A/N:
The chapter remains generally the same, with an embellishment here and there.
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"Over here, sweetie!"
The tattooed woman with the crooked smile waved to Kaname. The other two 'ladies' flanking her laughed and made obscene gestures.
One woman gave off the impression of a tattoed shark… a Great White, given her size. The other two made Kaname think of mangey hyenas… talking ones, even worse than the villains in Disney's 'The Lion King.'
"Kaname… I'm scared." Kyouko stood close by her companion. So did Maya, Ryo, and Mizuki.
"I know, Ky." Kaname tried her hardest to ignore the boisterous and bad-mouther woman. But, in their holding cell, there was preciously little free space, and strangers outnumbered friends. "Me too. But I'm sure that things will be straightened out quickly."
The blue-haired girl took a deep breath and held it, letting it out when she felt she was on a more even keel. She was Kaname Chidori. She had the great burden of being Whispered, born with a great target on her back. If she could survive encounters with Gauron and the like, she could keep her composure in front of this riff raff.
She had to be strong for her friends.
"Right!" Maya said. "Just like you were sure that your plan would work."
"Yeh! About that! Sousuke wasn't caught. We were caught." Ryo hugged her arms around her knees. The looks that some of the other women turned on her gave her the creeps.
"How was I supposed to know that someone would get an itchy finger-" Kaname began, feeling angst and anger at the same time. "-Decide to dial 110… and call in the police?" She frowned, twirling her lengthy hair tighter and tighter around a finger. "It's not as if they put us in with guys, you know." She swallowed hard. Her stone-like composure cracked some. She suddenly felt less confident than she sounded. There was no pretty and pristine holding cell just for pampered princesses. She and her friends were mixed in with prostitutes, gang members, forgers and fixers, drunken housewives, and attempted murderers.
"Oh… I guess I kind of worried about what people might do-" Mizuki's need to say 'I told you so' temporarily removed her from her fearful stasis. '-I mean… after the whole mob left the high school grounds and started running through the city streets-" She shrank back against a wall. One woman was talking to herself. The things that she left the young girl weak in the knees. "-With S… S-Sousuke running loose." She shivered for another reason. By the end of the escapade, there had been whirly birds overhead, and she was certain that she had caught a glimpse of at least one truck belonging to the local news.
"Damn that Sousuke!" Kaname shouted louder than she should have. Some of the criminal sort in the cell chuckled. "Why couldn't he have just allowed himself to get caught? Big jerk!" Some of the other incarcerated unfortunates looked on in wonder. How often does one get to see a girl with hair that blue, and a frightening face that red? "They should suspend him for leaving school grounds. No, expel him!" She fell a polar wind blow all over body. She didn't want to think what the school might end up doing to her and the girls.
"This Sousuke. You want him taken out?" A woman with a toothpick in her mouth grinned. Was that curiosity, of the prelude to an offer? "That's why you're here, huh? Word is you put a hit out on him."
Kaname just shook her head.
That hadn't been her intention, of course. Not even now, with the shame and indignation she was feeling. But, there were people who had seen and heard things that made them imagine they were watching a contract killing unfold in real life, and not some fiction on their TV screens. At least one person had done what he or she thought was their civic duty. It was amazing that they didn't all retreat to the safety of their own homes… lock the doors… and hide under their pillows.
Should she be impressed?
At first, there was a group of people complaining that a blue-haired girl and her friends had incited a riot. But, there had been at least one individual who had caught wind of an offer… was it six million yen?... for anyone who took down a certain boy. They thought the boy might be involved with running numbers or illegal sports betting, as everyone in the mob kept talking about a book. a book. And of course, many were worried about more than the mob. They were worried about the Mob… Yakusa…. even if this really wasn't their style.
It hadn't helped matter when an irate Kaname took offense at the babbling onlookers and shouted "It's six thousand, not six million. I wish I had six million!"
"When I catch up with him, I'm going to knock his block off!" Kaname clenched her fists. None of the officers had wanted to listen to her earlier, because she was just a girl. It was nothing she should be surprised about. Most male officers overlook any complaints by women about 'chikans'… the men who touch women on trains. They also didn't want to listen to her as the accused. "He's not long for this world"
"Hah. You go girl!" One scarred woman gave Kaname a thumbs up.
"Maybe we'll room together some day," a hirsute woman said. "Who needs men, anyway? I'll look for you in prison."
"May I offer some advice, young lady." A simple looking matronly woman asked. She had correctly interpreted Kaname's anger as being directed to a suitor or sweetheart. "Anger in a relationship never helps anything-"
"That-" Kaname felt her fury subsiding some. It was nice that there was someone with calm demeanor here with them. "Thank you." She felt a bit safer, around a kindly older woman.
There was no sense of emotion in woman's face. She hadn't finished with her advice. "-It keeps the man on guard, and it distracts from the fun part." She was a notorious black widow.
