Disclaimer: I make no claim to the series, ideas, or characters of Full Metal Panic.

Author's Notes: As always, I want to truly thank everyone who has reviewed. I never would have expected anyone to like my story, so I was not expecting many reviews, or at least not many good ones. But, surprises come unexpected. I am truly grateful to those who have reviewed my story. I would like to apologize that it has taken so long for me to update; I have just had a lot to do, and hardly any time to do what I enjoy doing. One of my major problems is that I had the entire story planned out except for this part. I had not given this part much thought beforehand, so I've had to write up this piece on the whim. Personally, I do not like this chapter, and I will understand if those of you who read it don't find it that enjoyable either. But, if you like this story, or if you don't, please review. I am as open to constructive criticism as I am encouragement and pats on the back. Well, at least I can almost guarantee that the next chapter will be better than this one. Also, before I close, I would like to think ShiniJekka for pointing out my misspelling of Sousuke's name in my earlier chapters; I have corrected them in this chapter. I want to thank all of those who read my story, and especially those who take the time to review my story. My encouragement lies in your enjoyment. Thank you.

The Deathbringer

Chapter 4: The Dawn of the Mist

By Adam Lakewood Copyright 2004

The storm had lasted all night and was still going on into the early hours of the morning. The storm originally promised to be a sign of impending disaster, and it held true to its promise. Much had happened during the day of the storm. There were arguments and misunderstandings. There were hard feelings and unspoken words. There were dreams and harsh reality. There was life and death.
Kaname had been given the gift of being able to keep her life; unfortunately, Sousuke was not as lucky. Kaname was curled into fettle position, sobbing uncontrollably as she had been doing for the past six hours. Sousuke was lying outside of the door not being capable of movement as he had been for the past six hours. Sousuke Sagara had been officially dead for six hours.
Sousuke had locked her in this storage room and stood out front attempting to protect her from something that she was still not sure as to what it was. He had given his life in order to protect hers. There were no exits in the room except for the door, and it was locked. She could not do anything, so she had plenty of time to think of this for the past six hours.
The sun was starting to peak its way through the rain clouds and through the window of the door. This should have improved Kaname's mood, but it didn't; this was not something so menial that it could be helped with just a little bit of sunshine. The fact that yesterday morning was the last sunrise that she would be able to see with Sousuke was the last that would have ever occurred to her. Sousuke was the perfect soldier. He was capable of doing anything and surviving impossible odds. How could he be dead? He couldn't be dead!
But, he was. This horrid fact troubled her more than anything. Of course, there were other things that bothered her. Is he really dead? Could she help him if she could get out? What happened to Sousuke? Who or what killed Sousuke? Why did she want Sousuke dead? Who was she? She sounded like a little girl. Why was she after her? Kaname couldn't take it anymore; she had to get out of here. Maybe Sousuke was still alive!
Before, the room was pitch black, so she couldn't see a thing. Now, she could see a little bit. When she recomposed herself a little, she took a look around the room for something that may be able to break the small window. She looked through a couple of the dusty cardboard boxes before finding a metal candle holder. This would serve the purpose of breaking out the small window.
Kaname walked over to door, and hit the window with all of her force. Nothing happened. This did not seem to be a good sign at all. Kaname steadied herself and took in a deep breath. She reared the candle holder back and swung once again with all of her might. This time the window cracked slightly; another swing did it in. The entire house was built with European design and thus, very strong in every aspect, even the windows. Now, she needed to unlock the door.
She tried to reach through the small window to the lever outside, but her arm was too short. She needed to find something with reach. Kaname was finally able to find a broom leaned up against one of the corners of the small room.
She placed the end of the broom under the latch outside the door and tried to lift upward. The latch was firmly in place and could not be easily budged. So, she positioned the handle under the latch, and pulled down on the other end. It started to budge a little but only got harder to budge the further it did budge. Finally, she grabbed onto the end of the broom and attempted to lay on it; thus, putting all of her weight into it. The latch budged a lot, but unfortunately the broom handle snapped. Kaname and the remains of the broom stick fell to the floor. This was not going very well at all.
Hoping that either the latch had given way, or acting in a last ditch attempt to force the door open, Kaname rammed the door with her shoulder.
The door budged open quickly. The door flew back until it hit something with a soft but forceful 'thud.' Kaname held her hands to her mouth, for she knew what it was that she hit. Even she was confused as to why she was disturbed by the door hitting what was in the way. Perhaps it was just the idea of a door hitting someone's body, regardless of what condition of life they were in. Perhaps it was evidence of what she had feared all along: that was Sousuke's body. Sousuke would not be lying there if he weren't dead. Sousuke was dead, and she needed to quit lying to herself.
When she hesitantly exited the room she could see the body out of the corner of her eye, but she dared not look at it. But... what if he was still alive. She had to make sure.

