Replies for Reviews
SciFi Maker – Thanks! Just wait for it to happen...
Tsun – Thanks for that nice comment...
Whwsms – I supposed Yomikawa-sensei has too much pride for that, though, especially when drunk...
Mr. X – Sometimes, I tend to forget that Misaka's look older than she looks and as much as it sounded like it should be the job of a Mossad, I feel that the Sayeret Matkal would be much better. Oh and I have actually read that. It's actually a unique OC-centric story.
Fencer29 – He works well with everyone, though...
Rajarshi Sarkar – Mental Out would be useful in the future, I think. And sorry for the slow pacing.
Sergio644 - Thanks man...
"Ku-Kumokawa-senpai?!"
"Oh…so that's why none of you wanted to answer me properly, especially you Fukiyose…" She then gave of a Cheshire-like grin, which only scared Tanaka out, "It's been so long so how are you now, my cute little kouhai?"
"Uh…I'm fine…hehehe…" Kamijou Touma can only chuckle nervously as he found himself staring into the eyes of Kumokawa, who only grinned as she rests her chin into her two clasped hands. The former Beauty Senpai of a certain high school didn't say anything more but her smile sent both an aura of evilness and intimidation as it made the spiky haired young man stagger back in fear, almost falling into his butt in the process if Tanaka wasn't fast enough to catch their team leader, "H-Hey, captain, are you alright?" The rifleman of the team noticed that their captain was pale, "You looked like you're about to get sick…"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just surprised…" Kamijou recomposed himself just in time to be able to sit beside Kikuchi, who seemed to be more than pleasant to meet his student once again as gradually, every one of the SFG members had already sat down on the table.
"By the way, who the hell was that?" Machine gunner Abe Seijiro, codenamed Onyx, asked in curiosity as his eyes points towards Kumokawa, who seemed to pretend that everything is fine as she heartily chats and laughs with Fukiyose, who seemed to not enjoy her sudden appearance but is merely riding in with her
"Just a former senpai in my high school back in Academy City," Kamijou decided to start explaining before any misunderstanding can start happening, "I don't know what actually happened to her during my four years being in the NDA but I presume she found a job as a consultant in the Board of Directors."
"What, another Academy City nutjob?" Kurata can't help but wonder if their commander and his fellow students of the city of science are simply binded by fate to be always together at one place or it's just their commander's strange luck having a hand in all of these events, "Well, not like I would even want to know about it. Kikuchi-sensei, do you want barbeque? I'll cook for you..."
"I prefer boiled vegetables at this current age of mine..." The World War II veteran sighed as he watched all of the young SFG operators began to roast and grill meat just in front of him. I won't be surprised if none of them even reaches the age of fifty at this rate. He then noticed his former student silently tapping his rifle, as if he's not even in the mood to eat. "My son, it looks like you;re gloomy today. What happened?"
"Uh—huh...oh..." Due to a lot of things running into his mind, Kamijou didn't quite hear his former teacher calling out to him clearly, "I-I'm sorry, Kikuchi-sama if I didn't hear you the first time. I was thinking about a lot of things." He felt a bit embarrassed to ignore his former teacher from the past.
"I can see clearly that you do have a lot in your plate. I suggest that you all drink tea with me after dinner," Kikuchi patted his son-figure's shoulder, "I'm sure they have some stocks of sencha leaves there. By the way, has anything happened here while you are on tour?"
"Other than the fact that we got engaged in a brief firefight at the Golan Heights and we were forced to take on a rescue operation somewhere near the border of Lebanon and Israel, nothing much has really happened. The peacekeeping operations are being done by the regular JSDF infantry, making us like some sort of an ace up in the sleeve," Kamijou explains as he opens a can of beer and sips some, "While it's a bit lonely for us here, it was somehow eased up by the fact that I was reunited with my former high school classmates and colleagues by some strange miracle."
