Hello very very loyal readers!
I am so sorry for the unannounced 3+ month hiatus. This chapter is tying together a lot of the loose ends, character arcs, motivations, and plot. It kind of felt like wrangling cats. But the cats have feelings and their feelings need to make sense. Ugh.
But it's done and I love the finished product!
Hope you all love it just as much as well!
Thank you all for the lovely reviews last chapter! Please don't forget to drop a Fave or Alert or Review this chapter so I know you're enjoying the ride. The longer this story goes on, truly the harder it is to write.
In other news, don't forget to check out my Skip Beat one-shot series All The World Is A Stage! I'm finally finishing the detective thriller two-shot I started. That chapter should be up within the month or next.
Love you all and enjoy!
-x-
CH46
0:10 until revote
The man on the ground groaned in pain, his shaved head rolling back and forth on the tile floor, causing the beautifully tattooed tiger on his neck to appear as if it were writhing in motion. Slowly, unsteadily, the yakuza captain managed to prop himself onto his hands and knees. Crawling and fumbling, he tried not to clutch terribly obviously at his genitals. The last attack had incapacitated him, but he was too proud to stay down.
The large man staggered to his feet; however in his unbalance, the expensive but cracked designer sunglasses that he'd once prized so highly toppled off the bridge of his nose to the floor, shattering both lenses irreplaceably.
"You… You…" The gigantic yakuza captain huffed, still clearly in pain, before starting forward with an enraged yell, "Who the hell do you think you are?"
"Us?" The shorter black-clad agent scoffed and dodged her opponent's first bumbling swing. "Who the hell are you?"
"Me?" As if insulted, the yakuza member shouted as he launched an inelegant uppercut, "I am THE Tiger Captain of the Inugawa-kai –!"
"That was a rhetorical question," the agent deadpanned, as she easily leaned back and dodged his fist. "No one cares."
"Mou, stop playing around," the taller agent across the room interrupted as she tossed her long black hair over one shoulder. "You're wasting time, Agent A."
Chiori huffed a sigh as she nimbly jumped out of the way of the yakuza member's next clumsy charge. "Fine, fine…"
The man whirled around only to find his sight blinded by the black, metal-knuckled glove of one Amamiya Chiori as she took a running leap and smashed her electrified fist directly into the center of his face.
With a yell, the yakuza captain staggered away, clutching his broken nose. After a moment, he recovered his balance and turned back to Chiori, vengeance burning in his eyes behind a bloodied hand. He readied himself for another charge –
That is, until from across the room in a twirl of metal, a long tonfa whirled and clocked him squarely in the back of the head.
Anticlimactically, the giant's eyes rolled back up into his sockets, and he crumpled to the ground.
Picking her way over bodies of various unconscious and incapacitated criminals, Kanae grumbled about having to do everything by herself as she stooped to snatch her weapon up off the floor.
"Spoil sport," Agent A mumbled in response as she powered down her gloves with a sharp electric discharge.
Unrepentant, Agent K harrumphed and groused, "Well, while you were messing around, I checked the exit doors again. Still locked."
"No keys?" Chiori asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.
Kanae shook her head, frowning. "None of these guys–" she motioned to all the bodies on the floor "–have so much as a keycard."
Putting a finger to her chin, Agent A mused, "Why on earth would Delta have gathered all his main operatives – weaponless – in a locked room?"
"Who cares what Delta does with his people? Made our lives a whole hell of a lot easier because they were defenseless." The taller agent shrugged one shoulder as she tapped at her comm watch. Her frown deepened.
"Comms are still down?"
"Yeah," Kanae muttered. "Problem is that HQ has no way of knowing that Kyoko's been freed."
Chiori mirrored her friend's frown. "But it's not like they can send agents in to stop the vote in the first place. Doesn't Henshin still have people at the Diet? They're essentially holding all the politicians hostage to prevent us from stopping the vote–"
CRASH!
"EEP!"
The two LME agents spun around. They had been so engrossed in their own conversation that they hadn't noticed the large-framed balding man in the three-piece suit attempting to sneak around the periphery of the room behind them. Until, however, in his fearful haste, the man had tripped over one of the many unconscious bodies strewn over the floor.
Now, the middle-aged man was lying on the ground, his eyes squeezed shut tightly behind his crooked spectacles. However, his playing-dead tactic was useless. There was no chance that they were going to mistake him for another knocked out body when his lips were trembling so uncontrollably.
"Hey you!" Chiori called out when she had picked her way over to him.
The man's eyes flew open but shut immediately even tighter when he noticed the two agents standing directly above him. He even failed to stifle a small whimper that escaped him.
Kanae sighed heavily and nudged him with the side of her shoe. "Hey, we know you're still awake. It's pitiful to continue pretending."
At her words, eyes still closed, the man frowned, apparently having an internal battle over whether he should keep up the act or –
The older man's eyes flew open and he scrambled up, clutching at Kanae's shoes, his words pouring out like a flood, "Oh dear, oh dear, please don't hurt me, I can't stand pain, I really can't–"
Recoiling a step, Kanae and Chiori shared a look. This man very clearly looked out of place among all the hardened criminals in the room.
