Hello loyal readers!
And you all must be very loyal for sticking with this story even though I went on an unplanned and unannounced month-long hiatus! Thank you all for coming back!
So, so sorry you guys. Work has been relentless, my motivation to write has been alarmingly low, and I've been spending a significant portion of my free time taking care of my NEW DOG! All the aforementioned have not made for a winning combination to write fanfiction. *cries*
I'm still dead-set on finishing this story, but I am probably going to take longer to get chapters out. So look forward to the next update maybe in April!
Today we have a rebellion, a revelation, and an epic car chase scene. After all – what spy story would be complete without a car chase? :D (Just remember that in Japan, the cars drive on the left side of the road, and the driver's side is on the right side of the car.)
Thank you all for being so patient!
-x-
CH35
– 5 days before the re-vote –
"You want us to what?"
Ren, Lory thought, was unexpectedly not taking this well at all. Over Yashiro's shoulder, the President keyed the mic again, speaking through the secure audio channel.
"I said," Lory repeated sternly, "you and Agent M are being pulled out."
There was a moment of radio silence before Agent T came on the line again, "Why? Delta has agreed to meet us alone. The mission is going smoothly."
Stepping away from the mic, Lory kneaded his temples. He felt a migraine coming on. This stubborn kid…
Noting the President had no intention of continuing, Yashiro hesitantly replied, "A-Actually, there was a sudden turn of events back at HQ, and we need your assistance–"
"Don't lie to me, Yashiro-san." Ren's impolite retort was so contrary to his usual persona that Yashiro physically recoiled from the mic and eyed it warily, as if the object had suddenly grown teeth, jumped up, and bitten him.
Lory began pacing. Something had set Kuon off; Tsuruga Ren never acted in such a manner. If so, it was even more vital that the Heel siblings be pulled out as soon as possible.
"President, I believe this would be a grave error." Over the comm line, Ren continued. To Takarada's trained ear, the man was becoming more and more desperate – bargaining. "We finally have an opportunity to meet Delta on neutral territory–"
In the background of the comm channel, Lory heard Kyoko say something like, "T-san, please forgive my impertinence, but if you are staying, then I as well–!"
"ENOUGH!" Lory slammed his hand down on the desk. Leaning over the mic, the master spy growled, "The Heel siblings have a flight booked for the UK at 0115 tonight from Narita. You both will be on that flight."
"Pres–"
"That is an ORDER," Lory roared. "Do I make myself clear?"
The silence stretched on for an unnerving amount of time, but finally, Ren's voice came over the line with a terse, "Yes sir. Permission to disconnect to prepare for extraction."
"Granted." The President's eyes narrowed. He attempted one final warning. "Agent T…"
But Ren had cut the link.
Feeling the pounding return to his temples, President Takarada sat back heavily in the chair next to Yashiro's.
Beside him, the techie hesitated a moment, then hazarded, "President… If I may ask…"
Sighing, Lory attempted to massage his headache away again. "Go ahead and ask, Yashiro-san. Why didn't I just tell them about the break-in?"
Yashiro lapsed into silence, waiting for the answer.
Sinking down in the chair into an uncharacteristic slouch, Lory rested his head against the backing and stared blankly at the ceiling. "I don't know how much Mogami-kun knows about her past. About her mother's past. If she experiences a severe shock now and the Heel siblings were to face immense danger on their way to the extraction point, would she be able to perform optimally?"
"It would be better to tell her once she's back here," Yashiro mused in agreement. "However, for some reason, it seems as though Ren is the unstable one right now."
Lory couldn't respond. Maybe he was making the wrong choice; but Mogami-kun needed to be pulled out. Lory had been dreading this day ever since he had discovered the truth behind his mysterious newbie's even more mysterious past. This morning when his contact at the Witness Protection Program had called him, Lory knew that regardless of what his superiors had ordered, he needed to do his best to avoid the worst possible outcome.
However, Ren…
"Yashiro-san."
"Yes, President Takarada?"
Lory straightened in his chair and frowned, thinking. "Have you by any chance heard anything from Mogami-kun about Ren's mental well-being?"
Beside him, Yashiro cocked his head to the side, genuinely puzzled.
