[FIC] Class Act (part 17)

[dd]

The girls had all gotten into their costumes. They were being held in their various areas until the show started, and it was their turn to perform. Mr. Ishigawa walked back and for, nervous. Miss Okami kept checking her watch.

In her room, Kaname tried to use her phone again, but was caught by one of the guards. He held his hand up, making her flinch. But, the blow never came. The phone was tossed to the floor and stepped on. That was too close for comfort. She wondered where the police were. Had they taken her seriously? Were they on their way? Were they part of the whole plot? She stopped, and slapped herself across the face, twice. Thhat would never do. She was beginning to think like Sousuke.

Sousuke. That name did not sit well with her then. Where the hell was he? When had he ever not shown up in the nick of time, giving her ulcers by making her wait until the last moment? An unwanted idea crept into her head. What if Sousuke would not be coming? What if he could not come? What if he would never come again? Those men had guns.

The thick walls and door kept the room isolated from the rest of the backstage area. As a result, no one heard the sound of gunshots.

Out behind the curtain, the girls had all dropped to the floor, afraid. They had no idea what the gunshots signified. Was there a fight going on? Was it just a rowdy and dangerous crowd. If that were the case, they might be in even more trouble than they first thought.

A number of the Yakuza left to see what was going on. The remainder left in somewhat foul humor a number of minutes later, when Mr. Shincho and Mr. Katsura were dragged into the room by a young Sumo. The news was wonderful. The show had been cancelled. They could all get dressed.

Mr. Ishigawa and Miss Okami tried to make their way out of the backstage area. They were surrounded by a rather angry group of girls.

Room by room, the other girls were all told the score. One would have thought that they had just won the lottery. Some of the rooms were tucked out of the way, in places where the girls themselves had no idea to look. Those girls would have to wait to learn of their good fortune.


************************************************************


Mr. Kimutaku was rather displeased by the turn of events. It looked as if the Yakuza would be too caught up in their own troubles to be of any assistance to him. No doubt, they still meant to take care of Sousuke at a later time, but he wanted to know for sure. He wanted to see it done. If possible, he wanted to be the one who killed the troublesome boy.

Sousuke was not the only one who was going to die. That whoreson Yamataka had struck him. No man would do that and live, not even the oyabun of the local gangsters. Especially not a man that owed his position to him! The Yokozuna would die as well. The useless hulk of a man had laughed when he laid eyes on the one time female impersonator.

The men watching him were pitiful. He could dispatch them with little more than a pat on the back. He did so, giving them a taste of poison. They felt only the slightest of pricks, but within minutes they would be on the floor gasping their last breaths. They looked at him with accusations in their eyes, but feared punishing him without significant cause. Fools.

As the four stricken men began wobbling on their feet, bringing their hands up to their sweaty brows, the assassin prepared to strike. He had removed his gloves carefully. He now held three darts, tipped with an even more deadly poison. He could not afford to be careless---there was no antidote on earth quick enough to save someone hit with that concoction.

A man was passing between him, Sousuke, and the oyabun. He would serve as a shield for his movements. With insanely quick flicks of the wrist, the eager man threw his darts. All Hell broke loose.


************************************************************


Sousuke was not about to leave Mr. Kimutaku unwatched. He had a good idea just how dangerous the man was. He kept one eye on him at all times, or at least made sure that he was in the periphery of his field of vision. That bit of caution saved his life.

All three darts flew straight and true. Sousuke used the TMP as a shield, deflecting one. In a selfless act, he leaped and grabbed the second dart by its feathers, inches shy of Mr. Kahiwado’s eye. The Sumo was about to take offense for Souske's running into him---but, his eyes widened in shock when he saw what was in the young man’s fingers.

Mr. Tamataka stood with a startled look on his face, looking at the dart that he had just plucked forth from his neck. He had no time to call out before going glassy eyed and falling to the ground.

“He killed the oyabun!!!” Mr, Kimutaku yelled, pointing at Sousuke.

“The bomb was a trick!” One of the Yakuza officers pointed to the detonator, now laying on the floor. Bouncing off the bulk of the Yokozuna, Sousuke had lost control of the dead man’s switch. Fortunately, while jumping, he had disarmed the device, not wanting to take any chances.

The scarred mobster savagely kicked the detonator, sending it into the crowded forest of feet and legs. With a determined look, he gave Sousuke a quick glance, then melted into the crowd.

