Hello everyone! I wanted to apologize for taking so long with this chapter. I've had performance reviews at work, and I can't goof-off properly with my boss walking around and watching my every move. So hopefully I will be able to update quicker after another week or so. Thanks again to all of the wonderful reviews, and those of you who read this, despite how out of character a few people may seem. I promise this is NOT a trend in my writing. Just this one. Anyway, hope you all enjoy it!

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Chapter 5

Summer time was nearing is apex, and Kaname couldn't restrain the excitement she had at this time of year. Summer meant hot beaches, cool ocean breezes, and creating sweet summer memories spent with a certain scruffy young man. Summer could promise all this and more right? Once again Kaname Chidori found herself to be more wrong than the first time around. 'Grrr! Why the hell can't I EVER have a normal summer!!' she thought as she re-secured the textured helmet strapped to her head. Once again she had not been paying attention as their group of friends planned a nice weekend outing before the weather became too cool. Now Kaname sat perched up on a tree branch, covered in a ghillie suit, radio transmitter in her ear, covered in a fine sheen of sweat, and paintball rifle in hand; all the time wondering who she should kill first! 'Anyone else would have learned the dangers of letting the otaku's plan a group outing! What the hell is my problem!? I mean, it's SUMMER! I should be at the beach in that white bikini, and enjoying every second I make Sousuke faint!'

Repositioning her paintball rifle, Kaname halfheartedly scanned the area for anyone with a red arm band. When they had arrived, each of them had been split up into two teams of red and blue. After having the owner go over proper safety with everyone, they were given maps displaying their flag posts and the location of various other bunkers they could use to their advantage. Once in the field, they had been given a ten minute head start in order to position themselves and plan a strategy. After they had all arrived at their flag post and started making up a strategy, Kyoko had asked how they would be able to make any plans if the other team had a map as well. It was then that Melissa explained that they had each received different maps, and with a devious grin, mentioned that they were the only ones with specialized receivers. In other words, Melissa planned to cheat so that her team would gain the upper hand over the boys. 'Sousuke, I swear if this grease paint messes with my complexion, I will skin you alive!!' Trying to find a more comfortable sitting position on the branch, Kaname at least had to admit that they had a pretty good team. The Red team had consisted of Ono-D, Sousuke, Shinji, and Ren. On the Blue team was Kyoko, Mizuki, Melissa (who had no classes to attend), and Kaname. Originally, they were going to have boys versus girls, but Kurz had to catch up on one of his assignments. So after some fast talking, Kaname was able to convince Mizuki to tag along. Once both teams had separated to configure a strategy, it was decided that Mizuki would be the lure, Melissa and Kyoko would be the point man and support fire, and Kaname would be the sniper. Originally, Kyoko had wanted to be the sniper; but Kaname had better vision, so Kyoko would be the support fire instead.

If there was anything that Kaname could be happy about, it was that since their talk on the roof, Sousuke seemed to relax again. Though until she got an answer it was pure torture, but Kaname had told him that she would wait for him to decide. Still, their general proximity seemed to be closing when in the same room. Kaname could almost swear that he was gradually moving closer with each day. So far the only proof she had was that on Friday during lunch with everyone, he'd actually bumped into her as they walked. Kaname had never known him to be one of those people who weaved in their walking patterns, so it had to have been deliberate. Although she could chuck it all up to coincidence, but that line of thinking would bring too many uncertainties, and thinking too long on those would only end up weakening her resolve. Before she could think anymore, she heard a light crackling of the radio in her earpiece activating. "Blue Jay this is Nemesis, do you copy, over."

'Blue Jay? Nemesis? God Melissa, could it get any more otaku than this?' she thought. Suddenly an old memory of Sousuke and Shinji dragging her and her friends to the Armslave Festival came to the front of her mind. 'I stand corrected. At least we didn't get dragged to some weird anime and mech convention this time!' Suddenly this situation didn't seem too bad. "Nemesis this is Blue Jay, I read you, over."

"How are you doing up there Kaname? Over."

"Fine and dandy Melissa! This was really how I wanted to spend my Saturday afternoon; over."

"But Kaname, that make-up looks exquisite on you." Kaname was close to making Pompeii look like nothing more than a small campfire at those words. Not to mention that the only victim would be the girl on the other end of the radio. Hearing a light chuckle from the other end only made her vision start to turn red. Kaname could almost see the leaves near her starting to curl from the imaginary flames. "I'm sorry Kaname; if you want I can give you some juicy gossip to make up for it? Over."

