Sword and Shield
Chapter 21: Repercussions
Repercussion 1. n. A consequence or ensuing result of some action. 2. n. The act of driving back, or the state of being driven back; reflection; reverberation. 3. n. (music) Rapid reiteration of the same sound.
28 March 2000, 20:17 hrs
New York City, State of New York, United States
Apartment 738, Woolworth Towers
Shunya Chidori stepped into dining room of the New York apartment that had been his home for the last ten years and smiled faintly at Ayame as she worked on homework. The dishes from the dinner he'd managed to fix were all in the dishwasher and Shunya felt a sense of relief that his day was over.
Working as a UN High Commissioner for the Environment was a challenging assignment, and one of the highest diplomatic posts he could obtain without significant backing from members of the Security Council. He had worked hard on trying to get agreements together to reduce global warming, manage fishing, and end dumping in the deep sea.
Many of those agreements on Global Warming had fallen apart thanks to the United States stubbornly refusing to participate or support those efforts. It was ironic, that the nation that hosted the very organization that employed him also worked against his efforts.
He walked out of the small dining room and into the living room. Shunya settled onto the couch and was about to lift the remote to turn onto the television when his phone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered it, scowling slightly at the interruption, until he heard the voice on the other end.
"Daddy..." It was quiet, nervous, and rattled sounding but it was definitely Kana. He swallowed and took a deep breath.
"Kaname."
Her name had barely passed from his lips when Kaname started talking, rambling even. "Daddy... something happened, it'll probably be on the news shortly. I'm sorry..."
He felt his gut tighten, on the news? Could the terrorists that had struck at Jindai High have reappeared? Or was it the Americans?
"Kana..."
"My apartment, it's gone! They tried to take me away and... I had to fight them Daddy, it was horrible. I..." Kaname's voice choked up at that. "I had friends over and they blew open the door and smashed in through the window and..."
His hands trembling, Shunya Chidori lifted the remote to the television and turned it on. As it flickered to life, already on the Tokyo news channel he preferred, he saw an all too familiar apartment building, a single room of which looked to have been utterly destroyed. A black helicopter lay smashed atop a police car beside it, and he could see a number of people gathered around an ambulance.
Among them was the familiar blue-black haired figure of his daughter, pacing nervously beside the ambulance the phone at her ear.
"Are... are you alright?"
29 March 2000, 10:20 hrs
Chofu, Suburbs of Tokyo, Japan
Parking Lot, Mansion K Apartments
Sagara Sousuke sat on the back bumper of the ambulance, watching Kaname pace before him chewing her lip and ramble on about what had happened. Beside him a Paramedic was examining the single wound he'd suffered in the fight.
"I'm okay Daddy." Kaname assured her father through the phone as the medical orderly bandaged Sousuke's wound. "Well, the Americans bit off more than they could chew… Yes, I'm fine. Sousuke helped fend them off… yes, SOUSUKE… I know some people. Hopefully they can get us a hotel room or some other place to stay while the apartment is repaired."
Kaname stopped a scowl on her face. "Yes… us!" She closed her eyes. "Sousuke has been staying with me for a few days. He lost his apartment when he went after me Dad."
Sousuke winced and the paramedic glanced at him, a scowl on his face. "This should stop the bleeding for now but you're going to need some stitches to fully close it." He nodded not commenting that he knew that from experience and glanced back over his shoulder at Kaname pacing just beside the ambulance.
"Yes, yes… I know you had that rule but damn it Daddy! I'm eighteen. Shouldn't I be dating by now?" Kaname's scow deepened. "Damn it Dad!"
Perhaps being orphaned isn't always a bad thing. Sousuke thought as he listened to Kaname continuing to argue with her father.
"Fine, you want me to go ahead and lay it all out? Apparently someone told you quite a bit already…" Kaname growled and Sousuke felt his hair stand on end. It was a familiar sound that usually ended with a whack from her harisen. It was a good thing her father was out of range.