Mr. Kimutaku cursed his luck, and blamed himself for underestimating Sousuke yet again. Grabbing a pistol from one of the mob soldiers he killed, he too slid into the crowd.

“The Yakuza, they’re going for their guns. Can your associates stop them?” Sousuke quickly asked the Sumo.

“Yes!” Mr. Kashiwado whistled loudly, drawing all of the Rikishi to him. There was honor at stake. Furthermore, there was Kinboshi---defeating a Yakuza would bring a Gold Star, and an increase in stipend. Defeat of five opponents, with good Sumo technique not brawling, would bring Kakuage, a promotion in rank.

The Rikishi, ranging from the most junior up to an Ozeki, rushed headlong into battle. After giving Sousuke a bow of thanks, the Yokozuna joined the fray. Not content to stand idly by, Mr. Mahmud the Turkish wrestler, and Mr. Yilmuz the Kurash master, ran to fight.

There were a good number of people in the room who hated the Yakuza, or had reason to resent them. Unlikely to be remembered in the rush of bodies, the men waged their own personall battle aginst the men in dark coats. An opportunity like this was once-in-a-lifetime.

The people in the crowd who managed to get past the tight knot of conflict, still were held up from leaving the building. The reason for the delay was inapparent to the men and women stepping over one another in their panic and desire to get away from the fighting.

The room was a veritable kaleidoscope of sounds and movement. Sousuke needed to decide immediately, what should he do, or who should he follow. There was no doubt in his mind that Mr. Kimutaku was the biggest threat to his own person, and perhaps to Kaname as well. Was the man looking to escape? Get at Sousuke through his classmates? Or would he use the crowd as cover, striking at Sousuke as soon as the moment was right?

The scar-faced mobster was at large too, and he had a score to settle with Sousuke---he had been embarrassed in front of his peers, and he thought that Sousuke had been the one responsible for the oyabun’s death. He too could attack without a moment's notice..

The area bordering the stage was less crowded, presenting fewer places for an assailant to hide. If he went there, he would be less vulnerable to a close in surprise attack, but more at risk of a clear long distance shot. No, he couldn’t base his decision on that fact. The girls were the most vulnerable. They needed his help most of all. The guys would have to fend for themselves. He would need to serve as a buffer for the girls, without them taking too close a note of what he was actually doing. The ‘Hey, he’s just a crazed otaku’ excuse could carry things only so far.

The Rikishi were acting as if the room were their Dohyo. Sousuke couldn’t afford to stand and watch, but nonetheless had opportunity to watch the members of Mr. Kashiwado’s Heya in action. One younger Komusubi struck a Yakuza on the side of the face with all his strength. The man crumpled like a paper doll, teeth spilling out past ruined lips. The Ozeki charged two men at once, knocking them flat on their backs, leaving them defenseless against the younger Sumo who followed behind him. Without bothering to look, he slapped another man down to the ground.

Mr. Yilmuz served as a reminder that Kurash was more than simply a polite competition or means to get in peak condition. Grabbing gangsters by the coat, belts, or pants loops, he tossed the men through the air, their arms and legs flapping frantically. In the ring, a match stopped when an opponent’s knee hit’s the ground. No such rule applied here in this company. Likewise, there was no reason to avoid armlocks, strangleholds, or choking moves. Grappling below the waste was fair game.

Things were not to Mr. Mahmud’s liking. The challengers were not coated with olive oil. Where was the challenge in all this? An experienced pehlivan, he had been in numerous matches where next to nothing was considered cheating. He battered one man’s head repeatedly, until his eyes rolled up in his head. He pulled one man's ear so hard that he tore part of it off. Thrusting his hand down one mobster’s pants, he squeezed his testicles until the screaming man passed out.

Two Yakuza had managed to reach their guns. A third had been thrown a gun by one of the high-ranking members standing away from the conflict. Yet another was handed a shotgun by a drug runner. Three of the men made the mistake of staying clustered together. As they took aim at Mr. Mahmud and one of the nearby Maegeshira, they fell backward in awkward jerks as their body was stuck repeatedly by shots from the TMP. The fourth man located Sousuke, just as the young soldier need to change his clips.

