Disclaimer: I make no claim to the series, ideas, or characters of Full Metal Panic.
Author's Notes: I want to thank all of you who have read my story. I especially want to thank all of those who have taken a part of your precious time to leave reviews. As always, I am very grateful and am inspired by my readers. To tell the truth, this was originally a simple idea I had which I thought may be interesting. I never expected so many people to enjoy it. But, I'm not complaining. I'm take enjoyment in knowing that others enjoy my story. Once again, I deeply thank you all. Hope you enjoy.
Defining Normalcy
Chapter 6: The Act of Reuniting
By Adam Lakewood
Sousuke ran, for all he was worth. His destination was once again the music store, and he would not miss her this time. Come Hell or high water.
He cringed as he stomped through a large puddle of water which came up over his shoes, and soaked the entire ankle area of his pants. Well, it seemed the high water was already here and getting higher; he didn't want to ponder on what may follow after it. For all he knew, he had probably just jinxed himself.
Or, maybe not. That would have to be determined later; as of now, it was irrelevant to the objective at hand.
He quickly rounded around a corner on the street and spotted the Kalinin's music store. The sight itself excited him. Such a thing did not make sense because he had seen the store several times before. He worked there for crying out loud! The simple viewing of the place shouldn't have his heart racing. But... this time was different. Kaname was probably in that store. This was the moment he had been waiting for!
... This was the moment he had been dreading.
Sure, of course he wanted to see Kaname, but for once, he had no idea how such an encounter would turn out. Sure, he had been in countless other, more unpredictable situations, bur for some reason this one bothered him more than any other. No other situation made his heart beat so uncontrollably.
... Or, maybe it was just all of the running around he had been doing. ... Never; he was a specialist. Specialists don't get winded; not in his type of physical condition. But, then again, specialists didn't get worried about unhostile encounters with former friends. But, then again, there was nothing saying this wouldn't be a hostile encounter. But, then again, he was prepared for such a situation if such were to occur; he was not ignorant to the temperament of Kaname Chidori. So, what was the problem?
It is not a problem.
It had always been those words that gave him confidence. That gave him courage and hope. To him, they weren't just words. They were words of inspiration to him, and hopefully others who he bestowed their sound upon. So... why weren't they helping now? Could this actually be a problem?
It is not a problem.
It is not a problem.
Before he knew it, he was looking down upon the stairs leading up to the entrance of Kalinin's music store. He watched, almost intently as the droplets of rain crashed and broke against the concrete stairs. After a moment, the rain started to come down harder, thus sounding like hundreds of small footsteps on top of the black umbrella. Perhaps that was a sign for him to continue onward, at least up to the door. There was at least a covering there.
He slowly, carefully, reluctantly made his way up the few concrete stairs which seemed to weigh on him as if each step was the equivalent of one hundred. By the time he reached the top of the stairs, his heart was beating fast and breathing came with deep difficulty to him.
This was ludicrous! He had been here in Tokyo for three weeks planning this encounter. He had no reason to be anxious. He couldn't make much sense of the feelings he was faced with. Sousuke Sagara could always make sense out of anything. The few things he couldn't weighted on his mind heavily. But, this should have not been one of them.
He looked at the door before him. The door which led into Kalinin's music shop. Behind that door could very well be the object of his attention for the past three weeks... months... how ever long it had been. A person came up beside him quickly out of the rain. The young man stomped the rain off of his shoes, left his wet umbrella outside, opened the door, and hurried inside. Now why couldn't he do that? It looked so simple.
Sousuke quickly reached his hand out to take hold of the handle of the door. But, as soon as his hand touched it, he pulled back as if he had been burned. He was cursed! He looked at the door before him with a snarl. Lightning crashed in the distance and lit up the glossy door frame as if to just add dramatics. One would have thought just by looking on that Sousuke and the door were sworn enemies from years past. In all actuality, he figured he probably could have walked through the open mouth of a hungry dragon than he could that door with the ridiculous smiley face painted on it.
This was preposterous! Ludicrous, ridiculous, balmy! He scratched his head for a moment. How else would Webster describe this predicament and his feelings about it?
Exorbitant, farcical, absurd, camp, nonsensical, gelastic...
Reggie! It was Reggie. Sousuke looked at the door when he saw it open. Out of the doorway walked Reggie, one of his few friends in Tokyo. The door closed behind him and Reggie smiled as soon as he saw his friend.
"Sousuke, my man! How you doing?" he said as he walked over next to Sousuke.
Reggie, in Tokyo, was... out of place. ...To put it lightly.
Not very often was it one saw a tall man obviously from Jamaican descent, walking the streets of Tokyo. He even had the accent and hairstyle to top it all off.