"No, sir. Why?"
-x-
The Heel siblings sat in stony silence as Cain's black sports car sped along the Tokyo highway. Cain could sense Setsu sneaking periodic glances at him from the passenger's seat.
Ren internally struggled not to try and convince her to stay behind. The farther they got from their Yokohama apartment, the more unlikely it was that he would be able to keep her safe. That was the whole reason why he wanted to push her away, to keep her out of harm's way. But Cain wouldn't have objected to his sister accompanying him. Which is how Kyoko had forced her way into the car in the first place.
In the apartment under the anti-listening bug protection of the signal jammer, Agent T had made it very clear to M-san that she was to stay behind. Though he did not do it often, he had made it an order from a senior agent to a junior. He had to protect her – no matter how much she protested.
However, as soon as he had settled into his car, Setsu had opened the passenger's door and slid into her seat. She had shot him a raised brow as if asking, 'What are you going to do about it?' with characteristic Setsu-like defiance.
Cain would never have thrown his sister out or insisted she stay behind. Any ensuing verbal fight would have been highly suspicious to any of Delta's listening ears in the unsecured space of the Heels' car. And Ren needed to catch the man as much as possible with his guard down. So no matter how uneasy Ren felt, Kyoko had stayed.
But Ren was putting his foot down once they got to the specified location. It was unsecured and Delta had not specified whether he was bringing back up or not. It would be a miracle if they could catch the mastermind alone. And since this could be Ren's last chance to kill Delta, who knew how dangerous it was going to get.
They had passed the freeway exits for Narita Airport long ago, instead heading farther east for the seaside city of Chiba. Delta had an assignment to give them. The meeting place and time had been communicated to them via Konoe days ago: the underground parking lot of the Chiba Sports Stadium at midnight.
After what seemed like an eternity driving in tense silence, Ren turned off the freeway, the coliseum-like stadium looming in the background. There wasn't a football match tonight and the stadium stood empty, like a sleeping behemoth. Unsurprisingly, Ren found the gated entrance to the parking lot open without a security guard.
Decelerating to a stop at the entrance to the underground parking structure, he hit a button on his phone, angling the device downward. Ren's heart beat steadily faster in rising anticipation as the tech in the phone scanned for thermal heat signatures. Aside from a scattering of rats and bird nests, there was a lone heat marker on the very bottom floor of the garage. Fortuitously and against all odds, Delta had apparently come alone. Ren could hardly believe his luck.
Agent T revved his engine before beginning to snake down the levels to the bottom floor. The reverberations of his car seemed both ghostly and deafening in the empty concrete expanses of the parking garage. Finally after traveling down five empty floors, he reached the bottom.
A solitary man in a tan trench coat stood in the very center of the lot.
Ren felt his heart leap into his throat with some raw mixture of anticipation, nerves, and relief. It was finally time. How many years had he been awaiting this moment?
Agent T parked several car-lengths away, turning the engine off with a final flick of his wrist. He sat for several moments, his hand on the keys, his heart hammering in his chest.
Beside him, he saw a small hand slowly inch over to his side of the car. It hesitated before gently settling on the white-knuckled grip he had on the steering wheel, like a butterfly alighting on an uncertain perch.
How he longed to take her hand. But he was resolved.
Ren's gaze reluctantly turned to Kyoko's face. As he suspected, beyond the light flush on her cheeks, her expression spoke of immense pain and worry. It stabbed at his heart. But he had to push her away, lest he drag her even deeper down the rabbit hole with him.
"Setsu." Ren turned back forward and yanked the keys from the ignition. "Stay with the car."
"Cain–!" Her response was high and panicky.
But Ren's only answer was to firmly hand his partner the car keys. Willing the depths of his heart to show on his face, he begged her with his eyes.
Stay. Safe. If it gets dangerous, leave. Forget me. Save yourself.
It seemed as though she searched his face for an eternity. Then something in Kyoko's desperate expression relented. She silently took the keys. If Ren were feeling particularly arrogant at that moment, he would have sworn that her hands hesitated a moment too long as her fingertips brushed his palm, as if she were trying to remember his warmth.
Leave her to save her – he repeated like a broken mantra in his head.
