Youth, When We Were Innocent and Free

A short by Gunso

"What did I just tell you earlier!"

"No hand grenades in school."

"And what just exploded?

"…I believe it was a trap set by our enemies to you're going to kill me now."

The sound of a paper fan echoed throughout the halls of Jindai High School. Kaname Chidori stood in a pose that indicated the recent execution of an uppercut with the halisen in her hand.

The apparent recipient of the strike, one airborne Sousuke Sagara, wore a grimace from both the hit that had knocked him off his feet and the expected hard landing on his back. His expectation was well founded.

Stashing her weapon of choice in her bookbag, Sousuke stood up, rubbing his jaw but otherwise none the worse for wear, "I apologize, Kaname. It was instinct."

Sighing, she spoke with resignation, "You know I just don't care anymore. I don't know why I ever thought I could change you into a semi-normal person."

He looked somewhat dejected at her words, "This is the way I've always been. I don't know any other way to live, so it's difficult for me to adapt to life here."

"He's right, Kaname," came Kyoko's cheerful voice as she and Shinji approached.

"Yeah," Shinji agreed, "You would have had to start working on him when you were little kids to make him normal."

A small chuckle ran through the group, and Sousuke even managed to smile at himself. Then Kaname brought up an interesting point.

"I wonder what things would have been like if we had all been together as little kids."

They all seemed to ponder this question for a moment, with Kyoko breaking the silence, "Well, what do you think would have happened, Sousuke?"

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he pondered the question in silence for several moments. Then, coming to his conclusion, he gave a Sousuke kind of smile (that is to say, not much of a smile at all), and began.

"This is how it would have happened…"

Sousuke Sagara's Imagination

Camp Jindai

Fall, Sunset

The sound of gunfire echoed across the ground as the rifle range fired its last shots of the day. The orange sky lent an autumnal look to the trees that surrounded the recreation area as the rapidly cooling air rustled the leaves. Children wandered around, playing war, under the watchful eye of some of the village's elderly, since the capable adults were occupied with defense of the homeland.

The camp was a place for the young to spend their time in a relatively safe environment, while beginning to teach them skills that would later serve them in combat when they became older. Unfortunately, the elderly overseers were limited in how well they could watch the youths in their charge, so often the children would watch out for each other. This bred a camaraderie that couldn't be replaced, and was beyond price when they eventually did see battle.

In the relatively open space of the recreation area, the children were taking a break from their classes on self defense. One of these children, a blue haired girl of about six years, was sipping water from a canteen. She and her friends were gathered around a small fire pit, watching the last log of the day be consumed by the flames as night approached. Kaname sometime wished they could keep the fires going all night, but the light would give away their positions to the enemy.

"Kaname," her best friend spoke to her, "Shinji gave me an extra food ration that he found this morning. Do you want to split it later?"

She winced slightly. Kaname hated military rations. As many times as she had eaten them in her short life, they always made her stomach a little unsettled. But then again, food wasn't exactly laying around everywhere, and she was pretty hungry. "Sure, Kyoko," she finally replied to her friend, "I haven't had much to eat today."

"I think I can find you something better to eat than old rations," came a gravelly male voice from behind her.

Quickly turning at the unfamiliar voice, she saw the sinister smile of Gauron. He looked to be in his late twenties and had a predatory look that she didn't like at all.

"No thanks," she replied, backing away, "I don't want your food."

Gauron's smile changed little, "C'mon now, don't be that way. I've got all sorts of mouth watering stuff back where I come from, anything that you could possibly want. Of course, this is all dependant on you coming along with me quietly." He took a step forward, causing the few other children around the fire to disperse. Kyoko, true to her friend, stood at Kaname's side, though her fright was evident.

Kaname was getting scared, too, but was far too stubborn to admit it. "I'm not going with you. If you don't get out of here, I'll call for help."

"And who's going to come?" the man chuckled, "The old geezers over there? They probably can't even raise a rifle. Your little friends aren't going to be much help either." He took another step, backing them right up to the fire, then knelt down at the edge of arm's reach. "This doesn't have to be difficult or scary. I'll tell you what, I'll even be a nice guy and give you a piece of candy. It's right here in my pocket…"

Everything seemed to slow down for Kaname. Being only six years old, she didn't quite understand what Gauron really wanted, but that seemed trivial to the child. She knew that she couldn't go with this guy, that something terrible would happen if she did. Feeling the heat of the fire behind her, and the grip of Kyoko on her arm, she did the only thing she could think of to resist him. She took a really deep breath.

"HENTAI!"

The word seemed to echo for miles. A startled Gauron jumped to his feet, a grimace replacing the evil smile he had worn till then.

