Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Panic! And am not making money from this story.
Kaname had gathered herself together but stayed in her pajamas. She headed over to the phone to call Kyoko and let her know that she wasn't going to be going into school. When her friend asked why the young blue haired woman muttered that she didn't want to explain and hung up. Slowly Kaname headed toward the living room to slump down in front of the television. Flipping through the channels was doing nothing for her but she didn't have anything more to do. Her appetite had left her.
"Does he not care about me? He claims to but…he used me! We dated and got close and even made love," She spat out the word as she spoke aloud to herself. "And a month after giving myself to him he says he doesn't want to come back." Then she sighed and spoke quietly a thought she had always had. "I guess I was just a mission."
Well now it is mission accomplished. Chidori Kaname is safe from terrorists, rapists, thieves, and anyone who could hurt her. Then Kaname paused in her thoughts and a dark chuckle escaped her throat. I'm safe from everyone who could hurt me except for Sousuke. But then she realized that she needed to be strong. If not for herself then for her friends.
Lifting herself from the couch she headed toward her room to get in her school clothing. Missing first period would be okay but she was going to make it second period as soon as she could. The girl only had about half a year left of high school and she wasn't going to fail because some military maniac broke her heart.
The brown-eyed female gathered her stuff together and ran out the front door towards school. She would get there as soon as she could. Then she would focus on her studies and do everything in her power to get back to a life that was before Sousuke's appearance. She knew she would never forget but she would do her best not to remember. With what seemed like moment after leaving the house she was at school. She'd only missed half of first period, to which she got there quickly and tried to silently go in the door.
Everyone was surprised to not see Sousuke with her but she ignored their stares and got out her notes and started to write down what she could of the lesson. The entire time she could feel Kyoko and Shinji's eyes on her. But while her heart was fighting against her mind to remember why they were staring at her, she managed to get down most of what the lesson was. And then the bell rang and Kyoko and Shinji were standing beside her.
"Where's Sousuke? Did he have to leave again?" Kyoko asked to the girl who was slowly packing her things.
"Yeah, he had to leave again to Russia." Chidori muttered and breathed slowly as to help her from crying.
"Well do you know when he's coming back?" Shinji was close friends with Sousuke and worried when his friend wasn't at school. That's when Kaname felt bad for Shinji. The boy didn't have a ton of friends and seemed to get along best with the military maniac.
"I'm sorry Shinji…" Kaname didn't finish her sentence and Shinji mistook her silence as something different.
"Oh, I'm sorry Kaname. You both probably don't know when he's coming back." He sweat dropped and rubbed the back of his neck. The blue haired student shook her head to his answer.
"No, it's not that. I know when he's coming back." Her voice was solemn and distant.
"It will be before school is over, right?" Kyoko asked, getting worried for the boy as well.
"No! He's never coming back! He left today and said…" Kaname felt the tears welling up and felt her lungs get heavy, making it hard for her to breathe. "…He said it would be best for me if he left and never returned."
Both students were silent, not knowing what to say. They both had known how much Kaname loved Sousuke and they knew that she was experiencing a heart break that most people would never experience. Kyoko only patted her on the back and Shinji's head was lowered, his bangs covering his eyes.
"But I'll be strong without him. I don't need his protection or….or his love." Kaname whispered the last word, her heart nearly thumping too hard in her chest and making her lungs heavy again. "I lived without him before and by god I'll do it again. I don't need him."
The rest of her school day went by in a flash and she headed home to not being able to go and sleep in her bed. He had slept there the night before and she would need to wash the sheets so that she could get rid of his smell. But for tonight she would sleep on the couch.
The tired girl, out of habit, went and closed her blinds so that it would be harder to shoot at her and then she decided it would be best if she set up camp on her floor. It would be safer down there. Snuggling up to a pillow, Kaname shut her eyes and laid there for seven hours, no sleep coming to her.
Then suddenly she shot up when she heard three knocks at her door. Immediately she knew who it was and ran to the door to open it. Within moments Mao was in her apartment and noticed the bed on the floor and only looked at it apologetically. Then she made a quick sweep of the room with her eyes and shrugged, moving past Kaname and onto her couch. Then she gently patted the spot beside her and her friend followed suit.
"Sorry you didn't get much sleep last night." Mel sighed and Kaname knew that she must have had circles under her eyes. The girl rubbed at her eyes, knowing she was super tired. But she had the day off from school and wanted to spend her time with Mao, not trying to get sleep she knew she wouldn't ever get.
"Did you see him yesterday?" Chidori asked quietly. She saw Mao shaking her head.
"Kurz did, though. He had overheard our conversation. He didn't do anything drastic but he didn't make much contact with Sousuke. I'm sorry, Kaname. I truly am very sorry for you." Melissa's eyes held sorrow but something else. Kaname placed it as determination. "But while I feel for you and wish it didn't happen, we're going to have fun today!"
"I'll get dressed." Kaname flashed a smile, though it didn't fool Mel. The young girl headed toward her room, not looking at her bed, and stopped at her dresser. She pulled out blue jean shorts and a short sleeved white tee. Slipping into the outfit and putting on some white sneakers with a blue lining she headed back out to where Mao was calmly sitting on her couch.
"Alright, I'm ready to go." But the girl was wary of the smirk that was placed on her friend's lips. The short haired woman stood up, wearing combat boots, jeans, and a tank top, and they headed over to the door. The silence was peaceful and calm but the long haired woman could only wonder where they were headed. They started in one direction and kept walking.
"Where are we going, Mel?" Kaname asked her close friend. The smirk that had yet to leave her friend's face grew but she got no response. Normally, if that would have happened with other people, Kaname would have shouted at them for not answering her but her and Mao were a lot alike. They had a short temper but were friendly. After a while though, they hailed a taxi and got inside to which Kaname believed she would find out their destination that way.
Mao handed the driver a slip of paper he nodded and started to drive. This irked Chidori but she didn't complain. Mao was here to help her and was using her leave to help her, so it would be a terrible thing of her to complain to the older woman. They rode in silence toward somewhere that the student hadn't an idea about…until she saw the airplanes in view.
"Mel, where exactly are you taking me?" Her voice held a little annoyance at not knowing but she still got no response. She flopped herself back into the seat and waited with crossed arms. As they got out they were in front of the airport. They had no clothes with them and only money. But they headed to go get tickets and even then Mao was secretive.
"The only thing I'm telling you is that I talked to your school about what happened and they said you have a week off because of military orders." Mel flashed a mischievous smile at her and then covered her eyes as they made their way to the gate and got on the plane. After they started flying the man was speaking into the loudspeaker.
"Due to military orders and a special request I will not be saying where this flight is going." Low voices started whispering in scared tones. "But you are going where your tickets said you were going, so don't worry. There is just military personnel on the flight and has requested I not speak the name. But have a nice flight!"
"You go to great lengths to keep a secret, you know that?" Kaname glared at her friend and Mel laughed lightly.
"Since I'm in the military it isn't such a great length for me." Mel smirked. "You'll want to get comfortable because this will be a long flight." She had gotten first class tickets and they were headed off for a great trip.
Well that's all for now. You'll know where they are going next chapter! Sorry if it was short.