Gunshots whizzzzzed by Sousuke’s head as he fell to the floor and rolled, putting a new clip in while he was in motion. The man had stupidly stayed in the same place, looking for Sousuke to stand back up again. Idiot! Shots from Sousuke's submachine gun clipped his ankle, causing him to fall. Next, before he knew it, a young man with an X-shaped scar on one cheek was vaulting over a nearby upended table, firing all the while. That was the last sight he ever saw.

Finished with the immediate threats, Sousuke began running towards the back stage area. He wouldn’t make it there. Stepping around the Yokozuna, who had smashed two men’s heads together hard enough to knock them out for days, he was forced to jump behind a cart holding racks of folding chairs. Bullets made an ungodly racket as they ricocheted from one metal seat to another.

The scar-faced Yakuza had made his move. Peeking between spaces in the racked chairs, Sousuke caught a quick glimpse of his foe. The man held a pistol in each hand. He had come alone. This was personal.

With no more than a few breaths to spare, Sousuke checked his clip. Not many shots left. His bag was too far away, probably being stepped upon or kicked around by the multitude of frightened people. There was a flash bang in his pocket, but nothing more.

“I’ve got you now, you little son of a bitch!” The Yakuza ran towards Sousuke, ready to shoot as soon as he tried to pop out for a shot. He fired a number of shots off of the top of the chairs, intending to keep his adversary pinned down.

Sousuke leaned on the cart. It moved. It had wheels! Without exposing any more of himself, he pushed hard against the cart, rushing it towards the gangster. The man was forced to jump out of the way. He saw Sousuke the same moment Sousuke saw him. Shots rang out.

The Bible states that Christ will judge both the quick and the dead. In musty old semantics, quick meant ‘living.’ To Sousuke, quick meant what one would think it meant---fast. He was quicker. The scar-faced man was dead. God helps those who help themselves, he thought.

“Very very good, Suki.” Mr. Kimutaku’s voice. The gaudily dressed man was standing behind a divider, only his hand showing fully. That hand held a pistol. “I’m afraid your tricks won’t work with me. See you on the other side. Ta ta!”

Sousuke was staring Death straight in the face. There was no place to jump for cover. Mr. Kimutaku was too good a killer to miss a target in the open, no matter how quick it was. Three gunshots barked across the room, signally that a life ended.

Mr. Kimutaku’s body fell lifeless to the floor. A rotund man with an overly large nose and splotchy skin walked out from behind the divider. Sousuke did a double take. The man was carrying a Desert Eagle pistol.

“Well Sousuke, looks like I had a chance to return the favor. I still owe you, though. You don’t know just how long I’ve been following that freak. I was ordered to bring him in for trial---chances are, he would have found a way to escape, or someone would set him free. It happened before, on a number of occasions. But, to save an innocent bystander, I was forced to take him out. Pity” It was Agent Martin. He pulled off his mask and unbuttoned his coat, letting a form-fitting pillow fall to the ground. “That was really uncomfortable.”

“I am grateful.” Sousuke was. “May I ask, how long have you been here?”

“O, I got here shortly after you guys did. I figured The Gecko would be looking for a way out of the country. He had a tie to this area. Word was that the oyabun owed him big time. I took a chance he would end up here.” Agent Martin grinned a lop-sided grin. “Sometimes hunches are the best part of detective work. There was nothing to lose.”

“I see. I am glad you were not here simply to see the girls dance.”

“Yes. I certainly had other reasons to be here.” Agent Martin slowly covered a an expensive pair of Zeiss binoculars with the flap of his coat.

“Have you notified the police?”

“They’ve been outside shortly after I realized the Gecko had actually shown up. I told them to wait for my signal.” Agent Martin led Sousuke over to the doorway. He could see occasional flashes of blue and red light.

Sousuke was not newbie when it came to operational tactics. He was certain that Agent Martin had been faced with difficult choices, caught between ethics and the desire to bring down a wanted criminal.

“Would you have let the dancing go on…and the auction…if Mr. Kimutaku hadn’t showed up yet?” Sousuke knew that he would gain nothing from learning the truth. Still, he wanted to know.

“Yes.” No emotions showed on the agent’s face. His left hand twitched slightly.

“I see. If it was the only way to set up my move, I suppose I would have as well.”

Agent Martin nodded his head. Not much needed to be said between professionals. The American had no doubts left about Sousuke. The action at the museum had been fairly indicative in itself.

“Did you think the bomb I had was truly armed?”

“Bomb?” The older man’s face looked shocked. Then he smiled and nodded his head. “I guessed it would be. That’s the way I would have done it.”