"Daddy, I'm not about to walk to the police station and ask them to guard me for the night. I have bodyguards!" She closed her eyes. "And the police would have been useless against this and you know it."
Maybe that would be a good idea… Sousuke twitched and glanced over at her and immediately met a glare that erased that idea without an argument.
A smirk like that of a predatory cat slid across Kaname's face and she glanced at Sousuke. "Fine, you want me to lay it all out? I sleep with him."
"Dad… Dad?" Even from where he sat Sousuke could tell there was stunned silence on the line as Kaname closed her eyes. "Dad… I have nightmares and… the only time I feel safe is when he's with me… okay? After today, well, the last year… you can say I have good reason to have nightmares." She closed her eyes and Sousuke saw a pair of tears run down her face. "Daddy… Oh hell… I… He… He almost died defending me today Daddy. One of the soldiers had his pistol on him and…"
Sousuke moved, acting more on instinct then any conscious thought. He slipped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist as she sobbed. "It's not a problem, okay?" Sousuke whispered in her ear.
She nodded and closed her eyes again, leaning against him. Kaname sighed. "Daddy, I… I shot him." She leaned back against him and cried. "I shot him dead… it was him or Sousuke and… after everything… I… I couldn't let them take him away from me."
Sousuke tightened his grip around her waist and closed his eyes before nuzzling her affectionately. "It's okay, I'm here." He whispered to her and she nodded slowly.
She took a deep breath. "Even with me fighting… he got hurt. He's gotten hurt so often protecting me." She glanced at Sousuke. "Daddy, I love him…"
28 March 2000, 20:25 hrs
New York City, State of New York, United States
Apartment 738, Woolworth Towers
Shunya Chidori swallowed, trying desperately to figure out what had happened to his daughter. He'd known at some level that this boy... this Sousuke had become important to her. He'd even been briefed on the organization he represented and so forth.
He'd never met him, and here his eldest daughter had declared that she loved the boy. The Japanese upbringing that he'd been brought up with stirred, enraged by the events, and he'd been unable to hold off snapping back at her. Now on the television he could see a dark haired youth comforting his daughter.
He wished he was in the boy's place, but he understood. Years earlier he had served in the JSDF, been a soldier of sorts for a term before moving on to being a diplomat for his country and then the United Nations. The boy had fought off an American attack that much was apparent and considering the destruction he saw on the television, it made his heart shatter.
Still, there were lines and Kaname had crossed them. Part of him wanted to bring her back to New York, but that impulse was immediately quashed by one simple truth.
He'd be bringing her to the very country that had tried to abduct her. Shunya gritted his teeth and swallowed.
"Daddy?" Kaname asked her voice timid.
He wanted to snap at her, to rant about her becoming involved in with this boy. Then he thought back to the brief he'd gotten on him and knew that interfering was futile, he'd fought a one man war to get her back... even been nuked in the process.
There simply was no stopping him.
"Daddy?"
"Kana... are you sure?" He asked quietly.
There was a short pause and he hoped that she'd recant, take back those words, but knew it wouldn't happen. She was as stubborn as he had been, and even more outspoken and fiery thanks to her time in the States.
"Yes." She said quietly, and he could imagine tears forming in his daughter's eyes as she readied herself to be verbally beaten down and destroyed by her father for violating his trust.
He couldn't do it... His voice failed him for the first time in years and he choked on those words, unable to speak them. Slowly he glanced at Ayame watching him from the table and swallowed. "Kana... You know I do not approve of what you've done." He said quietly.
"I know."
"And I am very wary of this Sagara Sousuke, and Mithril at this point." He continued on quietly.
"Daddy..."
Shunya took a deep breath. "But... he's kept you alive, saved you more times than I can count." He rubbed his forehead and shut his eyes, pained by what he felt their circumstances demanded. "They saved you, he saved you, so... I... I cannot demand he give you up when he has done more for you then I have in the last two years."