With forced abruptness, he pulled himself away, opened the door, and was outside, shutting her in. Through the glass, his eyes rested on her, subconsciously trying to memorize each curve of her beautiful face. Then he tore his gaze away and lifted his eyes to set upon the man before him.
Delta… Shizumino Kaiso. The man who had driven Kuon and Rick both to ruin.
It was finally time.
Remembering to adopt the looming intimidation of Cain Heel, Ren started forward, his black trench coat billowing behind him. He strode indifferently across the pavement as if his destiny did not lie before him, as if he had not been dreaming of this very moment for years and years.
Calculating in his mind, Ren wished for not the first time that night that he'd had more time to prepare for this encounter. More weapons. More time to secure the area. More time to ensure no one was waiting to strike behind the thick concrete pillars that supported the ceiling of the parking garage. Well, he supposed his pistol and the heat scan would have to do.
And suddenly Ren was there.
"Welcome, Chi." Delta's smooth tenor echoed slightly in the empty garage.
Trying to tamp down the thunderous hammering of his heart, Ren stopped a meter away, leveling a Cain-esque glare at the mastermind. It was best to keep the act up until he could incapacitate the man.
"Sigma won't be joining us?" Delta's tone seemed innocent enough, but Ren felt an uncomfortable knot worm its way into his stomach.
'It's ok. A few more minutes and this bastard will be breathing his last,' Ren thought to himself as he fought to quash his panic.
Cain chose not to respond, merely narrowing his eyes at the mastermind. Delta seemed amused instead of intimidated and merely gave a small chuckle instead.
"Well then…I have a target for you, Chi." Delta continued, his eyes hidden in the harsh reflection off his glasses. "I know that you're being called home to England, but I'd appreciate it if you could extend your stay in Japan one last time."
Alarm bells went off in Ren's mind. How the hell did Delta know the Heel siblings were planning to leave Tokyo?
It was all Ren could do to wipe the surprise off his face before Delta went on.
"This assignment is a very delicate one that only you can accomplish, after all," Delta remarked and produced a small photograph, offering it face down.
To cover his surprise at the mastermind's intel, Ren reached forward impatiently. This was all just a formality anyway. After this meeting, when this man was dead, there would be no need to play along with Delta's games. Ren took the photo and flipped it over, only giving it half a glance.
Then he looked again. As his eyes confirmed what they had seen at first, his heart dropped instantly to the bottom of his stomach.
Her hair was lighter and shorter now, but the smile in the school portrait was the same.
He swallowed hard. He couldn't let this show on his face or in his voice.
Desperately pulling on every scrap and ounce of acting experience in his repertoire, Ren assumed a bored affect and asked, "Who is she?"
Delta clasped his hands behind his back and turned his back to Ren. "She's Fuwa Shotaro's childhood friend…"
The lid to his panic box now flown wide open, Ren hand drifted toward the gun hidden in the waistband of his pants. He had to end this NOW before Delta learned the truth about the girl sitting in the car only meters away.
"She's also Mogami Saena's hidden daughter…"
Ren fingers wrapped around the stock of his gun.
"And mine…"
What?
Delta whirled, and in the millisecond Agent T had to react, he spotted the gun in the mastermind's hands and dodged. Delta's shot missed. Leaping to the side to roll across the floor, Ren drew his gun and by the time he had sprung to his feet, it was clasped in his hand, cocked, and ready to blow straight through Delta's heart.
Both men stood facing each other, weapons drawn. Ren was breathing heavily, but Delta looked completely at ease.
The mastermind treated the LME agent to a warm smile, as if greeting an old friend – drawn weapons notwithstanding. "So we meet again, Kuon-kun."
"Kaiso…" Ren grit his teeth, hand shaking with the self-control it took not to pull the trigger. The bastard had known all along who he was!
"I haven't heard that name in a long, long time." Delta's expression shifted into a small, wistful smile, as if remembering good times long past. "I've gone by so many that sometimes it's hard to remember them all."
Ren's voice trembled in rage as he spoke. "You're going to pay for what you did to Rick."
Delta's eyes widened in mock-innocence. "Me? I never actually harmed Rick. Despite his unfortunate and untimely end."
