Plura Ater Nox

Chapter 13

Having received more than adequate details for their mission gathering and detail acquisition, the scouting team, minus the gentleman whom had been oust for his lack of proper conduct and comport. The remaining set out, searching for the mention young man. They had only a description from the young, dashing, seductive secretary employed by the general. The description contained holes. They hated that, for she had willingly toyed with them simply because they had dared made a remark about how she was a girl.

Now, with little more than just barely a name and a vague description, they scoured out the local area, checking bars, streets, the docks. They considered knocking on doors, but that failed after they were chased by more than a few irate housewives who wielded a dangerous weapon known as the broom.

Nearby, on a park bench, watching, observing these inept jesters attempt to accomplish, some random, pointless mission and getting clobbered in the process, a redheaded young man sat, mirth twinkling in his eyes at this. He hadn't heard what they were trying to vainly in all futility complete, but found it ever amusing that these morons certainly were incompetent in doing what they had to.

'Ye gads, these idiots are the perfect depiction of the village idiot. This is great; who needs Vaudeville or anything like that. Even Chaplain ain't this bloody amusing. These guys ought to be put on stage and laughed all the way to the boondocks!' The redhead thought.

Controlling his laughter, he recovered, running his fingers through his hair. 'Enough of the antics, Mackenzie, you can't sit here enjoying the freak show, you've got to get your pathetic arse in gear and think of a way to win back Chelsea from the clutches of Kennedy who has that catty wench wrapped around his little pinkie. Damn him to hell. It just ain't fair! He does nothing and has the lassies falling all over themselves to get him. I work my ass off and for what, to watch this moron sweep my maiden off her feet!'

With conviction, after several minutes of inner ranting, Brennan stood up; dusting off his plain yet neatly pressed clothes. (He had purposely gone to see his Mama to have her press them so that he may create an excellent impression on the young maiden's who hand he sought).

He didn't realise, but the group of men he was walking past, had been in search of him. He wasn't aware that soon, within the next minute he would be swarmed by these leeches, begging him to come along for the sake of an important mission that required the street fighting skills that IRA rebels possessed.

Calmly, he strolled by the gathering rank and file, only to have one of them intercept his path. "Brennan Mackenzie, I presume." The man's statement was more than quite bold.

"What the fuck do you want?!" Brennan growled, starting to push past, but found that he was surrounded on all sides. That wasn't a good sign. His fists, at his sides, balled up, clenched tightly. His nails dug into the flesh of his palms, chewing, leaving small welts of frustration.

"We wish for you to accompany us, Mr Mackenzie. Captain Stonewall wishes your presence at a military briefing. He requires your skills."

"My skills?! Okay, what is the truth?!"

"The truth is simply that Miss Llwellyn mentioned you and said you'd be a valuable asset." The scout replied quickly.

'Chelsea did?! This is an intriguing development. If she's giving my name at the army because I'm a good fighter, it must be that she thinks quite highly me!' Brennan mentally swooned, elation consuming him for a pregnant moment in his otherwise meaningless existence. 'I might have a chance with her...'

"Uh...Mr Mackenzie? Are you okay?" A second scout queried, noticing the unusually elate expression on the redhead's face.

Blinking himself back to reality, Brennan nodded. "Am quite so, mate."

"Then will you come with us, it would be helpful."

"Indubitably!"