"Hentai! Get away from us you pervert!"

Gauron was looking all around him, seeing the many faces of the children all looking at him. Obviously ill at ease with the situation, he growled at her, "Shut your mouth, you stupid little brat!"

"We don't want your perverted candy, you dirty old man!"

Fuming with indignation, he lashed out, "Who are you calling old!" He reached for Kaname.

Kyoko, silent till now, lunged forward and bit his outstretched hand. Yelling in anger, he slung her several feet to the side. He then lunged again for Kaname, "You just had to make things difficult."

The young Kaname was out of options. With nothing left to do, she let out one last cry, "Help!"

The sound of a gunshot filled the area, and Gauron's head snapped backward from the impact. Kaname could only stare as he fell backward and came to a rest on his back just a few feet away.

"Are you alright, Miss Chidori?" came a new voice.

Kaname looked around, but saw no one that the voice could have belonged to. Her curiosity rising above her subsiding fear, she squeaked out, "Who – who's that?"

Out of what had appeared to be a perfectly natural mound of sand, dust, and small rocks, a dark haired boy erupted. He held a small caliber rifle with a scope in his hands and had what appeared to be several tattered burlap sacks sewn together to make a sort of cloak. He blended in with the sandy parts of the recreation area quite well.

"I am Sousuke Sagara," he stated, "I'm here to protect you."

Kyoko, now on her feet again, spoke up. "You protect her from perverts, too?" as if that were the strange part.

Sousuke gave a quick nod, "Yes, perverts are part of my duty."

"Kashim!"

Sousuke rounded on Gauron, pointing the rifle at him as he stood. His hand was pressed to his forehead as he swayed on his feet, "Damn you, Kashim!"

"How are you still alive?" Sousuke asked the man, "and why are you calling me Kashim?"

"Grrr," Gauron didn't seem to be having an easy time, almost falling over, "If it weren't for the metal plate in my head from that previous assassination attempt, it's entirely possible that I might have died."

Kaname looked at Kyoko, who seemed to be wearing the same confused expression she was, "Did he just say he might have died? As if he didn't really think getting shot in the head would have really killed him?"

"You've won this round, Kashim," he continued, "but next time, that cute little girl will be mine!"

Sousuke yelled after the retreating Gauron, "Get out of here, you pervert!"

Gauron called back angrily over his shoulder, "Stop calling me a pervert! It's not like that!"

"And that's how it would have been," Sousuke concluded.

They were all silent for a moment, though it was obvious that Kaname was having difficulty with keeping quiet.

Shinji was finally the first to speak, "That was sort of an abrupt ending, wasn't it?"

"I'm sorry," he replied, "I'm not very good at telling stories."

Kaname chose this moment to explode, "How in the hell is that the only complaint? Wasn't the whole point of this to figure out how we could have lessened his military obsession? He shot a guy in the head! Nobody seemed to care about that at all in the story. And speaking of that, what the hell kind of place were we growing up in?"

"Oh relax, Kaname," Kyoko rubbed a soothing hand on her friend's shoulder, "It's not that big a deal if his story didn't make a lot of sense."

Sousuke and Shinji protested in unison, "It made perfect sense!"

The narrowed eyes of the two girls gave clear indication that the two boys were to keep their thoughts to themselves.

"Besides I'm waiting to hear what you think would have happened if we met Sousuke back then," Kyoko finished. Kaname's face softened at her friend's encouragement.

"Yes, Kaname," Sousuke spoke up, seeming hopeful that this would improve her mood, "I would like to know, as well. I'm quite certain that you could tell a better story than I can."

"I would certainly hope so," she shot at him.

"C'mon, Kana," another prod came from the girl with glasses, "Let's hear it."

Kaname looked over and saw Shinji and Sousuke smiling and nodding. Wearing a not so subtle smile of her own and holding a hand to her chin, she gave a lighthearted laugh and spoke, "Well, I guess it would probably go something like this…"

Kaname Chidori's Imagination

Jindai Park Playground

Spring, Early Afternoon

The sky was a brilliant blue with just a few clouds, and the breeze was warm with the coming Summer. The grass was green and the flowers were blooming, leaving a sweet scent of life in the air.

The playground was situated on a grassy field where many older kids played. There were trees nearby that adults liked to picnic on the edge of. The playground itself was quite impressive to the eyes of a six year old, with swings, monkey bars, a play fort with slides and cargo net ladders. There were even large tires half buried in the sand in a line to form 'The Dragon". Kids hid inside the tires as others jumped across the top. The children loved this place. It was a place where kids could be kids.