Seeming to take their uncertainty to mean, 'We're uncertain as to whether we should also pummel you,' the older gentleman began pleading, "Please don't hurt me. I'm actually the Operations Director of Henshin! I can be useful to you!"
The girls' eyes widened. Now they were interested.
Stooping down to grab a fistful of the man's shirtfront, Kanae hoisted him to eye level. Her brown eyes narrowed at him as she demanded, "Name?"
"K-K-Konoe Tomohiko at y-your service," the director managed as he fumbled to place his broken spectacles more squarely on his nose.
Ignoring Chiori's pout because she clearly wanted to be the one running the interrogation, Kanae continued, "Director Konoe, do you know how to get out of here?"
Konoe nodded his head enthusiastically, pointing at a wall behind himself. "There's a secret exit here I was trying to access when I –uh – ran into you two lovely ladies–"
Agent K interrupted his obvious attempt at flattery, "And I'm assuming as Operations Director, you have the authority to give orders to Henshin field operatives?"
"Oh yes, absolutely! There's even a communications center only a short distance away–!"
Chiori grinned as Agent K released their new prisoner. With a small, malicious smile that wouldn't have been out of place on her best friend's Natsu character, Kanae crooned lowly, "Perfect… Please lead the way, Director Konoe."
-x-
0:08 until scheduled revote
"Please… Please save my daughter."
Saena's words echoed in Ren's mind as he ran down the hallway, following the politician's directions through the labyrinthine headquarters.
"'What right does she have to ask this?' – you're probably thinking," Saena had murmured, her brow carved into a deep, conflicted furrow. "I, her own mother, abandoned her after all."
Delta had told Saena's guards to bring her to this location just before the re-vote was scheduled so they could watch the proceedings together. Delta was undoubtedly there… and based on Councillor Mogami's eavesdropping, the guards had alluded that Kyoko could very well be headed in the same direction as well. As Ren sprinted, his breath noisy in his own ears, the gravid feeling in his gut told him that Kyoko was definitely there with Delta. And he needed to get to her before something terrible happened.
The politician had continued, "Years ago, when I resolved to throw myself into a life hell-bent on vengeance, I couldn't stop Toudou-san from tagging along, but that girl…"
Hearing a series of shouts down the next hall, Ren cut the corner, low and fast, firing the semi-automatic rifle he'd gotten from Saena. His bullets hit their marks, and three guards went down. A fourth guard turned the corner of the hall late and started firing his handgun at Agent T.
When Saena looked to the side, Ren could see the tears flash in her eyes. "The best thing – only thing – I could do for that girl was to leave her behind. And never look back."
Biting back a curse, the dark-haired agent dove forward into cover behind the corner of a small alcove. Bullets bit through chunks of the drywall, and he grimaced, closing his eyes against the flying debris.
"Wait for it…" Ren muttered to himself, readying his legs in a crouch beneath him, his finger resting tensely on the gun's trigger.
"Just once, for that girl – after my foolishness has caused her so much anguish–" the older woman murmured, her eyes too proud to meet Ren's with tears threatening to spill over. "Just once, I would like to do something that can be called, 'motherly.'"
Agent T closed his eyes, listening, waiting.
There! A pause – a gap in the firing!
As the guard fiddled with his weapon to reload, Ren pivoted sharply around the corner of the alcove, rifle poised, and then two shots later, the guard's handgun lay on the floor as the uniformed man screamed in agony at his wounded shoulder.
"I know this is unfair of me to ask…" Saena trailed off before shaking her head. "But please… Please save Kyoko… And save Kazushi."
As he dashed down another hallway, cutting through another handful of guards, Ren frowned, thinking back to Saena's plea. Confronting another assailant, Ren pulled the trigger and cursed as he found it jammed.
"Do you realize what you are asking of me?" He'd said, gritting his teeth. "That man ruined my life. He made me kill one of my best friends."
Saena simply wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at him, a sad smile on her lips. "While I was sitting in that prison cell, not knowing whether my own daughter was going to live or die due to my selfish choices… I realized something."
Readying his own rifle, the guard grinned at Agent T, thinking he had the upper hand. But that was before Ren hurled his broken 15 kilogram weapon in the man's face, knocking the guard unconscious with a harsh blow to the forehead. Dashing forward, Ren quickly picked up the other man's gun, checked the ammo clip, and continued onward.
"I've realized…" Saena's dark brown eyes shone with an inner brightness, her forehead devoid of her typical worried wrinkles, entirely at peace.
Ren rounded the final corner, surprised to find the last corridor empty. So much anguish and toil to find his destination was so easily reached. He slowed his steps and his breathing, hugging the wall and cautiously approaching the door at the end. He'd arrived. Agent T stood before the final door, his hand hovering over the handle, his breathing ragged with emotion.
