Running Late
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
As one of the million suffers of low blood pressure, mornings were never an easy thing for Kaname. In the far distant corner of her mind, she heard her alarm clock buzzing but just couldn't bring herself to fully awaken. The thought of just calling in sick crossed her sleep numbed mind, but she knew better than that.
However she also knew better than to do something that underhanded, especially on such an important day such as this. Yawning, Kaname literally rolled out of bed, falling onto the hardwood floor of her bedroom. Groggily, she reached up and slammed her hand on her alarm clock. She then raised herself from the floor and then went straight to the calendar. The day was circled with a thick red marker. She groaned, knowing how much work she would have to do at school that day, before making her way to the bathroom to take her shower.
Afterwards, she wrapped a towel around herself and made her way back to her bedroom to dress. "Being Vice President is so much work," She sighed, as she slipped into her clothes. "But it's something I have to do for the greater good."
After she was dressed, she quickly made her way to the kitchen. She popped two pastries in the toaster and set the timer. She then proceeded to brush her hair and do her makeup, silently dreading all the work that would await her at school that day.
Kaname's things were always in order. It never took her more than ten minutes to get ready for school, and it never took her more than five minutes to eat her breakfast. This morning was different for Kaname, simply because she had lost one of her shoes somehow. Just as she was leaning over her sofa to look for the missing shoe, the toaster popped. She then quickly made her way to the appliance to the grab the tart before it cooled. Forgetting how hot the toaster always made her breakfast, Kaname burnt her hand. She was in the middle of cursing the appliance when the there was a knock on the front door of her apartment. With the pastry still in hand, she answered the door.
"Good morning, Chidori," Sousuke greeted, then noticed something inside her apartment. "Is there a reason for your shoe to be sitting on top of your bookshelf?"
She looked over her shoulder to see that he was right, her other shoe was sitting on top of her bookshelf. Clueless as to how it ended up in such a strange location, Kaname absentmindedly handed Sousuke her warm toaster pastry. The mercenary eyed it curiously as she grabbed the shoe and slipped it on.
"Crap," she mumbled, checking her watch. It had taken her an extra five minutes to find the item, thus throwing her already busy day off by a whole five minutes. She then looked around to see where she had placed her breakfast. She then noticed Sousuke breaking the pastry in two, and examining it.
"That's a toaster pastry you idiot," she sighed. "You eat it for breakfast."
"But Chidori," Sousuke said, looking up and raising an eyebrow. "Why would any person wish to eat a breakfast so high in sugar and calories?"
Kaname groaned, before running into her kitchen and grabbing the remaining pastry, popping it into her mouth. She slung her schoolbag over her shoulder and pushed Sousuke out the front door, locking the apartment behind them.
"Uh...Chidori?" Sousuke asked, as he was pushed down the hall, still holding the breakfast in his hands.
"No time, Sousuke," she replied, stopping at the elevator on her floor. She pressed the button hard, hoping it would speed up the pace the car would reach her floor. She then began to eat the tart, waiting for the elevator Sousuke watched her from the corner of his eye, and followed her lead by popping half the tart into his mouth. Although it was very sweet, he had to admit it wasn't bad.
Finally, the elevator opened and Kaname quickly hopped in, pulling Sousuke in behind her. She smashed the button for the lobby and tapped her foot impatiently as the doors slowly closed.
"Uh...Chidori?" He tried after he was done with both halves of his unexpected breakfast.
"What?"
"Is there a reason we are rushing this morning? Is there a person who is tailing you? A drug dealer or a mob affiliate? Or maybe-" He was stopped by Kaname kicking him in the stomach. He nearly lost his sugary breakfast.
"Idiot!" she screamed, as she pulled back about to kick him again. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not involved with any drug dealers?"
"My apologies," he gasped, hunched over his stomach.
Kaname leaned against the wall of the car, "Today is just a busy day for the student council since we're getting the year books in. I have to make sure everything goes smoothly, and it's a lot of work."
