Hello loyal readers,
SURPRISE! I said I wasn't going to post for all of August, but here I am! By the time many of you read this, I will be either A) right about to go into my boards exam, B) taking my boards, or C) COMPLETELY DONE AND FREE, FREE, OH SO FREE!
Today, we get to see a little bit of Maria's handy-work and a little bit of what Ren had been up to in Yokohama pre-Setsu gets revealed! And even bigger surprise... Delta was watching after all.
Happy reading, and don't forget to leave a fave, a follow, or a review at the end! I REALLY appreciate the motivation!
-x-
CH19
For the fourth time that day, Fuwa Sho found himself in the restroom of a random café changing his clothes. Cursing, he unceremoniously shucked off his sopping wet pants and suit jacket. How a mere taxicab could throw up such a massive tsunami of disgusting street water was beyond him. Actually, this whole month was beyond his understanding.
Ever since his traumatizing trip to the LME unit's HQ last month, Sho had been running into a seemingly never-ending string of bad luck. His father was constantly on his case, angry because Sho was late to this or that meeting.
Well, it wasn't Sho's fault that every time he walked down the street, he tripped and face-planted into mud puddles or turned corners and ran into kids holding ice cream cones or got dive-bombed by shitting birds! His shoelaces broke; blackouts mysteriously stranded him in elevators; his car was always out for repairs; even all his pens seemed to die or explode in his pocket!
Grumbling to himself, Sho caught a glance of himself in the mirror.
Shit, he looked tired. He paused to run a heavy hand over his face. It wasn't just the bad luck… It was Kyoko.
He hadn't seen her in a month, but he couldn't seem to stop himself from thinking about her. Wondering if she was alright. Wondering if she had broken her promise to him…
"Ufufu, you're so much better than that stupid Sho, Tsuruga-san." Kyoko giggled as she caressed the agent's jaw. "You're my Prince Charming now, right?"
"Dammit!" Sho swore under his breath. Shaking his head violently to clear his wild imaginings, the blonde picked up the clean pants Shoko had given him, jamming in one leg and then the other.
And Shoko was wrong. He wasn't jealous; he was just… embarrassed! That's it. Embarrassed, for sure, of his childhood friend who was a silly girl with only love on the brain!
Sho finished dressing quickly then reached for his phone, which was lying on the sink counter. The sink must have left a thin sheen of water on the phone's casing, because as Sho grasped it, he felt it slip out of his fingers. Fumbling with it in the air merely launched it up and, to his horror, directly down into the toilet bowl.
The café's patrons sitting just outside the restroom door all winced as they heard the lengthy string of expletives from within the bathroom. The two who were standing in line to use the facilities slowly, slowly backed away and slunk back to their seats.
-x-
When Sho finally emerged from the restroom, he felt even wearier than when he had entered. He ignored the stares of the other customers as he staggered toward the front door where Shoko waited just outside.
He was almost to the front when he bumped into the girl.
From the back of his mind, as he watched her topple backward, her latte sloshing in slow-motion in her mug, he was confused. He could have sworn that prior to impact, he had moved to the side enough to avoid hitting her altogether. But then instinct overrode reason, and Sho reached forward and grabbed her arm. His bag of wet clothes thumped to the floor, and Sho quickly found himself with an armful of young woman.
She blinked at him, her eyes wide in surprise that he had caught her. "E-Excuse me…"
"Sorry," Sho replied gruffly as he relaxed and let her arm go. He was reaching down to gather his bag, when he felt a gentle hand on his arm.
"I'm sorry, but I think I got some coffee on your shirt," her soft voice said. Gentle hands came up to tug at the sleeve of his dress-shirt. A light brown stain was seeping into his cuff.
Biting back a slew of curses, Sho took a bracing breath in and out. He mustered his most sultry, woman-slayer smile and said, "It's fine, miss. I'm just glad you're ok."
That's when he noticed her long black hair and warm, golden-amber eyes. With her wide, innocent face and extraordinarily polite mannerisms, this stranger looked like the spitting image of Kyoko… Pre-spy version.
She was even bowing while apologizing and trying to clean off the sleeve of his shirt with her handkerchief at the same time.
Eventually, she looked up at him, aghast. "I don't think it's coming out. I'm so sorry, Mr. …"
In the expectant pause that followed, Sho nearly tripped over his own tongue to fill in, "Sh- I mean, Fuwa Shotaro."
Shit. Why'd he give his uncool full name?
The girl didn't seem to mind and she gave him a radiant smile and bowed politely at the waist.
"You have my deepest apologies, Sho-kun," she said as she straightened. "My name is Morishige Kanako. I really do insist on paying for your dry cleaning."
