Full Metal Panic! Black Ops, Part II: Joining The Team
By C. Mage
Jason walked into class and took his seat, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Kyouko was already there, pigtails animated as she talked to Ono-D and Tessa. It was still early and many of the students were still out in the quad. As Jason took out his notes, he became aware of Tessa approaching his desk. He sighed inwardly, bracing himself.
"Jason?"
He turned, expecting the usual expressions: horror, nervousness, hesitation to be in the same building with him. What he did see, however, wasn't on that list. "Uh...yes?"
"Listen, about yesterday..."
"Look, you don't have to say anything. I know exactly what you're going to say."
"You do?" she asked, perplexed.
"Yeah. I've heard it all before. 'Your methods are too heavy-handed', 'you're too violent' and, my personal favorite, 'you didn't have to kill them!' And believe me, I'll understand if you want me off the assignment..."
Tessa blinked. "Excuse me?"
Jason stopped. "You're not going to fire me?"
"Jason, I don't know what you've been told, but I'm not going to request your re-assignment."
Jason cocked an eyebrow. "I don't get it."
"Obviously. Jason, I was surprised last night at your skills. In fact, I was shocked. But I am not some frail little girl who's never seen people die, nor am I as innocent as you apparently think I am. Once I got over the initial shock, I took some time to consider, and I realized that your skills are exactly the kind of assets this assignment needs."
"...oh."
"Do you still intend on quitting?" Tessa asked.
"NO! I mean, I just..." He started to blush.
"Just what?"
"...just thought you didn't want me around." He turned back to his book, trying to hide in the pages. He stayed there, wondering what she was going to do.
Then he felt a whisper into his ear: "Thank you for saving my life, Jason Williams."
By the time he was able to recover and turn his head, Tessa was already back in her seat and class was starting. Jason had to go over the events of the past few minutes to confirm that what he had heard wasn't the result of his imagination.
Suddenly, he heard a "YEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Everyone in the class started, then turned to look at the source of the sound. He would've looked, except he realized a split-second later who had made the cheer.
He had.
Jason blushed pure crimson and stammered, "I, uh..I'm just glad to be here, uh...it's an American thing..." He sat down quickly and the teacher blinked, then cleared her throat.
"If there are no more interruptions, we'll start today's lesson with the Japanese classic, SEVEN SAMURAI..."
"Hey, Tessa! Hold up a moment." Kaname smiled as she caught up to Tessa in Physical Health class. "Sure you got the right kind of suit this time?"
Tessa smiled predatorily. "Yes, and I made sure to 'reward' the crew, especially Weber, for their 'assistance' in this matter." She held up a white and light orange swimsuit. "Nothing like remedial training of undersea operations to motivate the men into being more accurate with their information."
"You don't say..." Kaname could only imagine the type of punishment Tessa would have meted out. The Navy was famous for imaginative methods of disciplining troops. "You notice anything unusual about Sousuke? He seems a little more..."
"Calm?" Tessa asked.
"Focused." Kaname chuckled. "Maybe it's just being around you that was rattling him all this time. Kinda makes me feel sorry for Jason, now that he's taken over protecting you."
"What did you say?" she asked before Kaname grinned, walking into the locker room.
Meanwhile, as Tessa entered the locker room, thinking about how she could teach Kaname a lesson, Jason and Sousuke were out by the pool. Sousuke was worried. Once reassured of the Captain's safety, he was concerned about how his appearance might affect her.
Jason was, to put it mildly, harder than a coffin nail.
Training in the Art of Sinanju had made Jason into coiled steel and chiseled marble. His normal clothes had hinted at it before, but dressed in a swimsuit, the results of more than a decade of correct breathing and intense training had made him an impressive specimen of a teenager. Normally, that would be considered a huge asset, especially for a boy his age.
The important word, of course, being "normal".
Jason slowly became aware that he was becoming more and more the center of attention. The women looked at him with interest, with varying degrees of discretion. The men looked at him, some with envy, others with derision. In fact, as he waited for his turn on the diving platform, he started to think he should've worn a shirt...if not a suit of armor. He deliberately held back when diving and swimming, but even then, he slipped through the water with such speed and grace that the coach immediately started asking him about joining the swim team. Jason declined the offer, and decided it might be a good idea to stay out of sports altogether.
Maybe I need to fake an injury or something...
"Jason?"
"Yeah?" He looked up as Tessa approached. Not that he was surprised; he made a point to simply be aware of where she was at all times. His highly-attuned senses made that easy. Keeping himself from being nervous while Tessa was around was much more difficult. "Hi there. How does it feel, being back with the class?"
