Hello Loyal Readers!

I'm posting a week early, because I'm so excited to get this show on the road!

I know posts are far and few between (especially considering my original weekly posting schedule), but thank you for bearing with me and all of my life changes! I really appreciate each and every one of you who reads, follows, and reviews!

Thank you all! Almost to 90 faves! Woohoo!

This week, we have our rescue squad suiting up, a sudden change of heart, a subtle escape, and an old villain returning to the fray! Enjoy!

-x-

CH38

- 3 hours and 15 minutes until revote -

"It's a trap."

"I know it's probably a trap," Ren groused, still half out of breath from his wild sprint to the Command Post from his living quarters. He stood, facing off against the President across a large, marble-topped conference table. Only the blipping of computers and the frenzied clacking of keyboards sounded in the tense air as the dozen tech supports and strategists scattered about the room attempted to sink deeper into their seats, desperately trying to ignore the heated argument behind them.

Agent T thumped his palm down on the table, just to emphasize his point. "But what if it's not! What if Mogami-san's actually escaped and is trying to contact us?"

Golden epaulets of his nineteenth-century Russian czar coat winking dangerously in the light, Lory narrowed his eyes. "Boy, you walked into one of Delta's traps less than a week ago. Are you so keen to walk into another one?"

Matching the President's flinty glare, Ren just stared back and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's worth the risk."

The President didn't waver. So Ren decided to play his trump card. "For Ky-Kyoko–" her given name felt foreign in his mouth, and he felt himself blush as his eyes fell to the floor "—for her, it's worth the risk."

There was only silence. Unnerved and hope sinking, Ren raised his gaze.

In all of his years of knowing him, Tsuruga Ren had never seen Takarada Lory look quite so flabbergasted. The President's mouth gaped open as the master spy only stared at Agent T blankly. One blink. Two. Ren was almost tempted to wave a hand in front of the man's face to ensure that he was still conscious. "Pres–?"

"You're an idiot." Takarada finally managed, his voice incredulous. "You actually, finally figured it out!"

First Kotonami via video, then Amamiya in her notes, and then Yashiro in the flesh – Ren felt like throwing his hands in the air. "Is everyone done calling me an idiot? Can we please get back to the matter at hand?"

"But you are an idiot," a female voice called out.

The two men turned toward the doorway. Brandishing a phone in her hand, Amamiya Chiori let the door slam shut behind her as she stalked up the conference table toward Ren. Agent T had to swallow a nervous lump as he tried not to shy away from the dark-haired fury who had written him so many creatively poisonous threats just days before. But the Number Three LoveMe girl merely narrowed her eyes and waved her phone at his face. "You're an idiot if you think you're going anywhere to save Kyoko-san without us!"

"Us?" Ren and President Takarada echoed in confusion.

The phone screen leapt to life as Kotonami Kanae's infuriated visage flashed across the screen. She shot both men a challenging glare. "We're going."

"Kotonami-kun…" The President shook his head as he groaned, "You're deep undercover as the Prime Minister's personal assistant and guard."

"The Kimagure Unit is taking over," Kanae snapped peevishly. It looked as if she were hastily stuffing stealth gear and gadgets into a small duffel bag. "They owe Kyoko anyhow. And Prime Minister Ogata knows."

Takarada pinched the bridge of his nose. "You can't just–!"

Ignoring him, Kanae briskly reached off-screen, grabbed her Glock pistol, released her ammo clip, slammed a fresh one into place, and pulled back the slide with a loud SNAP. She glared at the camera.

If Ren weren't so bent on the same goal, he would almost have felt sorry for Lory, who seemed as if he were about to have two migraines at once.

"Fine!" The President flapped his hands in the air, sinking back into his cushioned desk chair with a tired groan and a clacking of golden medals on his ornamental coat. He pouted at Chiori and the cell phone screen. "So mean. You LoveMe girls ganging up on me…"

Satisfied, Kanae dropped her gun into her bag with an air of finality and a loud harrumph. Chiori hastily pocketed the phone and rushed over to speak about gear, strategy, and transportation preparations with Yashiro who had finally made his way to the Command Post, still slightly winded.

Now alone, the President looked up at Ren, his exasperation vanishing and an amused gleam in his eye. "Even if it is a trap, I can't just abandon my Number One LoveMe girl."

"You would've sent a team anyway." Ren blanched. He'd been had. "You were just trying to get me to admit my feelings."

"Of course," Lory winked and waved a hand at all the tech supports and strategists in the room. "What do you think they've been working on all this time? Next week's obento sale?"

