Hello loyal readers!

I'm so so sorry that I'm a week late! I usually try to post on the first weekend of every month, but this month I was a little behind in writing. October was pretty busy, and on top of that, I really didn't like the chapter outline I originally had for this section of the story, so I had to re-write it and pretty much start from scratch, but I really like the way it turned out!

But better late than never, right! Thanks so much for all the faves and reviews! It's always encouraging to see that people are enjoying the story and want it to continue.

Today we have the LoveMe division gearing up to – as one very awesome Marvel character once put – "Kick names and take ass". I'm going to try to go back to posting on the first Friday of every month, so see you in early December!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

-x-

CH42

- 0:37 until revote -

Kanae frowned at her watch. Agent T was late. Given that she herself had accidentally raised the intruder alarm while freeing that person, it was understandable that both she and Chiori had stumbled back into the deserted storage room several minutes behind their scheduled meeting time. However… The Never Late King was worrisomely absent from their temporary hideout.

"Mou…" Kanae murmured, scowling. "What's taking him so long?"

"Do you think he got caught?" Chiori whispered, as if discussing a topic too outlandish and taboo to even speak aloud. Instead of responding, Kanae turned her back to the other girl.

"And what are those idiots back at HQ doing?" Agent K muttered, busying herself by tapping away at her comm watch. "Why are the servers still down?"

"K-san, I said, do you think he–"

"Mou!" Kanae snapped peevishly, whirling back around. "I don't know! Read the atmosphere a little better, Agent A. Don't ask ominous questions like that!"

Cringing away from the dark-haired agent's ire, Chiori put her hands up defensively. "K-san, your voice! You're too loud. What if someone hears? We could get caught–!"

The shorter girl broke off her sentence, pausing. There was a scratching, shuffling sound by the door, and the two agents froze. The doorknob jiggled once and then slowly twisted open.

"We got caught!" Chiori shrieked. "I surrender!"

"No, we don't surrender!" Snagging the younger woman by the back of her collar as she attempted to flee to the back of the room, Kanae lifted her pistol at the door and snapped maniacally, "C'mon you bastards! You'll never take us alive!"

"Please don't lump me in with you!" Agent A yelped back, struggling to get away. "I'm in the LoveMe division because I hate this job, remember?"

"Mou, just shoot! Shoot! Let them see a hell of bullets!"

Agents A and K broke off abruptly. The door had finished opening with a quiet creak, and Kanae found her gun now leveled at a very panicked looking auburn-haired, amber-eyed agent.

"M-Moko-san! I would rather not see a hell of bullets, please!" Kyoko squealed, her hands flying up in surrender.

Within milliseconds, Kanae and Chiori had grabbed their formerly-missing friend by the front of her shirt, pulled her into the room, and slammed the door behind them.

"Kyo – er, M-san!" Chiori corrected herself as she flung herself on the young woman, embracing her fiercely. "You're ok! We were all so worried about you!"

"Thank you, A-san! I missed you two as well!" Kyoko turned expectant eyes to Kanae like a puppy begging for scraps. Knowing what her friend wanted, but too embarrassed to deliver, the LoveMe Number Two girl reached forward and instead of hugging Kyoko, fiercely karate-chopped her over the head.

"Mou, we were all worried about you," Kanae huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and turning to the side. "But it looks like you've been just fine, gallivanting around energetically."

Rubbing her head, Kyoko pouted and muttered, "So cold, Moko-san… Even after I escaped and met you here…"

"But how did you escape?" Chiori interjected and looked at Kyoko with wide eyes. "How did you know where to find us?"

"Well, I got out of my cell, and then when I was trying to find an exit, I ran into some guards. But then I came across Agent T and then…"

Kanae turned back, hearing the odd tone in her friend's voice as she cut off abruptly. Kyoko's face was in shadow, expression covered by her hair. A pit began forming in the older woman's stomach.

"Agent T… He saved me…" The junior agent's shoulders began shaking, and Kanae could only watch helplessly as tears began falling to the floor. "And then… he… he…"

Agent K stepped forward and had to support Kyoko as her friend's knees buckled beneath her. Shocked, Kanae saw the woman who had weathered so much tragedy and hardship in her life with a can-do attitude and near-idiotic levels of hope clutch Agent K's forearms as if clinging to a lifeline as she fell to the floor.

