Here we go, my second entry in the "Full Metal Panic!" section. My first was a one shot, but this will be a continuous story, with many characters this time around. It's really just an idea I came up with at the top of my head this morning, and while I've been planning out the story in my head all day, I really have no idea where I want to take this. It just seems like it will be really fun to see be played out. So, here we go.

-Kouji Tamino

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Camp Gung-Ho

Scene 1: Welcoming

Another day began for a girl named Kaname Chidori. She was a fairly average girl, who went to a fairly average school, with fairly average friends in a fairly average life. What was it that made her not completely average? We'll get to that later. Awakening with a yawn as her alarm clock squawked and blared cries of "Get up, Kaname! You'll be late for school!" she turned it off and stumbled out of bed, falling to the floor and groaning lazily. Squirming along like in inchworm, she made her way to her restroom, way her way back up to her feet and undressed for her daily shower.

About 46 minutes later, Kaname was dressed and heading over to the living quarters of one of her fairly-- Actually no, average does not describe the person in question. When she arrived at his apartment, knocking on the door, she was shocked when it suddenly swung open. For some as obsessed with security as this guy was, she was quite surprised. Feeling a little daring, she wandered into the apartment and made her way to his room. The dark haired girl began to worry, wondering if perhaps something had happened to her rather eccentric classmate.

Entering his room, she sighed in a mixture exasperation and relief, observing as he listened in on the next-door neighbors by using some of his equipment. Grimacing slightly, she walked over to where he was sitting, kneeling down to reach his sitting level. "What are you doing?" She asked, slightly reluctant to find out, yet morbidly curious.

Turning to face her, not so average high school student Sousuke Sagara gave a slight grin. "Oh, hello Chidori. As you can see, I am listening in on the next-door neighbors at the moment. They just moved in and I have reason to believe that they are Russian Communists posing as a newly wed couple. They think they have me fooled, but they are quite wrong. I am on to them and as soon as I find some incriminating evidence that they are planning a full-scale nuclear attack, I will promptly--" Just then, he heard some rather… interesting noises coming from the other room. Quickly taking off the headphones in shock, he tossed them to the floor, his body stiffening.

Raising an eyebrow suspiciously, Kaname picked up the headphones before glancing at the obviously shaken boy. "What's wrong with you Sousuke?" She asked, frowning. Staring at him for a moment, she snorted and burst out into her infamous laugh. "Oh man, you can be so dumb sometimes? Why in the hell would Russian terrorists be here of all places?" Putting the headphones on, she listened in, her eyes widening and jaw dropping as she listened in on the unmistakable sounds of a couple having a morning quickie… Gritting her teeth in rage, she yanked the headphones off, crushing them with one hand before glaring daggers at her classmate and bodyguard. "Sousuke, you pervert!"

"M-Ms. Chidori!" Sagara stuttered, head slowly turning as a fearful expression spread across his face. "You seem to be misunderstanding the situation! This isn't what it looks li--" It was too late, as he unfortunately found out. With a speed that rivaled that of light, she whipped out her trusty harisen and struck down the teenage mercenary.

That's right, mercenary. You see, Sousuke Sagara is a Sergeant at an organization known as Mithril. One of his many missions involves protecting Kaname, who is a 'Whispered'. However, Sousuke's determination to protect her these days seems to stem from something other than duty…

Either way, Kaname continued to pummel him, stomping on his body after having knocked him from his seat with the harisen shot. "I can't believe you!" she shouted, her embarrassment and rage after having heard such lewd sounds in the presence of a boy driving her on, picking him up and shaking the poor boy. "You've done some pretty outrageous things in the time I've known you, but this has to be the most disgusting stunt you've ever pulled!" Sighing and managing to calm herself down, she set the Sergeant down before helping him to his feet. "Well whatever, let's just get to school…" she commanded, a tinge of disgust still in her voice. "We're going to be late, no thanks to your perverted antics."

Regaining his composure, the always serious Sagara stood at attention, staring straight at his female classmate and friend as if she was a Drill Sgt. "Yes, ma'am!" he shouted, body rigid and standing tall. "I apologize for holding us up!" He was worried. They hadn't even made it to school yet and he had already done something to make her extremely furious at him for some reason. Turning off all of his equipment, he quickly followed Chidori out of the apartment, locking the door as they left.

