the next chap... but SOMEONE insists on posting / editing in a neverending
loop... and I REALLY wanted to share this chapter.
Patched up the Sousuke / Chidori love-stuff -- relax, darkbane -- and am
setting up for the next chapter, with is tenatively titled SECRETS / REVELATIONS.
Regards
------
08 FLIGHT INTO THE UNKNOWN
"...And two tickets in the names of Sagara Sousuke and Sagara Kaname."
"WHAAAAT?!"
"That is correct, sir."
"WAIT! I never agreed to this!"
"We are siblings, sir, on our way to..." Chidori forced her way next to Sousuke. "Excuse me sir, but my young travelling companion gets some... hah... silly ideas. That name should be Chidori Kaname, not Sagara Kaname. And we are NOT in any way related to each other. His bad"
"Oh, I see. But, uh, you cannot..."
"Chidori, now is not the time..."
"Sagara, I NEVER agreed to playing this stupid..." She looked for the right word to describe it.
"Uh, is the surname Sagara or Chidori?"
"Sagara..." "Chidori..." they both said simultaneously.
"Uh..." The ticket agent was completely confused, and his suspicions were getting piqued. I'd better...
Taking command of the situation, Sousuke said plainly "The tickets and identification are there and they are valid, sir. I apologize for the confusion, but we have a plane to catch." Grabbing an increasingly infuriated Kaname, he walked off in the direction of the departure gates, leaving a stunned agent and audience to ponder on what they'd just witnessed.
* * *
"This is TOTALLY nuts!!" she thought to herself. "He's TOTALLY nuts!!"
She stood before the cracked and filthy mirror in their room at the el cheapo love hotel, holding a pair of scissors.
Nothing can remain of Chidori Kaname. She no longer exists as far as the world is concerned.
"Sagara, you're saying I'm myself, but I'm not myself? You're CRAZY!! What kind of psycho-babble is THAT?!"
Chidori, this journey will take approximately 24 hours, perhaps more. Within that time-period, many more attempts can be made to either kidnap or kill you. You must disappear to everyone that knew you, including your friends. You can no longer exist.
"Sagara, I AM Chidori Kaname, and I'll ALWAYS be Chidori Kaname!"
He stopped momentarily, as if he finally was understanding her point of view, then...
She looked at the scissors and hair dye with contempt. That ASSHOLE!! She looked at her reflection in the mirror again, and started thinking to herself blonde, brunette, or redhead.
Sousuke, you'd BETTER be enjoying this from wherever you're getting your kicks from!
Outside, Sousuke sat at the laptop, typing away at a special set of tools not available anywhere commercially. His mind focused on the task at hand. Everything, every electronic record of Chidori Kaname had to be blanked, or at least altered so that if anyone were to go looking for her, they would not find her. It'd be a long task with no breaks inbetween. An all-nighter.
He was used to it, and in some ways looking forward to it, as a challenge, to himself and his skills. Chidori Kaname's life, and keeping her alive till he got her to a safe place was his top priority right now. Nothing else mattered.
School records, school records... Good place to start.
He thought for a moment, whether he should delete her entire school record, or simply alter them to fit the cover story he was crafting. Delete... Alter... Delete... Alter... He settled on delete. After what they'd both been through... Chidori Kaname never existed.
He hit the delete key and waited for the computer at the other end to do its work.
Next... Birth Certificates. Delete.
...Medical Records. Delete.
...Citizenship Records. Delete.
...Credit Report. Delete.
...College Application Forms. Delete.
...Cellular Service. Delete.
...Telephone Service. Delete.
...Utilities Service. Delete.
...Bank Records. Delete.
He spared a quick glance at the clock in the System Tray. 0200 hours. Less than four hours left till sunrise. And he still had to book plane tickets and forge new identity papers for himself and Chidori, plus the time required to familiarize her with her new identity. The worse thing to happen would be for either of them to slip out of their assumed identities in front of the wrong people. He knew he could easily assume any one of four prearranged identities, but Chidori could not.
"Chidori?"
He looked over and saw her curled up on the bed asleep, her head buried under the pillow. She was in no condition to prepare. It was all up to him now.
Walking over to the bed, he covered her up with the blanket, only to have her fling it off herself. Frowning, he decided to take a short break, turning on the TV to the 24-hour news channel.