"He got shot," Kyoko sobbed. "And then we got separated."

In shock herself, Kanae couldn't stop Kyoko from dragging them both to the ground. 'Impossible… Agent T is… THE Agent T is–!'

"I don't even know…" The amber-eyed agent wailed, her voice hitching. "I don't even know if he's still… if he's still…"

Still alive?

"M-san…" Chiori murmured and knelt beside the other two LoveMe girls. The short-haired agent turned to look at Kanae. "K-san, what should we do?"

While sinking into despair, Kanae had a sudden thought. Frowning, Agent K turned to grip Kyoko by her quivering shoulders. Kanae's fingers dug into the young woman's arms. "Hey. Agent M. Did you see him die?"

Hiccuping, Kyoko shook her head and tried to wipe away her streaming tears. "N-No! But there were so many enemies–!"

Hearing her answer, Kanae breathed a sigh of relief, the weight on her chest instantly lighter. With a guy like Agent T, you'd have to bury him and hold a funeral, and he still might come back to life. She'd seen him get out of so many narrow scrapes before…

"You said you don't know if he's still alive?" Agent K asked, releasing her grip on Kyoko's shoulders. Suddenly she chopped Agent M over the head again and roared, "Of course he's still alive, you idiot!"

Chiori caught Kyoko as she jolted away, clutching her head again, eyes wide in shock at the sudden mood shift.

"Tsuruga Ren isn't going to be killed off by something like henchmen," Kanae continued, peevishly. She jabbed a finger at Kyoko. "You know that too. You believe in him. You're just scared."

"K-san…" Chiori glanced hesitantly at the dark-haired agent. "You shouldn't say stuff life that… For all we know, Agent T really might be–"

"I am scared." A whisper cut through the brewing argument. The two brunettes turned to look at their friend.

Kyoko was staring wide-eyed at the floor, arms crossed protectively over her chest, her hands desperately fisted in her sleeves. "I am scared… I don't want to believe, because what if I'm wrong?"

She turned to look up at Kanae, tears brimming in her amber eyes. "I knew this was a bad idea… Falling in love again. It's a thousand times worse than Sho. It hurts, Moko-san…"

Sighing, Agent K leaned forward and laid a heavy hand on her head. Instead of striking her again, Kanae rubbed her hair comfortingly. She muttered, "You coward… Just because it's hard, just because it hurts, just because you get hurt, doesn't mean that you get to turn away."

Nodding, Kyoko sniffled and hiccuped, swiping at her tears.

"That's what commitment is!" Kanae bopped her friend playfully on the head one final time. She grumbled and tried to hide her grin as she said, "Did you think love was going to be some rosy fairytale? How naïve!"

"Most other couples just have to deal with somebody losing their job or disagreeing on whether or not to get a dog or something, though…" Chiori muttered under her breath.

Kanae shot her a glare.

Sighing, Agent A rubbed the back of her head, "Anyway… I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but practically speaking, we're back to square one then – rescuing a captive from enemy territory with only three operatives…"

Chiori paused to think, then listed off on her fingers. "Actually, we're at square negative five. We have no comms, no back-up, no intel, no invincible Agent T, no time – the vote is going to be in half an hour. Are we seriously going to take on the entirety of Henshin by ourselves?"

The room sank into silence. Chiori was speaking sense, but… But since when did the LoveMe group ever operate on common sense?

"Shut up! We are the LoveMe division!" Kanae leapt to her feet and tossed her long hair over one shoulder dramatically. "The most resilient trio! Despite being totally scorned and underestimated and stepped on by everyone, we still persist and survive–"

With flat eyes, Chiori looked at the tall operative striking an inspiring pose. Chiori muttered, "Agent K… is describing cockroaches."

"Mou!" Kanae shot the junior agent a frustrated glare and stamped her foot petulantly. "I'm no good at this motivation thing! Whatever! You know what I mean! He's definitely alive, and we'll get him back, no matter what!"