Sho only felt a small twinge of discomfort in the back of his mind at the girl's forwardness. 'Sho-kun?' But his discomfort melted away as he found himself distracted by the strange familiarity of her amber gaze. In the end, he could only splutter out with uncharacteristic inelegance, "But I was the one who bumped into you!"
Shaking her head, Kanako was scribbling onto a small piece of notebook paper she had procured from her pocket.
"No, you saved me," she insisted with a gentle smile. Her words, mingled with Kyoko's old appearance, only muddled Sho's head further.
"Here," she proffered the paper. "My phone number! The least I can do is treat you to coffee or something."
Head awhirl, all Sho could do was mutely accept the scribbled note. He knew he should be saying something cool and swoon-worthy, like asking her out on a date. But as he was opening his mouth, the door to the café burst open.
"Sho!" Shoko nearly leapt into the coffee shop. Sho blinked at her. Not only was it unlike Shoko to be disruptive, but she also seemed to have a particularly panicked air about her.
"Oh, Shoko-san," he said, burying his surprise. "Do you have another clean shirt? I got coffee—"
"We don't have time for that right now." Ignoring her charge, Shoko grabbed his elbow and pulled him toward the door.
"What? Hey! Shoko-san!"
"Sho-kun!" The young woman called after him and waved cheerily. "Don't forget to call!"
Sho barely had time to wave back before Shoko slammed the café door shut behind them. Rushing down the street, Sho tried to unsuccessfully weasel his way out of his personal assistant's hold.
"Shoko-san, what the hell?"
She didn't answer, just continuously pulled him toward what looked like an awaiting car. A shiny black sedan with a government license plate, Sho noted with growing alarm. Was it the LME unit again? Was it Kyoko?
Only after Shoko had stuffed him into the back seat of the car, did she release the talon-like grip that she had on his arm. Slamming the car door shut behind her, the assistant rapped sharply on the tinted glass separating the back of the car from the front. The driver gunned the engine, pulling the car out into traffic.
"What the hell is this!" Sho demanded, trying not to sound as frightened as he felt. "Who's driving? Where are we going?"
He watched as his usually unflappable assistant placed a shaking hand over her mouth. She took several deep, calming breaths.
"Shoko-san…?"
"I just got a call from your father," Shoko said, her voice a veneer of calm over a quavering core. "The LME unit has discovered that the same organization trying to kidnap Mimori has just put out a hit out on you."
-x-
Ren didn't know how he managed to get Kyoko back to their flat in Yokohama. At least, not without either one doing or saying anything that was extraordinarily out of character for the Heel siblings. Yashiro's reassurances that Kijima and Momose had already secured Sho helped.
As Ren unlocked the door to their apartment, he caught sight of Kyoko slipping in and out of character. For the most part on the journey back, she was Setsu, but in moments of quiet, when Ren glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, he could catch glimpses of worry, frustration, and confusion flitting across her face.
But now she was Setsu, staring up blankly at her brother as he smoothly bent and picked her up, carrying her bridal style across the threshold before unceremoniously plopping her in one of the living room chairs. If Ren hadn't been so worried about her, he would have made the effort to check the racing beat of his heart. Cain Heel wasn't so easily stimulated by close bodily contact.
"Stay," Cain ordered, pointing at the chair.
Setsu scowled up at him and tried to struggle away. "Don't be silly, Nii-san. We still have to get groceries for lunch."
"Setsu, you're not feeling well."
His sister shrugged, trying to stand to her feet and push past him. "Lunch isn't going to suddenly appear, and I'm not letting Nii-san go without food."
"You. Sit." Cain placed a firm hand on her lower back, guiding her back around to the cushioned lounge chair and eliminating all argument. Grabbing a blanket from the nearby sofa, he made quick work of her, bundling her up and tucking the ends in.
'She looks like a dumpling,' Ren thought, turning quickly to hide his grin. 'A very cute dumpling.'
"Nii-san… Food…"
"I'll take care of it."
The flat, disbelieving look Setsu sent him spoke volumes.
"What?"
Setsu's eyes narrowed. "The threat of a nuclear explosion in the kitchen and the undoubtedly poisonous end-product won't set me at ease at all. I would feel much more rested if Nii-san would just—"
"I meant I'm going to order delivery."
Slightly mollified, his sister settled back into the chair. Ren could also tell that Setsu was quickly losing the battle for Kyoko's face as the furrow along her brow grew more and more pronounced.
Under strict orders from the President not to break character, Ren was torn.
What was going through Kyoko's mind right now? Confusion about her mother? Concern for her childhood friend? Relief at the threat of his death?
