Hello loyal readers!

Thank you all so much for the reviews and the love. This week, the story has brought a surprise… I hope you all enjoy!

I really want to thank everyone who has supported me with their thoughts and encouragements via reviews this past month. Thanks for your patience and willingness to wait for the next chapters to come. March has been one of the most frustrating but also one of the most rewarding months of PA school so far, and even though I didn't end up writing a single chapter last month, I feel even more pent up energy to write this month (because I actually have time).

Just read over the story arcs I have planned until the end, and I'm really excited to get it all on "paper" and share it with you, my loyal readers! :]

My goal is to go back to posting once a week; however I won't post unless I've made significant progress on a chapter that week. Wish me luck :D

CH9

"I can't believe you fell in love..."

As much as Ren hated to admit that anything Fuwa said was correct, his hammering, panicky heartbeat agreed fully. Never had Ren run so fast in his life as he dashed through the empty halls of the Kantei.

While the wealthy and powerful mingled upstairs, Ren was an emotional but speedy wreck.

Five minutes of him frantically searching for Kyoko. Two minutes since Yashiro had broken radio silence, informing him of Kyoko's dangerous predicament. The longest one hundred and twenty seconds of his life.

But Ren knew that this feeling, this fear hanging heavily on his chest, was a liability. Already, he'd almost taken two wrong turns even though he had thoroughly memorized every inch of the Kantei's blueprint before the mission. He'd broken cover, bumping into more than one of the PM's birthday guests. His mission to guard the PM and to patrol the Grand Hall was in jeopardy.

All because he loved her.

Ren knew that if he continued in this way, sloppy with uncontrollable emotion, he would never return to America. Rick's killer would never be brought to justice. And Ren would never get his revenge.

And that would not do.

With a cold resolve, Ren forced himself to slow to a trot then a brisk walk and pulled his weapon from the waistband of his pants. He had reached Hall 2B.

"Ren! What are you doing? Hurry up! Kyoko-chan is–"

Muting the comm link in his ear, Ren effectively tuned Yashiro out. Holding his gun up, Agent T put his back against the wall and edged toward the door, mechanically performing the training-mandatory checks behind him at every three steps.

She's just another partner. She's just another girl. She's just another operative. Just like everyone else.

The door at the end of the hallway was slightly ajar, and muffled shouts echoed down the hall toward Ren. Every fiber of his being tugged at him. Hurry, hurry, hurry… But Agent T purposefully paused at the threshold, listening to the voices within.

His eyes widened in shock. The brat had left to look for Kyoko too, but… Ren had forgotten that he had run in this direction.

No… It couldn't be.

Caution completely abandoned, Ren swept the door open with one foot, gun poised mid-air.

An unconscious high-school boy lay by the door. Kyoko was checking his pulse. Another man with bizarre silver-blonde hair hung bloody and beaten, held aloft at the collar by a furious Fuwa Sho.

Ren was about to step forward when the beaten man spoke.

"Maybe I should do something so unspeakably intimate to you, Kyoko," the man murmured, his purple eyes turning to coolly wander Kyoko's small frame. "That you'd want to chase after me and drag me down to Hell instead of this guy."

All Ren saw was Kyoko shudder and recoil, hurt and fear flashing across her face. Fuwa's fist was rising to strike again, but Ren moved faster.

A quick, ruthless open-handed strike to the right temple, and the creep crumpled to the floor.

"Tsu—! T-san!" Kyoko cried happily. Ren watched as the radiant smile on her face drained quickly into horror as she glanced uneasily between him and Fuwa. "W-what are you doing here?"

Ren felt as if he had been kicked in the gut.

"Heh." The cocky hotel heir barked a short laugh, unfisting his hold on the unknown assailant's collar. "I guess she forgot who her partner was, since he never came to save her…"

It was all chance, Ren reasoned with himself as he grasped for composure. It was chance that Fuwa had gotten to her side first. That Ren had run in one direction and Fuwa had run in the other. It wasn't fate or an irrepressible bond drawing them back together. It was mere chance.

"While you were busy running around," the Fuwa bastard crooned smugly, "who do you think saved her from the hand of the devil, huh?"

Kyoko was silent, unable to refute the truth of the situation. She looked up at Ren with wide, fearful eyes. She reached a hand out. "T-san… I—"

Fuwa's smug face, Ren's own helplessness, Kyoko had gotten hurt. His own selfish hesitation had gotten her hurt. It was all too much.

Ren whipped back around, out the door. Pressing a finger to his comm link, he barked, "Yashiro, get covert medical and back up in here stat. We have two unconscious; one of them is a hostile. Agent M and Fuwa Sho need medical treatment. I'm going back to patrol the Grand Hall."

