Le Jeu Sinistre Chapter 3/9
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2003 10:59 pm
Disclaimer: Full Metal Panic is the property of Gatou Shoji. This is a parody.
Chapter Three: A Clockwork Kashim
Kaname popped two aspirin into her mouth, downed a glass of water and looked back at Sousuke.
“I’m telling you… You’re injured so you can sleep in the bed!”
Sousuke shook his head.
“I don’t need to.”
This has been going on for a good ten minutes. After Kaname had bandaged Sousuke up, she told him he could sleep in her bed because it would be more comfortable for the injured soldier. Ever the gentleman, Sousuke refused, totally determined to sleep on the couch.
“Listen…” hissed Kaname, advancing on Sousuke. The boy who had faced down terrorists and KGB agents without flinching took a step back. “You will sleep in that bed. And you will be comfortable. Am I making myself clear?”
Clearing his throat, Sousuke looked over the teenage girl glaring at him, weighing his odds. Finally, he spoke.
“I’m a guest in your home. Since you are allowing me to stay here without paying, you’re entitled to the more comfortable place to sleep. Moreover, where I sleep will have no major impact on my wounds.”
Kaname stared at Sousuke, her face totally expressionless. Feeling more and more uncomfortable with each passing second, the sergeant took a hesitant step backwards.
“Chidori-“
It a blur of motion, Kaname drew her paper fan and smacked Sousuke upside the head. Everything went dark for a few moments. Sousuke was vaguely aware of a strange sliding motion and wondered if any permanent damage was done.
When Sousuke came to, he was lying in bed.
“Chidori?” he said, sitting up and looking around.
“Down here, Sousuke!”
He rolled over and looked down on the left side of the bed and there was Kaname, rolling out a futon.
“I figured I should sleep in here with you,” she said, standing up. She brushed some hair away from her face and grinned. “You know, in case you need help changing the bandages in the middle of the night or something.”
“I almost certainly won’t. Because the wounds were cauterized, the bleeding won’t start again. And the gauze is thick enough that any blood that leaks will be absorbed.”
Kaname sorta’ stared at Sousuke like he was the stupidest person in the world before looking away from him and sighing in frustration.
“This guy…” she muttered.
~
Ten minutes later, after Kaname had changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth, she lay down on the futon and clicked off the lamp.
“’Night, Sousuke. And no funny stuff if you know what’s good for you!”
There was a barely audible sigh from Sousuke’s side of the bed. “Understood.”
And so, the two teenagers lay there in the dark of Kaname’s room. Outside, they could hear the sounds of Tokyo at night. In the living room, Kaname’s hamster scratched noisily.
Half an hour passed and Kaname was still awake. The full force of the day’s events finally slapped her in the face. The sheer insanity of what happened finally dawned on her. But what was more disturbing was that she was at the point where she wasn’t that surprised to find Sousuke on her doorstep with two gaping bullet wounds in his side. Perhaps, she mused, once upon a time, it would’ve bothered her but now, it was just another crazy thing that happened in her life. Some girls have their boyfriends sleep over when their parents are out of town. Kaname let a teenage paramilitary sergeant crash at her place when he was in town and badly wounded. It wasn’t that different.
But then, there was the 64000 Yen Question: Why was Sousuke walking around Tokyo with two bullet wounds? And he said something about Mithril… What the hell was going on?
“Hey… Sousuke…” started Kaname. “You awake?”
“Yes.”
There’s a surprise, thought the girl sarcastically.
“Err… If you don’t mind my asking…” Suddenly, Kaname wasn’t quite sure how to proceed. She was hoping that Sousuke would figure out what she wanted to know and answer without her having to finish the question. No such luck. He remained silent.
“Who shot you up?” she finally said.
Silence.
“Sousuke?”
“No one.”
Kaname felt the familiar frustration rising.
“Who shot you?” she tried again.
“No one.”
Finally, the girl scowled.
“Do you think that’s cool? Acting all tough like you’re not going to say who shot you? This isn’t ‘The Godfather’, this is real life! Just tell me what happened.”
Again, more silence. Then…
“It’s better if you don’t know.”
At this, Kaname sat up, facing Sousuke’s back.
“Don’t give me that shit! Don’t try this ‘tortured soldier’ stuff! You know I don’t buy into it!” Her tone softened slightly. “If someone’s trying to hurt you, I want to know. Tell me. Who shot you?”
“It’s before for you if you don’t know. If you know, you’ll be in more danger.”
Kaname just scowled. The nerve of this guy…
“Aren’t I in danger for sheltering you?”
Sousuke made a grunting noise and started to sit up.
“You’re right. I should leave. Thank you for your hospi-“
“Get out of bed and I’ll introduce you to a whole new world of pain.”
Sousuke lay back down with a soft sigh. Neither teenager spoke for several minutes.
“Chidori,” Sousuke said suddenly. “What was the first movie you ever saw?”
The girl was taken aback. Sousuke initiating conversation was something that just didn’t happen that often.
“I dunno. Probably some Disney movie. Why?” She got a slight, goofy grin on her face. “What was your first movie?” In her minds eye, Kaname pictured a little Sousuke, sitting in a movie theater, watching some American war movie. Or maybe something like Casablanca.
“’The Godfather.’”
And, once again, Kaname’s idealized vision was shattered.
“’The Godfather’? How old were you?”
“Six… No… Seven.”
“You saw ‘The Godfather’ at seven?” She knew Sousuke’s like had been weird but…
“Yes.” The young soldier’s voice took on a nostalgic feel that you usually only get when seniors reminisce. “It was in a small theater in Kabul. There were perhaps one hundred and fifty men in a space that barely accommodated twenty-five but it didn’t matter. It was in English and subtitled. I couldn’t read but a friend of mine read them for me. The color was horrible. The quality of the film was horrible. The projector must’ve been ancient and filled with sand. But, for three hours, I was entranced. I forgot about Afghanistan and the fighting. The only thing I thought about was the movie and the story.”
Kaname couldn’t help it. She smiled. Letting her arms rest on the bed and leaning her head on them, she looked Sousuke seriously, even though he couldn’t see it.
“So, you liked the movie?”
“It’s my favorite movie, to this day. I haven’t seen it since but I remember every detail.” He hesitated but continued. “In a war, when the only things you do are walk, fight, eat and sleep, you remember any change.”
Something in Kaname’s chest tightened. “If you want, tomorrow, we can go rent it.”
“I would like that.”
During the silence that followed, Kaname couldn’t help but feel very close to Sousuke. The Godfather. Who would’ve thought it? He probably had never told anyone about that before. She was maybe the only person still alive in the world who knew that, as a child, Sagara Sousuke saw The Godfather in a rundown, shitty theater in Kabul and adored it.
“One thing that struck me about the film was how much betrayal the characters when through. Always, someone was betraying someone else. They all had their own reasons but more often than not, they met betrayal as well in the end. I always wondered, after I saw it, if anyone would ever betray me.”
“Sousuke… I… Hey, look at me.”
He rolled over and locked eyes with Kaname.
