The Whisperer

Disclaimer:"…"

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-Chapter 39-

As worried as they were Kaname was not the biggest goal of the TDD-1. When they had picked up Sousuke they were on their way to man made island, where a base was located. It is about 50km south of the Caribbean Islands. The TDD-1 did not have the time to make the trip themselves because their business was very important and they had no leads on Kaname either way. Sousuke's GPS tracker was useless without Kaname wearing it. He hadn't put it on what she wore that day because she was getting good at finding them and scolding him for it. Though it was for her safety she wanted some clothes without trackers. A mistake he made was agreeing to it. They settled on sending him off in a helicopter to meet up with the crew of the Mahrae. The flight would only be about ten minutes. The Mahrae was a large boat and a helicopter landing on it was possible. After explaining the situation to Tessa and Mardukas calmly this was the best they could come up with. Tessa was sorry but they had priorities. He thanked them for at least the helicopter ride back out. Every minute felt like an hour as he waited for them to prepare. The longer he waited the more time Kaname would be in danger. After finally getting ready he entered the helicopter. The ride to him felt long even when the Mahrae was in sight. After dismounting the helicopter he watched as it took off in ECS to return to the TDD-1.

"Sousuke please go to the bridge immediately." The AI Amnis informed him when the helicopter was almost inaudible. He nodded then made his way to the bridge. He made his way around easily through the relatively new vessel. He was greeted by other members as he made his way to the bridge. A quick knock and an allowing grunt let Sousuke into the bridge.

"Hello Sousuke." Nicholas greeted him in a neutral tone.

"Hello. We need to get back to To-"

"Yeah yeah I got it. Actually there was something I wanted to try out anyways. Do you mind taking five or so hours from the trip?"

"Negative. Shortening the time would be preferred." Sousuke walked up next to him and looked out the window.

"Ok everyone. Buckle up we're going to test how far this can go. Rochelle prep the engines." Nicholas spoke into the radio system to that room. He then looked next to him at Kouchi. "Get ready."

"No problem." Kouchi said as he pressed two buttons and flipped a switch. Nicholas placed a key in an ignition port, and held his hand on a button.

"Get ready." Sousuke watched curiously as he turned the key and pressed the button. A loud engine revved and the ship took off. Sousuke flew back into the wall.

"The special engine for this has an accelerator as well. When we prepare it, it sucks in water and pressurizes it. Rochelle is making sure everything works and the engine is ready. When the ignition is turned it turns on preparing to launch and gets the engines going. When I press the button he pressurized water is released giving us a very quick boost limiting the amount of needed acceleration. On launch we move about 30 knots for a good second or two. We lose a few when we stabilize but that can quickly be built back up." Nicholas explained all this while Sousuke tried to stand back up.

"What is our current speed?" He asked using a panel to help himself up.

"We're hitting 80 knots."

Sousuke was surprised. The Tuatha de Danaan with recent upgrades could do 80 knots but that was almost full speed.

"I think I told you before but the balancers under the ship cut through waves keeping us from bouncing on the water or anything which keeps the ride smooth. We're hitting 110 knots."

Sousuke actually walked up to look at the speed. Both indicators show the speed to be 110 knots, and rising.

"No good except for quick escape and fast travel. I heard you got beat up a bit. You should go rest in the back." Nicholas said watching him. Sousuke nodded then made his way out of the room, grabbing his bag as he left. All the doors to the rooms were closed so he didn't see any more of the crew as he made his way back to the ship rooms. He took the one designated to him before and dropped his things by the door. He had no need to check them since he had before. He pulled a laptop from a drawer and pulled out the small device holding the information he had obtained. He also pulled out some folders.

He sifted through them until he found one that interested him.

"Raziel…" He pulled up the folder and began looking through its contents. It had schematics, and pictures. He stopped and examined some of the pictures. He recognized some of them. He scanned through photos that showed images of his fight and defeat in Paris. They also showed the destruction of two of them just before escaping. He moved them and began reading the information.

"A new type of arm-slave. It uses a system that allows it to hover. Special jets allow it to move fast enough to be considered flying. Uses lambda driver as well." He read off most of the important information.

