Hello loyal readers!
Long time no see! Sorry for the wait! Even though I promised I would focus on Spy Beat, I… might have ended up writing that Star Wars AU one shot that had been rattling around in my brain since December, sorry don't hate meeeee! I should be posting it as a separate story around mid-August, so if you aren't following me, add me to your Authors Alert list to be notified! :D
(Another one shot about Kyoko and Ren trying to track down a serial killer may also be in the works! But I really will try to focus on Spy Beat from now on!)
Today we have a brief reappearance of our favorite hamster and smuggler, the Vie Ghoul up to no good per usual, Mimori on social media, and the LME agents infiltrating the Henshin hideout! Enjoy and please don't forget to leave a review, fave, or follow! They really mean the world to me and keep me motivated to write!
-x-
CH39
- Two hours and twenty-two minutes until revote -
Really, Kyoko had hoped to get at least half an hour before the alarm was tripped. After wandering the monotonous tiled hallways of the Henshin headquarters while pretending like she did know where she was going and pretending like she didn't just knock out two members of the yakuza, Kyoko had finally decided her best bet was to change disguises again.
Thus, twenty minutes after her great escape, she found herself in a random closet, cramped on all sides by metal shelves with large jugs of cleaning supplies and towels. She was trying to hastily yet quietly discard Ito-san's green guard uniform for a thick grey jumpsuit she'd found in the closet when the loudspeaker over the door squawked to life.
"Attention all Henshin operatives. Attention all Henshin operatives," a smooth female voice sounded over the intercom, "A prisoner has escaped. I repeat, a prisoner has escaped."
Startled and caught with one leg in the jumpsuit and one leg out, Kyoko couldn't hold back a decidedly unladylike squeal as she tumbled noisily into a pile of mops and buckets stacked haphazardly on the closet floor.
"Please refer to your handheld units for a photograph of the prisoner," the woman continued, sounding more as if she belonged announcing train stations on the JR than broadcasting the escape of a fugitive. "The prisoner must be captured alive. I repeat, the prisoner must be captured alive. Thank you."
Grumbling a slew of curses aimed at Delta (and Shotaro just for good measure) as she picked herself up off the floor, Kyoko hurriedly finished shoving her arms into the jumpsuit as she reached for Ito-san's handheld device.
As she zipped up the uniform, a picture of herself in her Setsu wig and outfit blipped onto the screen. Underneath in bolded letters, Kyoko read the description, 'May have a different hair color. May be dressed in green guard uniform. Prisoner is considered unarmed but extremely dangerous. MUST CAPTURE ALIVE.'
"'Unarmed but extremely dangerous,'" Agent M read to herself again, aloud this time. A smirk curled onto her lips as a string of self-satisfied chuckles escaped her. They thought she was 'extremely dangerous'! Despite the harrowing circumstances, Kyoko couldn't help but feel quite pleased with herself. Her enemy thought that she – Mogami Kyoko, only a junior agent – was a legitimate threat!
Still chuckling smugly, Kyoko moved to turn and hide her guard uniform under a shelf when a small, wheeled cleaning cart caught her foot and she promptly shot forward, dumping her all over again on the floor.
Pouting, the now-humbled Agent M huffed a stray piece of auburn hair out of her eyes as she lie, limbs entangled in mop handles and buckets. She didn't feel quite so smug or dangerous now.
And that was when the door to the closet flew open, blinding her with a sudden flash of light.
"Got you!"
"AHH!"
Three shouts – one terrified and two surprised – echoed in the claustrophobic space. Then there was silence. When no hands reached down to grab her and throw her back in her prison cell, Kyoko raised an arm to block out the light from the hall.
Out in the corridor stood two figures, one was miming having a panic attack and a heart attack simultaneously while the other was just whacking the girl on the back, unpityingly.
"Why'd you have to do that, Murasame-kun?" whined the shorter figure as she clutched her chest. "You scared her, and then she screamed, and then she scared us, and than I screamed, and now I'm going to pass out and dieee~!"
'Murasame…?'
"Hai, hai," the taller figure groused, his long dark hair coming into focus as Kyoko's eyes adjusted to the light outside the closet. "You're awfully chatty for someone who's about to die, Manaka-chan…"
'Manaka…!'
