Tell me all that you've thrown away
Find out games you don't wanna play
You are the only one that needs to know
I'll keep you my dirty little secret
(Dirty little secret)
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret
(Just another regret, hope that you can keep it)
My dirty little secret
Who has to know?
--The All-American Rejects, "Dirty Little Secret"
Sousuke Sagara didn’t care much for commercial flights. Crowded airports and being thoroughly checked for weapons made him very tense, though his training and cunning had allowed him to slip a few small arms undetected through customs. Cell phones ringing. Children crying. Thousands of people scurrying in every direction, jostling him and Kaname as they passed. A light sweat had broken out on his forehead as he strained his senses to detect any possible threat among the hustle and bustle, before they were finally seated safely on the plane. However, he would endure since his being able to continue to protect Kaname in Japan was dependant on the success of this mission. The woman in the seat beside him was tense as well, but for an entirely different reason…
“Sousuke, I don’t know what kind of weapons you managed to sneak past security and I don’t even want to hear how you did it, but heaven help you if you pull them on anyone during this trip, you hear me?” she snapped at him.
“Affirmative.”
“And would you please try to at least talk like a normal person?”
“Aff--…, I understand, Chidori.”
“And call me ‘Kaname’ in front of my family!” she nearly shouted. “If you act so serious and formal around me, they’re never going to believe you’re my boyfriend.”
“It’s not a problem,” Sousuke said evenly. Kaname sighed.
“Well, I certainly hope so…”
It had been a week since Kaname’s family had invited her and her boyfriend to stay with them and they were on their way to the United States. When Kyoko had found out about their trip, she’d nearly turned a somersault. Though Kaname didn’t seem pleased about the vacation, her best friend saw it as an opportunity for her favorite couple to spend some quality time together. The week of preparation had been stressful and she’d blamed Sousuke for it. As a result, she’d been harder on him than usual and now that the dreaded meeting was finally here, Kaname’s nerves were all but shot. But she realized that in the end, she’d ultimately have to put her faith in Sousuke and hope he wouldn’t let her down.
“I mean it, Sousuke…” she said in a more relaxed tone. “I don’t know how, but I’m really counting on you to help me pull this off.”
Sousuke gave her a sympathetic look. “Chidori, I mean, Kaname, please understand that this is important to me as well.” Kaname was a little surprised to hear this.
“W-why?” She was almost afraid of the answer.
“Well, should your family decide they don’t approve of me and force you to live with them, it would make it very difficult to protect you.” He’d never told her that he was no longer officially assigned to protect her and that Mithril didn’t fund his living in Japan anymore. Kaname, however, seemed to be disappointed with his answer.
In rare form, the soldier noticed this and thought it would be best to give her a more heartfelt answer. “Besides that, I…” He looked away from her trying to find the nerve to finish his sentence. “I enjoy the time I spend in Japan and with you.”
Kaname's cheeks flushed slightly at this. She felt any anger she may have had towards her bodyguard drained away with the sincerity in his voice. So instead of continuing to lecture him, she leaned back in her seat and contented herself with a magazine for the long flight to New York.
As the hours passed the young Mithril agent dwelled on what meeting Kaname’s family would be like. Sousuke of course felt trepidation over not meeting her father’s approval, but the young mercenary‘s thoughts were mostly focused elsewhere. He finally turned to speak to the high school girl beside him who had been half-heartedly watching the in-flight movie.
“Chidori?” he asked suddenly.
“What is it?” slightly annoyed that he’d already forgotten not to call her that.
“What… what’s your family like?” Kaname wasn’t expecting this.
“Huh? My family? Why do you need to know that? Gathering ‘intel’ or something?” She couldn’t imagine why else he’d be asking her personal questions. He’d never seemed interested in such matters before.
“Uh, no. Nothing like that. It’s just…” he hesitated for a moment. “I suppose I’m just curious.”