She looked over to her left at the body of Sousuke Sagara, her protector. His skin was an even mixture of the colors of crimson red and pale white. It was obvious by the pale skin and dried blood that he had been dead for a while. There were cuts all over his body, and his left leg was cut so deeply that it looked as if it was ready to fall off. There were hundreds of tears in his clothing, and there were bloody spots where there were cuts. He had died a very brutal death. Kaname turned her head back away from him with tears in her eyes. She sucked back a sob but was soon overcome with sorrow.
She turned back to look at Sousuke. The tears came faster and her lower jaw began to quiver.
"Sousuke?"
There was no reply and his stiff silence made her tears flow even more.
"S...S...Sousuke?"
She quickly threw herself down in front of him and took him in her arms. He was cold to the touch; his warmth was no longer there. It had left him hours ago. She embraced him in her arms and leaned her head against his.
"Come on, Sousuke. I know you're not dead. I still need you to protect me. You can't complete your mission and your promise to always protect me if you die now!" she said with a smile, hoping he would come around.
He was still as lifeless as he was before. There was no sign of life anywhere in him. She repeated his name over and over, and shook him violently. His jaw came open as a result of the force of the shaking. This was not the dramatic resurrection that she was praying for. Out of the corner of her eye she could have sworn that she saw Sousuke's leg move. Of course it would move after being shaken, but this logic did not occur to her. Sousuke had to be alive. She picked up his cold wrist to check for a new pulse. There was none. She began to cry heavily. What she was hoping for was a fairy tale. In the fairy tales, the hero would always come back as soon as everyone thought they were dead and seemingly as a reaction from the heroine's tears. But, this was no fairy tale. This was the harsh blade of reality swinging full force by the pendulum of fate and time. This was going to be no happy ending. Sousuke was dead.
"Please, Sousuke. You can't leave me now. I need you. I love you. I couldn't live with myself if I knew that you died protecting me. Please, Sousuke, come back to me. I don't know what to do without you. I'll be sad. You don't want me to be sad do you, Sousuke? I never got to tell you that I love you. I never got to see if you felt the same way. I never got to tell you about my family or my past. And, you didn't get to tell me about yours. T... there is still so much that we don't know about each other. You can't be dead. I need you, Sousuke. I need you with me."
Sousuke was dead. He had died protecting her. He had cared for her so much that he gave his life to save hers. She loved him dearly, and would never forget what he had done for her.
The rain would not let her forget.

She had to let someone know of what had happened. Sousuke had given her the number in which she could reach Commander Kalinin if an emergency should arise. Sousuke had quickly written down the number and gave it to her only because he was required to, not because he felt she would need it. She accepted it only because Sousuke had to give it to her; she did not feel as if they would actually need it either. There would not be such an emergency if Sousuke was around. She never would have thought that she would be calling the number because of the fall of Sousuke.
She hesitated as she punched in the numbers. How would she tell them about what happened? Who would she be telling it to? How they take it. Tessa, Kalinin, Kurtz, Melissa; how would they all take it? Would they blame her because he died protecting her? How would she explain to them what killed Sousuke? There was only one way to find out.
Kaname pulled her composure together and called the number. The tone rang twice before it was answered by the rough voice of the German commander. He cleared his throat before speaking.
"Good morning, Sagara. How goes your vacation? Have you been taking it easy like I told you to? ...hello? Sagara. Sergeant Sagara? Are you there?"
Kaname could not believe it. Sousuke was on vacation and he hadn't told her. He had remained with her during his vacation. Sousuke had remained on duty protecting her when he should have been somewhere else. If he hadn't been with her, he may still be...
Kaname couldn't bear the thought any longer. She tried to speak to the man on the other end of the line but could only manage a sob before she started crying again. The rain grew stronger as if to intentionally make her feel worse. Maybe it was in mock of her sadness. The kitchen phone fell to the floor as Kaname did the same. Kaname covered her face with her hands as her body was wracked with uncontrollable sobs. It had all happened so quickly, and she was nowhere near ready for it. Where there was sunlight warming the kitchen, a thick gray blanket covered the sunlight and cast its dreary tint across the room and all throughout the house. The rain had called in backup.

