Hello loyal readers,
I ended up taking two weeks to get the next chapter to you after all! Sorry, but in some ways not sorry. I was having a Murasame moment, thinking, "Isn't this happening a little too quickly?" I was feeling rushed to write, and while I do work best with a deadline, I don't want to post chapters just to post something. My chapters were getting increasingly unpolished, and I want to make sure that I'm putting 100% into everything that goes up on this site.
Therefore (don't hate me!) I'm going to start posting every other week from now on – at least until I can get a better hold of my story. There's a lot of intense emotional moments and a long flashback coming up and I want to make sure that I'm doing everything justice.
In other news, I saw Hamilton last week and… IT'S SO GOOD! I highly recommend anyone who has an opportunity to see the musical to go watch it! I'm a huge musical fan, and I have to say that it is by far the most unique, clever, moving, intricately woven piece of stagecraft I've seen. GO SEE IT! (Tickets are crazy expensive, but… they're cheaper than World Series tickets?)
Today, as the election looms just over the horizon, we see a handful of little moments with many of our characters. Delta's plot deepens!
Happy reading!
-x-
CH26
-The Next Day-
"It may not be a clear-cut victory for us tomorrow."
Lifting the water bottle to her lips, Mogami Saena frowned. This was not the first thing she wanted to hear from her friend while they were between speaking engagements. Sitting beside her in the backseat of the car, Toudou was flipping through a document of some kind on his cellphone, but Saena could tell that as always, he was observing her reaction.
Instead of granting him the pleasure, Saena turned to the car's driver who was just climbing into his seat. "Yoshida-san, they are expecting us at TBM Studios within the hour. My apologies for the rush."
"Yes, Councillor Mogami." Their car's driver started the engine and raised the blacked out sheet of glass that partitioned the front of the car from the back. Quickly pulling out of the parking lot, the car drove purposefully into the Tokyo night, flanked on all sides by the myriad of official black vehicles that made up the Mogami election entourage.
While Saena rifled through the sheaf of papers her assistant had given her, she could sense her colleague staring at her from across the seat. "Yes, Toudou-san?"
"Ogata is still going to take the Lower House." His voice, per usual, was even and betrayed little of his real thoughts. "You read the latest poll numbers."
"And…?" Saena flipped another paper over. It had bulleted talking points for her next interview at TBM.
Toudou sighed, laying a hand against his cheek. "And yet you're unflappable as always. Still not cute at all, Mogami-san."
Saena lowered the document and shot her fellow politician a sharp glance. Still these jokes. "You're just so relaxed because you get elected by proportional representation. You hardly did any campaigning."
"Guilty as charged," Toudou uttered a wry laugh. Then he leaned forward and the harsh glare from the street lights glinted off his glasses. His tone grew serious again, "But you're acting as if it doesn't matter that the House of Representatives and the tie breaker are out of your grasp."
A bubble of unease crept up within her. Saena stuffed it down and turned once again to the papers in her lap. "Delta will take care of it. Won't he?"
She shot Toudou a glance. He merely chuckled thoughtfully and withdrew.
Silence fell over the occupants of the car. Saena continued to stare down at the papers, but she was no longer reading. She was thinking about a young woman with curled auburn hair and a royal blue ball gown who stood wide-eyed and trembling in the hallway of the Kantei.
The dancing troupe had had a web page the night after the event. But by the time Saena had worked up the courage to check out their location in person a month later, the website was no longer there.
Yayoi's email lined up with that timing. Kyoko was no longer at the Fuwa estate, and she had been at Prime Minister Ogata's birthday gala. But where was she now? Was she going to school? Was she eating?
"You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"
Saena stiffened, caught mid-thought. Amused, Toudou emphatically pointed to his own forehead, or rather to the lack of creases between his brows. Instantly, Saena forced herself to relax, trying to smooth the frown from her face as best she could.
This infuriating man was still able to read her like a book after all these years…
Instead of gloating like she thought he would, Toudou leaned back in his seat and cocked his head to the side, observing her. "You're not planning to find her, are you?"
Saena felt her frown immediately crawl back into place. "Not now…"
"If things don't go according to your predictions," he pointed out gravely, "that might become 'not ever.'"
Growing silent, Saena turned back to the papers in her lap. "I know."
"Mogami-san," Toudou asked abruptly, "What have all these years been for?"
