[FIC] Girl Talk

[dd]

Who says Sousuke can't do something right...

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The main room in the small restaurant was full.

Students and young professionals sat at the tables, while travelers and older business-types perched on the rotating stools at the serving counter.

Kaname looked at the floor underneath one such stool. The patron sitting on the seat had brought a large briefcase with him. She thought back to a day when a middle-aged fan-boy had left his own satchel behind. She had rushed to return it to him, nearly getting run down by a truck in the process.

“I remember when he saved you,” Ryo said. She and the others had been pumping Kaname for information on her relationship with Sousuke. The coffee shop prompted the same memory in them that it had in Kaname.

“It was back when you thought he was some kind of a freak.” Kyouko smiled. Kaname had told her some things about her relationship with Sousuke, but had sworn her to secrecy.

“You make it sound like I don’t think that anymore. Hmmmpppfff!” Kaname smiled. Her earliest days with Sousuke had certainly tried her patience. She still bit her tongue any time he used the word ‘coincidence.’

“That’s right,” Maya chipped in. “You could have been killed.” She looked out at the street, busy as it was with mid-day traffic. “He’s rescued you a lot!” She sighed. It seemed romantic, saying it that way. But, most incidents involving Sousuke and Kaname were anything but dreamy as they actually unfolded.

“But he probably got her in trouble more times than he got her out.” Mizuki made a wry face.

“I don’t know if you want to use those words,” Ryo quipped. A boy getting a girl in trouble still carried certain connotations. “Though… after he saved you from the truck… he did end up putting his hand on your…” There had been witnesses. They saw the unintentional groping. They also saw the swift and fearsome nature of Kaname’s wrath.

“Y-Y-You going to eat that pickle?” Kaname quickly tried to change the subject, pointing at Maya’s food basket.

“Oh?” Maya caught Ryo’s eye. “Does this remind you of Sousuke?” She dangled the pickle in her fingers. “I wonder why.” She smiled, seeing Kyouko turn bright red. “Hmmmm-mmm-mm-m…” She put the pickle in her mouth slowly, and then took a bite.

Kaname twitched. She was clever enough to know what her friend was getting at. Maya wasn’t alone in her efforts. They were all doing their best to get on her nerves!

“We know you two have kissed,” Mizuki said bluntly. “But, you still having given us the details on anything else… one way or the other…” She was a born gossip, just like Kyouko. But, where Kyouko looked for the lighter side of things, Mizuki often took the opposite tack. “Maybe it’s because you’re embarrassed. I know I would be, if I was going out with someone like Sousuke.”

“If you were going out with anyone,” Kyouko said sweetly, sticking up for Sousuke and Kaname. That had the other girls smiling. Mizuki gave Kyouko a sour look.

“Even your three friends from middle school have boyfriends,” Maya put in. Mizuki was as much fair game as Kaname was, just in a different way. “Don’t they?”

“And you’re still pining away after Tsubaki…” Ryo put her hands on her chest and pretended to swoon.

“Why shouldn’t I be?” Mizuki sounded defensive. “He’s so cute. He’s so brave. And, he saved me.” She looked over at Kaname. “After Sousuke nearly got me killed.”

“It was as much Tsubaki’s fault as it was Sousuke’s.” Kaname slammed her hand on the table, harder than she had intended. Strangely enough, she always stood up for Sousuke’s honor when he was not around, even though she was the first one to blame him when he was present. “And… I thought you gave up on Tsubaki… after you thought that he and Sousuke had a… ahem… relationship…” She rolled her eyes. Boy, had she and Mizuki been mistaken on that point. It had caused Sousuke and Tsubaki a lot of grief for a while.

“But Tsubaki is still sweet on Kaname,” Ryo added. “It’s so cute, the way that he blushes and stutters, whenever he’s near her.” She grinned. “He acts a bit differently around you.”

“Here…” Kyouko pushed a button on her camera, advancing through a number of digital photos. She showed everyone the view-screen. It held a snapshot of Tsubaki running from Mizuki, a look of horror on his face.

“He’s just shy. That’s all.” Mizuki scowled. She was very tempted to delete the picture, and then claim it was an accident. “Anyway… it just goes to show how bad Kaname’s taste in men is.” She looked at the other girls, wanting to see if their expressions showed that they agreed with her. “She could have someone like Tsubaki; but, she still hangs around with Sousuke.” She looked at Kaname. “You said that you weren’t his assignment anymore…”

“Maybe Mizuki has a point,” Ryo said. “For once.” She smiled, seeing the ‘V’ sign that Maya flashed her. “Even though a lot of the boys still seem to think that you’re an idol…” Her smile grew larger at Kaname’s reaction.

“Or, after all that’s happened, they think that you’re cursed or something...” Maya tried to keep a straight face. She was only half-joking. Kaname seemed to attract far more than her fair share of trouble, and it wasn’t all because of a certain young soldier.