...Our top story this hour is an unconfirmed report of an exchange of fire between US and Communist-Chinese naval forces somewhere in the South Pacific. Reports are sketchy...
His radar was immediately on full alert.
...Requests for information from the US Seventh Fleet HQ were turned down with the words, "It's still being investigated." In other news...
"WHAT?!" Sousuke flew off the bed towards the TV, half-expecting for more information to be delivered, but the anchor was droning on about some sports match or other. "No, go back to your other story! WHERE was this?! What happened?!"
"SHUT UP AND LET ME SLEEP!!"
It was going to be a long night.
* * *
They sat at the departure gate at Narita. Sagara had said something about it being "so far, so good." She didn't respond, keeping to herself her thoughts that it was because of his overactive paranoid-schizophrenic mind that there was anybody after a girl like her.
She fiddled with her hair, then realized it was much shorter than usual. She had finally settled on cutting it to shoulder length and dyeing it a rich chestnut brown. At first, she thought it looked cute, then she remembered why she was doing it. I HATE THIS!! she screamed from the bathroom loud enough to wake the dead she was sure, but Sagara hadn't come to check out her outburst. She waited and waited. What does it take, for someone to burst into the room brandishing a gun before he even does anything?!
Jerk!
He hadn't even said anything when she came out of the bathroom to let him scrutinize her handiwork.
A little girl stopped by and pointed at her. "Mama, Mama! Look! Look!"
Chidori smiled, half-forgotten memories of when her mother was alive and she was as young and curious as that, always getting into trouble somehow. "Hiya there, cutie! What's your name?"
"Ahh! Mama! Scary!!" the little girl screamed as she ran to her mother's open arms.
Geh! What did I do?
"Good. She could have been trouble."
Looking over at Sagara, she saw the more fearsome face ever to have been pasted on his ugly mug. Not even a mother could love that face. A strange thought crossed her mind. Did he even have a mother?
NOT!
"IDIOT!! She was just a young child!! How the hell could she be any danger to us?"
"The best chances for success against an enemy in a public place is to blend in, become unnoticeable. In numerous terrorist operations world-wide, suicide bombers have..."
The departure lounge suddenly became very quiet. A security guard came up to the two with a rather concerned look on his face. "Excuse me, sir, ma'am. Is there a problem?"
* * *
She woke up alone, the room barely lit by the first faint light of morning. She had a moment's apprehension before the surroundings and the previous day's events came back to her. She last recalled seeing him at his laptop... doing what she didn't care. Jerk! Idiot! Insensitive dickhead! A thousand more descriptive explitives came to mind as she rolled out of bed.
Padding to the bathroom, she pulled the towl off her head and screamed at the image reflecting back at her. Oh yeah, I'm a brunette now. GOD, what was I THINKING?!
Sagara. To refer to him by his last name was more appropriate now. Last night was the FINAL straw, as far as she was concerned. I HATE him! I HATE him! I HATE him! she ranted to himself. After SO long, after SO MUCH effort... what the HELL...?!?!
The door suddenly opened, and there he stood. He DOESN'T exist. I HATE him! she kept repeating to herself. If he says anything, I'm going to KILL him, and to hell with the consequences. If anyone's after be because I'm Whispered, well that's just my problem. Not his! Not Mithril's! Not ANYONE! Mine, alone! It's not worth this price!! You hear me...
"Good morning." He actually sounded human this time, like he meant it. "Breakfast?" He handed her a breakfast bar before walking back to his laptop, carrying several official-looking documents. Unbelieving but intrigued, she followed him. Sorting through the documents, he set them into two neat piles on the small table.
"It is getting late into the morning, and not enough time to cover it all. Here is a full set of identity documents, one set for each of us. Forged of course, but well enough that it should get us to where we are going."
"And that is...?" She just blurted it out. She didn't want to know, but somehow, it had just come out...
"America. New York is where I am thinking. Both your father and sister are there, and your father works for the UN, correct?"
"Yes. As High Commissioner for the Environment." A hint of pride in that one.
"He may have some contacts that may be able to help us. Kaname, I cannot stress this enough. I am aware you are new to this... experience, so let me do the talking. Simply memorize the basic information on those documents, just enough for the identity-check questions you will be asked at the airport."
He handed her a passport and citizenship papers.
* * *
"Welcome aboard Japan Airlines. Any carry-on luggage today?"