The Mithril operatives were not ready for what they saw. Some were brought to tears, some were brought to the nauseate state of vomiting, and some were simply left speechless. This was definitely the goriest case of murder they had ever seen. The killer was ruthless and sadistic. He was also a highly trained professional. They were still baffled as to how highly trained a highly trained professional could be. Sousuke Sagara was by far one of the most highly trained professionals that Mithril had at their disposal. Who could have been as trained as to be able to bring down Sergeant Sagara Sousuke? This individual, whoever he was, was truly remarkable in close quarters combat. There were no signs of opposing struggle from the attacker; as a matter of fact, there was no evidence of an attacker. The only evidence was a bloody kitchen knife which had no fingerprints on it. This person was truly a professional of professionals. Even the only witness, Kaname Chidori, could not truly be considered a witness; fore she did not see the attacker, only the results of one.
Despite their not being ready for what they were sent to do; the Mithril operatives went about their job efficiently. So efficiently, in fact, that it almost made Kaname sick. All these people saw was another dead distant team member. That was Sousuke Sagara, but it seemed that Kaname was the only one who knew that.
Once all of the eight operatives regained their composure, it took only about five minutes to do an entire disemboguing clean-up of the area. There was no longer any blood, any signs of a struggle, or any body of Sousuke Sagara.
Kaname, likewise, had to be moved to a different location. For once, she was given an option. She could be taken back to a Mithril base, a secure shelter of her choosing, or she could go to the place where Sousuke would be immediately buried. Kaname asked where Sousuke was going to be buried. Sousuke was one of the few that had the privilege of choosing where he was going to be buried on the occasion of his death. He had chosen to be buried at the graveyard of the Creedence Catholic Church in Denver, Colorado of the United States.
Kaname was never one for going to funerals. The most recent memories were the ones that were most memorable. She did not want her last two memories of Sousuke to be that of him lying in a bloody mess on the floor, and lying in a pretty, wooden box dressed in ways that he would normally not be dressed in. She already had the earlier of the two as a final memory; she did not want the later.

Also, Sousuke had a lover at that church: Sister Meredith. Kaname did not want to face her. One, because of the sorrow that she would have to deal with again from someone else that loved Sousuke as much as she did, and two, she felt jealously toward Tessa for only having a crush on Sousuke; there's no telling how she would feel toward this person. Mostly, she did not want to see how she knew she felt in another person. She had enough sorrow to deal with on her own. She had enough sadness to deal with without having to be reminded of it. But, the rain was going to act as a friendly reminder of sorrow.

No, it would only be right for her to attend Sousuke's funeral. She owed him that much at the very least. Also, she remembered what Sousuke had said about him and Sister Meredith.

"We did everything and talked about everything."

That could mean that this Sister Meredith might know what happened to Sousuke. Sousuke had seemed to be so sure that it was not something of this world. He also talked as if this major secret of his had been haunting him for years. Maybe the secret and Sousuke's murderer had a link, and maybe Sister Meredith would know what it was.

She would go to Sousuke's funeral in hopes of getting some answers out of this Meredith person. She did not know what she would do when or if she found out any answers, but she couldn't just go back to her old life, and act like nothing had happened. But, what would she do if she did find out who Sousuke's murderer was? She would cross that bridge when she came to it. First, she had to get some answers that Sousuke was no longer capable of providing. She also needed to get away from this dreaded rain. She would once again visit America.

