Konnichiwa! I finally wrote the next chapter! I would to thank all the people who read this story espeically those that have read entire thing up to this part! Arigato!
Also, I just want to say that I don't hate Cameron, and if any of you think that I do, I'm very sorry. When I first watched Mobile Suit Gundam, I didn't like that he came and made a riff between Bright and Mirai. I have seen Char's Counterattack (FINALLY!), and Cameron is not a bad guy. Okay? Compared to Sleggar, Cameron is a god!
Share and enjoy!
~Lady Une-chan
Disclaimer: I don't own MSG. Yoshiyuki Tomino does. I love you, Yoshi! We all do!
In Love and War
By Lady Une-chan
Chapter Eleven
January 12, UC 0080
London, England, The United Kingdom of Great Britain, Earth
The Noah Residence
Tap, tap, tap. The pencil's eraser bounced off the legal pad. Mirai sat at the kitchen table, wondering if she should invite her cousins, who lived in Japan, to her wedding. The four sisters were quite weird-- no, that wasn't the appropriate adjective. They were quite crazy, and the fact that they didn't speak English very well didn't help. She had consulted Bright on the question, who insisted that it was her choice, not his. Apparently, he didn't care if four crazy Geisha girls showed up for his wedding. Once the girls realized what type of ceremony they were attending, they'd dress up in traditional Japanese kimonos.
Mirai sighed and continued to tap the pencil against the paper. She looked down at the guest list, the asterisk indicating who they wanted to be in the wedding party. Most of the list consisted the former White Base crew members. The only other people were Bright's uncle and his wife, who lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, and a few people Bright knew from work (including Hebert Longfellow). Mirai stopped tapping and wrote "Suki Kazoku", the Yashima's family housekeeper, at the bottom of the list. "Suki Kazoku" meant "the favorite of the household", which Mirai always though was a interesting, but fitting name. Suki had basically raised her, and she was a bit embarrassed that she hadn't thought of her before. She gave up and wrote underneath that the names of her cousins, "Naoko Yashima", "Megumi Yashima", "Megami Yashima", and "Nikoru Yashima", starting with the oldest, ending with the youngest. Mirai then remembered that Cameron had said something about wanting to go her and Bright's wedding, so she added his name as well as a couple generals and senators that were friends of her father.
The phone rang suddenly, and Mirai practically jumped out of her skin. She ran over and picked up the reciever. "Hello, Noah residence," she said.
"Hey, this is Sayla," replied the voice on the other end.
Mirai smiled. "Hey yourself. I suppose that you know what happened last night."
"Of course I know. Did Bright tell you I wanted the chicken?"
"No, I'll have to write that down. Is something the matter?" Mirai asked, sensing trouble.
"Yes, there is. I was researching and--"
"You didn't go to the seminar, did you?"
"That's besides the point," Sayla said, exasperated, "Anyway, I was hacking into files, etc., and found out something important."
"Well, what is it?" Mirai said, a bit impatiently.
"Okay, you remember the crazy guy that shot you, right?"
"How could I not?"
"Anyway, the police said that he escaped the asylum. They didn't say how, though. But according to the files, it appears that somebody let him out. Two suspicious men had visited the escapee only half a hour before the asylum staff realized that he was missing. I think that these men told the nutcase that if he killed Bright for them that you would be his prize."
Mirai sunk down into a chair. "Are you implying that there is still someone out there that wants to--" she trailed off.
"Yes. I've decided to come back before the wedding. I've got a plane ticket for tomorrow. I'll see you then, okay?"
"Okay," Mirai said in somewhat of a disoriented voice.
"Don't worry. Bye," Sayla said and hanged up.
Mirai set the reciever back down into cradle. "Don't worry," she echoed Sayla. "Yeah right. I worry about everything!" She glanced at the clock. It was about two o'clock p.m., which meant that Bright wouldn't be home from work for three and a half hours. That meant three and a half hours of worrying. Of course, it was apparent that the assassin knew were Bright lived, which meant that she'd be worrying about this until who knows when.