"I'm faring well, Reggie. I could be doing better, but I'm not one to complain."
"Did your lady reject you?" he asked with a knowing sympathy in his voice.
"No, not yet." he replied.
"What, you haven't asked her yet?" he asked as if he couldn't believe it.
"No." Sousuke stated sharply. "I'm working on it right now."
Reggie looked around as if confused. He looked around at the door of the American music store behind, looked back at Sousuke and the way he was dressed, looked back at the music store, and finally looked back at Sousuke with lifted eyebrows and an all knowing expression as if he just pieced together a mystery.
"Ohhhh! I get it!"
Sousuke smiled in response. At least Reggie was quick to get a clue. That was much more than he could say for a lot of people he had met, including himself.
"Berry White?"
Sousuke slapped his hand to his forehead, exasperated. He didn't know whether his friend was joking or not. He looked back up to see his friend still nodding his head, rather proud of his critical thinking skills. Maybe he was too quick to give people credit?
"No... Reggie. I think my lady is in there." he said pointing at the door of the music store.
Reggie looked absolutely dumbstruck.
"Oh! I see, my bad. What do you mean 'I think'; why haven't you checked yet? Do you just not have the nerve to show your face to her?" he said mockingly.
"No. I don't." Sousuke stated simply.
Before he knew it, there was a large arm thrown around his shoulder and dragging him to the door.
"Well, strength in numbers, right? Old Reggie will help you take a quick glance around." the larger man said as he half-lead, half-dragged his friend to the door.
Sousuke took a deep, shaky breath to still his nerves. Maybe Reggie was right; maybe it really wasn't such a big deal.
It is not a problem.
It is not a problem.
Reggie pulled open the door a little bit so the both of them could peek their heads inside. Reggie looked around and saw only one woman. A woman he had met and spoken with before. He knew her a little; that was Kaname Chidori.
Sousuke immediately saw the blue haired beauty in front of the counter talking to Kalinin. She hadn't really changed that much since last time he saw her; she was still the Kaname he knew, or at least appearance wise. He watched as she quickly turned her head to the left, almost in his direction. He felt as if his heart was going to leap up through his chest and out of his mouth with a tremendous wail. As a matter of fact, it almost did. He felt his breath catch as an audible sound escaped from his lips. He quickly pulled his head from the open door and quickly rested himself against the side of the building outside. Did he just yelp?! No, not him. A specialist never... yelps. Not him, nope, never. ... Never.
Reggie pulled his head out of the doorway with a huge grin on his face.
"Man, I thought for sure you were going to shriek like a schoolgirl. As a matter of fact, you almost did. I thought I had just stepped on a mouse when I heard you squeak." he said with a laugh.
Sousuke blushed. He felt himself blush at that remark. He... squeaked. He felt like running his head through a window. He looked over at Reggie who was getting a grand kick out of it. He knew Reggie was joking around, but it still annoyed him slightly. His mind ran through many of the common, sarcastic remarks he could give in reply to the man's curt humor. Finally, he settled on one.
"Reggie, bite me." he said dryly.
Reggie stopped laughing and looked over at his younger friend with a smile. He was ready to talk serious now.
"No thank, I'm not hungry. So, that was her, huh? Kaname Chidori?"
"You know her?" Sousuke asked in surprise.
"Of course, I know her; why didn't you mention her name sooner?" he interrogated.
"You never asked for it. Plus, I figured you were on a need to know basis, especially since you seem to have a hard time of keeping that mouth of yours quite."
"Hm. Good thinking." he said as he nodded in agreement. "Kaname Chidori. Good choice, my friend. You have really good taste in women."
"I am aware." That came with a smile.
"So, are you ready to go see her?"
"Affirmative." he stated as he turned to the door.
As soon as he was facing the door, he saw the blurry figure of Kaname walking towards the door. He turned around in panic to Reggie and desperately waved his arms.
"Hurry, talk about something else!" he said as he leaned up against the wall and put his hand on the railing.
The door opened as soon as Reggie turned around to look at him.
"So, I hear this store carries the latest Reggae music that America has. Is that right?"
"Yes, I do believe so." Sousuke said as he looked at the woman through the corner of his eye.
Yes, that was Kaname. He did not hear much more of what was being said by Reggie; he only responded occasionally with a grunt of understanding, typical among the common peoples. His entire attention was devoted to the woman standing only a few feet away from him. She had looked directly at the two of them, but she did not notice him. Jin had told him he looked completely different than he did before; he supposed she was actually right.
He looked back at Reggie and politely tilted his head towards the door of the music store. Reggie stopped, looked at the door, and obligingly took the hint. He nodded at Sousuke and gave him a smile.
"Well then, I suppose I'll see you later, my friend. Good luck." Reggie said as he went inside the music store.
