1300ZAPR15
Tuatha de Daanan 2 days out of base, en route to patrol the South
China Seas. Ship performing optimally after a thorough refit at Mithril
Pacific Base, but I fear many crewmembers are more tense than
usual. Intelligence has not come across anything significant in the
last several months that warrants a higher alert level, but Kalinin-san
and our own prior experiences have taught me, "Expect the
Unexpected."
//
Tessa sighed as she regarded the entry...again. Smart as she was,
there was only a limited number of ways you could say "All's Not
Well" before you started to repeat yourself. "The never-ending task
of a CO, paper-work." She thought to herself as she took off her
spectacles and loosened her tie. And there was another matter vying
for her attention, one she didn't particularly care to think about, much
as she denied it to others, and more importantly, herself.
A knock at the door snapped her out of that train of thought. Before she
could answer, the door swung open, and a tall figure burst her way in and
promptly made herself at home.
"Mao-san," Tessa forced out as evenly as she could. "This is a major
breach of protocol, not to mention poor manners..."
"On my part," Mao finished on cue. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Now that you've
recited your position paper, can we talk?"
"No, I have a lot of work to catch up on, not to mention this round of
quarterly evals I'm three weeks behind on."
"Don't worry," Mao said smoothly, "this is strictly business," promptly
putting up her legs on Tessa's desk and cracking open a can of Heinekin.
Tessa immediately flushed.
"Relax, will you, Captain? Here's the papers you've been asking for,"
passing over a clipboard, "and I've finished writing up that form, it just
needs your signature, okay?"
"You certainly took your sweet time on it, Mao." Tessa gritted, quickly
scanning over the papers. "I see your squad's training time is down again
this month, and your simulated combat rating is still off."
"Uh huh," Mao mumbled as she stared off into space, watching Tessa go
into another of her 'epsiodes' again.
"And // //STILL isn't fixed. I thought you said you were going to
look into that yourself!"
"I forgot," Mao said absently.
"That ISN'T accpetable, Mao! This is the SLOPPIEST piece of work I've
ever seen! You call this FINISHED?!"
"Yeah, yeah" hiding a malicious grin behind a final sip of her beer.
Gotcha, girlfriend! "So, about Souske..."
"Major Kalinin has approved the request, and I've.....WHAT?!" Tessa
immediately exploded, realizing the trap, but she wasn't about to let
Melissa get the better of her. She immediately finished signing the forms,
handing them back to Mao, the buried herself at the terminal. As soon as
she heard the door close, she collapsed, stifling the sobs as the tears ran
down her cheeks.
"She did it again. Oh, God...." she whispered.
* * *
Out in the hall, Melissa Mao walked with a pace of confidence and victory.
"She fell for it. God, is the girl so predictable."
"Yeah, of course she is, but you knew that, didn't you."
"So what, she needed it. And sooner or later, she's going to have to admit
it."
"So you set her up and humiliate her at the same time?" And for that she
simply didn't answer.
"Hey, Sis!" Kurtz suddenly popped up from nowhere.
"Kurtz, so help me!" Mao said, getting up close to the bane of her
existence, well, maybe the second bane. No, not this time, she thought
to herself and resumed her walking.
Kurtz ran up to catch up. "Oy, what's gotten to you today." Mao ignored
him, pressing on. "No way, I'm not going to let him spoil this for me."
"Ahhh, I see." Kurtz mused, catching on to it all. "You saw the Captain.
So what did you do to her this time? I swear, cut her alittle slack will
you?"
Mao immediately stopped in her tracks, and turned to face Kurtz. "First of
all, all we talked about was business. Second of all, what kind of
business is NOT your business," biting off that word so the clueless baka
in front of her would get it, not that he would.
"Awww, come on. You can tell your little brother what you two talked
about" Kurtz whined, trying to sound cute. Who it wasn't cute to was
Mao. No Mercy, she immediately thought. Then put herself into the
proper frame of mind.