“Listen, Sousuke. I’ll never betray you, if that’s what you’re thinking. I don’t know what’s happened in your life but… You can always be confident that no matter what, if you let me, I’ll be with you. Remember what you said? As long as you’re with me, we can do anything. Whether it’s facing terrifying danger or catching the big one, right?”
Sousuke gave her this solemn look and nodded.
“Yes. Understood.”
“Good. Now, get some sleep! You won’t heal if you don’t sleep!”
Her command was met with an affirmative-sounding grunt. As he drifted off into sleep, Sousuke couldn’t help but feel as though the burden of the events of the past day had lifted slightly.
~
“Forty-three… forty-four… forty-five… forty-six…”
Kaname’s eyes opened slowly. She sat up and heard several distinct cracking noises originating from her spine. Futons are good for your back my ass, she thought groggily.
“Forty-seven… forty-eight… forty-nine…”
With some difficulty, Kaname managed to stand up and stretch. More cracking sounds.
“Fifty… fifty-one… fifty-two…”
It took Kaname a moment to realize that someone counting aloud in her bedroom at 5:30 in the morning wasn’t quite normal. She looked around and there, lying on the floor with his feet tucked under the bed was Sousuke, performing sit-ups.
“Fifty-three… Fifty-four…”
“Oi. Sousuke. What’re you doing?”
“Sit ups.”
“Oh.”
Kaname wasn’t a morning person.
She stumbled out of the room and into the shower. Ten minutes later, she stumbled out and back into the room, wearing nothing but a towel. She still wasn’t totally awake.
Sousuke had moved on to Hindu push-ups.
“Seventeen… Eighteen… Nineteen…”
It was as he was going through the movements for the twentieth push-up that Sousuke looked up at Kaname. He was about to say good morning when she, unfortunately, woke up.
Normally a very clever and quick girl, Kaname quickly processed the facts: She was standing, dripping wet in a short towel and Sousuke was on the ground, staring up at her.
Had Kaname been a terrorist, a KGB agent, a petty criminal or, really, anyone except Kaname, Sousuke would’ve resisted his savage fan beating. Instead, however, he took it in good humor. And when she half dragged, half threw him out of the room, he took the in good humor too.
A few minutes later, when Kaname came out, dressed in her sailor uniform, she was none too pleased.
“I can’t believe you! I take you into my home and you’re already acting like a pervert!”
“I-“
“I guess it can’t be helped. I shouldn’t try to change your nature.” The girl gave a heavy sigh. “Are you coming to school?”
“School?”
“Yeah. You know, that place where normal people go to learn? You went there once, remember?”
“I know what it is. I’m not enrolled so it would be troublesome for me to come to classes.”
Kaname sighed again. “I guess you’re right. Then you’re here alone today. You already know how to work the stove so…” She scrunched up her face in deep thought. “No. On second thought, go out for lunch and dinner. I’ll put some money on the counter for you. You can keep the change if you want, okay?”
Sousuke nodded. Kaname was moving around her apartment, grabbing things she needed for school left and right. Sousuke observed her without saying a word. She tossed some money onto the counter as she left the kitchen, a piece of toast in her mouth.
She knows this place perfectly, Sousuke realized. There’s no wasted movement. She’s memorized the placement of every object she needs. It’s perfect organization.
To most people, this wouldn’t be very strange. But to Sousuke, it was at least of some importance: Ever since he could remember, he was very organized. He always knew where things were and those things were always there. He had memorized totally the set up of his quarters on the Tuatha De Danaan. When it took Kurtz or Melissa a few minutes to find an important document, it took Sousuke seconds because he filed it in his file folder where he kept current and previous orders. It was similar with Kaname. Her apartment was in perfect order.
“Hey! Sousuke!”
The sergeant jerked out of his thoughts. He stood up stiffly, facing Kaname. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, nothing…” She sighed. “Listen, I’ll have my cell phone on. If anything goes wrong or if anything happens, call me. Got it?”
“Understood.”
“And comb your hair.”
“Und… what?”
She glared at him.
“I’m serious. Your hair is a mess. Comb it before I get back.”
“Err… Alright.”
Kaname nodded. “Well, I’ll see you this evening.” As she turned to leave, she stopped in mid step and spun around to glare at him seriously. “Behave.”
~
Sousuke did behave. He showered, dressed himself (he had ‘borrowed’ clothes from a small shop on the Western coast of Japan), and combed his hair. It didn’t make much difference but he tried.
After a small breakfast of toast and milk, Sousuke cleaned his weapons. He spread everything out, very organized, on Kaname’s dining room table and meticulously polished and checked every piece of his submachine gun and handgun. And then, he carefully put everything back together. And then he hid the weapons. The MP-5 he put in the briefcase he brought with him. The handgun he tucked into the pocket of his pants.
By then, it was eight o’clock. And Sousuke had nothing to do.
First, he tried watching TV. All the stations were reporting the mission in North Korea. He watched one channel’s coverage for a few minutes but started to feel sick. He flipped to a different channel, which was showing a campy Hong Kong movie from the ‘70s called Inframan. Sousuke watched this to the end. It wasn’t half-bad, he decided. It wasn’t a masterpiece in any shape and form, though.
By ten o’clock, Sousuke had nothing to do. Kaname had a video game console and he looked over the games but he wasn’t familiar with any of them. He decided it would be best not to touch it.
Next, he looked at her bookshelves. She had quite a selection, he decided. Really, there were more books there than he had seen in his life though, he reasoned, that was no large feat.
Finally, Sousuke chose a mystery that looked interesting. He found a comfortable position on the couch and began to read. Occasionally, a noise would startle him and, pulling out his pistol, he would go to investigate. Usually, it was just a wind or a stray cat or the hamster. Gradually, Sousuke began to relax.
If I’m dead, I’m safe, he told himself. Assassins don’t try to kill people who are already dead, after all. For the first time in several years, the young man felt an unusual sense of freedom.
Mithril soldiers, as a rule, are not much liked by drug barons, gangsters, Communists or, really, any of the other unsavory characters who populate this world. And it’s because of that that most of them spend quite a bit of time looking over their shoulders. Sousuke was no exception. And it was all the more important now, being that Mithril almost certainly wanted him dead.
But why? That was the real question. It was such an open-ended thing that Sousuke put down the book and leaned back, pondering it.
Had he stumbled on something he wasn’t supposed to? He didn’t remember something like that. Perhaps Major Mao or Kurtz had and the entire team was to be eliminated so it wouldn’t look suspicious.
Or perhaps Mithril saw him as a threat because he was the only one who could control the Arbalest. That was possible. Even more so, if they intended to take control of the Tuatha De Danaan away from Captain Testarossa.
And what of the Captain? Sousuke hadn’t thought of her since leaving Korea. Was she in on the plan? No. It was something that she would never agree to. He had picked up on what he thought might be slight affection towards him from her so it was impossible (Sousuke, dense as he was, only perceived the way Tessa looked at him longingly and the way she occasionally brushed against him in the corridors and the way she always had a smile for him as “slight affection.” He was not a particularly clever lad._
The Captain was a Whispered, wasn’t she? Perhaps that had something to do with it. His involvement with the Whispered, that is, the Captain and Kaname, could have been a factor.
No matter how much he speculated, however, he was no closer to learning the truth as he was to actually developing the ability to pick up on “good vibrations.”