"It feels nice...I really missed them." She fidgeted. "Uhm...do you mind if I eat with you?"
"Yeah, I mean, NO, I don't mind...!" he corrected hastily. "I don't exactly, uh...oh." He stood up, scooting over on the bench so she could sit down. "Sorry."
Tessa giggled. "You're not what I expected, Jason."
"Oh? What were you expecting?" he asked, munching on a rice ball.
"I was expecting, well, someone more like Sousuke. Someone more military-minded."
"Not a chance. I wouldn't want to be in anyone's military for all the rice in China," he quipped, then remembered that the girl next to him was a military officer. "Not that there's anything wrong with military stuff...!" he added quickly. "I'm just trained with a different kind of mindset, I guess."
"What sort of training? Different kinds of martial arts?"
"Only one martial art, the best and the first in the world." Jason smiled proudly.
"Really? When did you start?"
"As soon as I could walk. Little Grandfather insisted. Dad thought it was a good idea, too. Guess he didn't want me being one of those kids who hung around the house, ate hamburgers and played video games all day."
"You don't eat hamburgers?"
"Never have."
"Why not?"
Jason's face looked as if he'd just been asked to gargle with vinegar. "Well, for starters, they smell disgusting. Not to mention the fact that, because of my diet, if I tried to eat one of those things, it'd probably put me in a coma by the time the first bite hit my stomach."
"What do you eat?" Tessa asked, more than a little curious.
"Rice, mostly. Rice, poultry, fish...not a whole lot of seasonings to it, but I think it tastes good." He took a deep breath and added, "Maybe you should come over to my place for dinner sometime."
Tessa blushed. "I'd like that." A smile widened on her lips. "Maybe we should ask Sergeant Sagara and Miss Chidori to come along."
"Oh? I didn't realize they were dating."
"Oh yes...in fact, I think they would never forgive us if we didn't invite them out with us." Tessa smiled mischievously.
"Well, if you're sure...I'll ask my Dad. But I warn you, it's not going to be terribly exotic. You may have to bring your own spices."
Tessa nodded. "Then it's decided."
"Number One Son, have you quietly gone out of your mind?"
Jason gulped. Remo only used that term when he was perturbed. "Look, Dad, it's my job to watch her and Kaname, right? Well, what better place than in our home?"
"You're supposed to watch them at their location. This was never supposed to be a place they're even supposed to know about. You stay at the safe house during homework, then report back here periodically. Nobody's supposed to know about this place."
"Look, Dad...when was the last time I really asked for something, something important?"
"Three months ago. The PlayStation 3, remember?"
"Oh...well, before that?"
"Nintendo Wii."
"Before that."
"New computer."
"Before that?"
"XBox 360. Face it, kiddo, you've never had to want for anything."
"But this is important."
Remo sighed. "Look...Jason, I know how much this means to you. That girl's involved, right?"
"Yeah. Haven't you ever done something crazy when girls were involved?"
Remo considered. "All right. But not here. It has to be over there. I'll bring the food and the entertainment. We eat, we talk, and NO SHOWING OFF. We're not the Amazing Kreskin and Son; no tricks."
"Not even a little?"
"You want this girl to like you for who you are, or do you want her to hire you to kill someone?"
Jason sighed. "Like me."
"Then you already know the answer, don't you?"
"No tricks. Well, who knows? Maybe somebody will try to kill her while we're there."
Remo chuckled. "Only you would consider that a plus, kiddo. One more thing. I'm going to have to start adding shark meat to your diet."
Jason cocked his head. "Why?"
"Well, you're getting to that age where the rhythms of Sinanju begin to affect certain parts of your body. Pretty soon, people are going to become aware of the fact that you're a superior physical specimen…namely, women. Something about how Sinanju training affects the body, it's either some sort of pheromone effect, or some sort of vibe you give off."
Jason quirked an eyebrow. "What sort of vibe?"
"Imagine being a deep-dish pizza at a Weight Watchers convention."
"Are you telling me that women around me are going to want to…?"
"Boink you, yes. Some bozo in marketing for body sprays saw me track a target into a beauty pageant and, well…let's just say the House of Sinanju gets royalties from AXE."
Jason looked at his father in horror. "So the shark meat does what, cancel it out?"
"More than that. Once you eat a certain amount, women actually begin to ignore you, even avoid you."
"I don't want that, either!"
"Relax, kid. For someone of your size and age, you could probably get away with a few ounces of shark meat a week without turning into a social leper."
"Dad…are you putting me on? Sinanju causes the AXE Effect?"
