"Wow! You must really be in a good mood, Kaname!" Kyouko was walking through the hall with a group of friends.

"No. Not a 'good' mood."

Kaname tossed her hair and smiled knowingly.

"Come on! You're smiling. I heard you whistling. You must be in a really good mood!" Ryo spoke with the utmost of certainty.

"Sorry. Wrong. Not a 'really good' mood."

Kaname's trade mark laugh carried down the passageway.

"You know you can't fool us, Kaname. We can read you like a book. You are in a really really good mood!" Maya glared at her friend, daring her to contradict her.

"Off by a mile. Not a 'really really good' mood. If there was a book on me, I'd let you all study it."

Kaname had a smile for everyone one she passed, even Mizuki.

Her laughter grew louder when she saw the look on that girl's face.

All of her friends stopped, hands on their hips, as Kaname continued to stroll down the hall like a queen. She turned, faced them, and brushed her hands together.

"I am in a great mood today!

The three girls looked at each other in disbelief. They couldn't remember the last time Kaname had used the word 'great.' And, her mood had been spotty at best, for the past few weeks.

"Despite Sousuke?" Kyouko asked, camera ready. That question would test how good Kaname's mood really was.

"Because of Sousuke." Kaname replied, refusing to tell them anything more.

They would have to wait.

It would be good for their character.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Kaname was not always in such an exalted state of mind.

In fact, not too many days ago, it seemed as if a black cloud was following her everywhere she went.

The first sign of impending doom came at the train station. Shirai had cornered her and asked her for a date. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

Naturally, the otaku side of Sousuke made an appearance. In typical Sagara fashion, he 'convinced' the amorous boob to leave her alone. He claimed that his threats towards Shirai……and his entire family…… were merely a joke. She had scowled in disbelief and said "Uh huh."

Shirai had begged Kaname to change her mind, saying he was more than willing to dump his current girlfriend.

Naturally, Mizuki---the girlfriend---was listening around the corner.

Over lunch, Kaname had a premonition that she was being watched. Not too much later, the girls had told her that someone was writing nasty graffitti about her on the boys' room wall.

That had been bad enough.

When she was told that Sousuke knew about the threat, she rightly feared the worst. Braving the foul and disgusting depths of the boys' domain, she discovered her self-assigned protector flushing Shirai's head down the toilet.

Sousuke had been nonchalant---or simply clueless---when told her that she was in the wrong room. The girls' room was next door, he informed her, like she was some kind of idiot!

Oooooooh! She had had the urge to hospitalize him then and there.

Misuki came to rescue her 'darling' Shirai, but he unceremoniously dumped her…… while they were both standing in the boys' room…… in front of witnesses.

In retrospect, that scene brought a smile to Kaname's face. It was so perfect. At the time, however, she was intent on beating some common sense into the head of one particular numbskull. Sousuke had thought it would be a great idea to interrogate Mizuki, looking for leads about the vile rumors that were being spread.

Kaname had plastered him against the door with a textbook swing of her halisen.

She couldn't help grinning. Sousuke might be the reason she was in such a good mood now, but that didn't make the memory any less satisfying. Especially when she though just how annoyed she was when she saw him tied up in knots by Shinji's stupid virtual girl dating simulation game.

"He is such an otaku!" She said to herself, before thinking back to the prior day again.

It had looked as if Sousuke was going to ruin Golden Week for her. Everywhere she went, he followed, trying to look as if he were not with her. The newspaper with the eye hole cut out was much too much! She had smacked him good, angry that he couldn't simply stand next to her.

Then, things took a turn for the worse.

Crying, Mizuke had walked by while they were waiting for the train home. She was placing large orders for food, charging it all to Shirai's credit card. Sousuke almost earned himself a boot right onto the train tracks when he wondered out loud if so many calls for food meant that Mizuki was hosting a meeting of terrorists.

Even now that question made her skin crawl. How could anyone be so stupid? How could some one be so utterly oblivious, pilot an Arm Slave, and not be the best member of the other side?

Mithril should lay in ruins by now!

"Snap out of it, Kaname. Remember, Sousuke is the cause of your good mood." She sighed. That boy was a living breathing paradox. Shaking her head, she wondered why she had let Mizuki convince her to go along with her silly scheme.