"Than that's good to hear. Basically reminds me of some of my friends back in the Imperial Army..." Kikuchi replied as he looked far away for a second, as if trying to reminiscence some memories, "But you know son...now that I think about it...I don't think you would be assigned here for no reason other than the fact that Japan would be engaged in a peacekeeping operation. But I heard that the other platoons of the SFG is also being deployes here in Iraq is quite surprising to hear..."
Upon hearing the words of the old man pierce his thoughts like a bullet crushing a man's tissues, Kamijou didn't know how to react as he stiffened in response.
"Are you not keeping out some detailed information?" The old man smiled, prompting Kamijou to only nod. But before the spiky haired man can reply verbally, Kikuchi raised his hand up and began to speak, "Whatever that is, I don't find any reason to dwell on it anymore since I'm no longer serving actively, be it on Japan's Imperial forces or in the present SFG. But if you wanted to learn tricks, then I can show you some after we eat."
By the time the war veteran had finished speaking, Kurata had already finished cooking the Yakiniku set while Fujima brought in freshy-cooked blanched vegetables for the elder statesman and together, they began to eat haertily. Kikuchi then began to tell the young SFG operators his own experiences in his time as well as some knowledge and wisdom in times of strife. All of those who are present in the table, particularly Kamijou, mentally jotted down what the old man is saying as the sounds of the beer head can be heard squeezing out to their cans.
"He's a what?" From another table near the place where the SFG are sitting down, Yomikawa Aiho can't believe any word that Dr. Himuro, who coincidentally passed by, that was present was saying as they all watched the men in green listen to the old man intently.
"Kikuchi-sama may not look like it at one glance since he had mellowed out as time passes but if you don't know, he's the famed "Yellow Death," Himuro explained as he sat down with Yomikawa and the nurses.
"Ye-Yellow Death? That's him?!" Yomikawa had heard about the legend of the Yellow Death of World War II although she didn't expect that she would be able to meet him personally—in flesh and blood, "You're kidding, right?"
"No, Yomikawa-san, I don't joke on matters like these," Himuro smiled rather warmly, "In fact, I heard from Kurata-san that it was Kikuchi-sensei who trained Kamijou-kun to be the sharpshooter that he is today. Basically, your former student in Academy City was taken under the tutelage of a war hero..."
"War hero? But you said he's from World War II. How can he possibly be even a hero if he's under from the IJN?" Fukiyose raised her eyes in slight curiosity, "In fact, they were the reason why Japan was—"
"Hold your horses there, young lady," Himuro cut her off, "I don't think what you'll be saying is right. Yes, that was Japan's darkest moment but just because it had a very violent and turbulent past doesn't mean that you can judge all of her past heroes as the bad guys. In fact, Kikuchi-sensei was one of the few former World War II veterans who got integrated into the then-fledgling JSDF due to his good record, a surprisingly rare trait among those who came from both the IJN and the IJA."
"Excuse me but what made him a legend?" Himegami asked.
"Let's see...he was just in his mid-teens when he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army and then to the Naval Landing Forces. He used a mere Arisaka rifle to kill more than 200 US Marines at the bloody battle of Okinawa. Interestingly, I doubt if he believes in the so-called Bushido code but whether that is a fact or not, it's not important. What I do think is that he just did what he had to do at that time..."
"So I guess it now makes sense why Kami-yan's gunhandling is abnormally sharp," Aogami added as he slurps his juice, "By the way, how did that old man in Kikuchi-san brought Kami-yan under his wings? Did Kami-yan seduced him or what?"
"Aogami, what you said is pretty much disturbing," Fukiyose was disgusted with the bluenette's choice of words as she lightly punches him in his head, "But I myself is curious too. How did Kamijou found a veteran to teach him?"
"Beats me. But he's from the NDA and Kikuchi-san is affiliated with the Veteran's Corps in the NDA. I think he must have seen the potential on Kamijou-san," Himuro pointed out as he then leaves the scene to attend to something.
