NOCTURNE
Chapter III (03): Cute Couple
It takes only several minutes for the helicopters to reach the base. The young military woman opens the copter door after the pilot turns off the copter, and both Akira and Dark wait for permission to exit. There are the sounds of metal clanking in the distance and young recruits being trained by ruthless DI's. Like on the mountain, Akira slowly closes his eyes and concentrates on the voices around him. He then hears the two distinct voices again…
"…the black helicopter. Who is it?"
"I'm not sure. How did he find the base, Sousuke? No one has ever found this place, let alone hike this mountain range!"
"That's very strange… Kaname, why don't you tell the Captain about the young man and his pet? I'm sure she'll find it interesting."
"Why don't you do it?"
"I could, but I--"
"Quit sending me on things you should be doing! I can take care of myself, you know. Don't worry; I won't get him ticked off or anything."
"Let's hope you don't. Who knows what he could do."
"Sure, Sousuke. I won't be long."
The two voices stop talking and Akira can make out the sound of footsteps slowly approaching his position from the distance. He snaps out of his daze and looks around him. Everyone seems to have left. Akira shakes his head and, just as he is about to leave, he notices Dark is missing! Akira looks all around inside the helicopter and looks around the flat area they landed at but can't see Dark anywhere. Akira curses to himself and jumps from the copter door. Somewhere on the base, Akira hears a young woman scream. Akira has a hunch that Dark has entered one of the base's buildings and takes off like a rocket to where the scream was. He stops several feet before a door, which is wide open, and looks around inside. In the small room filled with chairs and a large screen is Dark, being held in the arms of a lovely young teenager with long blue hair that reaches to her waist and is tied around the end by a small red bow. The teen has brown eyes and wears a sleeveless red shirt with light brown shorts that reach just above her knees. The young woman is smiling brightly and rubs her face against Dark's head, who responds by chirping happily.
"Ohhhh, how CUTE!"
Dark's smile widens and he keeps chirping. He seems to love the affection that the young teen is showing to him by his "cuteness." Dark notices Akira standing at the doorway and struggles from the young woman's tight grip.
"Wha—What? Where are you going?"
Dark dashes across the wooden floor, dodging the metal chairs that stand in his way and stops several inches before Akira's right leg. He rubs his head against Akira's leg lovingly. Akira stare down on Dark and frowns, quite upset that his little "comrade" left him in the first place. Dark keeps rubbing his leg even with the glare in Akira's eyes. Akira sighs and brings his attention to the young woman, who looks at Akira curiously, but also with a look of fear.
"Who… Who are you?"
Akira doesn't respond, but he does seem to be listening.
"Hello? Anybody home?"
Akira grins. He shakes Dark off of him and approaches the young woman. He stops several feet before her and extends his right hand. The young woman hesitates, but grasps his hand gently with her right hand as well.
"Akira Tanaka."
"Kaname Chidori. It's nice to meet you... I guess."
Akira and the young woman named Kaname release hands. Dark gazes up at Akira and Kaname, trying to keep his attention on both of their expressions. Akira stares at Kaname, as if trying to read her mind. Kaname seems to be rather scared and has her hands clasped at her sides.
"What… What are you doing here?"
"I just happened to be passing by, is all."
"Mmmkay, and what is that?"
Kaname points to Dark, who starts cheeping. Akira hushes him.
"That is a dragon, Ms. Chidori."
"I kinda figured that, but what is it doing here? Is it yours?"
"Yes, you could say that. His name is Dark."
"Oh. Where'd you get it?"
"Hmm… It wasn't really my intention, but I saved it from some bandits who messed him up pretty bad."
"Oh, that's so mean! What happened to them?"
Akira shrugs. Kaname no longer looks as scared, but does seem to be showing signs that she is still uncomfortable. Around the doorway, there is the sound of clicking metal, and a low voice is heard.
"You. Step away from her."
Akira does not look back, nor does he respond. Dark starts to tremble in fear.
"If you don't move, then I will make you move."
The young man who ordered that command to Akira starts to walk slowly towards him.
"Sousuke, what are you doing!"
"Kaname! Get away from him! We don't know what he could do."
"He's alright; I've already spoken with him."
Dark stops trembling and starts up a menacing growl. Akira turns his head so he can see the young man named Sousuke with his peripheral vision. Sousuke has on a white shirt (possibly from working out) and black jeans. His hair looks almost exactly like Akira's (fuzzed out around the edges) except it is a brown color, as well as his eyes. However, Akira is taller than Sousuke by a few inches. If you were looking eye-to-eye with Sousuke, he has a small X-shaped scar on his right cheek. If you were in Sousuke's point-of-view, the scar is on his left cheek, right next to the jaw line and justabout totouch his neck. The scar is rather thin, so it's hardly noticable from a distance. Akira notices that Sousuke is wearing leather boots as well, and that he's sweating heavily. 'So he was training,' Akira says to himself softly. He also notices Sousuke is holding a small handgun, pointed right at his (Akira's) head. Akira grins again.