Unease crept with heavy weight over her heart. Saena didn't like that probing tone. She didn't like it, because she herself didn't know the answer to his question. After all these years and all this hard work, she still didn't know.
Was it for self-satisfaction? Revenge? The truth?
Unable to stop herself from heaving a heavy sigh, she turned to look out the car window as the Tokyo cityscape rushed by.
"I don't know…"
-x-
'Ren, you're a hypocrite,' he told himself for the thousandth time that night. He was standing – brooding, really – on the Heel's balcony outside their bedroom, pretending to smoke a cigarette. Occasionally, he would glance back at the lump of blankets on the bed. Kyoko's sleeping form caused the lump to rise and fall slowly, only her small face peeking out from a gap in the covers.
After seeing her in the gym yesterday, Ren thought that she had worked out her frustrations. Though she was still clearly shaken by Fuwa's confession, she seemed to be recovering.
This was why he had attempted to clear up the Kimiko misunderstanding as soon as possible. He didn't want anything else weighing on Kyoko's heart – if he could be presumptuous enough to assume that she felt any jealousy at all over Kimiko's misleading words.
However, something had triggered a regression.
Yesterday Kyoko had marched out of the bathroom as Setsu, completely yet desperately in character. Save for the puffy, red quality of her eyes and nose, Kyoko betrayed no emotion behind the shield of the monotone Brit for two whole days. She was like a Setsu animatronic – dutifully preparing meals, cleaning their weapons, and making flirty but empty quips to her brother.
But something was distinctly off. Whenever Cain would draw close, Setsu would always slip away, excuses nonchalantly spilling from her lips. Her mask would never waver.
Even on the eve of the election, with the woman who had abandoned her on every major television channel, Kyoko took it all with a flat, disinterested affect. It was sad to watch what they both knew was a charade.
Ren had almost spoken his thoughts aloud.
Maybe it would be better if she gave up her grudge against Fuwa.
It was just hurting her, poisoning her. Sho wasn't worth her torment. But if she actually forgave that brat, then would there be a chance – even microscopic – that she might go back to that guy?
Heaving a sigh, Ren hung his head and stubbed the cigarette out in the dish that lay on the balcony table. Sliding open the glass door, Ren noted that the lump on the bed curled into itself more tightly, protecting its occupant from the draft he had let in before he shut the door.
Silently, slowly, he lowered himself to sit on the bed next to her, the mattress sinking slightly under his weight.
Kyoko's forehead wrinkled before smoothing out. She muttered something in her sleep that sounded suspiciously like a partial recipe for oyakodon. Then she was still. Stifling an amused chuckle, Ren brought his hand up to gently stroke the side of her face. He tucked an errant strand of Setsu's wig away behind his partner's ear. Then he paused and withdrew his hand guiltily.
He was so selfish when it came to this girl. All take and no give.
To some degree, Fuwa was right. Ren was taking advantage of her support and her effort. Without Kyoko's quick thinking and impeccable character portrayals, there was no doubt in Ren's mind that he would never have gotten as close as he had to his goal.
Yet he knew he couldn't have his cake and eat it too. Rick or Kyoko? Revenge or restoration? At the end of the day, Ren knew that he would have to choose one.
He still had no solution to the issue that had plagued him all these months since his realization of his feelings at the PM's gala. He had just let the problem drag on and on because he was too much of a coward to face the consequences of cutting off one path or the other.
'Ren, you're a hypocrite and a coward.'
He didn't deserve her. She deserved someone better than a hypocrite and a coward.
Sighing quietly, Ren rose from the bed and shucked off Cain Heel's heavy black trench coat, letting it drop to the ground.
For a moment, he considered crawling into bed to sleep next to Kyoko. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence anymore. Whenever he needed comfort or to be grounded after a particularly dark and trying day of work, Ren would cuddle next to her under the safe guise of Cain.
However, tonight… It just didn't seem right. Just the idea left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Ren climbed into the cold, empty bed across the room. As he settled in, he turned on his side to look at the shape of the girl he loved, a vague lump in the darkness. The lump rose and fell, breathing in peaceful slumber.
Biting back a groan of frustration, Ren turned to lie on his other side, facing the wall.
He was still at an impasse. Furthermore, he felt guilty. He couldn't help her with the advice that she needed most.