"In spades. Without aerosol support. Imagine all your new friends, the girls, your teachers, the women, of course…all suddenly losing their sense of modesty when you're around. Of course, you can handle having every woman in a five-mile radius, no matter who they are, spending their waking moments figuring out how to get into your jeans…"
Jason clapped his hands over his ears. "Enough, enough already! I'm going to have nightmares enough as it is…" He thought about his teachers, the old woman who sold him rice, the two mothers who watched their kids at the park outside their house…not to mention attracting the ire of every male at school.
"Ah, nice to see my boy's growing up. So, shark meat tomorrow?"
"Is it too late to ask to have it for dinner?"
Jason walked to school, feeling better than he had in weeks. Most of it was remembering Tessa's lips near his ear, but a good part of it was knowing that he wasn't going to have to worry about women throwing themselves at him. It was starting to get a bit creepy, there…and shark meat actually didn't taste half bad.
He was almost at the train depot when something occurred to him. If the Sinanju rhythms were causing women to like him, then that meant…
Oh no…no no no…that means Tessa was only interested in him because of those rhythms. Okay, calm down, Jason. After all, you did save her life, twice. She's still going to be interested.
Isn't she?
Suddenly, Jason wasn't as eager to go to school as he thought. He waited for the train to stop, then boarded, staying close to the door. As he did, he noted fifteen new people in the train and five who weren't there today. The train lurched slightly, then moved forward as it went on its way.
Jason turned and looked around. It didn't take much to spot the three men and two women who had knives on them. They moved too much, shifted places while most of the other commuters stood in place. He could also smell the oil they used to clean their weapons, both knives and guns.
Professional killers. Normal people couldn't smell the gun oil after they washed their hands, but to Jason, they might as well have bathed in the stuff an hour ago and washed their clothes in it.
Jason sighed, seeing the next stop come up. He was going to be late for class if he wasn't careful.
He stepped off the train and began to walk, careful, slow steps. He checked the map on the side, then walked off the platform, seeing the three men and one of the women leave the train. He chuckled, then moved past the pillars on the outer side of the depot.
By the time the assassins reached the exit to the depot and discovered that Jason wasn't there, the train was already pulling out again. Jason leaned back as he sat on the roof of the train, smiling broadly. Let's see. If the fifth person is an assassin, she'll be hearing about the snafu now. He waited patiently, then felt the vibrations as the fifth assassin climbed up on the roof from the rear of one of the cars. He stood up, turning to face her. "I'm on my way to school. Can't this wait until afterwards? At least then, I'll have an excuse to pass on homework."
The woman, dressed in a business jacket and skirt, drew her knife. The blade was a double-edged weapon, seven inches long and the blade's recent sharpening indicated it was her weapon of choice. She didn't speak, moving slowly towards Jason.
"Come on. You look far too young to be in this line of work. What are you, seventeen?"
She didn't answer. Five more steps and she would be in range to use the blade.
Jason sighed. "You know, my dad said something about this, about how kids my age don't talk any more. Come on, say something. Anything."
The assassin steadied herself. The train was now moving at just over fifty miles an hour, and she had to plant her feet so as not to be blown off, but Jason was just standing on the roof as if he was waiting for a train instead of perching precariously on top of one. "Fine, I'll do all the talking. Did you know this is the express route? Yes, I know what you're thinking. 'How does this piece of useless information affect me?' Well, it'll hit you in about ten seconds."
The assassin moved closer, her skirt whipping about in the wind. She looked at Jason coldly, focused upon him, waiting to see what his next move would be. As she watched, Jason moved…
…his head out of the way.
The assassin watched as the warning light fixture that sat over the tracks came right at her face. The lights were designed to show warning signs to the train's engineer in case the onboard systems didn't automatically compensate for trouble ahead on the tracks. However, the lights weren't lit at that moment because there were no obstructions on the tracks.
Well, none until the assassin's body landed on the tracks after her head was taken clean off by the force of the light fixture's impact.
Jason watched the body land, then bounce twice after hitting the ground. "Whoops. Guess I should've told her it'd hit her in seven seconds instead of ten." He turned around and sat down. "Maybe next time they'll send some people who know the difference between the Local and the Express routes."
Sousuke Sagara was not normally nervous. Well, not normally THAT nervous. Being around Kaname Chidori had its downsides. For one thing, she tended to over-react at every little thing.
Take today, for example. It was a simple operation: find out where Jason Williams was and make sure he was at his assigned post. The GPS bugs he'd placed on Jason's backpack, belt and shoes were supposed to make his position easy to locate. However, when the GPS bugs stayed in Jason's room all night and all day, Sousuke was beginning to think that Jason had abandoned his post.