No, that last one wasn't quite right. Ren could almost hear her thinking, 'But if he's dead, I can't make his life a misery by my own hand…'
Hence her emotional dilemma – should she allow herself to worry over a man she loathed? Ren wasn't quite sure how he felt about this situation either. While death was certainly a fate the Fuwa heir did not deserve, having Sho on Kyoko's thoughts and in her heart with any emotion aside from hatred was…
But no. He was being selfish right now. Seeing the emotions begin to crack through his partner's carefully crafted facade, he felt a sudden gut-wrenching bout of worry for her.
Unable to restrain himself anymore, Ren stepped close and leaned down. Barely maintaining his Cain mask, he ran a hand through her blonde wig and brushed a gentle kiss against her forehead.
"Don't worry. No matter what, I will always be here to take care of you… Setsu."
Mentally cursing himself and too afraid of her reaction to glance at her face, Ren quickly swiveled around and headed into the kitchen in the next room. After a deep breath to stabilize himself, Cain Heel set about searching the kitchen for a take-out menu.
As he was perusing the options (would Cain Heel eat something like spaghetti?), something caught his eye.
A small, white envelope sat unassumingly on the small dining room table. Ren was very certain that the envelope had not been there when he and Kyoko had left on their impromptu shopping trip this morning.
Flipping the envelope over in his hands, Ren felt his heart begin to beat faster. Printed on the front in nondescript typeface was a simple, "To Mr. Cain Heel."
Quickly, he glanced up, eyes darting around the kitchen. Nothing was out of place. But a professional could come and go without leaving a trace. At least not a visible trace. But hidden listening bugs and cameras were definitely fair game.
Good thing the President had anticipated this possibility and had insisted that the two agents continue their stay in Yokohama in-character. Lory Takarada's scary intuition had proven correct, yet again.
The President's reasoning was that if the Heels had been spotted in the Yamashita capture mission, then someone like Delta might have taken notice. Someone like Delta might even have been thorough enough to ask around, track Cain Heel down, and have someone verify the bounty hunter's identity and purpose (to obtain Yamashita for a third-party unrelated to LME, of course). Someone, like Delta, might even have been interested enough in Cain Heel to contact the head-hunter with a business proposal. After all, the mysterious organization's leader had a knack for attracting the darkest of characters into his arsenal.
And Cain Heel was the darkest of the dark – especially with his particularly gruesome modus operandi for securing targets.
Now aware of the very real possibility of being monitored, Ren straightened fully into Cain Heel. Grabbing a small knife from his back pocket, he slit the envelope roughly open and removed the contents.
Unembellished, white stationary with a thick, high quality paper – Cain noted. On it, in plain typeface, the note read:
"Hello Heel-san… Or should I say, the man masquerading as Black Jack."
Cain quirked a brow. Well, well. His intruder was very well informed.
"This is an invitation. An invitation to an audition. Midnight tonight, Yokohama Port, Minami Honmoku Pier, the red and blue cargo ship. There's going to be a smuggler there; I want information from him, but his associates need to think him dead. If you can deliver him to me, in your very peculiar fashion, then you might open up opportunities you never considered existed. There is 5-million yen in a box in your pantry. Consider it a gift of good faith. And don't worry about contacting me once the job is done. I'll be in touch."
Stalking over to the pantry in the corner of the kitchen, Cain quickly found a plain cardboard box on the lowest shelf. As the letter had specified, 5 million yen in crisp, unmarked bills was inside. It was undoubtedly Delta. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.
Setting the box down on the kitchen's granite countertop, Cain quickly peeked into the living room. Setsu was asleep in her chair, legs drawn up to her chest and blonde hair cascading over her face. The blanket was still wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Satisfied, Cain returned to the kitchen and examined the envelope.
Ren knew that this envelope and stationary were familiar. In fact, an identical set was hidden in a secret compartment of his desk back at HQ. An informant from another mission had slipped the white envelope to Ren, hidden among other documents. The envelope that time had been addressed to "Agent T, LME Unit," and the contents had sent Ren's mind reeling.
According to the mysterious letter, the man behind Rick's death was part of a group trying to kidnap a certain heiress from the Fuwa estate. A time and date were given.
Before Ren could even begin an internet search on Fuwa manor to plan his own private infiltration, the President had messaged Agent T, asking him if he would be interested in a solo mission on a personal request from Fuwa Daisuke, the hotel mogul.
Apparently, someone had threatened to kidnap his son's fiancé if Fuwa-sama didn't perform some political favor. The mission was to ensure the girl's safety and to even capture her first if that secured her.