"Mam," Kaname said, smiling. She thought that 'fun part' meant sexplay, not the ultimate act in a homicide.
"-" A number of the predatory types in the cell backed away from Kaname now, thinking that birds of a feather flock together. They all knew about the kindly serial killer.
"Oh… and sometimes…." The woman added. "… It's fun to capture it on camera."
Kaname pinked up. So did Maya, Ryo, and Mizujki, all who had been eavesdropping. They were feeling somewhat better, now that things weren't so claustrophobic and their cellmates were quiet… almost too quiet.
"Sex tape," Ryo whispered. There was always some hubbub about celebrities and their unwise choices, filling chat rooms and covering the front of tabloids. "What would she call it, I wonder…."
"Love and Splendor in the Minefield," Maya offered.
"Bad Girls on the Battlefield," Ryo chipped in.
"Give Her the Gun," Mizuki said.
"We have a winner," Ryo said, slapping Mizuki on the back.
"Hey!" Kaname had seen her friends huddled together. That wasn't a defensive maneuver… they had been giggling! She saw that slap on the back. And she felt left out. "What are you guys talking about?"
Maya, Ryo, and Mizuki looked like the three famous monkeys… one with hands over mouth… one with hands over eyes… and one with hands over ears.
"Oh Kaname," Kyouko said in her usual fashion.
"Whatever," Kaname said in a huff, after she continued to be ignored. She sighed. She wished that the police with simply ignore her. At least they probably would pay little attention to her friends, as their stories would held up.
She might be a very different story.
During the Great Chase through streets and alleys, policemen on bicycles had rushed in from the local koban… the city version of the small 'police box' station. They had called in their findings, not long after they had leaned their bikes against the Jindai High school fence. Those uniformed patrol officers, whose jobs involved crime prevention and collation of local information, routed an inquiry to the nearest large station. Police cars were sent out soon thereafter.
The name name 'Kaname Chidori' had showed up in the data base. Apparently, that name had come up in the past, in association with a clan war between the Mikihara and Ryuujinkai familes. While the report claimed that the girl had been a captive, any connection with the Yakusa would be taken seriously.
Things were not always as they might seem.
The case had quickly been taken from the jurisdiction of the Community Police Affairs and handed over to the Organized Crime Control Section. They were serious actors, not rent-a-cops. But, then again, they were kindergarteners compared to Mithril.
Mithril!
What about Mithril?
Would someone in the organization make certain she was set free? Would they scrub her record clean, the way that they always did for some melancholy misfit? She froze. Might this incident, televised as it was, be the straw that broke the camel's back? Might Mithril send someone else to take Sousuke's place by her side. She didn't want that, did she? None of the recent mishaps had changed her heart, had they?
Was that rumbling in her stomach acid indigestion… or was it the beginning of doubts…. Either way, this was not the place or the time to start thinking serious thoughts about her love life.
"They have to let us go soon, right?" Maya asked. "I mean… It's not as if we're really boryokudan or something."
The word 'boryokudan' meant 'violence groups'. More specifically, the word 'Yakusa' came from the Japanese card game Oicho-Kabu. Imagine a hand with an eight, a nine, and a three. These three numbers are called Ya, Ku, and Sa, so a good translation is 'useless hand'.
"How could anyone believe that were hitmen or something?" Mizuki was biting her fingernails. What was she going to tell her parents?
"We're high school girls," Ryo said, shivering. "The worst thing I ever did was hand a book report in late." And she had been grounded for that little lapse!
"All I did was write some graffiti… on the Boys' Room wall." Mizuki scowled when Kaname gave her 'that' look. She stuck out her tongue.
"We all know that story." Ryo managed a grin. "That's the one where Sousuke flushed Shirai's head down the toilet, wasn't it?"
"And you ran into the Boy's Room shouting 'Shirai darling'," Maya added.
"Don't forget the whole fake date thing that Kaname told us about," Ryo said. Looking like a Cheshire Cat, she did a stage whisper: "And… that… kiss."
"HEY! THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME!" Mizuki shouted, becoming even more upset.
"It could be if you like, honey." One of the unsavory women winked at the irate teenager. After that, Mizuki was resigned to be quieter than a mouse.
Kaname leaned her forehead up against the cell wall. The coolness held soothe her some, until she quickly recoiled.
Who or what might have been pressed against that same wall?!
Focusing on a slight sound she had been unable to hear before, she looked out though the bars of the cell. At just the right angle, she could see into the area where the police officers worked. They had a wall-mounted television, and it was on. She bit her lips. The news channel was showing footage from 'The Great Gym Class Debacle.' She couldn't make out what the reporter was saying. It was just as well. Both gym teachers, looking severely chastened, appeared on the screen. Great. Everyone's a winner!