And so, Sousuke put it out of his mind and went back to reading the novel. It was quite interesting. It was about the murder of the daughter of a Yakuza leader and the subsequent witch hunt throughout the gang to find the killer. As it turns out, it had been an elaborate ploy made by a former officer who had been betrayed and supposedly “killer” (Sousuke felt some sympathy for the fellow’s plight) in the ‘60s. Apparently, he spent twenty years biding his time and planning. In the end, he’s found out but not before the gang is split into two factions. The story culminated in a giant fight across Tokyo that leaves the gang in ruins. In the confusion, the betrayed man escapes and leaves for Canada to start his new life.
It was mid-afternoon by the time Sousuke finished the book. He closed it and considered the story. It reminded him of The Godfather—that’s what piqued his interest in the first place. Betrayal after betrayal…
As Sousuke thought, he came to the conclusion that he had lead a rather sheltered life up until that point. Certainly, he was an excellent at fighting and wasn’t bad with technology, military or otherwise. But that was all he knew. It was a miracle he could read Japanese. He learned Arabic script first, while fighting in Afghanistan and it was only as a preteen that he learned to read Japanese. And he was still only at the level of a Junior High student.
It wasn’t all bad, he reasoned. As consolation, Sousuke told himself that he had been helping other people. He had made sacrifices for that others could have a better life, which was inherently good.
Still, not everyone did what he did. So, why should he have to? Why should he have missed out on a childhood and made huge sacrifices of himself just to help downtrodden people? Didn’t he have the right to happiness?
These were all thoughts Sousuke had never had before but the more he considered it, the more it made sense. Instead of trying to return to Mithril, he would stay with Kaname where he could be happy. He could live the rest of his life normally.
But, what about the military? It was a part of him. The feel of a gun in his hand and the sounds of gunfire were as natural to him as the feel of a baseball and the sounds of a market are to most people.
But, then, he decided, if he was with Kaname, living a normal life, he wouldn’t miss it.
And if he did, he could always join the Japanese SDF.
~
When Kaname arrived home, she half expected her apartment to have been turned into a small-scale military base. She was most relieved when she found her humble abode looking the same as when she last left it.
“Yo, Sousuke,” she said, looking around for him. Was he hiding in the closet, shotgun out, ready to ambush an intruder? Or maybe trying to change his bandages again. Or even heating up a knife…
The scene from the previous night replayed itself in Kaname’s mind and she shuddered involuntarily. For whatever reason, it hadn’t bothered her then but… Looking back, the way Sousuke’s flesh sizzled when she touched the blade to him… It made her sick.
“Chidori. Welcome back.”
Sousuke came walking out of the living room. No military fatigues. No blood. No knife. He held a book in his left hand but that was about it.
“Did you behave yourself?”
“Yes.”
He did, she thought happily. He really did. I can civilize him!
She tossed her bag to the floor and her light coat next to it. She went into the refrigerator and pulled out two sodas, one for each of them. She tossed Sousuke’s to him and popped open the top on her own.
“So, what’d you do all day?”
“I watched television and I read.”
Normal things for a normal person, Kaname thought. She was having trouble hiding her smile.
“What’d you read?”
He held up the book in his left hand. It was the sequel to the other one he read earlier. It was a Yakuza “true crime” novel. The first had been good but the second paled in comparison.
“Did you read the first?”
“Yes. It was very good. I started reading this one after I finished the first book.”
Kaname’s face finally broke into a full smile. Sousuke looked at her a bit oddly.
“And what did you watch on TV?” she asked a bit too enthusiastically.
“After you left, I watched the new for awhile and then a movie.”
It was probably a war movie but who cares?
“And what’d you do for lunch and dinner?”
Sousuke stared at her for a second. Then, it seemed as thought a light went on inside of his thick skull.
“I forgot to eat.”
Kaname groaned and resisted the urge to smack the sergeant halfway across Tokyo.
~
As it turned out, Kaname hadn’t eaten dinner yet so the two ordered Chinese food. When it came, they enjoyed their feast of dim sum and fried rice together. When Kaname tried a few jokes out on Sousuke, he actually laughed. Sorta’. He smiled, at least.
The two cleaned up together and washed the dishes together. Kaname splashed Sousuke with the soapy water. He seemed more confused than angry but with some encouragement from her, he splashed her back, though he really didn’t seem to understand why.
Afterwards, they played video games together. Despite Sousuke’s reflexes, Kaname beat him mercilessly. Still, he seemed to enjoy the game. By nine o’clock, he was winning Street Fighter matches almost as much as he was losing them. Almost.
Before long, it was eleven. Kaname stood up, stretched and yawned.
“It’s been a long day, huh? Why don’t we go to bed?”
Sousuke gave her one of his usual affirmative grunts and reluctantly turned off the Playstation. Kaname resisted the urge to talk to him like a little kid and promise that she would play with him in the morning.
And so, the two teenagers found themselves laying in Kaname’s room much the same as they had done the night before.
“G’night, Sousuke. And…” Kaname hesitated. Then she said it. “Sweet dreams.”
It sounded so horribly sappy to her but she couldn’t help it. Sousuke grunted again and within minutes, he was snoring softly.
Kaname, though, was totally awake. Sousuke was behaving. He wasn’t running around with a gun. He wasn’t detonating explosives. He was being a good boy.
What next? Maybe he could become romantic. Even in the dark, Kaname’s cheeks swelled with color. Two teenagers living together… It was to be expected, wasn’t it? Her blush increased. Maybe she could coax a kiss out of him before the weekend was over…
No, no, no… Almost as though she were arguing with herself, Kaname should her head. They weren’t ready for that sort of stuff yet. It was enough to live in the same apartment and sleep in the same room. For now.
Around eleven thirty, Kaname got up to get a glass of water and to help clear her mind. She was thinking of all the possibilities of being with Sousuke. What if he wanted to pursue a relationship with her? What if she wanted one with him? Would he go back to school? Wouldn’t it be great if they got into the same college?
As she drank her glass of water, Kaname tried desperately to stop thinking. At this rate, she figured, she would never sleep. But it was no use. She was happy, excited and scared all at the same time.
Then, she heard it. It started out as a sort of scratching noise coming from the bedroom. Then, it became a knocking noise.
And then, it became a smashing glass noise.
“Oh my god…” Kaname whispered. Did Sousuke do something? Why would he break a window? Sleep walking, maybe?
Then she heard the voices.
“Check the bed. She should be there. Remember. Don’t kill her.”
“Right. Got it, got it…”
Men’s voices. Stressed whispers. What the hell was going on…?
“Check the rest of the apartment. Make sure there’s no one else here.”
Shit.
Kaname pushed up against the counter of her kitchen. Maybe, she thought, if she stood still, they wouldn’t be able to see her. No, that wouldn’t work… And wasn’t Sousuke in her bed? If they found him-
“Nothing in the bed.”
“Damn it… Check the living room, bathroom, kitchen… She’s got to be here somewhere.”
There were more steps. A light shone into the kitchen and moved around slowly. Kaname was petrified. Finally, it came to rest on her face, frozen in fear. She stared back at the soldier, dressed in full battle gear, like a deer caught in the headlights.
