[FIC] Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (pt 18)
Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 3:04 am
It was a large suite in a nice hotel.
Shunya did not mind the expense, even though he might need to keep a close eye on his finances. With the U.N. building seriously damaged, he might be looking for another job if other suitable offices and meeting rooms couldn’t be arranged for.
There were more important things than money.
They had all gone home after leaving The Cloisters. It had been a very difficult drive. It had been worse walking into the house. Kaname couldn’t go into her room. Shunya found it very difficult to venture into the kitchen. Mr. Smith simply stared out of the front window, thinking. Ayame curled up in a ball on the living room couch, crying.
No one had word of Sousuke. They were even forbidden to use his name, in order to protect Mithril and its contacts in this country. Rescue craft had combed the waters of the east River. Divers had gone down, seeing what they could in the pitch black waters. A call to Mithril HQ revealed nothing. There had been no signal yet.
Even as hard as it would have been dealing with the memories of Sousuke in that house, they would have fought their way through it.
If.
If it hadn’t have been for the endless ringing of the phone… the countless knocks on the door… the hoard of reporters peering in the windows… or the snarled traffic in the street outside their home.
Ayame’s and Shunya’s face had made it on TV. That alone would have drawn the news people like flies. But, one reporter thought that he had seen Mr. Chidori’s other daughter bandaging a mysterious young man who had played some role in the hostage rescue. That young man’s appearance was somewhat similar to the description that city goers gave of another mysterious young man, the one they claimed had gotten into the Arm Slave that saved the city.
It was a nightmare.
It was an unwanted burden at a time when they had all shouldered as much as they could.
It would have been even worth, if the various people describing the unknown youths had not been disreputable.
It had taken some work to shake the media vampires, but Mr. Smith called in some favors with his buddies still on the force, and the heavyset bodyguard pulled a very nice bait and switch maneuver. They all wore disguises going into the hotel.
“Aren’t you going to try and eat something, girls?” Oichi looked at Ayame and Kaname with great concern. Both had been silent since they had arrived at the establishment, taking no interest in the furnishings of the penthouse suite… the huge whirlpool bath and steam chamber… or the extravagant room service.
Shunya himself did little more than push his food around his plate. It was very good, even by his standards. The meat was succulent and the vegetables crisp. The potatoes had a lovely consistency. The wine had been chilled just right.
Ayame shook her head. Kaname just stared out the window.
Kaname’s phone rang.
Her head shot up.
There was an almost frantic look on her face while she ran about the series of rooms, trying to remember where she had left the phone.
Who would that be?
Could it be Sousuke? If not, it might be her friends in Tokyo, wondering if she and Ayame were alright.
The phone stopped ringing just before she picked it up. She slumped to the ground, feeling worse than before, if that was possible. There was no caller I.D. Better yet, the charge light indicated that the power was running low.
Resting her head against the cold marble of the bathroom pedestal sink, she began to cry again, even though there were no more tears to fall.
Why had she gotten her hopes up? How could it possibly be Sousuke? She had seen the underwater explosion. By now, watching the news, millions upon millions of viewers would have seen it.
But the Lambda Driver!
Might that have saved Sousuke?
Could he just be laying low, like he did after North Korea? Maybe he was embarrassed about the way the medicines had affected him!
But. Might. Could. Maybe.
The phone rang again. Kaname banged her head hard on the basin of the sink when she stood up. For a moment, she saw stars. Grimacing, she grabbed the phone.
“Hello!”
“Kaname….” The voice was quiet, coughing. It sounded weak and in pain. It was Sousuke.
“SOUSUKE!!!” Kaname had to grab onto a towel bar to keep from falling. Her knees threatened to go out on her.
It was him. He was still alive. Her prayers had been answered. She couldn’t wait to tell him all that she had been through.
Listen to her! What SHE had been through? It didn’t matter. She was close to feeling giddy.
Her shout had carried throughout the suite. “Soooo-uuusss-kaaay…..” Ayame’s voice grew louder. There was the thudding of hurried footsteps.
“Kaname… p-please listen… I…..” There was more coughing, then a long drawn out hiss of pain.
Those sounds struck like red hot needles in her ears. Where was he? What was wrong with him? If he was in bad shape, why hadn’t he gotten to a doctor or something?
“What is it Sousuke? SOUSUKE!!!” Kaname squeezed the phone until its seam was about to pop, as if she could get Sousuke to say more that way.
There was a loud thud. Ayame had been running in her socks on the marble floor. She slid headfirst into the open bathroom door. She looked up at her sister, just as eager to find out anything about her hero.
Shunya and Oichi followed and helped pick up Ayame. Each of them had an intense look on their faces as well.
“I… I just r-regained…consciousness…. hurt… so much.” His voice faded out for a moment. Was that his last breath? Or, had her battery gone out? “Oxygen levels reduced… too much smoke… wanted to say…”
She wanted to scream. She felt the need to to shout at the top of her lungs ‘No More!!!’
