Dazed and Confused

by Fabulist

COMPLETE Strange men after Kaname, an impending school dance, Sousuke's new discovery about himself, and our favorite soldier's constant battle with saying what he means make the end of senior year one to remember.

7. An Eye for an Eye

Dazed and Confused – Chapter 7

I squinted through the gathering crowd, using one hand to shade my eyes from the bright sun overhead. We were gathered for the 'Take Back the Night' march that Kaname and her group had been planning. I was surrounded by a sea of women, desperately trying to keep my eye on the only one I cared about.

Kaname had refused to talk to me since the previous evening's 'argument.' Our 'arguments' always seemed so one sided... she told me who was boss and I flailed about, trying to come up with some scrap of a rebuttal.

She didn't wait for me to pick her up that morning, and she wouldn't even let me walk next to her or look me in the eye. I had glumly followed along a few feet behind. What could I do to get back in her good graces? Had I reached a point where it was all or nothing? Was taking the big plunge the only way to hold onto her at all?

"Pssssst!"

Oh no, come on.

"Psssssst!"

Just give a guy a break, will you?

I felt a tugging on my sleeve and grimly turned to see - surprise, surprise - Kazuki gazing up at me, her eyes huge and watery and her face looking like some kind of puffy pink gum drop.

"Yes, Kazuki?" I said tiredly.

She smiled, twisting her toe against the cement. "You look nice in pink, Sousuke."

"Eh?" I glanced down at the t-shirt Kaname had us all wearing. It was pink with bold black letters that said 'This is What a Feminist Looks Like.' Kaname had also forced me into one that was several sizes too small, so it was uncomfortably tight. She said she didn't have any larger ones because 'what guy in his right mind would join Take Back the Night?' But, I could have sworn I'd seen larger sizes in the box behind her. Hey, whatever. I'd do worse then wear shrunken pink shirts if it meant she'd stop avoiding me. I remembered myself, scratching the back of my head with one hand. "Oh... uh... thank you, Ma'am."

"Pink is my favorite color," she purred, stepping closer to me.

I nodded nervously, inching back. "Is that so?"

"Mmmmhmmmm..." she had cornered me against a cluster of rather swarthy looking women from another local group and was now pressed up against my arm.

I could really give her a rubber bullet to the head at this point. I should resist the temptation, however. Attacking women at a Take Back the Night march is probably not the wisest idea. Even if they were not armed and my skill in battle exceeded theirs by leaps and bounds, they had sheer numbers on their side. I started to sweat, imagining hoards of fan wielding women chasing me through Tokyo.

While trying to come up with a polite way to get Kazuki to disengage, she had latched onto my arm, swinging it back and forth and humming some annoying, non-descript tune.

"Sousuke..."

I winced at that tone… that calm, cool tone. Kaname had decided I wasn't even worth getting angry at any more, it seemed. That should be a relief, but instead it hurt. At least when she was angry I knew she cared about what I did.

"If you came here to pick up chicks," she said, not looking at me but rather Kazuki. "Just leave."

"Negative, Miss Chidori," I said resolutely. "I am here to aid females in their pursuit of safety and respect in this nation."

"Ah, that's so gallant!" Kazuki squealed, rubbing her cheek against my arm.

I watched disconsolately as Kaname turned on her heel and rejoined Kyouko at the front of the pack, simultaneously trying to shake Kazuki off my arm. Gallant? Common sense.

I frowned. Kazuki was sticking to me like some kind of sugary napalm. I think guys should make an organization to protect us from simpering lichen.

"Sousuke?" Kazuki cooed, the airy tone making me shudder. "Ask me to the dance."

What? Why the hell would I want to do that?

"No," I said flatly, tilting my head and getting up on my toes to keep Kaname in my sight as she conversed with members of another chapter.

She seemed shocked, getting on her toes as well to keep her face uncomfortably close to mine. "Why not?"

I didn't look at her. "Because I love Kaname."

There. Okay? Fine. Get out of my face.