The events of the day ran through her head. She was filled with regrets and recriminations. She should have known that the mention of money might have set things off in some crazy way. But, it had been more than mere money that motivated that motley mob. It had been like herd instinct. Many of the 'bounty hunters' remembered the time that they had chased Sousuke down, at the tail end of the Full Monty Incident. That memory, combined with the cash prizes, had been like a dozens of matches thrown on a swimming pool filled with kerosene.
Jindai High School students in gym shirts and shorts had been everywhere… streaking down sidewalks shouting… leaping over hedges and street benches, arms akimbo… frightening old women and their dogs…. knocking a Shinto priest down through an open manhole.
It had all resembled something out of a cheesy disaster movie.
Somehow, Sousuke had pulled his Houdini act again. The famous Hungarian-born magician, escapologist, and stunt performer could have learned a thing or two from that otaku idiot. Houdini used to get himself out of straitjackets. Kaname would give everything that she owned to see a certain young soldier strapped up in one. "Moron," she whispered. "Look what you did this time."
Not too much later, the Jindai girls could hear the jangling of keys. A number of officers showed up, including a policewoman. They approached the bars and called out the five girls' names. They scrambled to make their way out of the cell, serenaded by the remaining hardcore criminals.
"Miss Chidori, you need to come with me." The policewoman pointed to a small interrogation room. "You other girls follow the officers. You are free to go. Let this be a lesson to you."
"Ka-na-may." Kyouko looked torn.
"It's OK, Ky. Go ahead home. I'll be fine." She nodded to Maya, Ryo, and Mizuki.
"This way please," the policewoman said. Her tag name read 'Kobayakawa'. "I'd like to ask you a few questions, Miss Chidori. Also… as one of my responsibilities… I would be glad to listen if you have any problems that you would like to discuss."
"I'm not really a criminal!? Kaname blurted out. "It was just about a boy. I-" She slowed down, wanting to keep her dignity. "I mean…yes, officer."
"We've gotten a good idea of what was going on," Officer Kobayakawa noted. "We spoke to a large number of students, and their stories were pretty much the same. One young man in particular vouched for you." She did not mention Sousuke by name. "I hope none of my men caused you girls any trouble." Her unspoken question was obvious enough. She wanted to make certain that inappropriate had happened. The police had a reputation to uphold.
"N-No. Nothing like that!" Kaname spread her hands in front of her, caught off guard by the implications. "They were all very polite. They said they were sorry, but had to investigate things after hearing what they had heard. I guess I would do the same thing, if it was my job." She swallowed hard, chasing away thoughts that buzzed around her like a swarm of gnats. Would the school allow her to remain Class Rep and Student Council Vice President? Would her father bring her back to America, where he had his job? She was too Japanese to get along there! Then again, she had become too American to get along in this country.
"I'm glad to hear that," Kobayakawa said with a sigh. "There probably wouldn't have be anything that I could do, even if someone did behave improperly." Indeed. In some ways, the police force was still an 'old boys' network to that very day. "But, I could have offered support and suggested a good counselor." She looked at Kaname closely, and seeing no change in her facial expression, moved on to the meat of the meeting. She quietly asked a series of questions, getting a full rundown on events. When she was finished, she led Kaname to the front door.
She wouldn't be charged with anything, and would not have anything added to her personal record.
"Do you want me to call someone for you," Officer Kobayakawa asked. " It's kind of late to be walking the streets alone."
"Thank you. I'll be okay," Kaname said, sounding weary. "I just want some time alone, I think." She thanked the woman and headed back towards her apartment. How could anything else bad possibly happen? She had used up a whole year of ill fortune in a single day. And, she wasn't that far from home.
Walking through one of the few dark stretches, she felt uneasy. Somehow, she had a sense of being followed. She began walking faster and faster, but then stopped. She sighed, suspicious. "Sousuke?"
"Yes, Kaname?"
She had been right. Sousuke had waited outside the police station until she was finished. Perhaps she should be grateful, touched by his thoughtfulness. After all, It wasn't just duty and obligation any more. But, the last thing she wanted to feel toward him was gratitude. Squaring her shoulders, she continued on her way, knowing that she would be safe.
"Kaname, are you alright?" Sousuke asked, a touch of concern in his voice. He wasn't surprised that Kaname refused to answer him. No doubt she blamed him for everything. She might be right. What business did he have reading the Kama Sutra? That would be like flies hunting spiders, or grade school children starting off with Steyr SPPs instead of cap guns.
The silence continued.
It became oppressive, taking on a life of its own.
Kaname no longer felt any need to know about the book. Her heart was torn, being tugged in different directions. Part of her wanted to make up with Sousuke, while another part questioned whether she should sever all ties. Even being honest with herself, and realizing her role in things, she couldn't help but wonder if he was a lightning rod for trouble. She attracted more than her share of trouble as it was. Whispered- the gift that kept on giving! How much turmoil was too much turmoil?
How much more could she take? Was she ready to tell herself 'I care… but I'm done trying'?
