Hello loyal readers,

We are past the 50 Faves and 100 Alerts and 150 Reviews mark! Thank every single one of you who went out of your way, took your precious time to leave a review or to add this story to your favorites/alerts list. Love you all! :D

Think of today's chapter like a music montage in a movie – there's a lot happening over a long period of time, but none of it is really important enough to draw out into multiple scenes. Get some Cain and Setsu goodness in this little lull period though!

As always, please don't forget to leave a review, a fave, or an alert! It really does mean the world to me and provides more motivation to finish this beast of a story I've created! Til next week!

Happy reading!

-x-

CH23

For Kyoko, one and a half months passed in a blur. During that time, she and Ren continued their deep undercover mission as Setsu and Cain, slowly but surely gaining Konoe's trust through various assignments. However, despite showering the siblings with a surprising amount of money for their services, Delta never revealed himself, and his purposes remained a mystery.

Whenever Setsu would sarcastically remark that it was unsettling, doing so much work for an unseen face, Konoe would sheepishly laugh and apologize. That was just the way things worked in Henshin. Sometimes Delta would appear… if he deemed a particular employee skilled enough to take note of.

So for the time being, Chi and Sigma decided to keep their heads down and do the work expected of them. If their questions or actions ever piqued anyone's curiosity, all the Heel siblings had to do was to intensify the touchy-feely aspect of their act and scare any suspicious characters off their true trail.

Sometimes, Konoe would assign them to work together with other Henshin operatives. Once, they worked with Murasame Taira, or Tau as he was called in the field. Murasame mostly hurled insults at Cain… but from a distance. For the most part, Tau treated the bounty hunter with the same jumpy avoidance that one might treat a ticking time bomb.

More bothersome, however, were the times when the Heel siblings were tasked to work with Omicron, who although quite skilled at finding particular targets, would incessantly hang onto Cain like plastic cling-wrap. Much to Setsu's chagrin, Manaka had even taken to calling herself Cain's "little hamster", misunderstanding his verbal abuse as a beloved pet name.

However, for all her skill in surveilling, Manaka did not have a knack for keeping secrets. Just a couple of days after their acceptance into Henshin, it became quite apparent to both Heel siblings that as previously suspected, they were under near constant surveillance.

Apparently Delta wasn't the trusting type.

Through careful process of elimination and manipulation of conversation with Manaka, the double agents were able to discern that fortunately, there were only listening bugs in their apartment. Kyoko showered a lot more comfortably after that. However, Setsu's wig-care equipment and Cain's black hair dye still had to be carefully and cleverly hidden in a secret compartment that Agent T had jury-rigged under the sink.

Also, a week after confirming that there were indeed listening bugs, Yashiro had finally come through with the bug detector.

Every week, Cain would take a short walk to the local outdoor mall and purchase cigarettes from the vending machine outside the grocery store. He always got a pack of the same kind – Mevius Originals.

The pack would be full of cigarettes; however, if someone were to remove each of the cigarettes' outer wrappings, they would find an identical inner wrapping. Well, identical except for the nearly indiscernible lines of print dotted around the circumference, right under the orange filter line. Print which, when enlarged by a special magnifying app on Setsu's smart watch, would reveal weekly communications from LME. Most were responses to reports and requests that Ren had slipped into the special vending machine along with his money.

Sometimes, the box would contain a piece of tech, like a disguised wiretap to be wrapped around a bundle of cables at Omicron and Tau's flat. Or a signal jammer that would prevent outgoing or incoming phone calls and transmissions from being intercepted by nefarious groups. Or, in their most recent package, a bug detector that confirmed the location of four listening bugs in the apartment and one in the car. Fortunately, both of their phones were clean.

Instead of dismantling the bugs, the two agents had decided to keep them active to avoid drawing suspicion to themselves. Still, Kyoko had stashed the detector and jammer next to Ren's hair dye beneath the sink, just in case.

Almost every night, Kyoko wondered how her friends back at LME were faring. Particularly, she worried about how Kanae was doing. Agent M could, if she were desperate, dig out the jammer and just call her best friend; however it was to be used sparingly to avoid raising suspicion.