She gasped, letting go of my arm and stumbling back. I finally turned my gaze to see tears welling up in her eyes. Should I be sorry? It wasn't my fault she had made a request that I couldn't fulfill.

"Wh-" she stuttered, her hands balling into fists at her sides. "Why have you been leading me on, then!"

Huh? Leading her on? I wasn't aware that refraining from dashing her brains out for her constant badgering was considered a romantic overture. I think that is the female mind's greatest flaw. They might mature more quickly. They might be more adept at interpersonal affairs. They might be superior in any number of ways, but the fact of the matter is there's something wrong with their ability to receive communications. Sometimes I think they're all born with some kind of damaged sense of perception. It's as if they only hear what they want to hear or what they expect to hear. I had done nothing to encourage Kazuki, yet there she was, behaving as if I had somehow been dishonest with her.

I stared at her blankly. "I was not aware I had been sending favorable signals," I said calmly. "I apologize if my intent has been misconstrued."

She shook her head rapidly, large dramatic tears squeezing out of the corners of her eyes. She shouted "I thought you were different! But all this polite talk is just an act, isn't it? You don't care about anyone else! You... you... you MAN!" Then, she stumbled into the crowd.

Oh, I'm a man now, am I? Is that an insult?

I heard a rumbling behind me and turned to see the tall, well built women I'd been pushed into before glaring at me and straightening up. Apparently it was an insult in these parts.

I held up my hands in peace, backing away slowly. "Ah, good morning. Excuse me."

They seemed nonplussed, crossing their arms over their chests and surveying me like a lion would its prey. I say this from experience. A lioness once looked at me the same way in the Savannah.

Just when things looked like they were going to get difficult, Kyouko came up and grabbed my arm, offered the women an apologetic smile, and dragged me away. "Sousuke," she ground out, her tone exasperated. "Is it true you love Kaname?"

Whoa! Where did that come from?

Kyouko seemed to read my mind. "Kisa told me. She heard from Mizuki, who heard from Keyra, who heard from Hana, who got a call from Keiko who overheard Naoko crying to Mai behind the phone booth over there." She shook her head firmly. "But, that's not important. Is it true?"

My mind reeled; the speed and efficiency of the underground women's communication network blew me away. Mithril could learn a lot from its female employees. An investigation should be set up immediately.

"Sagara, is it true?"

"Uh... what?"

Kyouko placed her hands on my arms, shaking me slightly, talking in a voice more urgent then I'd ever heard her use. "That you love Kaname!"

Oh... well...

She sighed, looking at me as if I were absolutely hopeless. She was absolutely right. "If it is true, then tell her. She's really mad at you."

I looked down at my feet, shoving my hands in my pockets.

"I really don't understand the two of you," she chirped. "It's obvious you're both in love, so just get it out in the air and stop injuring each other."

I wasn't sure that was such good advice. Love seemed like a surefire path to injury in my mind. What good could come from declaring such powerful, paralyzing, limiting, painful impulses? Wouldn't it be best to just hold it all in and let it die quietly? I had already attempted to take steps to communicate my feelings, whether that be with stuttered ramblings or half-naked pool activities, and look where it got me. Kaname was being as cold as ever.

She gaped at me, her blinking eyes appearing even larger due to the magnification of her glasses. "You really don't get it, do you?"

I stared right back. Don't get what?

"I thought maybe you were just pretending, that you were shy and didn't know how to act around people so you put up this crazy front, but... you really are just dazed and confused, aren't you?"

Dazed and confused, eh? Yeah, that sounds about right.

She peered up at me curiously. "Are you afraid of telling Kaname how you feel?"

I swallowed heavily but said nothing, sweat breaking out at my forehead. Was it that obvious?

Apparently my silence was telling, because she smiled.

"That's ridiculous, Sagara!" she laughed. "Look around you... almost everybody here has fallen in love at one point or another, and they got through it alright!"

I looked around. A sea of angry women stared back at me.

She frowned. "Maybe that was a bad example. But, if we were anywhere else, you'd see what I mean. Love is just part of the whole... the whole shebang, you know?"