Kaname's voice seemed to shake with shock. "Daddy?"
"You... you have my permission Kaname… if you really feel this way, and he does as well... I..." He sighed. "I cannot deny the man that has walked through hell to bring my daughter back to me."
"Daddy... Thank you." Kaname's voice was a whisper. "It means a lot to me..."
"Can you, can you tell me what exactly happened?"
29 March 2000, 10:40 hrs
Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
"It was Delta Force." The JSDF Colonel said in a voice that was hard with anger. "AH-6Js with that sort of equipment... It's definitely Delta."
Minister Kōno stared at the report before him as the television sat in the corner of office reporting on the incident. Already he had his secretary keeping the American Secretary of State on hold until he decided what to do.
Jerome Borda stepped into the room and closed his eye for a moment. "The situation has radically changed, if you wish to renegotiate or rescind your deal I understand."
"No..." Minister Kōno stated flatly. "We have been too dependent on the Americans for our Defense, with the equipment you can provide this country, and perhaps even personnel of your own we will no longer need them." He tapped the secretary's button on the phone. "Call a press conference."
"What will you tell them?" Borda asked.
Minister Kōno smiled coolly. "The truth, that the United States government attempted to kidnap a Japanese citizen, the daughter of a High Commissioner in the United Nations, and that a private security firm which had offered protection fought them off. As to why they attacked, we'll leave that up to the media to figure out."
Borda nodded. "And your response?"
"We will demand the removal of all American Forces from our borders, and the expatriation of all Mithril Personnel captured by their government." Minister Kōno said simply, his smile growing wider and more predatory at that moment. "The second element will be secret, you understand?"
"Of course." Jerome Borda stated. "Though I doubt it will stay that way indefinitely."
He tapped the phone again. "Put Secretary Albright through."
28 March 2000, 20:58 hrs.
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
White House Situation Room
Madeleine Albright was pale as she listened to the Minister of Japan state quite calmly his demands in response to the attack. Across from her, she saw President Clinton watching. The rest of the Generals and other administrative figures held their breath.
Slowly she sat the phone down and swallowed. "Minister Kōno will be hosting a news conference shortly. He's... demanded the removal of all American Forces from Japan—"
Her words were stopped by shocked exclamations from the group and nervous muttering.
She took a deep breath and continued. "…And said he will be telling the media that it was an American team of Delta Force Operatives behind the attack."
There were gasps from the assembled Generals and Diplomats, and President Clinton looked down at the tabletop.
"He will suggest that the motive for the attack was that the owner of the apartment is the daughter of a United Nations High Councilor, from the way he spoke I gather that he knew of the true motive for the assault." Secretary Albright said quietly.
"In addition, they will demand the expatriation of all Mithril Personnel held by the United States." Madeline swallowed as shouts began to fill the room.
Generals that had watched the battle in Alaska looked livid while others looked pale.
"Mr. President?" She asked quietly.
"Have all captured Mithril Personnel prepared for flight to Tokyo International." He said. His voice was just as quiet. "After their news conference I will speak to the nation, and explain that this was an operation spearheaded by General Gordon and Sandy Berger. Hopefully that will satisfy the public's demand for blood. We'll also quietly remove the warrant for Admiral Borda's arrest, as I'm sure he is now in Tokyo."
"Yes Mr. President." Madeline Albright said.
"You're just going to give them up?" One of the General's asked.
The President shut his eyes and nodded. "We gambled and lost, not its time to pay the other player."
29 March 2000, 11:10 hrs
Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Conference Room, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs Kōno Yōhei took a deep breath as he laid the rather simple speech he'd outlined in the few moments before the conference. Behind him stood other Ministers, members of the Defense Forces, and a white Caucasian man clad in a simple suit of navy blue and white.