"The police will not press issues with the school," Sousuke mentioned. "They let you out of jail after I spoke to the official in charge. They are angry about the neighborhood's anger, but they are not angry at you or our friends. And, I should add, I am not angry about your attempt to get the book." Sousuke wonder if Kaname was embarrassed by the things that she had prompted, or if she was too busy worrying about something the Principal might do.
Kaname stopped. She clenched her fists. It would be best just to march up to her building, kick the door open, ride the elevator to her floor, and make her way to her room. Instead, her temper got the best of her. "You're not angry?" She asked with a sense of quiet that was like the calm before a storm.
"Affirmative," Sousuke said serenely.
"You're not angry?" Kaname felt herself trembling all over.
"No, Kaname. I'm not. In fact-" Sousuke was interrupted.
"WELL… I'M… ANGRY… SOUSUKE!" Kaname's anger gave way to anguish. She felt a sob well up inside her and fought to keep from crying. "It was just too much, you know." She turned and began walking again.
"Yes, it was." Sousuke agreed with the statement, but not the reasoning.
His choices had indeed caused the first domino to fall. But, Kaname had set up a majority of the other dominoes herself, and had knocked them over without his help. But blame was hardly the biggest issue here. He might lose her. That thought left him cold, reminding him how he had felt when Gauron spoke about the assassin he had sent out, and how Kaname Chidori was dead. Stricken, he had felt as if his entire world had crumbled away. As a result, he had stood by numb and uncaring, while his best friends in the world were facing death at the hands of the five Venom-class Arm Slaves.
"I must not give in," Sousuke muttered. He was not going to shoulder all of the blame for the day's distress, debacles, and disasters… even if such self-sacrifice would allow Kaname to forgive him for whatever crimes that she imaged he had committed. Something that Lt, Cmdr. Kalinin had told him rang true:
'Relationships should be based on trust and truth.'
"I hope you have learned some kind of lesson from it all," Sousuke said sagely, if somewhat short-sighted.
"W-H-A-T-!-?"
Kaname stopped again after that verbal explosion. "What did you say? Are you blaming me, Sousuke?" She walked forcefully over to him, the darkness hiding the disbelief and rage in her eyes. "Are you saying that it's my fault that Kyouko and the rest of my friends got thrown in jail with a bunch of sociopaths" Are you that saying I'm responsible for the gym teacher making me an appointment at the Sexual Awareness Clinic?" She shook her head violently. "I'm the one to blame for the incident in the shower? I'm-"
"Shower, Kaname?" Sousuke hadn't heard the gossip about that event yet, not with all of the commotion that had happened subsequently.
"Shower, Sousuke!" Kaname tensed up. She couldn't help but remember catcalls and some of the rude things that the boys had said in their locker room. "And the Principal's office. Who could forget that damn sneezing stuff. Should I mention I the detention that I missed because… I… was… in… jail. That's all in addition to the extra homework I have to do before I cry… myself… to sleep… tonight." She paused, needing to catch her breath. " Are you blaming me for all that?"
"Affirmative," Sousuke said.
"I see." Kaname didn't shout. In fact, her voice was barely audible. "I was scared. I was embarrassed. I was humiliated. I was hurt. And you say it's my fault." She closed her eyes, feeling the cool evening breeze on her face. It was tepid, compared to the frost on her heart. "Maybe I really could hate you, Sousuke."
"If you wish," Sousuke said. "That is for you to decide, after you are honest with yourself. I am fully willing to take responsibility where I must. But, as I told you in the hallway, I was also willing to show the book to you when I was ready, even though that action would be uncomfortable for me." He ran a hand through his hair, cringing when he irritated a muscle that he had pulled while scaling the back wall of a family-run department store during his escape. "You did not respect my desires. But, I will not hate you for it."
He turned and began heading towards his own building.
Kaname stood numb and alone.
It felt as if the world was spinning around her.
She didn't know what to think or feel. Truth fought with pride. Honesty tussled with habit. She was in the middle of the fight, and was getting buffeted by both sides. It was like her anger had become an additional organ inside of her, one that took over the responsibilities of her heart and mind. Being boyfriend and girlfriend wasn't all sunshine and posies. Yes, she had gained so much. But, that also meant that she had so much to lose. Was she turning molehills into mountains? That choice of words had her thinking back to a meal with the SRT aboard Da Danaan. Kurz had used that phrase... and had immediately christened Tessa as 'molehills' and the blue-haired visitor as 'mountains.' Tessa. She really wasn't a rival. Not now, anyway. But, might she herself say or do something that would drive Sousuke into the other girl's arms?
"Maybe that's where he belongs, that big jerk!" Her anger had her tensing up again. "Let Miss Captain have her life thrown in blender for a change. Be careful what you ask for… you might get it, little girl!" She sighed. She should be careful what she said, in case it came true. And, who really was the jerk here?
It was time to stand up and face the music.