“You were willing to take the chance that someone might call my bluff?” Sousuke correctly guessed the answer.

“Yes. It was a calculated risk. To make an omelet….” Agent Martin shrugged his shoulders.”

“Eggs must be broken. I understand. It is not a problem. If there were no bomb, would you have let me be shot?”

“We’re both men of the gun, Sousuke. There are some questions that shouldn’t be asked.” Even so, the look on the Interpol operative’s face said ’No.’

Sousuke put two fingers to his forehead in a cursory salute. “Will you call the police in now? There are still people at risk.”

Agent Martin nodded his head and pointed. Even as Sousuke spoke, police in heavy riot gear were entering the room. “Not to worry. No word of you actions will see a printed report. Your bag will be returned to you just as you left it. Your group will not be detained for questioning. Neither will those men who came to your aid.” He was being magnanimous. It was a successful mission. Not only had the Gecko been put on ice permanently, but also the oyasun lost his life at the hands of another criminal, and a large number of gangsters were dead. A greater number, including some high ranking officials, would soon be in police custody.

“Thank you.”

“Do you think the girls would still do the show? If you want to repay the favor, you could go back and ask.” The mischievous man managed to keep a straight face.

“Uh…” The look on Sousuke’s face was priceless. Agent Martin couldn't keep from laughing.

“You lived through a lot today. I certainly wouldn’t send you to your death!” The operative’s words brought one of Sousuke’s nagging feelings to the surface. He began to sweat. Yakuza and crazed assassins were one thing. Highschool girls were another thing altogether!

“Uh…”

“Ah, to be young again.” Agent Martin smiled. “Achilles had his heel. I think I see the chink in your armor. Have a fun ride home, Sousuke!” He slapped Sousuke on the back. After some brief small talk, he headed off to touch base with the senior police officer.

Sousuke climbed up on the runway, stopping to take a quick look around the room. The Yokozuna was standing with his friends. They surrounded a small number of wounded Rikishi. Fortunately, none of the Sumo looked to be dead. Mr. Yilmuz and Mr. Mahmud saw Sousuke looking. They clasped their hands above their heads. The Yakuza were all lined up against the bar, their hands forward and feet spread. Their friends and dates did the same. General patrons were being cordoned off as well. The guys from his class saw him looking and waved. Some gave him the finger and laughed. They seemed no worse for wear.

There was no avoiding necessity. He had to walk up to the huge curtain. He had to go backstage.


************************************************************


The girls in the back room were on edge. The environment was eerie , with the large noisy furnace and heat pumps belching and roaring. A single low watt light bulb flickered on occasion, sending bizarre and frightening shadows here and there. The time kept ticking along...with each minute seeming like an hour...but still the dreaded call didn’t come.

"O, I wish we could just go out and get this over with!" One girl shocked herself by her exclamation. Nonetheless, a number of other scantily clad young ladies echoes her sentiments.

"M-Maybe they’re already done. M-Maybe they forgot about us." That a more cheerful thought. Many of the girls felt a small seed of hope growing within them.

"Or, the show might have been cancelled. Everyone else could be dressed and sitting on the bus now...." One by one, a number of different scenarios were suggested.

"Should we go check?" Ryo asked the girls as a whole.

"We might all get in big trouble. That small guy was scary. I’m not going out there." One girl hid here face behind her ostrich feathers.

"Me either! If they forget about us, that’s fine with me! Especially if they’re going to do that auction!" Another girl resumed her search for a place to hide in the small cramped room.

"We could send our class representative...." A girl from the swimming team looked away from Kaname when she spoke.

"Yeh, this is exactly the kind of thing we have representatives for." A girl from the basketball team fliched at the look on Kaname’s face.

"O, sure," Kaname said. "That’s why I accepted the position. To help serve as a liason with the teachers and principal. To arrange school trips. To help coordinate career days and set up dances. But mostly to walk out with propellers and fans, looking for crazed gunmen or shriveled old women with a chip on their shoulders."

"But this is part of the school trip...." A girl from the debating team spoke up sheepishly.

Kaname sighed. She threw her hands up in exasperation. "OK. If it will settle everyone down. I will go run a surveillance sweep." Kaname bit her lip after using that terminology.

"She’s starting to sound like Sagara!" A tall blond girl led the others in a round of laughter.

