PLEASE NOTE: This story takes place after the events of "Dancing Very Merry Christmas", but doesn't necessarily fit into FMP novel timeline. May contain mild spoilers for novels up to and including DVMC. Rated M to be safe - though there's nothing even remotely dangerous in this chapter.

Even though the two of them lived directly across from each other, Kaname rarely visited Sousuke's apartment, so she was a little more than confused when her usually meek friend and classmate called her over. Her confusion only increased when she arrived to find two of Sousuke's Mithril colleagues waiting for her with "an important mission".

And thus, Chidori Kaname found herself sitting at a small table, brows furrowed as her eyes swiftly skimmed the English document that had been presented to her. Beside the young woman sat Sagara Sousuke, whose expression mirrored his friend's as he also read through the concisely written orders.

Having little difficulty with common English texts, the young Japanese woman found herself struggling to understand the main point behind the all the complex terms. But, the moment Kaname reached an infinitely long list of terms under the heading of "Equipment", she abandoned the paper and opted for the oral clarification.

"So, you guys have been ordered to crash a party?" Her question was directed to the woman sitting directly across from here, who up to that point had been regarding the pair with the look of one who had been watching paint dry.

Melissa Mao answered in a tone that reflected her expression, "Yeah, that seems to be the gist of it."

Beside her sat an unusually subdued Kurz Weber. With a defeated groan, he collapsed onto the table top, "This mission should've been my freebee, but instead I'm stuck on sentry duty. Why wasn't I assigned as a covert operative?!"

"You'd stick out like a sore thumb in a room full of Asians." His superior officer bluntly reminded him.

"But he'd probably still blend in better than Sousuke here," Kaname pointed out, "I don't think anyone could be a worse pick than Sousuke as an undercover agent."

At the mention of his name, the last member of the party looked up from the paper and finally spoke in his regular crisp voice, "I think that's quite rude, Chidori. I am actually very skilled at espionage."

Resisting the urge to scoff at his claim, Kaname instead turned back to leader of the group. "So, I've read your mission outline, but I still don't get why I'm here."

Beside her, the young sergeant agreed, "I'm also confused. This sounds like a very straightforward reconnaissance mission: "temporarily neutralize the target and install bugs into his personal communication devices". Why assign this to SRT?"

The Second Lieutenant of Mithril looked at them both with a serious expression, "Because it seems that PRT have already failed twice."

Even Kaname, who had minimal military knowledge, understood the situation. After a double screwing up, they were now calling for the elites to step up.

"Though the objective may sound simple, our target this time is quite elusive and has slipped past our PRT units during our previous attempts to make contact."

"Has he become aware that he's being targeted?"

Mao shook her head, "There has been no reason to believe that he has. He's probably just overly cautious by nature. However, from the intelligence reports that we have received, there's been one thing that consistently draws this snake out of his hole."

She then slid another sheet of paper in front of both Sousuke and Kaname. There was a single sentence highlighted amidst the text heavy report: "Target has repeatedly appeared before Asian females in their late teens to early twenties with slim builds and long dark hair."

When Kaname looked up from the page, she found all three pairs of eyes in the room staring at her with varying expressions.

"Huh? What? You don't mean…"

"It's out of the question. She is a civilian." Sousuke swiftly cut in.

Ignoring her team mate's objection, Mao pressed harder, "We're just asking you to be a decoy, Kaname. If all goes according to plan, you won't even have to make contact."

"That's optimistic thinking." Sousuke's cold voice interrupted again.

"The mission states that both you and Kaname will be there strictly as back-up. Your orders require neither of you to engage the enemy. It's quite safe." Mao answered him in an calm, even tone.

"Regardless, by bringing her to the location, she will be in danger."

"Our priority is–"

"Hold on a minute! Why do you even need me?" Kaname asked after reading the highlighted statement for the fourth time, "I mean… with a wig, Mao should be enough to–"

At this question, Kurz snorted, "During the debriefing on base, Intelligence hinted that Sis might be too old to attract–"

A swift punch curtly ended the sergeant's unflattering remarks.

"I will be there as the bait, however…" she seemed to grit her teeth as she continued, "we need to ensure that we'll be able to secure the target this time. Kaname will undoubtedly increase our chances of success. Let me remind you that this mission is already putting Operations to shame. A third failure will not be well received."

But, Sousuke showed no signs of backing down, "The success of this mission has nothing to do with Chidori. Are there are no other personnel?"

Mao sighed in exasperation, "Don't you think we've already looked? The only other possibility at this point is Tessa."

"Captain?!"

Kaname found herself tense; whether it was from the mention of the other Whispered girl or from Sousuke's surprised tone, she couldn't be sure.

"Yeah. Tessa has already volunteered to be your partner for this mission. The guys in the disguise department say they can make it work, but of course, we're still all against it. It's just that if there are no other options–"

"I'll do it." Kaname's quiet voice echoed through the apartment. For a moment the other three could only regard her in stunned silence.

"Chidori?"

She avoided Sousuke's concerned eyes as she repeated herself, sounding as determined as ever, "I'll do it! Just tell me what I need to do!"

Author's Notes:
[2009.07.29] After catching up on all my FMP reading, I felt the need to write something of my own. Please feel free to leave any comments and criticisms! I'll keep the update status posted on my profile page. Take care and happy reading!