“I’ve got her. C’mere, sweet heart…” he said, reaching out with one hand, beckoning her.
Two shots rang out suddenly. The soldier froze and looked around, his handgun searching the room.
“What the hell happened?!” he yelled.
“Shit… shit… there’s someone else in here!”
“What? Who?”
The only answer he got was another gunshot and a tortured groan.
“Get the girl and let’s get the hell out of here!” came the roar from the other room. The soldier before Kaname turned his full attention towards her. He took a step forward and she could see him grinning.
“C’mon, honey. I won’t hurt you. Just…”
“No…” she whispered.
“It’s okay…”
“No…”
“Just-“
“I. Said. NO!” screamed Kaname. She and the soldier looked equally surprised.
“Listen, we-“
“Go away!” Kaname started searching around frantically behind her. Her hand came to rest on a kitchen knife. She pulled it out and held it in front of her protectively.
“I… I’ll kill you! So go away!”
The soldier sighed.
“Now, put that down. Girls shouldn’t play with-“
The sound of automatic fire came from the other room. A chorus of “Shit!” came from no fewer than two voices. More gun fire.
The soldier before her was distracted, Kaname realized. Now or never.
It seemed like a dream. She crossed the kitchen with a few strides and, easy as you please, drove the knife into the soldier’s throat. As he crumpled to the floor, he looked at her with pure surprise.
It took Kaname a few moments to realize what had just happened. She dropped the knife and took a few steps back.
“What… what…”
“Damn it! Who’s shooting?! Where is he? ARGH!”
“What the hell is going on?!” Kaname finally screamed. It felt good to scream.
Yet more gun fire. Then, the apartment was silent.
A full minute passed. Then, footsteps. Without thinking, Kaname knelt and pried the pistol out of the dead man’s fingers. She pointed it at the figure entering the kitchen.
And then she dropped it in relief. It was Sousuke. She bounded towards him and threw her arms around him.
“Sousuke! You idiot, what’s going on?”
The young soldier didn’t answer. He delicately removed Kaname’s arms from him and knelt, checking the dead soldier for a pulse. Being dead, he didn’t find one.
“Come with me,” Sousuke said finally and started towards the door. When Kaname didn’t follow him, staring instead on the dead man lying on her nice kitchen floor, Sousuke reached out and gingerly took her hand and led her to the living room.
One soldier was doubled over the back of the couch, a shiny red liquid pouring out of his back. Another was sprawled on the floor, groaning slightly. Sousuke went over to him and grabbed him roughly, pull him to his knees. He raised his pistol and put it to the man’s head, all without ever letting go of Kaname’s hand.
“Who sent you?” he demanded. There was no trace of emotion in his voice.
“W-who the hell are you…?” whispered the soldier. As opposed to Sousuke, his voice oozed with fear.
“Sagara. Sagara Sousuke.”
“What…? You’re dead?”
“I came back from Hell. Now. Who sent you?”
“Je… Jesus Christ! You’re a fudgie ghost!”
“Who sent you?!”
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…”
Sousuke dropped Kaname’s hand. He grabbed the soldier’s throat and squeezed while pushing the barrel of the pistol into the side of his head.
“Who. Sent. You.”
There was total silence for a moment. It seemed as though even the noise of Tokyo by night had stopped. Then…
“Mi… thril…”
Kaname gasped. Sousuke’s eyes shot to her and then back to the soldier.
“No…”
He was breathing hard now.
“Liar!”
He pulled the trigger. The soldier’s head exploded and blood splattered everywhere. Sousuke let the body fall. He stared at it, then the gun, his bloody hands and finally Kaname. She had drops of blood tossed haphazardly on her pajamas.
“Pack some things. We’re leaving.”
~
Far away, in Italy, Padre sat in his office. But he was not alone.
In a chair by a bookshelf sat a young girl, perhaps sixteen with red hair that reached her back. She wore a hospital gown and had this dazed, confused look on her face. She stared across the room but in her hands, she played with a rosary, twisting the beads around absentmindedly.
But, as Padre soon learned, they weren’t the only two in the room.
“Good evening, Holy Father…” came the blood-freezing, smooth voice. Padre looked up from his papers to see a tall, Asian man emerging from the shadows.
“Gauron. What do you want now?”
“Just checking up on my favorite crazed future dictator. And… Who is this vision of loveliness?” He noticed the girl sitting in the chair. She made no indication that she realized he was there.
“Her name’s Fatima. She’s my… daughter… of sorts…”
“She’s a Whispered.”
“You can tell?”
Gauron laughed.
“No. I can’t.”
He walked over to the girl and caressed her cheek. Padre pulled his pistol and held it ready.
“So… Honey…” Gauron purred. He ran his hands through her hair. Fatima sighed softly. “Does the Holy Father of All God’s Creations treat you well?”
She didn’t answer.
“Don’t you know? He’s the mortal enemy of all the Whispered.”
“That’s enough Gauron…” muttered Padre.
Gauron gave Padre the best shit-eating grin in the world. “I only speak the truth.”
He put both hands on Fatima’s cheeks now.
“Such a beautiful girl… Never having known a man…” And with that, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Fatima’s eyes widened but she didn’t pull away. Nor did she lean into the kiss.
When Gauron finished, he stood up, most satisfied with himself.
“Well, I think that-“
Suddenly, Fatima gave a cry and fell to the ground, clutching her head. Padre stood up, raising his gun but not aiming.
“Fatima! What’s wrong? What’d you do to her, you bastard?!”
Gauron grinned but said nothing.
“He’s coming…” Fatima whispered.
“What?” demanded Padre.
“Yes. Tell us. Who’s coming, sweetie?”
“The angel… The avenging angel comes to take his revenge on those who wronged him… with the bearers of Forbidden Knowledges… The Gnostics… And… And…” Tears were streaming down Fatima’s face. “He comes upon a great pale horse with the power of God…”
And then she fainted.
A painful silence filled the room. The ticking of the clock was the only sound. Not surprisingly, Gauron was the first to speak.
“Melodramatic little thing, isn’t she?”
Padre aimed at Gauron.
“Get. Out.”
“Right, right… But listen to your toy, Holy Father. She knows more about what’s happening than you ever will…”
And, like a ghost, Gauron disappeared once again.
Padre slumped back in his chair. He called for a doctor for Fatima and sighed. More security, he thought. We need more security.
End of Chapter Three
Author’s Notes:
Wow. I had fun writing this chapter. I would’ve gotten to it sooner if it weren’t for Gundam SEED. Goddamn if that isn’t my favorite Gundam series. If you have a chance to see it, I highly recommend you do, if only for the middle-to-end episodes where it really shines.
Anyway, I’d like to thank everyone who reviewed/complimented this fic so far. It’s great encouragement. Really makes my day.
And, for the record, Inframan, the movie Sousuke watches on TV, is real. It was made in 1975 by the famous Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong. It’s so horrible it’s awesome. ^_^
Finally, the chapter’s title is a parody of “A Clockwork Orange” by some guy whose name escapes me at the moment. I never read much of the book (you viddy?) nor did I see the movie. But I like how the name sounds. That’s reason enough, methinks. Plus, the chapter focuses mostly on Sousuke.