"I've realized I'm tired of hating so much," Saena had said simply. "It's exhausting sacrificing so much to seek something unobtainable for the thin possibility that my pride will be satisfied. So…" Saena made a small helpless gesture with her hands as she stood up. "So I forgave him, even to seek his best interest. So please, I beg of you to save him. Save Kazushi from himself."
Chest heaving up and down, Ren contemplated the door before him as his mind and heart churned. He had promised himself that he would give up his revenge after Kyoko had gotten kidnapped, but now that he was standing on the precipice, the man who had ruined Kuon's life and had stolen Rick's was just a few meters away. The temptation was as palpable as the heavy rifle in his hand.
And Ren could relate to Saena. Delta – Kaiso – Misonoi – had caused tragic ruin in each of their lives… Betraying their trust and stealing hopes and dreams… And both he and the Councillor had had a choice: pursue revenge or move on.
Both had chosen vengeance. They both had vowed that in some way – any way – they would make this man pay for destroying their lives. Their very souls had called out, screaming and clawing for him to pay for what was unjustly stolen from them.
And both had, at one point or another, sacrificed Kyoko in a single-minded pursuit of that vengeance.
Suddenly, it all seemed so clear. Ren closed his eyes, understanding. With one deep sigh, the weight on his chest dissipated.
Forgiveness… Running forward toward the future – a future with Kyoko – meant that he had to stop selfishly chasing the past. It meant sacrificing himself – his hurt and regret and pride – to ensure her safety and happiness. If he truly loved her, sacrificing more of himself for her sake was a small price to pay.
Opening his eyes slowly, he chuckled softly. Kyoko's mother had insisted on staying behind because she didn't want to slow the agent down. But really… That woman was far, far ahead of him in many ways.
Murmuring a small apology into the air, Ren quietly begged Rick to forgive him for letting Kaiso off so easily. But somewhere, in the lightness of Ren's heart and the dissolution of his burden, he felt that this was the right answer. This was what Rick truly would have wanted.
With a small smile, Ren took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.
-x-
0:06 until scheduled revote
"Will I help you?" Kyoko echoed. Her voice sounded hollow as it rang out in the empty room.
"Yes!" Kazushi enthused, proffering his open hand again as he stood before her, his eyes shining. "Father and daughter – and with your mother's help – we could do it together. As a family!"
"A… family…?" The word felt foreign on Kyoko's tongue, rough around the edges from disuse, but almost instantly, she felt the idea warm her heart. Then above Delta, the projector screen at the front of the room – which Kyoko had almost forgotten was there – flickered to life. As the projector's light bulb warmed into focus, she noticed that it was the live feed from the Diet Chamber in downtown Tokyo. Almost every seat for the hundreds of representatives and councillors was filled, but a few more politicians trickled up through the aisles to sit. It was almost time for the revote.
The reality struck her, dimming the smile that had been blossoming on her lips. Agent M frowned, looking up at her father. "What are you talking about? Do what together?"
"Why," Delta blinked in confusion, as if stating the obvious. "Direct the path of this country–"
"You mean," Kyoko shook her head, interjecting emphatically, "Take control of Japan from the shadows…"
"Well, yes, but–" The older man said while chuckling, his tinge of unease hidden expertly in amusement. "It sounds silly when you say it like that – like I'm some kind of megalomaniac bent on world-domination—"
As if noting that his daughter did not return his attempt at tension-breaking humor, Delta's chuckle faded, his smile darkening into a frown.
"Kyoko," her father addressed her sternly, "This government is rotten to the core. You've seen the news. I never made up any lies about the politicians I destroyed. The only thing that led to their downfall was their own crooked ways finally brought to light."
Frowning all while her father spoke, Kyoko couldn't quite put her finger on what made his goals seem… off…
"It sounds…" The auburn-haired LME agent began hesitantly as she tried to pin down the source of her unease. "It sounds like you're trying to play god. When it comes to the moral character of these people, you are their judge, jury, and executioner…"
"That's absurd," Misonoi scoffed with a dismissive flick of his hand. His smile was meant to be reassuring, but there was a too-bright quality about it that made Kyoko feel tense. "I simply want to rescue this nation from evil machinations of these men – to purify it!"
"Purify Japan?" Her father's answer still felt wrong – dishonest – somehow… Kyoko shifted back in her chair away from him. "But you had no hesitation using people with dirty hands like the Vie Ghoul and Morizumi Kimiko to drag these politicians and powerful people down to the depths and expose them."
"These assassins and smugglers and mercenaries – their hands were already sullied," Delta stated curtly with a wave of his hand. "They already chose the path they walked down. I've merely been using them until they are no longer useful."
"No longer useful?" Her mind racing, Kyoko felt her breath leave her at a sudden revelation. She could only stay silent in mounting horror before whispering hoarsely, "All your Henshin agents… You were planning to get rid of them today, weren't you? That's why they were gathered together without weapons."
Instantaneously feeling nauseous and betrayed – thinking of Manaka and Murasame, not to mention herself and Ren if Delta hadn't figured out their identities – Agent M stumbled up out of her seat and whirled. Her pistol flew up, pointed directly at his chest.
