Hello loyal readers,
I have officially passed my boards! WOOHOO! Now to find a job… Ughhhh… If there's anything I hate more than writer's block and mosquitoes, it's job hunting. Am I the only one that gets extremely uncomfortable putting myself out there and trying to essentially sell myself to future employers?
Everyone else is fine with this? Fine.
Today we have Kyoko starting to realize her feelings, a little bit of Kanae getting her "forced treatment" courtesy of the President for her hatred of familial love, and a little bit of diabolical Delta. Longer chapter today – hope you enjoy!
Please don't forget to leave a fave, an alert, or a review! It really means the world to me!
-x-
CH22
"Setsu."
Setsu continued to avoid looking at her brother as she stalked past him and into their apartment. She kicked off her black combat boots violently at the door, leaving them strewn messily in her wake.
She heard his heavy footfalls as he trudged across the threshold and pulled his shoes off at the door. "Setsu..."
"What," she demanded. She immediately went to the kitchen and busied herself making the loudest racket she could, banging pots and pans as she put dishes away.
"Setsu."
She ignored him.
"It's three in the morning."
"So?"
"What on earth are you cooking?"
Immediately, Setsu ceased her banging, spun on her heel, and stormed past her brother who had made his way to the kitchen and was peering at her from the doorway like she was some strange zoo exhibit. Turning up her nose, she still refused to look at him. "Nothing. I'm not cooking anything. I'm going to bed."
She heard him trudge down the hallway after her.
"You're mad."
"No, I'm not!"
"..."
"I said, No I'm not!"
Setsu stormed into the bathroom, shut the door, and locked it. She paused, hands resting against the door behind her. Slowly, she raised her head to look at the reflection in the mirror. Her eyes looked as dull and lifeless as she felt.
Kyoko winced. She always had been better at lying with her voice than her expressions. With a heavy but quiet sigh, she ran her hands over her face.
Certainly, she'd had an intensely emotional rollercoaster of a day. First the news about her mother and that idiot Shotaro, then the scary encounter with Dark Ren… But that was no excuse. She was a pro. Mistakes were inexcusable, especially at this point in their mission.
However, she had messed up. Big time.
At the pier while Manaka was touching Tsuruga-san – being forward about her affection, openly clinging to him – Kyoko had felt a stab of... something that felt curiously like jealousy.
In the moment, she had instinctively under-reacted, withdrawing into herself for protection, just as she always had during her childhood whenever she would catch Sho with one of the other maids or when the Fuwas had announced his engagement to Mimori.
However, Setsu would have pouted excessively and openly! Now, Kyoko felt herself awkwardly trying to over-compensate, unable to stop herself from laying on the act thick. She needed to throw at least Ren off the scent of what was really going on through her mind. Maybe even throw herself off the scent, because after all, if it really had been jealousy…
Jealousy was always inextricably bound to want. To possession. To desire.
Then that meant, toward Ren, she felt–!
Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope!
It couldn't be jealousy. It was definitely… Setsu's protectiveness over her older brother! Her desire for monopoly of his closeness and affection, and – Wasn't that just jealousy? NO! That… that was Kyoko blending even more perfectly into character as Setsuka Heel!
In the mirror, Kyoko watched her eyes grow wide with pleasure as a self-satisfied, gleeful smile crossed her lips. Then she quickly remembered to wipe the very un-Setsu-like expression clean off her face.
While she was very excited that she was becoming more in sync with her character, creepy brother-complex notwithstanding, Agent M knew that from very subtle hints in their conversation with the Henshin agents that there was a high chance she and Agent T were being observed, even in their own apartment. In addition to the fact that someone had broken in just today to deliver the letter and package, that girl Manaka was a surveillance expert. Cameras or just microphones, Agent M had no way of knowing.
At least not until they had put in a request to Yashiro for some bug-detecting tools.
A soft knock sounded at the door, almost startling Kyoko.
"Setsu… Come out." Cain's voice came through the wood, muffled but contrite. Clearly, she could expect to face a pout with the strength of a whole litter of puppies once she exited the security of the bathroom.
Quickly turning to the mirror, she made sure that there was no evidence of her short episode out of character. No more dropping character! She was a professional, dammit!
Agent M spun, facing the door. Taking a deep breath in, then breathing out as she clasped a hand to her chest, she was Setsu. Cool, unfazed, even-keeled Setsu.
Setsu unlocked and opened the door.