Unable to help herself, Kyoko chuckled a little, wiping the tears from her eyes. "You guys are right… Agent T wouldn't be killed off so easily."

"Right!" Kanae harrumphed. "That's what I've been saying all along."

Chiori just shook her head and gave a small smile.

"I want to…" The founding LoveMe member murmured, staring at her open hands before clenching them into fists. She looked up, eyes shining with conviction. "No, I do believe in him."

"Alright, alright…" Agent A groaned and hoisted herself up, clearly inspired as well. "Let's go rescue T-san."

"But first–!" Both women looked at Kanae who was rummaging around in her gear pack. Agent K turned to Kyoko and dumped a pile of black clothing into her lap. From above, Kanae cast a haughty look down on the auburn-haired woman. "Change clothes. I can't be seen with someone running around in a frumpy janitor's outfit."

"K-san." Chiori wilted. "That's not exactly our number one priority…"

"Mou, it's about having dignity as an agent. And here," Kanae tossed two heavy handheld black sticks each about the size of a flashlight at Kyoko. Agent M caught them as the dark-haired operative shrugged and looked away, arms crossed. Kanae muttered, "I didn't know which ones you wanted, so I just grabbed whichever, so don't complain if they're not the ones you normally use–"

"Moko-san! A-san!" Kyoko leapt up and grabbed both of them into a tight embrace. As Kanae struggled away and Chiori laughed at their tsundere companion, Kyoko gripped the black rods and grinned.

"Alright. Let's do this. The LoveMe Division is moving out!"

-x-

From the glass viewing booth above the operating room, the smooth, deft movements of the surgeons and medical staff appeared more like a dance than the harried, life-saving battle that it probably was.

But was it really life-saving? That guy had just as much monstrous luck as his father – if the stories were to be believed. The bullet had hit him in just the right place, not causing much internal damage and not striking any vital organs. According to the head surgeon, the bullet just had to be fished out and the bleeding cauterized.

Delta allowed himself a small wry smile. What a monster…

As he was pondering the boy's luck, the mastermind heard soft footsteps approach from behind. Delta spared the other man's reflection a glance in the viewing booth's glass before refocusing on the operation concluding below.

"I really do wonder about you, Delta-san…" The dark-haired politician intoned as he stepped up to the window. "You've ruined so many innocent peoples' lives and probably didn't bat an eyelash… But the one man who is actively hunting you down to try and kill you, you step in and save."

Watching the doctors direct the nurses and surgical techs to dress the wound with swathes of gauze, Delta replied wryly, "I really do wonder about you as well, Councillor Toudou. Shouldn't you be at the Diet? I hear there's a very important vote happening today."

There was a small movement in the reflection of the glass as Toudou lifted a hand to push his glasses up. The politician offered Delta a polite smile. "I hear that the outcome of the vote has already been pre-arranged, so one or two missing Councillors isn't going to affect anything."

The mastermind spy merely hummed noncommittally and turned his attention back to the procedure below. The two men watched in silence as the doctors and nurses de-gloved and wheeled their still-sleeping patient out of the operating theater. The head surgeon turned at the door to look up and bowed deeply at the viewing booth.

"Isn't that Dr.–?"

"I extracted his daughter from a narcotics smuggling ring before a police bust. Saved her from half a lifetime in prison… and saved him from a lifetime of disgrace," Delta replied. He gave the world-famous trauma surgeon a small nod before watching the doctor exit. "This sort of thing is a little below his pay-grade, but I don't believe he minds being called in every now and then."

Beside him, the politician chuckled. "I suppose blackmail takes many forms. "

"Sometimes a carrot is more effective than a stick," the mastermind mused. He frowned. "But it's amazing how many people will only take a stick."

There was a moment of silence before Toudou turned toward Delta, leaning a shoulder up against the glass. "So has your partner offered you a carrot or a stick?"

Refusing to turn and meet the other man's eyes, the mastermind looked down and chuckled. "Councillor Toudou, to have found that information out, you are a fearsome man indeed. No wonder Saena kept you around for so many years."

Toudou looked off to the side and adjusted his glasses again. "Through no lack in Mogami-san's efforts. I am just very stubborn. She couldn't get rid of me."