The girl had decided that Sousuke would go out with her, so that her friends wouldn't know she had been tossed aside like yesterday's trash. By her warped logic, it was Kaname's and Sousuke's fault that she was in her predicament.

"What a dolt. Anyone could see that it was Sousuke's fault. The big idiot!" Kaname blushed, realizing how loudly she had spoken. That military maniac could embarrass her when she was only thinking about him.

Well, his actions had shown that he had a kind heart. Either that, or he would take orders from anyone. Or, he had been intent on learning why he had chased away that damn Virtual Girl.

What a nutcase.

Of course, since she couldn't bring Sousuke back to her parent's house to 'train' him, Mizuki invited herself over to Kaname's apartment to spend the night.

It should have been hilarious. Sousuke was such a dyed-in-the wool otaku, that Mizuki had a devil of a time trying to teach him how to act like a normal guy. Instead, Kaname found herself getting more and more irritated.

Persistent nerdiness lost its charm real fast.

Kaname stood frozen for a moment. She almost thought that she remembered being somewhat jealous when Mizuki was practicing saying 'I love you' to Sousuke.

Kaname couldn't help but chuckle, taking her memories further along. It had been so aggravating watching Sousuke pretend to be Shirai in real time. Now it seemed so funny. As hard as he tried, he couldn't keep military stuff out of his conversation.

She started choking when she remembered him comparing Mizuki's value to a spy satellite!

She began to shudder. In her head, Sousuke's voice sounded better than it had been in the karaoke place---but, it was still horrendous. She would never be able to listen to any of those songs again.

She clenched and unclenched her fists.

A military movie. He had chosen a military movie for them all to see. On a supposed date! Not only that, he had stood up and shouted at the screen, upset at how everything was so inaccurate. There had been an explosion of soda and popcorn when she had clobbered him from here to Thursday with the halisen.

Mizuke had to try and explain why Kaname was beating up on her boyfriend.

"Easy, Kaname...." The thought of the Mithril operative's behavior had her getting riled up.

She had needed to employ additional behavior modification on Sousuke when he was about to go Medieval on a UFO catcher that refused to let him win a stuffed animal. After that, things hadn't gotten any better.

They all ran into Shirai and a girl in the park. Everyone pretty much knew that Mizuki was lying at that point. She had blurted out his name, after all. But, while the girls were busy watching that soap opera unfold, Sousuke had decided to have another uber-otaku moment.

Angry at seeing Shirai there unexpectedly, heshot him with a rubber bullet!!!

"Go, please give me strength...." Kaname couldn't help but grin. Sousuke's action had been irresponsible…… but, that pompous jackass Shirai had deserved it….

Then again, if she had had a gun at the time, she would have used it…… on Sousuke. Manami, Houko, and Madoka had tried the oldest ploy in the book. They gave Mizuki a simple 'test' to prove her feelings for Sousuke. If they were truly boyfriend and girlfried, there should be no problem in getting them to kiss.

"Just like a damn episode of Love Hina. I don't know if I would have shot Sousuke or those damn brats...." Kaname closed her locker door, realizing that she had never taken out the things that she had come for.

She didn't want to picture the next part.

Naturally, her perverse mind replayed it again and again, from various angles......at high speed and slow motion...with close ups and freeze frame: Sousuke swept Mizuki into his arms and kissed her.

"Jerk!" Kaname apologized to anyone within earshot. She hadn't meant them. No.

Relax. Remember.

Sousuke is the cause of your good mood.

Mikzuke had run off crying. Kaname had explained to the girls in no uncertain terms just what kind of moron Sousuke was. He had ended up sitting in the lake.

When she finally relented…..seeing just how naïve and childlike Sousuke was……his head had come rather close to his when she helped him up. She had thought he might be about to kiss her. Not that she had been excited or receptive or anything. She had only sounded nervous.

Then that clueless military misfit had asked her if she was ill, because her face was red. He thought it might be a circulatory problem.

"Baka!"

The memories of that incident should have stopped with her stomping away from Sousuke.

Unfortunately, Mizuki's spitefulness was not limited to Shirai.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Kaname remembered how angry she had been after the whole fake date thing.