Chapter Three: A Clockwork Kashim
Kaname popped two aspirin into her mouth, downed a glass of water and looked back at Sousuke.
“I’m telling you… You’re injured so you can sleep in the bed!”
Sousuke shook his head.
“I don’t need to.”
This has been going on for a good ten minutes. After Kaname had bandaged Sousuke up, she told him he could sleep in her bed because it would be more comfortable for the injured soldier. Ever the gentleman, Sousuke refused, totally determined to sleep on the couch.
“Listen…” hissed Kaname, advancing on Sousuke. The boy who had faced down terrorists and KGB agents without flinching took a step back. “You will sleep in that bed. And you will be comfortable. Am I making myself clear?”
Clearing his throat, Sousuke looked over the teenage girl glaring at him, weighing his odds. Finally, he spoke.
“I’m a guest in your home. Since you are allowing me to stay here without paying, you’re entitled to the more comfortable place to sleep. Moreover, where I sleep will have no major impact on my wounds.”
Kaname stared at Sousuke, her face totally expressionless. Feeling more and more uncomfortable with each passing second, the sergeant took a hesitant step backwards.
“Chidori-“
It a blur of motion, Kaname drew her paper fan and smacked Sousuke upside the head. Everything went dark for a few moments. Sousuke was vaguely aware of a strange sliding motion and wondered if any permanent damage was done.
When Sousuke came to, he was lying in bed.
“Chidori?” he said, sitting up and looking around.
“Down here, Sousuke!”
He rolled over and looked down on the left side of the bed and there was Kaname, rolling out a futon.
“I figured I should sleep in here with you,” she said, standing up. She brushed some hair away from her face and grinned. “You know, in case you need help changing the bandages in the middle of the night or something.”
“I almost certainly won’t. Because the wounds were cauterized, the bleeding won’t start again. And the gauze is thick enough that any blood that leaks will be absorbed.”
Kaname sorta’ stared at Sousuke like he was the stupidest person in the world before looking away from him and sighing in frustration.
“This guy…” she muttered.
~
Ten minutes later, after Kaname had changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth, she lay down on the futon and clicked off the lamp.
“’Night, Sousuke. And no funny stuff if you know what’s good for you!”
There was a barely audible sigh from Sousuke’s side of the bed. “Understood.”
And so, the two teenagers lay there in the dark of Kaname’s room. Outside, they could hear the sounds of Tokyo at night. In the living room, Kaname’s hamster scratched noisily.
Half an hour passed and Kaname was still awake. The full force of the day’s events finally slapped her in the face. The sheer insanity of what happened finally dawned on her. But what was more disturbing was that she was at the point where she wasn’t that surprised to find Sousuke on her doorstep with two gaping bullet wounds in his side. Perhaps, she mused, once upon a time, it would’ve bothered her but now, it was just another crazy thing that happened in her life. Some girls have their boyfriends sleep over when their parents are out of town. Kaname let a teenage paramilitary sergeant crash at her place when he was in town and badly wounded. It wasn’t that different.
But then, there was the 64000 Yen Question: Why was Sousuke walking around Tokyo with two bullet wounds? And he said something about Mithril… What the hell was going on?
“Hey… Sousuke…” started Kaname. “You awake?”
“Yes.”
There’s a surprise, thought the girl sarcastically.
“Err… If you don’t mind my asking…” Suddenly, Kaname wasn’t quite sure how to proceed. She was hoping that Sousuke would figure out what she wanted to know and answer without her having to finish the question. No such luck. He remained silent.
“Who shot you up?” she finally said.
Silence.
“Sousuke?”
“No one.”
Kaname felt the familiar frustration rising.
“Who shot you?” she tried again.
“No one.”
Finally, the girl scowled.
“Do you think that’s cool? Acting all tough like you’re not going to say who shot you? This isn’t ‘The Godfather’, this is real life! Just tell me what happened.”
Again, more silence. Then…
“It’s better if you don’t know.”
At this, Kaname sat up, facing Sousuke’s back.
“Don’t give me that shit! Don’t try this ‘tortured soldier’ stuff! You know I don’t buy into it!” Her tone softened slightly. “If someone’s trying to hurt you, I want to know. Tell me. Who shot you?”
“It’s before for you if you don’t know. If you know, you’ll be in more danger.”
Kaname just scowled. The nerve of this guy…
“Aren’t I in danger for sheltering you?”
Sousuke made a grunting noise and started to sit up.
“You’re right. I should leave. Thank you for your hospi-“
“Get out of bed and I’ll introduce you to a whole new world of pain.”
Sousuke lay back down with a soft sigh. Neither teenager spoke for several minutes.
“Chidori,” Sousuke said suddenly. “What was the first movie you ever saw?”
The girl was taken aback. Sousuke initiating conversation was something that just didn’t happen that often.
“I dunno. Probably some Disney movie. Why?” She got a slight, goofy grin on her face. “What was your first movie?” In her minds eye, Kaname pictured a little Sousuke, sitting in a movie theater, watching some American war movie. Or maybe something like Casablanca.
“’The Godfather.’”
And, once again, Kaname’s idealized vision was shattered.
“’The Godfather’? How old were you?”
“Six… No… Seven.”
“You saw ‘The Godfather’ at seven?” She knew Sousuke’s like had been weird but…
“Yes.” The young soldier’s voice took on a nostalgic feel that you usually only get when seniors reminisce. “It was in a small theater in Kabul. There were perhaps one hundred and fifty men in a space that barely accommodated twenty-five but it didn’t matter. It was in English and subtitled. I couldn’t read but a friend of mine read them for me. The color was horrible. The quality of the film was horrible. The projector must’ve been ancient and filled with sand. But, for three hours, I was entranced. I forgot about Afghanistan and the fighting. The only thing I thought about was the movie and the story.”
Kaname couldn’t help it. She smiled. Letting her arms rest on the bed and leaning her head on them, she looked Sousuke seriously, even though he couldn’t see it.
“So, you liked the movie?”
“It’s my favorite movie, to this day. I haven’t seen it since but I remember every detail.” He hesitated but continued. “In a war, when the only things you do are walk, fight, eat and sleep, you remember any change.”
Something in Kaname’s chest tightened. “If you want, tomorrow, we can go rent it.”
“I would like that.”
During the silence that followed, Kaname couldn’t help but feel very close to Sousuke. The Godfather. Who would’ve thought it? He probably had never told anyone about that before. She was maybe the only person still alive in the world who knew that, as a child, Sagara Sousuke saw The Godfather in a rundown, shitty theater in Kabul and adored it.
“One thing that struck me about the film was how much betrayal the characters when through. Always, someone was betraying someone else. They all had their own reasons but more often than not, they met betrayal as well in the end. I always wondered, after I saw it, if anyone would ever betray me.”
“Sousuke… I… Hey, look at me.”
He rolled over and locked eyes with Kaname.
“Listen, Sousuke. I’ll never betray you, if that’s what you’re thinking. I don’t know what’s happened in your life but… You can always be confident that no matter what, if you let me, I’ll be with you. Remember what you said? As long as you’re with me, we can do anything. Whether it’s facing terrifying danger or catching the big one, right?”