Now, there was total silence excluding the soothing hiss of the rain. No one seemed to be on the streets, and no one was around. The two of them were alone.
Sousuke indiscreetly looked at Kaname to once again take in her image and presence he had so long been deprived of. She looked the same she had before except she was older and more... matured. Yes, she had definitely... matured. Sousuke shook his head to clear his head.
No! No need for his recently overactive imagination to be kicking in at this point. No, beat those images back down before they fully surface. This was not something a specialist should be thinking about right now! He now felt ashamed. Jeez, what was wrong with him?!
He looked back over at her once he was certain those images were out of his system. Yes, she was just as he remembered her. But, she was soaked from head to toe by the rain, and she seemed to have a sad and contemplative look on her face. He was pretty sure he knew the reason.
Well, they were this close now. There was no turning back. He was behind enemy lines, and there would be no one to extract him. The terrain was familiar, but surely had changed. He remembered the previous dangers from before, but felt as if he had come fully prepared. His goal: Kaname Chidori. His mission: Kaname Chidori. His need: Kaname Chidori. His threat: ... Kaname Chidori. This was his objective and he would complete it no matter what.
He almost instinctively checked for his combat knife. All right, enough of that kind of prep.
Right now, he had the advantage. She had not recognized him, but for how long, especially at their close proximity. He needed to think of something quick.
But, this was not something which could be entirely thought through with logic. He had learned the meaning of feelings and emotions. He had learned how to identify them. He had even learned how to express them to a great and possibly even normal degree. The only thing he hadn't fully come to terms with was how to apply them.
But, one thing did come to mind.
"Kaname?"
Kaname's eyes lit up at the sound of his voice. She turned around to look at him and immediately recognized him. An excited, unbelieving smile quickly found its way to her face. She looked at him, tears forming in her eyes, and stuttered a single utterance before being able to for the word.
"S... Sousuke?" she said with hope apparent in her voice.
She needed no clarification to her question and thoughts, and he needed not provide one.
She let out a joyous laugh as she ran over to him and threw her arms around him. He did the same as he brought his arms around her in a tight embrace, lifted her off the ground, and began spinning around, laughing in the rain during their moment of joy and bliss. And, they lived happily ever after.
No, not likely.
He had seen that in a romance movie last week, which he watched as a part of his normalcy education. Sousuke shook his head again to clear out the images like an eraser to a chalk board, making room for next new thing to be scribbled down on it. Unfortunately, this was not a movie. This did not have to have a happy ending because it's what the audience wants; this was life. Though he wished it were a fairy tale; they always worked out fine in the end.
So, he figured a cliché was the best way to break the ice... again.
"I really wish it would stop raining." he said as he casually stared out into the rain.
He heard her sigh in response to that statement. He had never really minded the rain, in fact, he liked it. But, it was obvious Kaname didn't care too much for it.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. And, me without an umbrella." she said with a laugh.
That was a good sign. She laughed. At least that signified she wasn't in a completely sour mood. He would take his chance now, since it may very well be the best chance he might have. He walked over next to her, she looked at him, and he intentionally turned his face away from her as he reached down to pick up his umbrella. She looked away from him and back out into the rain. He would try the gentleman approach.
"Well, we can't have you walking around in the rain, now can we? Perhaps you would like for me to walk you home, ma'am?" he said as he presented the umbrella he had.
He saw her smile as she turned around to look at him. For the first time, she actually took a good look at his face, or so he noticed. As soon as she stared for a second, her eyes went wide, as if she had just seen a ghost, and by circumstances, she had all right to believe that.
"S... Sousuke?" she said, finally being able to stutter out the word.
He smiled in response to her.
"Yes, Kaname, last time I checked." he choked out before clearing his throat.
Both stood there looking at each other for a long moment. Both had perfectly thought out speeches they could give to the other, which they had prepared should they ever actually meet again. But, now the words were lost to the wind. Kaname cleared her throat nervously before she finally spoke.
"Well... uh... hi. H... I didn't know you were in Tokyo." she finally stated.
"Yes, I would expect you didn't. Ac... Actually I've been here for about three weeks."
"B... But, Kalinin said he lost contact with you aboard the De Danaan." she questioned more than stated.
"Well, yes, he was telling the truth. For I was not aboard the De Danaan. I was here in Tokyo."
"Oh, Uh... I see. So, why exactly didn't you come see me sooner, or at least contact me?'
He knew it was coming. He was now at the tip of the iceberg... and it was very slippery. A slip now could prove fatal.
"Kaname, I have a long story to tell. Would you like to accompany me to someplace a little more dry? With a little luck, I will be able to explain this without you hating me."
TO BE CONTINUED