"It's not so important except that it's a new arm-slave. It doesn't use anything very different from the M9's or even the ARX machines. The ability to hover is an advantage but…" The information was recent but he could not find anything else that would make it seems special. Perhaps the fact that it is being mass produced. He skimmed through it trying to find anything that could be of further use. Sousuke sighed and put the folders aside. He was too distracted to care about any of it right now. While he needed a distraction he doubted any of the information would help him much. A lot of it was on the now destroyed base. He found information on the arm-slave of the children. The arm-slaves were named Lo, and La after the videogame characters from the world of Kirby as well as their own game. He put everything in an organized place and lay on the bed. It was true. He hardly noticed they were moving at high-speed over the ocean. He decided he would read the information again another time and see if he could find anything. He would need all his energy to look for the smallest thing in Chidori's apartment. He felt as the drowsiness began to take affect. He hadn't eaten anything except maybe an MRE or two, and hadn't slept since entering the enemy's base. An MRE though healthy stood no chance against Kaname's cooking. He wasn't one to care about flavor much but Kaname hadn't completely failed in teaching him some things. Though he didn't really show it he enjoyed eating her food. He almost rolled off the bed to lay under it but remembered where he was. He kept his gun on the table next to him as he closed his eyes falling into sleep.

Meanwhile…

A familiar figure walked through the TDD-1 no certain destination in mind. He had to be careful because him being here already seemed suspicious with past events. He only needed to find out what he could. Perhaps he could get information from the South Caribbean base they were heading to. He still hadn't been able to get into the captain's quarters or any restricted areas.

"Whoo, this is boring."

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-Prisoner Rooms-

The blue haired girl woke up with yawn. She had kept the habit of watching movies late at night but out of habit woke up early. Last night she had watched Stallone, Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and Shuwa-chan. (this is what some Japanese call Arnold Schwarzeneggar). She woke up a little later this time than she would usually. She looked around the room. The blue steel room which she had become accustomed to seeing. She was starting to hate being here more, and more. Even with her games she was becoming somewhat depressed. She really wished she wasn't whispered. She wanted to be normal. Which in the regular sense she was. But in the sense it carried she wasn't and it caused problems for her. She wished she could stay home and relax. She was home less than two months before she was dragged here. It would cause anyone to become depressed. She was getting used to sleeping with Sousuke. She did it mostly out of having trouble being alone for awhile now that she had returned but she found herself enjoying it and becoming quite comfortable. She also took a few steps with the ex-sergeant, which thought she probably shouldn't have taken yet. That stupid excuse she gave him had pissed her off but she didn't completely disbelieve it. She would rather being in the line of fire with him rather then sitting here doing nothing unsure of what was going on. She sighed placing the pillow over her head.

"Always, always me. This time not even for me being whispered. Maybe being with Sousuke isn't such a good idea." Kaname closed her eyes. Leonard stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed with a fresh cloak of steam.

"Kan-"Leonard went so speak but was surprised when she shot up.

"What am I thinking? Something is seriously wrong with you girl thinking like that? Just forget you ever thought that! Ooohhh, now I have to apologize to him. Love means you'll go through anything with them right! Ahhh, I'm only seventeen this is so complicated. I think I'm going crazy."

Leonard stood mouth slightly open while in a confused daze as Kaname slumped onto her back feet hanging of the bed onto the floor. He stood watching her still in his daze wondering what just happened.

"But then… he should try to be more careful right? And not leave so much. We should each try to help each other a little. But he…" Kaname felt tears starting to build in her eyes. She grabbed the Bonta-kun and brought it over. She knew she was probably being too emotional but it was that time of the month. She privately asked for the necessary items when she spoke to a female so she spared herself some embarrassment. Sousuke was lucky he wasn't around to be on her bad side.

She could feel Leonard's presence as he walked closer.

"Kaname?"

"Uh-huh." She said trying to hold back any changes in her voice.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah…just give me sec." She found it harder and harder to hold it in and was sure he would eventually notice.

"I will wait. I am here if you need anything." Leonard waited patiently instead of turning on any other source of noise.

"Did he even keep it? It wasn't important but…" She held her breath and wiped her eyes, while trying to stop the oncoming flow of tears.