"So… Mr. Sousuke Sagara, I presume?"
Sousuke stops, but keeps the gun he's holding lifted in the air, aimed right at Akira.
"How do you know my name?"
Akira shrugs.
"Kaname, did you tell him my name?"
"Of course not! Why would I do that?"
"Then how come he knows it?"
"How should I know! I just met him about a minute ago!"
Kaname glares at Sousuke, who keeps his attention on Akira. Dark stops growling and huddles close to Akira's feet, keeping a look of anger at Sousuke. Akira's grin broadens.
"Hehehe…"
"What are you chuckling for? You shouldn't have anything to be smiling about unless you have some plan up your sleeve."
"Hehehe… Kashim."
Sousuke's eyes open in surprise and the gun he was holding hits the floor, making a metal clank. Fortunately, the gun doesn't go off, and Kaname shows a sign of relief. Her relief then turns to curiosity, as she looks at Akira, who keeps his attention on Sousuke behind him. Sousuke is standing amidst the chairs, which are scattered all over the room. He seems a bit pale.
"How—How did—Where did you learn that name?"
"Hehehe…"
Akira keeps chuckling to himself softly. Kaname backs away slowly from Akira and runs towards Sousuke. She stands beside him, staring at Akira. She decides to let Sousuke handle the problem with this strange man.
Akira turns his whole body in Sousuke and Kaname's direction, still smiling.
"HEY! Where did you learn that name... Kashim?"
"Lucky, I guess. I just said it out of the blue."
"There's no way! Who are you? Are you a spy? Whom are you working for?"
"I'm no spy, Sergeant Sagara."
Sousuke's eye twitches for a brief moment.
"But I can tell you this: I am more of a person than you think I am."
"What… do you mean?"
"Let's see, how can I explain this…"
Akira lowers his head, thinking to himself.
"I am special. Quite special indeed."
"Special? How? Are you… Are you one of the Whispered?"
"Whispered? Hmm… I guess you could say that."
The "Whispered," as I explained earlier, are a special race of people who have the power to bring out the dark technology in the mechas called Arm Slaves. The Whispered also know things that only the highest of governmental people would know. In other words, classified documents that have never seen the light of day for years on end.
Sousuke turns stern and becomes more serious with Akira.
"Listen, you."
"Akira."
"Yes, Akira. Listen: I don't know how you know all of this, or how you found Mithril's base, but I will tell you is that if you don't want to be arrested right now, you'd better tell us the truth."
"I told you all you should know. I swear that I am no spy, nor do I work for anyone who is related to such things. I belong to no government or secret organizations. If I did, I probably would have killed your girlfriend over there."
Akira points to Kaname, who starts to blush.
"We're, umm, not in that type of relationship, Akira. Sousuke is my bodyguard from those evil organizations you were mentioning earlier."
"Is he? Well…"
Akira takes a deep breath and shakes his head. He then starts to laugh.
"What is so funny, you?"
"Nothing, nothing, I'm sorry about that."
Akira continued to chuckle to himself.
"If you don't mind, Sergeant, but I think I will take my leave now."
"Huh?"
Sousuke and Kaname now both have looks of surprise on their faces. Dark is napping peacefully by Akira's leather shoes.
"You think you can leave that easily?"
"Why, in some ways, yes. I only came to visit, is all."
"Visit? What for? This is a secret military base, and you came here to VISIT? I… don't get it. You've totally lost me."
Sousuke starts to laugh, as well as Kaname and Akira. Dark continues to sleep, not being affected at all by their laughing, for he is a heavy sleeper.
"It's been nice chatting with you, Akira. I hope we meet again someday."
"In some ways, I do as well, Ms. Chidori. Take care of yourself."
Dark and Akira are now in a small boat. The boat is made of wood and has a large sail with an "M" on it. The "M" stands for Mithril.
"Sergeant Sagara."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"You take care as well, hear?"
"Heh, I will."
"You know…"
Sousuke and Kaname look at Akira curiously, who smiles mischievously.
"You two make a cute couple."
Sousuke smiles nervously, and Kaname blushes brightly and puts her hands on her face in embarrassment.
"I hope that someday we do cross paths again."
After several more minutes of talking, Akira sets sail with Dark. Kaname waves with her left hand and Sousuke stands at attention. In just mere minutes, the boat has left Mithril and is out on the open sea. Both Kaname and Sousuke are now just tiny dots on the horizon.
"I wonder who the Captain was that I overheard Sousuke talking about… Eh, oh well. I shouldn't worry about that now. Dammit! How did I get so close to them so quickly! I'm becoming too soft. It's all because of you, isn't it!"
Akira glares at Dark, who cheeps happily. Akira sighs and sits on one of the boards in the boat which, of course, are used for sitting on or lying on. A strong wind blows Akira and Dark towards a new destination, the waves lapping at the side of the strong boat gently and gulls that pass from time to time overhead fly by carelessly.
NOCTURNE"Adventure awaits the brave." --Anonymous