"Oi! You!"
Blinking rapidly, Kyoko flew out of her thoughts and scrambled to her feet as Murasame Taira, the Henshin smuggler, turned to snarl at her. He tossed his wavy hair out of his eyes as he ignored the petite surveillance expert staggering about the hall behind him. His dark eyes locked onto Kyoko's in a fierce glare. A shock of fear ran down the LME agent's spine.
Of all the people to run into…
"You're bein' awfully noisy in there," Murasame growled as he crossed his arms over his chest. He jutted his chin out as a gesture of pointing. "And what the hell is that?"
Kyoko glanced down, following his indication. In her right hand, still clutched amidst the panic of the situation, was the sleeve of the green guard's uniform.
'Unarmed but extremely dangerous' Agent M almost screamed in terror again.
"I – y-you – this–!" Kyoko babbled out smoothly. The smuggler's eyes just narrowed. "W-What I mean to say is–!"
"Geez, Tau-kun!" Apparently recovered from her recent brush with death, Manaka smacked her flatmate on the shoulder. "You're so cold! I'm over here dying and you don't even care! And why are you bothering the janitor? Aren't we already running late for the big meeting?"
'Janitor…?' Kyoko glanced down at her uniform. Sure enough, a nametag pronouncing her as "Yamada Hanako, Cleaning Attendant" was embroidered on her upper right chest.
Fortunately, Murasame was distracted, trying to explain his suspicions to Manaka. By the time Kyoko looked up again, he was finishing, "Also, Omicron, doesn't she remind you of someone? She looks familiar…"
To emphasize his point, Tau stepped forward and leaned in, scrutinizing Kyoko. Manaka mimicked his actions, tipping her head to the side, lips pursed in a thoughtful pout.
"I guess…?" The surveillance specialist mused, voice pitching higher with doubt. "But she seems much more… plain, doesn't she?"
Whether by instinct or subconscious calculation, Kyoko had a moment of clarity. A sweet, simple smile brushed over her lips as she bowed a sharp thirty degrees from the waist at the duo.
"My deepest apologies, operatives," Maid-Kyoko intoned pleasantly as she rose and swiftly folded the green guard uniform with a deft flick of her hands. "I had just received the announcement about the escaped prisoner when I found this uniform."
Two more quick motions and the edges of the uniform top and bottom were smartly creased, neat and tidy.
"I was on my way to Director Konoe's office to turn in this evidence. However, I was surprised by your sudden appearance." She proffered the crisply folded top to Tau with a bright but empty servile smile. "Please excuse my indiscretion. If you would prefer, you can turn it in to Director Konoe yourself."
"Uh…Ah…" Murasame accepted the uniform, staring at it like a man who expects to be handed a Christmas present but is instead given a bag of slugs – baffled, mystified, and thoroughly displeased at this sudden turn of events.
As if voicing aloud his inner thoughts, Omicron leaned away and shook her head vigorously from side to side. "No way! You're totally hallucinating, Tau-kun. This girl is so different!"
Glancing back and forth between the uniform in his hands and the unfailing professional smile of the girl before him, Murasame finally slowly nodded his head to himself as if trying to mentally catch up with this unexpected development. Without even thanking the young janitor girl, Murasame – like a sleep-walker – turned on his heel and staggered away down the hall.
Over Manaka's reprimands that his fruitless delay would cause them to be late to the meeting, Kyoko heard the smuggler muttering to himself, "No way it could've been her… But for a second there… Am I going crazy?"
After what seemed like an eternity, the duo turned the corner down the hall, and Agent M released a sigh of relief. The adrenaline sidelined her thoughts, causing her gaze to wander down to her hands – hands that had served hundreds of superiors and had folded mountains of laundry and had been trained to never falter in their polite demeanor no matter the pressure. Hands that had been molded by the Fuwa family for the benefit of one family member in particular…
'Kyoko means nothing to me… If she were snatched, no one would care about such a plain, boring girl.'
Well, her plain, boring side had just saved her hide. Did this mean that she had that guy to thank?
Catching herself brooding on dangerous thoughts, Kyoko shook her head and ducked back into the closet, loading up one of the small, wheeled carts with cleaning supplies. Forcing herself, she turned her mind away from confusing thoughts and toward escape.