Leonard wanted to console her but knew he should wait. She had made it more than clear that she did not like his bringing her with him before and he assumed he was somehow part of the problem.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No!" She answered immediately her voice somewhat higher pitched.

Kaname took a deep breath. She was crying not bawling. She would be alright she just needed to get a hold of herself. She stopped wiping her eyes when she felt a warm hand glide across her face removing strands of hair.

"Why are you crying?" Leonard was sitting next to her.

"No-nothing. I'll be ok. Don't worry about it." Kaname forced a smile as she sat up wiping away more tears.

"Something is wrong…more than usual anyway if you're crying." He placed a hand on her shoulder. When she didn't brush it away he felt a little better. At least he could try to make her feel better.

"No. It's not a problem." Kaname stopped a moment realizing what she said. She stared at the Bonta-kun in her arms. She could hear a voice in the back of her head repeat the words. She started to feel a little warmer inside.

"I'm fine. Let's watch some TV. They're showing new episodes today remember." Kaname smiled at him. Leonard wasn't completely convinced but knew if she said she would be alright he would let it go…for now. He decided not to upset her more and handed her the remote.

She thanked him then began checking channels.

-Tokyo: Chidori Apartment-

"Hello Sagara-kun." Kyouko greeted him outside the door to Kaname's apartment. She had been called and told to wait. It was currently six in the morning but she wasn't really able to sleep.

"Greeting Tokiwa. I trust you didn't alter anything in the room." Sousuke said as he walked up.

"Nope. In fact I took a picture of everything. I felt like a crime scene investigator taking pictures of the crimes scene before the guys come in to look at it." Kyouko said holding up her camera.

Sousuke ignored the last part. "Good job Tokiwa. Let's go now. Hopefully you are the only person that saw this."

He pulled out his own key to open the door. Kyouko was going to ask but now was not the time. He found the living room torn apart. The kitchen was fine. The balcony door was shattered. He looked around the room. He spotted something peculiar in the wall. He asked Kyouko to stay in place as he walked over to examine it. He put on some gloves before taking out a small metal stick. He picked the item from he wall and examined it.

"Light weight. Painted. Made of steel. It's blown into the walls and floor. Could it have been a fragmentation grenade?" He pulled off a few more pieces still unable to figure anything out. He walked out to the balcony. He was glad that it was still cool despite being a summer morning. There was a few more spread items and broken glass. He also found something else that caught his attention. He picked up what seemed to be a steel handle in a protective material. One letter still remained on the object.

"Did you find something Sagara-kun?" Kyouko asked making her way over. He met her halfway walking back into the apartment.

"I believe this is Chidori's bat." Sousuke said holding the remaining handle if the bat up.

Kyouko took a picture of it. "What happened to it? Who would break a bat?"

Sousuke pointed towards the broken end.

"Actually from the way these points and ends stick out this bat imploded."

"No way?"

"Somehow this bat was blown from the inside out. Perhaps someone planted a bomb inside. I should have checked it. Maybe this was set off and Chidori was…" Sousuke thought a moment. He forgot there was one way to find out what had happened. To Kaname's request he took out the hidden cameras but the phone taps, and audio recorders throughout the apartment were allowed to stay. He would just normally have to get her approval before listening. Most of the time she wouldn't let him. He would have to go to his apartment. Luckily the equipment in the hotel at Osaka had been returned.

"Tokiwa there is not much to look at here. I will finish examining the rooms. Please wait on watch." Kyouko nodded moved so that she could keep watch on the door. He wasn't a crime scene investigator and even he had the equipment there was no point collecting a bunch of finger prints and DNA, if he could identify the person on the tape. He just hoped the blood didn't mean the worst. He entered her room. It was almost exactly the way it was last time he saw it. He noticed the Custom-Bonta-kun was gone. Maybe she put it somewhere. He had no time to look. It wasn't important anyway.

He walked back out to meet Kyouko.

"Tokiwa I changed my mind. I am going to get as much as I can out of this before I do anything else. Even if I can identify the voice of a person on the recording I will have a better chance of locating them if maybe they dragged something in from their shoes, or off their clothing. You should go. I will call you if you need to know anything. Please keep this a secret."