The dinner then went ahead rather smoothly as Kumokawa continued to laugh and share stories with Yomikawa, who was getting more than irritated at the uncharacteristic liveliness that the former Beauty Senpai of a certain high school is showing. Interestingly, everytime she laughs, she kept glancing her head towards the direction where Kamijou is eating and drinking beer with his fellow SFG men. The spiky haired young man, though, was obviously keeping his liquor intake moderately as every minute, anything else can happen and they just have to be prepared for it. What made her attention even drew closer to the men in green is Kamijou obviously asking notes from the old man. I regret not even asking Kikuchi-san about my cute little kouhai. Kumokawa internally knew she had actually missed her chance on hindsight as she sees that the veteran is greatly respected among Kamijou's peers. But I guess that's why there are two words called surprise and circumstance. She hid a somewhat cute smile which was actually caught by Fukiyose, who suddenly began to again feel her mind getting snapped by the mere presence of one of the most hated people in her list. I got competition here. I have to be more careful... She creepily noted in her mind as she was close to nearly cutting her plate using only a knife and her fork.
Meanwhile, Misaka can't help but also observe the old veteran eating his vegetables as he seemed to be preaching the youngsters (as he sees them) in pure seriousness. What's the deal with this guy that everyone, even that idiot, seemed to listen and respect him that much? Listening to tidbits of the conversation from the table of the nurses on the other side, she quickly deduced that this old man was a World War II veteran, which actually made it even confusing for her. But according to our history professor in college, World War II Japanese veterans are all evil and do not deserve even some lenient treatment due to what happened in the past. Is there some truth to that? Or is it that whatever is being taught to us has been all wrong? She didn't know what to believe and was tempted to stand up and confront the old man herself when suddenly, someone else had already beat her to it.
"Sir, excuse me..." A JSDF patrolman cuts in between the dinner and quickly, he briskly walks closer to Kamijou and bends his body while he slung his Type 89 assault rifle behind his back, "I'm sorry to disrupt your lively discussion with Kikuchi-sensei but you needed to hear this immediately..." He then began to whisper into the ear of the spiky haired young man, who sensed the urgency written into the face of the sentry and he lent his ear.
It wasn't even five minutes into the hushed exchange that the face of Kamijou suddnely scrunched up.
"Oi, you serious about that?" The fists of the young man balled.
"I believe that the possibility of it is very large..." The sentinel replied while saluting to get the permission to leave his presence.
After the short exchange, Kamijou immediately drank his beer fast and he proceeded to stand up. "Kikuchi-sama, excuse me..." He politely said, "There is just this one subject that we need to talk to right now. Men, move out..."
At the voice of Kamijou ordering them to gather at another place, they all immediately stood up quietly and they all proceeded to the area where they all kept their M4 carbines bundled up and kept safely hidden. Suddenly, everyone who was either a nurse from Academy City or a non-SFG personnel present can feel the pressure and the tension suddenly rising in the air as Himegami even stopped chewing on her meat.
"Wh—what is happening?" Fukiyose asked aloud as the sounds of the M4 carbines being cocked was all heard in the air as she spots her former classmate began to check his pistol's magazine before he proceeded to pull back the slide of his H&K USP and modified M1911 pistols.
"Mission," Was all the spiky haired boy replied as the SFG operators quickly moved out of the mess hall. I do hope you don't torture anyone. Kikuchi sighed as ironically, he just thought of an advice that greatly contrasted to what they did back in the second world war.
After having excused themselves from dinner, Kamijou and the rest of the SFG platoon quickly hurried up to their interrogation chamber of their camp as the spiky haired young man kept a tight grip on his rifle while his heart was beating louder. So our guards had intercepted a man suspected of gunrunning? He thought to himself as the possibility that this would finally lead to their one main objective that he and Stiyl Magnus had shared together. By the way, where is he right now? Has he also achieved what he needs to do?
