The
skilled sniper surveys the terrain with a practiced eye. He gages the distances between his vantage
point and the target in question. He
squints as an errant breeze parts the thick foliage above, letting the sunlight
through. The sniper's trigger finger
itches, but he waits patiently. His
Robar SR-60 is a cold, reassuring weight against his shoulder as he…
"Are
you listening to me?"
"Huh?"
"Give
me those before you hurt yourself!" Shinobu snatched the binoculars away from
his friend before the blond could strangle himself on the strap.
"Aw,
Shin! I thought it was my turn on watch
duty!"
"Don't
call me that. And not anymore you're
not. Not if you can't pay attention for
longer than five minutes. Move over."
Mitsuru was unceremoniously shoved aside as Shinobu took his place behind the
wall.
"Well,
what am I supposed to do now?"
"I
don't know. Pretend to be useful."
The
gracious sniper surrenders first position to his unruly protégé, conceding that
the boy needed the practice. He even
gives up his beloved Robar SR-60. The
patient sniper proceeds to take stock of their provisions.
"Hey,
Shin! We're out of senbei. Want me to go get some more?"
"That's
what you call being useful?"
"I'm
hungry!"
"You're
always hungry."
"But
we've been at this for hours!"
"We've
been here for exactly one hour and three minutes. And may I remind you that this was your idea in the first place?"
"No,
you suggested the recon!"
"But
you were the one who wanted to know more about Sakata."
The
clever sniper indulges in witty repartee with his lack-wit protégé. Anything to calm the poor boy's nerves. The extremely gifted sniper tells himself
that no one could possibly be as level-headed and calm under pressure as he…
"Mitsuru! Did you hear what I said?"
"Huh? What? I mean, yes. Yes, I think the
Dakota T-76 Longbow will be better than the Robar in this situation."
"Will
you kindly focus for just…one…minute!" Shinobu grated through gritted teeth. He had turned away from his post, momentarily distracted by the blonde's
seeming non sequitur. It was times like
these that Mitsuru really tried his patience.
If
Shinobu hadn't needed the exact location of Sakata's apartment – information
that Mitsuru refused to divulge unless he was allowed to tag along – the ice
prince would never have invited his friend to come. Their previous year together had taught Shinobu one thing:
Mitsuru might be game for anything and usually did prove useful by getting them
out of sticky situations with his abundant charm, but the boy had an annoying
propensity for amusing himself with imaginary scenarios during covert
operations. And, more often than not,
said scenarios usually knocked the sense right out of him. Last time, Mitsuru had been a mighty safari
hunter. Today, it looked like WWII
sniper.
"It's
just to keep me from thinking about food."
"Well,
your stomach can wait. If you plan to
be more help than hindrance, I suggest you find something…"
"I
know, I know. Something useful. Do you have any suggestions?"
Shinobu
sighed. "How about reviewing our notes?"
"Check."
Mitsuru
crouched down and withdrew a sheaf of papers from his book bag, leaning against
the brick as he began to peruse them. Shinobu resumed his watch with the binoculars, being careful to keep
most of his body behind the wall. It
was not the most ideal of stake out positions. The apartment was across the street from them and, if Mitsuru wasn't
lying to him, Sakata was located on the top floor. All the boy had to do was peek out his window and his stalkers
would be in plain sight. Still, the
wall did afford some protection from curious eyes, and it was really the best
they could do.
"Um,
Shin?"
Another
sigh, but this time, Shinobu did not turn around. "What?"
"We've
been watching his apartment for two days now, right?"
"Yes."
"Well,
according to our notes, between the hours of – oh, I don't know – noon to eight
at night, there has been no activity whatsoever! Don't you think we ought to move on to Plan B?" Mitsuru needled
his friend impatiently.
"And
what exactly is Plan B?" Shinobu was sarcastic back.
"Why
don't we just go up and talk to him? I
mean, isn't that much better than stalking him? People are starting to look at us funny. Plus, don't you think it's weird that he
hasn't left his apartment in two days? What if he's hurt? What if he's
got something heavy on top of him and his lungs are slowly and painfully being
crushed by the weight? What if…"
"Mitsuru!"
"What?"
"I
think I preferred it when you were just silent."
"But
aren't you the tiniest bit worried?"
"No."
"Just
a little bit?"
"No."
"You
can be such a cold bastard sometimes, you know that?"
"I
just have a better control over my imagination."
"But…"
Shinobu
suddenly whipped around and glared at his friend. The abruptness and ferocity of the look startled Mitsuru. If the blond had been asked, he would have
had to confess that he really wasn't all that worried about Ryan. It was just so much fun to tease Shinobu,
especially when his friend went into commando mode. Mitsuru thought his humor was apparent and was not prepared for
the seriousness with which Shinobu was apparently taking all this.
"Shin,
I was just kidding around. Really. I'll try to focus. See? This is Mitsuru,
being focused." The blond pointed at his mouth which he'd forced into a grave
scowl.