Instantly, she was wrapped in a forceful embrace. Cain had rushed into the bathroom, crushing her in his strong arms as his hands gently wrapped around her cheek and neck. He began nuzzling her hair.
'S-S-Setsu's face!'
Meanwhile, Cain was murmuring his apologies into her hair, that he would never let any other woman touch him, that he was hers and only hers.
'P-Pro! You're a pro. You're a pro.'
Steeling herself, Kyoko regained control of her reaction and as Setsu, glared up at her brother. She sighed forcefully. "I said I'm not mad. Why would I be mad if Nii-san let that hamster drape itself all over him?"
She smiled coyly up at him. "But you're going to make it up to your cute little sister for your carelessness. Ne, Nii-san?"
At the realization that he had been forgiven, Cain's concerned expression became a small smirk.
"Hm. Of course."
Setsu was just about to suggest they get ready for bed, when Cain's smirk disappeared, replaced by a concentrated frown.
His normally strong baritone barely broke above a whisper as he murmured, "I have one more thing to make up to you, Setsu. I'm sorry for making you worry tonight."
"Nii-san–"
"No," Cain interrupted gently, placing a finger over her lips. Setsu felt as though his eyes were boring into her very soul. Kyoko fought not to look away. "You really helped me back there. It felt as though a demon had possessed me. But your voice brought me back to myself."
Internally, Kyoko stifled the immediate reaction of allowing her eyes to widen. The President had said that Tsuruga-san would be fighting his own demons. Her suspicions after speaking to him as Bo had been confirmed. Even the legendary Agent T had his own secrets and darkness as well…
Instead of acting surprised, Setsu simply reached up and grasped Cain's hand, stroking the back with her thumb. She treated him to her most sultry smile. "Well now. Demon-possession… That does sound quite mysterious and lovely. Almost poetic."
As she gently disentangled herself from Cain's arms, Setsu squeezed his hand and said with as much sincerity as her monotone voice could muster, "You can make up for the hamster, but don't worry about the other thing. I will always trust you, my silly brother."
For just a millisecond, Kyoko could have sworn that she saw a look of shock and relief and… pain cross her senpai's face, before it was swallowed up in Cain Heel's heady smirk. Putting his reaction aside, Kyoko decided that even though Ren might have his secrets, and even though he insisted on having his characters torment her with overwhelming physical contact, Tsuruga Ren was still Tsuruga Ren.
And she would forever be his loyal kouhai.
-x-
The man who climbed to the stage amidst the harsh flashbulbs of the frenzied media looked as though he had aged ten years since Kanae had seen him last. Once at the top of the podium, he turned grimly, as a condemned man turns to face his executioner, and addressed the audience.
"It is to my deep regret and shame that I announce my resignation from the Diet and subsequently my attempts at seeking the seat of Prime Minister of the honorable nation of Japan…"
On the television, the image of the man telescoped back into a small box in the upper right-hand corner as a middle-aged news anchor came back onto the main screen. He shuffled a stack of papers in front of him as the ruined politician's audio faded out.
"This was a clip from former Representative Goro Junya's concession speech earlier this afternoon, which has sent all of Japan reeling," the reporter stated in grim tones. "Goro-san's complete resignation from the Diet has come as a shock to many, despite the near universal acknowledgement that he should drop out of the race for Prime Minister."
The television cut to photo images of multiple spreadsheets of numbers. In the background, the news reporter's voice continued bleakly on.
"Around noon yesterday, a series of photos was posted by an anonymous source to the popular public online forum 2channel, which implicated the major opposition party's former PM candidate as well as several others within his party, in the promotion of a fraudulent charity fund that extorted billions of yen from wealthy patrons.
"After intense outcry from the public yesterday and today, the Democratic Party of Japan called a press conference this afternoon to have Goro-san announce not only his concession but also his complete resignation from politics. It is still unclear who the Democratic Party will put forward as their replacement candidate. With less than two months left before the scheduled PM elections, this has come as quite the shock to the political world of Japan.
"Now we have the minority party's Councillor Mogami Saena with us via satellite feed to comment on this stunning turn of events."
The screen split so that the anchor was on one side, and on the other was the impassive face of Mogami Saena. Irked, Kanae bristled a bit before settling down enough to actually comprehend what was coming out of the woman's mouth.
"Indeed, as you previously said, we in the Diet across all parties are shocked and dismayed at the actions of our colleagues. However, to say that former Representative Goro's complete resignation from the political world is unnecessary would be belittling his crime."