"Sir, some of the weapons that is found in the car of the guy is displayed just outside your quarters," One of the JSDF sentries reported to him, "We would have let him go if he wasn't suspiciously increasing the speed of the car..."
"In other words, he was trying to outrun all of you," Fujima sighed, not exactly surprised at the tactics and unconventional methods that some of the terrorist groups in the Middle East are employing, "Good thing that we have patrols and checkpoints leading to the road near the Blue Line..."
As soon as the men have entered the courtyard, the JSDF sentry then lead them to the area where they have exhibited for Kamijou to see. "Hmmmm…" The spiky haired man then used his flashlight to get a better view of the materiel that was confiscated from the man that their JSDF patrol had captured, "Let's see what we have here…AKs…fertilizers…packs of hydrogen peroxide…ammunition…" He then randomly picked up an AK-47 variant and he began to scrutinize its serial number and its sides, "The wood stocking looks quite old…" He began to speak, "And the serial number's got scratched horribly. But that aside, I think this thing can still fire. Can someone pick me up a magazine of this?" Kurata then spotted an AK mag and gave it to their team leader, who proceeded to cock it before he fired a few rounds in a nearby tree. Si reckless… The JSDF sentry can only sweatdrop.
"Judging by the location where we are now, it's possible that this rifle came from Syria," Kamijou explained, "After all, I have seen pictures of the Syrian Arab Army still wielding the Type 56 AK variant." A variant of the Soviet-designed AK-47 (specifically Type 3) and AKM rifles, the Chinese-made Type 56 was exported to many countries and guerrilla forces throughout the world. Many of these rifles found their way to battlefields in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East and were used alongside other Kalashnikov pattern weapons from both the Soviet Union as well the Warsaw Pact nations of Eastern Europe.
"It doesn't come as a surprise. A lot of Chinese-made weapons are readily available here in the region," Jin added as he particularly eyed a copy of the Soviet TT-30 pistol, "And that Type 54 pistol does look slick. I wonder if the Chinese actually sold to the FSA here or they were the captured ones from the government stocks…"
Kamijou put down the Type 56 and proceeded to check a DShK heavy machine gun, which is even complete with a tripod. A contemporary of the famous Browning .50 M2 machine gun, the Dushka, as it was dearly known from Russian-speaking places, is a Soviet heavy machine gun with a V-shaped "butterfly" trigger, firing the 12.7×108mm cartridge and was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armour-plate shield.
"It's probably Chinese-made too or the old Soviet model," Tsuchiya Tetsuo didn't fail to notice the distinctive the unique spider sighting mounted on the disks on top of the machine gun, "But either way, it's utilized against helicopters…"
"Should we report this to the Israelis or what?" Fujima asked Kamijou.
"Let's ask the guy first before we ask help from the IDF. I doubt they're willing to go on a sting operation that can politically put them in trouble," Kamijou gave his decision, "Well, whoever this lunatic guy is, we just have to ask him peacefully…"
"I doubt he would crack under pressure, though," Tanaka gave his honest reply as he lights up a cigarette to make himself warm under the cold nights of the Israeli winds, "I've read a lot of Jihadists that choose to not say anything or worse, they would detonate themselves with explosives…"
"Well…"
"Oiiiii!"
"What the—huh, Misaka?" Kamijou was flabbergasted to see the brunette Level Five, Index, and the blonde Mental Out all running towards where they are right now, "Hey, what are you doing here? Besides, this is—"
"Just shove off that SFG metaphor of yours and accept our help," Misaka stubbornly refused to listen to every word the spiky haired man says, "Didn't I say that I will help you in your new mission?"
"Yeah? But it doesn't mean anytime," Kamijou sighed as his fellow SFG operators began to whisper with one another, "And certainly not now. We're interrogating someone at this point." Plus, I don't think your electricity won't help as of the moment. If anything, it would only worsen our situation.