She went back to work on her list, or rather, tapping the end of her pencil. There was a lot that they need to do before the wedding-- which they had scheduled a week from now. Sure, that seemed a little too soon but they'd realized that life was too short to spend a lot of time planning.
Mirai yawned. They had stayed up until almost midnight last night. She was just thinking about taking a nap when the phone rang again.
"Hello, Noah residence."
"Er, hi. This is Herbert Longfellow. Is this Mirai Yashima?" asked the caller.
"Yes," she answered slowly.
"Um, well, I'm Bright's assistant, you know, from work. I just wanted to tell you, um, that there was an accident of sorts--"
"Wait," Mirai demanded, cutting him off. "An accident? It was no accident, Herbert, there must someone out there that is trying to kill him. He wasn't hurt, was he? The assassin missed him, right?" she asked.
"Err, yeah--" Herbert started.
"Then why isn't he the one calling me?"
"Well, he got a cut on his right arm, so he's in the infirmary. The military wants you to come pick him up--"
"I've be there in a moment," Mirai cut in again.
"Err... okay, then. Good-bye."
She hung up the phone, grabbed her purse, and dashed into the garage. She fished the keys to Bright's parents' old car put of her purse. He had given her the keys in case she needed to go somewhere while he was at work. She hopped in the car and sped off.
Once Mirai arrived at the military base, she had no trouble finding the infirmary. She ran into the building, only to find out that it was more like a hospital. She started to look for Bright, but was stopped by a nurse.
"Who are you, ma'am?"
"Mirai Yashima," the Asian answered.
"Ah," said the nurse with a smile. "Looking for Captain Noah?
"Of course!"
"He's in Room 5," the nurse told and continued down the hall.
Mirai looked at the closest door. The plaque read "Room 45". Mirai want to turn around and say to the nurse, "And where the heck is that?" But the nurse had turned the corner and was no where to be seen. Great, thought Mirai. I could be seaching for him for hours! She decided to go in the direction the nurse had gone in. The numbers of the doors started to decrease, and finally she arrived at Room 5. Apparently, the front door to the infirmary faced toward the inside of the base, and she had entered from the outside of the base.
The door creaked as Mirai pushed it opened. She sighed with relief to see Bright sitting on the bed with his jacket in his lap and a small gash on his right arm.
"Mirai!" said Bright, suddenly alert. "Come in!" She followed his command and went over to look at his wound. It was only an inch long, but it looked fairly deep.
"Why isn't it bandaged?" Mirai inquired.
"Because the nurse said that the doctor need to see it, so she only cleaned it up."
"Well, where is the doctor?"
"I don't know. That's who I was waiting for when you walked it. Herbert told me he was going to call you, but I haven't seen him since then."
"What exactly happened?" asked Mirai. "I kind of cut Herbert off on the phone. I was in a hurry."
Bright laughed at this. "It's kind of stupid, but the A wing's coffee maker broke. So they borrowed the H wing's coffee maker. And I work in the H wing, so Herbert and I were on our way to the A wing for some coffee, because they had our coffee maker--"
"Wait a minute," interrupted Mirai, "I never knew that you drink coffee. You always drink tea at home."
"Well, I only drink coffee at work. And I normally only drink one cup. Anyway, so Herbert and I were on our way to the A wing when the stupid assassin tried to kill me. However, his aim was a bit off and he hit my coffee mug!"
"So how did you end up with the cut?"
"The coffee mug broke into a million pieces and the ceramic cut me."
"Ceramic did this?" Mirai asked, pointing to his arm.
"Yeah. I told you it was stupid."
"Well, thank God you're alright. He could have killed--" she started, but was interrupted when the door opened. A tall women in a white lab coat entered the room. She had dark hair that was pulled into a tight bun at the back of her head. She ddin't look like a person you'd want to mess with.