Sousuke gave her this solemn look and nodded.
“Yes. Understood.”
“Good. Now, get some sleep! You won’t heal if you don’t sleep!”
Her command was met with an affirmative-sounding grunt. As he drifted off into sleep, Sousuke couldn’t help but feel as though the burden of the events of the past day had lifted slightly.
~
“Forty-three… forty-four… forty-five… forty-six…”
Kaname’s eyes opened slowly. She sat up and heard several distinct cracking noises originating from her spine. Futons are good for your back my ass, she thought groggily.
“Forty-seven… forty-eight… forty-nine…”
With some difficulty, Kaname managed to stand up and stretch. More cracking sounds.
“Fifty… fifty-one… fifty-two…”
It took Kaname a moment to realize that someone counting aloud in her bedroom at 5:30 in the morning wasn’t quite normal. She looked around and there, lying on the floor with his feet tucked under the bed was Sousuke, performing sit-ups.
“Fifty-three… Fifty-four…”
“Oi. Sousuke. What’re you doing?”
“Sit ups.”
“Oh.”
Kaname wasn’t a morning person.
She stumbled out of the room and into the shower. Ten minutes later, she stumbled out and back into the room, wearing nothing but a towel. She still wasn’t totally awake.
Sousuke had moved on to Hindu push-ups.
“Seventeen… Eighteen… Nineteen…”
It was as he was going through the movements for the twentieth push-up that Sousuke looked up at Kaname. He was about to say good morning when she, unfortunately, woke up.
Normally a very clever and quick girl, Kaname quickly processed the facts: She was standing, dripping wet in a short towel and Sousuke was on the ground, staring up at her.
Had Kaname been a terrorist, a KGB agent, a petty criminal or, really, anyone except Kaname, Sousuke would’ve resisted his savage fan beating. Instead, however, he took it in good humor. And when she half dragged, half threw him out of the room, he took the in good humor too.
A few minutes later, when Kaname came out, dressed in her sailor uniform, she was none too pleased.
“I can’t believe you! I take you into my home and you’re already acting like a pervert!”
“I-“
“I guess it can’t be helped. I shouldn’t try to change your nature.” The girl gave a heavy sigh. “Are you coming to school?”
“School?”
“Yeah. You know, that place where normal people go to learn? You went there once, remember?”
“I know what it is. I’m not enrolled so it would be troublesome for me to come to classes.”
Kaname sighed again. “I guess you’re right. Then you’re here alone today. You already know how to work the stove so…” She scrunched up her face in deep thought. “No. On second thought, go out for lunch and dinner. I’ll put some money on the counter for you. You can keep the change if you want, okay?”
Sousuke nodded. Kaname was moving around her apartment, grabbing things she needed for school left and right. Sousuke observed her without saying a word. She tossed some money onto the counter as she left the kitchen, a piece of toast in her mouth.
She knows this place perfectly, Sousuke realized. There’s no wasted movement. She’s memorized the placement of every object she needs. It’s perfect organization.
To most people, this wouldn’t be very strange. But to Sousuke, it was at least of some importance: Ever since he could remember, he was very organized. He always knew where things were and those things were always there. He had memorized totally the set up of his quarters on the Tuatha De Danaan. When it took Kurtz or Melissa a few minutes to find an important document, it took Sousuke seconds because he filed it in his file folder where he kept current and previous orders. It was similar with Kaname. Her apartment was in perfect order.
“Hey! Sousuke!”
The sergeant jerked out of his thoughts. He stood up stiffly, facing Kaname. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, nothing…” She sighed. “Listen, I’ll have my cell phone on. If anything goes wrong or if anything happens, call me. Got it?”
“Understood.”
“And comb your hair.”
“Und… what?”
She glared at him.
“I’m serious. Your hair is a mess. Comb it before I get back.”
“Err… Alright.”
Kaname nodded. “Well, I’ll see you this evening.” As she turned to leave, she stopped in mid step and spun around to glare at him seriously. “Behave.”
~
Sousuke did behave. He showered, dressed himself (he had ‘borrowed’ clothes from a small shop on the Western coast of Japan), and combed his hair. It didn’t make much difference but he tried.
After a small breakfast of toast and milk, Sousuke cleaned his weapons. He spread everything out, very organized, on Kaname’s dining room table and meticulously polished and checked every piece of his submachine gun and handgun. And then, he carefully put everything back together. And then he hid the weapons. The MP-5 he put in the briefcase he brought with him. The handgun he tucked into the pocket of his pants.
By then, it was eight o’clock. And Sousuke had nothing to do.
First, he tried watching TV. All the stations were reporting the mission in North Korea. He watched one channel’s coverage for a few minutes but started to feel sick. He flipped to a different channel, which was showing a campy Hong Kong movie from the ‘70s called Inframan. Sousuke watched this to the end. It wasn’t half-bad, he decided. It wasn’t a masterpiece in any shape and form, though.
By ten o’clock, Sousuke had nothing to do. Kaname had a video game console and he looked over the games but he wasn’t familiar with any of them. He decided it would be best not to touch it.
Next, he looked at her bookshelves. She had quite a selection, he decided. Really, there were more books there than he had seen in his life though, he reasoned, that was no large feat.
Finally, Sousuke chose a mystery that looked interesting. He found a comfortable position on the couch and began to read. Occasionally, a noise would startle him and, pulling out his pistol, he would go to investigate. Usually, it was just a wind or a stray cat or the hamster. Gradually, Sousuke began to relax.
If I’m dead, I’m safe, he told himself. Assassins don’t try to kill people who are already dead, after all. For the first time in several years, the young man felt an unusual sense of freedom.
Mithril soldiers, as a rule, are not much liked by drug barons, gangsters, Communists or, really, any of the other unsavory characters who populate this world. And it’s because of that that most of them spend quite a bit of time looking over their shoulders. Sousuke was no exception. And it was all the more important now, being that Mithril almost certainly wanted him dead.
But why? That was the real question. It was such an open-ended thing that Sousuke put down the book and leaned back, pondering it.
Had he stumbled on something he wasn’t supposed to? He didn’t remember something like that. Perhaps Major Mao or Kurtz had and the entire team was to be eliminated so it wouldn’t look suspicious.
Or perhaps Mithril saw him as a threat because he was the only one who could control the Arbalest. That was possible. Even more so, if they intended to take control of the Tuatha De Danaan away from Captain Testarossa.
And what of the Captain? Sousuke hadn’t thought of her since leaving Korea. Was she in on the plan? No. It was something that she would never agree to. He had picked up on what he thought might be slight affection towards him from her so it was impossible (Sousuke, dense as he was, only perceived the way Tessa looked at him longingly and the way she occasionally brushed against him in the corridors and the way she always had a smile for him as “slight affection.” He was not a particularly clever lad._
The Captain was a Whispered, wasn’t she? Perhaps that had something to do with it. His involvement with the Whispered, that is, the Captain and Kaname, could have been a factor.
No matter how much he speculated, however, he was no closer to learning the truth as he was to actually developing the ability to pick up on “good vibrations.”