"But I can…" Misaka was about to rant again when out of the blue, Shokuhou Misaki decided to intervene, "Misaka-san, if it's just interrogating, then let me help him myself. I myself is enough for the job," She then faced Kamijou, who just looked at her like she just popped out of nowhere, "Hello, again, Kamijou-san…"
"Uh…hello…honey-scent girl…" The boy wasn't even sure of his own response as his uncertainty didn't fail to attract the attention of Kurata, who was a bit perplexed at this. Captain, you looked like you don't know her.
"I can tell if the man is lying or not. Just bring me to him," Shokuhou smiled sweetly while her eyes shone brightly, "I want to help you too…"
Kamijou saw both the determination and the desire of the honey-scented girl to help him. Something tells me she would make things much easier. She then looked at Misaka then at Fujima before speaking, "Fujima, Kurata, Tanaka, Jin, come with me. You also, honey-scented ojou-san. The rest, bring the materiel to the stock room and report it to the Israelis. Misaka…" He then sighed as he knew he would be giving her an assignment that is perfect for her, "Help Takato dispose the heavy explosives and chemical fertilizers by using your power. Index, since you're the most useless of all three of you, just stay here…"
"Touma!" Index roared in anger.
"Hey, that's unfa—" Misaka was about to complain but suddenly, Fujima cut her off by punching her head, "Ouch! Stop doing that!"
"Idiot. Stop complaining and help them out if you really want to help us," Fujima didn't even slightly care for the complaint of the Level Five Railgun, "Get yo ass up and start helping your Takato-senpai."
Kamijou quietly sat down in front of the small table as he faces a certain man with a beard that the young man has become too much familiar with in this harsh environment as well as a keffiyeh similar to the ones being worn by the Palestinians as a sign of solidarity and supports for Palestinian nationalism.
"I'll make this quick. What do you know about those shipments that you're about to smuggle?" Kamijou coolly asked as a JSDF interpreter was sitting in the other side of the table between the spiky haired young man and the man, who looks to be a typical middle-aged Arabic man.
The interpreter then began to speak in heavily-accented Arabic to the captured suspect and immediately, the bearded guy began to reply as calm as he could possibly show.
"Sir, he said that he had no idea what those crates are in the first place," The interpreter began to talk for the man, "He also said that he was only being paid to do it without knowledge of what he was delivering…"
"You don't know? Then can you explain why your pistol that we confiscated from you had gunpowder residue?" Kamijou pressed on, causing the Arab to somewhat fidget a bit although he was able to maintain his stoic posture, "It indicated that you got involved in a fight or something. Plus, our patrols said that you increased your speed the moment you made contact with the checkpoints available."
The man didn't say anything. In fact, he was so tightlipped that it was beginning to piss of Tanaka, whose normally long patience was beginning to thinly stretch and was tempting to actually shout at the man before Jin held him back, "Remember the protocol; we can't use even foul language against POWs or suspects."
Kamijou decided to change tactics, seeing that they weren't getting nowhere, "Brother, I'm curious for one thing. Where did you come from? Your direction indicates that you made a detour to a secluded and isolated pass in the Golan Heights from Syria or even Iraq but your black and white keffiyeh indicates that you're someone from the West Bank or even from the Gaza Strip," This time, the Arab frowned angrily, "Were you delivering some weapons to an arms dealer who is taking advantage of the perilous conditions of your countrymen?"
The Arab-speaking man then tersely responded and the interpreter then began to deliver what the man said, "Sir, he said that he has no idea what you are talking about and that you were speaking non-sense…"
Kamijou sighed, "This guy's a tough nut to crack. He—"
"Kamijou-san…"
"Uh…yeah?" Kamijou then turned to face Shokuhou, who is smiling warmly to her, "Don't be too tense, my prince. If possible, may I take things from here? With my power, I should be able to read his mind even if he stays tight-lipped the whole time…"
"I see, honey-scent girl. Then I guess there's no harm in letting you giving it a try," Kamijou then stood up and had the blonde Mental Out take his place, "I trust you. You can do it." She patted the head of Shokuhou, who nearly squealed in happiness but she kept it down. Take that, Misaka-san! She then faced the Arab-speaking man, who merely looked at her with a condescending expression. Shokuhou merely smiled as her starry eyes shone while she pulled out a remote control from her chain bag.