Ren nearly snarled at the implication. His finger strained, longing to pull the trigger. But not until he'd heard – "Why? Why did you betray us?"
At this accusation, the middle-aged man's eyes finally narrowed, his grip on his own pistol tightening. "Your anger is misplaced. Does a soldier curse the gun who shot him or the enemy? But I will strike down the enemy."
"Bullshit. You are the enemy," Ren snapped. "It doesn't matter. I'll be the one striking you down tonight."
Moment of seriousness gone, a smirk tugged at the corners of Kaiso's mouth. The mastermind slowly lowered his weapon.
"Apologies, but as you say in America, I will have to take a rain check." With a nod of his head, Delta glanced behind Ren. "I have something I need to take care of first."
"No! Let me go!"
Ren's world froze. Kyoko.
Whirling, Ren saw the door to his sports car had been thrown open. Kyoko had been pulled from inside and was struggling against two men garbed in black stealth gear.
"M-san!"
"Haven't you getting a bit careless over the years, Kuon-kun? Turning your back on the enemy?"
Acting on pure instinct, Ren leapt forward and rolled to the side, just as shots rang out, echoing loudly in the confined concrete space. Whipping back around, Agent T saw that two more enemy agents carrying semi-automatic weapons had emerged from hiding spots behind the parking lot's square concrete pillars, flanking Delta.
Where had they come from? Delta had been alone! – Ren's mid raced as he sought cover.
Then Ren saw it – the mercenaries' gear shimmered slightly in the light. It must have been some kind of material that had trapped their body heat and hid their thermal signatures from his earlier scan.
Gritting his teeth, the LME agent dashed behind another square pillar, his back pressed up flush against it. Gunfire burst through the garage, and Kuon ducked as chips of cement went flying off of his pillar.
Between bursts of gunfire, he peeked around the corner of his hiding spot, his eyes wildly searching for his partner. One of Kyoko's attackers lay prone on the floor – apparently knocked out by Agent M. However, Ren's eyes widened as he saw the other man – who had been knocked back by some kick or punch of hers, his silver mirrored sunglasses askew on his face – rise and viciously strike her in the back of the head with the butt of his gun.
Her eyes had been turning to find her partner. The moment of impact, Ren saw the fear and panic flash through her eyes. Her lips moved to mouth something.
Then she crumpled to the floor. The black-garbed attacker fixed his sunglasses and reached to pick her up. Behind them, several black, unmarked SUVs roared down the ramp to their floor and screeched to a halt.
"NO!"
The gunfire began again. Ren whipped back around to avoid getting hit.
Cursing, Ren quickly peeked around the column again. The two gunman were slowly stalking toward him from opposite sides, firing continuously to keep him pinned down.
Quickly, Agent T shucked Cain's long black coat from his body, gathered it into a ball, and threw it as far to the side as he could. Acting on instinct, the assailant closest to the coat turned from firing on the pillar to firing at the moving object.
Using the distraction, Ren dashed from behind the cover of the pillar and, like a phantom, seemed nearly to appear next to the diverted attacker. With a nasty uppercut, Ren disoriented his enemy further, then finished him off with a pistol-whip to the face. The man's facial bones cracked in agony as he crumpled, hardly knowing what had hit him.
The other gunman had turned toward Agent T, semi-automatic raised. Thinking quickly, Ren caught the fallen enemy by the chest straps of his bulletproof Kevlar vest and hoisted him up. The hail of bullets impacted the body armor, but Ren still winced as he felt one or two slip past his impromptu guard, the slugs stinging as they grazed across his arms.
With a shout, Ren heaved the body at the gunman. Distracted by the 90-kilogram projectile, the attacker didn't see Agent T's pistol coming up. Two shots was all it took to incapacitate the second gunman in the shoulder and knee.
Ignoring the man's agonizing wails, Ren turned back to the SUVs. He immediately spotted Kyoko's limp form being carried into one of the cars. Her attacker, the man in the silver sunglasses, loaded his cargo into the back and hopped into the driver's seat.
Finally, the long tan coat billowing behind him as he entered the SUV after Kyoko, Delta turned and caught Ren's eye. Over the din of more approaching gunman, Ren saw the mastermind mouth something.