The whole shebang?

"Life," she answered my unasked question. "Love is just a piece of it. It happens. You know, some people waste their days away wishing for it. You're lucky that it's fallen into your lap."

Hm, it did fall into my lap, didn't it? Although I was still skeptical that actively searching out such an overpowering emotion was a good idea, I was willing to consider the positive possibilities of my predicament. I did come up with a little list of the benefits of love back in the philosophy class, didn't I? Morale raising and all that? The fact that love distracted me from my mission of protecting Kaname still troubled me, however. There didn't seem to be any solution for that.

Kyouko seemed frustrated with my lack of answers. I just didn't know what to say to her. I still hadn't figured any of this out.

She sighed. "This reminds me of an African proverb I heard once." She straightened up, raising one finger as if dispatching some kind of wisdom. "'The wind does not break a tree that bends.'"

Um... okay.

She waited for me to react, but got nothing. She rolled her eyes. "Sagara, you fight against everything too much! If you worry this much about falling in love, of course it's going to hurt you! You have to just... go with it. Adapt."

Adapt! I couldn't believe I had not considered that before! My whole mission here required adapting: changing habits, being flexible, learning from surroundings, making do. Maybe my feelings for Kaname were not as all-or-nothing as they seemed. Maybe I could find a balance. Maybe I could make it work. Maybe if I 'went with it' things would work out. I'd just have to adapt. In the wild, males manage to be affectionate and protective of their mates. I could find a way. I would find a way.

I nodded decisively. "Thank you, Tokiwa. Your advice has been most helpful. I will take action immediately."

She smiled, then seemed to think better of it and grabbed my arm. "Wait! Sagara... just... tell her alone... you know? Pull her aside or something... don't just blurt it out with all of us standing around."

"Understood," I said grimly. "Despite the breach in security, the information should remain as confidential as possible."

"Um... right," she said anxiously.

I stuffed one hand into a pocket in my cargo pants and procured a practice grenade. Rather than the poisonous gas it would be filled with had this been a normal tactical mission, it would disperse only an extremely unpleasant odor and cause a slight itching sensation to the eyes. It would be enough to make the crowd disperse a bit, and allow me some time to pull Kaname aside.

I pulled the pin and brought my arm back to prepare to throw.

"Sagara! What are you doing!" Kyouko had grabbed my throwing arm, looking extremely alarmed.

"Do not worry, Miss Tokiwa. No one will be injured. This will merely-"

"Sagara, look around you! This is not the best place for that!"

I frowned; the image of a hoard of fan wielding women came to mind again. Maybe she had a point. I wished I thought of that before I pulled the pin, though. I looked around quickly to see if I'd dropped the pin within sight, but the crowd was too tight; I couldn't see anything but peoples' feet.

Hmmm...

An empty phone booth nearby caught my eye. It was cracked open just a little. If I could manage to throw the grenade through the tiny opening, it would minimize the effects on the crowd significantly. With the pin nowhere to be found and no other options coming to mind, I altered my target and quickly threw the grenade. I made it just in time; smoke immediately began to fill the phone booth when the grenade narrowly made its entrance.

I let out a breath, wiping the sweat from my forehead. I should probably put some more thought into these things. On the other hand, knowing my luck, I'd probably hesitate the one time there was a real threat, and it would all be for nothing.

Kyouko was now pushing on my back, shoving me through the crowd. "No chickening out!" she said, her soft voice humorous in her attempt to be stern. "Go, take her somewhere, and tell her!"

I grunted in agreement, slipping through the crowd as quickly as I could, making my way to the head of blue hair I had kept within sight.

I was within a few feet, and I reached out a hand to grab her arm when the crowd pulled back in a circle, and a very distressed looking Kazuki came barreling towards us.

She was a total mess. Tears were streaming down her face and her eyes were puffy, red, and bloodshot. Her hair was wild, and there was a horrible smell wafting around her.

"Kaname!" she sobbed. "Kaname I need to go to a hospital or something!"

Oh shit. No way!