"This had better be good! Over!"

"Okay, okay. Well, if I have my Intel right, I think Sousuke should be asking you out soon. Over." And just like that, the wind had completely left her sails. Her heart skipped a beat as Melissa's words were processed within her racing mind. The very air seemed to be sucked from her lungs, and heir brain was racing with more ideas than she had ever experienced; not including her Whispered trances that is. Before she could start to form a coherent answer she heard her speak again. "Kaname? You still there girl? Over."

"Ah! No, I mean, Yes, I…I-I mean yeah Mel. I'm fine, but are you… are you sure? Over."

"Trust me Kaname. He told me about the talk you guys had at school, and I gotta say I'm impressed. Really, kudos Kaname; I've never seen him flip out over a girl before. Over." Still feeling unbelievably giddy, she could barely contain the feelings in her as she sat there, perched on the thickest branch of the tree. Letting out a small squeak of a laugh, she pressed on the receiver again.

"Really Mel? You're not just messing around again are you? Over."

"No way; I only mess with Kurz's head Kaname. And I'm serious, he's only ever had one girlfriend before, and even then he wasn't really into it. But that was only because they were way too different to begin with."

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah, she was smitten from the first time she'd met him, but you could tell his heart just wasn't in it. She took things really hard when he broke up with her; poor girl still hopes that he'll change his mind and ask her back out again, but I wouldn't worry about that." Kaname had to sit a moment to think about the new information she'd been told. On the one hand, she was happy that he had been able to recognize dating for what it was. A momentary image of the two of them having dinner as she reached through the bars of a cage came to mind. 'Yeah well, I'm pretty sure this Sousuke knows what flirting is. God knows the beating he'd get would be apocalyptic in scale if he ever tried any of those "girl hunting" tactics on me!' she thought. Even so, once she would have gotten over the initial urge to kill him, just knowing what exactly it was that he was trying to do would have probably made her very happy. Although, on the other hand, she couldn't help but wonder about the other subject Melissa had mentioned. 'If he's had a girlfriend before, I wonder how far they got before they broke up,' she thought. 'Anyway, that's all water under the bridge. He's in my sights now, and if anyone else wants a shot, they'll have to go through me to get it!' Feeling more relaxed than she had in the last week, Kaname could feel the knots in her shoulders begin to dissipate.

"Thanks for all that Melissa. Even if he wanted to keep it secret, I really needed to hear that right now."

"Sure thing Kaname," she replied. The faint sound of Mizuki's overzealous yelling brought them back to the current situation they were in. Not to mention it was somewhat difficult not to hear Mizuki complaining at the top of her lungs that no boy would be able to find her cute if she was caught wearing the camouflage suit, Kevlar helmet, and utility vest she had strapped to her.

"Remind me how the hell she agreed to come on this trip again?"

"I told her that hot guys liked girls with adventurous attitudes."

"Nice one, I'll be sure to send flowers to your funeral when she figures out the truth." Kaname couldn't help but laugh at that. First was due to the notion that Mizuki could actually do her any physical damage, second was that all it would take for her to be off the hook was for a decently good-looking guy to notice Mizuki before she found out anything. On both accounts, Kaname would get off scot-free, so she wasn't fazed in the least. Feeling better than she had in the last week, Kaname decided to just let things slide, and indulged in a little otaku nature herself. 'As long as it's the right time and place, it should be okay,' she though. A broad smile was plastered on her face as she lined up her scope and positioned the rifle; taking a calming breath Kaname touched the earpiece once more.

"This is Blue Jay to all units, enemies approaching from the north. Prepare for ambush; over!" Kaname could feel the anticipation burning within her as they relayed their final messages over the radio.

"Roger that Blue Jay! All right, you girls ready for this?"

"Any time!"

"Any Place!"

"Alright! Time to show these guys what we're made of!" Through her scope, Kaname could see Sousuke and Ono-D leading the chase, with Shinji pulling up behind. With a laugh that could inspire fear in her opponents, Melissa didn't bother to keep quiet as the ambush of girls made their jump on the boys' rebel faction. "Rock and Roll!"

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Smiles were plastered onto just about every female face at the table; the large umbrella overhead swaying in the light afternoon breeze. Melissa's tactics had worked almost flawlessly, and at the moment, Sousuke, Ono-D, and Shinji could almost be confused with walking abstract paintings. All three boys had been focusing on capturing Mizuki and using her as bait, but instead had walked right into a den of lionesses. Wave after wave of multicolored paintballs had come at them faster than they could react, painting them in brilliant Technicolor splotches.