Ren clicked off his comm, cutting off Yashiro's reply.

"T-san!"

Agent T heard a pattering of footsteps behind him. Despite his inner turmoil and against his better judgment, his heart leapt in his chest. He would be able to recognize those footfalls anywhere. He stuffed his emotions back down.

"Back in character," Ren ordered coldly without turning around. "And stay here. I… need to be alone for a while…"

He stayed fixed forward, head bowed. He didn't want her to see the ugly jealousy mingled with self-loathing written plainly across his face. Ren knew that Fuwa felt as though he had won because the brat hadn't followed Kyoko out of the room. That only infuriated the agent more.

However, as Ren turned to walk down the hall, one of the doors closest to the elevator opened and five or six men in suits walked out and toward the elevator. Automatically, Ren and Kyoko bowed and curtseyed as Ryota and Aiko. Several of the men harrumphed and shot them suspicious looks. The rest ignored them.

Just as Ren was about to start for the stairs next to the elevator, two more occupants emerged from the room. One was a man of average build with wire-rimmed glasses and a small widow's peak beneath his black, slicked-back hair. He gave the two dancers a small nod before holding the door open.

A middle-aged woman stepped through the threshold into the hallway. The first thing Ren noted about her was that, objectively, she was quite attractive. Except… the strict way she held herself, the severe black bun pulled up without a single stray hair, and the coldness in her eyes – Ren felt himself unconsciously stiffen under her scrutinizing gaze.

Though the woman's face remained smooth and impassive, Ren had a feeling that she did not like what she was seeing.

Then her gaze shifted behind him. Immediately, her brow creased down the center, forming a deep furrow. Displeasure radiated from her face, and she turned away, walking briskly next to her companion to the awaiting elevator.

Only once she was in the elevator and the doors began to close did the woman look up again. Her stare was unwavering, the frown still etched deeply onto her brow.

The doors closed and the elevator car began to descend.

Ren heard a small, broken whimper from behind him.

"O…Okaa-san…?"

Kyoko's quavering tone was enough to cause Ren to whip around. Her Aiko persona forgotten, Kyoko stood alone in the middle of the long hall, white knuckles clutching a swathe of her gown in front of her. Her face was unnaturally pale, as if she had seen a ghost.

Ren knew then that he could not leave her. His pride was not worth the stricken, despairing look in her eyes.

"Koiso-san! Ienari-kun!"

Ren's head snapped up. Kijima and Momose were briskly walking toward them, pleasant smiles hiding their true concern. A couple miscellaneous janitorial staff hurried after them, trying to look unassuming as they pushed a small cleaning cart that Ren knew contained a foldable stretcher and medical supplies.

Making a snap decision, Ren pointed the medical crew toward the correct room with a slight jerk of his head. He smiled brightly to the other two LME agents, turning his body to hide Kyoko.

"Sorry to worry the rest of the troupe, Tanibachi-san and Yutani-san. Koiso-san was feeling slightly under the weather, so we were trying to find some fresh air."

Agent T's luminous smile excluded any objections.

Itsumi was the first to recover. She sighed gently and placed a demure hand to her cheek. "Oh dear, Koiso-chan! Was it nerves?"

"You don't need to worry so much, Aiko-chan! You looked splendid out there! Radiant even!" Kijima's "Yutani" crowed.

Before Kyoko was forced to respond, Ren mused, "Ah, yes. We ought to be returning now. Feel free to wander around a little bit more, you two. The grounds are quite fascinating."

With that and a short bow, Ren smoothly but hurriedly ushered the compliant Kyoko down the hall toward the privacy of an enclosed stairwell, leaving the other two agents to secure the hostile, the unconscious teen, and Fuwa Sho.

The door clicked closed behind them, shutting both inside the thick barrier of the concrete stairwell. Ren glanced down at his kouhai and noted with relief that color was returning to her face. But his hand still lingered on the small of her back.

"Yashiro-san, camera check outside of Hall 2B," Agent T murmured into his comm link. He heard a pause as his tech support searched through the various cameras for other people in the area. Ren knew the pause was lengthier than usual as Yashiro contemplated making a snarky remark about helping even though the agent had just ignored him twice. Fortunately for Ren's pride and Kyoko's sake, Yukihito kept his comments to himself.

"All clear," came the eventual reply. "I'll keep watch."

"Thank you," Ren murmured, genuinely grateful.

Kyoko exhaled, crumpling to lean against the concrete wall behind her. One of her gloved hands came up to cover her mouth.

