on! Thank you all as always for all of your follows, faves, and reviews! They really do make my world go round. Hehe