"Well, what we talked about were things of.... mutual interest." Mao
started, making her voice sound soft and vulnerable.
"Uh-huh, uh-huh"
"She asked why I've been so bitchy lately..."
"So true, so true" agreed Kurtz, nodding his head.
"...and she suggested what I really needed was love..."
"Oh, I so hear you!" Kurtz half-screamed. "Let the world know your pain!"
"...and that this is the last chance I would get to get with the man who can
give me that love..."
"Oh, you finally understand me, Sis!" Kurtz cried, flying towards Mao with
open arms....
....and Mao had Kurtz where she had wanted him for the last two years, in
one of her world-famous headlocks, gasping for air. "Hey, what gives...
Hey, come on Sis." Kurtz pleaded.
"Kurtz-honey, do you remember what I told you would happen if you
EVER tried that cutesy stuff on me?"
"Uhhh...ergh...I...I..." was all Kurtz could manage, feeling his world get
very dark indeed. The word around Mithril was that if Mao ever got you in
one of her headlocks, pray for death to be swift indeed.
"Good, so we understand each other finally" Mao said, dragging Kurtz off
to their quarters.
"Nnnnooo...hey, it was a joke, come on Sis. Just this once...No...NNNnnnnnooooo!!" Kurtz pleas rang through the metal hull of
the ship as the Daanan serenely continuing her course, unaware of an
unknown and unwanted shadow following her.
* * *
It was the mornings. Always the mornings that got the best of her.
Chidori groaned as she got out of bed and shuffled to her bathroom. "A
hot shower is what I need, and a LOT of coffee." She sighed as the hot
water brushed against her skin, warming her up, giving her energy to deal
with the day...
...and of late, there wasn't much to deal with, relatively speaking. Not
including high school exams, college selection exams, fending off the
unwanted attentions of high school suitors and the occasional old man
copping a feel on the trains...nothing at all. In fact, downright boring. She
barely remembered the tirme before, when all of THAT was an interesting
day, and how one day a boy had burst into her life and turned it all upside
down. From dodging bullets and explosions one day, to skydiving out of a
plane another. To talk of the much sought-after 'Whispered,' and how
Chidori was one of the 'Whispered.'
Sagara Souske, Mithril, Whispered....These three words constantly vied
for her attention daily. Almost a year to the day since that nightmare had
started, and Chidori was still looking for the words to describe it. Where
did one even begin?
And Sagara himself. Her...her...What could she call him anyway? Even
the merest hint of the word 'Seargent' brought to mind the image of his first
introduction to the class, at attention, legs spread shoulder-width and
arms around his back, a 'damned tin soldier act,' remembering the slang
she picked up in New York.
Walking out of the shower to her kitchen, she has a sudden moment of
apprehension, remembering how last time Sgt. Major Mao, and Sgts.
Sagara and Kurtz were monitoring her every move, in her own appartment.
Sagara had even shown her a few transcripts of her phone conversations,
nothing private, but still it shook her to her core that SOMEONE had been
WATCHING her, all without her knowledge or permission.
Flipping the switch on her coffee maker, her thoughts drifted back to
Souske.
"When I'm with you, it feels like I can do anything."
Her cheeks immediately flushed. "Why now," she asked herself as she
got herself some breakfast. Souske had pretty much admitted he liked
her, in a wierd way. Could she even think of it as 'like'?
Then there was his infrequent communications. She did appreciate him
keeping his promise to write, but....