Kaname quickly approached her, wrinkling her nose but grabbing onto Kazuki's shoulders to calm her down. "Naoko, what happened?"

Kazuki was flipping out, gesticulating wildly, and shaking. "I was just sitting in the phone booth over there, minding my own business, when a... a... a grenade came flying at me, and before I knew it I was covered in this black smoke and now I can't breath and this... this smell! And my eyes!"

Kyouko hurried over. She took Kazuki by the arm, whispered something about the emergency room, and took her away.

The second they disappeared into the crowd, Kaname whirled to face me, her eyes enraged and her hand gripping the paper fan she always seemed to produce from no where. "Sousuke!" she hollered, the strength and volume of her shout making me take a step back. "You could have let her down gently! You didn't have to throw a grenade at her!"

I shook my head rapidly. "No, Miss Chidori, you misunderstand. It was completely unintentional, it was an accident, I-"

"It's always an accident!" she roared. "I've had enough of your 'accidents'! Go home!"

"But Kaname, the masked-"

She brandished the fan, pulling her arm back, poised to strike. "I'll take my chances!"

"But I have something very important to tell-"

Whack! Right on the head. Ouch!

"Get-a-way-from-me!" she punctuated each syllable with another hearty smack with the fan, each one perfectly aimed at the center of my forehead.

"Hey, Kaname. Is this guy bothering you?"

I opened my eyes slowly as Kaname withdrew the fan and stuffed it back into whatever secret place she hides it. My relief at the pause in the beating dispersed immediately when I saw Noumen standing near us. As usual, he was tall and dashing and... not wearing a pink shirt.

Kaname's smile was too eager when she turned to him. "An understatement," she said sweetly between clenched teeth.

"That's a shame," he said, smirking at me before turning back to her. He reached one arm up and slowly brushed his fingertips across her forearm.

My fists clenched tightly as I watched this, images from the night before flashing through my mind. It wasn't so long ago that it was my hands on her skin… me she was smiling at. The sight of that filthy sneak touching her made my blood boil.

I was about to object when he continued his speech with a toss of his shiny black hair. "Hey listen," he said softly. "I don't mean to interrupt this noble cause, but I was just passing by and I saw you and there's something I need to ask you."

I panicked. No, he can't, not when I'm so close!

"And what might that be?" she asked, taking a step closer to him.

Ah! This is not happening!

"I was just wondering… Would you like to go to the senior semi formal with me?"

She bowed her head so he couldn't see her face, and she looked at me out of the corner of her eyes. She spoke to him, but she looked at me. "Danko," she said in a low, almost velvety voice. "…I would love to."

My heart dropped into my stomach, and I stood there gaping. He didn't. She didn't. My life couldn't be that ironic. It was impossible. I was dreaming up the entire morning. There's no way so many bad things could happen consecutively. It defies probability. While I'm at it, I'll just say I dreamed up last night, too. Why don't we take it back to right when we got into the pool and we can just try this all again?

I blinked, but the figures before me did not go away. I didn't wake up under my bed thinking of her. She didn't turn and tell me she was just kidding. She had agreed to go with that scumbag, and she had agreed because she wanted to hurt me.

It worked.

"Great!" Danko grinned and took a few steps back into the crowd. "I'll guess I'll pick you up around-"

To hell with being professional! If you want to play hard ball, Kaname… then, let's go!

I growled, springing forward and tackling Danko onto the cement. We struggled for a few moments, oblivious to the gasps and movement around us. I quickly gained dominance, pressing my knee against his back and his cheek against the tarmac. "Put your hands where I can see them!" I shouted, pulling out my weapon and aiming it at his temple.

"Sousuke!" Kaname hurried over, pulling out her fan, but I didn't have the time or the patience for that crap.

"Please stand back, Miss Chidori," I said harshly, shooting her a firm glare. She stopped short, eyes wide. I never looked at her like that; those glares were reserved for my enemies.