Just as the car had passed the fifth floor, a loud grinding noise was heard. Sousuke reached for his gun as Kaname held onto the side of the car and waited for the noise to pass. Then, with a jerk, the elevator stopped.
"You've got to be kidding me," Kaname grumbled, and noticed that Sousuke had pulled his gun out. She smacked the weapon from his hand. "Would you put that thing away?!"
"Chidori! You should never smack a loaded weapon!"
She kicked him hard in the shin for even carrying a loaded weapon and proceeded to press the emergency maintenance button in the elevator, "Hello?"
"Uh, yeah?" said the worker, who was obviously asleep until a moment ago. "What's the matter?"
"The elevator's stuck."
"Oh crap, is it?" the maintenance worker seemed extremely surprised. "I'm sorry Miss; I'll be right on it!"
"Thank you very much," she slid her finger off the button before adding, "You stupid incompetent worker."
Sousuke placed a hand on his chin, obviously deep in thought.
"What's the matter?" Kaname asked.
"I was just trying to remember how survive in a plummeting elevator."
Kaname was taken aback, "A...plummeting...elevator?"
"Affirmative," he said looking up at the ceiling. "In cases like this one, there is a slight chance that the car's cord will snap, causing the car to free-fall."
She could not believe that he was mentioning something so horrible at a time like this.
"It is often said the best chance of survival is to flatten your body against the car floor." he continued. "While there is disagreement among the experts, most recommend this method. This should distribute the force of impact, rather than concentrate it on one area of your body. Since standing in such circumstances would prove difficult anyway."
Kaname's hands twitched, wanting to grab something to hit him with.
"It is also advised to cover your face and head to protect yourself from ceiling parts that may break loose."
She gritted her teeth, if he went on for another second, falling ceiling debris would be the least of his worries.
"Hydraulic elevators are more likely than cable elevators to fall. These elevators are-"
"I DON'T CARE!" Kaname screamed, punching him in the face, causing him to fly to the other side of the car. She was in the middle of kicking his fallen body when she noticed an emergency escape hatch on the car's ceiling.
"Sousuke, look!" she pointed to the hatch. "We can escape!"
"Uh...Chidori," he began, slowly standing up. "It is said to only be used in emergencies."
"Are you telling me that the risk of our school's year books never reaching the correct owner is not an emergency?"
"Negative, that was not what I was implying. What I meant was-"
"That the reputation of our school is not important to you?"
"Uh..."
"Sousuke, it is our duty...no...our mission!" Kaname said, pointing her finger at him. "Yes, it is our mission to make sure those yearbooks are sent out orderly, correctly, and most of all timely!"
"A-affirmative!" Sousuke said, saluting.
"Are you telling me, Sergeant, that the success of our mission is not an emergency?"
"No, ma'am!" Sousuke said, growing stiff.
"Good, solider!" she then pointed to the ceiling. "Now give me a boast so I can get open that hatch!"
Sousuke obeyed, and boasted her up by her foot. He couldn't help but blush when he realized that from the position they were in he could see up her skirt.
"Easy there," she said. "You nearly dropped me."
"My apologies!" Sousuke squeaked, and decided to focus on the floor of the elevator instead.
With a push, Kaname had released the hatched and opened the exit to the top of the car.
"I got it," she called down. "Now push me up so I can get through."
Sousuke nodded and heaved her through the small opening. She crawled on top of the car, and was about to call down to Sousuke when she saw him jump, and pull himself through the opening without breaking a sweat.
"Chidori? Are you alright?" he asked.
"Uh...yeah I'm alright." she then motioned to the opening of the floor above Sousuke's head. "Do you think you could get that door open?"
"It is not a problem." he said, and quickly stamped an explosive onto the door.
