Le Jeu Sinistre Chapter 5/9

[grateful_days]

Disclaimer: I don’t own Full Metal Panic. This is a parody. I doubt, however, that the Feds would try anything about it, being that they’re too busy putting teenagers in jail for twenty years for downloading Britney Spears songs. They’ll be the first up against the wall when The Revolution comes…

Chapter Five: Reunion

The train’s shaking awoke Kaname. He looked around in surprise and realized her head had been resting on Sousuke’s shoulder. She quickly pulled herself upright and looked around.
“Good morning,” Sousuke said with the same kind of voice one might comment on the weather with.
“’Morning…” The events of the previous night hit Kaname like the proverbial load of bricks. In less than ten hours, she had gone from sharing a room with her boy “friend” to fleeing Tokyo because strange men with guns had broken into her apartment. Some people complain because their lives aren’t interesting enough. Kaname would give anything to be taking a shower right about then.
“Where’re we going?”
“Yokohama. I’ll have the best chance of contacting Sergeant Kurtz and Major Mao from there.”
Kaname nodded, suddenly very dizzy. They were the only ones in the car.
“Were you able to sleep?” Sousuke’s voice still lacked anything even remotely similar to emotion.
“Yeah. A bit.”
After the gunfight, she had thrown up and fainted. Sousuke had carried her to another car and she woke up. He told her to sleep and she did just that.
When she became silent, Sousuke spoke.
“It was attributed to being a terrorist act. They don’t know we were involved.”
Kaname felt a bit better. Then she remembered two things: One, she had caused a train to start moving with her mind and two, she had killed someone. The second bothered her more than the first.
But, she tried to reason, it had been dark and she was scared and pumped up on adrenaline. Kaname could very well have just wounded him.
“Sousuke. At my apartment…”
“Yes?”
“Err… All the soldiers… Were they killed?”
“Yes.”
“Each one? You checked?”
“Yes.”
“So, no survivors, right?”
“Yes.”
Kaname wanted to throw up again. She suddenly remembered very vividly lunging forward and stabbing the soldier in the next. She remembered how he made a sort of gasping noise and stumbled backwards as she pushed the blade in deeper and cut apart his throat. The way the dark blood as oozed out and onto his clothing…
She gagged. She doubled over in her seat, gagging. Sousuke patted her back gently and, thinking she would start throwing up again, gathered up her hair and held it back.
“Once we get to Yokohama, I can buy some indigestion pills for you.”
Kaname looked up at Sousuke. He was totally calm. And, hadn’t he just killed six or so men a few hours ago? She felt tears in her eyes. Very suddenly, Kaname threw her arms around Sousuke and cried into her shoulder.
“What the hell happened?!” she sobbed over and over. Sousuke was getting better at dealing with girls hugging him and crying at the same time. He patted her back again, whispering “It’s alright” over and over.
When Kaname calmed down a bit, she started hiccuping. She pulled away from Sousuke and looked down at the seat.
“I killed someone.”
Sousuke didn’t answer.
“Why did I have to kill him?! I warned him… He could’ve left… I warned him…” She was about to start crying again. Sousuke looked at her stoically.
“He would have hurt you had you not killed him.”
“But…”
“It was self-defense. All major religions and sets of laws advocate the use of lethal force, should your life be threatened, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Kaname stared at Sousuke and he stared back. She remembered, briefly, some philosopher saying something along the lines of “If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.”
And then she slapped him.
And it was a hard slap too. Sousuke’s nose bled a little bit.
“I feel bad because I killed him! Not because I’m worried about getting in trouble! Did you ever think that he might have a family who would be worried about him? And now he’s not coming back to them! Oh god… And you! You killed more of them than I did…”
Sousuke let her finish.
“I killed them to protect you. Had I not, you would’ve been captured. And Mithril doesn’t recruit members with spouses.”
Kaname didn’t say anything. She just stared at the floor blankly.
“Didn’t you feel bad? For killing them…”
“No.”
“Did you feel anything?”
“No.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing.”
“Why?”
Sousuke looked at her solemnly. “Because you are more important to me than they were. It was between your life and theirs. I chose yours.”
Their faces were very close together. Sousuke could feel Kaname’s breath and she could make out the fine details of his eyes. Kaname suddenly realized how Sousuke’s eyes were boring into him. He was daring her to keep looking into his eyes and not blink. He was daring her to argue with him. He was daring her to say that he had been wrong to kill the soldiers to protect her. It was Sousuke’s own, subtle way of challenging her.
She had no choice. She blinked and turned away.
Kaname looked at the floor. Sousuke withdrew completely, staring at the front of the car. And the train rumbled forward, much in the way trains normally do.
As time passed, Kaname’s dizziness did too. And she began to ponder what had happened.
Starting with the most recent, Sousuke had stared her down and she had realized what he was doing. Maybe she was beginning to understand him better? Or perhaps she was going insane.
Before that, he had told her (though somewhat abstractly) that she was very important to him. Remembering that, it sent chills through her spine. Wasn’t it only a day ago that Sousuke had been telling her about his favorite movie? And now he was telling her he would kill without hesitation to protect her.
Then, there was the fact that she made a train move with her mind. Part of her clung to the hope that it simply happened to be time for the train to Yokohama to leave. The rest of Kaname wasn’t quite so sure.
And then there was the business with Mithril breaking into her home. It was all too much.
She was starting to feel dizzy again. Kaname leaned her head against the window of the train and fell asleep, sincerely wishing she were somewhere else.