But, at schooll the next day, everything had seemed to be back to normal. It wasn't until she had gotten to home that things began to get out of hand.

When the doorbell rang, she had run to open the door……simply because she didn't want to keep anyone waiting. It was not because she hoped to see Sousuke standing there.

Absolutely not!

It hadn't been Sousuke. It hadn't been only one man. It had been six men, each pushing a large dolly.

"Miss Kaname Chidori?" A mangy emaciated man with halitosis asked, while making it a point to exhale right into her face.

"Yes?" She had answered.

On retrospect, she should have simply closed the door and bolted it

"We have your delivery. Will that be cash or charge?" Everybody stared at her intensely.

"Excuse me?" She knew there was a mistake.

"Cash or credit card. For your order, Miss. You need to pay us before we can finish the delivery." The man looked at one of his comrades and mouthed the words 'dumb broad.'

"Order?" There had been no order. Unless that military moron had done something crazy again!

"Geez…… it's always the ones with blue hair. The order. The order that was called in. The order that we busted our buts bringing up here. Kaname Chidori called up and asked to have two dozen crates of fresh squid delivered to this address. You just said you are Kaname Chidori. This is your order. O..... R..... D..... E..... R."

The men had all been laughing behind their hands.

"But, it must have been someone else. I did not order this." Kaname had been getting angry.

"Mary, mother of God. Just like my wife. She yells at me for forgetting where I put the remote, but she forgets where she left the kids. Listen….. Missy…… we have other deliveries to make. I have the bill here. If you pay us, we'll help wheel it into your apartment for you."

The man had obviously been getting angry himself.

"I didn't place the order. It was a crank call. I am not paying." She had closed the door.

"Bitch…." Kaname muttered under her breath.

At the time, she had had a good idea of what must have happened, after giving seen Mizuki's behavior on the train platform. The distraught and embarrassed girl had been afraid to get back at Sousuke, so she was taking it out on her.

That was another one that she had decided she owed a certain scar-faced sergeant. Just because he had rescued her from a bunch of wacko scientists and mercenaries did not mean that he wouldn't get what's coming to him.

Things should have ended there. But, she had heard a series of loud thumps. When she had put her ear to the door, she heard one of the men curse.

"SHIT! I'm not hauling that stinky crap back onto the truck and into the shop. You should all do what I did. Dump it here. We can bill the bitch." They did exactly that. The hallway was cluttered with leaking crates of squid.

She had been about to call the Meat Shop and lodge a complaint. But, she had a better idea.

She called Sousuke.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Kaname's thoughts drifted back to the events that followed:

"Sousuke…… thank you for making it over here so quickly." She must have sounded frantic. Sousuke had made if over rather quickly.

Still, he had the nerve not to be sweaty or short of breath. For a moment she caught her breath. She was getting paranoid. She had actually wondered if Sousuke camped out on her roof at night.

She resolved to take a look after he left.

"It is not a problem. However, the hall way is filled with crates. That is an unacceptable hazard. A terrorist or mugger would have plentiful places to hide."

"Yes. OK. Fine. Whatever you say. That's not why I called you. It's what's in the crates..." Kaname stopped when Sousuke turned and headed back into the hallway.

"It's squid, Kaname." He put on the jacket he was carrying and turned around and prepared to leave.

"Sousuke, where..."

What was he doing?

"I have identified the contents for you, Kaname. It was not too difficult. I will ask Tessa to send over a book on invertebrates. You will be up to speed in no time. You are a bright girl. I need to return to my home work."

"Sousuke, I knew they were squid!" Kaname felt her hackles rising. "That's not why I asked you over."

"I would not be embarrassed Kaname. I will not inform anybody of your deficiency. Except Tessa, when I ask for that book." Sousuke nodded.

"SOUSUKE!!!" Kaname looked around.

Damn!

The halisen was in her bedroom.

"The delivery men told me it was squid!"

"I see. You really should have trusted them. They likely had a work order, or perhaps packed the crates themselves. It would have saved me a trip over." The young soldier shook his head.

"Ooooooh! Sousuke. Stay right there. If you move, I will hurt you." Kaname ran off, returning a few seconds later with her paper fan.

"Uh....." Sousuke looked at her hand, then at her face. "You said you would hurt me if I moved...."