"Until next time, Kuon-kun."
The car door slammed shut and the driver gunned the engine. The SUV leapt forward, and two other identical black SUVs roared up the parking garage ramp after it.
Ren immediately sprinted for his sports car. The chatter of gunfire nipped at his heels as he rolled across the hood of his car and swung open the driver's door.
Slamming the door behind him, Ren reached into his pocket to find – no keys. He had given them to Kyoko. Cursing, Ren ducked as a spray of bullets sent spiderwebs shattering across his windshield. The bulletproof coating on his vehicle wouldn't last long against the hail of heavy gunfire.
That was when he noticed the car was purring in idle.
Kyoko had had the keys in the ignition, car ready to go at a moment's notice when she'd been wrenched from within.
"Agent M," Ren grinned. He wasted no time, slouching in his seat to minimize his body's target, and mashed on the pedals, throwing the car into reverse. Tires squealed in protest as he didn't even bother flipping the car around, just gunned the car backward toward his attackers. The gunmen, the tables now turned, dropped their weapons and fled, scattering like so many bowling pins.
With a final squeal, Ren's car spun around toward the exit, and he floored the gas. Gritting his teeth, Ren peeled up the ramp, drifting through the sharp turns up the parking garage floors to save time.
Unfortunately with the time it took him to get to his car, the trio of SUVs had already made it to the top of the parking garage and were passing the security booth entrance. Ren shifted his car's gears and roared up the final stretch of the ramp after them.
That was when orange lights started flashing in the tunnel and a warning Klaxon began to blare. Ren's keen eyes noted that between the security booths, thick metal barrier pipes were starting to rise from the floor. Someone on Delta's team had activated the stadium's parking security.
If he were to hit those going full speed while the pipes were fully extended, Ren knew that his car would not withstand the collision. He might not withstand the collision. But if Delta got away with Kyoko…
That wasn't even an option. Ren shifted gears again and mashed the accelerator into the floor.
As he neared the exit, the pipes continued to rise, climbing centimeter by centimeter. Would he make it in time?
With a grinding crash of metal and a shower of sparks, Ren's sports car bounced over the rising pipes, tearing through some. He heard the unearthly metallic shriek as they tore at the underbelly of his car. Then he was through.
His car fishtailed for a second before he swerved and caught ahold of it again. Then it was straight through to the stadium's exit, chasing the pack of SUVs.
Cursing, Ren knew what he had to do – he needed help, even if it meant facing the President's wrath later. Kyoko's safety was the most important thing. Digging into a secret compartment in his car's glove box, he finally produced a spare comm link.
Screwing the unit into his ear, Ren barked, "Yashiro! Hey! Yukihito!"
Through the earpiece came a garbled, "Ren? What's happening? Are you on your way to the airport–?"
"No time," Ren snapped as he swerved around a trucker to follow the SUVs onto the freeway's onramp. "I need sat-tracking on three vehicles as well as a lock-on Agent M's homing beacon."
"Y-Yeah, sure." Over the earpiece, Ren could hear his tech support's fingers flying over his keyboard. "Wait. What are you doing in Chiba?"
"Not the time, Yashiro!" Agent T growled as he weaved through traffic. Luckily even without tech aid, the SUVs weren't hard to follow. They left a path of crashed civilian cars in their wake.
Through the earpiece, Yashiro gave a low whistle. "The two SUVs ahead of you on your 10 o'clock? Locked on."
"There's not two, there's three," Ren said through gritted teeth as he slowly gained on the two black SUVs ahead of him. However in the driver's side mirror of the front-most car, he caught sight of a pair of mirrored, silver sunglasses. "Never mind! This is fine. Keep locked."
"I'll keep looking for the third," Yashiro replied, his voice tight with worry. "Ren. I can't find Agent M's beacon. Where's Kyoko-chan?"
"Right in front of me," the agent growled out, determined. Shifting gears again, he pulled ahead to tackle the rear SUV.
The driver of the second SUV did a double-take at the black sports car creeping up to his left side. Ren was still figuring out his next move when his car trembled and veered off to the left. The other driver had tried to run him off the road.