"Are you Captain Noah?" the doctor asked.
"Yes," Bright replied, "And you are?"
"Doctor Rosalina Morales. Who is she?" The doctor pointed to Mirai. Apparenly, she haven't heard the rumors.
"My fianceé," Bright answered, wanting to add "duh".
Dr. Morales looked as if she didn't think Mirai belonged here. "Does she work for the military?"
God, she must be oblivious to the One Year War, thought Bright. He started to start speak, but Mirai jumped ahead of him.
"I used to. I was the pilot of White Base. You know, the assault carrier? The one with the Gundam?" Mirai said this in a fairly rude tone of voice.
"Oh," said Dr. Morales, basically ignoring the brunette. She leaned over to examine Bright's arm. "You need sutures," she determined. The doctor walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Dermabond Liquid Stiches [A/N: There is a such thing! And I don't own it!] and a couple of Q- tips. As she tended to his wound, the door suddenly opened for a third time.
"Captain Noah?" asked the short, brown haired man that entered. He saw that he was in the right place and then looked over at Mirai. "Oh, hello, Miss Yashima."
Mirai stuck out her hand. "We never had a proper introduction. I'd prefer if you'd call me Mirai."
The man shook her hand. "I'm Herbert Longfellow. It's a pleasure to finally meet you ma'am."
"Oh, does Bright talk about me?"
"Oh, all the time, ma'am," Herbert said with exaggeration.
"Of course I talk about you all the time, Mirai," said Bright as the doctor finished bandaging his arm. Dr. Morales gave the trio a stange look and then cleared her throat.
"I'd like to see you in two weeks," she said and promptly left the room.
"Who spit in her bean curd?" asked Herbert, jerking his thumb in the direction Morales left.
Bright shrugged and hoped off the the bed. "Let's go."
Mirai lead the procession back to the parking lot.
"Aww, man! You brought the station wagon?" Bright said, pointing to his parents car.
"How was a supposed to get here? Fly?" asked Mirai.
"Well, how is my car going to get home?"
"Herbert can drive it," answered Mirai.
Herbert, who was trailing behind them, suddenly perked up. "Really? I can drive your car?"
Bright started to say something, but Mirai cut him off. "Of course."
"How is he going to get back to his house?" Bright finally got to ask.
"Easy. He first drives back to his home, then his girlfriend picks him up and drives him back here. Then he drives your car to our house with his girlfriend following him. Then the two stay for dinner. After that, his girlfriend will take him home and then she will go home too."
"How do you know that I have a girlfriend?" asked Herbert. "I never told Bright, so how could you know?"
"I'm part Newtype," said Mirai, with a bit of a sigh.
"Oh. That's cool, Miss-- I mean Mirai."
"Well, let's put the plan in action. We'll see you around 5 o'clock, then," said Mirai as she opened the door to the driver's seat. Herbert waved good-bye and left.
"Wait, you're driving?" asked Bright.
"Yes, I'm the one with the keys. Plus, you don't like your parents car, not to mention you just injured your arm." Mirai sat down.
"Fine," said Bright, walking around the car and climbing into the passenager seat.
On they were on the road, Bright asked, "Did you finish the guest list?"
"I suppose so," was Mirai's answer.
"You suppose so? You know, you say that a lot, like you're never sure of anything," Bright commented.
"I say that because what happens if I'm wrong? I guess that's why I say that."
"You practically said the same thing with different words. 'I guess that's why I say that'. Are you sure that's why? Do you think that you're wrong? Hmm, Mirai?"
"What exactly are you trying to do, Bright?" asked Mirai.
"Boost your self-esteem. If you think that you are right, just say it."
"Okay, to answer your earlier question, I've put down everyone I could think of before Sayla called."
"Sayla called?" asked Bright.
