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Part III: Setting the Hook
AN: Just as a note, the next chapter is intended to be lemon, which means that it will be cut down to a lime for posting here on (yes, I am one of the dorks who actually follow the rules). The entire story will be posted uncut on Mediaminer once part 4 is done, for those of you who prefer stronger citrus.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Shouji Gatou and various corporations. I am making no profit off of this fanwork.
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Kaname was definitely pouting when she started undressing for the shower, and she knew it. Stupid Sousuke and his stupid fishing. Playing around, talking, holding her—acting almost like a regular guy—and then, boom! Back to Sergeant Serious, who must always ensure the safety of his Whispered charge. Did he really have to insist on waiting for her to get a shower so he could escort her to the mess hall afterwards? It was if she were a toddler and he wanted to make sure she was supervised at all times; either that or some fragile maiden who must be constantly protected against the marauding dragon.
"Damsel-in-distress" wasn't part of Kaname Chidori's repertoire. Whatever crisis she had to face, she always tried to face it head on. Kidnapped? Fine, attempt escape even if you're being shot at. Bugged and stalked? Okay, strip off any possibly contaminated item of clothing and turn the tables on your stalker while wearing a hotel bathrobe. Sure, she got afraid, but she'd never let that stop her from doing what she needed to do. Granted, Sousuke knew more than she ever wanted to know about crisis situations, but even when she knew she was out of her depth, she refused to cave in.
Except for with this. Telling Sousuke about her feelings was the single thing she chickened out on, time and time again. Heck, she couldn't even discuss those feelings out loud with anyone.
Unraveling the single braid she'd plaited her hair into to keep it out of the way while fishing, she walked towards the shower in the Western-styled bathroom.
'I mean, really! It's not like I should actually have to say it!' Kaname thought wryly to herself. 'Isn't that supposed to be the guy's job or something?
Kaname began absentmindedly fiddling with the shower knobs as the one-sided conversation continued in her head.
'Sure, I should just have come out and said "Hey Sousuke, I think I've been in love with you for a while now, and by the way, I think you're hot." Ohhh, yeah! That would go over really well! After all, he's never given any indication that he thinks about me like that. Sometimes I'm not even sure he realizes I'm female, much less considers me attractive. I bet he thinks of me as nothing but a loudmouthed tomboy. He didn't even recognize me that time I dressed up in a kimono to save him from that stupid bet.'
Trying to shake off her depressing thoughts, without looking Kaname thrust her hand under the stream of water to check the temperature and let out a loud yelp of surprise when her hand was scalded. She jerked back, cradling her now bright-pink hand to her chest. Insistent knocking began on the bathroom door.
"Chidori, have you been injured?"
She stared mutely at the door. Should she tell him the truth and risk him going all weird on her, or just say fine and go about her shower. It hurt like crazy now, but it would probably be okay in a few minutes. And why was she hesitating, anyway? This wasn't even really a problem!
"Kaname? Is everything okay? Kaname?"
Obviously her second's hesitation had been a second too long for Sousuke, because just as "I'm fine," started to leave her mouth, the door handle rattled briefly, made a snapping noise, and then turned to admit one Sergeant Sagara.
'Cheap lock for a military base,' was Kaname's bemused thought as Sousuke stormed into the tile-covered room with gun drawn, scanning for intruders.
Her momentary shock quickly morphed into embarrassment and anger, a combination bad for Sousuke's health. If Kaname had had her fan, she knew she would have made sure that his face got a closer acquaintance with the tile of the floor. As it was, she attempted to cover all the important parts with her hands, hoping that her hair hid much of the rest.
She had just taken a deep breath in preparation for screaming 'Get out!' at him when his gaze moved from surveying the room for danger to surveying her. She froze momentarily, feeling as if the air had suddenly been knocked out of her. She knew intellectually that he was just checking to see if she was injured but somehow it felt like more. It felt as if his eyes were lingering—with appreciation perhaps?—on her feminine curves.
'That's impossible. Sousuke wouldn't, couldn't ogle me. Right?'
The want that tightened her belly and her throat at the possibility of being desired by Sousuke made her even more eager to get him out of the room—before she did something stupid and humiliated herself even further.
"Out! Get out!" Her voice was a weak imitation of her usual strident screech, but it seemed to shock Sousuke into motion nonetheless.
