Introductions

Sousuke was lying on his bed, an Algebra book set upon his stomach. He couldn't concentrate on the task ahead, the literally mountain of homework from school. The amount of homework must have accumulated after all the school days he had missed when he was on missions for Mithril. It would be impossible for him to meet the goal within the time allotted. It was a good thing that Kaname had offered to help him in understanding Japanese History, his worst subject.

The cat was close by curled up next to him, bringing a feeling of great warmth upon his body. He appreciated the cat's presence and reached out to pet her every once in a while. He decided that it was a she because, well, he had tried to check which gender it was and, uh, it definitely did NOT have the "equipment" fitted for a male. It could've been the result of a trip to the veterinarian, but Sousuke preferred to think of her as a she.

And since he had decided to allow her to live here, Sousuke made a list of supplies that were essential if the cat was to stay. And since Sousuke had seen how jumpy she was, he disabled the fire alarm, doorbell, and phone, anything that would alarm her. He also had to remove the spare key that he hid underneath his apartment room number plate. Sousuke didn't want to scare the cat away so he pulled down the shades and placed a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on his doorknob.

"Sousuke old chum, you in there?" He heard the voice of his German counterpart through the door.

"I request to be alone for a while." He was pretty sure Melissa would leave him alone, but Kurtz Weber would definitely think something out of it. That was why Sousuke booby-trapped the door handle to give any unwanted visitors a shock. And as the blonde AS pilot, interest piqued by the 'Do Not Disturb' sign, reached for the doorknob, recoiled and jumped slightly. His usually wavy hair had turned into a semi-afro.

"Weber, you are absolutely retarded. Leave Sousuke alone, he's probably busy." Melissa popped open a can of her favorite beer and glared at Kurtz.

"Yeah, with Kaname Chidori! C'mon, Sis. You always take Sousuke's side. Don't you want to bust his ass?"

"Weber, if you don't shut the hell up, I'll be busting your ass."

"Babe, I think you got the concept all wrong!"

The last thing Sousuke heard after the lascivious remark was a yelp of pain from Kurtz.

A couple awkward minutes dragged by before Sousuke heard Kurtz knocking on the door.

"Yo Sousuke!"

Sousuke sighed. "Weber?"

"Yeah, lemme come in."

"Negative, I will be right out."

Kurtz heard the sound of shuffling feet. He heard Sousuke unlock the door. The fact that he had a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on his doorknob convinced Kurtz that Sousuke was doing something that he normally wouldn't do, namely having a female in his apartment. He knew that Sousuke didn't want a repeat with Kaname Chidori walking in on him when Tessa was showering at his apartment. The incident had turned out to be quite popular to Mithril operatives onboard the Teletha De Daanan.

"Sousuke, old chum. You have a girl in there or what?"

Sousuke couldn't disregard the cat as an inanimate object. "Affirmative."

The look on Kurtz Weber's face was priceless. Melissa Mao, who was standing nearby, wore an expression that was equivalent to Kurt's.

"Sousuke! I never knew you had it in you. I—" He was interrupted by Melissa's stern look. His face fell. "But Sis! I want to know, don't you?"

"Weber, if I have to repeat myself one last time I'm putting you on double duty. And don't think that I'm shitting you." She turned to Sousuke and winked. "Get her, tiger. That's an order."

Kurtz looked gloomily at Sousuke. "I want all the details later. Don't leave anything out," he muttered under his breath before taking off.

Sousuke looked puzzled as to his teammates' reaction. Had they never seen a cat before?

Kaname got home after her student council meeting ended. She couldn't help but smile. Even though Sousuke had turned the school into a virtual warzone, she found it in her heart to forgive him. How could she not, after things had gone so well with her father? He actually liked Sousuke and his militaristic ways. She placed her backpack next to her desk and went to take a shower, as she usually did after baseball or one of her student council meetings. When she stepped out of the shower and put some clothes on, something told her to check on Sousuke. She went out to her balcony to see what her otaku was up to, but the curtains were pulled down.

She frowned. It wasn't at all like Sousuke to mask his actions. Sometimes she wishes he would do his otaku stunts when she wasn't looking. Saves so much irritation, grief, and swinging of the paper fan. She could've sworn that her right arm looks bigger than her left.

Another possibility dawned upon the blue-haired girl. Her face fell, eyes dilated in horror. 'Maybe TESSA was over at Sousuke's place. Cant really put it past that tramp to do something like this. Maybe SHE suggested closing the curtains. Sousuke wouldn't see the harm in that, as clueless as he is…'

"Pick up, big idiot," she growled under her breath, the cell in her grasp shaking in anger. When on the third ring and nobody picked up, Kaname set down her cellphone in a fidgety way.

"Okay, Kaname, calm down," she said to herself in a forced calm voice. "I'll just go check on him. If a special someone happens to be there—"

She stopped in midsentence. She couldn't bring herself into believing that Sousuke would fall for that. He was dense, of course, but nobody can be that dumb…

Before leaving for the door, she reached for her paper fan. 'Just in case…'

Sousuke was halfway through feeding his cat when somebody outside starting knocking on the door. Immediately the cat ran for cover, this time underneath his bed. Sousuke went over and peered through the peephole.

"Kaname?" he said to himself, nonplussed as to why the girl would come in such short notice. It was Kaname after all, he argued, and sometimes her actions are rather rash and extemporaneous.

Sousuke opened the door just enough for him to slip out but Kaname, who pushed the door wider and threw him off guard, had other plans.

"K-Kaname, what an, uh, unexpected surprise. What are you doing here?" The look on her face would've scared a rabid rottweiler into hiding. Sousuke, at a lost of options, looked back at Kaname perplexed.

"Well, Sousuke, I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind if I hang out here?" She smiled sweetly, but her eyes told Sousuke she was close to exploding.

"Uh…sure, it's not a problem. May I ask you to keep your voice down?"

"Sure, Sousuke! BUT MAY I ASK WHY?!!" She raised her voice about two decibels beyond any known level. Cement dust fell from the ceiling, practically dousing the room.

"Umm…"

"Umm WHAT?!"

"Kaname…you are going to scare her…"

Kaname's face fell instantly. "Her? TESSA?!?! WHERE IS SHE?!!?"

Sousuke gave her a puzzled look as he knelt down and extracted the petrified cat. "Um, no, Kaname. Not Captain Testarossa. Her."

to be continued…

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