"Good Morning." Kono said as he flipped open the binder and took a deep breath. "At approximately nine-fifty-five this morning, a team of American Special Forces from the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, a group more commonly known as Delta Force, launched an attack aimed at the abduction of Miss Chidori Kaname of Chofu. This is the second time foreign nationals have made a concerted effort at abducting Miss Chidori, but the first time that a nation that Japan thought a friend launched such an effort."
He coughed and glanced at Jerome Borda, knowing that none of the local reporters recognized him. "In the days preceding this attack, we had been warned by Admiral Jerome Borda, formerly of Mithril that Miss Chidori was being targeted and hired a private security company to ensure her safety. This team succeeded in defending Miss Chidori and that she was unharmed in the conflict. One of her bodyguards however is in critical condition and another was wounded."
"As thanks to his efforts, we have formally offered Admiral Jerome Borda asylum, and he has accepted." Prime Minister Kōno nodded to Borda who smirked faintly back.
"The actions of the United States have made it clear that they no longer represent a friend of Japan. In response to these aggressive acts, we will no longer allow the United States access to our territories, bases, or infrastructure. All American Military units have one week to remove themselves from our nation. If they are not withdrawn, they will be forcibly removed."
Kōno stared at the cameras and took a deep breath. "It is with great sadness that we take these actions, as America has long been a symbol for democracy and freedom. We have long had a partnership, but we can no longer maintain it in the face of such a shocking betrayal. Thank you for your time." He closed the folder and took a deep breath as the storm of questions began.
29 March 2000, 11:33 hrs
Chofu, Suburbs of Tokyo, Japan
Parking Lot, Mansion K Apartments
Kaname watched as the ambulance drove away with Sousuke in the back, the boy had griped and complained about being forced to go for stitches from the wound. Wraith's ambulance was long gone. Kaname let out a tired sighed as Kurz and Melissa wandered over to her. Tessa and Sara were off to the side talking quietly.
"Kaname, how are you feeling?" Melissa asked quietly.
Kaname closed her eyes and took a calming breath. "I... I will be alright given some time." She glanced up at the utter destruction that had been wrought on her apartment and closed her eyes. She'd seen the police carrying out the dead and loading them on an ambulance.
She shuddered before stumbling toward the door to the apartments. "I need to get some of my things." She said quietly and Kurz nodded.
"Wait, we'll come with you." Melissa said. "With us working together we can get this done faster."
Kaname nodded and closed her eyes. "We'll need to gather some of Sousuke's things as well." She took a deep breath before her phone rang and she pulled it out. A slight smile played across her lips as she flipped it open. "Tokiwa?"
"Kana! Are you okay? I just saw it on the news and wanted to make sure and..."
Kaname swallowed. "I am fine, Sousuke needs stitches and... umm... Wraith is in the hospital."
"Wraith? She's hurt?" Kyoko said. "Will she be alright?"
"I... I don't know." Kaname said quietly as she walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. "She was in bad shape Ky."
"I... can you tell me where she's being held, I... I owe her." Kyoko said quietly.
"I will when I find out, okay? Sousuke's there to, getting stitched up." Kaname said as she walked over to where her door had once been. The Delta Force Operatives had blown the door in, and Sousuke had blown them up once they scrambled inside, utterly demolishing the doorway. She stepped over the blasted door and bent down over the collection of shoes before shaking her head.
They'd all been torn apart in the explosion. Some of them even were blackened from flames. She closed her eyes and stepped past. "Ky... I, I'll call you back, okay?"
"Kay..." Then the call ended with a click.
Kaname put away the phone and stepped over the blood stained floor as the two Mithril Operatives followed her. Kurz let out a low whistle as he saw the damage around the door. "Sousuke really went all out."
"Shh... Kaname, do you still have a panic bag?" Melissa asked.
"Yes." She said as she stepped over to the closet and pushed open the door. It fell out of its frame with a thump and she sighed. "Sousuke... did you have to totally destroy my apartment?"
"You know, he did it to protect you." Melissa said quietly as she batted away a loose ceiling panel and stepped into the living room.