"Just him. You got a container big enough?" Chidori pointed back behind her and stalked off, leaving the attendant to think she'd made a bad joke, but...
"Kids these days" the attendant joked to herself. "Ahh, welcome aboard Japan Airlines, sir. Any..." Sagara walked right past her without comment or reaction. "Ohhkay..."
Locating her seat, Chidori threw herself into it, crossing her arms in frustration. What the HELL is he thinking?! Some cover story!! Only a jerk like HIM could come up with it!!
"Chidori, next time, stick to the script."
"NEXT time, DON'T come up with such weak stories like that!"
"The story I put together was not weak. Much work and planning went into the preparation of our cover story and identities. All you have to do..."
"It's STUPID!! Oh, we're brother and sister, on our way to see our parents in America. HAH!! How likely is THAT?! It's so LAUGHABLE!!"
"Chidori," Sousuke started, lowering his voice. "your voice is beginning to carry." He looked around at the growing number of stares directed in their direction.
"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!! WHO GIVES ABOUT ANYONE ELSE?!"
"Chidori..."
"SHUT UP!! SERGEANT, YOU'RE REALLY...!!"
"Excuse me, sir, ma'am, but if there's a problem..."
"YEAH, THERE IS! HIM!" Chidori ranted, pointing at Sousuke.
"If there is a problem, I suggest you keep your voices down, or I'll call the Captain."
"GO RIGHT AHEAD! GET HIM TO DUMP THIS HARDCASE JERK SOMEWHERE OVER THE PACIFIC! IT'LL MAKE THE PLANE LIGHTER!"
"Ma'am..." The attendant struggled to contain the situation, but was beginning to get nervous...
"Chidori..."
"I'll behave myself, now... just... just..."
The attendant suddenly became peaches and cream. "Can I get you our menu of in-flight non-alcoholic drinks?"
* * *
"Sagara. My clothes..."
"Disposed of, as is my existing identity set and the credit card I used to pay for the room and plane tickets. Nothing that can identify or lead to either of us can remain.
"And WHAT am I suppposed to wear?"
He handed her a plastic clothing bag. "The sales lady was most helpful, but I wasn't sure about your exact size."
"You could've asked... and you think it's cheap to buy a new school uniform at Jindai?"
"Nothing can remain." He fixed her with a glare that she had a hard time evading. "And it is wise to let you sleep as much as possible. You will need your strength."
"Wait! Before I go, I should... you know, call Kyouko and the others. They must be worried out of their minds! Where's my cellphone?"
"Disposed of as well, and your service plan has been cancelled. Nothing can remain."
"But I HAVE to call... to let her know..."
"The plane leaves in two hours. We have to leave... now."
* * *
The strong temptation to beat the living daylights out of him flowed over her, but then it would earn her another public humiliation like the one of two days ago... I'll get you for this, Sergeant. If it's the last thing I do...
"This is your Captain speaking. I welcome you all aboard Japan Air Lines flight to Los Angeles, United States..."
They felt the plane shift slightly as it backed away from the terminal.
"Estimated flight time is 14 hours, 27 minutes. Weather conditions will be favorable..."
Suddenly someone came walking down the aisle, obviously in a rush. A passenger promptly sat himself down in the seat to Sousuke's right. "HAH! Made it! Man, for a moment there...!" She spared a quick glance in his direction. Tourist types... ick!!
He returned the glance. "Hey there, name's Greg. I'm on my way back to the good ol' US of A. How about you two? Going my way?"
Geh!
"Yes, we are brother and sister, on our way to America to visit our parents." Sousuke intoned, sticking to the prepared line for such a question.
She cringed. "Sergeant...!"
"Sergeant? Your brother in the army or something?"
"No, I am a normal Japanese high school student, as is my sister."
"Hi, how do you do? Say, you're a cute thing! Ya single?" Greg leaned over to shake her hand, but she wasn't in the mood to be sociable.
"My sister... isn't in the best of moods right now, understandibly."
"Oh... I see." Greg said, catching on. "It's that time of month, huh?"
"WHAT?!"
"Time of... month?"
"Yeah, you know? Periods? The monthlies? I've never had a sister, but I've known some women that when the time came were just..."
"Y-yes."