~

As it turned out, within the next twenty-four hours, Kaname was somewhere else. Southern Germany, to be exact.
Once they reached Yokohama, they had gone off to find Sousuke’s contacts. Kaname still wasn’t feeling comfortable with him and avoided speaking to him the entire afternoon. They spent the day going from one shady apartment to another. Kaname was made to stand in the hall while Sousuke conversed quietly with somebody who invariably told him to go check with someone on the other side of town. The cycle continued for several hours until he got the information he was looking for.
He pieced together all the info he received over the day and had a full story soon which he shared with Kaname: Kurtz and Melissa, both having survived the betrayal, went to stay with some of her relatives in the US. After a close call, they made the decision to go to stay with Kurtz’s family in Germany. The Weber family, as it turned out, owned three large corporations and held great amounts of stock in BMW.
In other words, they were massively rich and had their own private estate with a small but highly trained army of guards.
Shortly after arriving, Kurtz put the word out in underground intelligence communities that he was looking for Sousuke and he was to fly to Germany immediately.
And so, that’s how Kaname found herself in a limousine, after a boring and largely uneventful trip, traversing the German countryside on her way to the Weber Estate.
The first thing she noticed about the place was how big it was. Surrounded by forest, a single road let through some large, impressive and totally unnecessary gates. The road continued on until it came to a huge house that looked more like a small castle than anything else.
And standing out in front were Kurtz and Melissa, waving. As Kaname stumbled out of the limo stiffly, she couldn’t help but reel under how surreal everything was. It was like someone was manipulating the events of her life for his own amusement. It was, in other words, freaking her out.
Her unease lessened when Melissa caught her up in a fierce hug, burying her face in the older woman’s chest and laughing.
“It’s been awhile, huh, Kaname?” she said happily.
Kaname couldn’t help it. She laughed and smiled too. “It’s been too long.”
Almost instantly, Kurtz replaced Melissa. “Oh, Kaname, I’ve missed you!” he yelled as he tried to throw his arms around her. She cut him off, smacking him across the driveway with her fan. Melissa laughed and forced the German playboy to his feet.
“Hey, Sousuke,” Melissa said as Kurtz tried to clear the cobwebs. “Did you have any trouble with airport security?”
Sousuke had been standing stiffly near the door of the limo. “None. I used the usual method to get our weapons on board.”
Kaname glanced at him. “The usual method?” It was the first time she’d addressed him in several hours.
“Dark chocolate.”
She stared at him.
“Dark chocolate?” repeated Kaname.
Before Sousuke could answer, Kurtz supplied one.
“Dark chocolate is so thick that x-rays can’t see through it. If you put a piece of dark chocolate on either side of your gun, they can’t see it. And if they want to open up your bags…” He shrugged. You give them a piece of chocolate they let you go.”
Just then, a shrill voice called out from inside the house. “Oh, Kurtzle!”
They all looked in the direction of the voice. Kurtz sighed and Melissa stifled a giggle.
“What’s a Kurtzle…?”
The Sergeant Major grinned. “The diminutive of Kurtz.”
A plump, smiling old woman came out of the house. She wore an apron and held a tray of cookies out.
“Kurtzle! You’ve invited even more friends over! Well, come on, now, invite them in! It’s not polite to let them stand outside in the cold.”
As the woman bustled back into the house, Kaname looked at Melissa and Kurtz.
“Who was-“
Kurtz sighed again. “My mom.”