After the initial assault, the girl's team rushed out to celebrate their victory, forgetting that Ren had not yet been located. She had taken up an ideal hiding spot under thick brush, the spot itself resembling a large foxhole. Taking her four shots, she hit each of the other girls, and was deemed the winner. She now sat with the others at the large outdoor table with a cup f tea and a smile that just screamed of her accomplishment. Taking a small sip of her tea, Ren smiled back at her friends and commented, "Well that was quite fun. We really should do this again soon." While all the girls had agreed with Ren, the boys just grunted in acknowledgement. They were still sore at being absolutely decimated in a tactical situation by a bunch of girls, thankfully though, everyone knew they would get over it fairly quickly. They just needed their time to brood, and then they would come around.

After everyone had the chance to clean-up and change back into regular clothes, things seemed to relax a little more. The Paintball field and their activity center had some shared land with the Jindaiji Temple, so the group decided to hang around the area a while longer and grab some snacks at the small food stands that littered the walkways. A few stands had set up games of chance, and after a while, everyone had won a small prize. Ren had a small wind chime with a good luck charm attached, Kyoko and Ono-D had won tiger plushies, Shinji was now the proud owner of a Gundam mask, and Melissa and Kaname had both won a new goldfish. Sousuke had wandered off while they had been cheering on Kyoko and Ono-D, and when they asked where he went, he had mentioned something about seeing a good snack stand. Kaname was quick to notice that Sousuke had no snacks with him, but kept quiet after deciding to see if it would eventually come up.

The sun had been down for at least three hours before everyone decided to call it a night. Being the generous soul that she was, Ren offered to have her driver take everyone else home as well. While Ono-D, Shinji, and Melissa accepted the offer, Kaname and Kyoko just needed a ride to the station. Sousuke decided to follow the two girls, as they lived in the same direction, and make sure they got home alright. After one final round of goodbyes, and the hilarious sight of Sousuke being nearly choked to death by Melissa and her fierce bear hug, they finally split up to go home.

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The ride on the train was quiet and uneventful, as most of the business men and teenagers had already come through for the time being. When it came time for Kyoko to get off, both Kaname and Sousuke offered to walk home with her, but with a devious glint in her eye that only Kaname was able to notice, she said that she would be able to make it on her own from there. Not for the first time since they'd met, Kaname had to admit, Kyoko could be an expert at creating situations of all kinds. Armed with only a friend's expression and a discovered situation, Kyoko would probably be able to guess everything and be able to make more happen with just a question than anyone ever could. The enigma of it all was that she was able to do all of this and more, while retaining that sweet and innocent look on her face. 'Someday she'll have to teach me her secret,' she thought. Taking a glance up at the boy standing in front of her, Kaname couldn't help but notice that he looked nervous again. Determined to put a stop to that, she spoke up to break the ice. "Hey, why so quiet Sousuke? Didn't you have fun today?" Kaname had to force herself not to laugh at the slightly panicked look on his face. After briefly making his impression of a fish out of water, he stumbled out an answer.

"Uh, o-of course I did C-Chidori. Although I would have to agree with Ono-D; there will need to be a rematch. Then maybe we can all play with equal equipment." A small giggle escaped her before she could keep it down. He looked like a child when he pouted.

"Oh come on Sousuke, don't get all butt-hurt about it. The guys had all played before, and the only one on our team with any experience was Melissa. We needed the edge."

"You still cheated."

"I never said we didn't," she replied. It was hard to continue when his face completely showed that her last statement had taken away his thunder. "But since we had fun anyway, we'll be more likely to do it again. Isn't that how it works?"

"I guess so. I would try to dispute this further, but something tells me that regardless of my argument, you would probably just win by default."

"Default?"

"Yes. Either I would get tired of being told I was wrong, or you could end it with your halisen. Either way, I lose."

"I'm noticing a pattern with today. Maybe it's good that we're heading home then, wouldn't want you to lose at anything else." Even though the mood had definitely lifted, she could see something was still swimming in those silvered depths. 'If he doesn't say anything about it by the time we get to my building, I'm gonna bring it up. I wonder if it still has anything to do with our talk last week?' The remainder of the train ride was filled by light chatter regarding their history assignment, which was scheduled to be presented to the class on Wednesday. Kaname had to admit, she was impressed. From the sound of it, Sousuke had done everything she'd told him and more for the project. He'd even found a copy of the Treaty of Kanagawa, and had highlighted sections to draw more from during the presentation.