Kaname had specifically requested to be sent there as quickly as possible. Her wishes were met, so she would be on the same transport plane that was transferring over Sousuke and his coffin.
Commander Kalinin knew from the report of what Kaname had been through and obliged to her wishes. He knew first hand how badly Tessa had taken the news, and he knew that Kaname must have taken it much worse. He had two heart-broken women on his hands, and he felt as if he were stepping on eggshells when he was talking to either of them. He still could not bring himself to meet either of them face to face. He was having a bit of trouble dealing with it himself; Sousuke was like a son to him. He was not without his own sorrows.
Kaname was the only passenger on the long flight. Of course, there were other Mithril operatives on the plane, but they were usually out of sight. The trip was lonely. She did not enjoy it at all. It gave her way to much time to think. She did need to try to cheer up a little if at all possible; she was making the Mithril operatives feel bad. It was quite obvious that Kalinin had told them to give her special treatment while she was on the plane with them.
Kaname looked away from the window towards the front of the cabin when she heard the sliding door open for the fifth time in the past hour. The young man was becoming slightly annoying, but at least he was trying to be as kind and considerate as he knew how. This time he was back with a tray of steaming food. He came over next to her, pulled down the table on the other side of her, and placed the tray of food on it. Kaname did not feel like eating at all..
"Uh... thank you, but I didn't request any food. That... is a lot of food. I wouldn't be able to eat anywhere near half of that anyway." Kaname said while looking at the rather large tray of food setting to the right of her.

She hadn't eaten for almost an entire day now, and the food did look real good. She was actually glad that the man had brought out the food. The young man looked at the plate of food, he looked at her, and then he smiled. He took in a deep breath before speaking.

"You're welcome, I know you didn't, I know it is, and I knew you wouldn't."

The young man took the seat next to her and began situating the food. He took in a deep breath of the smell of the food.

"But, I figured you must be getting really hungry; I know I was. So, I decided that I would cook some food for you and some for myself."

The man drew an imaginary line with one of the eating utensils.

"I can eat this much of it if I'm as hungry as I think I am, and then... Oh, my! It seems as if I have fixed too much! It would be such a waste of good food if it were not eaten. Suppose you could eat some of this delightful food so that way it does not go to waste?"

The man smiled at her as he offered her a spare plate and extra utensils. Kaname smiled at him. He had a very kind demeanor, and she knew that he was trying to cheer her up. He had been trying for the past couple of hours now, ever since the other guy gave up. She was indeed very hungry, so she accepted his offer. Kaname lifted her eyebrow at the thought of the man's odd logic.

"I see. You fixed too much food but happened to bring an extra plate and set of utensils?"

"It is just a coincidence."

Those words struck home. She had become very agitated with Sousuke for excessive use of those words. The image of Sousuke saying those words with the most sincere look on his face brought a smile to her face. But, the smile soon turned into a frown. Never again would she be able to here those words or see that face, or at least not from him. She was sorry for all of the times that she had become agitated at him for whatever reason. There was never a reason for her to get angry at such a caring person. A tear slowly made its way down her cheek as Kaname stared at the seat in front of her. The man obviously did not know what to do and almost seemed to panic a little.

He seemed to fear that he had done something wrong; he knew that he had to be careful about what he said or did around her.

"M... Miss Chidori. I'm sorry if I bothered you. You do not have to eat if you don't want to. I'm sorry if I have been bothering you too frequently. I won't come back in here again; you just call me if you need me, please. I..."

Kaname had to at least act a little bit more cheerful. If she didn't, the men on this plane would worry themselves sick. She had obviously almost given one a heart attack with just a single tear. These guys were obviously not trained to deal with a woman's feelings very well, or at least not how to react.

Kaname quickly wiped the tear from her eye and put back on a smile.

"Oh, no; you didn't do anything wrong. It's just me. There are just too many things that remind me of Sousuke."

"I see. But, that is only normal, miss. And, when I think about it; it also makes sense to want some time alone. I'll leave you be, Miss Chidori. If you need something, just call out; I'll be here momentarily. If you get bored just call for me; I wouldn't care to have some company to talk to anyway. Or, if you like, I'm sure the pilot would be more than happy to teach you how to fly a plane. You look to be a fast learner; I wouldn't doubt if you could learn to fly a plane over the span of several hours."