In everything else in her life, she did just that. But, not with Sousuke. Why? Maybe because he was easy to blame, given everything that actually had been his fault, ever since he showed up out of the blue as a new student at the school. Maybe because he often did things in a way contrary to what she wanted, or at odds with behavior that she deemed normal. Maybe because she wasn't as strong as she made herself out to be. She had fooled everyone, including herself. Did Sousuke deserve to be treated poorly because of that? No. Even if he did always seem to get her in trouble so frequently? Well, maybe.
"I'd better go see if he needs help with his homework." Stiffened her posture. Being helpful and responsible would be a good way to salvage her pride, right? Should she act all generous and forgiving? No. Well, she would think about it. She would even apologize. If Sousuke didn't say anything stupid, she might forgive him.
Was she playing the Tsundere again? That was a Japanese term for a character development process that depicts an individual with a personality who is initially cold, stern, stoic, harsh, temperamental, hotheaded… and sometimes even hostile, she had to admit… before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time.
Tsundere.
She was not too fond of that word. Kyouko had looked the word up once, telling everyone one about her findings, without saying why she had been curious in the first place. The other girls in the class knew damn well why.
'Tsundere and lightning,' one clever girl had said. 'That's Chidori and Sagara.'
'I bet she wants him to touch her Tsunderriere," another comedian had added.
'Maybe she's wearing sexy Tsunderwear." That girl had spoken too loudly, and the teacher had admonished the entire class.
She had blamed Sousuke for all that too, indirectly.
Kaname made her way to Sousuke's apartment. Standing outside his door, she took a deep breath and held it. She knocked.
The door opened. Sousuke stood there, his shirt off and a toothbrush in his hand. "Kaname?"
"Get some clothes on, Sousuke!" Kaname blurted, breath bursting out from her mouth. "Big idiot!" Great. She comes to apologize and starts scolding him. What was she, some kind of child?
"Why are you here, Kaname?" Sousuke asked. There was an uncharacteristic catch in his voice. Would she apologize? Would she ask him if he needed help with his homework, as a way to mend the fence? Did she want to see the book? He swallowed hard, realizing that he was only half-dressed. No big deal, normally. He and Kaname had seen each other at the beach, after all. But, in the context of the Kama Sutra, he felt self conscious. "I will get a shirt!" He let the door go. It swung closed, with her still outside.
Kaname began tapping her foot. She stopped, realizing what she was doing. Sousuke had not been rude. He had actually been cute, with that shocked look on his face. She felt the tight knot in her heart begin to unravel just a bit. Smiling, she stepped away from the door, headed down the hallway, and hid behind a corner.
"Kaname?" Sousuke stepped out into the hallway. "Do you wish to speak from there?"
Kaname frowned. The big stuck up operative and his lucky guess! There was no way that he could known that she was there. She didn't notice the hidden camera in the apartment building's corridor. "Of course not, buffoon." She walked a few steps forward. The two of them stood staring at one another for a few moments, neither one knowing where to start.
"I will repeat. Why are you here, Kaname?" Sousuke raised one eyebrow. Was the visit personal or professional? "Is it something weird? Something dangerous?"
"-" Kaname grinned. The thief. That was her line!
"Did you want me to help you with your homework?" Sousuke kept a straight face.
That ought to break the ice some.
"Huh?" Kaname blinked in disbelief, before catching on and smiling a shy smile. "Only if I want me to fail the course!" She tossed her hair. Then, she sighed, feeling more serious. "I came to apologize, Sousuke." She looked up at his face, secretly hoping that he would apologize, too. "I'm sorry that I got so angry."
"I see," Sousuke said. "But, I do not see any box." He made it a point to look out into the hallway. "The last time, at least you brought me dinner." He turned to face the door that Tessa had peaked out of once. "The Captain is not here, in case you are wondering."
"I was trying to be serious, Sousuke." Kaname scowled. That was not a memory that she wished to glorify.
"I know. I wanted to show you that I do not hold things against you." Sousuke spoke in a matter-of-fact manner. "I have no grudge."
"Grudge?" Kaname put her hands on her hips. "Grudge! Let me tell you about grudges mister. I-" She stopped. She looked a bit sheepish. She was doing it again. "Are you sorry too, Sousuke?" She turned an expectant look on him. Her one hand fluttered. Her other hand clasped it to keep it still.
"Yes," Sousuke said. His initial instinct was to say 'But not as much as you should be', and explain why. Luckily, he had improved some.
"Oh." Kaname smiled. "That's good!" She stood on one foot, and then on the other. "Thank you." Why was she acting like this?
Get a grip girl!
"Would you like to stay a while, Kaname?" Sousuke knew that he should probably leave it at that, but wanted to make the offer up front. It somehow seemed dishonest to hope that she had forgotten about the book. "Is there something in particular that you might like to see?"
