Hello loyal readers!
Today we have a chapter that began as a short start-up for the next story arc… And somehow, the characters and plot kind of got carried away with themselves. But it's all purposeful, I promise! There's a lot to take care of, including last chapter – tying up loose ends, showing how our main pairing are growing emotionally, introducing more of our beloved cast (Kanae, Maria, Shoko, Saena, Ogata), fleshing out their world, setting up the Big Bad, yada-yada-yada.
Sorry that this interlude "arc" is kind of "slow". There were significantly fewer reviews on the last chapter (I'm a huuuge stats person, because I believe that the numbers speak for how well the story is being received, etc ), and I think it has to do with the perception that nothing is really happening plot-wise. But trust me, dear readers, that I'm setting up some big things. I only hope I'm not losing your interest in the meanwhile!
On the bright side, this is the last time we'll have to see Sho for a long, long time. Rejoice! Haha
CH11
"And then, we've been researching the clothing styles and mannerisms of the cosplay artists in Harajuku," Maria chirped as she skipped down the hall next to Kyoko. The small girl's maroon dress flounced in time with her steps. "Woods-san promised that she would take me out to try some new disguises next time."
Kyoko beamed down at the President's granddaughter. The two had just finished lunch at the café in the hub of LME's HQ. When Maria had learned where Kyoko was headed next, the young girl had insisted on walking her precious 'older sister' to the interrogation. With Maria holding one hand and her own special protective charm in the other, Kyoko felt safer already.
"I'm sure Muse-sama will take good care of you, but make sure you're careful, Maria-chan," Kyoko warned lightly. "I don't want any weird guys taking you away."
Maria's laugh sounded more like a scoff. She waved her free hand in the air dismissively. "Oh please, Onee-sama. I might be small, but Hiou-kun and his grandfather have been teaching me martial arts since I was old enough to walk!"
"Kyoko-chan! Maria-chan!" A familiar voice called from behind them. The two girls turned and waved as Yashiro walked briskly across the polished wooden floor to catch up to them.
"Where are you two ladies off to?" The techie asked as he fell into step with them.
He had clearly just come back from supervising a mission or some other work, Kyoko noted. The tech support's normally crisp white shirt was rumpled in the back and his sleeves were rolled up. Also, a pair of latex gloves peeked out from his pants pocket.
"We're going to the holding cells," announced Maria with a jaunty skip forward. Her enthusiasm mismatched with the image of the grim concrete basement level that held whatever riffraff the LME unit happened to hold onto after missions.
As they continued down the wood-paneled hall of the more comforting upper residence wing, Yukihito tipped his head to the side, inquiring. "Why would you need to go to the holding cells?"
"The President gave me a LoveMe assignment," Kyoko muttered, feeling her visage instantly turn dark and murderous. "He needs me to interrogate that dumb Beagle."
"Beagle?" Yashiro cocked his head to the other side, even more confused. "As in, 'Woof, woof'?"
"A doggy?" Maria looked similarly puzzled. "I thought we were going for that creepy guy…"
"I don't know why they named themselves 'Beagle'!" Kyoko wailed and strode on toward the elevator's brushed metal doors at the end of the hall. "The name doesn't exactly strike fear into people's hearts. But who knows what goes through the twisted, demonic mind of an assassination group like that!"
"Bea…gle…" Yashiro mused as he came to a stop next to Maria in front of the elevator. Then, realization crossed his face, followed swiftly by horror. "Vie Ghoul?! As in, the Vie Ghoul Assassins?"
Kyoko had just pressed the down button, missing Yashiro's terror. She turned back, arms crossed over her chest, muttering tersely to herself, "Beagle, Vie Ghoul, Bee Guru – when in Japan, they should call themselves something a normal Japanese citizen can pronounce. Stupid Beagles…"
"I didn't know that the creepy man was a Vie Ghoul assassin!" Maria exclaimed. Kyoko then noticed her companions' worry and was surprised to see that the small girl seemed visibly upset. "Onee-sama is in real danger! What is Grandfather thinking!"
Yashiro crossed his arms and nodded furiously. He waved a lecturing finger in the air.
"The Vie Ghoul are notorious in certain circles for their assassinations. Very well thought-out, meticulous plans. Almost untraceable after the deed is done. No one from their group has ever been caught. Some say that they're almost supernatural!"
Maria was growing paler and more tremulous by the second. Kyoko herself was starting to feel somewhat queasy.