"Maybe she just wants him to see her dressed like that. You know. A private dance." The swimmer smiled seeing Kaname’s jaw drop.

"Believe me, that’s the LAST thing that’s going to happen. I will NOT let Sousuke see me like this. I’ll have those gangsters blindfold him before I take a single step on that stage!" Kaname hmmppffed a little louder than usual.

"Only Sousuke, but not the rest of the boys? Trying to save the view for sometime special?" The basketball player chuckled. It was amazing how much better everyone was feeling, at kaname’s expense.

"Sure sounds like there’s something going on between those two. In his own way, Sousuke is kind of cute." It seemed that every girl was intending to get in on the act.

"Well, I’m off." Kaname was not about to stay another moment in that room. "Besides, when we’re all safely out of here, I don’t think Sousuke’s life expectancy will be very long." The girls all nodded their heads---some solemnly, others with growing grins.

The door creaked as Kaname opened it ever slowly. Peeking out she saw no one, so pushed enough to make a space to walk through. There was a fair amount of noise coming from beyond the stage area, so she snuck into every nook and cranny she came across. So far, no men with guns. No thunderous applausue or rhthmic clapping. No screams. No crying. No girls.

When she got to the backstage area, it was practically deserted. Mizuke was there though.

Mizuke had wondered where Kaname and some of the other girls had gotten to. She was busy looking for her clothing, ready to get out of all those veils. It struck her, by the way Kaname was acting, that she didn’t know the show had been canceled. Mizuke smirked.

"Kaname! There you are. Hurry. Your group is the only one left. Things are getting really ugly out there. They’re talking about auctioning off your whole room. They have a gun to Sousuke’s head. They’re going to shoot him if you don’t get out there." Mizuke ran over to Kaname, put her hand in the small of her back, and started pushing. "They dragged Miss Okibasu out of her room. They have a gun on her too."

Kaname gathered up her courage. This was for her teacher and fellow students. This was for Sousuke. He’d better appreciate her sacrifice! Pushing apart the curtain, she stepped out on the stage.

Stepping out from the darkness into the light, it took Kaname a moment to adjust. The first thing she noticed was the disarray---groups of people were milling about away from the tables. There were policemen everywhere. They were the only ones with guns.

The second thing she noticed was Sousuke walking towards her. She was so shocked by everything, she momentarily forgot what she was wearing---or more accurately, what she was not.

“Sousuke! You’re OK. But, the dancing? What....” She voice tailed off.

“Kaname. You wanted to dance?” Kaname had sounded disappointed to Sousuke. In actuality, she was just coming to grips with the new reality. “It surprises me, but I shall assist you. It is not a problem!” Sousuke turned, ran, jumped off the stage, and ran some more. Passing between small clusters of patrons and prisoners detained by the watchful police, reached his destination. Like a spider monkey, he climbed up one small latticework tower and readjusted the spot light, bring it to bear fully on Kaname’s form.

The crowd went suddenly and completely silent. Then, whistles and howls filled the room. Even the Yakuza and police officers joined in.

“Alright! Looks like we get a show after all!”

“Oooh oooh oooh ooooooh C’MON BABY, TWIRL THEM THANGS!!!”

“SHAKE IT PRETTY MAMA!!!”

“Wait a minute, we can cuff them later…”

At first, Kaname was too stunned to move. When Sousuke pulled himself back up on the runway and sped over to her, she could only open and close her mouth like a newly landed fish.

“It is OK, Kaname. No need to worry. I will protect you.” Sousuke squared his shoulders and turned to keep a close watch on the crowd of hooting and hollering men.

That blatant Sousukeism snapped Kaname out of her trance. Yes, Mizuke would pay! But, Sousuke would die!!! She moved swiftly, putting Sousuke in a half-Nelson, dragging him back through the curtain. “The question you should be asking is ‘Who is going to protect you?' Sosukse, you…you…you…MORON!!!”

The other girls from Kaname’s room finally worked up enough courage to come out looking for her. They found her stadling Sousuke, braining him with her fans.

“Kinky!” One girl said.

“Very!!!” Another added.

“Kaname, shouldn’t you be making those things spin?” Ryo asked helpfully.

When a weak but awake Miss Okibasu was helped into the backstage area by a considerate police officer, she found an irate and brazenly dressed Kaname chasing a number of girls, looking to impale them on the shafts of her ostrich feathers.