Ren couldn't tell her to give up her mission for revenge. After all, it was still his goal to find Rick's murderer and to kill the man in the most painful manner humanly possible.
-x-
"The results look promising so far," Yukihito noted cheerfully as he handed the latest printout to President Takarada.
Instead of the President's countenance brightening, however, Lory merely folded the paper in half and placed it on his desk. The President sighed, lacing his fingers together and folding them under his chin.
Feeling a prick of unease, Yashiro raised his eyebrows. "Sir…?"
"Hmm?"
"I thought you would have been more pleased with the preliminary election results." The tech support shuffled nervously in front of the President's desk. "It seems that Prime Minister Ogata will be winning the House of Representatives as we had previously anticipated."
"Hmmm…"
"And… Even if Mogami Saena wins the House of Councillors, the Lower House overrules the Upper if there's a tie for over ten days, so…"
Lory sighed and leaned back in his chair. At that moment, Yashiro realized what had been bothering him this whole time. The President was in a suit. No fancy, ridiculous costume. No medieval knight chainmail. No Alaskan Eskimo getup. No imperial Qing dynasty garb. No jungle greenery or Arabian horses or Indian elephants decorated his office either. It was… normal.
"Bizarre…" Yashiro muttered under his breath.
"Indeed, it is bizarre. Is it not, Yashiro-san?"
He'd been caught! Stiffening, the tech support chuckled weakly. "W-What's bizarre, President?"
Staring off into the distance, Lory frowned, still deep in thought. "Delta is clearly in charge of manipulating the election to get Mogami Saena elected, yet he has faltered at this final step. Why is that? It's bizarre…"
Hiding his small sigh of relief, Yashiro again stopped to ponder. Indeed, after putting together the pieces of Reino, Takemura Ryuji, and the election, it had not been difficult for the PSIA analyst team to infer that the election was being manipulated from the shadows. But they couldn't prove anything.
Hence, the Dangerous Mission with Cain and Setsu Heel was even more vital. If Reino was working for Delta in targeting and defaming Representative Takemura, then there was a high possibility that Henshin was behind all of this.
As the infiltrators of Henshin, Cain and Setsu were the LME's ace in the hole.
However, speaking of Setsu…
"Um… President?"
Lory perked up. "Yes, Yashiro?"
Tilting his head to the side, confused, Yukihito asked, "President, is there a reason why you haven't pulled Kyoko-chan from the field? After all, she's Councillor Mogami's daughter..."
The President's face darkened, his frown becoming more pronounced.
Yashiro threw his hands up defensively, shaking his head side to side. "N-Not that she's suspicious! We both saw how she reacted to her mother at the PM's gala. Not even a miraculous actress could pull off that kind of reaction! But why not pull Kyoko-chan out, even just to protect her at such a critical time?"
Lory sighed, and for once Yashiro could see the weary, prominent bags under the President's eyes. Takarada's exuberant personality had been stretched thin in the past few weeks.
"Actually…" Passing a hand over his face, Lory looked sadly at Yashiro. "I proposed pulling Mogami-kun out weeks ago."
"What–?"
Unable to meet his subordinate's gaze, the President's eyes drifted downward. "The PSIA won't allow it. They have considered the risk posed to her, but think that pulling Setsu Heel out of the field at this crucial point in time might rouse Delta's suspicions. My commanders have forbid me from even communicating the risk to her, because they don't want her to lose focus."
Yashiro felt a wave of anger surge within him. He snapped sarcastically, "And they couldn't possibly jeopardize the infiltration into Henshin…. Even if it puts Kyoko-chan in the path of unsavory characters who could try to kidnap her or kill her for who knows what purpose!"
The wave of anger crested into despair as Yukihito deflated. Lory merely watched him in sad silence before speaking again.
"There is hope, you know."
"Hope?"
The President clasped his hands again and rested his elbows on his desk. "Very few people are privy to the fact that Mogami-kun is related to Mogami Saena. And even fewer know that she is with the LME Unit. And…"
"And even fewer than that know where she is – who she is – right now!" Yashiro finished, feeling a swell of triumph buoy him up. "It's risky, but it just might work out."
"I agree," President Takarada said with a small, grim smile. "We can only hope that right under the enemy's nose is the safest place for her right now."
-x-
"Your agent failed to take out the brat," the businessman accused.