Okay! "Excuse me... Greg, but my 'brother' is rather clueless when it comes to proper social interaction. My name's Kaname. And I am NOT on my period right now."
"Oh... I see. My mistake."
"No, it's that of my clueless 'brother's' here." She made a point to elbow him as hard as she could. He didn't react.
"Heh. You really are brother and sister, aren't you?"
"Yes." "No."
"Err..."
Another elbow, this time it hit perfectly, and Sousuke doubled over in pain clutching his kidney. Ignorning him, she added insult to injury by using his back as an armrest.
"Now," she said, putting on her best face and turning on all her feminine charms. "Where were we?" This is much better! At least I can talk to this guy, rather than endure the silent treatment the whole time.
"So... Greg-san. You said you were returning to the US?"
He immediately brightened up.
"Yeah. Yeah. I spent some time in Tokyo on vacation. Ummm, about your brother..."
She only leaned down harder. "What brother...? You were saying you spent some time in Tokyo?"
He smiled.
* * *
They were well over the Pacific, and into several bottles of coolers each. Chidori couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun with a guy. Greg was a DEFINATE improvement over... well, anybody she'd ever dated. Her erstwhile bodyguard / former boyfriend was nowhere to be found. She didn't care. I'm having so much fun, he can go indulge all his paranoid military fantasies for all I care!
"...and then," she paused for a short sip to wet her throat. "We were supposed to bring the copies back to class, but he took Sensei's directions too literally. So what does the idiot do? Throws a smoke bomb, punches the wrong buttons and makes two thousand copies than twenty, ALL of them blank! The smoke bomb sets off the fire alarm in the process..." She had to stop. It was simply too funny to keep describing, and she saw Greg thought it was amusing as well.
"Hahaha! Boy, your brother has some wierd ideas... I'm sorry, 'adopted' brother."
"Weird? That's too kind a word, Greg-san. He's the most insensitive, inconsiderate, thickheaded adopted brother in the world! To top it off, his mind constantly invents these paranoid-delusional fantasies that I'm being stalked because I'm special in some way. So any guy tries to get near me, he knocks them out, even though the guy hasn't done anything yet!"
Greg broke out into another round of laughter. "Yeah, that's a brother for you! A major PITA, and an even bigger one at the really critical moments in life!"
"You're not siding with him, are you, Greg-san?"
"Heh. Just saying it could be worse. What if this was your father we were talking about?"
Chidori couldn't help but crack up laughing at that one. "Oh GAWD!! He'd probably build a tall tower, stick me in the topmost room, and build a moat around it!"
"Yeah, that'd probably be his reaction."
They both paused for another sip from the coolers. "Oh, yours is almost empty there Kaname. Let me..."
"No, it's alright, Greg-san."
"Ma'am? Another cooler here, please. And charge it to my credit card."
"Yes, sir."
Chidori sighed. No way Sagara would be this nice to me, even if someone were to give him an instruction manual. Greg-san is... Greg-san is...
"Hey, Greg-san?"
"Could you stop it with the -san part? I mean, I'm honored, but it's..."
"I can't help it. Here I was thinking I'd be in for a boring flight, then you show up. And my brother's left us alone for the last... what, more than eight hours? I swear, not even a hospital spell consisting of major surgery AND several major broken bones would keep him from making sure I was safe."
"Well, I wouldn't know about that...Hey, where is..."
"Oh, come off it Greg-san! You've had the full attention of a beautiful girl for the last couple of hours, and you're paying more attention to her wierd brother?" It was good to make Sagara itch and to drive him alittle nuts for awhile. Serves him right! He needs to learn to appreciate me more! And alot of other things as well! She had no intention of giving up anything in the way of secrets, but it delighted her to no end to believe in her mind that Sagara was hiding in a corner, going absolutely paranoid she was giving away vital secrets to some suave foreign secret agent that had charmed her with no more than a few bottles of fruit coolers and an open ear. "Anyways, what I wanted to ask you Greg-san is... well... are you seeing anyone right now?"
"Uhhh... no, not that I can think of."
Single? Yes!
"And what do you do for a living?"
"Computer work. Consulting, mostly. I can't complain. I get to travel world-wide."
Dotcomer? I've struck it rich!
"And where did you say you lived in the US?"
"Silicon Valley. Hustle and bustle. Lots of people around...uh... Kaname, are you..."