"09/03/2001. Am in [CLASSIFIED] on [CLASSIFIED], but you know
[CLASSIFIED]. I hope you are well yourself. Please [CLASSIFIED]
[CLASSIFIED] and [CLASSIFIED]. Pass my regards to Shinji on his
award. -- Souske"
"12/25/2001. Merry Christmas, Chidori. Am [CLASSIFIED] [CLASSIFIED]
[CLASSIFIED]. I hope you got my gift in the mail. Mao, Kurtz and Tessa
wish you a happy holiday. -- Souske"
"02/15/2002. [CLASSIFIED] [CLASSIFIED] [CLASSIFIED] in
[CLASSIFIED]. Being [CLASSIFIED] will [CLASSIFIED]. -- Souske"
And his most recent communique she could've read in one breath... the
entire thing was stamped [CLASSIFIED]. Since WHEN was a harmless
personal message deemed so classified that the recipent couldn't even
read it?
She hmpf-ed to herself as she checked herself one last time in the mirror.
"Another day...," she thought to herself, "Another day... Souske..."
"Chidori."
"Souske."
"Chidori."
"Souske, you're so close to me, I can hear your voice..."
The next thing she knew, she slammed face first into a body, which
caught her about the waist, and... there.
"Chidori, are you alright?" the familiar voice said. "No way, I'm in a dream,
this can't be real..." she thought to herself, afraid to look up, but she had
to, and standing there, that same stupid face, that same stupid look, but
those same soft eyes looking straight at her. "Souske, you're... you're..."
Suddenly, she realized where his hand was. "Saa-Gaa-Raa! You
damned...!" Her hand moved on it's own accord balling into a fist, her arm
winding up for a right-hook to his cheek. Sagara fell backwards from the
force of the punch, collapsing into a heap along with his duffel bag on the
opposite wall. Residents would've sworn the whole building shook from the
force of the blow.
"...PERVERT!!" she screamed, before sanity came back to her, and she
realized it WAS Sagara there, dusting himself off as if nothing had
happened. "Chidori, it's a pleasure to see you again," Sagara said, as if
nothing had just happened.
"Sagara!" She rushed over to see how he was, unsure of why she had just
punched out a friend like that. "Are you all right, I didn't hurt you too bad,
did I?" Then she noticed him gingerly touching his cheek. "I'm sorry, I'm
sorry. I'm so sorry," she said over and over, bowing her head, hoping he'd
forgive her.
"I'm fine, Chidori. Please, you don't have to..."
"Are you all right? You aren't bleeding are you?" Without a second
thought, she grabbed Souske by the arm and rushed him into her
apartment, running some cold water for a compress. "I'm sorry, I just
didn't realize..."
"I'm fine, Chidori. Please..."
"No, I want you to understand, I... Wait a minute, what ARE you doing
here anyways?"
"I came to see you. I did mention I was getting some time off in my last
letter to you, didn't I?"
"Souske..." she barely whispered, her breath caught in her throat. She
couldn't help herself, flinging her arms around Souske and holding him in a
tight hug, never wanting to let go. Souske just froze, totally unsure of what
was with her or what was going on; one minute she was ready to kill him,
the next she was draped all over him, hugging him for all she was worth.
Returning her embrace, he caught a glimpse of her smile, the one he
remembered from before. He barely noticed the sound his duffel bag made
as it hit the floor.
"Seargent."
"Yes."
"Watch where you put that hand, if you want to be using it."
"Yes Madam!"
* * *
---
So what to call this? I don't know yet, I just let my creative juices
go for once, and this came out
Anyways, it's supposed to beset about 1 year after the start of the 1st FMP anime. Events, etc.
from the anime are taken to be canon, as I haven't read the novels,
nor do I have access to them... I'll TRY not to violate anything too
blatantly.
Right now, getting back into creative writing -- which I haven't done
in a LONG time, and I'm still getting a feel for writing for the chars,
their state of minds, etc. so please cut me alittle slack on that...
Preview: partway into writing #2. Want to write a backstory about
Kalinin, Mardukas, and ppl like Senia, et al. if anyone has ideas on
that. Like to include Chidori's sister & father in New York, and
Souske's first intro to them
Also want some 'I don't understand the activites of civilians' scenes with Souske too.
Regards
though with the way #2 is turning out,
I'd LIKE to get at least