Hearing the subtle accusation in the other man's tone, Delta felt an uncomfortable weight settle in the pit of his stomach. He thought he'd locked these feelings of guilt away long ago, yet here they were again and again the past few days, rearing their ugly, regret-filled heads and causing him to act irrationally.

Whenever it came to Saena… to Makoto, he…

Like stuffing down garbage in a too-full trashcan, Delta quickly closed the lid on his emotions and turned back to face Toudou. "Why are you here, Councillor Toudou?"

Saena's colleague cocked his head to the side, regarding the mastermind carefully behind thin-rimmed glasses. He said slowly, "I am here to reassure myself that you are aware of your goal and mindful of the sacrifices necessary in order to achieve it."

Delta chuckled mirthlessly. "And no doubt, to reassure yourself that my sacrifices are not in conflict with the things you are trying to protect."

"Indeed." The politician pushed his glasses up on his nose – possibly a nervous tic, Delta noted.

Assuming a nonchalant posture, Delta tilted his head and gave a tight-lipped smile. "Be reassured, Councillor Toudou. At least in that regard, we are not enemies. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be."

Glancing at the clock on the wall, the dark-haired mastermind strode for the exit. As he passed Toudou, something made Delta pause. The words he murmured as he brushed past the politician toward the exit made Toudou's eyes widen behind his glasses. However, before Toudou could respond, Delta had swept out the door and was gone.

-x-

Kyoko decided that she definitely would avoid getting on Amamiya Chiori's bad side. It was an absolute priority from now on.

Several feet away, Chiori finally emerged from the bathroom, wiping her hands on a small towelette that she then tossed into the trash by the foot of the single-stalled bathroom door. As Agent A discreetly slid the metal door shut behind her, Kyoko caught a glimpse of the guard sprawled unconscious on the tiled floor. As the sliding door clicked shut, Agent M was pretty sure that the giant, burly man with the body habitus of a pro-wrestler was still actively foaming at the mouth as he lay there knocked out.

Coming back from the end of the hall where she'd been keeping watch, Kanae eyed the bathroom warily as Chiori slapped a hastily written 'Out of Order' sign on the door. Even from down the hall, she'd been able to hear the screams.

"My, my… A-san was …quite…" Kanae drifted off, searching awkwardly for the right euphemism. "…enthusiastic…"

Chiori shrugged. "This is what I did for the PSIA before joining the LME unit. The President doesn't let me do any of the really bad stuff–"

'That wasn't the really bad stuff?!' Kyoko and Kanae shared a quick sidelong glance.

"– But you have to practice when you can or else you lose your skills," Chiori finished lightly. She then pressed a finger to her chin and cutely smiled. "Like cooking or needlepoint!"

'That was definitely NOT like cooking or needlepoint!'

Aloud, Agent K laughed nervously. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but why did he keep on screaming, 'Not the pancakes, please not the pancakes?"

In the middle of repacking what appeared to be a miniature steel bear trap and a yoyo back into her gear pack, Chiori froze. Then she spun around, lilting her head to the side and pressing a coy finger to her lips. She winked and smiled, the very picture of innocence. "That's a trade secret~!"

Kyoko laughed skittishly and tried to stop her body from instinctively recoiling a step or fifteen. 'Scary… Absolutely scary…'

Eager to change the subject, Agent M hazarded, "So… Did he say anything about T-san?"

Chiori shook her head sadly as she stuffed a coil of thick steel wire into her pack. "He was just small potatoes. Didn't really know that much, but he did say there was a very important meeting happening soon. He gave me directions to the room."

"An important meeting…" Kanae mused, pressing a hand to her chin. "You don't think that would be Delta, do you?"

Frowning, Kyoko shook her head. "It probably is Delta. Nothing happens in Henshin without his say-so. If it's an important meeting, then he must be involved."

"But it's not Agent T," Agent K replied briskly. "We should probably move on and try to see if there are any other guards–"

"No." Kyoko's hands clenched into fists as she felt a sudden surge of anger. If it weren't for Delta and his damned scheming, then Ren would never have… She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She looked back up at her fellow LoveMe girls, her eyes flashing fire. "Let's cut to the chase. If you chop the head off the snake, the body will stop moving, right?"