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Later at school, during lunch, Kaname made an important announcement. "I think I might become a camp counselor this summer." She said casually, going about eating her lunch. Apparently, she didn't find it to be a very big deal. Her friends, however, did, and they made it quite known.

"WHAT?" They all asked loudly, except for Sousuke of course. "But why, Kaname?" her best friend Kyoko asked, a disappointed look on her face. "I thought we were all going to spend summer vacation together, just like we always do!" The thought of not having fun with her best friend over the summer made the usually cheerful girl feel slightly sullen.

"Aww, come on, Kyoko…" Kaname began, trying to cheer her friend up. "It's not like I'll miss the whole summer. I'm only working for the first week!" she exclaimed, smiling. "Then, with paycheck in hand, we can do all sorts of fun stuff with the time we'll have left!"

Still pouting slightly, Kyoko sighed in acceptance. "Well, okay…"

"If that's the case, then I will accompany you, Ms. Chidori." Sousuke declared, standing up from his seat. "Being so far away from home in a relatively unknown area will make you much more vulnerable to the enemy." A stern expression on his face, he continued. "I suggest a full inspection of the cabins and mess hall, along with a complete strip search of the camp attend--"

"No!" Kaname screamed, cutting his suggestions off. "Sousuke, you can't follow me to my summer job, damn it!" It would seem that Sgt. Sagara was dead set on following her at every point in her life from the day he was assigned to protect her. He even made several unwanted trips into the girl's locker room.

"Why not?" the somewhat scruffy looking young man asked, sincerely curious as to why Kaname was always so reluctant to accept his protection.

"WHY NOT?" the aqua haired girl screeched, gritting her teeth, completely oblivious to the fear that she was invoking in her classmates. "Every time you try to do something, you end up blowing stuff up or nearly killing someone! How in the hell am I going to explain to parents exactly why their child has been maimed?" Whimpering, she continued her rant. "Please Sousuke, I'd really like this job to turn out well for me. Whatever you do, don't follow me to the camp!"

Sousuke stood there for a moment, obviously caught up in deep thought. On one hand, he didn't want to make Kaname angry again for the umpteenth time. He should respect her wishes and not follow her. On the other hand, Kaname was constantly in danger because of her special gift, whether she was willing to accept it or not. He had an obligation as her bodyguard, no her, friend, to protect her. Taking a deep sigh, he made his choice audibly. "Understood. I will not follow you to the camp, Ms. Chidori." he replied, emphasizing the 'follow'.

Evidently, she did not notice this, because she smiled gently at the boy. "Thank you, Sousuke." Finally, at least a week of normalcy! No explosions, or guns being point at innocent civilians, or whacko conspiracy theories! Just watching over children and teaching them new skills… Like basket weaving, for example! Yes, something nice and peaceful! It was going to be so wonderful…

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Finally, 1st semester ended and she was picked up by a shuttle from her apartment. As the vehicle came to a stop, Kaname slowly trudged her way out, yawning and stretching, her eyes squinted due to the strong sunlight. Smiling, she breathed in the fresh air. She was now miles away from the city, miles away from all the hustle and bustle, and most of all, miles away from a certain military maniac. "At last, freedom!" the girl shouted joyfully, pumping a fist into the air.

"Ah! Ms. Chidori!" An older man in about his late 20's approached her. His light blue t-shirt said 'Camp Kaze' and he wore olive shorts and a white pair of tennis shoes. His shoulder length jet-black hair, tied into a ponytail, was short and spiky in the front. Glancing at the girl with his chocolate brown eyes, he smiled warmly. "Welcome! It's so nice to meet you in person. Photos do not do you justice. My name is Haru Hanada, the head-counselor."

Raising an eyebrow, Kaname was not very responsive to his attempt at flirtation. She hoped that such comments would not be a habit. "Um, okay… Nice to meet you, Haru." She extended her arm for a handshake. "I hope to be of good use to you and the rest of the camp staff."

Accepting the handshake, he nodded. "I believe that you will. Follow me, I'll introduce you to the others." Turning around, he walked through the entrance to the campgrounds, Chidori following him.

The girl glanced around at the campgrounds, which were very beautiful but oddly eerie and lacking in life due to the fact that none of the campers had arrived yet. Today was Sunday and the children would not arrive until noon tomorrow. Kaname was set to leave about a week from then. As they walked, Haru would name off places such as the Mess Hall, the lake, and the arts and crafts cabin. They soon stopped in front of a small brick building. "What's this place?" she asked, wondering why it had such a different look from all of the other buildings on the grounds.