“You still attract a lot of handsome guys.” Kyouko finished the thought. “There was that boy at the amusement park. You know… the one you almost got in trouble with the drunken gangsters.”

“The same one who showed up when we were all at the karaoke club the other day?” Maya’s eyebrow rose. “The guy that you said Kaname had turned down before?” Fuwa had been his name. He and a couple of other boys had walked into the same booth they were in by accident.

“He was cute!” Ryo almost knocked her drink over. “Really really cute.” She sighed. Why couldn‘t she find a boyfriend who looked like that? “He was polite, too. And his voice…” She sighed.

“But…” Kaname couldn’t get a word in.

“He was handsome… kind… smart…” Kyouko teased Kaname. In all honesty, she had been moved by Sousuke’s actions, back when she and the young mercenary had been tailing Kaname and Fuwa at the park. Although Sousuke didn’t know it, she was a big advocate of his. That didn’t mean she couldn’t play along. “I bet he never blew anything up.”

“He…” Kaname was stymied again.

“And I doubt he ever tackled a teacher… got caught holding a girl’s panties… killed and cooked a pet fish…” Ryo held up a finger for each offense. Maya soon followed suit.

“Brought a bio-agent into school… took apart a teacher’s car… set traps for his art class… lured prostitutes into cages…” Maya shook her head, reminiscing. There were so many stories to choose from.

“Or kissed a girl without permission!” Mizuki’s eyes flashed. She still harbored a lot of resentment over that.

“Get over it Mizuki!” Maya, Ryo, and Kyouko had all said that at the same time.

“The new gym teacher is quite a hunk, too.” Maya had a faraway look in her eyes. “He’s so buff! And, he looks great in shorts!”

“That’s right,” Ryo said, snapping her fingers. “He was asking a lot of questions about Kaname the other day.”

“Until Sousuke heard about it, and wondered if he might be a spy or something.” Kyouko had a few pictures of that day, too. “He tried to flush Mr. Taiiko’s head down a toilet… just like he did with someone else…” She looked over at Mizuki, after making reference to Shirai.

“Maybe Sousuke was just jealous,” Mizuki said in a bit of a snit. “Mr.Taiiko is a lot better looking than he is. He’s so mature. So responsible. I might bring him a bento lunch someday…”

“I don’t…” Kaname was interrupted again.

“Sousuke’s probably too clueless to be jealous,” Maya said. “I bet Kaname has to bring along a ‘Dating For Dummies’ book when they go out…”

“Or a military manual!” Ryo grinned.

“I don’t know,” Kyouko said. “From the things that Kaname has told me…” She took a picture of Kaname’s face. “Sorry… I promised to keep those kinds of thing secret…” That ought to get the other girls whipped up into a frenzy again.

“Softball terms, girl!” Maya and Ryo spoke up at the same time. “Come on… we’re your friends… you owe us…” Maya pointed her finger at Kaname.

“First base?” Mizuki looked at Kaname, and then at Kyouko. Neither gave any involuntary nonverbal answer to the query. “We know you two have kissed. Probably French-kissed, too.”

“I bet they’ve gotten to second base, at least.” Ryo was making reference to fondling and groping. “Kaname was never a singles hitter.” She grinned, seeing Kaname turn red. Her claim was true for softball games. She knew that Kaname had never even kissed the few boys that she had dated, especially the hideous ones that Kyouko had arranged blind dates with. “What about Sousuke? Does he usually bat at the top of the order… or the bottom….” In effect, she was making an allusion to breasts and genitalia. She could never have done that without the analogy.

“What!" Kaname couldn’t believe that her friend asked that. She looked around the room, feeling as if the entire establishment must be eavesdropping.

“Kaname hit a lot of triples this season.” Maya was correct, at least in regards to Jindai High’s games against rival schools. She was also continuing with the baseball euphemism. Depending on the source, a three-bagger could include full nudity; non-intercourse orgasm from oral sex; or dry humping. Some people might include fondling below-the-waist in that category, even when there was no resulting orgasm. “She’s a very aggressive base runner.”

“Ma-ya…” Kaname was shaking her head vehemently.

“I bet Sousuke is pretty good at swinging a bat,” Kyouko put in, turning bright pink in the process. She had waited until just the moment when Kaname took a sip of her drink. Her play on words and images left Kaname choking, soda jetting out from her nose. “He may not have had a lot of experience with sports… but he is very enthusiastic…” That had the other girls looking at Kaname and smiling. They wondered if Sousuke put the same energy into everything else.

“Kaname is adept at catching balls.” Mizuki tried the same trick that Kyouko used. She ended up getting sprayed in the face with Kaname’s soda. “Eu-u-u-u-w…”

“Kaname’s certainly acting very edgy,” Ryo observed. “Think she might have hit a home run?” Hitting it out of the park meant sexual intercourse. She doubted that Kaname and Sousuke would have gone that far. Then again, in the movies, the heroine often fell into bed with the man who rescued her.