And so, Sousuke put it out of his mind and went back to reading the novel. It was quite interesting. It was about the murder of the daughter of a Yakuza leader and the subsequent witch hunt throughout the gang to find the killer. As it turns out, it had been an elaborate ploy made by a former officer who had been betrayed and supposedly “killer” (Sousuke felt some sympathy for the fellow’s plight) in the ‘60s. Apparently, he spent twenty years biding his time and planning. In the end, he’s found out but not before the gang is split into two factions. The story culminated in a giant fight across Tokyo that leaves the gang in ruins. In the confusion, the betrayed man escapes and leaves for Canada to start his new life.
It was mid-afternoon by the time Sousuke finished the book. He closed it and considered the story. It reminded him of The Godfather—that’s what piqued his interest in the first place. Betrayal after betrayal…
As Sousuke thought, he came to the conclusion that he had lead a rather sheltered life up until that point. Certainly, he was an excellent at fighting and wasn’t bad with technology, military or otherwise. But that was all he knew. It was a miracle he could read Japanese. He learned Arabic script first, while fighting in Afghanistan and it was only as a preteen that he learned to read Japanese. And he was still only at the level of a Junior High student.
It wasn’t all bad, he reasoned. As consolation, Sousuke told himself that he had been helping other people. He had made sacrifices for that others could have a better life, which was inherently good.
Still, not everyone did what he did. So, why should he have to? Why should he have missed out on a childhood and made huge sacrifices of himself just to help downtrodden people? Didn’t he have the right to happiness?
These were all thoughts Sousuke had never had before but the more he considered it, the more it made sense. Instead of trying to return to Mithril, he would stay with Kaname where he could be happy. He could live the rest of his life normally.
But, what about the military? It was a part of him. The feel of a gun in his hand and the sounds of gunfire were as natural to him as the feel of a baseball and the sounds of a market are to most people.
But, then, he decided, if he was with Kaname, living a normal life, he wouldn’t miss it.
And if he did, he could always join the Japanese SDF.
~
When Kaname arrived home, she half expected her apartment to have been turned into a small-scale military base. She was most relieved when she found her humble abode looking the same as when she last left it.
“Yo, Sousuke,” she said, looking around for him. Was he hiding in the closet, shotgun out, ready to ambush an intruder? Or maybe trying to change his bandages again. Or even heating up a knife…
The scene from the previous night replayed itself in Kaname’s mind and she shuddered involuntarily. For whatever reason, it hadn’t bothered her then but… Looking back, the way Sousuke’s flesh sizzled when she touched the blade to him… It made her sick.
“Chidori. Welcome back.”
Sousuke came walking out of the living room. No military fatigues. No blood. No knife. He held a book in his left hand but that was about it.
“Did you behave yourself?”
“Yes.”
He did, she thought happily. He really did. I can civilize him!
She tossed her bag to the floor and her light coat next to it. She went into the refrigerator and pulled out two sodas, one for each of them. She tossed Sousuke’s to him and popped open the top on her own.
“So, what’d you do all day?”
“I watched television and I read.”
Normal things for a normal person, Kaname thought. She was having trouble hiding her smile.
“What’d you read?”
He held up the book in his left hand. It was the sequel to the other one he read earlier. It was a Yakuza “true crime” novel. The first had been good but the second paled in comparison.
“Did you read the first?”
“Yes. It was very good. I started reading this one after I finished the first book.”
Kaname’s face finally broke into a full smile. Sousuke looked at her a bit oddly.
“And what did you watch on TV?” she asked a bit too enthusiastically.
“After you left, I watched the new for awhile and then a movie.”
It was probably a war movie but who cares?
“And what’d you do for lunch and dinner?”
Sousuke stared at her for a second. Then, it seemed as thought a light went on inside of his thick skull.
“I forgot to eat.”
Kaname groaned and resisted the urge to smack the sergeant halfway across Tokyo.
~
As it turned out, Kaname hadn’t eaten dinner yet so the two ordered Chinese food. When it came, they enjoyed their feast of dim sum and fried rice together. When Kaname tried a few jokes out on Sousuke, he actually laughed. Sorta’. He smiled, at least.
The two cleaned up together and washed the dishes together. Kaname splashed Sousuke with the soapy water. He seemed more confused than angry but with some encouragement from her, he splashed her back, though he really didn’t seem to understand why.
Afterwards, they played video games together. Despite Sousuke’s reflexes, Kaname beat him mercilessly. Still, he seemed to enjoy the game. By nine o’clock, he was winning Street Fighter matches almost as much as he was losing them. Almost.
Before long, it was eleven. Kaname stood up, stretched and yawned.
“It’s been a long day, huh? Why don’t we go to bed?”
Sousuke gave her one of his usual affirmative grunts and reluctantly turned off the Playstation. Kaname resisted the urge to talk to him like a little kid and promise that she would play with him in the morning.
And so, the two teenagers found themselves laying in Kaname’s room much the same as they had done the night before.
“G’night, Sousuke. And…” Kaname hesitated. Then she said it. “Sweet dreams.”
It sounded so horribly sappy to her but she couldn’t help it. Sousuke grunted again and within minutes, he was snoring softly.
Kaname, though, was totally awake. Sousuke was behaving. He wasn’t running around with a gun. He wasn’t detonating explosives. He was being a good boy.
What next? Maybe he could become romantic. Even in the dark, Kaname’s cheeks swelled with color. Two teenagers living together… It was to be expected, wasn’t it? Her blush increased. Maybe she could coax a kiss out of him before the weekend was over…
No, no, no… Almost as though she were arguing with herself, Kaname should her head. They weren’t ready for that sort of stuff yet. It was enough to live in the same apartment and sleep in the same room. For now.
Around eleven thirty, Kaname got up to get a glass of water and to help clear her mind. She was thinking of all the possibilities of being with Sousuke. What if he wanted to pursue a relationship with her? What if she wanted one with him? Would he go back to school? Wouldn’t it be great if they got into the same college?
As she drank her glass of water, Kaname tried desperately to stop thinking. At this rate, she figured, she would never sleep. But it was no use. She was happy, excited and scared all at the same time.
Then, she heard it. It started out as a sort of scratching noise coming from the bedroom. Then, it became a knocking noise.
And then, it became a smashing glass noise.
“Oh my god…” Kaname whispered. Did Sousuke do something? Why would he break a window? Sleep walking, maybe?
Then she heard the voices.
“Check the bed. She should be there. Remember. Don’t kill her.”
“Right. Got it, got it…”
Men’s voices. Stressed whispers. What the hell was going on…?
“Check the rest of the apartment. Make sure there’s no one else here.”
Shit.
Kaname pushed up against the counter of her kitchen. Maybe, she thought, if she stood still, they wouldn’t be able to see her. No, that wouldn’t work… And wasn’t Sousuke in her bed? If they found him-
“Nothing in the bed.”
“Damn it… Check the living room, bathroom, kitchen… She’s got to be here somewhere.”
There were more steps. A light shone into the kitchen and moved around slowly. Kaname was petrified. Finally, it came to rest on her face, frozen in fear. She stared back at the soldier, dressed in full battle gear, like a deer caught in the headlights.