Then Takarada's eyes lost their amused warmth and turned serious, regarding Ren. Lory said in an even tone, "Besides, that girl has been abandoned far too many times, don't you think?"

"I agree completely." Solemnly, Ren gazed back, feeling as if he were making a vow. "Never again for the rest of her life, if I have anything to say about it."

Lory chuckled and tucked a fist under his head as he regarded Ren. "I guess I won't have to stick you in the LoveMe group after all."

Thankful that the President was at least being mature about the matter of his newly-blossoming love life, Ren smiled and responded wryly, "It was certainly a narrow escape."

A small sound perked Agent T's ears up. It sounded like a distant, monotonous wail… but it was getting louder and louder until –

"GRA-ND-FA-THE-R!" Takarada Maria launched herself through the Command Post's double doors and straight into the President's lap. She bounced up and down, shaking him by the lapels of his czar's coat, causing the medals to jangle discordantly. "Grandfather! Is it true? You found Onee-sama?"

"Yes, Maria, but–!"

"I'm going too!"

President Takarada frowned. "No, absolutely not."

Instantly, tears welled in Maria's eyes. "But I've got to! Onee-sama is all alone, and p-probably afraid, a-and–!"

Ren sank to one knee and gathered the girl up in his arms. "Maria-chan…"

Now sobbing miserably, Maria scrubbed at her eyes fruitlessly as more tears surged to the surface. "I-I know I'll just get in the way, but Onee-sama was there for me when I was alone and afraid! I have to—!"

Bringing the weeping girl forward to look him in the eye, Ren chucked a finger under her chin until she was looking at him. He held her gaze and said solemnly, "Maria-chan. I promise you on my very life that I will bring Mogami-san back."

Maria hiccupped, her tears finally slowing. "P-Promise?"

Ren nodded with a small smile. "Yes."

For a long moment, the young girl only searched his face. Then she noted in an astonished tone eerily beyond her years, "Wow. Ren-sama finally figured it out."

Standing to his feet, Agent T watched with a withering stare as the President's granddaughter, spirits restored, flounced over to Yashiro and Chiori, joining in on the conversation of preparations.

He really had been an idiot if Maria – a child – had been able to see what he hadn't. But then again she was related to the Love Monster, so sniffing out romantic relationships was probably in her DNA or something…

Yashiro broke off from Maria and Chiori who were running through the doors, apparently to collect the appropriate gear and weapons while the tech supports and strategists in the Command Post finalized ideal entry-points and exit strategies.

"I hate to rain on everyone's parade, but what are we going to do about the revote?" Yashiro inquired. He pointed to the giant timer on the screen at the front of the room. It read a countdown of two hours and fifty-five minutes. "We need to get Kyoko out so that Delta doesn't have a hostage, but are we going to make it in time?"

"Delta's agents have already been spotted guarding the periphery of the Diet," Lory mused. "The PSIA's plan had been to send in agents disguised as radicalized protestors who would force an emergency evacuation to cancel the vote today, but—"

"At this point, Delta's men will just slaughter anyone who tries to stand in his way," Yashiro finished grimly.

"And if we cancel the vote now, Mogami-san will be the first one in danger," Ren pointed out the bleak situation. He frowned pensively at the floor. "But we can stall it until we can get Mogami-san out."

"The PSIA has already worked every angle – against my advisement because all their plans jeopardize Mogami-kun's safety," Lory growled. "Every agent we send in there will be eliminated by Delta's forces with extreme prejudice."

"But well-known public figures and the public itself, he can't touch. He can't risk antagonizing the masses until the vote is done." Ren responded thoughtfully. Suddenly he said, "It's still a couple hours until the vote. How many of the Diet members have yet to arrive?"

"79 of the Councillors and 124 of the Representatives," Yashiro read off one of the other techie's screens.

Lory raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

"You're not going to like it." Ren grimaced and called out to one of the techies, "Can you put Agent Ki on a secured line?"

As the tech support nodded the affirmative and the call began to go through, both Lory and Yashiro's eyes widened as they started to catch up with Ren's plan.

"You're right," Yashiro muttered.

"We don't like it," Lory groaned and massaged his temples. "But it might just buy us enough time to save Mogami-kun."

Kijima's face blipped onto the main screen, warped around the edges from the fisheye lens of his comm watch. He blinked in surprise at the gathering of people in the Command Post before the techie zoomed the camera in on Ren's face.

"Yo, Agent T," Kijima said with a jaunty wave. "The President put you back on active duty?"

Ignoring his colleague's backhanded comment, Ren asked, "Agent Ki, you're at your post right now?"

On screen, Kijima puffed his cheeks out, pouting at Ren's subtle implication that he was neglecting his field duties. "Of course!"