Kaname had walked behind him, peering over his shoulder, joined shortly by Tessa. She'd asked him what they were looking at, and Sousuke had said plainly that he was keeping tabs on Jason. That had earned him a swat from Kaname's fan, hard enough to make Sousuke's forehead bounce off the keyboard of his laptop.
"Ow. Was that necessary?" he asked.
"You're bugging Jason? Have you lost your mind completely, or is a piece of it still rattling around in there?"
"Until I can verify his location, I need to attempt to locate his position."
"Try the doorway," came Jason's voice from behind them.
They all turned and watched as Jason came in and took his seat. He was wearing his school uniform, but his hair was ruffled slightly. Sousuke looked at him, then at the screen.
"Sorry, Sousuke, but I had to ditch the bugs. They were cramping my style. Oh yeah, Tessa, here's the English notes you asked for." He smiled. "Hope it helps."
Tessa smiled brightly. "Thank you!"
"Oh yeah, by the way, I wanted to invite you three over for dinner on Saturday. Weber and Mao are invited, too, if they want to come. My dad's going to be doing the cooking, and we can just get acquainted. Maybe watch a couple of movies. I got some real good ones," he added, trying not to sound too hopeful and failing profoundly.
Tessa beamed. "I think that is a wonderful idea! I shall see to it that everyone shall be there, and I'm sure the food will be nothing less than outstanding." Tessa bowed. "Saturday it is."
As the students left for the day on Friday, Jason found himself feeling oddly happy. After the first few meals of shark meat, he found that the general attitudes had shifted more towards normal. Some experimentation had revealed that he could reach a happy medium if he only ate six ounces of shark meat every week, women would neither seek him out nor, as he discovered once after eating almost twenty ounces in one day, actively dislike him. He was refreshed to find out that, despite his dietary additive, Tessa seemed just as interested in him as ever.
Jason found himself suppressing the urge to skip.
The only dark spot on the horizon was school activities. It wasn't like there was a lack of variety. Far from it. The high school had a large number of athletic and scholastic groups looking for members, and many were actively seeking Jason out. That wasn't really the problem. The problem was his choices on what to join were somewhat limited to artistic-themed groups, unless he wanted it to get out that he was from Sinanju.
And Jason wasn't exactly wild about art.
He thought about calligraphy, since he already knew how to write in many different languages and it would be something he could do easily. He stopped by the bicycle racks and smiled. Calligraphy it was.
"Jason!"
He stopped and turned, seeing Tessa and Kaname walking towards him. Before he could say anything, Tessa held up a filled-out application form. "Isn't it great? I'm going to be in the Fine Arts Club!" She smiled at Jason. "What club did you sign up for?"
"I hadn't decided yet," he said carefully.
"Then you should come join the Fine Arts Club with me. They really need people right now."
"Uh…"
"Come on, Jason! Please join the club?"
So much for the easy way. "Uhm…I'd love to, but I don't know how to paint or sketch or anything."
"Then you need this club so you can learn!" Tessa was practically bouncing up and down.
Kaname watched with a secret smile. Jason may have the advantage in martial arts, but he was no match for Tessa's persuasive technique.
Jason slumped his shoulders in defeat. "Okay, I'll…walk over and ask about the club."
Tessa giggled. She already knew Jason would be joining. So did Kaname. The only person who didn't know it was inevitable was Jason. "You should hurry, the applications should be in. Hey! You could do it now! We'll wait."
It was taking more and more effort for Kaname not to smile as Jason nodded, jogging lightly over to the Fine Arts Club Room. Game, set and match. "You really should be ashamed of yourself, Tessa. That was shameless."
"He'll thank me later. I think Jason needs a challenge. He's been so good at everything for so long, I think he forgot what it means to really try for something." Tessa smiled broadly. "I can't wait to see how he does!"
"Better hope the teacher doesn't decide that the class needs to start drawing nudes. He might fall for the model," Kaname teased.
Tessa glared at her friend. "That's mean! Jason would never do anything like that!"
"I dunno…you don't know about Jason, he might be a real pervert."
Tessa's mouth dropped open. "Well…well, what about Sousuke? What do you think he'll do if we get a nude model?"
"He'll probably take one look at her, privately look her over to see whether or not she'd be a 'combat asset' or something like that, and just draw." Kaname gave Tessa a sour look.
Tessa turned her back, then smiled and closed her eyes. "Or maybe he'll just think about seeing you like that…but you're right. He'd NEVER look at you like that."