Kaname ran over to the hotel phone. She needed to give Sousuke that number in case her battery gave out.
“Did you get that number, Sousuke? SOUSUKE! Are you still there???” This was agonizing. Sousuke was in pain, and she couldn’t do anything. It sounded like he was in serious trouble, too. What could she do? Who should she call?”
She dropped the phone, her fingers having gone numb. As it bounced across the floor, she got down on her hands and knees, not caring how it looked. She didn’t need this. There was no way she wanted to miss a single word.
“Love you… Kaname…. made my life good… n-never was before….” More coughing. Another hiss of pain. Another voice came over the phone as well.
“Power level adequate. Joint structure intact. GPS link non-operational. No ability to judge distance or direction. Locator beacon destroyed. Oxygen level thirty minutes from critical. Venting of gases hampered by blockage.” Arbalest’s artificial intelligence. ‘Al,’ Sousuke had called it.
Kaname bit her lip. She banged one fist against the side of her leg. She wanted to shout ‘Shut up… shut up… shut up….’ Sousuke. She wanted to hear Sosuske.
“Sousuke, you’ll be OK. You can’t abandon me. You will not abandon me, soldier. It’s your job!!!” Kaname was banging her fist against the mirror in the bathroom. A number of the support hooks were turning, making the glass panel wobble and shift. The prints from her skin smeared the surface. “Sousuke. I love you. Please don’t leave me.”
She knew she sounded frazzled. What did it matter. All that mattered was Sousuke.
“Thank you… Kaname… gave me… hope… happy…m-m-meaning. Wish…was better for…you….” Kaname strained to hear his words, trying to block out additional warnings called out by the disembodied voice competing with his.
What? That big idiot was apologizing for the things he had done long ago? If he made it out of their alive, she was going to tell him a thing or two!
If he made it out of there alive.
If.
“No Sousuke, you couldn’t have made me happier. Please, hold on. I’ll think of something. Someone should be able to trace your signal. They can get you out, Sousuke. Please hold on.” The mirror fell off the wall. Shunya caught it. Ayame wrapped her arms around her sister.
He had to believe her. He just had to. His presence in her life had brought her things she never would have found anywhere else.
“Nega…tive. No… no trace… keep identity secret… Mith…ril… impor… t-tant…” A frightening wheezing noise, then more coughs.
Wheezing is not good. Coughing is not good. What was he doing? Why wasn’t he trying to get to shore? Didn’t that damn machine work? Was he too weak? Had he lost too much blood? Why hadn’t she fixed that wound better!
“No soldier! you are important. You saved eight million people. Mithril saved them too. They’ve done ENOUGH! Now, someone can save YOU. It’s your turn, mister. Do you hear me.” Kaname was shouting, without realizing that she was.
“No… secret impor… tant. Mithril… need secret… search…” The coughing was horrendous. Kaname closed her eyes, wishing she could will Sousuke her strenght and health. “Find… group behind… attack…stop… more…” he was saying that Mithril’s relative secrecy allowed it to carry out tasks it couldn’t do otherwise. The things that Mithril offered a troubled world were invaluable, certainly worth more than any one man, no matter how big a hero.
Idiot! Jerk! Moron! Stupid head. Otaku fool! He mattered. It was time he looked after himself.
“Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong!!! Do you hear me, Sergeant. I ORDER you to return, right now. Do you hear me. RIGHT NOW!!! Stop talking, and get to work. I will not give you a choice.”
“Tell Ayame… glad safe…tell f-father…thank… you… cooking.” There was a pause. “Tell Oi… chi… good to m-meet… her…Tell Tessa… f-forgive….” That was NOT a name Kaname wanted to hear then. “Tell…Kali… nin, like father… tell Mardukas, I tried… m-my… best. Tell Kurz… Melissa… love them…”
No! Not THIS kind of talk. That always happened in movies and books just before a dramatic death. Sousuke was not going to die. He could NOT be killed. He just could not. There didn’t have to be any logic behind that thought. It was what she wanted.
“YOU can tell them, Sousuke. When you get better. You always get better, Sousuke. You know that. Don’t give up. Come back to me!” Kaname actually stamped her foot, causing Ayame to jump.
“Save oxygen… no further… talk. Love y-you… only… y-y-you.” The connection ended.
Kaname stood very still, staring at her phone.
“Damn him,” she said quietly, looking at nothing in particular. “Damn him!” She spoke louder, clamping her eyes shut. “DAMN HIM!!! DAMN HIM DAMN HIM DAMN HIM DAMN HIM!!!”
What was she supposed to do? Have hope? Start to grieve?
What???
If she called Mithril, would they be able to do something they weren’t already doing?