Noting the last piece of her disguise, Kyoko snagged a gray cap off one of the shelves. As she tugged it low to cover her eyes, she murmured to herself, "Alright. Wait for me, Tsuruga-san…"
-x-
Reino sighed again. He had hoped that his escape from the LME unit's basement would be less conspicuous. After all, his preferred M.O. usually involved disappearing silently into the night, the deceased bodies only discovered in the exposing light of the day. It evoked an air of mystery and fear that had kept him employed at the top of his field for years.
He also preferred to kill his victims, not merely render them unconscious. People who fainted often had a nasty tendency of waking up at inopportune times and raising the alarm. But, damn that LME doctor – he didn't keep any medicines within reach that could be distilled down into a poison that would harm the body beyond a brief loss of consciousness.
Therefore, even though it was highly distasteful to have to leave this unsightly trail of fainted bodies in his wake as he made his way to the upper levels of the LME HQ, it was unavoidable. Reino's lips twitched into a grimace of annoyance as he stuck his hand around the corner, directly under the nose of an unsuspecting guard. Rho stepped around the corner and watched, in extreme displeasure as the guard's eyes rolled up into his sockets as he crumpled to the floor. The assassin sighed, disappointed.
Not nearly enough shut down of internal organs for his taste. Miroku was never going to let him live down this mess.
Speaking of Miroku… Reino sauntered over to the console the guard had been attending. The assassin closed his eyes and waved a mystical hand over the console, coming to a stop over one button in particular that he pressed. A loud BEEP sounded as a nearby metal door slid open.
Immediately a group of men leapt through the door, assault weapons leveled. Then a tall, thin man with long blonde hair caught sight of the Vie Ghoul leader and lowered his rifle.
"Rho!" Miroku's face brightened, but then he stopped, puzzled. "What's with this mess?"
"I had to make do," Reino intoned, his voice only taking a slight edge as evidence that he was more annoyed and less bored than he let on, "As one is want to do while in captivity. Now, can we please get started?"
"Thought you'd never ask." Mu grinned and tossed a heavy, black gun and a small in-ear communications implant at his leader.
Snatching the gun out of the air and screwing the device into his ear, Reino sighed again. Even more messy. He preferred the elegance of poison to these trashy weapons… Where was the mystery? Where was the aura of dread? Where was the cloak and dagger in assassination?
Still… orders were orders…
"Let's get this over with," the assassin group's leader sighed, clearly bored, and cracked the slide back on his pistol. He was thoroughly not going to enjoy himself.
-x-
"Oi, Pocchiri!" Sho's voice carried from the dressing room to the connecting lobby. "We don't have time for this!"
In the middle of trying to snap the perfect selfie, Mimori lowered her cellphone and shifted in her cushy leather chair. She pouted at the dressing room door but grinned when she heard her stylist reprimand Sho-chan in heavily accented Japanese.
"I know what I'm doing, Sho-chan," Mimori called sweetly across the room. The model turned back to her phone, trying again different angles for her selfie. "It's al~ways about appearances in Show Biz. And Friedrich-san is the best of the best."
"Well, 'Friedrich-san' could try to at least hurry up! We've got to get to the Diet building!"
Mimori snapped a shot and nodded to herself, scrolling through her filters to select the right one. She hollered back absentmindedly, "Yeah, right. It's probably best that you don't move right now, Sho-chan. You might accidentally–"
A loud yelp as if a young man had been stuck in some unmentionable place by a fabric pin echoed through the waiting room. An answering voice cursed loudly in German. Mimori continued typing on her phone. "Never mind!"
Scrolling through her post one last time, Mimori re-read it, adjusted some emojis, and then tapped "Done".
While her new official fiancé continued to gripe in the dressing room, Mimori squiggled in her chair in excitement, watching as the reactions and comments flooded in from her fans.
"Hello Mimori-Fam! *star emoji* I know I've been away from you all for a loooooong time *crying emoji*, but it was because I was getting a BIG surprise ready for you! *heart emoji* Tell all your friends! Mimori is going to have a SUUUPER AWESOME concert *music note emoji* with a special guest *shocked face emoji* in 30 minutes by the Diet building~! See you all there~! *heart emoji x 3*"
-x-
"Take the next left," Yashiro directed over the comm link.