"Greg-san... why... why are you whispering?" She tried to focus on his voice only, but her hearing seemed muffled. "What... what's wrong..." Suddenly, the armrest seemed to come ever closer to her awfully fast. "Sou..."
"Sweet dreams, cutie-pie."
* * *
Waking up was not a particularly pleasant feeling. Somehow, it felt like she'd been asleep for one hundred years. Oh, I ACHE all over!! But she couldn't complain about that for long. She could hear a loud buzzing sound in the background, and suddenly an intense light shone into her eye. She flinched, trying in vain to block with her hands, but they felt like they were no longer attached to her body.
"Get that damned light out of my face!" she wanted to scream, but her mouth also felt numb and equally useless. What the hell! She was starting to get nervous. Where am I? Where... what...
He entire body felt like it was refusing even the simplest instructions from her. She was utterly helpless, and there was nothing she could do about it. Someone... Anyone... Sa... Sousuke! Help! she pleaded. I'm sorry, Sousuke. I'm so sorry!
Mercifully, the light was soon withdrawn. She tried focusing on just her hearing, in hopes of finding out exactly what was going on.
"Looks like she's coming out of it."
"And what's the medical verdict, Doc?"
"Rohypnol, or some other similar sedative. A fairly moderate dose to be sure. She'll recover, but yeah..." He leaned down and shone the light in her eye again. "Miss? Miss? Can you hear me? Nod your head if you can, please."
"Any response?"
"None. Stuff's gradually wearing off, though. That's the good news."
"Her safety is my overriding concern. Is there any way..."
"Look, kid. To rush this will only introduce serious consequences we in the medical profession can only guess at. I understand your concern for your girlfriend here..."
"She is not my girlfriend. She is my Overriding Concern." The response was polite, but firm. The look in his eyes told him as much not to disagree too strongly with him either.
"Okay, have it your way. But understand, young sir, this will take time. The good news, as I said, is she will make a full recovery, okay?"
"I thank you. And I apologize for my earlier outburst."
"No offense taken, happens to the best of us." He looked down at her again. Young, say about late teens, early twenties. Her hair was obviously dyed, most likely self-done. Looked like she had parents of means. What the hell is your story he wondered.
"...mzeee..."
"Was she trying to say something?"
"Maybe. Miss? Miss? Can you hear me?"
"...ngmeeefzzz..."
"Okay, we're pulling in people. You two should be safe for now."
"Chidori?"
"...nghghghg...!"
"What do you make of it, Doctor?"
"I'd guess... she was screaming?"
"I SAID 'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH ME?!?! Oh, I can speak again...?"
"Chidori, you're... you're..."
"Sousuke...?" His response was totally unexpected. He grabbed her in a hug and held her tight. She was too muggy in the head to mount much of an objection. "Sousuke..."
"I... I was so worried about you."
"Sou...wha...wha..."
"All will be explained soon enough, Miss." Another voice chimed in. "If you feel up to it, could you two please follow me this way?
"I..."
Sousuke responded for her, sweeping her up in the traditional 'Carry the Bride over the Threshold' method and started following their mysterious host up the steps.
"Sou... Sousuke. Where are..."
"Chidori... I mean, Kaname. You do not know how nice it feels to have you call me by that name again."
"Uhh..."
"You can sit her here. I'll bring some drinks for you." Here was a well-decorated room, a cross between a library and conference room. On three sides of the walls was an extensive collection of both soft- and hardcover books. She couldn't make out the titles, but... A desk and chair sat against the fourth wall, also tastfully decorated. A pen and holder set, a phone with nurmerous out lines, and stacks of paperwork covered it all. It had the feeling of a bureaucrat's work sanctum. Through the window behind, she saw a cityscape very unfamiliar to her, with sounds of traffic and people muffled but not totally eliminated. At least my hearing's returning.
"Sousuke... you still haven't answered my question. Where are we?"
"I believe I can do one better than that, Miss. I'm your host for your stay here."
"And here is..."
He drew himself to attention, somewhat comically. At least he isn't another sick military-otaku. What is he? "Mr Sousuke Sagara. Miss Kaname Chidori. It is my duty, and distinct pleasure, to formally welcome you to the Consulate General of Canada, Los Angeles. Have a nice day."
* * *
I hope you like being marinated in 'Napalm 'n Haberno'-flavored BBQ sauce 