Delta ignored him, continuing to sort through the papers in the file folder on his desk. Sensing the man's growing frustration, Delta didn't jump in surprise when an angry hand slammed itself down on his mahogany desk.
Without looking up from his papers, Delta reached forward to steady the cup of pens that was ready to topple over.
"Now, Saito-san," he couldn't quite help the long-suffering tone in his voice that sounded as if he were calming a particularly petulant child.
"I'm done playing your games!" The man named Saito snarled, "You promised me the Fuwa Hotel Empire, and you failed to meet your end of the bargain."
Shuffling the papers and tapping them against the desk to bring the stack together, Delta calmly placed the stack back in the folder and laid it down. With deliberate slowness, the dark-haired man rose from his chair. As he walked around his desk, he reached into his back pocket and pulled on a set of black leather gloves.
When Delta looked up, the businessman was nearly seizing, screaming out his angry tirade.
"With the brat still alive, that shitty old man will never pass the company to me!" Saito was almost foaming at the mouth in rage as Delta calmly approached. The irate vice president wagged an accusatory finger at Delta. "I'll never tell Takemura to vote for you! Without my influence, your whole plan is sunk! You'll never win over the Diet–! GAHH!"
Delta sighed in relief. Finally some peace and quiet.
Cords stood out in the master spy's arm as he tightened his grip on Saito's neck, pushing the man firmly into the floor. Still dazed from Delta's sudden judo throw and now nearly hypoxic, the businessman scrabbled weakly on the floor, trying to push Delta's hand off his neck.
"Now, now, Saito-san," the spy crooned. "There's no use in struggling…"
Saito tried to speak, but it came out wheezing and desperate and garbled in saliva. To Delta, it sounded like, "But you need me!"
Chuckling darkly, Delta simply pressed harder, turning his head slightly to dodge a bit of spittle that had flown from the vice president's lips. "Oh Saito-san. You were merely one plan of many."
The businessman's movements were growing sluggish and clumsy. Finally after a minute or so, he stilled altogether.
"But since you were so concerned, I apologize for worrying you," Delta mused to the body as he rose to his feet. "The situation will resolve in the end… After all, she's depending on me to take care of it."
Crossing the room, Delta clicked a button on his desk phone. "Konoe, I need a body cleaned up in here. Also, I have some news from Kappa I would like to discuss with you in person."
On the speakerphone, Konoe tutted over the fact that Delta had eliminated yet another pawn. Delta chuckled and apologized. Then, he hesitated before saying, "Oh, and Konoe."
"Yes, Delta?"
"If we do not end up securing the election, please extend my personal invitation to the Heel siblings. My office, noon, two days from now."
"Consider it done."
As Konoe hung up, Delta stripped the black gloves from his hands and tossed them in the trash. Settling down in his chair, Delta reached forward to grasp the file sitting on the upper corner of his desk. As he opened it again, he shuffled through several photographs.
All of them were grainy images taken with a telephoto lens. In one, a tall dark-haired man was running across the deck of a cargo ship. In another photo, the same man but with a more traditional hairstyle and fashion sense stood outside a Western-style mansion in Mitaka, appearing to bicker with a shorter blonde-haired man.
The tall man's hair was dyed dark and he was certainly older than Delta recalled, but…
Delta felt a small grin tug at the corners of his lips.
It was him after all.
Changing the wording on Tau's mission briefing for their "audition" had been a long shot, but it had provoked the response that Delta had hoped. It was time to start putting that other plan into motion.
Dialing another phone number from memory, Delta brought the receiver to his ear. He smiled when he heard the Vie Ghoul assassin's gruff, "Yeah? What?"
"Mu? It's Delta," Henshin's leader picked up the photograph of Cain Heel and brought it up to the light. "I have a job for you."
-x-
Notes:
Kantei – The Official Residence of the Prime Minister; where Ogata's birthday gala was held.
Oyakodon – A Japanese dish of chicken and egg over rice. The awesome thing about the name is that the literal translation is "Parent and child bowl". Get it? Chicken… and egg…? Ok, maybe it's half awesome half creepy…
Mitaka – A city far west of Tokyo, more toward the countryside. Careful readers would have noted that it's the city where the LME stages the Hongo family's mansion in Chapter 1-2.
-x-
MAILBAG (Just a reminder for those who have forgotten, but I take the most interesting reviews/ questions and respond to them here.)