"I-I'll be ok, Maria-chan," Agent M tried to sound convincing. Her hand drifted to the secret weapon in her pants pocket. "After all, Tsuruga-san will be there with me. I'm sure that between him and the handcuffs, I'll be well protected."
The elevator arrived with a somber ding, and the three piled into the metal box. Meanwhile, at the mention of Ren, Maria had performed a complete emotional 180.
"Oh! Ren-chan will be there too?" Maria crooned, dreamily. "Ok, then. I'm sure you will be safe, Onee-sama."
"I agree! He'll make sure you're safe, Kyoko-chan," said Yashiro, grinning. Amber eyes narrowed at the sneaky look on the older man's face.
Ever since the mission at the Prime Minister's birthday gala, Yashiro had been acting strangely toward Kyoko. Agent M couldn't shake the gut-instinct that it had something to do with Ren's bizarre behavior during the night. Thinking of Ren, leaning over her on the stone bench… Or his strong arms encircling her as she wept…
"Ne, Yashiro-san…" Kyoko froze. The beginnings of her burning question had already escaped her lips before she had realized.
The tech guru perked up out of his creepy demeanor and asked what was on her mind. She paused, given a fortuitous opportunity to stall as the elevator announced its arrival at one of the basement levels with a loud chime. Kyoko's mind raced to think of a better question, but she ended up blurting out the one that was already percolating at the top of her mind.
"Have any of Tsuruga-san's previous partners had any…" She paused, searching for the right word as the three exited the elevator. "…problems with him?"
"Hm… Not really." Yashiro stopped to think just outside the elevator. Agent M had to fight not to fidget and shuffle her feet on the unforgiving cement floor. Finally, after what seemed to Kyoko like a lifetime, Yukihito spoke again.
"Well, I suppose there is the occasional female operative who has difficulty separating Ren's romantic acting from his actual feelings—"
"Yeah! Those creepy women need to get a grip," Maria chimed in, small arms crossed over her chest. "Especially, that one lady who…"
Kyoko was no longer listening to her two companions as the duo continued down the hall without her. Her open hand unconsciously found its way to her chest, over her heart. A breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, finally escaped.
The young woman smiled. She was safe.
While on the bench with Tsuruga-san – with Ryota – her heart had run away with her. She had almost allowed him – his character – to…
'So it's normal...' Kyoko mused to herself with a small shake of her head. 'What a scary, masterful actor. I had decided never to let my pulse race over a man ever again…'
"Onee-sama!" Kyoko heard Maria call. "Why are you just standing there?"
No longer bogged down by murky, troublesome feelings, Kyoko skipped to catch up to her two friends, weightless on her toes.
"Thank you, Yashiro-san! Maria-chan! I'll make sure that I'm never so presumptuous with the actions and kindness of others ever again!"
Maria and Yukihito could only blink, profoundly confused as the field operative practically pirouetted and skipped far ahead of them down the drab concrete hall.
-x-
"Stop pushing, Shoko-san. I know how to walk!"
Many would have called the woman who glared down at Fuwa Shotaro 'beautiful' – but at the moment, Aki Shoko was sure the frown that pinched together her perfectly-shaped brows was going to become a permanent fixture of her face.
The fact that the LME unit had seemingly tucked Sho away in the deepest, farthest corner they could find – combined with the mistake of wearing her most blister-inducing pair of black pumps – was not helping. Unaware of her plight, the nondescript guard, who had released Sho from his cell and was escorting them to the exit, was setting a brisk but watchful pace in front them.
"Sho." The personal assistant tried to muster a patient smile without removing her firm hand from the small of her charge's back. "I just spent 15 hours with your father's lawyer trying to convince some government gopher not to ship you off to Nepal and erase all traces of you from Japanese records. It would behoove you to move fasterbefore someone changes their mind."
Despite the change of clothing his father's personal assistant had provided, the blonde hotel heir still looked a little worse for wear. He had, after all, gotten into a significant tussle with a professional assassin, been mildly poisoned for his efforts, knocked unconscious by two government agents, and smuggled into a dank, cramped cell where no one would answer his questions. Also, courtesy of the poison, he had spent the better half of the night and early morning nauseously revisiting the seven pudding hors d'oeuvres and the glass of champagne he had snuck behind his father's back at the gala.
Then he had spent the whole next day shouting himself hoarse at the bars of his cell before being rescued by a very exasperated Shoko-san.
Unrepentant, Sho kicked the ground and muttered, "I know, I know. But it's not my fault I'm in this dump."