"The minute my mother got elected–," Kyoko barked, her voice shaking in rage and a whirlwind of emotions that she had neither the time nor capacity to place, "What were you planning to use? Guns? Gas?"
Watching her from a few steps away, Delta scowled, disapproving. "Kyoko…"
"You're a monster after all…" Agent M hissed, her voice raw. From some far corner of her mind, she felt a solitary tear roll down her cheek, disappointment heavy on her chest.
Something about her response sparked Misonoi to anger. He took a threatening step forward, and Kyoko by sheer discipline of training barely managed not to shoot him then and there. Darkness clouding his face, Misonoi swept a heavy hand through the air for emphasis.
"I'm not a monster. They're the monsters! They are not good people, Kyoko. They have already sealed their fate," Delta roared at her, the projector casting bizarre shadows on his expression. "I am doing what needs to be done to purge the evil in this country!"
"So why not help them? Pull them out of darkness instead of allowing them all to pursue it?" As she watched his chest rise and fall in emotion, Kyoko could only glare as she raised her other hand to stabilize the gun pointed at him. Her eyes narrowed. "You may be my father, but that doesn't change the fact that you are–"
"I am what is necessary," Misonoi hissed out, clearly trying to tamp down his simmering anger. "Deep at its roots, this country has been steeped in corruption for far too long."
"So, we change it!" Agent M retorted, but what she meant as a hard statement came out pleading instead. In her mind, she cursed her weakness before her father. "But that doesn't mean that we – that you – have the authority to assume control over everything!"
Misonoi frowned and stepped forward again. Alarmed but trying not to show fear, Kyoko slid back a step, gun trained steadily on his breastbone.
"Listen to me, Kyoko," her father murmured, his face arranged in a glower but his gaze wilting into a deep sadness that caught Agent M off-guard. Behind him on screen, the politicians sat in their seats and murmured to one another. "I have dedicated my life to this government. Thrown it away – for what? For corrupt political leaders to just hand power off to one another until nothing ever changes?"
Kyoko swallowed hard and offered, "Surely, there is some good–"
"None of them are good! One government faction made me assassinate your mother's character and livelihood," the master spy snapped angrily. "Another – their opposition – had me assassinate a good friend. All for some far-reaching foreign policy machinations with consequences that never came to fruition."
Unable to argue, Kyoko trailed off. Misonoi looked down and away, closing his eyes against the pain that was obvious on his face.
"After betraying your mother," Kyoko's father started again softly, his voice barely audible, "I became the perfect tool for the government. I convinced myself I would never let anyone else into my heart. I was a tool only. Not even human. Even my own partner didn't want to work with me anymore."
Kyoko felt the barrel of her gun drift downward, her grip slackening.
"But somehow, some way, over many years and many missions, that American agent befriended me." A small chuckle escaped his lips, and Misonoi closed his eyes and shook his head, clearly lost in his own memories. But then he paused. His eyelids fluttered open, and even though they were turned down toward his open hands, Kyoko could see that they were looking somewhere far, far away. "And then our government told me to arrange to kill him."
Her father continued, his voice growing more and more faint so that she almost had to strain to hear. "And right before he got killed – no – before I got him killed, he told me that I was not just a mindless cog in these politicians' scheming."
Misonoi Kazushi looked up at his daughter. With a small helpless gesture of his hands, he stated quietly and simply, "He told me to change the system. So I am."
Heart aching, Kyoko stood silent. Given his background, given his life, given his tragedies – his logic, his motivations, his hurt – he made sense. And she had nothing with which to refute him.
As if sensing her indecision, Delta's eyes flickered upward toward her and he continued, taking a tentative step forward.
"Kyoko, this world is rotten. Man is corruptible, turning too easily to evil. Japan needs a strong, incorruptible leader. And that leader needs a successor…" Misonoi spoke softly and offered her a closed hand. Slowly, he opened his hand to reveal a small metal brooch. Amid gleaming carved flowers and sharp thorns, the ornate pin had the Greek letter for Omega engraved on it.
Searching her face, her father whispered urgently, "Help me, Kyoko."
Behind Delta on the projector screen, the camera footage shifted to the front of the Diet assembly. On screen, Prime Minister Ogata swallowed hard and addressed the Diet chamber as tinny speakers from the back of the lecture hall echoed with the recording of his voice.
"I will call this meeting to order… Thank you all for your diligent public service. The only item on the agenda today is the second attempt at voting for the office of Prime Minister of Japan…"
-x-
0:03 until scheduled revote
On bated breath, Agent T crept forward, crouched low. Trying to move swiftly and silently through the small, dim room, Ren pulled the strap of the rifle over his shoulders and made his way toward the only source of light – a computer screen glowing in the darkness.
Then someone coughed, and a desk chair squeaked.
Agent T froze.
Hidden in the shadows, a lone guard sat in front of the screen, watching the computer passively. Unaware of his hidden guest, the guard yawned a little then looked down at his wristwatch before frowning.
Agent T's heart hammering at the near miss, he paused to collect himself, then continued forward as silent as a viper. His intense focus on the lone guard did not prevent his highly trained senses from taking in the rest of what must have been a media projection room.