With a yell, Ren put both hands on the wheel and yanked the opposite direction, throwing off the SUV's weight and righting his car. While Agent T was distracted, the SUV's driver had braked, pulling back to swerve behind him. Ren barely had time to gain bearings on his situation before he was rammed again, this time from behind.
Trying to think despite the constant jarring motion of his car getting pummeled by the bigger SUV, Ren noticed that he was quickly running out of space. Just ahead of him in the lane was a towering semi truck going much slower than the oncoming traffic.
Ren grinned. Perfect.
Shifting down a gear, Ren allowed the other SUV to continue to ride his tail, occasionally allowing the driver to bump him. Counting under his breath which watching in the rear-view mirror for the other car's movements, suddenly, he shifted up a gear again and punched it to gain some space. Then, yanking on the wheel while he simultaneously shifted into park, Ren drifted and spun out from in front of the SUV. The driver of the SUV, too focused on trying to ram the sports car and now too late to pull back from his sudden acceleration, didn't see the semi truck in front of him before he collided, his vehicle crumpling like a tin can.
Drifting for another moment to get his bearings, Ren again shifted and rammed the accelerator to the floor, shooting forward past the wreckage.
"Yikes," Yashiro commented from over the comm link, probably watching the car chase from the freeway's security camera live feed. "And Ren, I think I have the final SUV's location. Do you need it?"
Catching another glimpse of the silver sunglasses on the remaining SUV's driver, Ren mashed down on the accelerator again. "Keep following. I think I have the one I'm looking for right here."
"If you're sure."
Ren was sure. He was sure that if it weren't for the fact that Kyoko was in that car, he would run the dammed car along with Kaiso off the road. This was the second time he had unintentionally spared the man's life, and both times had been a devastating mistake. The next time he saw Kaiso, Ren decided as he bared his teeth, he was going to shoot the man between the eyes.
But was Delta really Kyoko's father? A small voice niggled in the back of his mind: if Ren was going to kill the man, what would Kyoko think about that? She already hadn't approved the idea of Ren killing him, and that was before she had known that Delta was her missing father. Also, hadn't Ren's single-minded devotion to avenging Rick been the thing that had dragged Kyoko into danger in the first place?
Agent T shook his head. He didn't have time to think about this now. First things first – rescue Kyoko.
He had finally caught up to the other SUV. Pulling up parallel to the left-hand passenger's side, Ren unbuckled his belt and rolled down his window, ready to ditch his own vehicle and leap for the SUV. However the driver spotted him first.
Bullets and sparks sprayed down around his head, and Ren instinctively ducked, swerving away. Regaining control of his car, Ren brushed broken hexagonal bits of tempered windshield glass off his shirt and revved the engine, trying to pull forward to attempt a second boarding.
Accelerating while weaving around the occasional car still not evacuated from the freeway, Ren pulled up his car parallel to the passenger's side. From his peripherals, he saw the wall of the freeway abruptly end to his left, turning into a low guardrail over an approaching off-ramp.
"Ren!" Over his comm link, Yashiro's frantic voice cut through Ren's thoughts. "The third SUV! It's–!"
Ren had only a split second's warning. Tuning out Yashiro's voice, he saw the light glint wickedly off mirrored glasses as Delta's driver swerved his vehicle to the left, intent on running Agent T off the road entirely.
On pure instinct, Ren slammed on the brakes. Overconfident, the other driver couldn't correct his trajectory in time, and Ren watched in stunned horror as the SUV swerved across the lane in front of him. The heavy car tore through the guardrail like it was tissue paper before it launched itself into the vast empty space above the off-ramp. The SUV listed to the side before hitting the off-ramp, its momentum too great to stop as it tumbled over and over and over, until it broke through the off-ramp's guardrail and flipped end over end down the grassy embankment below. Finally, the crumpled, smoking wreckage came to a stop at the bottom of the hill, sliding to a screeching halt.
As horror filled his breast, Ren's only thought was – "KYOKO!"
Slamming on his brakes, Ren swerved to the shoulder of the freeway. He leapt from his battered sports car and scrambled down the hill.
"KYOKO!" Identity protocol discarded, all Ren could see in his mind's eye was the SUV flipping end over end as it tumbled down the embankment. The car was still. No one stirred within. "KYOKO!"