Without hesitating, Ren swiveled left down the next hall, his gun barrel raised. Twitching the sights up, down, right, and then left, he continued forward at a steady pace, eyes still peeled for trouble. He heard Chiori enter the hallway after him, her weapon similarly checking in all directions, before Kanae finally followed, her steps awkward as she walked sideways, looking back and covering the rear.
The fiber optic hacking-wire they had wrapped around a bundle of camera cables at the entrance allowed the entire tech support team in the Command Post access to the Henshin hideout's security camera feed. Additionally, Yashiro assured them, the wire also allowed the techs to hack into and loop the feed to prevent Henshin's security from noticing the agents on the cameras. However, this was not an excuse for a lack of vigilance. Because as a field agent, one never knew if danger was lurking just around–
"Two guards ahead of you are going to turn down your hallway in 10 seconds," Yashiro barked urgently. "There's a clear room five meters ahead on your right."
Before the techie had even finished speaking, the trio had picked up their pace, arriving quickly at the door. As Yashiro counted down from ten, Ren yanked on the knob and drove into the room first, gun raised. His eyes flit to every corner of the cluttered storage room to ensure there were no occupants.
"Clear," he muttered. Behind him, he heard Agent A follow him in and finally, Agent K quietly shut the door behind them.
Not a moment too soon.
A heartbeat after Kanae had closed the door, the three agents heard the tramping of boots and loud laughter as two guards walked down the corridor. Their conversation swelled then faded as they passed the door and continued, oblivious, down the hall.
All the LME agents huffed a small sigh. That was close.
"Sorry," the tech support was murmuring over their comm links. "It seems that our blueprint for the building is outdated after all, and Henshin's camera system is split into multiple groupings."
"Well, it looks like we found where your cameras and blueprints don't reach," Kanae grumbled, slightly peeved.
Yashiro laughed sheepishly as Ren pointed out, "We were forewarned of the possibility of flying blind here."
Chiori still muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Stupid strategy team. You had one job…"
"Well," Yukihito said as he cleared his throat, "Our camera feed confirms the blueprint, showing that there's a 4-way intersection of two hallways up ahead. The south hall leads back the way you came. It is unconfirmed where the north, east, and west halls lead. In order to scope those areas out, we will have to find additional camera cords to tap into."
"So we're going to have to find camera feeds in each of those sections if we want to be able to find Kyoko?" Kanae mused.
"Yes."
Anxiety for Kyoko weighing down his gut, Ren shook his head. "That's going to take too long. We should split up."
Kanae nodded. "One direction for each person."
"Yes, that would seem like the most efficient–" Yashiro's voice broke off suddenly. In the background, Ren could hear the HQ's warning sirens begin to blare.
"Yashiro," Agent T barked, "What's going on?"
As if in reply, the trio of agents could hear an automated voice rhythmically repeating in time with the whoops of the siren, "Intruders on Level 4. Intruders on Level 4."
Ren heard some shouting in the background as the tech support staff scrambled on their computers to locate the intruders on the LME's internal cameras. Yashiro mumbled a string of curses under his breath – rare for him – and Ren's eyes widened. The last time he'd heard his friend curse was during the Osaka Debacle. The situation must've been extremely bad right now.
"It's that creep Reino!" Yukihito finally reported to the agents. "He somehow got loose and now he's here with what looks like the entire Vie Ghoul."
Past his sinking heart and in the background, Ren could hear President Takarada barking orders – "Tell all the agents to stand down and retreat. Only lay cover fire for evacuation. Do not engage. There is no way we can beat them in a fire fight!"
Another techie yelled out, alarmed, "President, they appear to be headed for the data server room!"
Ren and Kanae sucked in a sharp breath. This was very bad. Confused, Chiori looked back and forth between the two.
"What the big deal?" The junior agent asked, frowning. "It's just some computers, right? They're encrypted anyway."
Kanae shook her head, her scowl deepening. "You're new, Amamiya-san. You probably didn't know, but the servers hold information on every single undercover operative in the LME unit."