He began hastily backing towards the door, holding his hands in front of him with the flat of the palm facing out as if both to protest his innocence and as a defensive gesture. She noted distantly that his expression had morphed into the "please don't hurt me" look he'd developed after the first few months of her punishing him for various social blunders.
"I'm... I'm sorry Kaname!" he babbled frantically. "I honestly didn't mean... I thought you'd been..."
His retreat took him to the doorway and out of Kaname's range before she really had a chance to make an attempt at retaliation, if she'd been so inclined. He couldn't know that was honestly the last thing on his mind. For a few seconds, Kaname had fought with herself, eventually managing to stifle the impulse to tell him to stay. That she'd even thought of saying that shocked her more than him coming into the room. When the door closed behind him, she breathed a sigh of relief that the most immediate threat to her equilibrium and sanity was gone.
She had plenty of food for thought during her shower, so much so that she stayed under the spray until the water ran cold. She left the bathroom reluctantly, after taking much too long getting ready and having settled nothing internally. Still, she braced herself as she opened the door and walked into the other room where he waited.
Sousuke took a deep breath and met her eyes squarely, a hint of a blush barely visible along his tanned cheekbones.
"I really am sorry, Kaname. I was honestly concerned for your safety. There are any number of fatal accidents that can occur in the bathroom…"
Kaname tuned out the rest of his verbal treatise on the dangers of modern plumbing, focusing instead on his expression and the tone of his voice, both now and when he'd come storming commando-style through the bathroom door.
She knew Sousuke hadn't meant any harm when he'd come bursting through the door of the bathroom. That wasn't what had rattled her so badly. It was what had come after, that brief look of warmth, that spark of male appreciation that had lit his eyes for just a moment. It was the look of tender concern for her—well-mixed with worry for his own personal health—that was on his face now. It was her own response to both of those looks, the warming of desire low in her belly she'd felt both then and now.
It hit her that maybe, just maybe, Sousuke had finally figured out what attraction to the opposite sex was all about. And maybe, just maybe, Sousuke was attracted to her. Even after all the time spent in the bathroom trying to sort herself out, Kaname was just beginning to realize that some of the things about Sousuke that she had so long taken for granted had changed somehow without her knowledge. She didn't know how to face this new/old Sousuke, didn't know how he would react, didn't know how to deal with her own reactions to him.
She was glad he made no attempt at conversation during the Jeep ride over to the mess hall. Kaname wasn't sure she could have carried on a coherent conversation with everything that was currently whizzing around in her head. It was a relief when he took her into the mess hall and seated her with some guys she remembered from the Dana's long-ago birthday party before retreating to take a shower of his own.
By the time he returned with his spiky black hair still obviously damp, she had managed to put her confused thoughts aside for the time being and was laughing and chatting amiably with the Mithril soldiers. Instead of coming over to where she sat amidst a crowd of his fellow soldiers, Sousuke made a beeline for the kitchen, where he went into an intense consultation with one of the cooks.
As one of her tablemates distracted her with a comment, Kaname was barely able to see Sousuke hand over some strangely shaped brown paper package to one of the cooks before he headed in the direction of the cluster of guys that surrounded her.
The food in the mess hall was being served in the standard cafeteria style and when Sousuke neatly threaded his way through the pack to stand next to her, Kaname began to stand, expecting to walk over to the beginning of the line with him.
"Do you mind waiting a little while longer to eat?"
"No, that's fine."
Assuming Sousuke wasn't hungry yet, Kaname dropped back to her seat, and Sousuke somehow managed to silently convince one of the soldiers sitting next to her into relinquishing his spot.
'Wow, who knew Sousuke could be intimidating?' Kaname mused as the thread of conversation immediately resumed around her, though she completely tuned it out now to focus on watching him.
Watching him interact with the other Mithril operatives cemented it for Kaname—she hadn't been imagining that her quirky Sergeant Sagara had changed. His fellow soldiers even treated him differently from the last time she'd seen him in a group of them. There was tinge of respect and a little odd deference that hadn't been there before. Before, it had always seemed to Kaname as if they'd seen Sousuke as kind of a kid, despite his long history of battle experience. She didn't think she could quite pin it down, the exact nature of the change in attitude or the reason for the change; just as she couldn't quite pin down when and how he'd changed towards her, or if it was just her being slow to realize it. Seeing whatever it was reflected in his interactions with his fellow mercenaries finally confirmed to her what she'd been confused about since he invited her on this trip, though. Somewhere, somehow, Sergeant Sagara had finally gotten a clue.