Beside the lone computer screen that the guard watched idly, the room held a large blacked out window with a small rectangular cut out from which a small electronic projector beamed some unknown video. From Ren's point of view behind the tinted glass, the projector room overlooked what appeared to be a lecture hall.
But the observations stopped there because Agent T had reached his target. Stealthily, Ren crept up behind the guard in the small gap the narrow room allowed, his hand poised to cover the guard's mouth.
"Something's not right," the guard muttered suddenly.
Ren stiffened, watching from above as the man glanced down at his watch again. The guard continued to mumble, "They're really late. That politician lady shouldn't be that hard to – WHAT THE–!"
While musing as to where his fellow guards were with Saena, the man had turned in his chair until instinctively, he had glanced up from his watch – directly at Agent T.
The highly trained agent made quick work of his opponent, using one hand to cover the guard's mouth, smothering his cries, and utilizing his other arm to wrap around the man's neck. Tight, like a boa constrictor, Ren squeezed around the neck, pinning the man down into the chair with gravity and his own body weight until finally, the guard's arms grew slack and he stopped resisting.
Quietly, gently, Ren laid the unconscious man down in the corner of the room and after ensuring to disarm him, swiftly secured his hands and feet with zip ties he'd procured from his LME gear pack. Breathing a sigh of relief, Agent T turned back to the front of the small room.
The computer screen was running a simulcast of the live feed from the Diet Chamber in Tokyo, and as Prime Minister Ogata began to address the Diet, Ren noted the same video feed was projected through the small window's gap into the lecture hall below.
However, as Ren's focus turned to the larger room below, his breath hitched in his chest.
On the very bottom floor, Kyoko was holding Delta at gunpoint. However, Misonoi's hand was open, offering Kyoko something, and with the help of the amphitheater-like shape of the lecture hall, Ren was able to faintly hear what the man was saying.
"I need a successor," the mastermind stated, pleading with his daughter. "My life is finite, and if I am to ensure the success of everything I've worked for, I need someone to replace me once my time is at its end."
Ren waited for Kyoko to retort, to reject this outrageous offer, especially seeing that their time was so short with the re-vote. Yet his partner just stood there. Agent T felt his pulse quicken again.
Something was terribly wrong.
"I need a successor who is pure," Delta was continuing, his voice growing in confidence as Kyoko had not outright rejected his offer. "But I also need someone who has been greatly hurt in the past – someone who has been downtrodden and betrayed by the abuses of those in power – so she can empathize with the weak. So that she can direct this country properly."
In his mind, Ren's thoughts flashed to Fuwa Sho. And how amidst their frantic escape, Agent M had not yet been told of her childhood friend's attempts to atone for the past.
Kyoko remained silent, unmoving.
"I need a successor who can not only save this country, but also lead it in the future to come," Misonoi continued, and his voice dropped into a dramatic murmur that forced Ren to strain to hear. "My hands have been stained too many times with blood. I cannot accomplish this… But you, you can, my daughter."
Ren swallowed, feeling the dry anxious lump in his throat. Why wasn't Kyoko saying anything?
"Please," Delta pleaded as he took a slow step forward, his open hand offering what looked to Ren like a small metal pin. "Please be the completion of my life's work. Be the ending. Be the Omega."
Moving quickly, Ren slung the rifle off his back and propped the gun's barrel up on the projector's ledge in the window, taking a solid stance on one knee. No matter what was going through Kyoko's mind at this moment, he knew that she would certainly reject Delta's offer.
He knew that Kyoko – for all her flights of fancy and outbursts of emotion – was logical, level-headed under pressure, and had a stark, unshakeable view of right versus wrong.
And Ren knew that the mastermind would not take kindly to her rejection. Although Ren had promised Saena he would try to save Misonoi, he'd be damned if he let anything else happen to Kyoko, so Ren was
ready for when his partner rejected her father and chaos ensued.
But what Ren could not have anticipated was what he watched through the rifle's scope in silent, gut-wrenching horror, as Kyoko, her hand shaking just the slightest, reached forward slowly and took the pin from her father's open hand.
-x-
The pin was even more beautiful and intricate up close. The detailed metalworking was fantastic: scrolls of ivy leaves melded into roses with thorns so sharp she was afraid of piercing her finger. On this bed of flowers and thorns lay a regal Greek letter Omega – the last letter of the ancient alphabet.
Omega. The end.
Her father spoke in hushed reverent tones, a tinge of pride in his voice. "I had this made as soon as I learned about you, my daughter."
He'd trusted her before he even had a chance to know her. A burst of happiness warmed her chest. Wordlessly, Kyoko traced the Omega symbol with her thumb, feeling the cool metal solidly beneath her trembling fingers.
As if sensing her indecision, Misonoi continued on solemnly, "If you help me to achieve my goals, I can help you achieve yours."
"My goals?" The auburn-haired woman murmured, finally looking up, puzzled.
"Justice for yourself and the hundreds of other victims…" Delta said, his voice almost coy, like a parent revealing a surprise for a child on Christmas. "Victims of the Fuwa family."