Kaname pulled her panic bag from closet and swung it over her shoulder before turning to Melissa. The veteran operative stared down at the shattered glass by the window and Kaname saw a dozen spent cartridges on the floor, some of them for the American rifles, others from the two Glock pistols they'd had.
An empty magazine sat where Kaname had stood, firing at the attackers in panic and rage. She stepped over to it and picked it up, then looked to the Glock 26 sitting on the floor just a few feet away. Kaname picked it up and slid the empty magazine into the Glock 26 before slipping the pistol into her pocket.
"Kaname?" Melissa asked quietly as she saw the pistol slip into a pocket.
"Sousuke will want it back... there's ammunition somewhere, I'm not sure where. He'll want that too." Kaname said as she walked over to the door to her room and pushed it open. She let out a sigh of relief, as nothing seemed to have been damaged beside the windows and one wall from a whirling rotor blade. She walked over to the dresser and pulled a small duffel bag out from underneath it.
Kurz opened a drawer and whistled behind her.
"Kurz, you better not be eyeing my underwear!" Kaname snapped and she smiled faintly as the drawer slammed shut. "Why don't you find Sousuke's things? Some of them are out in the living area."
"Right." Kurz said as he hustled away leaving Melissa and Kaname alone in the room.
Melissa chuckled quietly. "Good job."
"His antics are the last thing I need to deal with right now." Kaname grumbled as she pulled out some more clothes and stuffed the duffel bag. After a few minutes, she found a second duffel and started to fill it as Melissa found a third and set to work. Some of Sousuke's clothes had managed to work their way into one of her closets and she packed them away for him without a word.
Soon they had four duffel bags full of clothes and Melissa hefted two of them over her shoulder. They walked back into the living area and Kaname tossed one of the bags to Kurz who had found and packed Sousuke's rucksack. A few minutes later, they were making their way back down the stairs and out to the car which had brought them.
"Melissa... Where are we going to stay?" She asked quietly.
Melissa tossed a duffel in the back of the car and sighed. "I reserved the rooms around ours just in case something happened." She pulled out a set of keycards and handed them to Kaname. "Room 334."
"Thank you." Kaname said quietly.
28 March 2000, 18:30 hrs
Elmendorf Air Base, State of Alaska, United States
Base Cafeteria, near on base Civilian Quarters
Christian Amanpour stared at the television screen and furrowed her brow in thought. Around her the rest of the news team that CNN had sent to Alaska just days earlier had gathered, many of them scanning laptops or watching the television like she was.
It was showing CNN and she saw Wolf Blitzer talking with Lou Dobbs. "What are your thoughs Lou?"
"You know... what the Japanese Minister said this afternoon, and I have to wonder if they're shooting themselves in the foot. Japan is in a strategically precarious position with North Korea and China to their immediate west, and Russia to their north. They have ongoing border disputes over the Kuril Islands with Russia as well. The A21 and Jindai High School incidents show that they really don't have the military capacity to defeat a high technology foe like the Russians." Lou Dobbs tapped the top of his desk with a pen. "Not without us anyway?"
"Can you blame them?" John King cut in immediately. "American Special Forces launch an apparent operation whose goal was the abduction of a Japanese Teen, even if she wasn't the daughter of a UN High Commissioner, they'd want us out for this."
"I suppose not, but I have to ask... why? Why did Sandy Berger and General Gordon apparently approve this operation? What did we see to gain from abducting this girl?" Lou Dobbs asked. "Isn't this the same girl that was abducted by terrorists in the Jindai High Incident?"
Christian Amanpour folded her hands after a moment and swallowed. Jindai High School, Mithril, A21, the Gulfstream IV that had escaped, and now an abduction attempt by the girl that had been targeted by the organization known as Amalgam. Something was up, something big and she couldn't help but feel that she was missing one single important piece of the picture. "Contact Atlanta..."