"You
are impossible," Shinobu could not stop the grin from quirking the corners of
his mouth.
The
two boys smiled affectionately at each other, camaraderie re-established. It felt good, not to be at odds
anymore. It was part of the reason why
Shinobu had agreed to help out Mitsuru in this farce of a mission. If his friend wanted to dig around in
Sakata's private affairs – which were probably not as critical as the blond
made them out to be - who was Shinobu to deny him?
Sigh. When have I ever denied him anything? Shinobu asked himself
resignedly. All he has to do is open
his eyes wide like a puppy after a treat and I just can't say no. That, or he could just whine a lot. That usually works too. Damn him.
Still, Shinobu was not happy with the situation. Even now, he was filled with a certain amount of resentment. But the two days of staking out Sakata's apartment had given him ample time to reassess his feelings on the whole thing and, if he were honest, Shinobu knew that the resentment was not directed at Sakata personally. The initial alpha male bid for supremacy was old news; Shinobu's innate self-confidence had taken care of that bit of angst.
No,
if he looked closer at the root of his antipathy, Shinobu would have to admit
that it had to be jealousy over all the attention Mitsuru had been giving the
new boy.
And just why is
that, Tezuka? Are you finally ready to
admit to what you've known since the minute you laid eyes on a certain blond?
Can you deny that you've enjoyed being this close to him, all by yourselves,
just a little too much than is proper?
Shinobu
was about to do battle with his irritating conscience for the seventh time that
day when Mitsuru craned his head to look over his friend's shoulder, gripping
his arm excitedly.
"Ouch."
"Shin! This is it! We have movement! The target is
in motion!"
Ignoring
his roommate's pain at being manhandled, Mitsuru retained his grasp on the
other boy's arm and pushed them both against the wall to shield their
presence. Shinobu found himself
sandwiched between brick and muscled boy flesh as the blond pressed close and
poked his head around the barrier to spy on their goal. Mitsuru smelled of sunshine and spice. It was everything nice.
Shinobu
felt Mitsuru's heart thudding against his chest and his own heart followed
suit. In that fleeting moment of
physical contact, the ice prince felt himself thaw and acknowledge the secret
he had been keeping, even from himself. He experienced a jolt of dizzying joy followed almost instantaneously by
a surge of despair. What good his
realization if his roommate didn't share it? Because, as he looked up at the taller boy and watched the blonde's
cheeks flush and his amethyst eyes sparkle, Shinobu was pretty sure that the
excitement and anticipation evident in Mitsuru's face would never – could never
- be directed at him.
"What
should we do now, huh? Ryan has left
the building. What now, huh, Shin? Should we follow him? Or should we recon the apartment? Shinobu?"
In
his frenzied indecision, Mitsuru began hopping from one foot to another,
forgetting that he still had his friend's shoulders pinioned to the wall with
his hands. The friction caused by his
jouncing was…delightful. But it was
neither the time nor the place.
"Mitsuru."
"Ooooh! I think he's headed for the train station!"
"Mitsuru."
"If
we don't move now, we're gonna lose him!"
"Mitsuru!"
"What?"
"I
can't breathe."
Shinobu
arched an eyebrow as the blonde finally refocused his attention. Startled amethyst met enigmatic grey. A brief flare of undisguised need came to
the fore before Shinobu could tamp it down, but as he'd expected, Mitsuru was
too caught up in their current quest to give him more than a puzzled look
before pushing away from him a bit sheepishly.
"Gomen."
"Yes. Well. I think out next course of action is quite clear here." Formality and efficiency always gave Shinobu
comfort. "You will go after him –
inconspicuously, please! – and find out where he's headed. Once he reaches his destination, find a
phone and give me a call on the cell. You are not – I repeat, not! – to engage the target under any
circumstances. In the meantime, I'll go
to his apartment and see what I can find."
"Aw,
Shinobu! Why do I have to do all the
legwork?"
"Do
you know how to pick locks?"
"Hmph. Fine! But can I at least have the cell phone?"
"Go,
Mitsuru." In a tone that brooked no argument, Shinobu effectively cut off any
other whining his friend could have done. He shoved the binoculars into the book bag, zipped it closed, thrust it
in Mitsuru's unresisting grasp then gave him a gentle shove in the right
direction.
"I'm
going, I'm going! You are so pushy!"
"But
that's why you love me, right?"
Shinobu
couldn't resist; it was such the perfect opening. If this had been a movie, Mitsuru would have gazed into his eyes
and brushed back his hair and trailed his hand down his cheek and answered
"yes" in a soft, caressing voice. But
this was not a movie, and Shinobu was not so lucky. Rather, Mitsuru gave him a wink and a grin that could have meant
anything then bolted off to complete his mission. Shinobu sighed a bit despondently but squared his shoulders and
made his way purposefully across the street to fulfill his part in the madness.