Noumen, meanwhile, had pulled up his arms hesitantly and laid them on the ground beside him, eyes bulging. There were cries of "he's got a gun!" and "macho primitive Neanderthals!" ringing out from the crowd, but I ignored them. Keeping one hand on the weapon aimed at his face, I used the other to rummage through his pockets.

"Hey, watch your hands, buddy!" he hissed, but his voice was shaking and his attempt at confidence didn't work.

My fingers soon closed upon what I was looking for: a silky piece of fabric attached to an expanse of soft, molded rubber. I yanked it out and held it up triumphantly.

Kaname's eyes grew even wider as she stared at the flimsy skeleton mask hanging from my fingertips. Its features sagged without a face to fill them. She didn't say anything for several moments, her gaze flitting from the mask, to me, to Danko.

"You…" she shook her head in disbelief. "You've been following me!"

Danko tried to raise his head up from the pavement to speak, but I pushed it back down with the barrel of my weapon. "It's not how it looks, Kaname," he whimpered.

"Do not believe his lies, Miss Chidori," I said solemnly. "His injured leg matches up with the explosion outside of your apartment, and he is in possession of the disguise which the culprit was wearing. He also has a clear motive: his interest for you is not only obvious, but confessed."

Her expression turned quickly from shock to disgust as she surveyed the prone figure of her semi date. "I can't believe you, Danko!"

Danko frowned but looked at me wearily. "Explosion?"

"There is no use denying your guilt," I stated calmly.

He glanced anxiously up at Kaname. "So…" he croaked, his throat pressed against the cement. "I guess this means you won't go to the dance with me, huh?"

"The dance?" Kaname shrieked, her hands on her hips. "You stole my gym shorts, Danko. You need help, not a date to the dance."

"Huh? I didn't steal your gym shorts," he protested.

Kaname just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Pull the trigger, Sousuke. I'm tired of this."

I smiled grimly, glad that for once she saw things from my point of view. It seemed she was always trying to stop me from shooting people. However, it occurred to me that in this case the sentence may not match the crime. Angry as I was that Noumen had cause grief for Kaname and laid his slimy hands on her, he hadn't done her any real harm, and in a way, he did me a favor. He definitely eliminated himself as a rival for Kaname's affection. The real issue was, however, I knew my superiors would have one more reason to remove me from my post protecting Kaname if I executed a civilian who did not pose a serious threat. I considered taking him prisoner, but I really didn't want to be stuck with him in my living quarters for an indefinite amount of time.

I clenched my teeth, getting to my feet slowly and making sure to jam my knee against a particularly painful pressure point in Noumen's back. I stood over him, looking down with a fierce frown, my weapon still pointed at his face. "Stay away from Miss Chidori," I barked. "I can assure you will regret it should you not heed my warning." I held the skeleton mask away from me between my thumb and forefinger like a piece of garbage. "I will confiscate this."

I looked up at Kaname, who had an unreadable expression on her face. She had nothing to say? How could that be? Kaname was almost never at a loss for words.

I straightened up, dusting myself up. "Quite an escort," I said gruffly, giving him a swift kick to the ribs. "Perhaps I am insufficient in my ability to voice my intentions, Miss Chidori, but I will say to my credit that I have never attempted to steal your clothing."

She just looked at me for a few moments before shaking her head, her lip curling in what might be called hatred. She turned on her heel and stormed off.

Apparently, that was not the right thing to say. It was rare that I lost my temper with Kaname, even rarer that I voiced my frustrations to her. It made sense that the two combined did not sit well with her. Honestly, it didn't sit well with me, either. It was not Kaname's fault that I was having a shamefully difficult time controlling my own jealousy. She should not bare the brunt of my shortcomings.

I found her shortly. She was standing away from the crowd, leaning against the outer wall of a nearby building, seemingly lost in thought. She didn't look thrilled to see me.

"Are you alright, Miss Chidori?" I asked neutrally, keeping my eyes scanning the crowd for suspicious persons.

"Oh yeah, just peachy," she drawled.