Why hadn’t he saved his breath to call them, or one of the regional agents that might have been able to help in some way? The big idiot. The moron! Jerk. Stupid head!
She knew why. He had wanted to hear her voice again. There were things he had wanted to say.
It wasn’t fair. Why had she ever met him? Why had she fallen in love? What was the point of it all, if God was just going to take something else away from her?
How was anything supposed to matter after this?
“Kaname.” It was her father. She ignored him. He had treated Sousuke poorly before. She would never forgive him for that. Sousuke had fought for everybody, including her father. What had he done? He had judged Sousuke before he even met him. He had thrown him out of the house. He had…. He had….
He had given him a second chance.
He had tried.
What would it have mattered anyway?
Kaname tried to catch her breath. The world felt like it was spinning around her. She almost tripped over Ayame. Why was she clinging like that. Was she trying to make Kaname fall? She had to learn to let go sooner or later. ‘I am not her mother.’
It’s OK.
She’s hurt too.
Sousuke had come to mean a lot to her.
“Would you like a warm bath? I can draw one up for you?” It was Oichi.
“NO! No, I just want to be left alone. Everybody leave me alone…” Part of Kaname regretted those words, but she didn’t care.
It didn’t matter how kind and thoughtful Oichi was.
She didn’t care that she wanted to help.
Was it too much to ask for, just to be left alone?
“OK. Come on everybody. We could all use some time to ourselves.” Oichi put a hand behind Ayame’s back and pushed her gently out of the room. The look that Ayame turned on Kaname was pitiful. Her lower lip was quivering.
“Yes, dear. But we shouldn’t leave her alone. Maybe you could….” Shunya was very worried about what Kaname might do in her despondent state.
“No. Kaname’s tougher than that. She still has someone to be strong for, as far as we know. I think she just needs time alone.” Oichi backed Shunya out of the room just behind Ayame.
“If you want to talk, I’ll always be there to listen, dear.” Oichi spoke those words to Kaname before heading out herself.
Kaname pounded the floor with her fists. She wanted to go to where Sousuke was, but she couldn't even arrange for a helicopter, catch it, and make her way to the scene before time ran out.
No!
She was Kaname Chidori.
There had to be something she could do. She had done something in Khanka. She had done something when that monstrous red Arm Slave was crashing through Tokyo.
What?
What could she do now, when hundreds and probably thousands of people were already seraching for the unknown person who had saved their city?
In all likelihood, nothing.
She could still try though, or at least ease her conscious by making some effort.
When Kaname was able to move again, she walked around the bathroom area. The large whirpool bath did look appealing. It wouldn’t hurt her to soak a bit, while she brainstormed about Sousuke. There must be something she could do. If there was any fairness in life, she would come up with an answer.
Her inner voice told her that she had already spent hours trying to come up with an answer. She faced that voice down, saying that Sousuke wouldn’t abandon any search for her after just hours.
She turned on the water, set out the things she wanted, and placed a towel on one of the marble steps. She watched as the perfumed liquid she added turned into an expanding mass of scented bubbles. The sound of the water was hypnotic. She almost fell asleep. ‘Exhausted’ did not begin to describe how she felt.
Finally, the water high enough to clear the nozzles, Kaname shed her clothing and slid into the pool. The water felt good. Oichi had been right. She needed this. Turning the jets on low, she sat back and tried to come up with an answer. Her eyes kept closing of their own accord, so she turned the water stream up higher. Good. Invigorating. Invigorating would keep her awake.
What if she fell asleep and drowned, but Sousuke made it out OK? That wasn’t funny. Not in the least!
Cupping her hands in the water, she watched it drip through her fingers. Part of her felt bad, sitting there in comfortable splendor while Sousuke sat who knows where, feeling who knows what. Another part looked at the water with an accusatory glare, as if water anywhere shared blame with the heartless waters of the east River. But, it was helping her relax. She needed that. It would help her think.
Her mind was uncooperative at first. She wanted to think about Sousuke as he was in the past, going over the good times they had spent together. That could wait. She wanted to think of all of the relative small mischief and trouble they had gotten into together, realizing that things were really never as bad as they had seemed. That could wait too. She even wanted to think about the terrible times they had each faced, knowing that they had made it though each time, regardless of the danger. This was not the time for that.
Could her Whispered power serve some purpose? Could she locate Sousuke somehow, then lead rescuers to him? If that might work, she had no idea how to do it, and doubted there would be time to accomplish it. The computer had mentioned that oxygen levels were only thirty minutes from critical.
Would a call to Stacy or the Mithril agent she had contacted over Christmas do anything? Would there be any reason to think that the appropriate people were not already working tirelessly behind the scenes? Kaname Chidori was not so important that she needed to be informed of every effort made by her boyfriend’s secret organization.
Even if she could spur people to action, thirty minutes isn’t much time. Unless you are worrying about someone you love… then it becomes an eternity.