MWEH – Thanks for answering my question! It's always good to get a gauge of what the audience is responding to in the manner that I intended them to respond. As for this past chapter, thanks for your reassurance that the characters' emotions came out well! You were right about Kimiko being difficult to get rid of! I wonder what Kyoko will do with this new information that Kimiko had misled her about the "relationship" between her and Ren. I feel like there's going to be another "filler" chapter of Kyoko processing emotions and setting up the next stage of the Momiji audition. Kanae's competition probably just got smooshed compared to her performance. Haha Thanks as always, MWEH!
A Musing Brunette – Haha, I agree! I think that Sho needed to mature a lot, and unfortunately the idea that everyone around him is just there to serve and support him is a mentality partially born of his background and wealth (at least in this story). The devastating results from his confession here, in addition to almost being killed by Kimiko, will teach him a few hard lessons that he needs. ;) As for the manga, it looks like per the most recent chapter, we don't need to take Kimiko's feelings for Ren seriously at all! Perfect! It almost makes it too easy that she was just lying and was not seriously emotionally invested. I really liked Kanae's lines too! They made me laugh out loud in public while I was reading it. xD
Aikori Ichijouji – Thanks for the input~! Hopefully more evidence will be submitted to the council before their final decision haha. That is one of my goals in this fic is to make Sho more than just an obnoxious obstacle, but to flesh him out and show that he's capable of growth as well. LOL but maybe in some alternate universe, Kyoko didn't make it in time and Sho didn't make it… and he never confessed and started all this emotional turmoil for her! Thanks again Aikori! OH! Before I forget, on the SB fan page I joined on FB, a couple of the posters were recommending your fics! I was like, "AH! I know that author!" Haha congrats!
Crazy4Animation – Hello Elina! Welcome! Do come in! Thank you so much for being a silent supporter and now a reviewer! I really appreciate the support :) I'm really glad that you enjoyed the story and that it was able to hit all the emotional beats with you! That's exciting to hear as an author! Please don't remove your old stories! All writers are they themselves works-in-progress, but with practice, we're all only getting better. If you were serious about wanting writing tips, I'd recommend the Youtube channels: Super Eyepatch Wolf, Just Write, The Closer Look, and Extra Credits. You can browse through their videos and while many of them focus on anime or gaming or film, a lot of them have good tips on writing in general. Something else I recommend is read a LOT of books. Read with the intent of figuring out what you like about certain characters, why you like them, what you don't like about a book, etc. I'm still just a noob trying to fudge my way through life, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt haha. Thanks again for reviewing!
Brennakai – Hopefully the raw emotion wasn't too much of a turnoff! I'm trying to stay away from the Angst genre haha And indeed! Kyoko needs to get ice cream with Kanae. I need ice cream! Thanks again brennakai!
Guest – Thanks! "Captivated" is such high praise! I'm very glad you've been enjoying and hope you continue! Leave a name next time so I can do a shout out to you personally. :)
Admiringfromafar – Thanks! I'm hoping to make my characters more 3D than 2D, if you catch my drift. ;) Thank you for reviewing and admiring from afar! Haha
Shizuhoe – Haha,I wasn't trying to make Sho dislikable again! I was asking because I wanted to make sure that Sho is actually coming across as more human and likeable! That's one of my pet peeves about SB fics is that many people demonize Sho and I think that he's more than that. Just… incredibly selfish and immature. But aren't we all, sometimes? Also, Ren couldn't run after Kyoko because… he needed to totally give Sho a tongue-lashing! Muhahaha! Is that contradictory? Sorry that I ended up skipping a week, but thanks for understanding! Thanks for reviewing!
Sasusakufan2357 – WOW! Haha, I loved your review. Thanks so much for the affirmation and praise. Surprisingly, I almost didn't write Kimiko into this fic, but I left some wiggle room/possible foreshadowing in the beginning and after reading the current events going on in the manga, she just wormed her way into the story. Haha And I KNOWWW! Sometimes I read the manga, and just face-palm because I want them to figure out their feelings! But if they did then the romantic tension would go away and it wouldn't be as exciting! Haha Thanks again for the review! Hope to see you around again. ;)
-x-
Thank you all for reading! If you have time, please don't forget to write a review, add a fave or an alert. It really makes my day and my hours writing this story worth it! Thanks all!