"Yes, well, according to the Japanese government, you've never seen 'this dump' or heard of it or had to sign any papers saying that you'll be charged with high treason for even mentioning 'this dump' to anyone," Shoko snapped as the two briskly walked down the concrete hall.
"Right turn here, please." The security guard motioned the two ahead of him. "The elevator is at the end of this hall."
Shoko smiled apologetically at the blue-uniformed guard as she hurried Sho around the corner.
"Oof!"
"Ow!"
Alarmed, Shoko stepped back from the pedestrian collision she had just caused. She was just about to apologize to the young woman, whom Sho had knocked down, when the girl spoke.
"My deepest apologies—!" The auburn-haired girl abruptly cut off. In an instant, her contrite attitude vanished like a puff of smoke. "What! You again!"
"Hah! Weren't you about to apologize for bumping into me?" Sho was no less pleased. He sneered as Shoko reached down to help the strange girl up.
"The day I apologize to a manipulative jerk like you is the day that hell freezes over." Amber eyes flashed with indignant anger at Sho, then turned to Shoko. Suddenly, the girl brightened with pleased recognition. "Oh! Shoko-san?"
"K-Kyoko-chan!" Shoko allowed her surprise to wash away as Kyoko dusted off her denim jeans. In her stylish new haircut and dye, Kyoko was nearly a stranger. Despite having known her for years in the Fuwa household, Shoko would never have looked twice at this girl on the street if they had passed each other.
But aside from the hair, there was something different about her. Something that made her seem more… alive. Was this the power of the LME unit?
"Shoko-san, it is very nice to see you again," Kyoko said with a crisp bow, hands tucked politely in front of her. For a moment, Shoko caught a glimpse of the formal young woman she used to know. "How are the Okami and Taisho?"
"Doing quite well, actually." The personal assistant replied, unable to help herself from falling back into comfortable conversation with Kyoko, despite sensing Sho's ire growing behind her. "They are actually currently gone on vacation. Fuwa-sama is quite beside herself trying to organize the servants in their absence."
"Onee-sama!"
"Kyoko-chan!"
Shoko turned, surprised to see a small girl in a frilly maroon dress and a man in glasses and a rumpled white dress shirt hurrying down the hall toward them. Kyoko smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, Yashiro-san, Maria-chan. I bumped into an old acquaintance, and–"
"FUWA SHO?" The brown-haired man yelped, reeling back a step. Shoko watched in surprise as the girl who must have been 'Maria-chan' swiveled her head around so sharply that her curled ringlets flew in an arc.
On guard, Sho crossed his arms over his chest and glared. Clearly, though the two recognized him on sight or by name, the knowledge was not mutual.
"This punk?" Maria demanded, incredulous. She marched over to the blonde heir, circling him once and looking him up and down. Sho just glowered at her, unsure what to make of the young girl's attention.
Finally, Maria stuck her nose up in the air and sniffed.
"6 out of 10. Not nearly as good as Ren-sama," the small girl said with a toss of her hair as she whirled around and sauntered coolly back to Kyoko's side. "Onee-sama must've been temporarily insane or something."
Shoko heard someone snicker and looked up just in time to see the glasses-man hide his laughter. Sho looked shocked and appalled. He had never been told by any girl of any age that he was lacking in any way.
Before her charge could recover and launch a verbal attack at the little girl, which would assuredly be in poor taste, Shoko quickly introduced herself to Kyoko's friends.
"What brings you to LME headquarters, Aki-san?" Yashiro nodded to the guard who had been standing off to the side, excusing him. The guard made a small bow and went to call the elevator.
"I'm just here to take this one back home," Shoko explained, motioning vaguely in her charge's direction.
"Oh," Kyoko mused, placing a thoughtful hand to her cheek. "I suppose Fuwa-sama would have sent you to collect him. Since you're Fuwa-sama's personal assistant and all…"
Coming off of his shock, Shotaro was less than pleased that he was being ignored. He huffed, "I'm not a lost piece of luggage, you know!"
"Actually, I have been reassigned," Shoko clarified, talking over him and trying not to sound as haggard as she felt. "I am now Sho's personal assistant. Fuwa-sama wants his son to start taking his role in the Fuwa hotel empire more seriously. Kind of like a high school internship. I'm here to facilitate that transition. How about you? I was told by Fuwa-sama that you'd found work elsewhere. I had no idea it was something like this!"
"It's better not to ask, Shoko-san." Sho scoffed. He had had enough of being ignored. "The poor girl is stuck playing make-believe with some pinhead, so-called secret agent."