A stray thought crossed Kaname’s mind. It shook her to her very core. Could this all be some plot of Tessa’s? She remembered the conversation Sousuke described. Faking his death, Sousuke could slip away from her. Mithril could put someone else in his place, figuring she would never catch on. Tessa would have her way. Mithril would have its best pilot fulltime.
No. Why would Sousuke do that? What would he have? He was too honest. He really did care about her; she was certain of that.
There was no place for that kind of nonsense!!!
She tried every possible angle she could think of. Looking up at the clock, she was shocked to realize that she had already spent more than thirty minutes in the tub.
Thirty minutes.
She closed her eyes. Slowly, she slipped beneath the waters surface, letting the warmth sooth her as best it could. She did her best to gather all of her strength together. When she couldn’t hold her breath anymore, she sat back up again. There was still more she could reason through.
What if Sousuke did make it to shore somehow, but was to weak and injured to call her? What might he do? What would people do who discovered him in that state?
Hospitals.
Police stations.
Newspapers and TV channels.
Kaname burst out of the whirlpool bath like a porpoise at sea. She landed on both feet… slid a little… then wrapped her towel around her. Not bothering to dress, she ran out into the common room, trailing whet footprints and a steady string of water droplets behind her.
“Oichi, could you turn on the television for me?” Kaname walked purposely over to Ayame.
“Ayame, no time for moping around. I need you to find me a telephone book. Now.” She turned around and went over to where her father sat.
“Daddy, I’ll let you call the media and police stations. Your name might do some good there. We’ll want to find out if they hear anything about an injured young man being found near the waterfront. I’ll call the hospitals and smaller emergency medical facilities.” She ended her instructions with a lively ‘Hmmmpppfff.’
Shunya looked over at Oichi, who was looking back at him. Ayame looked at Kaname, her father, and Oichi.
Kaname put her hands on her hips and looked at all of them. “Well???”
Once Kaname told her sister that the book might help Sousuke, Ayame ran about the room checking all the drawers, like a squirrel hunting for its last cache.
Shunya began making phone calls, realizing that they would likely prove fruitless. That didn’t matter. His daughter needed this.
At one point, the room phone rang. For a minute, Kaname’s heart was in her throat. Could it be Sousuke somehow? She ran, her towel falling off as she vaulted over a foot stool. She didn’t care.
It wasn’t Sousuke. It was Mr. Smith. It seems that he had wanted to help as well. After he had led the reporters on a wild goose chase, he had called some friends in the fishing industry and convinced them to put on an informal search. They were doing what they could. His buddies on the police force were walking along the shores of the East River. There were already an enormous amount of manpower officially on the job, but everyone wanted to be a part of things.
No names were mentioned.
They didn’t need to be.
A hero was missing.
“Eh hemmmmm.” Her father’s noise had Kaname blushing. She decided it might be a good idea to get dressed.
After that, it would have been difficult for anyone to reach them. Kaname monopolized the room phone after her own battery finally gave out. Shunya used his cellular phone.
Ayame fell asleep on the couch, her head in Oichi’s lap. It looked as if Oichi would soon join her.
When Kaname herself woke up, she found herself o the floor, the phone by her side. The faint light of early morning was streaming through the open slats. The sound of beeping horns and diesel engines formed a steady background, punctuated by the occasional sound of a police whistle, street vendor, or bells on a horse drawn carriage.
She stretched and yawned, then sat upright quickly enough to make herself dizzy. Her father was asleep in the easy chair, snoring. His glasses were on the floor next to his cell phone. A telephone book was draped over one foot.
Ayame and Oichi were both asleep on the larger couch.
Kaname could hear noises out in the hallway. It was probably hotel staff delivering the complementary newspapers. There was a series of banging and clanking noises too. Someone was picking up the trays, plates, and utensils from room service the night before.
She stared at the telephone. She considered blaming it for her falling asleep. Nice try. Better luck next time. Rubbing her eyes, she looked over ath the clock on the wall. Whay was everyone sleeping so late? There was work to be done?
There still had been no word of Sousuke.
Looking over again at her sleeping loved ones, Kaname padded quietly over to the TV. She turned it on, volume down low. They were showing the same old footage on every channel. The battle. The damage. The explosion. The search. Everybody, his uncle, and his dog discussing what it all meant and who they thought was involved. Over and over and over again.
No one mentioned anything about a pilot being rescued. There were no pictures of a teenage boy with a scar on his face.
She picked up the phone. Sorting through a stack of papers on the desk top, she gathered together her primary list of telephone numbers. No doubt there had been shift changes by now. There would be a whole new bunch of people to talk to.
It was time to start calling again. She was not about to give up. Sousuke wpould never give up on her.
She would start with Mithril.
After that, the hospitals.
Then, the Police stations.
And so forth, and so on...
Her stomach rumbled.