“I’ve got her. C’mere, sweet heart…” he said, reaching out with one hand, beckoning her.
Two shots rang out suddenly. The soldier froze and looked around, his handgun searching the room.
“What the hell happened?!” he yelled.
“Shit… shit… there’s someone else in here!”
“What? Who?”
The only answer he got was another gunshot and a tortured groan.
“Get the girl and let’s get the hell out of here!” came the roar from the other room. The soldier before Kaname turned his full attention towards her. He took a step forward and she could see him grinning.
“C’mon, honey. I won’t hurt you. Just…”
“No…” she whispered.
“It’s okay…”
“No…”
“Just-“
“I. Said. NO!” screamed Kaname. She and the soldier looked equally surprised.
“Listen, we-“
“Go away!” Kaname started searching around frantically behind her. Her hand came to rest on a kitchen knife. She pulled it out and held it in front of her protectively.
“I… I’ll kill you! So go away!”
The soldier sighed.
“Now, put that down. Girls shouldn’t play with-“
The sound of automatic fire came from the other room. A chorus of “Shit!” came from no fewer than two voices. More gun fire.
The soldier before her was distracted, Kaname realized. Now or never.
It seemed like a dream. She crossed the kitchen with a few strides and, easy as you please, drove the knife into the soldier’s throat. As he crumpled to the floor, he looked at her with pure surprise.
It took Kaname a few moments to realize what had just happened. She dropped the knife and took a few steps back.
“What… what…”
“Damn it! Who’s shooting?! Where is he? ARGH!”
“What the hell is going on?!” Kaname finally screamed. It felt good to scream.
Yet more gun fire. Then, the apartment was silent.
A full minute passed. Then, footsteps. Without thinking, Kaname knelt and pried the pistol out of the dead man’s fingers. She pointed it at the figure entering the kitchen.
And then she dropped it in relief. It was Sousuke. She bounded towards him and threw her arms around him.
“Sousuke! You idiot, what’s going on?”
The young soldier didn’t answer. He delicately removed Kaname’s arms from him and knelt, checking the dead soldier for a pulse. Being dead, he didn’t find one.
“Come with me,” Sousuke said finally and started towards the door. When Kaname didn’t follow him, staring instead on the dead man lying on her nice kitchen floor, Sousuke reached out and gingerly took her hand and led her to the living room.
One soldier was doubled over the back of the couch, a shiny red liquid pouring out of his back. Another was sprawled on the floor, groaning slightly. Sousuke went over to him and grabbed him roughly, pull him to his knees. He raised his pistol and put it to the man’s head, all without ever letting go of Kaname’s hand.
“Who sent you?” he demanded. There was no trace of emotion in his voice.
“W-who the hell are you…?” whispered the soldier. As opposed to Sousuke, his voice oozed with fear.
“Sagara. Sagara Sousuke.”
“What…? You’re dead?”
“I came back from Hell. Now. Who sent you?”
“Je… Jesus Christ! You’re a fudgie ghost!”
“Who sent you?!”
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…”
Sousuke dropped Kaname’s hand. He grabbed the soldier’s throat and squeezed while pushing the barrel of the pistol into the side of his head.
“Who. Sent. You.”
There was total silence for a moment. It seemed as though even the noise of Tokyo by night had stopped. Then…
“Mi… thril…”
Kaname gasped. Sousuke’s eyes shot to her and then back to the soldier.
“No…”
He was breathing hard now.
“Liar!”
He pulled the trigger. The soldier’s head exploded and blood splattered everywhere. Sousuke let the body fall. He stared at it, then the gun, his bloody hands and finally Kaname. She had drops of blood tossed haphazardly on her pajamas.
“Pack some things. We’re leaving.”
~
Far away, in Italy, Padre sat in his office. But he was not alone.
In a chair by a bookshelf sat a young girl, perhaps sixteen with red hair that reached her back. She wore a hospital gown and had this dazed, confused look on her face. She stared across the room but in her hands, she played with a rosary, twisting the beads around absentmindedly.
But, as Padre soon learned, they weren’t the only two in the room.
“Good evening, Holy Father…” came the blood-freezing, smooth voice. Padre looked up from his papers to see a tall, Asian man emerging from the shadows.
“Gauron. What do you want now?”
“Just checking up on my favorite crazed future dictator. And… Who is this vision of loveliness?” He noticed the girl sitting in the chair. She made no indication that she realized he was there.
“Her name’s Fatima. She’s my… daughter… of sorts…”
“She’s a Whispered.”
“You can tell?”
Gauron laughed.
“No. I can’t.”
He walked over to the girl and caressed her cheek. Padre pulled his pistol and held it ready.
“So… Honey…” Gauron purred. He ran his hands through her hair. Fatima sighed softly. “Does the Holy Father of All God’s Creations treat you well?”
She didn’t answer.
“Don’t you know? He’s the mortal enemy of all the Whispered.”
“That’s enough Gauron…” muttered Padre.
Gauron gave Padre the best shit-eating grin in the world. “I only speak the truth.”
He put both hands on Fatima’s cheeks now.
“Such a beautiful girl… Never having known a man…” And with that, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Fatima’s eyes widened but she didn’t pull away. Nor did she lean into the kiss.
When Gauron finished, he stood up, most satisfied with himself.
“Well, I think that-“
Suddenly, Fatima gave a cry and fell to the ground, clutching her head. Padre stood up, raising his gun but not aiming.
“Fatima! What’s wrong? What’d you do to her, you bastard?!”
Gauron grinned but said nothing.
“He’s coming…” Fatima whispered.
“What?” demanded Padre.
“Yes. Tell us. Who’s coming, sweetie?”
“The angel… The avenging angel comes to take his revenge on those who wronged him… with the bearers of Forbidden Knowledges… The Gnostics… And… And…” Tears were streaming down Fatima’s face. “He comes upon a great pale horse with the power of God…”
And then she fainted.
A painful silence filled the room. The ticking of the clock was the only sound. Not surprisingly, Gauron was the first to speak.
“Melodramatic little thing, isn’t she?”
Padre aimed at Gauron.
“Get. Out.”
“Right, right… But listen to your toy, Holy Father. She knows more about what’s happening than you ever will…”
And, like a ghost, Gauron disappeared once again.
Padre slumped back in his chair. He called for a doctor for Fatima and sighed. More security, he thought. We need more security.
End of Chapter Three
Author’s Notes:
Wow. I had fun writing this chapter. I would’ve gotten to it sooner if it weren’t for Gundam SEED. Goddamn if that isn’t my favorite Gundam series. If you have a chance to see it, I highly recommend you do, if only for the middle-to-end episodes where it really shines.
Anyway, I’d like to thank everyone who reviewed/complimented this fic so far. It’s great encouragement. Really makes my day.
And, for the record, Inframan, the movie Sousuke watches on TV, is real. It was made in 1975 by the famous Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong. It’s so horrible it’s awesome. ^_^
Finally, the chapter’s title is a parody of “A Clockwork Orange” by some guy whose name escapes me at the moment. I never read much of the book (you viddy?) nor did I see the movie. But I like how the name sounds. That’s reason enough, methinks. Plus, the chapter focuses mostly on Sousuke.