Kyoko felt like she had swallowed a rock, her heart heaving one large THUMP.
"F-Fuwa family?" She stuttered, unsure if she'd heard him correctly.
"Yes," the mastermind smiled beatifically, his present for his daughter finally unveiled. "Originally, before fate allowed us to cross paths, I attempted to have my Henshin agents kidnap Nanokura Mimori because of Fuwa Daisuke."
"Shotaro's father?" Even more confused and feeling infinitely more uneasy, Kyoko swallowed hard.
"Indeed. The man had been using mercenaries and yakuza for years to threaten or eliminate competitors in the hotel business," the mastermind continued, his voice dripping with contempt. "And of course, once I found out, I took action. Fuwa Daisuke did not concede to my demands to help your mother's eventual election campaign – so I decided to teach him a lesson."
After a moment of rapid thought, Kyoko mind filled in the blanks. "You threatened Fuwa-sama's good relations with the Nanokura publishing empire by kidnapping Mimori and then blaming the crime on Fuwa-sama's inflexibility."
Apparently pleased that his daughter had tied the separate pieces of the puzzle so well together, Delta grinned, his smile tinged dark. "Fuwa Daisuke needed the dowry from the Nanokura group to pay off his immediate debts. After all, he'd accumulated quite a bit by expanding last decade into the southeastern Kyoto region."
Southeastern Kyoto… Kyoko's thoughts immediately flew to the Taisho and Okami. When she was in elementary, they had one day shown up at the mansion, hired out of the blue by Sho's father. From years working alongside the two beloved, almost-parental figures, the few details that Kyoko had been able to glean were that the husband and wife had once owned a well-renowned ryokan in southeast Kyoto. And they, for reasons they refused to expound upon, had suddenly gone out of business. But in the end, Fuwa Daisuke had been generous enough to offer them a place to work.
The pit in her stomach grew. Kyoko wasn't sure if the Okami and Taisho were aware, but they were essentially the equivalent of living, breathing hunting trophies for Sho's father.
Unaware of her reverie, Delta was continuing. "As fate would have it, Fuwa Daisuke learned of our plot and used his connections and money to pull in a favor from the PSIA."
"But…" Feeling the stone in her gut grow more gravid and unbearable, Kyoko finally spoke, her mouth dry. "But just in case the PSIA failed, he'd made Sho bring me to dinner as a decoy for Mimori."
"So you would get kidnapped instead of the Nanokura girl," Delta finished her thought, his voice obviously commiserating with her sense of betrayal. "Shotaro used your close relationship to manipulate your emotions and place you in a life-threatening situation. He betrayed your hopes. Your trust. Your love..."
Feeling the familiar swell of rage in her breast and tears of frustration prickle at her eyes, Kyoko bit out, "He did."
"And my guess is that he never apologized," Delta murmured, clearly appalled. "He just expected you to forgive him. Like his crimes meant nothing."
"It's true," the young woman growled, recalling Sho's one-sided confession in the Yokohama alleyway.
"By fate's chance, Fuwa Daisuke and his son's betrayal turned into a boon for you and I – and your mother. So we could be reunited as a family," concluded the Henshin mastermind softly, as if in consolation. Kyoko glanced up as he offered something else. Her father held a smartphone open to an email draft and several attachments. The recipients read names like, "Tokyo TV" and "Nippon News" and "NHK Japan". The "Send" button glowed a soft, ominous blue on the screen.
"But bizarre twists of fate do not excuse their actions. It does not absolve them of their guilt." His eyes alight almost with glee, Delta continued as he offered her the touchscreen. "One press of a button, and the Fuwa hotel empire will be so smeared by the media and damaged in the eyes of the public, that Fuwa Daisuke and Shotaro will shudder in horror if ever they hear the name, 'Mogami Kyoko.'"
As if in a trance, drawn by the heady magnetism of vengeance, Kyoko felt her hand curl over the metal pin and move to hover over the phone. Her other hand holding the pistol had completely drifted down toward the floor.
"Join me, Kyoko," Delta urged softly, a hopeful smile on his lips. "We both want the same thing… To fight injustice and right the wrongs of this world. And this is where you start."
The wrongs Sho had perpetrated against her – betraying her trust, manipulating her, tossing her aside like so much garbage – barely scratched the surface in the list of evil deeds his father had done. The Taisho and Okami… How many other lives had the Fuwa family ruined?
"Kyoko means nothing to me." Sho had scoffed. "Revenge? I'm untouchable! I'm rich and powerful – and you're nothing, a nobody!"
Shotaro's words from so long ago echoed in her ears, his condescending laugh reverberating inside her brain. Her hand trembled, index finger hovering over the phone. In anger, her grip tightened around the metal pin in her curled up palm.
"Ow!" Sucking in a deep breath at the unexpected pain, Kyoko snatched her hand back and opened her white-knuckled fist. A spot of blood sparkled on the center of her pale palm, the metal thorns on Delta's pin laying guilty off to the side.