Room service too.
Shunya did not mind the expense, even though he might need to keep a close eye on his finances. With the U.N. building seriously damaged, he might be looking for another job if other suitable offices and meeting rooms couldn’t be arranged for.
There were more important things than money.
They had all gone home after leaving The Cloisters. It had been a very difficult drive. It had been worse walking into the house. Kaname couldn’t go into her room. Shunya found it very difficult to venture into the kitchen. Mr. Smith simply stared out of the front window, thinking. Ayame curled up in a ball on the living room couch, crying.
No one had word of Sousuke. They were even forbidden to use his name, in order to protect Mithril and its contacts in this country. Rescue craft had combed the waters of the east River. Divers had gone down, seeing what they could in the pitch black waters. A call to Mithril HQ revealed nothing. There had been no signal yet.
Even as hard as it would have been dealing with the memories of Sousuke in that house, they would have fought their way through it.
If.
If it hadn’t have been for the endless ringing of the phone… the countless knocks on the door… the hoard of reporters peering in the windows… or the snarled traffic in the street outside their home.
Ayame’s and Shunya’s face had made it on TV. That alone would have drawn the news people like flies. But, one reporter thought that he had seen Mr. Chidori’s other daughter bandaging a mysterious young man who had played some role in the hostage rescue. That young man’s appearance was somewhat similar to the description that city goers gave of another mysterious young man, the one they claimed had gotten into the Arm Slave that saved the city.
It was a nightmare.
It was an unwanted burden at a time when they had all shouldered as much as they could.
It would have been even worth, if the various people describing the unknown youths had not been disreputable.
It had taken some work to shake the media vampires, but Mr. Smith called in some favors with his buddies still on the force, and the heavyset bodyguard pulled a very nice bait and switch maneuver. They all wore disguises going into the hotel.
“Aren’t you going to try and eat something, girls?” Oichi looked at Ayame and Kaname with great concern. Both had been silent since they had arrived at the establishment, taking no interest in the furnishings of the penthouse suite… the huge whirlpool bath and steam chamber… or the extravagant room service.
Shunya himself did little more than push his food around his plate. It was very good, even by his standards. The meat was succulent and the vegetables crisp. The potatoes had a lovely consistency. The wine had been chilled just right.
Ayame shook her head. Kaname just stared out the window.
Kaname’s phone rang.
Her head shot up.
There was an almost frantic look on her face while she ran about the series of rooms, trying to remember where she had left the phone.
Who would that be?
Could it be Sousuke? If not, it might be her friends in Tokyo, wondering if she and Ayame were alright.
The phone stopped ringing just before she picked it up. She slumped to the ground, feeling worse than before, if that was possible. There was no caller I.D. Better yet, the charge light indicated that the power was running low.
Resting her head against the cold marble of the bathroom pedestal sink, she began to cry again, even though there were no more tears to fall.
Why had she gotten her hopes up? How could it possibly be Sousuke? She had seen the underwater explosion. By now, watching the news, millions upon millions of viewers would have seen it.
But the Lambda Driver!
Might that have saved Sousuke?
Could he just be laying low, like he did after North Korea? Maybe he was embarrassed about the way the medicines had affected him!
But. Might. Could. Maybe.
The phone rang again. Kaname banged her head hard on the basin of the sink when she stood up. For a moment, she saw stars. Grimacing, she grabbed the phone.
“Hello!”
“Kaname….” The voice was quiet, coughing. It sounded weak and in pain. It was Sousuke.
“SOUSUKE!!!” Kaname had to grab onto a towel bar to keep from falling. Her knees threatened to go out on her.
It was him. He was still alive. Her prayers had been answered. She couldn’t wait to tell him all that she had been through.
Listen to her! What SHE had been through? It didn’t matter. She was close to feeling giddy.
Her shout had carried throughout the suite. “Soooo-uuusss-kaaay…..” Ayame’s voice grew louder. There was the thudding of hurried footsteps.
“Kaname… p-please listen… I…..” There was more coughing, then a long drawn out hiss of pain.
Those sounds struck like red hot needles in her ears. Where was he? What was wrong with him? If he was in bad shape, why hadn’t he gotten to a doctor or something?
“What is it Sousuke? SOUSUKE!!!” Kaname squeezed the phone until its seam was about to pop, as if she could get Sousuke to say more that way.
There was a loud thud. Ayame had been running in her socks on the marble floor. She slid headfirst into the open bathroom door. She looked up at her sister, just as eager to find out anything about her hero.
Shunya and Oichi followed and helped pick up Ayame. Each of them had an intense look on their faces as well.
“I… I just r-regained…consciousness…. hurt… so much.” His voice faded out for a moment. Was that his last breath? Or, had her battery gone out? “Oxygen levels reduced… too much smoke… wanted to say…”
She wanted to scream. She felt the need to to shout at the top of her lungs ‘No More!!!’