“Miss Chidori, just why were you chasing those girls with ostrich feathers, dressed like that?” The teacher spoke to Kaname when she stopped her chase and walked over.

“Because I didn’t have a gun, Teacher.”


************************************************************


Miss Okibasu did what she could to bring the class together, and to settle them down. She needed Ren and Ryo’s help to walk, and relied on Kaname to help coordinate messages to the students. As bad as she felt, she still had a small smile on her face because of Sousuke. For the rest of her days, she was certain she would never forget that sight.

Kaname had left Sousuke dazed and confused before trying to make her friends pay for embarrassing her. Hearing a commotion, many of the other girls came back to see, thinking there’d be safety in numbers. They found the young soldier just sitting up, groggy. Their emotions began to play out dramatically, starting with relief at seeing he was OK…progressing to righteous anger at the things they went through due to his bone-headedness…and culminating in a tribal urge for revenge and retribution.

Sousuke never had a chance. The only thing that might have stopped the giggling hoard was his bag full of C4. Bodies swarmed him, pinning him to the ground. Hands reached out, tearing off his clothing. Because of the seething mass of bodies, some girls were pressed against his near naked form. They could feel his heart rate skyrocket and saw the look of a frantic animal in his eyes. He was theirs, and they could do with him as they chose.

When the girls had finished their nefarious plan, they pushed Sousuke out on stage. Three girls went to the spot light tower and corrected the beam. Sousuke was highlighted for every one to see.

“Hey, Sousuke. Looks like I was right about that Achilles heel. I almost wish ole Kimutaku was still alive. He would have died a happy Gecko if he had gotten to see this!” Agent Martin laughed before downing another shot of Rum.

“Is there an auction?” Miss Okibasu asked from the wings. “I’ll pay a month’s salary!”

“No wonder Sousuke knows everything about girls!!!” the rugby boys slapped each other on the back.

“Well, I think it’s really charming,” an elderly barmaid said. “It’s rare these days that you find a man who’s in touch with his feminine side….”

Blushing, Sousuke stood dressed in one of the skimpy outfits. He wore a thong, pasties, bunny ears, and a big fluffy white tail. He did his best to shield himself with a translucent pink bubble. The girls all started to applaud.

One of the police officers sent the entire room into hysterics. Activating a microphone, he asked Sousuke if the precinct could hire him. They wanted someone to jump out of a cake for their staff sergeant’s bachelor party.


*************************************************************


Sousuke had lived through worse. Injuries. Captivity. Interrogations. Times adrift at sea. This was not pleasant, but it was simple to ignore.

“Hey sweet cakes. Looking for a real man?” One wrestler whistled.

“Would you be MY girlfriend?” A rugby player didn’t care what Sousuke might do to him later. This was just too good a chance to pass up.

“There’s an empty seat next to me on the bus, doll!” Even the chess club had gotten into the swing of things.

Dressed back in his own clothes, the young Mithril operative took things with good grace. That actually won him the admiration of some of the guys giving him such a hard time. The boys weren’t the only ones with something to say.

“Jerk!” Some of the girls were still shivering after their ordeal.

“Moron.” Others resented having to dress as the had, even though they never stepped out on stage.

“BIG IDIOT!!!” Misuke smarted from her ‘Six Veils’ comment. Worse, her body ached after Kaname caught up with her.

Sousuke still had a large number of supporters. Even some of the girls would begin to forgive him after they heard how he stood up for them.

“Yeh, but you should have seen him! He faced down the Yakuza. A WHOLE ROOM full of gangsters, including the big boss. Dude, that was just too cool!” One of the swimmers gave Sousuke a thumbs up sign.

“That’s right. If he hadn’t delayed them, we would all now be toast. And, the girls would have had to do their show. Not to mention that auction.” A guy from the basketball team spoke highly of Sousuke.

“Right! That’s what SUCKS!!!” One of the rugby players didn’t take too kindly to the Up With Sousuke turn things were taking. “I wanted to see some. Know what I mean? And, I had scraped together fifty cents from the guys, so I could by Misuke.”

“Yup! She’d make a good foot rest. Or, a place to throw your dirty laundry!” The second rugby player could have used some help from his friends. When an already steamed Mizuke went ballsistic, he ended up paying the piper big time.

Someone tapped Sousuke on the shoulder. It was Kaname. In a deceptively sweet voice, she asked him “You didn’t do any fighting, did you?”

“Uh….”