"NO!" she was too late. Sousuke had already pressed the detonator, and the door blown to smithereens. She couldn't see anything past the smoke, but felt the elevator rock back and forth from under her feet and knew that Sousuke's explosion not only blew the doors off to the floor above them, but made had tampered with the cord as well. She was about to scream at him, when she felt him wrap his arms around her and hurl them through the new opening. Just as they landed, she heard the cord give way and the car smash to the bottom of the elevator shaft.
"That explosive was only suppose to blow the doors off," he said, sitting up. "At least there were no passengers inside the car. Even if there were, the compressed air column in the elevator shaft and the car buffers at the bottom of the elevator shaft would keep the forces of the impact survivable."
"IDIOT!" Kaname screamed, punching Sousuke in face. "You didn't have to blow up the whole elevator! You could've just pried them open using your hands!"
"Considering the fact that prying the doors open would take too long, I decided on a more effective means. As you said before, it is our mission to make sure those yearbooks are sent out orderly, correctly, and timely."
At the mention of time, Kaname instantly looked down at her watch to realize just how behind schedule they were. She then pulled Sousuke up by his collar and raced down the stairs to the lobby of her building. Still holding him by the scruff of his neck she threw him at a taxi passing by. Sousuke rolled over the hood of the car, and bounced off the windshield, effectively causing the car to stop. She then hopped in and told the driver their destination, as Sousuke quickly entered the car.
"Chidori," he asked, as the driver sped toward their school. "Why did you hurl me at the automobile instead of simply calling out to it?"
"I decided it was a more effective means." she said, between gritted teeth.
Sousuke remained silent for the remainder of the car ride. The taxi made excellent timing, until of course it hit traffic mer blocks from the school.
"Damn it!" Kaname yelled, nearly pulling her hair out. She threw money at the cabbie before jumping out of the car, Sousuke on her tail. They were soon in front of the school, and to Kaname's dismay she heard the bell ring.
"No! The bell!" she cried, and noticed the security guard in front of the school. "And the gate is closing!"
Kaname eyed the tall wall in front of the school, and decided her best chance was to rely on her athletic talent and to make a jump for it. She had already lunged into the air and was just over the wall when she felt the impact of the blast.
Leave it to Sousuke to blow up the wall.
Kaname flew through the air at a alarming rate. She braced herself as she crashed through a window and rolled through the room. Somehow, she heard Sousuke rolled in behind her. She crashed into the wall on the opposite side of the room, and laid motionlessly on the ground.
"Kaname! Kaname! Are you alright?" she heard someone calling her name.
"Sous...Sousuke?" she whispered, she slowly opened her eyes to see Sousuke looking down at her, a strange emotion clouding his face. Was he..worried about her? Suddenly Kaname felt a strange, warm feeling devour her.
"Kaaa-naaaa-mayyyyy!" she heard, and saw that Kyouko was standing behind Sousuke. Her and the rest of her homeroom class.
"Are you alright?" Sousuke asked. "Don't sit up if you can't.
"I think I'm just bruised," Kaname said, standing up slowly. "Where am I?"
"You're in homeroom, silly!" Kyouko said with a grin. "You and Sousuke both crashed through the window!"
The brunette showed Kaname all the pictures she had taken with her camera. Kaname looked beyond the crowd of her classmates to see the broken windows and the debris from the broken front wall. No doubt, that would be costly.
"What about the yearbooks?" she asked suddenly. "I was supposed to be here to hand them out to everyone and to make sure all the classes got the correct sets!"
"Don't worry about it," Kyouko smiled. "Shinji went to Student Council room and got them all since we thought you were running late today. Ren is making sure all the classes got the correct boxes, so everything is running smoothly."
Kaname was speechless. All that stress, all that aggravation, all those explosives were in vain. She could only stare out the broken window at the demolished wall.
"Mission Accomplished." Sousuke said, with a nod to Kyouko. Overwhelmed by the pride he felt for helping his fellow classmates, he didn't even notice Kaname kick the desk at him.