Playing cheerfully on the swing set, a blue haired girl of about six years laughed her way forward and back. On the swing next to her a girl with short, brown, braided pigtails laughed along with her.

The young Kaname was smiling broadly as she swung forward, wondering how high she could go. Without warning a hand reached out and grabbed one of the chains to her swing. With a yelp of fear and surprise, she was thrown out of the seat, twisting in the air from the uneven stop of the swing. She impacted the sand and skidded several feet in front of the swing itself.

"Kana!" Kyoko cried out as she tried to stop her own swing.

Kaname, regaining her orientation after her ungraceful tumble, stared angrily at the older boy who had knocked her off. He looked to be about ten years old, and he sneered at her as he moved into the seat she had so recently occupied. "What'cha gonna do, little baby? Gonna go tell on me? Go on, tattle-tail! Run off and cry to Mommy!"

Little Kaname was trying desperately not to let her tears show as Kyoko finally got out of her swing and ran to her, throwing her arms around her best friend, "Come on, Kana. Let's go play somewhere else."

But the little blue haired girl wouldn't move. She was sniffling, but she stubbornly refused to cry. She just kept staring at the older bully. If looks could hurt people, that boy would have been on fire.

The bully, however, was unimpressed. "What are you looking at, you brats!" he yelled angrily as he swung in front of them, "You'd better get out of here before I get mad! I'll come down there and beat you both up!"

"Kaname," Kyoko seemed to be seriously worried by the threat, and deep down inside Kaname was, too. But she had set herself and she was too stubborn a child to back away, even from a ten year old bully.

"That's it!" the boy yelled angrily, "I'm gonna come down there and hit you so hard you'll – kahh!"

Young Kaname watched in surprise. As the boy was starting his swing backwards, something that looked like a rock struck him in the back of the head. Jerking forward from the pain, he flipped out of the seat, doing a summersault and landing flat on his back in the sand.

Struggling to get up, straining to regain his breath after having it knocked out of him, and holding the back of his head where the stone struck him, he was looking around in all directions. Kaname noted, with some degree of satisfaction, that it was now he who was trying to hold back tears.

"Who did that!" he yelled, "Come out here you scaredy cat! I'll beat you up so bad you'll – waaaahhh!"

The boy cried as another stone struck him in the forehead. Kaname, who was beginning to enjoy the scene immensely, let out a small giggle. Even Kyoko was smiling and took a picture with her small camera.

"What's so funny!" he yelled at them, abruptly ending the pleasant feeling Kaname had up to that point. "You're doing this, aren't you? You little brats!" The bully was rearing back to hit her.

Kaname closed her eyes tightly and waited for the blow to come. Only it didn't. She cracked her eyes a bit, then stared wide eyed at the bully laying face down before her.

There were several rocks laying around him, then she saw something that looked like a golf ball half buried in the sand that they sat in.

"He won't bother you anymore," came a boy's voice.

The two girls looked around in confusion, then Kaname spoke up, "Who's there?"

The sand behind the swing set rose up to form a small hill before it started running off in streams. Much to Kaname's amazement, a young boy who appeared to be their age rose from his hiding place, brushing the last of the sand off his clothes. Kyoko took another picture.

The boy held a slingshot in his left hand and wore a calm expression on his face. Walking over to the two girls, he grinned slightly. "I'm here to protect you, Miss Chidori."

"Miss Chidori?" she asked, confused, "We're little kids, just call me Kaname."

"Okay, uh, Kaname," he answered without much difficulty, "My name is Sousuke, and I'm here to protect you, so you don't have to worry about bullies like this guy anymore, and perverts won't be a problem either."

"Perverts?" Kaname shook her head, "Never mind, you can't protect me."

Sousuke seemed surprised by this, "I don't understand. Why can't I?"

Kyoko spoke up, "Because you aren't her boyfriend, Sousuke."

"Yeah," Kaname agreed at once, "because you're not my…what?"

"I see," Sousuke nodded, thinking to himself, "Kaname, I will be your boyfriend from now on."

"Huh?" she struggled to reply, eyes wide, "Wait, you can't just…"

"As her best friend, I give you my blessing, Sousuke," Kyoko smiled at him, pretending to be teary eyed, "Please take care of Kaname!"

"I'll try to live up to your expectations," he replied, bowing to Kyoko.

"Hold on, don't say strange stuff like that," Kaname interjected, "It's not like we're getting married!"

"Exactly," Kyoko said, "You're just going to be his girlfriend."

"Yeah, just his girlfriend," Kaname stated, then thought about it for a moment, "Kyoko!"