“Uh huh.” She regarded him skeptically for a moment sensing there was more to his question than just passing curiosity, but decided to indulge him regardless. “I guess my family isn’t exactly what you’d consider normal. My mother died when I was 13 and my father and sister moved back to New York about a year before you started coming to school. My sister is about what you’d expect of a 12-year-old girl growing up in the United States, I suppose. She might even be louder than me, if you can believe it.” Kaname let out a small chuckle. "But she can actually be pretty perceptive for someone her age. My dad…” Kaname frowned at thinking of her father. “Well, he works for the UN and that’s about all he does. We moved between Japan and America a lot growing up because of his work and we rarely ever saw him.”
“You don’t get along with your father?”
“Not really. We haven’t seen eye to eye in a long time. That’s why I refused to go back to New York with him last time.”
“He was never there. There was always something more important for him to do. Even when mom…” she cut herself off and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I just don’t like thinking about my father.”
Sousuke realized that it was a sensitive subject for his distressed companion, but her recount of her family life left him feeling disheartened for some reason so he decided to persist a bit more.
“Wasn’t there... ever a time when you were happy with your family?” he ventured.
“Before mom died, things weren’t so bad. My sister and I were really close to her, actually. And even though dad was busy a lot, he was a different person then. I got into trouble a lot back then, but we were pretty happy as a family.” Sousuke’s mood picked up as he saw the smile return to grace her beautiful features. For the remainder of the flight, Kaname told her traveling companion several stories of her childhood. Sousuke couldn’t help but smile himself as he listened intently. Her stories of sleepovers, birthday parties, getting into trouble with her sister, family vacations, and several embarrassing moments left him feeling something warm inside his chest.
‘Family...’
******
Hours later, the plane landed in New York. As they were filing out of the plane, Sousuke and Kaname took several deep breaths to prepare themselves, as nervous anxiety started to clench at their chests. As they got out of the gate, Kaname reached over and grabbed Sousuke's hand for the sake of appearances, but as he lightly squeezed her hand in response, it did help to calm her nerves at least somewhat. Even if it was only pretend, part of her wanted to get lost in this feeling of security that he provided her. But unfortunately, she needed to focus on the task at hand. "Now remember what I told you," she whispered to her false boyfriend. "Don't do anything weird."
"Not to worry. I will behave as a perfectly normal civilian."
"Let's hope you know how." Kaname rolled her eyes.
"Um... Kaname?"
"What is it?"
“There's something else I was wondering. If telling your family the true nature of our relationship is out of the question, why not simply say I was a friend?”
“In case you didn’t notice, I was under a lot of pressure at the time. I didn’t really think about it then. Besides, you’re the first guy I’ve ever let over to my apartment. Knowing my dad, he’d probably never believe you were just a friend and would think I was going around behind his back and lying to him. Then he’d make things really difficult for us.” She rolled her eyes. “I can just imagine what he’d say. ‘That girl cannot be trusted to live on her own!’” she said in a mock deep voice, followed by a groan.
******
“That girl cannot be trusted to live on her own!” fumed Shunya as he waited with his youngest daughter, Ayame, for his estranged daughter’s flight to arrive. For the past week he’d been going back and forth on his feelings regarding the news that Kaname was seeing someone back in Tokyo. At times he felt that the teenaged girl was responsible enough to make her own decisions about who she would or wouldn’t date and that she would find someone mature and reliable who would stand by her no matter what. At other times, he was very much afraid she’d end up with some gun-toting lunatic with who would drag her into all sorts of trouble.
“Dad, just relax. I’m sure he’s a really great guy,” said the chipper young girl beside him. Since it’d been over a year since their last meeting, Ayame couldn’t wait to see her big sister again. And what was even more exciting was the prospect of meeting her boyfriend. She knew her sister had never really been serious about boys. So whoever this Sousuke was, he must have been someone very exceptional.
The Chidoris were about to have their expectations fulfilled in spades...
"Look, dad! Here she comes!" squealed Ayame, pointing enthusiastically as Kaname came out of the terminal and into view. Her eyes widened as she got a better look at the handsome young man by her sister's side. "Wow. And her boyfriend is really cute too," she said, clearly impressed, but not really surprised. Even though her gorgeous older sister never really paid much attention to guys, she knew that with her long, flowing blue hair and big, beautiful chocolate brown eyes, she could get just about any man she wanted if she were so inclined. The fact that she had a tight tone figure, long sexy legs and large perky breasts didn't hurt either. As much as Ayame loved her older sister, there was a side of her that always felt somewhat inferior in comparison. People would tell her that she too would someday bloom and fill out, but the small-framed Chidori daughter never really believed it.