The anchor's eyes widened, and Kanae could almost see the glee behind his professional mask. Political candidates slinging mud was, after all, news gold.
"Councillor Mogami, please do share with us why you believe Goro-san's resignation is necessary."
"The political system in Japan is broken." Saena stared unwaveringly into the camera, her voice firm with conviction. "We need to root out the corrupt, the morally bankrupt, the inept, and start rebuilding from the ground floor. Yes… The Diet is broken, and it needs someone who can fix it."
"And do you believe that you could be the one to fix it?"
"Yes I do. Prime Minister Ogata has done little to reform the corruption rampant within the Diet–."
"Now, I'd say that's enough of that, wouldn't you?" Asami Haruki's gentle but firm tone left no room for argument as she raised the remote and powered off the TV. Kanae watched as Saena's face winked out of existence.
Surprised not to hear the sound of weeping, the LoveMe girl turned from the living room's television to face her current boss. Prime Minister Ogata merely sat in his armchair, staring numbly at the floor as his three year-old son pretended his father's feet were a bridge to be run over with toy cars.
Kanae had been there earlier that day when Hiroaki had made his own official statement to the media about his colleagues' dealings. Even though the scandalized Diet members had not been a part of his own party, Ogata had still known every one of them as fellow politicians and colleagues. He had felt blind-sided and betrayed, but he had managed to put on an award-worthy act of confidence for the major news outlets.
However, seeing him sit in stunned silence, Kanae could tell that he was still shocked at this sudden turn of events. In the span of two days, his most worrisome competitor had essentially been snuffed off the face of the earth.
"I should have dissolved the House of Representatives earlier," Ogata whispered hollowly to himself. "But I only left it to the last minute like this because of all the bills we needed to pass… All the people we needed to help. Then the economy needed to recover… There was never a good time… And now– "
The LME agent watched as Asami-san slowly bent down to run a gentle hand through her husband's hair. The producer stooped to nudge her son to his feet, whispered something in the boy's ear, and then pointed to Kanae.
With a small sigh, the dark-haired personal assistant knelt to the ground and opened her arms barely a moment before Hirotaka came barreling into them. For a brief moment, Kanae had to resist the urge to hurl the young boy across the room. Over the months, she had learned how normal people "played" with small children. Her own family was just… special…
Kanae caught Asami mouthing a silent 'Sorry!' before turning back to console her husband.
"Kana-tan!" Hiro-kun giggled and waved his brightly colored toy car in her face. "Kana-tan, uhm, do you, uhm, do you want to play?"
Speaking in that eager yet halting way of young children, Hiro sent out a wave of cuteness that threatened to overpower Kanae's fortress of anti-family solitude.
"Urgh—!"
So this was how young Ogata Hirotaka had become the darling of Japan, Kanae thought grimly to herself for not the first time. Such a high-level boss for her to deal with on a daily basis…
To protect herself, she put on the smile of 'Kana-tan,' the bright and cheerful, child-loving caretaker who would absolutely love to become a kindergarten teacher one day. The acting mask of her imaginary persona slipped on like a second skin.
"Maybe we can play a little bit while you brush your teeth, Hiro-kun," she said sunnily as she whisked the young boy from the living room and down the hall. "It's almost time for bed!"
As the young boy tried to convince her with his child-logic that tonight he didn't need a bath, Kanae thanked her stars that she could at least handle the overwhelming, tender cuteness of Hiro through acting. Though, Kanae thought, as she dutifully helped Hiro into the ofuro, it was becoming less of a mask, and more of her real self. She was growing rather attached to the young boy… and to the entire Ogata family too, for that matter
Curse that scheming President…
Lost in thought, Kanae almost didn't hear Hiro calling her name.
"Kana-tan?"
"Hmm?" The LME agent perked up, noticing that Hiro was peering up at her from under the fluffy towel on his head. She had apparently pulled him out of the bath and was drying him while on autopilot.
"Uhm…" The boy's brown eyes grew even wider, and he fidgeted with the toy car in his hands. "Uhm, Kana-tan… Is Otou-chan sad?"
Kanae sighed and hung the towel on the rack before reaching for the pajama onesie on the counter-top.
"Your father isn't sad… He – er…" The normally blunt agent tried to buy some time pretending to fiddle with the snaps on the pajamas. How on earth was she supposed to explain something like job security and politics and scandals to a three year-old?
"Not sad?" Hiro cocked his head to the side.