"Yes. Damned if you do..."

SMACK!

"Damned if you don't."

WHACK!

"Let me try and get this through your thick Sousuke skull of yours. I know what is in the boxes. I knew what was in the boxes." Kaname finally opened her mouth again, but paused. She finally wised up.

This was the kind of thinking a class representative should be able to do.

"It's about a conspiracy, Sousuke." She put on a serious face.

That made all the difference in the world.

Sousuke's look went from clueless to stern, almost immediately. He closed the door, took out his pistol, and removed a transceiver from his pocket. He also took out a bolo…… a combat knife…… two flash bangs…… and a garotte.

Kaname stopped him before he started on the pockets on the other side.

"At ease, soldier!" Kaname voice was deep and loud.

Out of reflex, Sousuke spread his legs apart and put his hands behind his back. Kaname smiled. If only she had her whistle.

"Kaname, if there is a danger...." Sousuke was not about to stay at ease for long. Not if he thought Kaname was at risk.

"It's not that type of conspiracy. It was Mizuki." Kaname tried hard not to growl.

"Uh..." Sousuke looked around the room.

"What are you doing, Sousuke?" Kaname was not in the mood for an otakufest.

Far from it!

"I was searching for the nearest large container of water. We are no longer in proximity to the lake." Sousuke wasn't joking.

"It's OK, Sousuke." Kaname smiled. She had him worried. Or, at least cautious. Good. "I've forgotten all about that incident." That was only partially a lie.

"I see. Then it is not a problem." Sousuke looked pensive. "Does that mean that your circulatory problem has normalized? One can never be too cautious with physical imperfections."

"I'm fine, Sousuke." Kaname grabbed hold of the nearby chair. That was the one way she could keep from picking up the halisen again.

"It could have been a neurological disorder, instead. I discussed your case with various physicians at the Mithril base. It is nothing to be ashamed of. Mental illness is nobody's fault. That might explain why you threw me into the water."

"It.... is.... not.... a.... mental.... disorder!" Kaname followed Sousuke's eyes. They were watching her hands. Her hands were twitching uncontrollably as she fought not to grab her paper fan.

She knew what he must be thinking.

"Kaname, are you still upset because I put my lips on Mizuki's?" Sousuke looked perplexed.

Kaname froze.

She could feel the chill move up her body, from her toes up to her head, until she pictured herself as a giant ice sickle. Figurative cracks formed in her feet and spread upward.

Then, she felt as if she shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha hah! No. Of course not. Why should I? That didn't mean anything to me. I was just worried about Mizuki at the time. She's an emotionally fragile girl..." Kaname felt herself blushing. God save him if he mentions anything about a circulatory problem again!

"I see. Is that the conspiracy? We are conspiring behind Miss Inaba's back? Do you wish for me to become better at putting my mouth on hers, so that she is not disappointed the next time we agree to help her deceive her friends?" Sousuke began to sweat. "Uh... did you... uh... call me here to help me practice?"

Kaname helped him study everything else.

Kaname was ice again. But, this time she felt warmth replacing the chill. Soon, it felt as if the ice were turning directly into steam. Her face felt as if it was on fire.

"Chidori, should I get a doctor?" Sousuke looked concern. "Your coloration….. such a drastic change….. perhaps it is something hormonal...."

There was a blur.

Sousuke fell back over the chair... tripped over an ottoman... crashed to the ground at the foot of an end table... pulled off the cloth coverlet... and had the full contents of the vase spill down over him.

Water again.

Looking at the halisen in her hand, Kaname did indeed begin to question her sanity: Why had she called him?

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

When Kaname calmed down---and Sousuke dried off---she managed to explain the situation to him.

It took some doing. He was stuck on the motivational aspect of things. He had no idea why Mizuki would do such a thing.

It was the whole teenage dating void again. Once she had Mizuki's plan explained, Kaname moved on to her idea.

At first, Sousuke was reluctant to play along.

"Kaname, you have told me in the past that revenge is not the answer. You also explained that you were fed up with 'otaku nonsense.' And, I was told to just let 'girls be girls.' Are you changing the rules?"

"No, Sousuke. Those are the rules for you. There are a different set of rules for me." She grumbled seeing the resultant look on his face. "Get over it!" she groused.