"Now be polite to him, okay?" she chided her overly protective father. In spite of any envy she might have felt, she was happy that her sister had found someone she liked and she didn't want her father to ruin it for her.
Shunya scoffed but reluctantly agreed. He was a dignified man and as a UN official, being open-minded and accepting of others was his line of work. It would be rude not to give this young man the benefit of the doubt.
"Kaname!" shouted Ayame as she waved to her older sister as she bound over to her to give her a hug.
"Hey, Ayame!" Kaname returned the embrace as cheerfully as she could in spite of the extremely nervous feeling she felt in her gut. The two teenaged girls exchanged small talk for a moment before turning their attention to Sousuke.
"Hi! So you're Sousuke," beamed Ayame with a wide, knowing grin that seemed to say, 'you sly dog, you.' Kaname knew exactly what that look meant and felt the urge to choke the life from her sister.
"And you must be Ayame. It's a pleasure to meet you," the soldier replied even, politely, and most importantly, salute-free, for which Kaname was grateful.
"C'mon! Come say 'hi' to dad!" she said before running off in her father's direction. Ayame was typically rather mature for her age, but like most young girls, she could be quite enthusiastic when excited, and Kaname could have said she'd eloped with Sousuke for as giddy as she was behaving. Still, Sousuke's introduction to her sister had gone fairly smoothly. Perhaps she'd been worrying herself over nothing.
Kaname had left nothing to chance. She'd rehearsed several scenarios with him and how he should behave, given him another haircut and combed his hair so it didn't appear quite as sloppy, and even helped him pick out some normal clothing. Everything had been planned perfectly. She'd left nothing to chance. All she had to worry about now was...
"Sir! It is an honor to meet you!" shouted Sousuke as he suddenly released Kaname's hand and gave a stiff salute to her father. Shunya, who had been smiling (or at least trying to) when they'd approached, stared in stunned silence at Kaname's strange new boyfriend. In fact, everyone in the airport within 50 feet of them stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the clearly insane young man, except Ayame who clearly thought Sousuke's antics where hilarious. On the other hand, the humiliated older girl by Sousuke's side briefly wondered if she could make an escape via the luggage carousels. Instead, she simply buried her face in her hand as she felt it heating up. She took a deep breath and attempted to resolve the situation.
"I'm sorry. He tends to be kind of... stiff around new people," she told her father, forcing a laugh. She then turned to her socially challenged bodyguard, maintaining her smile though grinding her teeth on the inside. "Sousuke, I thought I told you not to be so... formal." She had to pause to think of a good word to describe his actions in front of her family.
"Negative. He is a ranking UN official and should be greeted with such respect." A sharp pain ran up his leg as Kaname discreetly kicked him in the shin. Sousuke got the message. "Ahem. Pardon my outburst. I am Sousuke Sagara and it's nice to meet you, sir." He offered his hand free and Shunya accepted it, though he raised and eyebrow in suspicion. The UN official regarded Sousuke for a long moment before saying anything.
'What's with that scar? There's no way he got a perfect cross-shaped scar on his face by accident. Is he in some sort of gang!?'
"Likewise. I've been eager to meet the young man whom my daughter has taken an interest in. Though, I'm a little surprised I hadn't heard about it sooner." He shot a glance at Kaname.
"Well... uh... I guess I was a bit embarrassed, since I'd never had a boyfriend before," Kaname replied. Both she and Sousuke started to sweat under his scrutinizing gaze. Though thin and wearing glasses, he was tall and had an intimidating air about him. This normally wouldn't faze the hardened SRT soldier, but coupled with his rank, he reminded Sousuke a lot of Commander Mardukas.
"I see... so... how long have you two been dating?"
"Three months!" "Eight months!" The young couple abruptly shouted varying answers. Kaname was quick to correct the discrepancy. "Uh... that is to say that we've known each other for eight months but only became an official couple about three months ago. Isn't that right, honey?" she said, latching onto Sousuke's arm.