Finally managing to help the boy into his underwear and the onesie, Kanae sighed and held Hiro by the shoulders as she knelt on the bathroom floor. Meeting his concerned gaze, she said, "Hiro-kun… Sometimes, even for adults, life can be scary."
"Like monsters?"
Kanae shook her head slowly. "No… The things grown-ups are scared of are more invisible than monsters. Things like… bad feelings or bad things that can happen… The future."
Hiro closed his eyes and crossed his arms solemnly over his little chest, nodding with all the seriousness his toddler body could muster. "Oh… I see. Growed-up things."
Biting back a laugh at his gesture, which was an absolute mimic of Asami during meetings, Kanae replied to Hiro, "Yes… Grown-up things."
Hoping the matter was settled, she quickly rushed Hiro through the motions of brushing his teeth and then carried him to his bedroom. Seeing as it was almost an hour after his bedtime, the little boy was fading fast.
However, as Kanae had just finished tucking him in, Hiro chirped sleepily, "I don't get growed-ups… How can the future be scary?"
Smoothing the sheets under his hands, Kanae paused to think before saying, "It's not the future itself that's scary… It's what the adults make of it. But it can be scary because the future is not something that we can control."
'And adults can't stand not being in control,' Kanae added silently to herself.
"Uhm… But," Hiro began as his eyelids continued to droop. "But Otou-chan isn't afraid of anything!"
Three months ago, Kanae might have scoffed and plainly told the boy otherwise. But now, she just smiled, patted his head, and said, "No. No, he isn't."
-x-
"Cutting it kind of close, aren't you?" The voice on the other end of the phone remarked tersely. "There are less than two months left."
Alone in his empty office, Delta almost sighed, instead choosing to run his free hand through his dark hair, smoothing it away from his forehead. His colleague had always been the impatient one, but that was just a minor cultural handicap. Albeit, an annoying one…
The voice on the phone continued, peevish. "Japan isn't like America. You don't have a fixed election schedule. The fact that it's gotten to the four year mark without a new Prime Minister is because you allowed it."
Henshin's leader sighed. "Yes, it is true that we had the necessary votes to dissolve the Lower House and force this election sooner. But–"
"But you didn't," Alpha interrupted impatiently. "Because…?"
"Because," Henshin's leader pressed a hand to the bridge of his nose under his glasses, "Like you said, Japan isn't like America. It's not a popular vote. The people don't vote directly for the Prime Minister – they vote for the Lower and Upper House. Then the Diet elects the Prime Minister."
"So?"
"So," Delta said slowly, wondering how many times he had explained this to Alpha, "I've been busy gathering pawns so we can get that vote in the Diet."
The voice on the other line scoffed. "Still seems pretty last-minute to me."
"Tell me, Alpha," the master spy retorted. "Why was Hitler so successful in his original campaign across Europe?"
The man on the other end of the phone audibly sighed, clearly exasperated. "I'm sure you're going to tell me."
"Blitzkrieg – 'Lightning War'," Delta said succinctly. "Despite his deplorable social atrocities, the man was smart. His generals moved with such swift and dominant surprise that they quickly overwhelmed the opposition, rendering an effective defense and counter-attack impossible."
"Heh, so your point is that you've been waiting until the last minute on purpose."
Delta felt a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. Now his friend was getting the picture. Standing up from his high-backed, black leather chair, Henshin's leader made his way around his desk to the many large, flat-screened TVs mounted on the side wall of his office. On them played multiple news channels at once, all covering the biggest news story of the election so far – Goro Junya's scandal.
Delta watched in near smug satisfaction as one channel aired the end of the news conference. The ruined politician bowed deeply at the waist before marching brokenly off stage.
This would teach that arrogant piece of trash not to ignore Delta's generous offers. This would teach all of them not to ignore his offers, because this was just the beginning.
"I almost feel sorry for the poor bastard." Alpha's voice held no pity. Only amusement.
"No, you don't," the Japanese mastermind retorted.
"You don't either."
"You, my good sir, would be absolutely correct," Delta intoned wryly. He reached forward to touch one of the screens that held several headshots of the disgraced Diet members, Goro's picture largest of all. At his touch, his fingertips sent opalescent ripples across the surface of the television, distorting Goro's face.
Delta smiled and murmured mostly to himself, "After all, trash will be trash. And they will all burn for it in the end."
-x-
JAPANESE NOTES:
2channel – A popular internet forum in Japan; kind of similar to reddit.