After all, Kanae's situation, though dire, was not quite that desperate yet. But it was close. Occasionally, Setsu would deign to flip on the news channel or browse online public forums. All news media was flooded with report after startling report of crooked politicians from this party or that who had committed fraud, adultery, or nepotism. This one had lied about graduating from Toudai; that one had supported a child pornography ring; the one over there had bribed a judge to throw an innocent man in prison.

Each report was just as, if not more scandalous than the next. Some politicians bowed to the pressure and resigned from their posts as public officials. Others stubbornly refused, despite vocal and angry calls by the public. The online forums like 2channel were rife with accusations, rumors, and a general, growing discontent with the current "rotten to the core" government.

Even those within Ogata's party were not exempt from the scandals. Representative Takemura was one of the ones tenaciously hanging onto his position, despite allegations that he had pocketed campaign funds. His son, Ryuji – giant, slimy rat that he was – had been filmed buying date rape drugs out of a love hotel. However, thanks to Reino, Kyoko was not particularly shocked about that piece of information.

With each passing week, Agent M had started to see an alarming trend. Even though her mother was from a small minority party, she was swiftly gaining support and popularity. Despite her cold, no-nonsense demeanor, Saena was admittedly beautiful. And television heavily favored the beautiful – the beautiful and the underdog and the morally superior – which Saena, with her continuous promises to clean up the government, appeared to be.

The public ate it up. And what the public ate up, the other politicians leapt on like hungry wolves. Like rats abandoning a sinking ship, more and more "clean" politicians were making breaks with their current parties to join Saena's New Change Party.

Not a week went by where Kyoko wouldn't hear her mother's voice over the radio or see her face on the television or see articles about her on the internet. Cain would sometimes come up behind Setsu, snag the remote, and change the channel, stating that he found the news completely boring. The politics of a small, unimportant nation like Japan were of no concern to the Heels. From the apologetic look in his eyes, Kyoko knew that it wasn't a rebuke for bending her characterization. It was simply Ren's kindness to cut her off from torturing herself further with worry.

In fact, it was surprising that the President hadn't pulled her out. Saena's meteoric rise to power was so swift and unexpected that it was scary, if not suspicious. And if her mother was suspicious, then Kyoko herself was definitely a person of interest. But as the weeks ticked down into mere days before the election, there was no communication from Lory ordering Setsu to come "back to England".

Meanwhile, trying to block out the growing certainty that her mother had abandoned her in order to pursue political power, Agent M threw herself into her work. Fortunately and unfortunately, much of that work consisted of housing with Tsuruga Ren.

Throughout their time sharing the apartment (she refused to call it 'living together'), Kyoko felt that she had grown to know Ren much better. Where Cain Heel was a scaffolding of personality and backstory, Ren had filled in quite a bit of the blanks with himself. Kyoko learned that, contrary to his assumed gentleman persona, Tsuruga Ren was a bit of a diva, was the pickiest eater she had ever come across, and could be as petulant as a spoiled child. But he was also gentle and caring.

He waited for her to eat meals, carried the shopping bags whenever they went out, and during assignments, frequently placed himself in harm's way to save her. In particular, Kyoko had been catching Ren in moments where he slipped out of character because he was just… staring at her. Staring while smiling his bright, demon-purifying Genuine Smile.

For some reason unknown to her, Kyoko had stopped reacting like she was being hit with an RPG and had begun blushing and her heart started pounding. Maybe she had just been getting sick… Hopefully it was just getting sick.

However those little pockets of Ren's gentleness were interspersed with moments of strange darkness as well. Sometimes, after returning from a particularly intense mission where he actually had to capture someone and leave a body behind per Black Jack's M.O., Cain would return home, shoulders tense and a dark look on his face, and would lock himself in the room or bathroom for hours.

The first time it happened, he hadn't locked the door, and after hearing the water continuing to run for almost an hour, Agent M had barged in, sure that something had happened to him.

They had weathered that storm, mostly in character, but Ren locked the door after that.

During those long hours of waiting for Agent T to reemerge, Kyoko took to wondering. Reino then Murasame… Also there was that time where Ren had confided to Bo that he could never have someone he loved. Tsuruga Ren was a complicated man, to be sure, but she couldn't help the feeling that he was hiding something very important from her.