Kaname ran over to the hotel phone. She needed to give Sousuke that number in case her battery gave out.
“Did you get that number, Sousuke? SOUSUKE! Are you still there???” This was agonizing. Sousuke was in pain, and she couldn’t do anything. It sounded like he was in serious trouble, too. What could she do? Who should she call?”
She dropped the phone, her fingers having gone numb. As it bounced across the floor, she got down on her hands and knees, not caring how it looked. She didn’t need this. There was no way she wanted to miss a single word.
“Love you… Kaname…. made my life good… n-never was before….” More coughing. Another hiss of pain. Another voice came over the phone as well.
“Power level adequate. Joint structure intact. GPS link non-operational. No ability to judge distance or direction. Locator beacon destroyed. Oxygen level thirty minutes from critical. Venting of gases hampered by blockage.” Arbalest’s artificial intelligence. ‘Al,’ Sousuke had called it.
Kaname bit her lip. She banged one fist against the side of her leg. She wanted to shout ‘Shut up… shut up… shut up….’ Sousuke. She wanted to hear Sosuske.
“Sousuke, you’ll be OK. You can’t abandon me. You will not abandon me, soldier. It’s your job!!!” Kaname was banging her fist against the mirror in the bathroom. A number of the support hooks were turning, making the glass panel wobble and shift. The prints from her skin smeared the surface. “Sousuke. I love you. Please don’t leave me.”
She knew she sounded frazzled. What did it matter. All that mattered was Sousuke.
“Thank you… Kaname… gave me… hope… happy…m-m-meaning. Wish…was better for…you….” Kaname strained to hear his words, trying to block out additional warnings called out by the disembodied voice competing with his.
What? That big idiot was apologizing for the things he had done long ago? If he made it out of their alive, she was going to tell him a thing or two!
If he made it out of there alive.
If.
“No Sousuke, you couldn’t have made me happier. Please, hold on. I’ll think of something. Someone should be able to trace your signal. They can get you out, Sousuke. Please hold on.” The mirror fell off the wall. Shunya caught it. Ayame wrapped her arms around her sister.
He had to believe her. He just had to. His presence in her life had brought her things she never would have found anywhere else.
“Nega…tive. No… no trace… keep identity secret… Mith…ril… impor… t-tant…” A frightening wheezing noise, then more coughs.
Wheezing is not good. Coughing is not good. What was he doing? Why wasn’t he trying to get to shore? Didn’t that damn machine work? Was he too weak? Had he lost too much blood? Why hadn’t she fixed that wound better!
“No soldier! you are important. You saved eight million people. Mithril saved them too. They’ve done ENOUGH! Now, someone can save YOU. It’s your turn, mister. Do you hear me.” Kaname was shouting, without realizing that she was.
“No… secret impor… tant. Mithril… need secret… search…” The coughing was horrendous. Kaname closed her eyes, wishing she could will Sousuke her strenght and health. “Find… group behind… attack…stop… more…” he was saying that Mithril’s relative secrecy allowed it to carry out tasks it couldn’t do otherwise. The things that Mithril offered a troubled world were invaluable, certainly worth more than any one man, no matter how big a hero.
Idiot! Jerk! Moron! Stupid head. Otaku fool! He mattered. It was time he looked after himself.
“Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong!!! Do you hear me, Sergeant. I ORDER you to return, right now. Do you hear me. RIGHT NOW!!! Stop talking, and get to work. I will not give you a choice.”
“Tell Ayame… glad safe…tell f-father…thank… you… cooking.” There was a pause. “Tell Oi… chi… good to m-meet… her…Tell Tessa… f-forgive….” That was NOT a name Kaname wanted to hear then. “Tell…Kali… nin, like father… tell Mardukas, I tried… m-my… best. Tell Kurz… Melissa… love them…”
No! Not THIS kind of talk. That always happened in movies and books just before a dramatic death. Sousuke was not going to die. He could NOT be killed. He just could not. There didn’t have to be any logic behind that thought. It was what she wanted.
“YOU can tell them, Sousuke. When you get better. You always get better, Sousuke. You know that. Don’t give up. Come back to me!” Kaname actually stamped her foot, causing Ayame to jump.
“Save oxygen… no further… talk. Love y-you… only… y-y-you.” The connection ended.
Kaname stood very still, staring at her phone.
“Damn him,” she said quietly, looking at nothing in particular. “Damn him!” She spoke louder, clamping her eyes shut. “DAMN HIM!!! DAMN HIM DAMN HIM DAMN HIM DAMN HIM!!!”
What was she supposed to do? Have hope? Start to grieve?
What???
If she called Mithril, would they be able to do something they weren’t already doing?
Why hadn’t he saved his breath to call them, or one of the regional agents that might have been able to help in some way? The big idiot. The moron! Jerk. Stupid head!