Instantly, Kyoko bristled. Shoko almost quavered in her heels as the young woman's rage became palpable in the air.
"What did you say about T-san?"
"Hey! Is this punk talking about Ren-sama?" Maria shouted, equally indignant. Her pretty, cherub-like face puckered and reddened in anger. Yashiro had to hold the small girl back – from doing what, Shoko had no idea, but with a group like the LME unit, one could never be too careful.
Laughing nervously, Shoko tugged at the crook of Sho's arm. The elevator was just a short walk away. "That's enough Sho. We're late to meet your father..."
Per usual, her charge ignored her.
"That guy – Ren? Tsuruga Ren, was it?" Sho sneered down at Kyoko, hands on his hips. "Eats little ugly, boring girls like you like bite-sized appetizers. He doesn't take you seriously – as his partner or as a woman!"
"You stupid blondie!" Maria howled, trying to muscle her way out of Yashiro's grip on her arms. "You take that back—!"
Shoko saw Kyoko's eyes darken in anger as she raised a hand. For a moment, Shoko panicked. 'Not his face, Kyoko-chan!'
But the LME operative merely held a hand up to Maria. Then she turned to address Sho, her gaze weighty and fierce.
"That my respected senpai does not consider me an equal in the field," Kyoko growled. "I don't need to be hearing from the likes of you. Let alone the fact that he has no romantic interest in me at all—!"
"Hah!" Sho crossed his arms and leaned toward her, trying to intimidate the auburn-haired woman with his height. "Like I'm supposed to believe you're not going to fall for his stupid harem-recruiting tricks."
"Are you calling me an idiot?" Kyoko snapped back, her voice rising. "Or perhaps you're calling me insane? What kind of sane person repeats the same mistakes and expects a better result?"
"You know, Kyoko." Sho grinned. "There's a saying in English – 'Fool you once, shame on me; fool you twice, shame on you–.'"
"So if I get fooled again, the blame will be on me?" The young woman's eyes sparked with righteous fury. "If that's the case, and if god-forbid, some day I become such a fool, I'll… I'll go back and work as a maid in your father's house again!"
"Well…" With a smug grin that would have put the Cheshire Cat to shame, Sho took a calculated step forward, invading Kyoko's personal space. "Make sure you never make that mistake, then. If you still want to try and get your revenge on me…"
With that, Sho swiveled around and strode toward the elevator. Shoko hurriedly bowed apologetically to the three government agents and trotted after Sho.
As the elevator doors were closing behind them, Shoko heard little Maria call out, "You better watch out, you dumb blondie! I'm going to curse you with 666 years of bad luck!"
-x-
Oh man! Maria's pissed! On a quick side note, I haven't officially written it into the story, but in this universe, Kyoko has told Maria about her past with Sho and on top of that, Maria (cunning and sharp child that she is) has figured out that there's some kind of attraction between Ren and Kyoko. After struggling with this realization for some time, Maria has at the mature age of 9, come to terms with this. In fact, she is secretly trying to support them. After all, they are her two most favorite people in al the world. She would want them to be happy!
Also, bad slip from both Kyoko (CH 9) and Maria, but Sho now knows Ren's "real" name. Clumsy error from two professional agents, but necessary and in my mind, unavoidable (after all, who doesn't know the name of their rival?!).
Next time, Kanae makes good on her promise, and we get to see a little bit of Ren's inner turmoil.
Until then, thank you for your reviews, faves, and follows!
MAILBAG
DizziZilla – Thanks so much! It's always such a treat to get a compliment from a fellow author!
cleocat333 – Thanks so much for the amazing review! Kanae is the best, and I totally agree, she is a great contrasting character to bounce Kyoko off of! And don't worry about BJ. ;) He's safe and sound… hehe Sad to say, but BJ is not going to play a huuuuge role, necessarily. But his persona is going to be necessary to get Ren and Kyoko into contact with the bad guys.
MWEH – I just read the next manga chapter! Aghhh! Finally some progress! Sometimes I forget that Nakamura-sensei is capable of drawing action-fight scenes. Have you read her first work, Tokyo Crazy Paradise? I much prefer Skip Beat, but at least that one is completed already. Thanks as always for your review! :)
Shizuhoe – I also missed Kanae too! It took her 10 chapters to show up, but I'm glad she's finally here! As for BJ, sadly he's not going to play a huge role in the upcoming story, but Saena will. As for Saena… We shall see! I can say that she's going to be pivotal in the final two arcs.