Breaking The News
On Saturday morning, Kaname went over to Sousuke's apartment. She wanted to make certain Sousuke doesn't blow the cat up, and being the responsible individual that she was, had taken time out of her precious weekend just to do so. She hadn't been in the apartment since the "naming the cat" incident. She was sure Sousuke had enough time to recuperate from the injury she'd given him. After all, he DID have an unusually thick skull.
As she approached his apartment, Kaname could hear an altercation going on. The door was slightly ajar and there were three people in the room. Melissa was on her feet, her cheeks flushed from yelling. Sousuke was also up, staring daggers at his superior. Kurtz lay on the sofa with his hands on the back of his head and his eyes closed. His eyebrows were furrowed due to the ongoing verbal battle his alcohol-and-canned-crab crazed Sergeant Major and his dense comrade was having.
Kaname poked her head through the small opening. The cat took one glance at her and immediately went over. Her body was shaking in trepidation, hair standing on end. Most felines have acute sense of hearing, and with the intensity of the battle taking place, it was understandable why Chidori the Cat was acting the way she was.
Feeling its hardship, Kaname picked Chidori up and held her in her arms. Chidori, taking comfort in her partial owner's arms, buried her head in Kaname's chest to dull the cacophonous noise she was picking up.
"How can this happen to me?"
Sousuke was on the verge of imploding his face was so red.
"Look, soldier. It is out of my hands. MITHRIL's had it with your shit. Either shape up or ship out."
Mao's face was a light shade of pink in contrast to Sousuke's, which was nearing magenta.
The former Navy SEAL reached for the stash of weapons underneath the floorboard. Sousuke retreated from the room, thinking it'd be better if he did not have to see his weapons being confiscated. After the sweep, Mao followed him into the kitchen. Sousuke glared at her.
"What," he spat, his tone uncharacteristically venomous. "What the hell do you want now?"
"Your sidearm, Sergeant. I cannot leave without sequestering all MITHRIL issued equipment."
Sousuke upholstered his Glock 17, patting it as if it were his favorite pet. He admired the fine handiwork of the piece, proud of the shine the stainless steel produced due to countless hours of meticulous polishing and cleaning. His hands trembled slightly from the Glock 17. It was not heavy, coming in at around five pounds, but the tremendous sense of prowess Sousuke felt every time he held the gun makes him quaver. Sousuke shot a glance at the Sergeant Major. "I request a few moments alone," he said softly.
Melissa Mao placed both hands on her hip and gave him a frustrated look. "Are you shittin' me? Damnit, Sergeant. It's only a sidearm." But she left nevertheless.
When the Sgt. Major returned to the living room, Kurtz got up from his supine position and walked over to double check on his list of equipments needed to be retained. He sat cross-legged as he fumbled with equipment used to translate coded signals. The functions were highly complex and unlike most electronic devices, turning it off was not the push of a button away.
"Geez, Weber. It's not that hard to turn that damn thing off!"
Kurtz cursed under his breath as the password he punched in was denied. The plus side of the extra security purpose is that the code is a twelve number combination, and the chances of entering the correct secret code is one in ten million.
"This is bullshit. How can anyone get this right?"
Just then the kitchen screen door opened and Sousuke entered the room. He extended his arm and handed over his Glock 17. The look on his face was one of grim determination, but it was obvious that he was masking his true emotions. Anyone in the room, Kaname included, knew that for Sousuke, capitulating ownership of his favorite gun was like a child giving up his favorite toy.
"Sousuke." Kurtz motioned him toward his direction. "Would you mind?" He pointed at the equipment.
Sousuke knelt down and studied the device studiously. "The encrypted code follows a particular sequence. The first number would be one, the second precedent multiplied by thrice minus half of the former, and so on." He followed the sequence and the audible 'beep' stopped right after the last number.
Melissa got up to her feet. "Thank you, Sousuke." The tone in her voice gave away a hint of sorrow seeing as her teammate was now strictly considered a civilian, the one behind the wheels of a compact car instead of a tank. After collecting the items on her checklist, she headed toward the door and consequently ran into Kaname. The two squared off in a staring contest, Kaname winning when Kurtz came into view and placed a hand someplace the Sgt. Major did NOT appreciate. The young blonde soon found himself flying into the wall at the other end of the corridor. Luckily, none of the fragile equipment was damaged. Thank goodness for small favors.
The blue-haired Whispered watched as the duo left. Before Melissa descended down the flight of stairs, she turned to Kaname and gave her a take-care-of-Sousuke look. Kaname, fully aware of it's meaning, nodded in assent and bowed deeply.
Sousuke was a civilian now, and that means no more otaku stunts.
'This is going to be fun…'