For some reason, the pain cleared enough space inside of her emotions to allow her to think. Her mind clearer, it clung to Delta's words from earlier.
"'By fate's chance… a boon…'" Kyoko mused softly, gaze focused on the pin in the palm of her hand.
Sho had been selfish. He had treated her love like it was disposable trash. Sho's betrayal had unarguably altered the trajectory of her life. But her life had changed for the better.
If it hadn't been for that fateful night, set in motion by Shotaro's arrogance and his father's meddling, Kyoko would never have even known about the LME unit. She would have never met Maria or President Takarada or Muse-sama or Chiori or Yashiro or Kanae or…
Ren. Kyoko blinked at that. In some bizarre way, she would never have met Ren if it hadn't been for Sho.
As if noting her distraction, Delta urged eagerly, "Kyoko, just imagine how relieved – how powerful – how complete – you'll feel once you cause Fuwa Sho just as much pain as he's caused you."
"Complete…" Agent M mused, still focused on the pin in her hand. She frowned, deep in thought, Delta's statement ringing as untrue in her heart of hearts. "I used to think something was missing… that I was… broken or deficient…"
Kyoko gazed down at the Omega symbol carved into the brooch. The pinprick of blood from the thorn shone on her palm like a warning. She narrowed her eyes and murmured, "But I know now that the journey – pain and all – are what made me who I am today. And I like where I've come. I like who I've become."
An image of herself standing next to Ren in front of the Mitaka mansion, dressed as Mio flashed through her mind. Then a memory of herself staring down Reino at the Prime Minister's gala was followed by a mental picture of Cain and Setsu standing defiantly on the deck of a cargo ship. Finally, she remembered herself fighting off Kimiko on the scaffolding of the creepy museum-room.
"I'm not broken anymore," Kyoko concluded, blinking at her realization. "No matter what happened in the past – the challenges I faced, the people I've met, the memories I made – they've made me whole."
As Kyoko looked up at her father, the mastermind seemed taken aback, almost aghast at her small speech. He spluttered, his expression morphing into anger, "No, you're wrong. Only vengeance can make you whole."
"'Revenge' – 'Vengeance'" Agent M gripped the gun at her side tightly. "For someone so concerned with 'justice', you repeat those words an awful lot."
"It is justice," Delta insisted, his eyes narrowing in furious frustration. "All these rotten politicians, these wealthy tycoons – they're all getting exactly what they deserve!"
No… wresting away control of the government, instating himself as the shadow leader of Japan, grinding into dust and extinguishing anyone who stood in his way–
"You're wrong. No matter what pretty rhetoric you use to justify it to me or to yourself, your goal is not purifying Japan. It's clearly just to punish the people who have wronged you in the past!" Kyoko cried and took a step back from him, shaking her head. "But revenge, that's not going to satisfy you!"
"It will!" Her father retorted quickly. Agent M had the distinct impression that a petulant child would have responded in the same way.
Shaking her head, Kyoko emphasized, "No, it won't! Bad things happen in life to change who we are – but these experiences are supposed to make us stronger. So none of our hardship is wasted. But you–!"
Delta avoided his daughter's gaze, his burning scowl directed at the floor to the side.
"You blamed the people that ruined your life," she continued, impassioned in her accusations, more and more convinced that this was the truth behind her father's motives. "You chased after their blood – but have you ever stopped to look around you and see what you've become in the process?"
He only stood, silent. His fists tightening at his sides, knuckles white.
"Does… Does my mother even love you anymore?" Kyoko's voice became soft, imploring him. "Was this who Rick would have wanted you to become?"
She watched the fight go out of his hands. They dropped defenselessly at his sides. Kyoko shook her head.
"The past is meant to strengthen, not cripple us," she finished gently. "We cannot erase the past by changing the future. We can only move forward by turning the past into a stepping stone. Otherwise, it will just become a burden that drags us down."
Delta merely stood before her, unspeaking.
"I'm sorry, O-Otou-san," Kyoko stumbled over the unfamiliar word for father. But she grit her teeth and raised the gun again, leveling it at his chest. "Please, just surrender quietly, and we'll stop the vote. There's still some time before all the votes are counted."
Misonoi stood silent, staring at the floor as the light from the projector reflected off his thick glasses. Kyoko couldn't see his eyes. The projector light above them flickered, the audio distorting for a moment before resuming the politicians' restless chatter. Kyoko almost glanced up, distracted, but then her father spoke again, his voice filled with anguish.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, his voice so soft and melancholy that Kyoko had to strain to hear it. "I'm sorry to hear you feel that way…"
With one fast, overpowering movement, Delta had thrust his hand at the butt of her gun, shoving it toward the ceiling. Trying to recover, Kyoko moved quickly to step back and away but found her hand to be suddenly empty.
In a lightning-fast maneuver born of great experience and repetition, Delta had twisted her wrist, forcing her to drop the weapon. He now stood before her, the metal of the pistol's cold barrel resting squarely in the center of her forehead.
Kyoko froze.
"You were right," her father said simply. "It is revenge I want."