On the walk toward her apartment building, Kaname noticed he now carried his rattan in his right hand. 'Now just where the heck did those come from?' she thought. "Um, Sousuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Just where were you hiding those? I didn't even think you had them with you today." Pointing to the twin sticks propped on his shoulder, he shrugged before answering.

"I thought it would be safer this way, especially since there was no guarantee we would be heading home before dark. Don't you have any sort of defense with you?"

"Uh, no. Weapons are kind of frowned upon here Sousuke. You did know that right?"

"Whether or not they are frowned upon, it's always good to have something with you for self defense. Maybe you should look into getting some pepper spray, or a Taser." Kaname froze; unable to stop the flow of horrible memories that now rushed into the forefront of her mind. Images of Yui Lan, Wraith, and Leonard on a wet and rainy rooftop assaulted her. The memory bringing with it a feeling of despair and absolute loneliness, feelings that were only present once she had realized that the young man she loved and trusted the most had been taken from her. Still frozen by the distant thoughts of a world of long ago, Kaname didn't realize that she now had tears streaking down her face in rivers. But just like back then, one thought in particular was able to cut through and bring light back into the dark memory. 'You cannot afford to have mercy in a situation like that; remaining idle in front of your attacker is not a wise decision.' And just like that, the memories of her terrible night began to clear, bringing with them the one she had held dearest to her until the end. 'I will definitely come for you Chidori...I love you.' Finally able to come out of the crippling nightmare of her mind, Kaname's eye focused once more to find Sousuke looking very worried.

"Chidori, what's wrong? Did I say something I shouldn't have? What happened?" The tears beginning to slow, Kaname just stared back in amazement. The same face that had given everything he had for her, stared back. 'Everything is different now, but, it feels the same as it ever has,' she thought. 'He still gets flustered when he's not sure what made me cry. He still protects me, and he's…' A fresh wave of tears spilled over again before they finally started to dry. Kaname wasn't sure if she could discern all of the emotions that hung heavily near her heart, but they felt familiar, and she knew exactly why. She'd felt this way many times before, long before she was able to admit anything to him. She'd held these feelings trapped inside her from the moment she realized he was still with her after the hijacking in North Korea. After losing everything to the TAROS, finding the strength to keep going without him, finding him again within a new world not wracked with war, and finding that she still felt exactly as she had when he had walked through that hospital door. 'He may be different now, but I still love him so much,' she thought. 'He gave everything he was for me, and even if we failed the first time, I still waited.' "Chidori, I'm sorry okay? What did I do!?"

'He's still my friend…and he still came back to me.' Sniffling and raising a hand to wipe the partially dried tears from her face, Kaname managed to put a smile back on her face. "Sorry for worrying you Sousuke, you didn't do anything wrong."

"Are you sure? You looked like someone who saw the end of the world or something. You're positive I didn't say anything to hurt you? Cause I'm sorry if I did okay?"

"No it's alright Sousuke. You just reminded me of someone special. Someone I held very dear to me, but…" Turning her gaze to the stars, Kaname thanked any gods that were listening, that she was able to keep her promise to him. A final tear made it way down her face before she whipped it away by her jawline.

"Someone special…like your boyfriend or something?" Noticing that he sounded a bit despondent at the thought, she turned back to look him in the eye.

"No, but he wanted to be. I wanted to be with him too, but a while back, he got in an accident." Taking a deep breath, Kaname decided to throw caution to the wind, and tell him about their former life; albeit highly edited of course. She didn't want him to think she was nuts or anything. "He was a soldier, and we were friends for a long time. I loved him very much, but another guy was jealous of him. He tried to take me away from him, but he always came for me. Then, while the other guy was trying to keep him from me again, there was an accident. We never had a chance to be together like we wanted." Kaname took a moment to brush some loose hair from her face before continuing. "Anyway, he would always lecture me on the need to carry self defense weapons too. You just sounded so much like him then, it just brought back some old memories. That's all."

"Sorry."

"It's alright Sousuke, how could you have known? Anyway, would you mind not saying anything to anyone at school? I don't want them to worry about me; especially over something they can't change." J.R.R. Tolkien once claimed in his 1955 essay 'English and Welsh' that the most beautiful words in the English language were 'Cellar Door'. However, in the world that revolved around Kaname Chidori, she would dispute that the most beautiful words in any language could only ever be spoken by the young man in front of her. With a small grin of understanding, and the gleam of softened grey eyes, she was able to hear these words once more.