'I guess it's time for me to follow suit, huh?' Kaname propped her chin on her hand, looking vaguely in the direction of the door, but mostly concentrating on her own thoughts.
'I think… I think maybe I've been taking for granted that Sousuke would always be Sousuke. I guess maybe I didn't want him to change, because it was easier… Oh Crap!'
Kaname had been almost subconsciously dreading the arrival of the captain of the Tuatha de Danaan. They hadn't seen each other since Tessa's brief enrollment at Jindai High School over a year ago, but Kaname remembered clearly the intensity of the other girl's pursuit of Sousuke. Dealing with such a formidable rival on top of her own emotional turmoil was something she really didn't want to handle, so Kaname cringed a bit internally when the delicate ash-blond strolled into the mess hall.
However, Kaname was astonished when Tessa made no effort to take a seat at the table with Sousuke. In fact, she seemed inclined to not even acknowledge Sousuke's existence, instead choosing an unoccupied table in one of the quieter corners of the room.
And Sousuke—Kaname glanced over at her companion—Sousuke was so involved in a discussion with one of his neighbors that he didn't even notice Tessa's entrance into the room, even with the wave of sound that followed her path.
'This is definitely odd. Great. As if I needed more things to worry about. First, I have to get over whatever my problem is and figure out a way to finally tell Sousuke I love him. Now, I've got to figure out what's going on with the two of them. Has Tessa lost interest in Sousuke? Hmmm… Not likely. Maybe they had a fight? But why would he get into an argument with a superior officer? She's in command of everyone on the ship, isn't she? I wouldn't think he'd do anything as rebellious as arguing with his commander, no matter what the reason. But then, Sousuke has definitely been doing a lot of things I didn't think he would lately…'
Kaname was distracted from her attempt at reasoning through the possibilities by a tap on her shoulder.
One of the cooks, whom she vaguely remembered having helped peel potatoes on her first and last visit to the Dana, was holding a platter on which rested a whole grilled fish.
Her fish.
He set it down between her and Sousuke with a flourish and then motioned to an assistant to place the rest of the dishes in front of them. Kaname could only stare dumfounded at the large sea bass cooked to perfection and sitting in front of her.
'He had them cook my fish for me. He actually went to all the trouble of having them cook my fish for me. It's stuff like this that really reminds me why I love the doofus.'
In just moments, the group of people around the two of them had thickened into a crowd, attracting the attention of some of the other Mithril personnel scattered around the room. Including the captain.
Kaname noticed that Tessa had made her way over when the crowd parted somewhat to let her closer to the table. Sousuke was busy telling the story of her not-so-epic battle with the fish to the interested bystanders, most of whom were smiling at the tale of her struggle with the medium-sized bass.
Though Tessa was smiling along with everyone else, Kaname couldn't help but notice that the smiles directed towards the area where she and Sousuke sat were strained—none of her usual bubbly sisterly affection towards her crew or the deeper affection she held for Sousuke in evidence. Rather, it seemed to be an effort on her part to even be smiling at all, which was definitely un-Tessalike.
Kaname could only file this on her mental "list of crap to worry about later," resolving to simply enjoy the meal with Sousuke.
After the crowd dispersed, she and Sousuke dug in to their meal. The fish was excellent, though the conversation was uninspiring. Kaname wasn't about to discuss anything really personal with all the potential eavesdroppers nearby. They managed to get through the meal without discussing anything more substantial than the fishing earlier that day and the pop quiz they'd had in Japanese History last week.
As they left the mess hall so that Sousuke could escort her back to the guest quarters, the cook from earlier hurried up to them with a small bag.
"When we found out you'd be visiting, we decided to make you a little treat in celebration. Since you're leaving, you can eat them at the guest quarters."
"Thank you!" Kaname took the bag, supporting it with one hand underneath the bottom.
"Umm, what is it?"
"Oh! Crème Brulee. You may need to microwave the raspberry sauce. I included a small container of that in the bag."
"Thank you, again."
Shooting a look towards Sousuke, Kaname could only wonder when he'd made the arrangements for such a sweet gesture. She no longer doubted that he'd orchestrated pretty much the entire evening, and wondered exactly how far back his plotting went. She was beginning to think that maybe this entire trip had been orchestrated by this strange person formerly known as Sousuke, and her feelings of being led towards something inevitable only increased.