~

The interior of the house was everything you’d expect from a well-to-do German family with a mother who has too much time on her hands. The place was immaculate and looked like a resort ad.
When Mrs. Weber led them to the kitchen, Kaname was amazed at the amount of food laid out on the table. Every thing you could imagine, from cookies to sausage, was represented.
Noticing the surprise on the girl’s face, Kurtz whispered to Kaname quietly. “It’s been her dream that someday, I’ll have friends over and she’ll cook for them. The food’s good so please… just humor her and eat till you explode.”
“Kurtzle, I’m just so glad that you’re finally having friends over…” She looked at him expectantly. “Well, aren’t you going to introduce them?”
Kurtz scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. First, he pointed at Sousuke who was standing straight and stiff, as though he had a crow bar or some other uncomfortable piece of metal up his ass.
“This is Sousuke Sagara. He’s my… uhh… Co-Worker. And this-“ He gestured towards Kaname who bowed slightly. “Is Kaname Chidori. She’s… uhh…” He suddenly grinned evilly. “She’s Sousuke’s girlfriend.”
Kaname flushed and once again hit Kurtz with her fan, driving him in to a plate of sauerkraut. Mrs. Weber just chuckled as her son wiped the vaguely sauce-esque condiment from his face.
“Err… Yeah. Hey, Mom, where’s Tessa?”
Kaname looked up, first at Kurtz and then at Mrs. Weber.
“Oh, the little girl with the white hair? She’s on the phone in the study. Did you tell her you were bringing more friends over?”
Kurtz shook her head. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to bring Kaname and Sousuke to see her. They’re… uhh… old friends.”
Mrs. Weber smiled brightly and selected a large plate of sausage sandwiches. She gave it to Sousuke and kept on smiling.
“Alright but make sure she eats something! The poor thing is skin and bones!” She eyed Kaname and continued. “You could stand to have a good meal too! What do they feed-“
“Mom,” Kurtz said in exasperation. “We really need to go. I’ll make sure everyone eats something, don’t worry.”
Mrs. Weber reluctantly let them go. Kurtz led the way through the maze of hallways and staircases towards the den.
“Your mom is really…” Kaname started.
“She’s a psycho,” said Kurtz with annoyance. “I think she’s deluded herself into thinking this is a high school party. Or worse, a slumber party. Watch, I guarantee she’ll bring up sleeping bags and popcorn for us…”
“I still don’t see what the problem is!” Melissa said. She slapped Kurtz on the back. “I wish I could eat this way everyday! I don’t know why you ever left this place.”
“You will once you meet my dad,” he muttered dryly.
When they arrived at the den, Kurtz suddenly stopped in his tracks. He grabbed Sousuke, who had been even more quiet and withdrawn than usual and pushed him in front. When the young soldier gave the other one a questioning glance, Kurtz just grinned.
“I don’t want her to knock down anyone.”
And then Kurtz threw open the doors.
Inside, Tessa was sitting on this huge, comfy looking red couch, talking on a telephone and reading over a large, messy stack of papers in her lap. Looking up at the group, she pressed a finger to her lips and went back to the papers.
“Yes, I understand that but…”
She froze in mid-sentence and took another look at the group of people standing at the door. Specifically at Sousuke.
“L-l-listen… Something just came up… Can… Can I call you back later? Please?”
She didn’t even wait for an answer before hanging up.
Ever the professional, Sousuke clicked his heels together and saluted respectfully.
“Captain.”
“Sagara.” Tessa just stared at him. He stared straight ahead, off into the distance. “I’m not a part or Mithril anymore. Nor are you. You don’t have to call me Captain anymore…”
He grunted and nodded. “Understood, Testarossa-san.”
“Umm…” She looked at the ground, blushing. “How are you, Sagara?”
“Very well. And you, Cap… Testaro-“
Before Sousuke could finish his sentence, Tessa was on her feet, charging him and sobbing. She flew into his arms, squeezing him tightly and nearly knocking him off his feet.
“Sagara…” She moaned and buried her face in his chest. As she cried, Sousuke looked at Kurtz with a horribly confused expression on his face. Kurtz held out his own arms, as though hugging someone and Sousuke understood. Slowly and awkwardly, he put his arms around Tessa’s shoulders and held her as she cried.
Kaname couldn’t help but want to beat Sousuke senseless right then and there.