Kaname smiled at the man's politeness. He must have been the more charismatic of the people on the plane.

"Thank you." she said in a low voice to the man.

The man opened the sliding door to leave back to the cockpit but stopped in his place for a moment. He turned back around to look at her.

"Also, whatever you do, don't blame yourself for his death."

Kaname was kind of taken back by the man's words. She had been trying her best to let on like she did not blame herself, but it seemed as if this man was able to see through her "wall." Maybe he was mistaken. So, she attempted to falsely defend herself.

"I never said that I blame myself for what happened. What makes you think that I would blame myself?"

The man could see right through her "wall." But, he decided it would be best if he didn't argue with her about it. It might only make matters worse for her to feel as if people were feeling sorry for her.

"I know you don't, but I would still like to clear up any confusion that you may have concerning Sergeant Sagara's actions. I will start by being frank. You are a total stranger to me. I have heard your name around the base a couple of times, but until today I never even given your name a second thought. Still, I would gladly give my life for you. Not just me, but everyone else on this plane would also. We have no families, so our lives are, in a way, expendable. Any of us would absolutely love to go down in a flame of glory as Sergeant Sagara did: giving his life in order to save another. A Mithril soldier would want no other death more so than that kind. That is what we consider to be the most honorable passing."

The man's happy mood seemed to dampen as he talked. He looked down at the floor and took in a long breath before continuing.

"A soldier is aware that his life may end on any given day. So, he never makes plans ahead for the future. We may all die tonight, but if that is the case, it can be said that we would not be highly surprised. A soldier must be ready to forfeit his life at any minute, and the good soldiers are. Sagara was a good, no, great soldier. He will always be remembered by everyone for what he did. Every soldier would like to go down the way he did, but not every soldier is brave enough to go through with it. What I'm trying to say is this: I understand why you are saddened by his passing. It is only natural. But, you should not feel pity for him. Instead you should feel proud of him as a means of supporting his pride. Sagara wouldn't have had it any other way, and I would say that he was proud to give his life for you."

The man quickly put on another smile and looked back over at Kaname. I bothered him when he saw another tear rolling down her cheek, but he was relieved a bit when he saw the smile on her face. He carefully reached down to her and wiped the tear from her eye.

"A soldier or not, a man would have to be crazy to not want to protect a nice, pretty, young lady like you."

Kaname smiled up at the man before her. His words did actually make her feel better. She was now starting to realize more about the soldiers of Mithril. A crack of thunder shook her out of her train of thought. It was as if the treacherous rain had followed her.

The man looked out one of the windows and could indeed see a good amount of rain outside. Just a few seconds later, an intercom in the cabin came on speaking of a code blue 71. The man nodded his head in acknowledgement to no one in particular. He looked back down at Kaname who was looking up at him with a questioning look on her face.

"Code blue 71: travel delay due to unfavorable weather conditions. It seems as if we will have to land, for the plane cannot go on through this storm. This must be a pretty bad storm in order to hinder our pilot's abilities to get us to our destination."

Kaname frowned at the man's statement. If only he had any idea as to how bad this storm was. The man looked back down to see Kaname frowning. He decided to give her more details in hopes of relieving her of some of her worries.

"Not to worry, though. It will only delay us for a few hours until we can get a convoy ready to head over to the church. We are currently in America right now; we will be able to drive the rest of the distance. We will call for someone from the church to come and pick you up; it will be much more appropriate for you to ride in that fashion than with a military truck convoy. It will take a few hours for someone from the church to arrive considering the distance and the weather. Until he or she arrives, we will find a suitable motel for you to rest in for the time being. That is alright with you isn't it?"

The man looked at her, waiting for her approval. Kaname looked up at the man and smiled. It made her feel good that she was being treated so kindly.

"Yes, of course. That is fine."