"Sousuke," Kyoko called as Kaname began to chase her, "You should take your girlfriend on a romantic trip down the slide!"

"Understood," he replied.

"You're not getting away that eas – waaa!" her chase was interrupted as Sousuke grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the large slide, "Wait Sousuke! Not so fast! I have to get Kyoko back first!"

Meanwhile, Kyoko stood to the side, taking a picture of the young pair running hand in hand across the playground.

"Hey!" Kaname cried, "I was telling that story, Kyoko! Don't just come in and hijack the end of it! And what's with all that strange mooshy stuff? Sousuke and I wouldn't act like that." She received a laugh in reply.

"I have to agree with Kaname on this one," Sousuke said, looking serious, "That didn't sound like Kaname and I at all. Well, the part about me laying in ambush sounded like me, but I would have at least used a bow and arrow."

Shinji chose this moment to speak up, "Oh, I don't know, Sousuke. I think it sounds more like you two than you realize."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaname asked, not quite seeing his point.

"What Shinji is saying," Kyoko smiled at them, "Is that without the inhibitions that we get as we grow older, the two of you would have gotten together a long time ago."

Kaname and Sousuke spoke in unison, "What?"

"When you're a little kid," Shinji explained, "You don't care about appearances or what others think. It's enough if you like each other. Then things sort of go from there as you get older…or something like that."

The 'couple' looked at each other, confirming that they were both equally lost.

Kyoko suddenly wore a Cheshire like smile as she watched them, "So I suppose that there's only one thing left to do here. Sousuke, do you like Kaname?"

The young soldier tensed, sensing danger, "I'm not sure I…" He glanced over and saw that Kaname was looking at him with a slight redness to her cheeks. "I get the feeling that this is somehow a trick question, but based on what I believe you are asking," everyone leaned forward slightly in anticipation, "I would have to answer yes. I like Kaname."

All three turned to look at Kaname, who was somewhat taken aback by this strange course of events. Something inside her bubbled up and made her want to giggle, as if she really was that little six year old on the playground.

"Well, Kaname?" Kyoko asked, the eagerness plain on her face. Looking elsewhere, she saw the same excited look on Shinji's face as well.

Sousuke, on the other hand, looked as if he were worried he had said something wrong. He was looking at her expectantly, waiting for her response. Kaname couldn't help but smile as she realized that he looked a little bit like a child as well. Seeing her reaction, he looked like someone had just removed a piano from his back.

Laughing, Kaname managed to respond to her best friend, "Well, if we're talking about liking the way a little kid would, then yeah. I like Sousuke, too."

Kyoko jumped into the air and grabbed a hand from both of them, shaking them as excitedly as she was speaking, "I'm so happy for you two! I'm glad we got to be a part of it, right Shinji?"

"Yeah," he said, grinning broadly, "Congratulations, you two! I always knew it would happen!"

Sousuke and Kaname again found themselves looking at each other in confusion.

"Don't you think you're making this out to be just a teeny bit more than it is?" Kaname said, trying to calm the matchmakers down.

"I agree," Sousuke nodded, "I don't understand why it's such a big deal. Kaname and I just said that we like each other."

"Sousuke," Kaname sighed, "Think about what you just said, and what else it could mean."

He seemed as a loss for several seconds, then his eyes got extraordinarily wide. "Wait, I think you may be getting the wrong idea about what you think we thought we were answering to!"

"Nonsense," Kyoko said firmly, pulling both their hands toward the door as Shinji pushed from behind, "Now come on, let's get going."

"Wait, Kyoko," Kaname blurted out, "Where are we supposed to be going?"

Still pulling them, she brought her hands together, "The boy has to take his girlfriend on a romantic ride down the slide!" Grabbing Shinji and trotting ahead, she left the two of them holding hands.

Their eyes moved back and forth from each other to their joined hands. Kaname felt herself blush as she smiled nervously. Sousuke simply stood there, looking like his collar was too tight. Suddenly, breaking into what passed for a smile for him, he pulled her after Kyoko and Shinji until they were both running.

"Wait, Sousuke!" she laughed, "Not so fast!"

He led her all the way to the nearest playground. All the kids pointed and laughed at the older boy and girl as they went down the slide. They seemed to be having the time of their lives.

Meanwhile, Kyoko stood to the side, taking a picture of the young pair running hand in hand across the playground.

-----!-----

I hope all you guys liked it. It was definitely fun to write.

Be sure to check out my other fics, which will soon include another Full Metal Panic fic. That one will be a lot longer and more serious than this was.

I'm glad you took the time to read, and I hope you'll leave a review too!

Gunso