Kaname suddenly felt chill. That book. Sousuke was talking about that book. Part of her wanted to throw the damn thing out of the window, without ever knowing what it was. Another part of her was clamoring for a peak. What to do, what to do, what to do? With her luck, it would be something that would set her off again.
"You don't have to show it to me if you don't want to, Sousuke." Kaname bit her lip. No. That put the onus on him. If anything, after her little tirade in the alleyway, she should be the one who was responsible for the choice. "But, I would like to know what it is. You went to a lot of trouble to keep it secret."
And she had got into a world of trouble trying to solve that puzzle.
"We should enter, and sit over on the couch," Sousuke said. He felt his fresh shirt begin to stick to him. He had begun to sweat. "I will get the… uhhh… book." After Kaname followed him in and took a seat, he went to get the text. Staring at it a moment, he slipped the dust cover off, seeing that it had gotten soiled. He stared at it even longer, remembering the lyrics to a song Kurz had played before:
'Was it you that said, how long, how long
How long to the point of no return?'
"Sousuke?" Kaname's curiosity was reaching a new zenith. Just what had that scruffy otaku acting like that?
"Kaname… I should explain… I have made no assumptions…." Sousuke couldn't help himself. The words rushed out of their own accord. "It does not imply anything about you… I have not jumped to conclusions… there are no obligations?" The sweat was practically pouring off of him now. "It was a matter of importance… I merely wanted to be knowledgeable… the information might never be required."
"Sit down, Sousuke. Don't blow a fuse or something." Kaname looked at the book, feeling a slight sense of trepidation. "I won't get mad at you. I promise." She thought a moment. "Unless there's reason for me to…."
"Yes… sit… I will do that…." Sousuke swallowed hard, thinking that Al sounded less robotic. He had stared down terrorists at gun point. He had fought desperate battles against uneven odds. He had piloted Arbalest into situations he had no right to walk away from. Shouldn't he be able to show Kaname said book on his safe couch in his secure apartment? "I am sitting now." He sat at the far end of the couch.
"I'm over here, Sousuke." Kaname furrowed her brow. It was getting late. She did have homework to do.
Extra homework at that!
"Affirmative." Sousuke got up and moved closer. He took a deep breath and ran his hand over the book. "Here. I think you will understand my reason for secrecy." He coughed. "It is above all else, a treatise on love."
"Ah! I see, Well, that's sweet." She smiled and cocked her head. "It was smart to hide that from everyone else; but, why me?" Kaname smiled. She felt a sudden sense of peace. She began to feel good for the first time that day.
"Uhhh-" Sousuke looked like a deer in the headlights or an A.S. pilot whose ECS failed without warning. "Yes… I should report… the book also provides insights into men and women in relationships."
"I'm glad to see you take things seriously, Sousuke." Kaname itched her nose. "Why did you think that I wouldn't want to know what you were doing?" Kaname was a princess of first dates, and a pauper of second ones. Nevertheless, she was far more experienced than her heartthrob. "I don't think any less of you because you've never had a girlfriend before. In fact… I kind of like that…."
"Uhhh-" Sousuke coughed again. "-That is reassuring. The book is about fulfilling a partner's expectations." He did not want to sound like a salesman or travel guide.. "Various editions of the text have inspired art, dance, and music for centuries. The illustrations are all prints of actual ancient paintings and mosaics."
"What… don't tell me… Sousuke Sagara… patron of the arts…." Kaname smiled. "So… do I get to see the book… or just hear about it?" Kaname began tapping her fingers on the couch arm. Why was that mutton head still hesitating? When was the last time that she heard Sousuke talk that much about a book that wasn't a military novel or a historic reference. Hell, when was the last time that she had heard her boyfriend talk that much, period.
"Well… ahem… it is… yes." Sousuke held out the book.
Kaname reached out and slid it from his sweaty palms.
"OK. Let's see." Kaname ran her hands over the outside of the book, as if to make certain it really wasn't a mirage or holographic projection. "Is this an old book?" She meant had it been printed many years ago, not how long ago it had first been written. She wanted to know if she should treat it delicately.
"The original composition date or century is unknown," Sousuke replied. "Historians have variously placed it between 400 BCE and 300 CE." That's precisely how he had read things in a journal.
"CE?" Kaname made a face. "BCE?" She almost asked 'What did you have for dinner, alphabet soup', but thought better of it.
"Common Era… CE… is one of the year notations used for the Gregorian calendar, the world's most widely used calendar era." Sousuke seemed overly eager to run off course, on purpose this time. "Before the Common Era… BCE… is the era before CE. BCE and CE are alternatives to the Dionysian BC and AD notations, respectively." That was a tongue-twister. "The Dionysian era distinguishes eras using the notations BC… Before Christ… and AD, in Latin Anno Domini, in the year of the Lord. The two notation systems are numerically equivalent: For example, '1998' CE and 'AD 1998' are the same year, just as '400 BCE' and '400 BC' are each the same year"
"Oooo-ooo-oo-okay-" Kaname dragged that word out about as far as it could go. "Anything else," she added sarcastically.