"Uh..." was all the flustered boy could manage as his body stiffened and his face started to sweat at her proximity.
"...Right." Shunya stared at the pair for a long moment. Kaname tried to smile while still holding onto Sousuke, who could only stand as stiff as a board and say nothing. Ayame, who couldn't stop grinning at the exchange, then chose to jump into the conversation, hoping to save her sister from a heart attack.
"Kaname, your boyfriend is really funny ad his scar is way cool!" she said in English thinking Sousuke wouldn't understand. Kaname once again released him.
"Actually... I can understand you," Sousuke replied, a little embarrassed at her comment, in perfect English.
Ayame's cheeks reddened, feeling somewhat sheepish that he knew what she'd said. Sousuke's mastery of the language caught Shunya's interest.
"For a Japanese high school student, you speak English surprisingly well."
"He actually only transferred to our school at the beginning of this term. He's lived overseas for some time," replied Kaname.
"Is that so? Well then, since we all speak English and we're in America, we might as well speak it while we're here, right? So where overseas did you live, Sousuke?"
"Iraq, Kuwait, Cambod--..."
"Hey, isn't that Sylvester Stallone!?" Kaname interjected and pointed behind her family. When their attention was distracted to their rear, with practiced speed and precision, the spirited school girl pulled out her harisen, cracked Sousuke over the head with it, and swiftly put it away just as her family turned back around.
"That wasn't Sylvester Stallone," stated Ayame, perplexed over how her sister could have mistaken him for an overweight, airport attendant with a bad toupee.
Kaname let out a nervous chuckle. "Well, you know... Americans all look the same sometimes," she said rubbing the back of her head. No one bothered to comment on the irony of her statement. She sent up a little prayer of thanks to the god of cellular communications when her father's phone abruptly rang.
"Hello. ...Yes? ...Today? ...Can't this wait? My daughter's just flown in from Japan today. ...Are you serious!? I thought that was already taken care of! ...Alright, I'll there in an hour." With that he hung up the phone and turned to his guests. "I'm sorry, guys. Something's come up. I'm afraid I have to go into work now."
Kaname narrowed her eyes. "Something's come up, eh? I see some things never change." It was a familiar scene from her childhood. Shunya sighed.
"I'm sorry, Kaname. I really have no other choice. They're sending a driver to pick you up soon, so please wait for him outside. Ayame, can you keep our guests company until I get back?"
"Sure, dad..." she responded somewhat disappointed. She had hoped that maybe her father and sister could finally bury the hatchet this time, but things didn't seem to be going so well.
"All right. Well, hopefully I can be home tonight. Sousuke, it's been nice meeting you. I'll see you all later," he said, seemingly only as a matter of formality, but his focus was clearly elsewhere. And with that he quickly turned and walked away.
Kaname was very upset. "That's how it always is. Always something more important to deal with." Sousuke, however, watched him walked away suspiciously. On the phone, he detected a hint of fear in his voice. And for as skeptical as he'd been of Kaname's new boyfriend, for him to simply leave his family alone with him, something serious must have been happening. He wondered if there was more going on than Kaname or Ayame were aware of...
"Well, let's go home anyway," suggested Ayame. Sousuke and Kaname silently followed behind her.
To be continued...
******
A/N: I need to apologize horribly for how long it's taken me to get this chapter out. I know some people have been waiting for quite a while.
To be perfectly honest, I'm not too terribly crazy about this chapter and I doubt it lives up to what some might have been expecting from the first chapter. Having to work out the small talk of the introduction to Kaname's family while minimizing how boring that could be proved to be rather tedius work. It didn't feel like it flowed nearly as cleanly as the prologue. I actually wanted to get more into it than just the trip from Japan and the introduction to the family, but it ended uprunning pretty long and I didn't want to delay releasing the story too much longer as it's already been over four months.
That being said, I did enjoy outlining Kaname's relationship with her father and Sousuke's unfamiliar feelings surrounding the concept being part of a family. So basically, this chapter has set the groundwork for the story, so I'm expecting smooth sailing from here.
I was beginning to wonder