Agent M's breath hitched, eyes wide.
"The weight of guilt that I feel on my soul for your mother… for Rick… for Kuon and for you, Kyoko–" Misonoi broke off, swallowing hard. Behind his glasses, Kyoko felt that she could almost see a light glistening in her father's eyes.
"Revenge is the only way I can redeem myself now." When he spoke again, his voice was faint and so tired. The gun shook in his hand. "I'm too far gone. I've done so much wrong that if I go back now, it'll all be meaningless. I can't let it be meaningless."
Swallowing a nervous lump, Kyoko said slowly, "It won't be meaningless. You still…" Her voice trembled. "You still have me and Okaa-san…"
Shaking his head, Misonoi smiled sadly. "That day, Rick jumped in front of me. He knew Kuon was going to shoot me, and yet…"
Eyes wide at this revelation, Kyoko whispered, "Rick sacrificed himself for you."
"I never understood why," her father murmured, eyes bereft with grief kept fresh over more than a decade. "But I have to at least try and make things right."
"You don't have to do it this way," Kyoko pleaded, her voice rising.
Misonoi gave a small, helpless shrug and smiled. "You say that I can't erase the past with revenge. That it's impossible. But for your mother… For Rick, I have to at least try."
A shot rang out. Kyoko startled, expecting the room to go dark as she died. But instead of her blood on the ground, she saw her father's feet as he stumbled forward. The hand holding her pistol drifted downward to the floor until he dropped the gun completely. It clattered to the tile, hollowly. His hand instead came up, slowly, to clutch at the hole in his abdomen. The hole was quickly becoming black with darkening red as the wound profusely wept blood.
And as Misonoi Kazushi fell to his knees, his blood dripping heavily to the tiled floor below, Kyoko watched in horror as a tall, grinning stranger – a foreigner – with wavy, light brown hair stepped out of the shadows, a smoking pistol in his hand.
With a grimace of pain and rage, Misonoi snarled up at the man a bitter greeting.
"Alpha…"
-0:02 after scheduled revote
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Who dat?! Find out next time! Don't forget to leave a Fave, Alert, or Review! Going to try to finish off this story by the end of summer/fall and your feedback gives me fuel. 3
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MAILBAG:
SilverInu93 – Hehe sadly, Reino's arc in this story has come to a close. Not planning to touch on it much, but in my head canon epilogue, the Vie Ghoul end up joining the LME unit, but not as assassins. They all grumble about it a bit, but are pretty amenable to all the restrictions.
MWEH – Haha, I feel like I jinxed it! I was too quick to update last time, and now it took me three whole months to update xD I'm really happy to hear that the backstory for Misonoi and Saena went over well! Some parts, I am unhappy with how girlish and unawkward Saena seems (I feel like she should have been less affectionate and more gawky), but it is what it is! I am planning a little bit at the end for Toudou and Saena, but just a littttle bit, and not all of it's happy. And shoot! I must have missed one… Sometimes I do a very rough draft of my stories just to get all the thoughts and plot points out of my head and in my brain, "Makoto" is still "Saena", so I must've missed replacing one on my final run-through. Good eye though!
As for the manga, ahhhhh! Three month's worth of chapters have passed! What to say about them all? It's been a good build-up, I will give Sensei that much. I'm so excited to see how Kyoko and Ren's relationship progresses (still waiting for that "bomb" to go off that Sensei's been hinting at in all the chapter ending text for the past few months), but I have a sinking feeling that it's not going to be the confession we've all been hoping for. Especially now that Ren and Kyoko are meeting each other with Yashiro and the President around – and also because last month's chapter was seeming to hint that Kyoko understands if she and Ren were to be in a relationship, since she's not viewed as a prominent and respectable actress yet, people would just hate her, not respect her relationship with Ren. So I feel like the end result is going to be some sort of time skip where we have an epilogue with Kyoko finally having "made it" as an actress and her and Ren finally being able to date without public scrutiny.
Thanks again for reviewing MWEH! Sorry to make it seem like I was pressuring you to review! I think I was commenting that it was odd NOT to see one of your reviews, since you've been so consistent! LOL My bad! Go live life! For serious! ^^
|MissMysterious| - Thanks so much! Glad you've enjoyed it so far, and hope you stick around til the end! Ride's not done quite yet ;)
Lillyannp – Success! Glad to slay with the feelz.
Erza Tsuruga – Haha, thanks for reviewing so consistently! I appreciate it! Yeah, before writing Ch44-45, I definitely had to go back and re-read the manga arc with Kyoko hearing Saena tell the story of her father's betrayal. The reunion scene with Misonoi, Saena, and Kyoko is coming uppppp, but given you've already read this chapter, it probably won't be as uplifting as you might imagine. :( Thanks again Erza!
H-Nala – Thanks for reviewing again! Glad to hear that Misonoi's motivations and background are garnering him some sympathy!
Guineapigs1 – You totally understand Kyoko's dilemma, I love it! You predicted this chapter's primary conflict haha Thanks again for reviewing! Excited to see what you think of this chapter.