"Good. I need you to put Fuwa and Nanokura-san on the line."

The other agent blinked in confusion. "Fuwa and Nanokura? What do you need with those two?"

Ren's grim, "You'll see," ended up being drowned out by a shout on the other line.

"Is it that Bastard?" Fuwa Sho's voice rang out over the speaker. His blonde hair appeared in the frame as he came up behind Kijima. The heir demanded, "What does the hell does he want? Has he found Kyoko yet?"

"Fuwa," Ren greeted flatly as Kijima handed the watch over.

"Tsuruga-Bastard," Sho returned with narrowed eyes. "If you haven't gotten Kyoko back yet, why the hell are we talking?"

"We know where she is right now," Ren shared, trying to mentally shake off the stab of guilt that Sho was right. He should have Kyoko back by now. Actually, he should have never let her get taken away in the first place. He stared up at the main monitor, dreading what he was about to say. "As much as it pains me to admit it, we need your help to get her back…" Ren dropped his gaze and muttered, "I need your help."

Heaving a heavy sigh, Ren raised his eyes back to the screen, determined to face his past mistakes and overcome them. "I screwed up, and now I need your help to save her. To save Japan."

On screen, Sho was silent, a speechless mixture of perplexed and thoughtful.

Ren sighed. "Fuwa… Come on."

"Fine," Sho finally managed. He added with narrowed eyes. "But for Kyoko. Not for you…"

"Thank you!" Ren enthused, not caring about the brilliant smile he accidentally let loose. "Now, we are going to need you and Nanokura-san to–"

"As if!" another voice shrilled, "As if Mimori is going to help that dumb-stupid-ugly peasant!"

Slightly off-screen, a shorter, dark-haired head bobbled angrily. Sho turned to look down at Mimori. Ren closed his eyes, frowning. The plan wasn't going to work if Mimori wasn't on board.

Abruptly, the screen darkened, and when Sho spoke next, his voice was dampened as if he'd turned the other way and was muffling the comm link with his hand. "I'll accept your father's offer."

"Huh?" Mimori squeaked.

"To make our engagement official. I'll sign the contract."

Ren's eyes widened.

"Really? Kya~! Sho-chan, I knew you were just playing hard to get!"

There was a sound like 'Oof' as if someone had just been tackled by an overly-excited heiress.

"Ok." The screen brightened again, whiting out before the colors of Sho and Mimori faded back as the watch's camera adjusted. Sho was straining, trying to get out of the stranglehold Mimori had on his neck. "We're in."

"Fuwa…" Ren hazarded.

"I said, we're in," Sho growled, finally extricating himself with a weary sigh as Mimori dashed off to presumably gush on social media about their engagement. Sho's eyes dipped down, troubled, before rising back up to glare at the screen defiantly. "It's fine."

"Thank you," Ren said. He truly meant it.

The blonde grumbled, "Yeah, yeah. So what's this brilliant plan of yours?"

As Ren explained his plan to the Fuwa heir, Yashiro had picked up a phone given to him by one of the other tech supports. After agreeing a couple of times, he turned to Agent T.

"Ren," Yashiro called, "Amamiya-san is in the hangar waiting for you. Car is stocked with your gear, and ready to go."

Ren called over his shoulder, "And Kotonami-san?"

"Going to rendezvous with you on-scene."

Agent T turned back to the screen, facing Sho. Ren gave his rival a small smile. "Thank you, Fuwa. We will definitely bring her back."

"Yeah. Whatever," Sho huffed, turning up his nose.

"Have to go." Ren reached toward the tech's desk to terminate the connection, but before he could click the button, the heir's voice sounded out over the line.

"Hey, Tsuruga-bastard."

Agent T glanced up at the screen, brow raised. "Yes?"

"You better give him hell for taking her," Sho growled, his gaze fiery.

Ren grinned, determined. "Of course."

-x-

Ito Himawari had never really wanted to get into the yakuza business. She had always wanted to become a divorced housewife or the owner of a small, rural non-franchise convenience store. She would own two cats and sit along a riverbank after work before returning to her cramped studio apartment at night.

Then her sophomore year of high school, she had accidentally knocked out the school's banchou. She'd always been the clumsy sort. But the misunderstandings had escalated quickly, and soon enough she'd found herself with a dozen underlings and the title of the school's new banchou. One thing had led to another, and when she accepted a job offer from that nice-looking man at her graduation with all the tattoos, who could have known that he'd turn out to be a member of the yakuza?

Soon after she'd joined however, the Inugawa-kai had come under the influence of this Delta guy, and Ito Himawari found herself loaned out. And lucky her! She had the cushy job of guarding Delta's prisoners. It wasn't a convenience store, but it was still pretty nice.