"You'd think this would work?" Fujima asked Kamijou.
"I have the feeling that she would be able to crack him," Their team leader shrugged but he was confident.
In just five minutes, Kamijou Touma proved to be right.
Shokuhou Misaki was giggling in victory as the Arab man, who was sweating profusely and shivering during the last 120 seconds, began to pant as he then confessed what the blonde had just read in his mind. "Cool, so she was able to crack him like Kamijou said?" Kurata was amazed as they all witnessed how the blonde was able to manipulate the Arab man into confessing, "She even knew the poor guy's family members. How did she do that?"
"Esper ability…" Kamijou replied briefly, "By the way, Chiba-san honey-scent girl, what did you extract from him?"
"He said that it's a place called Nablus…" Shokuhou replied.
Upon hearing what the girl had just extracted from the man's mind, the rest of those who are present just fell silent as they didn't expect it. Well, they did expect it from the two Palestinian territories but not this place.
"Hey, the IDF maintains a presence in Nablus, right?" Kurata asked in obvious confusion, "Surely, they would have…"
"No…" Thinking about it deeply made the young spiky haired boy realize something, "Whoever this guy is, he managed to make his transactions open without even getting detected and that's probably because the IDF only maintains presence in half of the area's place and the rest is controlled by the Palestinian National Authority."
"So these means…" Jin sighed, not really liking all of these at all.
"One, asking help from the Israelis would be a big gamble to themselves. Two, it won't be an easy battle to enter their place," Kamijou sighed as he looks at the Arab, who looked drenched in sweat despite being given refreshments, "But we have no choice."
He then clenches his fists.
"We'll have to plan and prepare for a surprise assault with the IDF…"
Kawasaki Satsuki was busy reading through some files sent to her by their mother unit back in Chiba.
"Nothing much is going on, though," The slim woman with long, black hair sighed as she kept herself busy. It was already late at night and she wondered what happened to her boys who were busy in their own tasks. The guys were supposed to be finished detonating explosives right now and Baby Boy…seemed to be having a hard time with that guy they have captured.
After sending a call to their counterparts in the IDF based in Northern Galilee about the interception of materiel, Kawasaki was forced to retire to her own office as she was preparing to meet again a representative from the Sayeret Matkal to hand over the remaining military equipment confiscated and the captured man, whom they promised better treatment in custody. "I needed some fresh air…."
But as soon as she got up and opened the door, she was surprised to see that someone's waiting for her at the entrance.
"Wha—Fukiyose-san…right?" She didn't know Fukiyose Seiri personally but she knew her name well enough to get baffled as to what she was doing here—and at her own quarters, of all places, "What are you doing here?"
The Forehead Deluxe looked at her like she was some kind of an alien before she sighed and said, "I heard you guys are gearing up for another fight."
"Yes. That's true. Why are you asking?"
"Because…casualties are much higher than at places like the West Bank," Fukiyose calmly explained, "If so, we would also be needed there as well for medicinal purposes…"
"Well, you're not wrong but…" Kawasaki didn't know where this conversation was leading to, "Do you have something else in your mind? I doubt you would just go here with that kind of reasoning…"
Fukiyose's lips turned straight in a subtle show of hesitation before she then spoke, "Aisa, told me what they were up against in West Bank. I wanted to be of help to Kamijou…so…"
"So…"
The next seven words would somehow make the Roseline of the SFG nearly close the door shut.
"Please, teach me how to hold a gun…"
"What?!"