Democratic Party of Japan – This name choice was not a statement on the US Democratic party. The DPJ is just literally the 2nd largest political party in the Japanese Diet. The majority party at the moment is Shinzo Abe's party, the Liberal Democratic Party.
Dissolving the House of Representatives – In the Diet, elections for the House of Councilors (Upper House) every three years. Elections for the House of Representatives (Lower House) occur whenever one of the following happens: the Prime Minister dissolves the Lower House, a motion of no confidence is passed by 50 members of the Lower House, or four years pass after the last election. After the Lower House is elected, both houses vote for a Prime Minister. Often it's the leader of whatever majority party was elected. Ogata is regretting not dissolving the House sooner, because he can sense that trouble is coming. Delta has had the necessary number of votes to dissolve the House due to a motion of no confidence, but has been biding his time/gaining followers.
Hirotaka – The name of Ogata's famous father, who everyone compares him to and causes him trauma in the manga. However, after Ren reminds him that he is different from his father, Ogata gets over his hang-ups and even embraces his lineage. I'd like to think that if Ogata ever had a son, he'd be confident enough in himself and continue to admire his own father so much that he'd be very open to the idea of naming his own son after his father.
"-tan" – The "tan" suffix is kind of a cutesy, childish tag to end someone's name, unlike the formal "san" (ie Mogami-san, Tsuruga-san). The "tan" suffix is usually used by kids as "chan" is apparently more difficult for them to pronounce.
Ofuro – Japanese bath
-x-
MAILBAG
Brennakai – Thanks! As for how they know about the Heels going back to the UK, as Kyoko mentioned in this chapter, Manaka was introduced as a "surveillance expert". It wouldn't be unexpected if they had bugged the Heels' apartment.
Aikori Ichijouji – NO WAY! Out of all the wines in Greece, I think I only tried the specialty Vinsanto wine on Santorini. It was definitely sweet, and quite alcoholic… Or maybe I'm just a huge light-weight. One glass on an empty stomach was enough to make me feel light-headed and relatively tipsy. Haha, probably just a light-weight here. Should've spent more of my college years upping my alcohol tolerance by drowning my liver in cheap beer. HAHA I hope your metaphorical potato chips are the good kind! ;) JK, really glad to hear you're enjoying the ride! And don't worry. One of my old accounts was under the name "Anrui" and when I explained to my Japanese teacher that it meant "silent tears", he told me that if I ever needed to talk about anything, he would listen. Lol, such an emo Japanophile teenager I was… *shudder* So all in all – don't worry! You're in good company!
Shizuhoe – Hehe! Kyoko definitely had a reason to act differently than in the manga. Because at this point, she's starting to understand her feelings of jealousy – but is still trying to cover them up by essentially lying to herself. Hopefully this chapter shed a little bit more light on why Manaka is even initially a little more attached to Cain and how the Henshin agents know about the Heels heading back to the UK. Manaka has probably planted bugs in their apartment and has been surveilling them for quite some time! More on that later… And as for Kuon and Rick… Fufufu… We shall see~!
MWEH – Totes agree that Ren needs to hurry the frick up and give Kyoko her White Day present! But considering how many chapters it took Kyoko to torment Ren (the day before V-day, he saw her chocolates for the Beagle and thought they were for Sho; the day of, she passes out chocolates to everyone but Ren, and even says that she didn't make any for him; she gets forcibly kissed by Sho in front of Ren – AND THEN she finally gives him the wine jelly). So… In some ways, this poor girl has had it coming. I think that Kimiko's gift is especially painful, though, because it's a pinky ring. In the Japanese culture, the gesture of holding out a pinky is used to refer to a boyfriend or girlfriend. (Like someone is asking, "Is that girl your this? - *holds out pinky finger*"). Thus the pinky ring implies that Kimiko is special to Ren or that he is implying that he likes her. I'm pretty sure Ren just got her that one because in his American-cultured mind, the pinky is the smallest and most insignificant finger. He's shown himself ignorant of colloquial Japanese phrases and culture before, and geez… What a doozy! Anyhoo, sorry. I rant… Thanks again for reading and reviewing MWEH! :D
Guest – YES! Someone got the pun! Every time Manaka shows up, there's a collective "Oh no…" from everyone who reads the manga. hahaha
Guest – Thanks for going out of your way to review, despite not having an account! I really appreciate any and all support!
-x-
Thank you for reading! Please don't forget to leave a fave, an alert, or a review! It's kind of like having someone drop some spare change in my guitar case… You know, if writing fanfiction were like a street musician busking… Haha