I frowned, my eyes moving rapidly. I could say I was just trying to step up security, but really I just didn't want to look at her. She was in a serious, frustrated mood, and that meant her behavior was completely unpredictable. Depending on a few very small and seemingly insignificant variables, she could remain in this balanced state, burst into tears, or attempt to claw my face off. It was a very unstable situation that should be approached with caution. "That statement did not seem genuine," I said after a while.

"My my, you're awfully observant today."

"I would think you would be relieved, the most recent threat has been neutralized."

"You forget," she said darkly, "that my date for the dance has also been neutralized."

"Does that really upset you?" I asked boldly. "I was under the impression that females wish their escort to be someone they harbor specific affection for. Am I to deduce that you feel about Noumen in such a way?"

When she didn't say anything for several moments, I turned to look at her. Her hands were fisted at her sides, clenching and unclenching. Her lips were pursed in anger but her eyes were shining with unshed tears.

I blinked in confusion. I seemed to have only fueled the fires of her outrageous emotions. She looked torn between breaking down in sobs and throwing me to the dogs.

"Deduce!" she spat, her fists now shaking in her barely restrained anger. "Deduce!"

"Guess, gather, ascertain…" I offered slowly.

"I know what deduce means!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Then I don't see the problem."

She closed her eyes and breathed slowly. "No, of course you don't." When she opened her eyes again, she really looked like she could strangle me. "The problem is that you shouldn't have to deduce at all; it should be obvious that I don't have feelings for Danko!"

"You don't?"

"No!"

"Then… why did you agree to go to the dance with him?" I was now fiddling with the skeleton mask I still clutched in my hands, trying to distract myself from her anger.

"Sousuke, the dance is in two days, and I don't have a date. Going with the school's star athlete isn't such bad a consolation prize since I can't go with who I really want to go with."

I raised an eyebrow skeptically, staring down at the mask as I stretched and bent it.

"But he stole your gym shorts."

"I didn't know that when he asked me!"

"I informed you of that the day after your garbage bin was detonated."

"I didn't believe you."

"Why not?"

"Why not?" She looked at me incredulously. "Because you're crazy!" Her anger lessened as her despair seemed to grow. "You make combat suits out of amusement park characters, set traps in your own locker, rig my dumpster, sleep under your bed-"
"Those are all safety precautions," I said solemnly. "I don't think any of them are signs that I am mentally unsound."

"Well, then you're crazy for thinking I wanted to go to the dance with Danko!" she exclaimed.

I swallowed. "I… I didn't know how important this was to you. I had no idea what your feelings for Noumen were."

She sighed, slouching back against the building. She studied the ground for a few minutes before finally looking up and meeting my eyes. When she spoke, her voice was tired and resigned, her words spat out one by one as if taking every ounce of resolve she had.

"Damn it, Sousuke. We come from two different worlds, I know. But, friendship is about getting past that and trying to understand where the other person is coming from. I've learned your military lingo, I've been in your submarine, I've coached you through AS battles, and I've sung karaoke to your commanders. Hell, I've jumped out of planes with you! But still you won't cross the line; you won't understand my world, my life. I know it's hard to adjust. Before you came, I didn't even know what a whispered was, let alone that I am one. Do you think all this shit I've been going through has been a cake walk? Do you think going along with your 'safety precautions,' has been easy? Forget it!" She was rapidly losing whatever patience she had left, and her eyes seemed to fill with something akin to complete disgust as she look at me. "Now, I don't know if you just don't care, or you're not trying hard enough, or you're simply incapable, but this all just flies over your head, doesn't it? And how can that be, Sousuke? You're a genius. I know you are! You've been trained in stealth whatever and spy this and that, so how could you possibly be so… terrible at adjusting to a new environment? Are you trying to shut reality out? Are you trying to shut me out?"