Eyeing her, Kanae replied slowly, "That is true… And it could make finding Ren easier if all Delta's henchmen give up, but–"

"No 'but', Moko-san. We're doing this. I'm going to bring Delta down, stop the vote, and then beat the location of Agent T out of him," Kyoko responded brusquely and strode forward. Behind her, Chiori and Kanae shared a glance before Agent A began giving directions.

It took only two minutes to reach the room. The conference room wasn't particularly close; it was just as if the guards patrolling the halls had been halved.

As the trio of LoveMe girls crept up to the targeted room, Kyoko noted that even the relatively innocuous double doors to the conference room stood unguarded. Something just didn't feel right…

"We'll go for a surprise attack. Formation Trinity. On the count of three," Agent K whispered as the three girls arrayed themselves around the doors. "One… two…"

"Three!" The LoveMe girls shouted together and kicked in the doors, leaping forward with pistols raised. "Everyone, hands in the air!"

The conference room was a large cavernous affair, a long marble-topped table running down the middle. Behind the head of the table was an important-looking metal door. The cushioned black chair at the head of the table was conspicuously empty.

But the approximately forty or so chairs surrounding the table were all conspicuously occupied.

A group of mean looking, shady men and women sat there in stunned silence, regarding the LoveMe trio with expressions of shock that were quickly turning to hostility. From the faces Kyoko could quickly identify, the room appeared to be filled with each and every one of Delta's main Henshin agents.

Kanae laughed and smiled politely. "Our sincerest apologies. Wrong room."

As if on cue, all three girls performed a perfunctory bow, did an about-face, and attempted to exit out the double doors. Unfortunately for the Love Me division, the doors had shut automatically behind them, and as Kyoko tugged firmly on the handle of the door, she found it did not budge.

"Agent M, please open the doors," Kanae said, her polite smile still plastered on her face.

"My apologies, Agent K," Kyoko replied, also still smiling to hide her growing despair as she continued to jerk forcefully on the immovable door handle. "But the doors appear to have locked behind us."

"It's the intruders!" Someone in the room shouted from behind, clearly having gotten over his surprise. "Get them!"

The collective scraping of chairs on the tile floor cued the LoveMe trio to freeze. All three women heaved a collective sigh and turned back around, reaching for their weapons.

"My, my. What a hassle this is going to be," Chiori groused and began pulling on a pair of black leather fingerless gloves with metal studs at the knuckles.

"Mou, you had better pull your weight A-san," Kanae sniffed primly, drawing her pistol and one tonfa. As she pointed the gun into the crowd to slow them from rushing forward recklessly, she called back over her shoulder, "M-san, leave the small fry to us. You head for the door back there. It looks like someone important might be behind it. It could be Delta or even T-san."

Taking stock of the bizarre mixture of Yakuza leaders, black market dealers, and Interpol-listed anarchists, Kyoko reached for the black sticks in her belt loop. "Moko-san… Are you sure?"

Agent K snorted and whirled her tonfa expertly. She shook back her long black ponytail and shifted her pistol to point at the nearest tattooed yakuza member who had been trying to sneak up from the side. "It doesn't look like any of these cannon-fodder are armed or else we would be dodging bullets by now. But trust me. We'll fight them until our very last breath. They'll never take us alive!"

"Hey, hey. I said, don't lump me in with you!" Agent A grumbled back, bumping her fists together. Electricity sparked between the metal studs of her brass-knuckled gloves. "And beside, you can't die here either, K-san. Isn't Hiro-kun waiting for you back at the Ogatas' place?"

"I'm going to go for it, then. You two had better not die on me…" Kyoko growled. Eyes flashing amber fire, she flicked the switches on the two black rods in her belt. They hummed to life, and as she drew at the handles of the compact scabbards, the separated plates of the titanium alloy blades electronically magnetized together until she withdrew the two elongated ninjatou katana that shined a menacing silver in the harsh light.

Flicking one blade in a smooth practice arc and twirling the other, Agent M leveled a katana at the crowd in front of her. Golden fury glinted in her eyes.