"Names, ages, photos," Ren listed off grimly, "Aliases, deployment locations, mission goals–"
"So if the Vie Ghoul manage to get past the encryption on the servers…" Chiori mused, her eyes growing wide with fear. "They would be able to expose all our agents?"
Deeply troubled, Ren nodded. "Tokyo, Osaka, Russia, America, China, Korea – All of them would undoubtedly be captured, tortured, and killed by the countries and criminal organizations they are infiltrating."
"That is, if Delta decides to outright release the information," Kanae hazarded, thinking. "If he uses it to blackmail the LME unit and the PSIA…"
"No one will be able to oppose him once he gains control of the government…" Chiori finished, hands clenching her weapon tighter. A gloom settled over the group at the severity of the situation. Agent A glanced uncertainly between the two senior operatives. "Wh-What should we do?"
Over the comm link, Yashiro's voice cut through the heavy air, "But, President, wait!"
There was an indistinct shout of a reply, then Yashiro groaned over the line. Ren could imagine him clutching his forehead in frustration.
"Yashiro-san," Agent T prompted. "What's going on?"
The techie sighed mightily. "The President dashed off to take care of the Vie Ghoul single-handedly. He ordered you all to keep going to get Agent M."
Ren exchanged worried glances with the two LoveMe girls. The last time the President had been in the field was… how long ago?
"He'll be fine," Ren suggested, trying to sound more convinced than he felt. "He knows what he's doing."
"If the President is fast," Yashiro pointed out, the sound of his hands flying over the keyboard in the background. "We might be able to stop them in time before they crack the encryption."
As if sensing the tension in the silence across the line, Yashiro said sternly, "Stop worrying about us and focus on your own mission. There are two layers to the server and a booby-trap, so that should slow the Vie Ghoul down. Anyway, just keep going. That next patrol is due in about 57 seconds."
"Right," Kanae replied, glancing up at her two teammates. She put her finger to her lips, thinking, then pointed to herself. "West."
She pointed to Chiori. "North."
And finally she pointed to Ren. "East."
Ren nodded. "Meet back here in thirty minutes. Sync your watches."
The three agents huddled together and at the same moment, pressed the timer button on their comm watches. Sharing determined looks, the trio exited the room.
"Good luck," Ren murmured to them as they reached the intersection and dispersed. He watched the two girls trot down their respective halls before turning to his own entrance.
"I'm coming, Kyoko. Hold on."
-x-
Japanese Notes:
The JR (Japan Rail) is the main subway/train company that services Tokyo.
Yamada Hanako is kind of like the Japanese version of "Jane Doe" haha. Talk about a plain name!
-x-
MAILBAG
MWEH – Yeah admittedly one or two of the most consistent posters is mainly Spanish-speaking, but nowadays they usually post pictures more than big blocks of Spanish text. And let's face it, a cute drawing of Ren and Kyoko works in any language ;) As for this month's chapter, I'm definitely much more satisfied because after months and months of waiting (has it been over a year?), Ren and Kyoko are FINALLY talking with each other face to face! Gyah! I hope Yashiro is able to disappear soon into their little picnic so it ends up being just Ren and Kyoko alone~! Hehehe… Thanks for reviewing again MWEH!
J Luc Pitard – LOL, I honestly can't believe Lory hasn't suggested in the manga that Ren belongs in the LoveMe group yet. The man was formerly incapable of love, incapable of acting out love, had never been in love before, and considered himself unworthy of love… Sounds like a prime LoveMe member to me! Yesss, the LoveMe girls (plus Ren) are definitely going to throw Delta's plans for a loop :3 And as for Delta letting Kyoko keep her wig.. let's just say there was a purpose behind it! Hehe
Brennakai – Thanks for reviewing as always!
Guineapigs1 – It's quite sharp of you to pick up on the timing of the homing beacon ping. Yes, admittedly Kyoko had not escaped at that point so it was not her that sent the signal to the LME unit. So who was it~? ;) Thanks Guineapigs1! It's so encouraging to hear that someone is enjoying my writing!
Misherukuro – Thanks for reviewing! It's reviews like yours that make me excited to write, so thanks for taking the time to leave one! :D
-x-
Please don't forget to review, fave, or follow! It keeps me motivated amidst work and adulting! Hehe 3 See you in August and don't forget to check out the One Shot that's going to be posted mid-August!