As she gathered the dishes for Kyoko-san's lunch onto a tray, Himawari hummed the catchy opening of the anime she'd started watching the night before. However, she couldn't quite remember the tune, so she made it up as she went. Her guard partner Ueda-san, another loaner from the Inugawa-kai, glanced up at her nervously. Last time she'd hummed to herself, he had hesitantly asked her if she was reciting Buddhist funeral chants. He was so silly, always joking.

Finished collecting everything onto the tray, Himawari adjusted her dark green uniform cap over her short black hair, picked up the tray, and announced, "I'm off, yeah!" to a now eager-looking Ueda. He always seemed so happy when she left to give the prisoner her meals. Himawari assumed that it must've been the upbeat way that she waved good-bye as she left him alone.

Still humming to herself, Himawari locked the guard room behind her, punched the code in for the hallway, and after the door wooshed open, she tramped down the ramp to Kyoko-san's room.

Himawari glanced around the cell, her dark brown eyes examining the visible area. Kyoko-san was nowhere in sight, but the guard guessed that she was behind the wall leading to the toilet area. Not wanting to disturb her, Himawari quietly let herself in and set the tray down on the cot. She wanted to talk with Kyoko-san – talking with Kyoko-san was almost as fun as talking with Ueda-san – but even Himawari knew that you shouldn't bother a girl during her time on the toilet. It was just bad manners.

As Himawari was about to turn her key in the lock, she heard a loud yelp from behind the wall barrier and the sound of water splashing on the floor.

"Kyoko-san? Are you ok?" Himawari called hesitantly.

Another squawk sounded from behind the wall, and a moment later, Kyoko's voice called out with a nervous laugh, "O-Oh! Ito-san! I didn't realize you were here!"

"Sorry, Kyoko-san. I didn't want to interrupt you while you were… y'know…"

"Um… Actually, I appear to need some help," Kyoko stated haltingly, her tone indicating that she was mortifyingly embarrassed. A small hand poked out from behind the wall and waved. Kyoko let out a small sheepish laugh, "The toilet seems to be overflowing…"

"Overflowing…?" Himawari blinked her dark eyes and cocked her head to the side, thinking, then her mouth made a wide 'O' as her brain connected the dots. No wonder Kyoko-san was so embarrassed to ask for help! Himawari hurried around the corner, wondering where they kept the plunger in this place.

For a good fifteen seconds, shouts and muffled thuds sounded throughout the room, muted from behind the concrete wall.

Finally, there was prolonged silence.

The figure of a girl stepped out from behind the barrier and waved vigorously at the CCTV camera before glancing behind her at the unconscious body on the floor. Straightening the green uniform around her waist, the young woman murmured a genuine, "Sorry…"

Behind her, Himawari heard loud footfalls as Ueda, who had presumably gotten her signal, sprinted down the ramp to the cell. He threw the cell door open, his hand wary on his sidearm. He called out, "Ito!"

Himawari turned, still shell-shocked as she tried to straighten her askew green guard's cap.

"Ito, what the hell happened?" Ueda jogged over to his partner, glancing at her briefly before crouching to examine their prisoner lying knocked out on the floor. The girl was lying slumped against the toilet with her long, blonde hair covering her face.

Rubbing her arms up and down, Himawari ducked her head, grimacing. "I-I don't know! She tried to attack me, so I knocked her out, yeah?"

Ueda raised a brow before barking a short laugh, "So those rumors about you being a banchou were true after all, eh?"

Satisfied in his inspection of the unconscious prisoner, Ueda rose and slapped her hard on the back before exiting the cell. "I always thought you were just some plain, boring girl. Guess I was wrong!"

Himawari followed shakily on his heels. As she shut the cell door behind her and locked it, the young woman mouthed one last 'sorry' to her fallen friend.

"Hey Ito, you coming?" Ueda called down the hall.

Himawari nestled her cap farther down to cover her auburn hair and hid a small smile, her amber eyes flashing.

"I'll be right there, yeah!"

-x-

On the bottom floor of LME headquarters, still locked in his cell, Reino heaved a great sigh and rose slowly from his cot. He reached under his bed to grasp the small glass vial he had secreted there so many days before.

Unceremoniously, he began banging on the door to his cell.

Two blue-suited guards rushed down the corridor and stopped in front of him, only a few widely-spaced metal bars separating him from them. One stepped forward, scowling.

"Cut that out, you creepy bastard. What the hell do you want?"