The redheaded; the former Suzaku Seishi, Tasuki; phantom wolf, moved ahead of the scout congregation. He knew where the base was, after all, he had escorted Chelsea home from there a number of times. To him, today was another chance to see her, perhaps even convince her he was a courtship worthy of her fair hand.

~~~~

Looking up, studying the dull grey overcast sky, Yui sighed. The vessel she was boarded upon had docked in. The temperature was low, but not cold. She felt her hands slide up, rubbing her cool skin, trying to produce heat from the steady friction. She stood at the rail, leaning; her hands over her frigid arms.

It was quite dull here, though there was a notable world of difference between here and Tokyo. It was warmer in Tokyo. Even the waters gave off warmer currents than this frigid water. It also seemed...dangerous. Her eyes took note of a pair of strange, foreign submarines with swastikas painted on the fin.

'German submarines? Are we in Germany?!' She wondered, until she turned her sights to a pair of young men dressed in American Army issued uniforms. She tilted her head sceptically. 'How odd. Americans here?!'

She wrinkled her nose distastefully as she thought of Americans. She loathed them, just as most countries did. After all, they were waging war on her homeland. Why should she like them? They were nothing but bullies to the ideals of imperialism.

She cast a hateful glare at them as she left the boat. "Koppa." She turned her nose up, after her cerulean blue eyes met two eager pairs belonging to the pair of American soldiers.

* Worthless person

They each arched a thin eyebrow and said nothing.

The first then boldly approached her and bowed. "Good day, milady. How are you?" He said, taking her hand in his, kissing it. He didn't know that the language she spoke was Japanese, he believed it was French.

Yui cast a disgusted glance at the man. "Kisama. Koppa gaijin." She didn't bother to make use of her English skills. Instead, she remained in her mother tongue as she pulled her hand away from the soldier's grasp. Snorting, she added, "watashi kirai desu onare, koppa Amerikan."

* Bastard. Worthless outsiders. I hate you, worthless American.

The man blinked, confused until he felt his friend tap him on the shoulder and whisper, "don't bother, it seems she Japanese and doesn't like Americans. Listen carefully, it's Japanese she's speaking and not any other language."

The man blinked again. "But why is she blonde?! Aren't they all like those interned assholes back home?!" He seemed confused. "She looks western."

"Hn, maybe she's just having a bad day."

"PMS."

"Yep."

"So, you going to try again, Jones?!"

"Why don't you, Macfarlan."

"Fine! I'll show you how it's done." The one known as Lance Corporeal Macfarlan replied, strutting up to the blonde girl. He was intending to show his friend, Lance Corporeal Jones how the wooing process was properly done.

Stripping his jacket off, he stopped, placing it over a puddle. "Madam may cross the puddle without getting her feet wet." He stated, bowing, gesturing elaborately, as he waited for her to cross.

"Hn. Baka." Yui growled, setting her foot down heavily on the jacket, thrusting it down into the puddle. She tossed her shoulder length hair over her shoulder and walked away.

Jones smirked. "And you were saying, Macfarlan?!"

"Stuck-up bitch." Macfarlan snarled watching her wander off. "Why the fuck so the foxy ladies have to be so arrogant?! She didn't even have the decency to even say thanks."

"I would, but I hate Americans." Yui turned back, speaking in English for the first time. Her words were graced by her obvious Japanese accent. She then pivoted and wandered off.

Shoving her hands in the front of her kimono, she wandered down the streets of the foreign city. She stopped a few blocks down, unsure as to where to go or what to do. She made a mental note to stay on main streets, after all, alleyways were a good place that were guaranteed to get a girl in trouble.

A thin, shocked gasp escaped her as she caught sight of a familiar looking blonde man. His air and mannerisms sent chills down her spin. She didn't want him to see her at any costs. Moving against a building, she hid under the drooping plant life until she was certain he had past.

A realisation then dawned on her. She sighed thankfully as the thought crossed her mind. It was relieving. 'If Nakago's reincarnated then that means that out there somewhere there's Suboshi!'

Her eager cerulean blue eyes scanned the vicinity, zealously searching for any signs of the boy that had been most and unquestionably loyal to her. She felt something in her heart flutter. She felt that there was a great chance that she would find him here. She had to, she desperately needed him. She could only pray that he remembered enough to want and remember her.

She gasped. "Masaka..." she couldn't believe her good fortune.

Gathering the skirt of her kimono in hand, she ran after the young man. Stopping behind him, she reached out a hand, grabbing him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, could you tell me what city this be." That was the best way to start off speaking to him.

Jeremiah turned at the touch of the hand to shoulder, to come face to face with an obviously foreign girl. He smiled. "yes, it's Dublin, miss."

"Dublin?!" Yui inclined her head, not knowing what the young man meant. "Could you tell me what country. I'm greatly confused, I see American soldiers and German submarines, I don't know what to think."

"Oh, Ireland." He replied, clearing up her confusion. "And ignore the presence of those soldiers, they're here until the full scale attack against those Nazis is made. The submarines have been invited to the harbour by the IRA who despise the British government."

"Oh, okay!" Yui smiled after a minute. She then went on. "Pray tell, what's your name sir?!" She asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him.

Jeremiah arched a sceptic eyebrow. "Jeremiah Dallas, ma'am." He then shrugged, taking her hand in his and kissing the top. "And you are, ma'am?"

A small blush crept over her cheeks. "Yui Hongou." She replied, remembering to reverse her name as per western culture.

"You're not from around here, are you?!" Jeremiah asked, noting her more than obviously foreign accent. "From whence do you call?"

"Tokyo." She rejoinder.

Jeremiah just nodded mutely. Waving he wandered on past. "Sorry, I'd love to talk more, but I'm direly required at the house, my brother is ill."

"No, please, I beg of you, stay..." Yui reached out seizing his wrist. "Surely you remember, don't you?!" Her voice cracked.

"Remember what?!" He looked at her strangely. He hadn't any idea what this girl was talking about. All he knew was she was certainly bold and was an obvious foreigner who didn't like Americans.

"You...don't?!" Her eyes were wide, her pupils shrank in size. A sinking feeling hit her stomach. She felt faint. Her face paled and she turned away, tears stinging her eyes. She turned and ran. Tears streamed down her face.

"Wait!" Jeremiah called, but sighed, watching her disappear. 'Odd lass.'

He bit his lip, in thoughtful solitude, watching her run in fear and in utter distress at his likely stinging words of denial. 'She must know me, but I don't know her. I doubt Séamus knows anyone from Tokyo. He's told me he's never left Dublin....'

He took off after the distress lass, not because he wanted to but because he noted her direction led her to a dangerous alley known to be littered with lecherous men who pried on little girls.

"WAIT!! Miss, don't go there!" Jeremiah called loudly, running after her, thankful she was in a skirt and couldn't move fast enough. Grabbing her wrist, he stopped her. "Don't go that way, it's too dangerous!"

Yui turned, gazing at him. 'Please, I wish you could remember Suboshi. It would mean the world to me if you did.' She sighed. "Uh...sorry." She gazed down sadly at the ground.

"It's not your fault, you're new here." He smiled. "This way, I think you should stay in the main market area, less chance of you getting harmed." He led her away from the alley, into the market place.

'Is this your way of telling me you remember?!' With tear-filled eyes, Yui gazed into Jeremiah's. She sighed longingly. 'I wonder if he would remember if I did something to make him? Would he remember if there was a kiss?'

She didn't answer her question before confidently cupped her mouth over Jeremiah's after slipping her hand under his chin, bringing her mouth to his. She applied light pressure with the kiss, not wanting to make him feel cornered.

He could only stare in wide-eyed shock. Paralysis lanced his body, he couldn't move, he didn't know what to do, he could only stand, letting her have control.