"Oh, this?" He replied, with a small chuckle. "This is the counselor's lounge, where we go when we currently aren't doing anything." Opening the door, he beckoned her in. "Come on in, the others are dying to meet you!"

As she peeked in, she took in the sight of her new co-workers for the next week or so. The sounds of beeps and boops attracted her attention to a rather mousy looking young man playing an ancient video game on an equally pre-historic looking system. She became mesmerized for a moment by the simples shapes sliding across the screen. Snapping back to reality, she got a good look at the person currently playing. He had messy and short dark brown hair, big square glasses, the camp T-shirt, dark blue shorts, and gray sneakers. He was probably about 10, no, 100 times more entranced in that came than Kaname had been for a few seconds, and for different reasons. He did not take notice of Kaname, nor did he pay attention to the others around him as a matter of fact, not even to the rather busty girl with long bleached hair and green eyes. She wore the light blue 'Camp Kaze' t-shirt, just like everyone else, but she preferred a matching mini-skirt. She wasn't sure if that would fly on Parent's Day, but hey, if it was okay with everyone else…

Glancing over to a pool table, she caught sight of two people, playing a game. One was a dark haired woman in white jeans and matching sandals. Her piercing ice blue eyes were glaring daggers at a rather persistent red headed man, decked out in black slacks and leather shoes who was attempting to make a bet: If he won, she would go out on a date with him. She replied by taking the cigarette in her mouth out and flicking the ash into one of his eyes. She watched in a sadistic satisfaction as he fell to his knees, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Kaname's jaw dropped as she realized what kind of nut-jobs she would be working with for the next 8 days. She hadn't escaped from the madness, she had jump straight into a new mess of weirdoes! Trying to keep her cool, she very slowly raised her hand and waved. "Um, hello there!" she shouted awkwardly in greeting. "My name is Kaname Chidori, the new student counselor!" She sighed as she received weak, halfhearted greetings, the others obviously too caught up in their own business to really notice her. And, of course, the one of them was still writhing in pain on the floor. "Anyway, I think I'll go change into the outfit I'm going to be wearing while I'm here."

As she entered the lounge restroom, which was in a separate but attached building in the back, she groaned audibly, rubbing her temples. "Why did I think this was going to be a good idea?" Stripping her clothes off, she sighed. "Maybe things will improve once the kids get here. They all seemed pretty bored, maybe they were just in the moment?"

A few moments later, she emerged from the restroom, gasping in shock as she saw someone waiting for her. It was the guy who had gotten ashes in his eye earlier. "Hey, you scared me." She replied, calming down. She noticed that his eye was still a little blood shot, suppressing a laugh.

"Sorry", he said, apologetically. "And sorry about not greeting you earlier, I was a little… pre-occupied. My name's Keisuke Yamada." A twinkle in his light brown eyes, he walked towards her. "Hey, how'd you like to go on a walk, get to know each other better?" Chuckling, he waved his hands. "I promise I won't try anything funny, I'd just like to learn more about a fellow co-worker."

Thinking for a moment, Kaname didn't get a chance to reply. Within seconds a figure leapt from the trees and trapped the poor man in a headlock pointing a pistol straight towards his back. The mysterious figure was in forest camouflage clothing and face paint, dark eyes intense. "Make any sudden moves, and you may regret it", the figure threatened in a familiar voice, a small 'x' shaped scar on his lower cheek. "Ms. Chidori, are you all right?" With speed that rivaled his attack on Keisuke, Kaname kicked Sousuke in the face violently, making him lose his grip on his victim and go rolling backwards into a tree. "That… was unpleasant." He replied, staggering back to his feet. As the girl walked towards him, stepping over a now passed out Keisuke, he stared at her, his expression never changing. "Why did you do that, Ms. Chidori?"

"How dare you ask me that!" she shouted, enraged. "I told you not to come here!"

"Correction", he said in retaliation. "You told me not to follow you here. I made it here through my own methods, mainly through interrogating people for the locati-" Sousuke soon found himself brought down by the harisen once again. "…Ow."

Putting the deadly giant paper fan way, she fell to her knees, crying out. "Why does this always happen to me?" It was going to be a long week, she could tell.

To Be Continued…