"The first English language version by Richard Burton became public in 1883," Sousuke replied, without adding the fact that it had actually been illegal to publish the Kama Sutra in England and the United States till 1962.
"I see." Kaname paused. "Thank you." She waited some more. Sousuke remained silent. Good! That had been far too many vowels and consonants. "Let's get back to where I was… before you distracted me. Hmmm-mm-m. What's the title." Kaname's eyes widened. "Kama Sutra… well… where have I heard that name before?" She looked at the cover of the book. The artwork was discrete and tasteful. It was also a bit suggestive. She snapped her fingers. "That's it. It was Kurz!" She pursed her lips. She couldn't remember the context. But, it was probably just as well that she couldn't. Anything to do with Sergeant Weber was likely to be sketchy at best. Thinking of that man twice in a short period of time was two times too many. "I'll pretend that I didn't mention that name. Let's see-" She opened the book to a random section. "H-H-H-H-Huh?"
Sousuke leaned over to look at the page.
There was an ancient painting done in vibrant colors. There was a houka in the foreground, along with a wine decanter and two glasses. The background showed a moonlit sky, and the hint of a jungle in the distance. A man and a woman were close, laying across large ornate pillows and cushions. The woman was partially on her knees, bus also on her back, turned to face the man, looking into his eyes. His hands were wrapped around her, one on each breast, while his… uhhh… was entering… uhhh… in good anatomic representation.
"I believe that is Svanaka, the Dog.," the young Sergeant said.
Kaname had turned as red as a beet. She didn't dare move her eyes off of the page, unable to look over at Sousuke at that moment.
Her mouth fell open.
"Though to be precise… uhhh… his hands should be on her waist, not on her-" Sousuke swallowed hard again. He had never seen Kaname quite this stunned. She looked like an ancient Greek statue. He had no idea which way she would go with things.
Kaname closed the book.
She stood up slowly, her hands trembling. She looked at those hands, as if they might be dirty or something, having touched that book. It had been quite a shock, opening to that page. "Y-You have been r-reading a book of d-dirty pictures… all day?" Kaname was proud of herself. She kept her voice level. "And… you… showed… that kind of stuff… to me?"
"Affirmative." Sousuke watched as Kaname's face lost its color.
"I see. That is what you think of me, mister." Kaname's coloring came back with a vengeance. "It that the first kind of thing that you think about when you think about love?" Her voice was slowly creeping up the octave scale. "Just because fifty percent of girls my age have sex, you think that you have a fifty-fifty chance? Pretty good odds, right?"
"Kaname?" Sousuke had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Things might not go well. "I have not heard those statistics. They would not play a role in my-" He was unable to finish.
"I guess you are fitting into civilian life better than I thought, Sousuke." Kaname practically spat those words. "The men in this country tend to view women as sex objects. Someone to look down on and control. Someone to buy in some club somewhere, just like that place we found Saeki at." She looked more sad than angry now. "But that's a military thing too, isn't it? Big hero saves girl. Girl gives herself to her savior in gratitude. Or… the guy just takes her as his reward. I mean, he earned her, right? 'V' for victory. 'V' for V-card. Great. It's so romantic, I want to cry!"
"Kaname… no… I…." Sousuke needed to let Kaname know the truth. This sudden urgency might actually make it easier for him to speak. "Listen to me, please. I was speaking to Kurz and Melissa-"
"Oh! Of course. That makes it alright then!" Kaname clenched her fists. The annoyance arrow pointed up again, she was getting angry. "It only matters what your friends think, right? So, instead of thinking about how I might feel, you listen to a lecher like Kurz. And Melissa… Is that what you think all women are like? Is that how you think I should be?" She looked down at her feet. "I wish I never saw this damn book."
She let the Kama Sutra fall to the floor. Ironically, it lay open, displaying 'Chapter III: Examination of the State of a Woman's Mind.'
"If you are finished overreacting, may I speak. You are doing a poor job of speaking for me." Sousuke decided to try this tack. It was risky. He needed to snap Kaname out of her funk, fast!
"Go ahead." Kaname's voice was somewhat brittle.
"It is something new for me, being in a relationship. It is somewhat confusing, being in love." He was about to say 'There's no manual for something like that,' meaning a Mithril Manual. He knew that for a fact, having pulled every journal and book off of the shelves of the Merida library. But, for some, there was a manual. He looked down at it. Rubbing the back of his neck, he continued. "I am not certain what the expectations on me are. Kurz and Melissa say one thing. Boys at school talk about other things. Magazines, movies and television provide certain suggestions." He looked into her eyes, looking down when she looked away. "I only want to do what will make you happy. I do not know what girls want, or when they might want it." His next words were husky with emotion. "I did not want to fail you in some way."