"Yeah. Um, it wasn't exactly good news either. You remember how the police said that the guy escaped from the asylum? Well, Sayla looked at the asylum's records, and it said that two suspicious men had visited the escapee only half a hour before the asylum staff realized that he was missing. Sayla said that she thought that those men told the the man that..." Mirai trailed off.
"That if he killed me that he could have you," Bright filled in the blank. "And now the men have hired someone new. Apparently, they really want me dead."
"Sayla is coming back tomorrow. I guess she thinks that with her here, she can protect you or something."
"Why do you think they want to kill me? What do I have that they don't want me to have? What do I know that they don't want me know?" asked Bright. Well, he did know that Sayla was really a Zeon princess named Artesia, but he didn't think people would kill him over that.
"The V Project," Mirai said suddenly.
"What about it?" asked Bright, very confused.
"They want to give rid of you because you know about the V Project."
"Why? Heck, Mirai, you know about the V Project!"
"But Bright, you worked on White Base when the V Project was made. You were trained to use the mobile suits from the V Project for strategy. You are the only surviving member of the original White Base crew!"
Bright hadn't thought about it that way. When he originally worked on White Base, he was one of the ship's strategists. He had been trained to use those mobile suits-- the RX-78 Gundam, the Guncannon, and the Guntank-- in the strategy plans. That's why, as acting captain of White Base, he was able to create strategy for Amuro, Kai, and Hayato.
"So, you think that someone wants to kill because I studied the V Project for strategy?"
"Yes," she answered.
Mirai's hunchs were almost always right. She was part Newtype. In fact, Bright couldn't think of a time when one of them was wrong. This is why Mirai should never say "I suppose so".
The two finally made it home. Mirai went straight to work in the kitchen, preparing dinner and Bright went to work on things for the wedding.
Herbert arrived promptly at five o'clock with a fairly tall redhead for his date.
"Captain Noah, this is Erin O'Dell, my girlfriend. Erin, this is Captain Bright Noah," introduced Herbert.
"And who is she?" asked Erin with an Irish accent, pointing to Mirai, who just popped out of the kitchen.
"Oh, this is Miss Mirai Yashima, soon to be Mrs. Mirai Noah. She's Bright's fiancée."
Bright blushed as Mirai shook Erin's hand. "Please, just call me Mirai," said the brunette. But Erin was more interested in Mirai's engagement ring rather than her name.
"Ooo, how beautiful!" she squealed as she examined the diamond and gold piece of jewelery.
"Well, dinner's ready!" Mirai announced, in hopes that she would be able to have her left hand back.
Mirai returned to the kitchen as Bright lead the guests into the dining room. He was forced to try and entertain them for a few minutes until Mirai came in with the food.
Herbert was acting overly excited about this visit. Apparently, within the few weeks he worked for Bright, he had decided that the young captain was his hero. Bright was beginning to think that Herbert worshiped him.
The meal was fairly uneventful, dispite the fact the Herbert was acting like a hyper child on sugar and Erin was obsessed with the fact that Bright and Mirai had money. A lot of money. They carried out the rest of the plan, going home after dinner.
However, Bright could not sleep. He still couldn't get over that someone wanted to kill him because he was trained to use the V Project. What about Amuro? He piloted part the stupid V Project. And everyone on White Base knew about. But apparently Bright was special.
***
It was ten o'clock a.m. Mirai, using her Newtype abilites, knew that Sayla was going to arrive in approximately five minutes and twelve seconds. However, someone else was going to visit them too.
But for now, let's just focus on Sayla, who of course, arrived at the predicted time. She was quick to ask if Bright would describe in detail how the sniper tried to annihilate him, but instead annihilated his coffee mug. Mirai explained her hunch about the V Project.
"Really? The V Project? If it was over the V Project, wouldn't they rather kill all of us from White Base? We all know about the project, heck, we piloted it!" exclaimed Sayla.
"It's because I was trained to use the Gundam, the Guncannon, and the Guntank in the strategy, according to Mirai. I was one of the ship's strategists before the original White Base crew was killed, before I became in charge," said Bright.