She knew why. He had wanted to hear her voice again. There were things he had wanted to say.
It wasn’t fair. Why had she ever met him? Why had she fallen in love? What was the point of it all, if God was just going to take something else away from her?
How was anything supposed to matter after this?
“Kaname.” It was her father. She ignored him. He had treated Sousuke poorly before. She would never forgive him for that. Sousuke had fought for everybody, including her father. What had he done? He had judged Sousuke before he even met him. He had thrown him out of the house. He had…. He had….
He had given him a second chance.
He had tried.
What would it have mattered anyway?
Kaname tried to catch her breath. The world felt like it was spinning around her. She almost tripped over Ayame. Why was she clinging like that. Was she trying to make Kaname fall? She had to learn to let go sooner or later. ‘I am not her mother.’
It’s OK.
She’s hurt too.
Sousuke had come to mean a lot to her.
“Would you like a warm bath? I can draw one up for you?” It was Oichi.
“NO! No, I just want to be left alone. Everybody leave me alone…” Part of Kaname regretted those words, but she didn’t care.
It didn’t matter how kind and thoughtful Oichi was.
She didn’t care that she wanted to help.
Was it too much to ask for, just to be left alone?
“OK. Come on everybody. We could all use some time to ourselves.” Oichi put a hand behind Ayame’s back and pushed her gently out of the room. The look that Ayame turned on Kaname was pitiful. Her lower lip was quivering.
“Yes, dear. But we shouldn’t leave her alone. Maybe you could….” Shunya was very worried about what Kaname might do in her despondent state.
“No. Kaname’s tougher than that. She still has someone to be strong for, as far as we know. I think she just needs time alone.” Oichi backed Shunya out of the room just behind Ayame.
“If you want to talk, I’ll always be there to listen, dear.” Oichi spoke those words to Kaname before heading out herself.
Kaname pounded the floor with her fists. She wanted to go to where Sousuke was, but she couldn't even arrange for a helicopter, catch it, and make her way to the scene before time ran out.
No!
She was Kaname Chidori.
There had to be something she could do. She had done something in Khanka. She had done something when that monstrous red Arm Slave was crashing through Tokyo.
What?
What could she do now, when hundreds and probably thousands of people were already seraching for the unknown person who had saved their city?
In all likelihood, nothing.
She could still try though, or at least ease her conscious by making some effort.
When Kaname was able to move again, she walked around the bathroom area. The large whirpool bath did look appealing. It wouldn’t hurt her to soak a bit, while she brainstormed about Sousuke. There must be something she could do. If there was any fairness in life, she would come up with an answer.
Her inner voice told her that she had already spent hours trying to come up with an answer. She faced that voice down, saying that Sousuke wouldn’t abandon any search for her after just hours.
She turned on the water, set out the things she wanted, and placed a towel on one of the marble steps. She watched as the perfumed liquid she added turned into an expanding mass of scented bubbles. The sound of the water was hypnotic. She almost fell asleep. ‘Exhausted’ did not begin to describe how she felt.
Finally, the water high enough to clear the nozzles, Kaname shed her clothing and slid into the pool. The water felt good. Oichi had been right. She needed this. Turning the jets on low, she sat back and tried to come up with an answer. Her eyes kept closing of their own accord, so she turned the water stream up higher. Good. Invigorating. Invigorating would keep her awake.
What if she fell asleep and drowned, but Sousuke made it out OK? That wasn’t funny. Not in the least!
Cupping her hands in the water, she watched it drip through her fingers. Part of her felt bad, sitting there in comfortable splendor while Sousuke sat who knows where, feeling who knows what. Another part looked at the water with an accusatory glare, as if water anywhere shared blame with the heartless waters of the east River. But, it was helping her relax. She needed that. It would help her think.
Her mind was uncooperative at first. She wanted to think about Sousuke as he was in the past, going over the good times they had spent together. That could wait. She wanted to think of all of the relative small mischief and trouble they had gotten into together, realizing that things were really never as bad as they had seemed. That could wait too. She even wanted to think about the terrible times they had each faced, knowing that they had made it though each time, regardless of the danger. This was not the time for that.
Could her Whispered power serve some purpose? Could she locate Sousuke somehow, then lead rescuers to him? If that might work, she had no idea how to do it, and doubted there would be time to accomplish it. The computer had mentioned that oxygen levels were only thirty minutes from critical.
Would a call to Stacy or the Mithril agent she had contacted over Christmas do anything? Would there be any reason to think that the appropriate people were not already working tirelessly behind the scenes? Kaname Chidori was not so important that she needed to be informed of every effort made by her boyfriend’s secret organization.
Even if she could spur people to action, thirty minutes isn’t much time. Unless you are worrying about someone you love… then it becomes an eternity.