"It is not a problem. But, I must record this in my log book." Sousuke wrote down 'More Notes On Kaname Chidori,' 'duplicity,' 'double-standard,' and had started writing 'emotional lability' when the young lady in question threw the book off the balcony.

"I hope no one finds that book, Kaname. That is where I wrote down the confidences you told me, so I could always keep my story straight."

Pushed, Sousuke soon went over the balcony after the book.

"I do not think that it is proper for a Specialist to become involved in a matter of petty vengeance." Sousuke had said when he made his way back up to the room.

"Really?" Kaname asked. She had her book out now. She wrote down 'petty' and 'fifteen lashes, large fan.'

"Yes. Legal issues aside, the mission would require more than two people, and...."

"Thank you, Sousuke! You are absolutely correct. It is so nice having a military consultant on my side!" Kaname smiled at the look on his face.

"But..."

"If that's all you are willing to contribute, so be it. If you don't want to help me in my hour of need, I will try to understand." She fought to keep a smile off of her face.

This should be like taking candy from a baby.

"But..."

"It is my mistake. I thought you were my friend. I won't make that mistake again." She coughed to cover a laugh.

"But..."

"I'll probably get caught by the police doing this on my own. Those stories of police brutality are likely nothing more than an urban legend." She coughed again. "I hope!"

"But..."

"And Lord knows the type of people who will be in the holding cell." Unable to keep from grinning, she turned her head away. She began to shiver intentionally.

Sousuke might think she was about to cry.

"I'll be so vulnerable out there. I'll be easy prey. If the police don't get me, some terrorist group might."

That out to bait the hook.

"But..."

"Or, I might end up getting shot by Mizuke's father. I can see the headlines now. Of course, I doubt Tessa would blame you, Sousuke. Not even if she finds out I was caught on a clumsy commando raid."

That should serve to jerk the line, setting the hook.

Eventually, Sousuke gave in. On one condition: he would be calling the shots, not Kaname. She acquiesced.

He then called the safe house. Kurz and Melissa were in town, providing back-up in case the remnants of any cell that Gauron had put together might decide to pay Kaname a visit.

Melissa, of course, was dead set against professionals taking part in any such nonsense. "It is not our f-cking business," she had said. "Can you imagine Mithril's cover being blown over something like this?"

Kurz, by means of comparison, was gung ho. "I see you realize what side your bread is buttered on, Sousuke old pal. You know you need the ole Weber charm and good luck. Just like Melissa knows she wants me. I'll..."

The line went dead for a while.

When contact was re-established, Kurz could barely articulate his willingness to join the team. Melissa decided to go along to keep everyone else out of trouble, and out of the media.

"It will cost, Sousuke. Big time." Melissa was a true mercenary at heart. "Five cases of bear. One dozen cans of crab." There was a pause. "And a night of steamy sex."

Sousuke heard Kurz moan in the back ground.

"Uh..." Sousuke almost dropped the phone.

"What is it Sousuke?" Kaname looked concerned.

"Five cases of beer..." Sousuke said, sweating.

"Tell her to consider it a gift," Kaname said magnanimously.

"Twelve cans of crab..." Sousuke said, swallowing.

"That too,"Kaname said with a brusque wave of her hand.

"Uh..."

"What else, Sousuke?" Kaname figured it was something similar. Probably a number of packs of cigarettes.

"Uh..."

"SOUSUKE?"

"Uh..."

"SOUSUKE!!!"

"Here... I... uh... ask Sgt. Major Mao..." Sousuke could not get himself to repeat what his squad leader had said.

Sousuke watched Kaname's color change. Pink became salmon…… salmon became scarlet…… scarlet became deepest crimson. She turned shades that he didn't even know existed.

"S-S-Sex..." she stuttered. Listening some more, she suddenly looked relieved. "Oh! You didn't really mean you want to have sex with him. I see" Her smile vanished. "Who? Me? And him?"

Kaname dropped the phone.

Naturally, Melissa had only been joking. Hearing Kaname's response was worth more to her than the beer and the canned crab. The two Mithril operatives would come over to Kaname's apartment for the planning session.

Mizuki was going to learn not to mess with Kaname Chidori.