"Okay. That is great. We will probably be landing down in the next fifteen minutes of so. When we land, you will be taken to a motel, and a guard will also be sent with you. You will have enough time to do what you want and get some sleep if you wish before the person from the church arrives. Once he or she arrives, they will take you to the Creedence Catholic Church, or a place in that general location. I must leave you now; call for me if you need something."
The plane shook slightly from a bit of turbulence. If they did not land soon, the storm would force them to.

The room was very dark, but she knew where she was. This was still only a part of her training. She focused all of her senses in order to find any source of the test. There was none, meaning that this test must be run by a computer. She was still not intimidated; she was ready for anything and could handle anything.
The woman looked to be in her mid twenties. She was of average height for a woman. She had long black hair that came down to her mid back. She had sky blue eyes that almost seemed to glow. She was clad in tight black leather from neck to toe. In a word; she was stunning.
Without warning the lights came back on to reveal two mounted guns on opposite walls of the large, grey, concrete room. The woman was still unfazed by this sight. Nor did she seem in the least bit unnerved by the sounds of the guns suddenly booting up into execution mode.
There was no warning when the guns immediately began firing off shots. Their combined shots must have been at least two-hundred per second, all aimed directly at the woman. In almost the blink of an eye the woman was at least fifty feet away from where the two guns were originally firing at her. She was at her next position before the drone guns could even retrain on her. She opened her hand to reveal a single .22 caliber round: the same kind that the guns were firing at her. It was still smoking from the heat of the gun in which it was fired from less than a second ago. The woman quickly slung the bullet back at one of the guns before it could retrain its sights on her. The bullet whizzed through the air at almost the same speed in which it left the gun, and entered back into the nozzle. The gun exploded from the jam and mechanical malfunction caused by the reentry of the bullet. The second drone gun began firing upon the woman. She gracefully sidestepped the first few bullets before entering into a number of cartwheels and front flips toward the last remaining. The bullets maintained a perfect pattern on both sides of her, but none of which were able to reach her. The woman stopped abruptly to the left of the gun, and before it could retrain on her new position it was ripped off of its mount by the woman's grip. All that was left in its place was a mess of sparking wires as the woman dropped the four-hundred pound gun to the floor from her single hand.
The woman let out a sigh of exhaustion, wiped the sweat from her face, and turned to meet the man that would be coming through the sliding metal door in a few seconds.
The door slid open as the larger man that the woman knew so well walked through the door. He was holding a clipboard and a file folder in his hands. He walked forward with a smirk on his face.
"Well, you actually handled that better than we thought you would. You truly are perfect, aren't you?"
"Why, thank you for the empty flattery! As far as being perfect, you wouldn't have it any other way, would you?"
"That is true. But, I would watch the way you talked to me if I were you. By the way, how did you know I was coming; you seemed to be expecting me."
"I could hear you coming."
"You could hear me coming down the hall through a soundproof room?"
"Yes."
"That is right. Of course you could. You are perfect after all. As much as I would love to talk, I need to get down to business."
The woman looked obviously amused, yet annoyed.
"So, who do you want me to kill this time?"
"You had better watch it. But, yes, I do want you to kill someone, or more like some people."
The man held out the file folder that he was carrying. The woman took it and began looking through the papers within. She nodded her head in acknowledgement as she quickly read through the files. She took more time to look at the two pictures of the two women that were to be killed. The first was of a blue haired girl who looked to be in her late teens. The other was of a red haired girl with green eyes who looked as if she were in her early twenties.
"Your targets of immediate execution will be Meredith Rily and Kaname Chidori. We have reason to believe that Meredith Rily may know details about our plan, and Kaname Chidori's powers as a Whispered are growing at phenomenal rates. We are believe that she may soon find out about our plans if her powers continue growing and also if she comes into contact with Meredith Rily. There have been arrangements for Chidori to be taken to the location of Rily. Both of these two are under the protection of Mithril as being Whispered. But, Kaname Chidori's protector met his demise early yesterday morning, so taking the both of them will be no problem for you. Kill anyone who gets in your way. It may be best to attack as soon as the both of them are together, but you may do use whatever means you wish. Either way, I want the both of them dead within the next twenty-four hours. These are your orders, Ace."

TO BE CONTINUED