A stray thought crossed Kaname’s mind. It shook her to her very core. Could this all be some plot of Tessa’s? She remembered the conversation Sousuke described. Faking his death, Sousuke could slip away from her. Mithril could put someone else in his place, figuring she would never catch on. Tessa would have her way. Mithril would have its best pilot fulltime.
No. Why would Sousuke do that? What would he have? He was too honest. He really did care about her; she was certain of that.
There was no place for that kind of nonsense!!!
She tried every possible angle she could think of. Looking up at the clock, she was shocked to realize that she had already spent more than thirty minutes in the tub.
Thirty minutes.
She closed her eyes. Slowly, she slipped beneath the waters surface, letting the warmth sooth her as best it could. She did her best to gather all of her strength together. When she couldn’t hold her breath anymore, she sat back up again. There was still more she could reason through.
What if Sousuke did make it to shore somehow, but was to weak and injured to call her? What might he do? What would people do who discovered him in that state?
Hospitals.
Police stations.
Newspapers and TV channels.
Kaname burst out of the whirlpool bath like a porpoise at sea. She landed on both feet… slid a little… then wrapped her towel around her. Not bothering to dress, she ran out into the common room, trailing whet footprints and a steady string of water droplets behind her.
“Oichi, could you turn on the television for me?” Kaname walked purposely over to Ayame.
“Ayame, no time for moping around. I need you to find me a telephone book. Now.” She turned around and went over to where her father sat.
“Daddy, I’ll let you call the media and police stations. Your name might do some good there. We’ll want to find out if they hear anything about an injured young man being found near the waterfront. I’ll call the hospitals and smaller emergency medical facilities.” She ended her instructions with a lively ‘Hmmmpppfff.’
Shunya looked over at Oichi, who was looking back at him. Ayame looked at Kaname, her father, and Oichi.
Kaname put her hands on her hips and looked at all of them. “Well???”
Once Kaname told her sister that the book might help Sousuke, Ayame ran about the room checking all the drawers, like a squirrel hunting for its last cache.
Shunya began making phone calls, realizing that they would likely prove fruitless. That didn’t matter. His daughter needed this.
At one point, the room phone rang. For a minute, Kaname’s heart was in her throat. Could it be Sousuke somehow? She ran, her towel falling off as she vaulted over a foot stool. She didn’t care.
It wasn’t Sousuke. It was Mr. Smith. It seems that he had wanted to help as well. After he had led the reporters on a wild goose chase, he had called some friends in the fishing industry and convinced them to put on an informal search. They were doing what they could. His buddies on the police force were walking along the shores of the East River. There were already an enormous amount of manpower officially on the job, but everyone wanted to be a part of things.
No names were mentioned.
They didn’t need to be.
A hero was missing.
“Eh hemmmmm.” Her father’s noise had Kaname blushing. She decided it might be a good idea to get dressed.
After that, it would have been difficult for anyone to reach them. Kaname monopolized the room phone after her own battery finally gave out. Shunya used his cellular phone.
Ayame fell asleep on the couch, her head in Oichi’s lap. It looked as if Oichi would soon join her.
When Kaname herself woke up, she found herself o the floor, the phone by her side. The faint light of early morning was streaming through the open slats. The sound of beeping horns and diesel engines formed a steady background, punctuated by the occasional sound of a police whistle, street vendor, or bells on a horse drawn carriage.
She stretched and yawned, then sat upright quickly enough to make herself dizzy. Her father was asleep in the easy chair, snoring. His glasses were on the floor next to his cell phone. A telephone book was draped over one foot.
Ayame and Oichi were both asleep on the larger couch.
Kaname could hear noises out in the hallway. It was probably hotel staff delivering the complementary newspapers. There was a series of banging and clanking noises too. Someone was picking up the trays, plates, and utensils from room service the night before.
She stared at the telephone. She considered blaming it for her falling asleep. Nice try. Better luck next time. Rubbing her eyes, she looked over ath the clock on the wall. Whay was everyone sleeping so late? There was work to be done?
There still had been no word of Sousuke.
Looking over again at her sleeping loved ones, Kaname padded quietly over to the TV. She turned it on, volume down low. They were showing the same old footage on every channel. The battle. The damage. The explosion. The search. Everybody, his uncle, and his dog discussing what it all meant and who they thought was involved. Over and over and over again.
No one mentioned anything about a pilot being rescued. There were no pictures of a teenage boy with a scar on his face.
She picked up the phone. Sorting through a stack of papers on the desk top, she gathered together her primary list of telephone numbers. No doubt there had been shift changes by now. There would be a whole new bunch of people to talk to.
It was time to start calling again. She was not about to give up. Sousuke wpould never give up on her.
She would start with Mithril.
After that, the hospitals.
Then, the Police stations.
And so forth, and so on...
Her stomach rumbled.
Room service too.
Wow, dd, you write fast. real fast.