Disclaimer: Yes, I do not own Full Metal Panic. Though in my dreams, I'd like to pretend I do.
Summary: (Spoiler Warning) Her mouth stopped near his ear, and whispered ever so softly, much like the same way she did the last time Sousuke allowed her to cut his hair. "You can't protect me forever, Sousuke." (SousukeKaname)
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Save Me
Chapter 09 : Escape, Part II
By makka na yuki
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Catch me… so that I may let myself fall.
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A young brown-haired man entered the market, the place brimming with people moving about noisily. He adjusted the pack on his back, feeling uncomfortable under the heat of the midday sun. Sousuke would have preferred to wear a cloak so that people won't have to stare at his face, but such an attire would just be screaming "spy!" at anyone who would look closer.
His eyes darted from side to side, taking note of his comrades both hidden in the dark alleyways and mingling with the crowd. The large number of people in the area was to their advantage – no one would notice that many "strangers" have entered the town. Afterall, this area was somewhat at the edge of the country. Information stated that visitors did not come often, much less many visitors all at once. That was another thing that made the warehouses so suspicious – who would build a storage place somewhere so far off the map?
Someone who was trying to hide something, Sousuke thought.
The young sergeant moved forward, looking at the products being sold as if interested. He glances to the right a few feet way, and meets the eyes of a particular undercover agent. Don't do anything stupid again, you idiot boy, he could almost imagine her saying. It's amazing at how, with a fake male body on, Wraith could still mix well with the crowd.
Sousuke sighed. He was never good with people.
Kaname tried to teach me the proper ways, but… his mind wandered. He shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts.
He was stopped in his tracks by a loud booming voice, though with the noise of the marketplace, only the nearby people would have heard. "Well hello there young man, would you care to buy any of my produce?" an old bearded man asked while standing behind a table full of vegetables.
Sousuke tried to give his best smile – must be polite – before shaking his head and replying, "No, but thank you. I'm only looking around for the moment."
The old man laughed, "No problems there. Say, I don't think I've seen you in this part of town yet. You new here or something?"
"Yes" the brown-haired agent replied automatically, mentally reviewing the script he had memorized a few minutes ago, "I'm travelling with a couple of friends when we encountered this village. We'll be heading east tomorrow."
"That's too bad then," the old man frowned, "I best be seeing you later," he winked.
Sousuke grinned as well, "Alright. I promise to get back to your stall when I need vegetables anytime soon," The young agent bowed before walking away. Wraith fell into step beside him and inquired about the conversation.
"No problems here" Sousuke replied, almost irritated. Since his return from the long six-month mission, Wraith had always questioned his abilities during operations. True, he failed in protecting Kaname – wasn't he already doing his best to rectify that mistake, damn it – but that just encouraged him to work harder in saving her. If she wanted to be saved…
Wraith snorted at his tone, and walked away in silence. The brown-haired agent sighed before turning to the other direction to continue his mission. Neither noticed the grim look that replaced the smiling face of the old vendor just a few stalls away.
A man in a cloak appeared in the shadows right behind the vegetable stall. The old bearded vendor pretended to rearrange his vegetables as he whispered, "They have no idea that we're on to them. I did not expect Mithril's defenses to be this weak."
The cloak man's eyes narrowed, before laughing, "That's just like them to make this kind of mistake. That's the only reason why it was so easy to steal the little miss away."
"About her… I heard something went wrong in the base. What are our orders?"
The cloaked man looked around the other vendors in the area, counting the number of agents at his disposal. Almost everyone in this town is under their command - that was something the enemy failed to take note of. The Mithril soldiers have dug their own graves, but…
Gauron removed the hood covering his face, as he squinted towards the blue-haired girl only a few meters away.
"Do not interfere. The boss has a plan."
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Kaname pushed through the people in the populated marketplace, struggling to just keep her balance. Where did all these people come from? And why did it seem like everyone was staring at her?
The blue-haired girl shook her head. The crushing pain she experienced moments before in the enemy base had already disappeared, but the dizziness and nausea that it brought was still in effect. Add to that the heat of the sun… she simply couldn't trust any of her senses now. It was almost a miracle that she got out of the storage houses. The bombs she set off at the laboratory were not only meant to destroy all information related to the new experiment, it also successfully attracted all the attention away from her. All the time she spent memorizing the ups and downs of the base proved to her advantage as she easily exited the establishment.
Now, her only problem was how to get away.
She had to move before she starts to attract too much attention in the middle of the crowd – bumping into people already awarded her with glares and curses. Kaname had no idea which part of Japan – was she even still in the country? – that Amalgam brought her to. Sure, she was athletic, but that could not guarantee that she could survive travelling in the desert alone or swimming the ocean.