"So, just because you knew-- hey! Wait a minute, you knew about the V Project when it was confidential, so you technically know more about the V Project then we do! That's got to be it!" Sayla concluded.
"But, I still really don't know why someone would want me dead over the V Project!"
"I don't know either. It makes sense, but at the same time, it doesn't make any sense at all," said Mirai, quietly.
The doorbell rang, and Sayla gave nod to Bright to answer it.
This is where the other visitor comes in.
And this other visitor was Amuro Ray, the former pilot of the Gundam. Even though it only been a few weeks since Bright had seen the auburned haired boy, but Amuro looked as if he had grown a few inches.
"Hey."
"Hey, yourself, Amuro. Come on in," invited Bright.
Amuro entered the house and headed over to the blonde.
"Say, isn't there something you owe me?"
"Is this how you always start a conversation?" asked Sayla.
"You know what I'm talking about."
"God, impatient one," Sayla pulled out her wallet. "Here's a hundred euro. As agreed."
Amuro pocketed the money and turned back to Bright and Mirai. But before he could say anything, Mirai said, "Let me guess, I somehow was imvolved with the earning of that money."
The pilot grinned sheepishly.
"What?" asked Bright.
"Amuro, were you guys betting on when Bright and I were getting married?" asked Mirai, a bit disgusted.
"Um, no. Actually, we were betting on when you two became an 'item'," said Amuro, making quotation marks with his fingers.
"Sayla, don't you know not to bet with a Newtype?" asked Bright.
"Hey, I'm part Newtype!"
"I can't believe you were betting on us!"
"Hey, now guys," Amuro interceded, "let's be friendly."
Mirai gave Amuro an evil glare.
"Anyways, hello Amuro. It's nice of you to show up. At my house. Which you magically found," said Bright in short setences.
"He's, like, a Newtype!" exclaimed Sayla.
"Well, he could have waited to show up for the wedding, when it was time for the wedding. He could have been unlike a certain someone that invited herself over. Again."
"Hey, if I wasn't here the first time, there might have not been a wedding! Instead, we all could be going to Mirai's funeral!"
"Um, I rather not argue about that one. I prefer living," interjected Mirai.
"Isn't there some pressing matter that we need to be talking about," Amuro changed the subject.
"Well, accoring to Mirai, there is a group of men--" started Bright.
"At least two guys--" Sayla interrupted.
"--that want to kill me because I studied the V Project for strategy--"
"But I was the one that piloted the Gundam!" exclaimed Amuro.
"--and Sayla says that I technically know more about the V Project then you guys do because I knew about the project when it was confidential!" Bright finally finished.
"I still don't think I understand why someone would want to kill you over something that is out in the open now," stated Amuro, "It's public informantion. Everyone knows about the Gundam and White Base."
"Does the public know that it's called the V Project?" Mirai suddenly entered the conversation.
"Actually, know that you say that, I don't think so," said Sayla.
"But why would that make any difference? asked Amuro.
Bright shrugged. "Maybe they hate the letter 'v'."
"Yes, that's it!" said Sayla, rolling her eyes.
Mirai sighed. "Let's try and be serious."
"Well, I think that we need to hunt down these guys and show off our hand-to-hand combat skills," said Amuro.
"The military made it clear that I'm not supposed to return to work until the 'killers' have been caught. Frankly, I find that odd. But apparently the Earth Federation thinks that me not being there makes the military safe," commented Bright.
"So, let's kick some butt!" exclaimed Amuro.
"Now wait a minute," cautioned Mirai, "I don't want anyone getting killed. Besides you'll be arrested for: one, starting a fight in a public place; two, if you kill them, you'll be charged with murder!"
"Don't worry, honey, we'll get a special warrant from the military," Bright reassured Mirai.
She sighed again. "Will the military give you one?"
"I'm sure that we will," Amuro said with a wink.