Ren stood nearby, ready to catch her in case she fell – but also strongly fighting the urge to snatch the shaken girl into his arms and hold her tightly.

He knew about Kyoko's mother from bits and pieces that he'd heard as a child. How she constantly pushed Kyoko away. How nothing Kyoko ever did was good enough for the strict woman. How Kyoko still yearned for her mother's love.

After a minute of silence to allow the young woman to gather her thoughts, Ren knelt down in front of her, tilting his head up to look at her face. Even while kneeling, he was less than two heads shorter than her. She looked sad but pensive, no longer stricken with shock.

"Mogami-san…"

Taking her cue, Kyoko blinked herself out of her thoughts and slowly straightened away from the wall. She hesitantly looked down at Ren, searching for words.

"That was my mother."

Ren pretended to be surprised.

"My mother abandoned me when I was six years-old."

Ren no longer had to pretend. He felt the word, 'What?' forming at his lips. When had Kyoko's mother abandoned her? The woman was still around when Kyoko had met the fairy Corn. And she had been six at that time, hadn't she?

Thankfully Kyoko, too absorbed in organizing her own thoughts, didn't notice his shift from controlled surprise to extreme confusion.

"I guess my mother was friends with Shotaro's mother," she continued hollowly. "I grew up in the Fuwa household under the care of the family's chef and housekeeper. They are a very loving couple, and I know they took care of me like I was their own daughter, but…"

Eyes searching her face, Ren finished her sentence, "But it's not the same…"

Avoiding eye contact, Kyoko shook her head in agreement. Her arms clasped together as she hugged herself.

"This is the first time you've seen her since then," Ren said, hazarding a guess.

"I got ignored again…" Kyoko stated in a too-wistful voice as she tried to look up. Her short laugh was thin with broken irony, and her plastered-on smile twisted into a grimace. "This isn't the first time she's ignored me. But I had hoped after so many years… maybe she… might…"

Kyoko's voice faded. Pinpricks of tears gathered at the corners of her eyes as her hands dropped to clutch the front of her dress, her knuckles a deathly white.

"Corn! Today, Okaa-san…" The broken weeping of a small girl by a stream echoed through Ren's memories. His resolve melted.

Without thinking, he rose and swiftly pulled Kyoko in a hug.

The shock must have propelled Kyoko over her emotional edge, and the tears came.

The normally reserved young woman muffled her loud, choking sobs in the front of Ren's suit jacket. To his surprise, she didn't try to push him away, but instead clung to him desperately, her hands fisted tightly in his lapels. He felt her body shaking violently with the force of her cries.

It was in that moment, as he felt his hands curl protectively around her small shoulders, that Ren knew. He loved this woman, and even with all the logic in the world, he could not will himself to stop loving her.

But Ren also knew that at the end of the day, he could only choose one: his revenge or Kyoko. Having both was not an option.

And he knew that if she ever got close enough to see the darkness in his past, in his heart— he would never have her at all.

-x-

MAILBAG:

cleocat333 – Hope this clears up a little bit more of how Sho beat Ren! It was just chance, because Sho ran to look for her in the one direction that just happened to be correct. Part of me didn't like the Karuizawa arc because Sho rescued Kyoko instead of Ren, but I think it caused some very interesting fallout in the main story. Mostly I came to appreciate that arc because it gives this sense that fate is pulling Kyoko and Sho's paths to intersect, but Ren is determined to fight even fate to win Kyoko's heart. :3

MWEH – Noooo! I'd be very interested in hearing what you have to say! Haha It's such a compliment to hear that my fic is one of your faves. I'm not even halfway done yet, and the really exciting stuff is to come. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Shizuhoe – LOL! Well, hope you liked my take on your favorite scene! It's so interesting that that is your favorite! Maybe it's because Sho finally gets a glimpse of the terrifying man that he's really dealing with and not the gentleman façade that Ren puts up.

JeremyVD – Yeah, it boggles my mind how people think that Kyoko should end up back with Sho. In my mind, that's a total insult to the strength of character Kyoko has built up all this time. It has the same feel as someone going back to an abusive relationship… *sigh* I guess everyone is entitled to their own shipping opinions, I suppose! But still… Thanks for the compliment and encouragement! Just wondering, how come you don't have a fanfic account? I seem to always see you reviewing as a guest. Just wondering!

Aikori Ichijouji – Thanks for the encouragement! From one author to another, doesn't it just spur you on to keep on writing when your audience responds well? :D

SilverInu93 – Tada! Reino is here! Although I do have to admit that he isn't going to take center stage for a little bit and will only be around the periphery of the plot for a while. We shall see how the story unfolds! ;)

Until next time, loyal readers!