Damn it, Kaname cursed in her head. She was too caught up trying to think of ways to escape the building that she didn't really plan on what to do after that. She didn't even have time to steal a phone or any weapons on her way out. Maybe she should have allotted more time thinking things through, but the situation simply demanded that she get away now. She couldn't stomach the idea of attacking her friends anymore.
She was sure that all the exits would have been heavily guarded by now. Someone should have already noticed that she had disappeared from her room. The long-haired girl did not want to think about what would happen to her if she was caught again. Leonard was fairly civil with her, but after this…
Well, it was not the right time to think about these things.
She took another step forward, only to bump into another person again. Kaname tried to stop the curse from coming out of her mouth when she realized that the person she collided with had his large burly hand around her arm. She turns around, ready to fight off her attacker, and her eyes widened in surprise.
She never expected to be caught like this.
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Sousuke continued to walk around the town, having left the buzzing marketplace a few minutes ago. The number of people has dwindled to almost zero, except for the occasional drunkard or homeless sleeping at the side of the streets. The other houses in the village looked almost too old and deserted, as if people have not lived in them for years. But that's not possible, right? There should be no reason to be suspicious.
"She's dead" said a voice hiding behind the shadows of an alley. It was whispered almost too softly that anyone with an untrained hearing would have missed it.
But Sousuke was anything but untrained. No, he can't believe that. Not again. His thoughts were troubled, but he forced himself to concentrate. He immediately drew out his gun. They were caught, that was for sure. How many enemies were surrounding him now? Should he call for reinforcements?
A lone man wearing a cloak stepped out from the shadows and grinned at him.
If he was any lesser of a man, Sousuke would have fainted right then and there. How many times does he actually need to kill this person so that he will stay dead?
"Gauron" he said calmly.
The old terrorist laughed. "You seem to look fine, but I can almost imagine what's going on in your head again."
Sousuke almost growled at the insult. Of course he wasn't feeling well – he held on to every negative feeling that came his way after he rejected Kaname's offer to go back to Japan. If only he had the guts to throw his mission away back then, maybe all this would have been different. She wouldn't be in harm's way, and he wouldn't be struggling to find her.
"You're lying" the young agent replied. Gauron had lied to him before back in China. He won't be fooled for the second time.
Gauron laughed again, "Believe what you want then," he said before disappearing into the shadows. Sousuke ran after him, but found that the alleyway was deserted. In fact, he realized as he moved back to his original location, all the townspeople have disappeared. His comrades were also gone. Were they captured?
"Sergeant Sagara" a voice communicated in his earpiece. He almost forgot he was wearing one, "An order for retreat has been issued. Go back now"
What was happening? Why was the mission being aborted? Was Kaname truly dead?
The young agent ran back towards the designated place of departure. It seems he would be always left in the dark.
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What greeted him back in the Tuatha was something he never would've expected. Not that any of his expectations have been coming true these past few days…
Kaname's bright brown eyes stared back at him as they stood in front of the commander's door. Sousuke didn't have the time to ask questions when he was immediately led to the commanders waiting room. He was already dreading the worst, but now that he is sure that Kaname is back and alive, the young agent couldn't help but give out a sigh of relief. Wraith looked at him for a moment, before nodding to the secretary to inform the commander that they have arrived.
There was another problem at hand though. Kaname Chidori had clearly betrayed them. What would Mithril do? True, he did not have the obligation to protect the Whispered girl anymore, but he couldn't help but be worried about what punishment awaited the blue-haired girl. Will they go easy on her? Or will they torture her to get any information, just like what they have done to captured enemies?
It was the same situation back in the interrogation room all over again.
The door opened, and they were led inside. This was it. He was going to give her away to the agency, and they will lock her up for good. He couldn't, wouldn't do anything... trying to defend her would only endanger more lives. She betrayed their trust, his trust…
"Kaname Chidori, Commander," he said, voice not cracking. "A traitor"
The blue-haired girl only sighed at the last word. He just had to say that didn't he?
Kaname looked at Tessa, and the young Commander nodded her head.
The blue-haired girl fixed her form and saluted. Sousuke was surprised at the act, why was Chidori greeting like a soldier? He noticed Wraith was smiling sadly beside him. What was going on?
Tessa's voice broke through his confusion.
"Thank you. You've done a very good job… Kaname"
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Tell me… Would you have done everything to bring me back?
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Author's Note: Right, I should stop with all the notes at the end of the story and just focus on continuing the story. Ahem. The next chapter should prove to be interesting, ne? (insert wink here). lol. Tell me what you guys think. Any suggestions or clarifications are still very much welcome.
Many thanks to Langus for pointing out a typo.