"So, what's the plan?" asked Sayla, eagerly.
"Well, we're going to need to go to the restaurant that you guys first felt followed," Amuro explained.
"And?" Bright asked.
"We'll meet those villians," Amuro continued.
"And?" asked Bright and Sayla.
"That's when we go mano a mano!"
"So, you're going to bust out your karate moves in the middle of an Italian restaurant?" asked Mirai.
"Hey, maybe they're Italian mobsters!" Sayla exclaimed.
"Sayla!" Mirai scolded.
Amuro rolled his eyes. "You've changed since the war. You're a lot sillier!"
"And what's that suppose to mean?" asked the blonde.
"It means you're sillier!"
"Can we get back on the subject?" Mirai asked.
"Okay, okay," said Amuro, "Bright call and make reservations."
Bright raised an eyebrow. "We need reservations just to bust in and beat up two guys?"
Amuro smiled. "We're going to sneak up on them by eating dinner first. Mirai and Sayla are coming too."
"I really don't want Mirai to come with us," said Bright, putting an arm protectively around his fiancée. "It's too dangerous. She's already been injured by an associate of these men."
"And you have too," Sayla said, pointing to Bright's other arm.
"If Bright doesn't want me to go, then I won't," stated Mirai.
"But we need you Mirai! It was look kind of awkward if two guys and a girl go out of dinner. Besides, if people that know Bright see him without you, they'll start to wonder," Amuro explained.
But Mirai just shook her head. "I'm not going. I don't even want Bright to go, but he kinda has to."
Bright sighed. "Well, if I'm going, then I guess Mirai will too. That is if she wants to."
"Let's make it a group effort," agreed Mirai.
So it was planned. Bright called and made reservations. Amuro suggested that they dress up a bit. Mirai told him that they didn't have to, but he insisted. He also insisted that Bright wear his military uniform. The men went down to the base after lunch and ask for a warrant. A special one was granted, however, it stated that they were not allowed to kill the assassins, unless it was in self-defense.
At about six o'clock, the four headed for the restaurant. When they arrived, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. During dinner, it became apparent that Amuro knew more that he let on. But it was when they were ordering dessert that a man tapped Bright on the shoulder. The Brit became surprised, wheeled around, and almost slapped him. The man back up a bit and explained that someone wanted to see him in the backroom of the restaurant. The entire table stood up, shocking the man, and went onward to the room. Bright caught the glance off the bartender, who shook his head. Obviously, the restaurant staff knew that something was up.
As soon as the entered the dark room, the karate chopping began. Sayla was wrong: these men looked as if they belonged in a Chinese Triad. Bright and Amuro managed to knock out a couple of guys. Mirai and Sayla inched their way into the room, having to duck a few punches here and there. Mirai heard one of the henchman swear in Japanese and thought of a quick plan.
"Anata wa nihonjin desu ka?" she said, asking him if he was Japanese.
"Ha-hai," he answered confused, letting down his guard.
"Watashi mo nihonjin desu," Mirai replied, saying that she too was Japanese. At that time Sayla caught on, picked up a cooking pot, and hit the man over the head.
Bright and Amuro had seemed to have defeated the rest of the henchmen and they continued into the back of the room. The lights suddenly flicked on, revealing two Asian men sitting at a card table. The taller one stood up and pointed a gun at Bright. In turn, Bright pulled his gun. Amuro cleverly sneaked around and attacked from the behind, htting the pressure point on the man's neck. The shorter one jumped up and shot off his gun, which whizzed by Sayla's head.
Suddenly, they could hear the sound of police sirens. Apparently, one of the diners in the restaurant called the "bobbies". The men were arrested.
Meanwhile, the heroes of our story returned home, exhausted.
Well, mina-san, we are coming very close to the end. All the action is order and this story is going to become a bit more comical and mushy all at the same time. The next chapter is probably the last. Review, please!
~Lady Une-chan