~

After they managed to calm Tessa down a bit and Sousuke related the story of his escape from Korea, meeting up with Kaname and their combined escape from Tokyo (Kaname noted that he left out any mention of the things they had done together. Was it that he didn’t consider them important or he didn’t want Tessa to know?), she in turn told them her story.
Once she got off the Tuatha de Danaan, she managed to maneuver her way to South Korea. From there, she managed to get in contact with Kurtz and Melissa and caught the next plane to Germany.
“It’s incredible we were able to gather everyone here so quickly,” Melissa said, biting into her third sausage. Kurtz had assured everyone that his mother would go catatonic if the platter of food wasn’t finished.
“What’s bothering me is… Why? Why did Mithril turn on us? They did… Didn’t they?”
All eyes turned to Tessa, who was finishing a plate of St. Louis-style barbecue ribs and was sitting a bit too close to Sousuke for Kaname’s comfort, who, of course, didn’t give a damn about what he did with other girls. The insensitive bastard.
The white haired little girl wiped her mouth and began. “I’ve been getting in touch with all my contacts and… As far as I can tell, some major changes have been implemented in Mithril.”
She waited a moment for this to sink in. Sousuke looked off into space, unblinking. Kurtz and Melissa stared at Tessa, waiting for her next words. Kaname looked at the nice carpet.
“For one thing, all the Whispered in Mithril and under their protection have disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” asked Kurtz. Kaname looked up.
“Yes. There’s no proof but it looks like they’ve kidnapped them.”
“Jesus Christ…” Kurtz muttered, sitting back. He casually tossed an arm over the back of the couch and near Melissa’s shoulders. When she didn’t knock him out the windows, he said, “What the hell are they trying to do?”
Tessa shook her head. “I have no idea… I haven’t been able to find out what happened to the Tuatha de Danaan…” She looked at her friends, fearfully and wide-eyed. “Do you think it was…”
“It’s doubtful.”
All eyes now turned to Sousuke. Even Kaname looked up at him. He still stared out the window, no real emotion of any kind on his face.
“The Mithril’s personnel was made up of the elite. We all know that. Soldiers who have faced terrifying odds and won anyway with the bare minimum of equipment. Moreover, they were fighting on home territory. And there were several heavy weapons caches around the Tuatha de Danaan in case of such a situation. In addition, both Majors Kalinin and Mardukas are superb tacticians. I have no doubts that they were victorious.”
The kind of silence one hears when a tree falls and no one’s around was suddenly present in the room. Tessa turned away and Kaname saw that her eyes were glistening.
“Yes. You’re right, of course, Sagara…”
“Of course he’s right!” yelled Kurtz. “Sousuke spends the whole day thinking about military stuff! If he says they won, then they’re breaking out the champagne as we speak! So, c’mon…” He looked around at everyone hurriedly. “Eat more. This’ll be our Tuatha de Danaan victory party!”
At that moment, Mrs. Weber burst through the door.
“I baked you all some doughnuts…”