Ren had taken the solo job with no further questions. After all, the man he had been searching for all of these years was finally within his reach.
Unfortunately, in addition to securing the wrong girl entirely, Ren had not gained any new information. He had only been able to place a tracker on the attempted kidnappers, and Yashiro had pinpointed their location to a property owned by Yamashita Sadao before the signal disappeared. And thus, the hunt for the mystery man in Delta's organization had begun.
Therefore, in addition to avoiding Kyoko, when the President had requested an agent to create a deep undercover role that may attract the attention of various nefarious criminal groups, Ren had again jumped at the opportunity.
But who had sent the original tip-off? Was there a traitor within Delta's organization? Was it the same person who had sent this letter now?
And, more pressingly, if Delta had found out where Cain Heel lived – or, rather, where the man behind the serial killer BJ lived – Ren knew that the enigmatic criminal mastermind was probably monitoring the place.
Agent T casually tilted his head and, ensuring his hair obscured his movements, twisted the comm link out of his ear. He smoothly palmed it into his jacket pocket and clicked the power button on the side five times.
Now that Yashiro and the LME unit were notified, Cain Heel grabbed the take-out menu and strolled into the living room to ask his little sister what she wanted to eat for lunch.
And to give her the code word to let her know it was time to go deep undercover. Dangerous Mission was about to enter its second phase.
-x-
Japanese Notes:
- Sho considers Kanako's behavior "forward," almost to an unsettling degree, because it is very rare, almost to the point of rude to address someone you've just met by not only their first name, but also a shortened version of that first name with any honorific aside from "san." The "kun" honorific is less formal and is usually used among friends or casual acquaintances. It'd be like a rando going up to President Donald Trump and being like, "Suuuuup, Donny!" …Exactly.
- 5 million yen is the equivalent of $50,000 – Not a crazy amount, but certainly enough to pique the interest of a bounty hunter.
-x-
MAILBAG
Shizuhoe – I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully I was able to hold your interest this time around. ;) And Tada~! Unfortunately Sho is back, momentarily. Fortunately, this time around he's not going to be the main antagonist. And yes, indeed… I do believe in breadcrumbs and foreshadowing! There's no use in putting in a twist that you can't point back to later, and be like, "HAH! It was there all along!" As for Kappa's identity, Delta's identity, and the results of the PM election – all will be revealed in due time. In that order, if I may drop a slight hint. ;) Thanks as always for the review!
MWEH – Glad your birthday was a good one, despite the lack of a new chapter. Fortunately new SB chapter is only 1-3 days away! So excited! And yup! You guessed right about the picture being Toudou :D Haha, I'm glad that Chiori's unveiling had you reacting just as I wanted. And I miss poor Chiori as well. Hopefully we'll eventually get to see how her time on that comedy show went! Thanks as always for the review, MWEH! My most faithful reviewer! *hugs*
DemolitionLvr – Ahhhh! Your review made me so happy! For like… weeks, I'd come back and read your review and just bask in this feeling of, "Yay~! Someone actually likes the stuff I'm posting!" Thanks also for the affirmation that Dark Ren isn't toooooo unpleasantly emo. We might see a bit more of Dark Ren in the near future, but hopefully it won't be THAT oppressive and heavy. On a side note, sorry about more Sho… But, he'll only be a minor character and not the main antagonizing force from here on out :D As for fluff, I certainly enjoy fluff as much as the next fangirl, but sometimes… yknow, you just need something MORE. Hopefully the rest of the story will continue to live up to your high praise! Thanks again, DemolitionLvr!
Knight Patssier – Sad day… I always feel upset when I ruin a pan by burning food in it. Recently, I almost set my stove on fire. I was heating some oil up in my husband's beloved cast iron skillet, then tried to be super efficient and hang up some laundry while it was heating up. Bad mistake for scatter-brained me. I got distracted then came back out to see the entire living room and kitchen enveloped in this THICK SMOKE. I had a serious freak out moment. And then, of course, THAT'S when the fire alarm decided to go off. *sigh* Luckily cast iron is rather difficult to set on fire or destroy, haha. Anyway, have you read the most recent chapter? I'm excited that Nakamura-sensei is back from her vacay, and we'll get another one this month! Ugh, these monthly updates are killing me!
Guest – I know exactly what you mean. I spent a good portion of high school, college, and grad school procrastinating from studying by reading fanfiction. But since I got into the career I want, it was ok? :3 Sorry about the slow updates, but as soon as I'm FREEEEEE FOREVER FROM BOARDS as of tomorrow, I'll be updating on a more regular schedule. Thanks for being patient!