Her producer looked up from a bit of footage that he'd been working on from the interviewed Mithril soldiers and arched an eyebrow. "Christian?"
"I just realized something." She said and stopped when one of the photographers looked out the window and gasped.
She spun and stared, her eyes widening as she saw lines of people being lead from the barracks under guard and recognized them as the Mithril Personnel that they'd been interviewing.
"What's going on?" The photographer asked.
Christian turned back toward the television screen. "What was it that the Japanese Minister demanded... the American Military's withdrawal from Japan?"
Her producer nodded.
"Who would they replace them with?" She asked.
Slowly he lowered his fork to the plate and stared at her. "You mean... them?"
28 March 2000, 20:15 hrs
Elmendorf Air Base, State of Alaska, United States
Tarmac near the Improvised Prisoner Area
Lt. Colonel Tod D. Wolters stood at the top of his Humvee, watching the Mithril prisoners shuffle toward the gapping maw of the C-17 Globemaster that was parked at the end of the tarmac. Glancing through the group, he caught sight of the two troopers that had held him until the surrender and saw that they'd been given their weapons back.
"What's going on Colonel?" His driver asked from behind the wheel. "The MPs are giving them their gear back!"
"I don't know..." Colonel Wolters said before hopping off and walking toward the C-17. As he walked, he listened to the eclectic collection of voices and accents that came from the group. When he got to the side of the Globemaster he found the crew chief waving the prisoners aboard and pointing them toward benches. "Chief? What's going on?"
"Orders from Washington... The Mithril people are being expatriated to Japan." He said as he waved his hand and a woman clad in the blacks of the Special Response Team uniform stumbled to a stop.
"Japan? Why?" She asked in a strange accent.
The Chief shrugged. "No idea, we're just taking you lot to Tokyo International, apparently there'll be somebody waiting for you."
29 March 2000, 15:58 hrs
Chofu, Suburbs of Tokyo, Japan
Hotel Lobby, Kawasaki Green Plaza Hotel
Teletha Tesstarossa let out a sigh of relief as the familiar voice of Jerome Borda spoke through the speaker of her cell phone. Across from her, Sarah Miller sat with Al's casing clutched to her face. A nervous shudder ran down the girl's spine as she sat back and closed her eyes.
"Tessa, it's good to hear that you are alright, the information the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had was rather fragmented." Jerome Borda said quietly.
Tessa let out a sigh. "I have not looked at the news. I assume things have been quite busy on that front?"
"Yes, very busy... Yesterday Minister Kōno approved of the plan to support Sword and Shield, now he's given the United States an ultimatum. The public portion includes the immediate withdrawal of all American Forces from Japan." Jerome said. "I believe it's going to send the Pentagon into a panic planning that move."
Tessa smiled faintly at that. "You said the public portion?"
"Minister Kōno has demanded the expatriation of all Mithril Forces to Japan. I want you to find a place for them to stay." Jerome Borda said. "We've been told that the Americans are following through with that as well and that a number of C-17s with our people are on the way to Haneda."
Tessa's eyes widened. "Admiral, do... where?"
"A hotel will do for now... I believe I have sufficient funds remaining in my account, at least to put them up for a month or two." Borda's voice turned tired. "Tessa, I am growing to old for this... and to properly accomplish the mission I think a Whispered should head the organization."
Tessa's eyes were the size of saucers as she nearly dropped the phone. "Uncle Jerry?"
"I want you to lead Sword and Shield Tessa... My presentation to the people here revealed some of the technologies we've developed. I'd suggest partnering with some Japanese based firms, Mitsubishi, Honda, Tokyo U, and the SDF. Lend out people as trainers for a fee, sell design schematics, do whatever it takes to get this organization going. I'll help you, but I think it really should be your show from now on." Borda said. "Think of me as your liaison with the Japanese government for now."