Silver mirrored sunglasses cracked and askew, the driver lay still in his seat, hanging limply from his seatbelt in the front. There was no movement from within the car.
Ren sprinted for the back of the car. The rear door was bent on its hinges and resisted. Between tugs, Ren tried to look into the back, beyond a small triangle in the mangled metal. The interior of the car was dark and silent.
Finally, Ren wrenched the door open.
"Kyoko!"
But the back was empty.
"S-She's not here?" Bewildered, Ren spun around, already sprinting for his own car. "Yashiro! I need that last SUV!"
"I-I'm sorry, Ren."
As the sound of frantic keyboard strokes filled the silence, Ren's heart sank. His breath, already short from the adrenaline, began to come in tight, panicky gulps.
"I lost him," Yashiro reported miserably. "Something was interfering with my satellite's feed. Agent M's homing beacon is also still not broadcasting."
Turning around, oblivious to the sirens wailing through the frigid night, Ren gazed in disbelieving horror at the SUV's empty back seat. Kyoko was gone.
As Ren sank to the asphalt of the road, crushed by the impossibly heavy weight of despair, Delta's mouthed words of parting seemed to mock him.
"Until next time, Kuon-kun."
-x-
NOTES:
Narita – the international airport closest to Tokyo
Shizumino Kaiso – Who guessed it based on my hint in last chapter's notes? shi-zu-mi-no-ka-i-so is rearranged into Misonoi Kazushi. Gimme a shout out in the reviews if you figured it out! I might have told a teeny tiny lie in one of my author's notes about Kaiso being an OC. Heehee… #sorrynotsorry Love y'all!
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MAILBAG: In this section, I respond to the 5+ most interesting reviews in no particular order!
brennakai – Exactly! I feel like the greatest part of Kyoko's character arc in the manga is her acceptance of all the bad things that have happened to her in the past, and her realization that they have built her into the person that she is so proud of in the present day. Revenge is all about stewing over the past; forgiveness is about moving beyond it. And I guess Delta did figure out who Kyoko's father is. ;) Did you? Hehe Thanks for faithfully reviewing, brennakai!
artloife – Thaaaanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it! Trying to balance keeping their relationship dynamic canon while adding a couple other themes to the mix. And indeed, the baddies did get a leg up… And then they got an even BIGGER leg up this time! What is in store for our dynamic duo? Only time will tell… Heheh Thanks artloife!
Guineapigs1 – Did you get it right about Kaiso's name?! :D I also can't wait for these two to figure out they don't need revenge and only need each other (rolls eyes at her own story) lol. Thanks Guineapigs1! Always great hearing from you!
Tabbykatroses – Welcome! We enjoy all-comers, late or early! :) Thanks for leaving a review and for the encouragement! Hehehe just wait till the drama builds morrrre!
Guest – Yay! Thanks so much for taking the time out to review multiple chapters! Leave a name next time so I can give you a specific shout-out!
Shizuhoe – LOL! It's so funny how many people thought that Kyoko was interrupting the story because she needed to take a leak. But that's so…her as well haha. And yup, I changed things a bit to ramp up the drama and make Ren's desire for revenge more complex. Kuon actually was the one to pull the trigger and kill Rick in this fic. Also, surprise! Kaiso is Delta is Kyoko's dad! Were you right? Did you solve the puzzle from last chapter's notes? And fufufu… Did Kyoko call to report Ren going rogue? Yashiro and Lory didn't seem to know about it. ;) Thanks as always for reviewing, Shizuhoe!
MWEH – Hey! Didn't see you around the review section last chapter, but I have a confession to make to you: I might have told a teeny, tiny, eensy, weensy lie about Kaiso being an OC to throw everyone off the scent of Delta's identity. ;) Kudos to you though! You called me out on every hint and were basically on my tail this entire fic on the true identity of Delta! Bravo! Also, thoughts on the most recent SB chapter? I've seen the raws and freaking Sensei has left us on a terrible cliffhanger. ARGH! April, come faster!
-x-
Don't forget to leave a review, a fave, or an alert! Just a few kind words really do raise my spirits and motivate me to write more! :) See you guys in a month or less!