Reino canted his head to the side and spoke in his bored monotone. "I just wanted to let you two protozoans know that despite your stellar and exemplary attempts to detain me, I have stolen your keys."

Shocked and dismayed, both guard's hands immediately flew to their belts only to have confusion and then rage replace the emotions on their faces as they turned back to the captive assassin.

"The hell are you talking about, you occult bastard?" The other guard sneered as he unsnapped the clasp on the back of his belt and dangled a ring of keys triumphantly in front of the bars. "My keys are right here."

"Oh? Is that right?" Reino calmly and slowly began tying a piece of cloth ripped from his bed sheet over his nose and mouth. He gave a bored smirk from behind the makeshift mask. "Actually, I was referring to the future…"

As fast as a viper, the Vie Ghoul leader stuck his hand out through the bars and popped the rubber stopper off the top of the glass vial. The colorless, odorless liquid at the bottom of the tube instantly vaporized upon contact with air, sending a dose of a carefully concocted chemical straight into the lungs of both unsuspecting guards who had handily inhaled in surprise at Reino's sudden movement.

Two bodies thumped unconscious to the floor.

Casually, Reino withdrew his hand, recapped the vial, and held it up to the light, shaking it slightly. Still a bit left. Satisfied, the Vie Ghoul leader reached under the bars to grasp the keys that the guard had dropped on the floor and unlocked the exit to his cell. As the rusty door swung open with a creaking protest, Reino sauntered through and cracked his head from side to side.

Stepping over the guards' bodies, the assassin tossed the vial up and caught it in his other hand before allowing himself a small smile.

"It's finally time…"

-x-

Japanese Notes

Obento – Japanese boxed lunch

Banchou – The leader of a band of juvenile delinquents

-x-

MAILBAG

Misherukuro – Thanks for reviewing!

J Luc Pitard – Thanks for pointing that out! I had always considered Ren to be more of a foil for Delta than Lory, but you're right in that I have been neglecting the President in developing his competency a bit. That will change veeeery shortly. ;) I'm really glad that you found Saena to be sympathetic! I think in the manga, she's not supposed to be a 100% b*tch like a lot of fanfics represent her, so I've tried to emulate a more realistic Saena here. Glad I've been able to pull it off so far! Thanks for reviewing! Looking forward to more of your input!

Tabbykatroses – I read Tokyo Crazy Paradise maybe 5 years ago and I cannot for the life of me remember anything other than the epic last battle and the fact that I really liked the other guy in the love triangle more than the guy she ended up with haha. I'll have to reread it soon!

Guest – Haha, thanks! I posted a week earlier than last time so hopefully this fills your craving!

brennakai – Good thing Kimiko didn't succeed! Looks like Kimiko's rant had the opposite effect – instead of convincing Kyoko that Ren doesn't love her, she actually got convinced that Ren DOES have feelings for her!

MWEH – Same here, I really enjoy our conversations about the new SB chapters! Have you tried joining the SkipBeat fan page on Facebook? There are a TON of people who discuss theories and chapters on there. It's my secret, guilty, nerdy pleasure :3 I LOLed at Kyoko's response to the height difference; but honestly as a medical professional, getting dropped off a 3 story balcony onto the wrong part of her body (ie, her head) could actually kill her, so… Erika really got the save there! As for this past chapter, I'm kind of bummed that Kanae didn't end up getting the Chidori part, but I'm curious to see what other kind of character she'll play (especially because she was so concerned about accepting the part). Thanks for reading and reviewing MWEH!

H-Nala – Thanks! I really enjoyed writing the Delta-Saena scene!

Erza – I totally LOLed in a café when I read your "Ren looked so hella fine" comment. And yes, both our hero and heroine are dense idiots! But that's why we love them so much :3 As for Ren's kiss, I think that he just retreated into his "Tsuruga Ren" character to be able to respond with so much grace and calm. "Tsuruga Ren" is a consummate gentleman, after all, and the best response we could really expect of him would be mild surprise and ultimately apathy. If he got angry or disgusted, that wouldn't have been in character as "Ren". But TBH, I think that's why he took a shower at the end of this most recent chapter. Gotta wash that nasty, crazy lady's touch off of him! Hahaha Thanks as always Erza!

Guineapigs1 – Actually, Kimiko wasn't lying – that actually was her backstory! She holds a grudge against Ren because she feels like she was led on by his acting, so she's trying to convince Kyoko that Ren doesn't love her (but actually has the opposite effect!). I'm so glad that in canon, Erika totally destroyed Kimiko and her acting career. And, we ARE in the last arc of this story! Final showdown is coming sooooon! (Well, maybe 6-7 more chapters) Thanks for reviewing Guineapigs1!

-x-

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