"Yes Uncle... I'll get right on that. Could you ask the JSDF to provide buses or trucks to get our people from Haneda to here..." Tessa said as she stood and pulled out the account information for the Jerome Borda. "I am at the Kawasaki Green Plaza Hotel just across the river from Miss Chidori's residence."
"Good, I'll see about the transport." Borda said.
The phone call ended and Sarah glanced up at her. "Tessa, what was that about?"
"Uncle Jerry wants me to lead Sword and Shield and rent out a hotel for our people." Tessa said.
"Our people?" Sarah looked confused.
Tessa smiled at her. "The Americans are flying over the people they captured in Alaska, since the Japanese Government demanded it... you know, what they did could be seen as an act of war."
"They're sending them?" Sarah suddenly leapt up and pulled Tessa into a hug. "That's great!"
"Please, be careful of my casing." Al said from between the two girls.
Tessa snickered. "I'll see about hiring this place."
She walked over to the counter and stared at the Hotel Manager, an amused smile playing across her lips as she leaned over the counter and said in Japanese. "I am afraid I must reserve the hotel for the next few weeks."
"A room correct?" The Manager said.
"No... The entire hotel," Tessa said as she looked at the man. "We're willing to pay you for the inconvenience."
The manager stared wide eyed at her before stuttering. "The… whole hotel?"
Tessa nodded and grinned at him.
29 March 2000, 16:05 hrs
Chofu, Suburbs of Tokyo, Japan
Room 334, Kawasaki Green Plaza Hotel
Kaname Chidori stood in the Hotel Room and dropped one of her duffel bags onto the counter that ran along one wall. Then she stumbled into the bathroom and dropped the second bag within. A moment later, Mao set the other two bags and Sousuke's rucksack in the room.
"Kaname?" Melissa asked as she caught sight of her staring into the mirror.
"Hmm?" She turned back toward Melissa. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking I need a shower..."
Melissa smiled faintly. "I know... Listen, Kurz and I are right next door, and Tessa and Sarah are in the room across the hall if you need anything. I've got directions for a restaurant nearby as well."
Kaname nodded. "Any word on Wraith?"
Melissa shook her head. "The moment I hear anything, I'll tell you."
"Thank you." Kaname said. "I'll be taking that shower."
"SHOWER?" Kurz called from just outside the door and Kaname rolled her eyes while Melissa pushed the horny German out the door. When it clicked shut and she heard it lock, Kaname let out a sigh of relief.
She slipped out of her dirty and tattered clothes, and stared into the mirror. With a scowl she reached up and brushed out a cloud of drywall dust from her hair and growled. She slowly looked over herself and saw for the first time the dozens of small scratches that marked where tiny bits of debris had pierced her clothes.
Kaname groaned as she looked down at her belly and saw that she still hadn't put on the weight she'd lost in Amalgam's care. Each of her ribs was still visible, and while her figure looked toned and thin, it wasn't as fleshed out and healthy as it had once been.
"Amalgam... the Soviets... the Americans." She grumbled as she stumbled into the shower and slid the curtain into place. "Why can't people leave me alone?"
Kaname stood beneath the showerhead and relaxed for the first time since her relatively peaceful morning had been shattered as the hot spray slammed against her back. She felt her muscles shudder as the tension which had been in them finally faded away. She'd been so busy and worried that she hadn't noticed until that moment how taut and stressed she felt.
Tears slid down her cheeks, hidden by the spray of the shower but she knew they were there. Sousuke was hurt, and while he acted as if it was nothing... he hadn't called since leaving for the hospital.
"Baka... he's probably just enjoying the pampering of the nurses." She snapped to herself then shut her eyes. "No... He wouldn't, Kurz would, but not him..."
Her mind slowly replayed the events of the morning, the assault by the American Delta Force Team. She watched in her mind's eye as Wraith was loaded into the ambulance, her leg bloody and mangled with the crazed policewoman, Wakana, dictating a report by the side of the ambulance.