Her heart would clench at that thought, and she would remind herself of the President's advice. Just play along, continue on as Setsu, and Ren would come around on his own. Then a little voice in the back of her mind would wonder what would happen if the day ever arrived where he didn't come back on his own…

However, fortunately not adding to her worries, that stupid Shotaro was apparently still alive. She had decided that worrying about him was a bother, but still couldn't deny feeling a little, teeny-tiny bit of relief – notbecause he was actually safe. Really, Kyoko felt relieved because if he were dead, then she would never get her revenge on him!

She had found out about Sho through cigarette communications from Momose Itsumi – two communications to be precise. The first one was a request for permission to send Kyoko a message from Sho – which was swiftly denied. Curiously, Ren had made a point to buy cigarettes twice that week, just so he could deliver that message sooner. The second had come just a few days before the end of the month: a courtesy update that all was well, and a notice that they would be traveling soon to Yokohama for business.

Kyoko had bristled at that before quickly calming herself. There was no way that Setsu would ever run into the hotel heir in a huge city like Yokohama. Still, Cain had emphatically asked Setsu if she wanted to stay in for a few days. They had just finished a week-long assignment for Konoe, and Cain said she looked like she needed the rest.

Kyoko took the out gratefully. Cain, she thought, had looked oddly pleased.

However, their day was anything but restful.

On the morning that Momose had specified, Setsu found herself in their apartment's kitchen, dozing in front of the toaster. Yesterday had been yet another sleepless night for Kyoko. Her tired mind berated her for not being able to adapt to sleeping beside Ren – no, Cain.

They were now sharing a bed more nights than not. While Cain always slept with at least one layer of blankets between them, s-s-snuggling was not an uncommon occurrence.

But, a small logical portion of her mind asked, was this what brothers were really like? Affectionate and doting to an absolutely irresponsible degree? Was this level of physical affection normal?

Kyoko didn't think so – but the only "brother" figure that she'd ever had had been Shotaro. And he had messed up her perception of quite a few things. Additionally, the Heel siblings were far from "normal" any way you looked at it.

The toast popped up at that moment with a mechanical ding, and Kyoko had to stifle a surprised squeak.

"Setsu."

A second shriek of surprise that threatened to burble up from the back of her throat had to be violently suppressed. Kyoko whacked the countertop in lieu of screaming. After a moment's pause, she turned back to Cain with Setsu's cool expression. "Yeah, Nii-san?"

"I'm done. The shower is yours."

As Setsu turned, the younger Heel sibling was forcibly shoved to the back of Kyoko's mind as the LoveMe girl fought the urge to scream a third time. Ren – no, Cain! – was standing outside the kitchen door with just a towel wrapped around his waist. Dark hair fell over his eyes in wet locks, and Kyoko couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the droplets of moisture that collected in his collarbone and dappled across his broad chest.

"Setsu?"

"Nothing," Setsu quickly – too quickly – said and turned back to the toast. Toast had never seemed so fascinating. Oh, amazing toast. Why oh why couldn't toast be plucked more slowly from a toaster?

Or rather, getting to the source of her problem, why couldn't Cain go and put a shirt on!

To her mounting horror, she heard shuffling steps as Cain entered the kitchen. Unable to control her reaction this time, Kyoko stiffened as she sensed Ren hovering just behind her – not actually touching her, but just near enough that she could feel the heat from the shower pouring off his body in gentle tendrils.

"Hm. Toast again?" Cain asked.

Trying desperately to summon Setsu's voice and praying that her partner wouldn't notice the flush creeping up the back of her neck, Kyoko replied, "That's because Nii-san hasn't taken me grocery shopping in a week."

"I would take you today, but…"

But Shotaro. Kyoko thoughts instantly turned murderously dark.

Instead, Cain finished with, "But I just want to spend time with you."

Like a Mortal Kombat duel, Kyoko could have sworn she heard some dramatic disembodied voice shout, 'Finish her!' At that moment, Cain wrapped his arms around her shoulders, nuzzling his face into the back of her neck.

A high-pitched sound like a boiling teakettle attempted to escape from Kyoko's mouth.