“I hope you didn’t use any weapons.” Kaname’s smile would have been perfect on a crocodile.

“Uh….”

“Because, you know you never asked for permission….” Kaname noted the beads of sweat on Sousuke’s face.

“Uh….”

“Are you KIDDING???” One of the nearby boys said to Kaname.

“Shit yeh, there were PLENTY of weapons.” Another boy put in.

“Guns…claws…poison darts!” Shinji had a huge grin on his face.

“BOMBS!!!” A guy near Sousuke said, pumping his fist,

“Running…shooting…body slams!” Everybody had a favorite part.

“The police…Sumos…SOUSUKE!” Shinji had it all on film. Sousuke would buy that later.

“The ultimate in coolosity, babe!” The swimmer thought it all rocked.

“I see,” Kaname said with a fake smile. “Sousuke, could I speak to you over here a minute? Alone.”

Ooooooooooooooooh

“Whoa, they’re probably going to lip lock, man.” The swimmer gave Sousuke the ‘OK’ hand sign.

“Lucky bastard!” One guy had a terrible crush on Kaname. As class representative, she’d make certain his desk was always at the other end of the room.

“No. POOR SON OF A BITCH!” Nearly the entire boy’s soccer team spoke at the same time. Kaname took note. For the next fund-raiser, they’d be selling pot pourri.

Hahahahahahahahah

“Yes, Kaname?” Sousuke politely asked, when he and Kaname were alone.

“I just need to check my list, Sousuke. Let me see. Whip you and beat you without mercy? Check. Tongue lash you within an inch of your very existence? Check. Decide to assign you all of the onerous jobs and assignments when we get back to school? Check. Hit you hard again, just because? Hmmm. No. Wait right here.” She walked over to her pile of belongings, grabbed the halisen, then walked back. She smacked Sousuke hard against the back of the head. “Check!”

Sousuke should have stayed quiet. “Kaname, is there anything else on your list?”

Kaname smiled. “Anyone have a pen or pencil I can borrow?” Dozens of people held out writing utensils. Kaname smiled. She started to write on her piece of paper.

“Kaname, Miss Okibasu wants to know what the hold up is. She’s not feeling good, and the rest of us are about to explode or collapse.” Ryo was serving as a messenger girl.

“OK, Ryo. Keep your shirt on!” Everyone groaned. That was a poor chice of words at the moment. “Sousuke, it’s time to do your job. Go get the bus. Bring it up here by the door.”

“Uh….” As soon as Kaname said that, Sousuke realized that the buss was now in the hands of Mithril systems engineers.

“Forget where you park the bus, Sousuke? Even you can’t be that dumb!”

“Uh….”

“You better NOT have lost the keys or something?

“Uh….”

“SOUSUKE!!! Kaname was standing nose to nose eith the young sergeant. “GET……THE……BUS……NOW!!!”

“The bus is not there any more, Kaname.”

Kaname looked for her friends. She needed them now.

“Kyouko, tell me to be calm.” Kaname squared her shoulders.

“Be calm, Kaname.” Kyouko took a number of pictures.

“Maya, tell me to catch my breath.” Kaname moved her feet slightly.

“Catch your breath, Kaname.” Maya took a deep breath and held it.

“Ryo, tell me not to hit Sousuke.” Kaname took a firm grip on the halisen.

“Don’t hit Sousuke, Kaname.” Ryo took a couple of steps back.

“SCREW YOU ALL. I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIENDS!!!” Kaname swung up from the hips. If Sousuke had been a soft ball, he would have cleared the fences and been bouncing down the street.

Sousuke pulled himself off the ground.

“Sousuke. For a moment there, it sounded as if you said ‘The bus is not there anymore.’” The halisen twitched in her hand


************************************************************
End of pt 17

[HELLFIRE]

...interesting and suspenseful as always dd Thinking back to your
comment about Ren thinking about her gangster connections, it'd be
interesting to have her get some more time in the spotlight by revealing
her underworld connections to the yakuza and all, and to Sousuke as well,
and perhaps her getting in on one of Sousuke's secret(s) in the process.

Liking Sousuke's negotiating style Though personally, he
should've upped the stake CONSIDERABLY. Coupla pounds of C4
(probably enough to level the building, PLUS everyone in it), poison
gas, white phospor (try explaining THAT effect to everyone in the room)...
Just some random thoughts

Looking forward to more!






Regards