Kaname's face softened. She felt her heart beating faster. The way that big jerk said things made him sound so romantic and so sincere. She went though yet another miraculous sea change. "So… you don't just think of me as a sex object?"
"Uhhh… no, I do not." Sousuke said. "But… however… sometimes part of me might…." He closed his eyes. Maybe he had said a bit too much. At least he hadn't added 'When you bend over and I can see straight down your blouse.'
"I see." Kaname coughed. She felt her face growing warm. "And… you didn't just assume that if you read the book… we would… you know…."
"Negative." Sousuke was sweating heavily again. His overactive waterworks had Kaname grinning and relaxing some. "I assumed you would tell me when to… uhhh… as you tell me when to do everything else." It was his turn to look away.
That was not a good admission for a seasoned and sovereign Specialist to make.
"Oh! Well that's right. I mean… you know… my being right about everything else… ah hah hah hah hah ha." Kaname realized that she was breathing rather quickly. Why was she fanning herself with one hand? What was with her? It's not like she was a Middle School student or something. "So... the book... you were just… ummm… studying." The pendulum swung back again. She narrowed her eyes. "I can't get you to study long enough in Japanese History, Chemistry, or Biology… but you… will… sit in class… studying-" She pointed at the book. "-That?"
"Was that wrong of me?" Sousuke asked plaintively.
"Yes! No. I don't know." Kaname plopped heavily back onto the couch. "Don't ask stupid questions, Sousuke." Truth be told, she didn't really know what to think, much less what to say. Bluster was easy. An honest heart to heart talk was no so simple. Well, not for her. "I… I shouldn't say that. I… I guess there are some things that couples should talk about, right?"
"If you say so, Kaname." Sousuke nodded.
"Well, I guess we will have to do that some day. When the time is right. And don't ask me when that time will be, since I don't have it marked down on my calendar. Hmmmpppfff!" Kaname shook her finger at him. She lumped back against the cushions more. "It was a really bad day, Sousuke. But, I'm glad to see that you were thinking of me." She trembled for a moment. "Oh my god. If I had gotten that book… and if the other girls had seen it… they would have thought… you… me…."
"Uhhh." Sousuke knew exactly what they would have thought.
"Oh… I…." Kaname thought of something else.
She suddenly looked very sheepish.
"Kaname, what is it? Is there a problem?" Sousuke suddenly looked concerned. His girlfriend's voice sounded stranger than before.
"Well… I…." Kaname sighed. She had broken 'Kaname's Rule about Relationships #1: Do not speak about Relationship'. "I sort of let slip our secret, Sousuke."
"Let slip?" Sousuke asked. "Secret?" He froze. Despite the current and daylong drama, his first thought had to do with Whispered and Mithril. Had his girlfriend given away the address of the safehouse? She couldn't have leaked her unique knowledge of Black Technology to Amalgam or other foe, could she?!
"Yes… in the gym… when I was being questioned about well…."
"Kaname?" Sousuke leaned into her slightly when her movement created a different angle of the couch cushion
"You know-" She picked the book up off the carpet. "The teacher wanted to know if you and I were-"
Geeez!
She just had to spit it out.
"I shouted "WE… ARE… NOT… HAVING… SEX. WE ONLY JUST STARTED DATING," Kaname admitted. "Or something like that."
"Ummm-mm-m." Sousuke sat up straighter. "If I had done that?"
"You would be dead now. Things are unfair that way. Get used to it." Kaname fluffed her hair. She was feeling remarkably calm and relaxed, all things considered. In fact, she somehow felt that she had broken free of great chains surrounding her spirit and soul. Her mischievous streak made a miraculous comeback. "You realize, knowing that we are dating, most people will probably assume we are having sex."
"I… they will?" Sousuke blinked rapidly. "You and I will assure them otherwise?"
"No," Kaname said shrugging. She held her arms out, palms up. "Who would believe us?" She smiled, feeling wicked. There was no one more cunning than Kaname Chidori, when she put her mind to it. She would be joking. Sousuke would naturally assume otherwise. "If they think we are… but we're actually not… I guess that would make us liars… right?"
"Kaname?" Sousuke was somewhat perplexed. The logic of that last statement had his big head spinning. His small head remained calm.
"You don't want me to be a liar, do you?" Kaname sounded down and destitute.
"Negative!" Sousuke said.
"I'll need your help then," Kaname said, with faux perkiness.
"How?" Sousuke wondered what Kaname needed him to do.
"Usually I have to help you study," Kaname retorted, about to set the hook. "But with this… ummm… you're the expert." Kaname fluttered her eyelashes. "For once, it might actually be good to have a Specialist around." She opened the book to the Index page… flipped forward… and stopped at 'Part II: On Sexual Union.' She held the book so that Sousuke could see, too. "So, what would you recommend first?"
Suddenly gone limp, Sousuke slid off of the couch.
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THE END
BTW: there is an Epilogue that follows.