For a moment, Kyoko could have sworn that she was unsuccessful in muffling her noise. There indeed was a high-pitched sound ringing in the air. However, after a moment of pause and to her good fortune, Kyoko realized that the sound was not coming from her.

Cain had perked up as well, disentangling his arms from around her shoulders, and cocking his head to the side. Without a word, he strode quickly out of the kitchen. Agent M followed closely on his heels as he entered the still steamy bathroom. The high-pitched noise was louder inside the bathroom, and only increased as Agent T jimmied free the secret compartment under the sink.

After fishing around, he pulled out the signal jammer. The jammer was emitting a high-frequency tone. Flipping the small, black box over in his hand, Agent T found the screen readout on the side. After a moment of skimming the message, he silently raised the box so Agent M could read.

"T & M – Cnnt cntct Kjma and Mmse. Bng jmmd. U 2 only oprtvs in area. Safe Rm 106: clths + spplies + coordntes. Cnfrm tech mlfnctn or prvd bck-up if ncssry. – Y"

Kyoko felt the air leave her lungs. Yashiro was requesting emergency back-up for Kijima and Itsumi. The fact that the techie was even contacting them while they were deep undercover indicated how dire the situation was. Despite Yashiro's caveat that it might just be equipment malfunction, Kyoko knew that simultaneous comm link failure usually meant only one thing: sabotage.

And since it was Kijima and Momose, that meant the saboteur's target was probably that idiot.

Biting back a huff, Setsu glanced up at Cain who seemed surprisingly impassive, as if he were waiting for her reaction.

Gathering her willpower, Kyoko flashed her most Setsu-like smile at Cain. "I can't let Nii-san be lazy all day. Let's go grocery shopping."

With a grim nod, Cain hurriedly left to put his clothes on.

Reading the text on the jammer's readout one more time, Kyoko grit her teeth. This was the worst. She was going to have to go save Shotaro.

-x-

NOTES:

Toudai – Tokyo University is basically THE most prestigious university in Japan.

RPG – Rocket-propelled grenade

Also, just in case you couldn't understand Yashiro's short-hand in the message, it reads: "Cannot contact Kijima and Momose. Being jammed. You two are the only operatives in the area. Safe Room 106 has clothes, supplies, and coordinates. Confirm technology malfunction or provide back-up if necessary."

-x-

MAILBAG

MWEH – The chapter's still not up for this month… But I read some translation notes and apparently in this new chapter we learn that (SPOILER) Kimiko is essentially a pathological liar? So… Maybe the ring wasn't even from Ren at all! I'm getting the sense though that maybe Kimiko wasn't the one who caused Erika's accident? Kimiko seems like the manipulative type, but not the type to cause physical harm. I dunno – maybe we won't be going much further down the rabbit hole. Thanks as always for the review! And lord willing, I shall continue to keep the chapters coming!

Brennakai – Thanks! I find that writing for the Skip Beat characters in general can be kind of difficult because even though some of them are kind of extreme (Kyoko), they're mostly normal. It's been a wild ride trying to transplant them into this very different world, but still keep the essence and certain plot highlights of the cannon story. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review! And double, triple thanks for the job search encouragement!

Aikori Ichijouji – Yay! I'm glad that you're liking the suspense! I admit that today's chapter was a bit of a lull before things pick back up again. Hopefully it was a little "wabi and sabi" before the thriller action scenes come back in full force haha. Thanks for the congrats and well-wishes! Ugh… I hate real life… Jobs… This is why I hid away in school for so many years… Thanks for the encouragement though!

Shizuhoe – Hehe will Kyoko recognize her feelings soon? Perhaps she just needs a little push… Or maybe just a huge shove. Haha, either way, happy to report that I just finished polishing that chapter off. It will be coming… eventually! ;) And yeah! I think that Kanae deserves some "forced treatment" courtesy of the President's meddling too! Thanks for the congrats and the encouragement with the job hunt! It's been daunting (mostly because I'm being picky), but hoping for the best! Thanks!

-x-

Please don't forget to leave a review, a fave, or an alert! It really does mean the world to me and provides more motivation to finish this beast of a story I've created! Til next week!