Kaname growled, "What did you say?"
Of course, Sousuke chose that moment to walk up to them. "Captain, Miss Chidori," he said in a calm greeting, then saw their faces. "Is something wrong?"
Tessa turned and said cheerily, "We were just talking about…"
Kaname clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh, it's nothing, really. Just girl-talk." She chuckled nervously.
Sousuke raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh. Has Jason come out yet?"
"He'll be out in a few minutes. He's applying for the Fine Arts Club."
"Oh? Is that what he was doing? He might be a while, then."
"Why?" Kaname asked.
"As I understand it, there's a twenty-five year old model…"
"WHAT?" Tessa squeaked.
"Yes, and the model wasn't wearing any clothes. I hope Jason is comfortable with painting naked women."
As the two girls looked at each other, then sprinted off towards the Fine Arts Club, Sousuke allowed himself the smallest of smiles. Kaname will probably hit me with the fan later, but it was worth it. Wait until they get to the Club and find out that everyone was painting a still life of a model train from the year 1983, with a vanity painting on the side calling the model the "Lady Rose"…
The man who came to the neighborhood was a little strange. He was Caucasian, with no hair on his head. He wore a normal suit, with modest shoes, but wore no jewelry, not even a watch. His clothes were pressed, looking brand-new, but except for the slight bulge of a wallet in his back right pocket, it appeared as if he owned nothing at all except his clothes.
Despite that, however, the four thugs in the car thought that he might have something worth stealing. He was also American, but he was far from the hotels and well-guarded clubs that tourists visited. They drove up next to him and stopped the car, getting out and surrounding him. He looked at them in turn, not making a sound as two of them pulled out knives and one of them pulled out a length of chain. "Hey! Tourists don't come down here. You in the wrong place, gaijin."
The man turned to the leader of the group and greeted them in English. The leader of the gang knew enough of the foreign language from his time in school to understand the greeting, except he thought there was something wrong in the translation, as if the American wasn't sure of his own language. "If you don't know how to speak the local language, foreigner, then don't bother coming here!" he yelled, throwing a glass bottle at the man in the yellow suit.
The newcomer stopped again, turning to face the leader squarely. He replied back in stilted Japanese, "I am looking for someone."
"You already found someone." He got off his bike, a length of chain in his left hand as several other young men came out of the woodwork, some from the street, some from the pool hall and a couple from the alley itself. "But I think you should be grateful we let you come through here, so why don't you show your gratitude by giving us what's in your wallet?"
"You are acting in a threatening manner. You wish to take from me that which you neither earned nor politely asked to borrow. You are hostile. Since it is a common wish not to die, it is logical to think you do not wish to die, so it is likely you do not understand the threat that I represent. Common courtesy dictates that I warn you not to act in a threatening or hostile manner, or I will be forced to apply my survival protocols."
The leader stared at the man in the yellow suit, then started to laugh. The other members of the gang began to laugh derisively along with him, right up to the point where he pointed at the newcomer, laughter gone, his stance accusing. "I am Yushio! I am the Emperor of these streets! I lead the Wind Dragons without fear of police, who hide in their stations and tremble when they hear my engines!"
The newcomer looked around at the other men, each one a dropout or a bully from a fighting school around Japan. Yushio chose only the best of the worst, the meanest, strongest and least likely to show mercy, and all schooled in the use of different weapons. "I shall only warn you one more time. I am only looking for Chidori Kaname or Teletha Testarossa. I believe they will provide me the quality I seek to survive. If you know where either of these two are, I recommend sharing that information with me. If you do not, then I recommend you leave immediately."
Yushio laughed, trying to squeeze as much spite as he could into his next words. "Perhaps you will meet them in your next life. The first to bring me his wallet gets half."
The gang members smiled and, as one, charged towards the man in the yellow suit. As Yushio suspected, it was over quickly.
What he hadn't realized was HOW it would end.
The man in the yellow suit looked around at the alley. The young men were still all around them, but they were no longer a threat. Most were left broken, barely alive. The rest had tried to flee and paid for their cowardice with their lives. The local police would write it up as a despicable display of gang violence once the mess was discovered.
The blood dripped off his suit as if he was shedding a second skin. By the time the American walked out of the alley, he showed no sign whatsoever of being in a fight. A good thing, too. Police involvement would slow down the search.
As he walked down the street, a woman carrying groceries noticed him and smiled. "Hello, young man," she said politely.
The man in the yellow suit smiled in return and bowed his head slightly. "Hello is all right," said Mr. Gordons in return.
TO BE CONTINUED…