She growled and snatched the mask from my hands, tossing it furiously into a nearby trash can and forcing me to look back up at her. "I know we've saved the world several times, and I know any minute now the KGB could swoop in and take me back to Siberia with them and torture me to death, but sometimes the only things that can keep me sane are the dorky events that are the highlight of every other teenage girl's life. I don't care how little you think of it, this dance was important to me. I want to go, I want to go with you, and I want you to ask me because for all the feminist marches I coordinate, for all the perverts I smack around, all the curse words I use, and the independence I want everyone to think I have, sometimes I want to be a normal girl just like every other normal girl with a pretty dress and a boy asking her to the dance." She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at me like one would a disobedient subordinate. "But, since you aren't man enough to ask me, I agreed to go with someone else. Now, just my luck, you've revealed my date to be a stalker and probably paralyzed him from the waist down. Congratulations, Sousuke… my hero."

The wind does not break a tree that bends.

Somehow, in my confusion, I had forgotten that Kaname was attempting to perform the same balancing act I was. While I was trying to adjust to civilian life, she was trying to adjust to being the target of terrorist groups and having unnatural abilities. While I was getting used to study groups and examinations, she was coping with having voices in her head and being taken hostage. How had I dismissed her situation?

Are you trying to shut me out?

To thrive on; need.

The wind does not break a tree that bends

"I… I'm sorry," I stuttered, at a complete loss for words. Everything she said was true… it all made sense. How do you respond when someone calls you on mistakes you've been making for over a year and failed to recognize?

She shook her head in disappointment, her expression making my heart hurt. "I don't think you are," she said dully. "I think this is just another inconvenience to you."

We heard footsteps behind us and turned to see a man I couldn't place but looked vaguely familiar. I stepped in front of Kaname instinctively, but she groaned and pushed me aside, reaching out to shake the man's hand.

"Mr. Takamori!" she said brightly, though her voice still sounded tired. "Thanks so much for coming. I'm glad you could make it!"

Takamori… Takamori… right, Kaname's guidance counselor.

"I always try to support my students in all of their endeavors," he said cheerfully and grinned. "I think this is really great what you're doing here, Kaname. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what you believe in."

"Are you going to be marching with us?" Kaname asked.

"No, I think I'm just going to watch and cheer you on."

"Well, I think we're going to start marching soon, actually, so you came just in time! I have to go, but I'll see you at my appointment on Monday!" Kaname waved and started back towards the group.

"Certainly!" Mr. Takamori waved back. "Good luck!"

When we were a safe distance into the crowd, she snapped at me. "Just leave, Sousuke. I really have to focus on the march now, and I don't want to deal with you anymore."

Deal with me.

"Kaname, I really am sorry."

"Yeah okay."

"Kaname-"

"Get lost."

"I…" I love you. "I can't."

She started to count up all the girls in her group, making sure everyone was present. "Oh, right, your duty."

"Yes…"

And, I love you.

---

A.N. – First of all, thanks to Lakewood for beta-ing. I really think I've been technically improving thanks to you!

And of course, thanks to everyone who took the time to leave me feedback, namely Larsgo, Flyinganimepig, Shellyraeleen, Anime Crazed, Zefrn, Obicat, Lady Dark Angel, Jaina, Kabashka, Beege, Faelady, NefCanuck, Howlin Mad, Nikoru the Silent Assassin, lahz the amazing talking fart (again with the name, haha), Thaliea, Rasberry Girl, Suzu22, Kathy, GodsGirl7, Hezashi, minitsu, Andrei Burnside, CriHavoc, R Junkie, animefreak-shinobi, Hououza, Quesera, and Nothing Much. It's easy to work fast when I have so many nice people offering me support! Thank you guys so much.

Many of you felt that Kaname was not a swear-words kind of girl. Well… hm, I don't know, but it seems okay to me. I'm not sure who wouldn't swear at Sousuke after he does the things he does. So, please try to just bear with me.

Still more of you really wanted Sousuke to spill the beans this chapter… sorry! However, considering there's only one more chapter… It's the moment of truth, eh? Sousuke appreciates your patience, haha.

Okay, I think that's it. Next one is the grand finale! (although, as I'm writing chapter eight I'm thinking there might have to be an epilogue. I've been trying to tie up all the loose ends in just one chapter and the results are rather comical. We'll see.)

Later!