"Ok. Just don't take too long." Kyouko's voice did not hide her worry. Sousuke turned his head away but not far enough to hide his facial features. She saw his expression soften showing worry, sadness, guilt, and even fear. A lot more emotion than he normally showed, so she took a picture.

"You ok Sousuke-kun?"

Sousuke shook himself back into reality before looking at her.

"I will be fine. Now I must do this so please go." Sousuke looked at her with his usual expression. She only nodded before turning to leave. Sousuke locked the door when she left.

"Now to get ready."

A few moments later Kaname's kitchen was filled with equipment that Sousuke seemed to have pulled out of nowhere. He walked out into the living room ready to look as hard as he could. He would take apart the walls if he had too.

-6 hours later…

Sousuke finally finished collecting everything and preparing them for testing. Right now most of it was being tested against international, and Mithril information. He would be in trouble if it was traced back to him. He had the information set to transfer over to the equipment at his apartment. He had also found Kaname's cell phone so he wouldn't be able to trace it. For now he would head back and listen to the recording. He probably would sleep in his apartment and get the information early tomorrow. He had about six sets of fingerprints, foreign fibers, stained fluids, and an assortment of foreign materials. Most of it was to see if he could use it to locate where it came from. He was sure he would identify the person through the audio recording. He only had a little left to clean up and then he had to repair the balcony door which would mean he would have to go out and buy the glass. He already knew where to go, having destroyed this balcony a number of times himself. He sighed as he began setting up traps. He would need to inform Kyouko about it. He didn't like having another person knowing about this but he had no choice. Looking for Chidori was just another burden. Like Mithril he had other things he needed to do but she would be on top of his list. He owed her at least that much. He exited the apartment locking it behind him. He pulled out his phone as he walked towards the elevator. After dialing Kyouko's number she answered almost immediately.

"Hello Sagara-kun?"

"Affirmative. I have finished examining the apartment. I will have to go back tomorrow. Currently I am on my way to my apartment to listen to the recording."

"Oh ok. I'll drop by later ok?"

"Roger."

Kyouko hung up first. Sousuke pocketed his phone just as the elevator opened. He really would have preferred to come back in a better manner but life was not always kind. In fact it was cruel most of the time. It was a little past 2 pm. If he was lucky the information should be done by tonight. He stepped out of the elevator paying no attention as a couple and an old woman entered it. The walk across the street felt longer than usual. He made his way up the stairs to his apartment rather than using the elevator. He would still need to go back and try to find out wherever another Origin base was. If he went around the world destroying Amalgam facilities he could do it for them. Just now Kaname may be elsewhere so he would have two places to look for. He pulled out his key as he approached his apartment. He checked first if the traps were still set. Yes. Which means no one would have been by, while he was gone. He opened the door deactivating the traps as he entered, it was a little dusty but it was exactly as he had left it. He walked into the living room and moved towards a small shelf. He opened it to reveal regular drawers. Pulling further he revealed one set of his equipment. He pulled it from the wall revealing a few small latches. He removed them pulling off the back allowing him access to his equipment. He pulled it out and disconnected form the extra parts. He placed it on the table next to the communications device he used to contact Mithril with. After setting it to the beginning he put on the headset.

He played it from the beginning of the day before school. Most of it was Kaname's morning routine before going off to school. The hours between that and when they returned from the party had nothing. It was late now. After he had left with Kaname to a park nothing happened until about a half hour later. He heard the front door open. Who ever it was was smart enough to lock it behind them.

"So this is Kaname-chan's apartment. Too girly." He heard the man laugh as he continued his way through the apartment. He knew he should have set up traps. But worse was he recognized the voice of the man immediately.

"Gauron…" He whispered as he continued listening to the recording. He heard the heavy footsteps distance form one of the recorders meaning he was heading deeper in. He heard the opening of another door.

"Her room. Looks normal enough. What's this? OH she made her own Bonta-kun how cute. And…pictures. With Kashim." He switched over to the feed form inside the room.

"Kashim you are a fool." Gauron spoke coldly. This was followed by the sound of shattering glass.

"I guess I'll just have to wait. I'm going to enjoy kill angel-chan even more now."