"Hey, out of the way. I have someone I need to save."

- 0:26 until re-vote -

-x-

Japanese Notes:

Tsundere – A stereotypical character in Japanese literature/media that is cold initially (tsun) to hide their inner warmth and gushiness (dere). AKA: Kotonami Kanae

Ninjatou – Straight short-sword used in popular modern media by ninja. In other words, imagine the two swords that Kyoko uses in her Momiji audition.

-x-

MAILBAG:

Jellyfishhh – Yay! Thanks so much for catching up with us! Glad to see that you're enjoying the journey so far!

Erza Tsuruga – I misspelled your user name? Whaaat? I'm so sorry! Lol, my bad! And LOL, as for the cliffhangers, I'm just helping my readers stay healthy, yknow? Nothing like a cliffie to get the ol' ticker pounding! Haha Is life good-busy or bad-busy? You know how sometimes being busy can either be productive and uplifting or defeating and exhausting? Hope it's more of the former and none of the latter! And sorry~! You asked for a sooner update and I actually updated later this month than usual T_T Ya girl also got busier lol

Brennakai – You're back! I was like, "Hmmm, brennakai's not here for Chapter 40?" To answer your question about Ch 40, it was Lory putting on the show, but Ruto was in the background messing with the lights and manning the cameras, letting Lory know where to move and when. As for your Ch 41 question, Yes! Sho did help delay the vote. Don't think a lot of people noticed, but the re-vote timer went up by 30 minutes or so, meaning that Sho bought Kyoko an extra half an hour. Thanks again brennakai! Good to have you back!

ReneeFee – Hahaha, ohhh man! Don't worry! At least my story is set to end sometime before 2019 ends, but as for Sensei's Skip Beat… Well… Let's hope that the characters at least kiss for real before she gets sick or something and can't write anymore T_T Thanks ReneeFee! Your fury at the cock-block shows me you're enjoying your time here :) Hopefully! Haha

CrystallineX – I originally was at a loss for what to include in that reunion scene, until I re-read a few Skip Beat chapters and was like… Even if Ren were trying to confess to Kyoko, A) Ren would totally flub it like the love idiot that he is and B) Kyoko would definitely misunderstand everything because she's in like unrealistic levels of denial. (Hence the flower ring scene from this past month's manga chapter! ARGH! KYOKO WHY!) Thanks for reading and reviewing CrystallineX!

Lillyannp – Soooorrryyyyy! Hahaha

Guest – Thanks! I'm really happy that you look forward to every post! Means a lot to me ;,)

MWEH – Haha, what do you mean? Didn't everyone want a flashback to Bo and Ren? LOL jkjk please don't throw rocks at me xD As for the misconception in the beginning, I originally wasn't going to include it but then I stopped and thought about Ren's clumsiness in love and Kyoko's Mariana's Trench depth of denial and was like, "Yeah… This would definitely happen" hahaha Sorry the month's wait was longer than usual, but hopefully it was worth it?

As for the manga, I'm also kinda sad there wasn't any real progression. On the Skip Beat FB group I'm on, a couple of members were posting things like, "I'm starting to doubt that Ren and Kyoko will ever get together" and "Wouldn't it make sense that Sensei would put Kyoko and Sho together" and I was thinking like STOP IT YOU DOUBTING FOOLS! *cries* Always happy to have a frustrated but hopeful purist like yourself around so I can maintain my levels of sanity! Haha Hopefully Sho doesn't take up TOO much time next month *rolls eyes* Geez, you can have character development once Ren and Kyoko have some romantic development! Sheesh!

Guineapigs1 – Haha, you totally called it then, if you knew Ren wasn't going to make it out of the warehouse! You must've seen your fair share of K-dramas, J-dramas, anime, and spy movies. And ta-da~! Ren's not dead! Dude, I would get hunted down by all of the people reading this fic if I killed off Ren. I would take it upon myself to commit seppuku if I killed off Ren. Not to diminish the narrative tension, but let's be real here. LOL Besides it's not a spoiler because you've already read the chapter so you know he survived his gunshot wound. ;3 Thanks Guineapigs1! See you next time!