~

A few hours later, as night fell, Sousuke stood alone on the lawn, looking up at the sky.
It was different from Tokyo. The Weber Estate was so far away from any major city that he was sure he would be able to see the stars if it were a clear night. Even if he didn’t, the dark blue sky was beautiful enough. Looking at it made the boy feel calm, almost at peace. If he tried hard enough, he could forget the bloodshed…
“Sagara.”
Sousuke turned and automatically clicked his heels together in a salute.
“Captain.”
Tessa walked towards him, a soft, almost sad smile on her face. “It’s alright. Since neither of us is in Mithril anymore, I’m not a Captain. Remember?”
Sousuke nodded. “Understood. Testarossa-san.”
Sighing, Tessa came to stand next to him. She turned her head up, following his gaze. “What’re you looking at?”
“I’m waiting for the stars. Because I’ve been in Tokyo, where the light’s keep the sky bright, I’ve been unable to see the stars for awhile.”
“I see… Do you like stars, Sagara?” Tessa came closer to Sousuke.
“Yes. They’re very beautiful.”
“Hmm… Oh!” Tessa suddenly looked at Sousuke, remembering something. “Do you know? If you see the first star of the night and you make a wish, it’ll come true!”
Sousuke’s eyes widened.
“Really?”
“Uh-huh! Every time I’ve tried it, my wish comes true.”
That was all Sousuke needed. He focused his attention on the sky again, this time with renewed effort.
“That… Is that it?” he said, pointing to a light off in the sky.
“Uhh… I think that’s a plane.”
Sousuke squinted. “You’re right. But, what about that?”
This time, he pointed to a small but bright shining dot off in the northern sky. Tessa smiled.
“That’s it. Make your wish.”
Shutting his eyes in concentration like a child, Sousuke made his wish. Tessa too, wished.
Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Then, Sousuke spoke. “Is that it? I wished for-“
“No! If you tell someone your wish, it won’t come true!”
Sousuke looked horrified for a second and shut his mouth. Tessa smiled. He was indeed like a child…
“Don’t worry. If you don’t tell anyone, it’ll come true.”
With a solemn air, Sousuke bowed his head. “Good. I’m glad.”
Tessa kept smiling. She had wished for two things: The first was peace. The second was Sousuke. Carefully, she slipped her hand in with his. When he looked at her strangely, she blushed and looked away.
“My hands are cold.”
“You should ask Mrs. Weber if you can borrow a pair of mittens.”
“I… I don’t want to bother her while she’s cooking.”
Sousuke accepted this answer and wrapped his hand around hers tightly. She sighed contently and laid her head against his shoulder. My wish came true, she thought.
As more stars crept out, Sousuke wondered if he could wish on them too. He decided he probably couldn’t but it didn’t matter. His wish was that Kaname would find happiness and that some day, he might live a normal life.
Not far away from them, Kaname sat against a tree. She watched Tessa hold Sousuke’s hand and lean against him. She wanted to cry but she couldn’t. So, she looked up, saw the star and wished for only one thing: To understand Sousuke.


Author’s Notes: Yeah, it’s been awhile. I sincerely apologize for my incompetence. I’ve been thinking of so many different ways to end the story that I’ve been having trouble actually getting there. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I’d like to thank Ming (you know who you are!) for letting me spoil the entire fic for him by bouncing ideas off him. I’d also like to thank Kyle for “you-know-what” (Damn, that sounds perverted…) which will become clear in the next chapter.