The next few hours was him doing nothing as night approached. He did watch TV and go into her fridge but nothing that would be noticed immediately. Sousuke sweated more and more the longer he listened. So far it sounded like the worst had happened. Finally the TV was turned off. He heard the front door open again. He heard what he assumed to be Chidori. After almost inaudible sounds from Kaname and then a loud thump.

"Well done. You almost escaped. You have been learning." There was a brief pause.

"Hello Angel. Happy to see me."

"You bastard!"

"Oh that's not very nice. What would Kashim think if he heard you saying such things?"

Another pause.

"Heh that doesn't matter because Kashim is dead. Unfortunately I didn't get to do it personally."

There was another pause.

"He was killed in France. A bunch of new AS kicked his ass. It was a shame to hear about it."

Another pause. Sousuke found his heart beating faster as this continued.

"What's the matter? You don't care that he's dead. Or does Kashim like you because you're a strong girl. Yes that must be it. Oh well that doesn't matter now."

Another pause took place. The conversation continued with talk of the Bonta-kun. Kaname's rash attitude bared itself once again. He heard a strange sound as if the air were bending and being torn. The sound of metal blowing apart was followed by the sound of breaking glass. A few words then a silenced gunshot. Sousuke winced when he heard it assuming the worst.

"Hmm. You really have learned. It's a shame to ruin that nice dress. Since you won't stay still." Sousuke felt a little proud even though the praise was from his worst enemy. Next he heard the sound of Kaname gasping and small squeaks followed by the sound of a body thudding against the floor. He listened expectantly awaiting the sound of the gunshot meaning Chidori's demise.

"Wait!" Another voice appeared.

Sousuke recognized the voice that was now having a conversation to save Kaname. He would thank him as well as find out what was going on. He listened as they spoke for the next ten minutes but nothing gave him the location of where they went. All he knew was that they left with a helicopter to another base he would have to locate. Gauron knew he was alive now. He figured it was safe to assume that his enemies knew he was alive.

After hearing them leave there was nothing. He got up and walked into the bedroom. He opened the closet revealing his arsenal, and other equipment. He moved a panel of the wall revealing more equipment. He pulled out the device and brought it out to the living room with him. Kaname asked him to disconnect but he kept it active. He recorded what happened but all the time but never had it connected to a television. He watched everything from the point he first heard contact with the enemy. It was even worse seeing it. Gauron was as twisted as ever and Kaname fought back with all her vigor, and rage but was unsuccessful. He was somewhat annoyed that she almost died over doll. The other man who entered the room was exactly who he suspected. As he went to turn off the recorded video he bent forward clenching his chest. He brought his other hand up covering his mouth. He could felt as the crimson liquid also leaked form his ear and nose. He coughed blood spattering onto his hand.

"It seems I have not fully recovered." He said as he rose to go clean off. He coughed up more as he made his way to his kitchen. The liquid form his ear getting into his hair as well as running down his neck. When he reached the sink he turned on the cold water and began cleaning himself. He could taste the blood in his mouth. A rusty flavor he had become accustomed to. He wiped off what he could and returned to the living room. He began returning all the equipment to its proper place. He needed to eat and take a shower. He went into his kitchen to look for what he could. He found enough for dinner and began preparing it. He accidentally started a fire on the stove which he put out quickly then finished preparing his food. He ate it with disinterest, some of it over-cooked or missing flavor. Nothing was very interesting on the news. A few murders, a car accident, and a blocked highway. When he finished eating he cleaned his dishes and went to shower. The warm water helped completely clean him and did good for his muscles.

He saw he added another scar to himself, a wound from his infiltration mission a few days ago.

He slept maybe four hours before he woke up. Finding the tests finished he dressed and headed over to Kaname's. He felt a little guilty walking back to it this time but brushed it off. The fingerprints pointed to the two men, the blood was Chidori's and the fibers were just strands of loose clothes. Materials he collected gave no indication to where they were. Sousuke froze when he heard a clicking noise. He slowly raised his head and turned around. He found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Hello again Sagara. You're slipping letting me sneak up on you." The man's sunglasses hid his face but his smile was there to see.

"I must be more careful from now on."

The man in the trench coat and sunglasses smiled.

"There is no from now on."

BANG!

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