"It's not a problem."

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The remainder of the walk to Maison K had been very quiet, but emanated with a new feeling of calm. Kaname had gotten a lot off of her shoulders, and even with her regret, she was feeling better than she had in almost a month. Once reaching the apartment grounds, she reached in her purse to get the key for the main entrance. Sousuke had offered a few blocks back to make sure she made it to her door, since it was a simple task for thieves and burglars to pick locks. Once they had exited the elevator and made the short walk to her door, Kaname decided to test her boldness once more. So far she had reaped nothing but good fortune when she took chances with Sousuke, so why not try again? With half a turn from her door, she glanced up into his deep grey eyes. "I-It's still early; did you want a drink before heading home?"

A large blush spread over his face in less than a second, and as solemn as she had been earlier, Kaname had to contain the urge to laugh at the familiar sight of his face frozen in shock and embarrassment. After a moment of silence, he finally found the strength to speak once more. "Uh, t-thank you but, I really s-should get home. Y-You know, to put the finishing touches on our assignment."

"Oh, alright then. So I'll see you on Monday right?" Receiving a few rapid nods of agreement, she stepped through the door and turned to say good night. Before she could though, his hand came up to hold something in front of her face. A small pink cloth pouch with blue and silver ribbon sat quietly in his palm. Looking back at him, she couldn't help but be surprised. "Sousuke? What's this?"

"Uh, it's…well, i-it's a t-thank you."

"A thank you? For what?"

"For telling me what you did, you know, at school. And, for helping me on the assignment. And, well…"

"What?"

"F-For letting me figure things out. For giving me space instead of smothering me until I gave you an answer. Uh…"

"Sousuke?" The blush had come back full force; his collar had also started showing signs of sweat. "Was there something else?" She asked as she took the small package. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before looking back at her. Briefly, he nodded before a hand rushed to rub the back of his head.

"Y-Yes. It's also an apology."

"An apology? But I told you, you didn't do anything wrong."

"N-no! Not for that; its, uh…it's for this." The next thing she knew, he had pressed a firm kiss to her lips. Her eyes still wide from shock, she felt him start to pull away slowly, until she put a gentle hand on his shoulder to stop him. Her eyes drifted closed to enjoy the moment, and reveling in the feel of his lips on hers. After a few seconds of searing contact, they finally parted, his rattan clacking together when his hand clenched around them. The hand that had been on his shoulder brushed along his jaw as he straightened up once more. The effect of their brief contact left them both with heavily lidded eyes, the moonlight from outside painting his in deep silver. Kaname smiled as he stood back up, still oblivious to the hand that now rested near his collar bone. Deciding to test the new waters he'd dove into, Kaname spoke again.

"So, why would that need an apology Sousuke?" Kaname didn't think she'd ever seen his expression so relaxed before. His eyes still partially lidded, with a lopsided smile and half a shrug, a light chuckle escaped him.

"I don't know." Neither would have been able to tell if they had stood outside her door another few minutes or if it had been hours. Enraptured with the depths of the others gaze, time seemed to stand still for them. But as all good things must come to an end, the distant yowl of a neighborhood cat broke the spell; releasing the two teenagers from their captivity. Shifting his backpack and switching the hand that held his rattan, Sousuke was the first to speak once more. "I, guess I should be getting back now." A light smile came to Kaname's face as she started to bring her hand back from him, until his hand lightly took hold of her wrist. Still letting her hand fall in its descent, she found him eventually grasping her hand.

"Hm, yeah. It is getting late, isn't it?" Glancing down at their hands, a callous thumb ran over the top of hers before letting go completely. Meeting his eyes once more in the dim light, Kaname felt her smile widen a bit. "So, I'll see you Monday morning then?"

A warm smile greeted her from the shadows as he nodded his response. Reaching back up to cup her face with is free hand; he dared one last kiss before turning and walking down the dimly lit hallway. Kaname watched as his form disappeared down the stairs and out of sight before turning to secure her front door. Once inside, she reached up to lightly touch her lips at the recent memory. A warm smile stayed on her face the rest of the evening as she watched one of her favorite Stallone movies and then went to bed. Thankfully, she drifted off to sleep much easier that night. Even while in deep sleep, the smile was still present on her face.