“That’s probably it,” Maya said, once again trying to get Kaname’s goat. “Grand slam, no doubt!” That could signal sex four times in one night, or anal sex for those who are heterosexually inclined.

“I think that this game is about to be called due to lack of class!” Kaname gave each of her friends a look that she usually reserved for Sousuke. “Some friends you guys are. Hmmmpppfff!” She spared the most scathing look for Kyouko, who had effectively started it all. “Thanks, Ky!”

After that, the girls beginning mentioning other guys that Kaname had been associated with, in one fashion or another. They also made an effort to point out all of Sousuke’s foibles, flaws, and bad habits.

“What about that Kurz guy?” Mizuki thought back to the trip to the onken. “He acted very friendly towards you. I think he was kind of cute.”

“Please!” Kaname snorted. “He’s is the last guy on the planet I would go out with. After Shirai, that is.” She looked at Kyouko out of the corner of her eyes. “And the Pony-man, I guess.” She smiled, seeing her friend put a hand to her hair.

“Oh…” Ryo’s eyes went wide. “That guy you went away with… he was really bishōnen…” She picture a tall elegant young man with flowing silver locks. “ Kyouko showed us his picture.”

“Ryo!” Kaname sounded shocked. There were some things that shouldn’t be joked about, even though time has a tendency to heal all wounds. She looked over at Kyouko.

“I…” Ryo looked stricken, when she realized what she had said. “I’m sorry, Kyouko.” Leonard had been instrumental in Kyouko’s being wired with explosives, back when Amalgam had launched their attack against Mithril, and the Whispered man had followed through on his own personal agenda.

“It’s OK.” Kyouko tried to smile. She still had nightmares about that whole ordeal. Some of her doctors had said it was a miracle that she left the hospital alive.

“He was pretty hot, though.” Maya spread her hands wide by way of tacit apology. “And he did make it a point to come after you.” She looked Kaname in the eyes. “Admit it… I bet that was kind of exciting… right?”

“That…” Kaname shook her head. There had been moments during her captivity where she almost succumbed to Leonard’s charm. He was brilliant… smooth… and sophisticated… not to mention Whispered like her… everything that Sousuke was not. But, it held true to his bad points too, and that had made it simple enough for her to resist him in the end.

“And you were with him a lon-n-n-g time,” Ryo said. She knew it was a sore subject, but it was a great gossip topic.

“I came back with Sousuke, didn’t I?” Kaname folded her arms across her chest. “That ought to tell you something!”

“Sousuke could have drugged you or something,” Mizuki said, feeling especially contrary. “Maybe he held a gun to your head.” She held her nose closed when she took a sip of her fruit juice, just in case someone said something funny. Her blouse was stained badly enough as it was. “I mean, he is a man of his word. I heard that he promised your class that he’d bring you back.”

The girls continued to probe Kaname about the things that had happened with Leonard, and the things that she routinely did with Sousuke. A veteran of interrogations, Kaname was able to sidestep everything they threw at her. Feeling the way she did about the Moody Military Misfit, she also had no trouble brushing off their suggestions about other guys who might make more appropriate boyfriends.

“Aside from the girl-falls-for-boy-hero stuff…” Maya ran a hand through her hair. She would mind having somebody on a white horse save her and carry her away, if she didn’t have to suffer the way that Kaname had.

“Or some possible masochistic tendencies…” Ryo smirked.

“We really can’t see why you would want to go out with Sousuke.” Mizuki formed her hand into a gun and pointed it at Kaname’s head. She mouthed the word ‘Bang.’

The bell over the front door of the café rang. Kaname looked over at the door. The other girls turned and did the same. Sousuke had been the one walking in.

“He’s got a hand behind his back,” Kyouko noticed.

“Probably trying to hide a gun from Kaname,” Maya said.

“Or a grenade,” Mizuki added.

“Could be a bad grade on the last assignment,” Ryo offered.

“Hi, Sousuke!” Kaname broke into a big smile when Sousuke walked over. She couldn’t help herself. Her heart soared every time that she saw him. Of course, if he was holding a weapon or a bad test score, she would let him have it with both barrels, regardless of who might be watching.

“I…” Sousuke cleared his throat. Even though he and Kaname were dating, he was by no means comfortable with the standard courtship rituals. But, he was trying his best to learn a new set of mission parameters. “Well…” He saw the other girls looking at him. That caused him to begin sweating. “You might like this…” He held out a red long-stem rose.

“It’s beautiful.” Kaname’s eyes misted up a bit, as she reached out to grab the flower. She smiled, looking over at her friends. “That’s why I go out with him.”

A flash went off as Kyouko captured the moment.

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THE END

[full_metal_sousuke]

ahh yes this was a good one.

[Raspberry]

Hey, that's so much IC! Good work!

And the title fits the plot (or... mini-plot?) the best! Haha, and I also loved the softball-terms language with all the innuendo (and the explanation was helpful!)

How about putting Sousuke in similar situation?.. With Melissa and Kurz? ^^