The conversation with her father, the exhausting talk that had shocked and delighted her while Sousuke sat on the Ambulance listening. Then she sighed.
"Sousuke... what am I going to do with you?" Her face slowly brightened as she remembered the night before and how the stoic sergeant had cuddled her in his sleep. She could feel his affections for her, sense it in his actions, but... it was always a bit hidden, a bit reserved.
Any other boy would have taken advantage of their situation long ago... but not Sousuke, and she blushed as she realized she looked forward to when he'd finally take her. She giggled faintly as she thought about how clumsy and difficult it was for him to express himself to her.
Her father's likely disapproval was certainly something that had weighed down on her, checking her own desires... now that she had confessed her actions to him and retained his good graces, those restraints had slipped off.
Kaname flushed as her imagination ran a little wild on what it would mean for her... She loved him, even slept with him, cuddling him like a little Bonta-kun during the night, and she knew it wasn't just her that was comforted in the middle of the night. He would often wake with a jolt from a nightmare and hug her tightly without saying a word.
She sighed and asked herself. "Kaname... what are you thinking?"
I want him... She admitted and chewed her lip. I... well, it does beg the question, what will it take to get Sousuke to... to... Her already inflamed cheeks burned brightly as she completed the thought.
What will it take for Sousuke to make love to me?
She shut off the shower as it began to run cold and swallowed. As she dried off she pondered her situation.
How many girls had to push their boyfriends into having sex? She thought with a bit of a laugh and felt a slight surge of despair. Why did it take her pushing for it to happen? Wasn't she attractive enough for him?
She walked over to the bag and pulled on some fresh clothes as a light knock on the door drew her attention.
"Yes?" Kaname called.
Mao's voice answered her. "We're going out for supper with Tessa and Sarah, I wondered if you wanted to come along."
Kaname smiled. "I'll be right there Melissa."
29 March 2000, 19:03 hrs
Chofu, Suburbs of Tokyo, Japan
Nippon Medical School Musashi Kosugi Hospital
Sagara Sousuke sat outside the surgery, his gaze flicking to the small bandage that now covered the graze that had been sown shut. He'd been discharged within an hour of arriving, but had stayed around... calling Kaname every few hours to ensure she was alright with the others.
He stayed there because through the doors lay the one woman in Kaname Chidori's protection detail that had been grievously harmed by the fight with the Americans. It'd taken a great deal of persistence, but he'd managed to convince the doctors and nurses to inform him of her progress.
Wraith had been admitted with severe blood loss and four separate bullet wounds, three of which were from a 7.62x51mm Minigun that had caught her leg. Those three rounds had broken bone, torn tendons, ripped apart muscle fiber, and nearly made the woman bleed out atop the roof, and still she'd fought on, delivering two fatal shots against the pilot and co-pilot of the vary helicopter that had so grievously injured her.
He'd brushed her off as just a spy since he'd first been informed of the Intelligence Department's lookout, but now realized the woman was just as much a fighter as he was, just of a different sort.
It had been eight hours since they'd started surgery, and Sousuke felt his hope in the woman's recovery fade by the moment. He knew her wounds were potentially fatal, and that on a battlefield like Afghanistan she'd have died of her wounds already as there was nothing that the locals could do.
The door clicked open and the surgeon stepped out and let out a tired sigh. "Mr. Sagara?"
Sousuke glanced up at the man. "Sir."
"Miss Wraith is stable, we've managed to remove a number of shattered bone fragments from her leg, seal the ruptured veins and arteries, sew a number of tendons back into place, and give her a transfusion. I think that she'll be able to regain nearly full use of her legs eventually, though that will be a long rehabilitation... The wound to her arm from the graze was inconsequential."
Sousuke blinked at his words before swallowing. "She is stable then, and you believe she'll recover?"
"Yes Mr. Sagara, she will recover... I suspect it will be several days before she will entertain visitors though." The doctor walked away leaving Sousuke leaning against the wall.
"I suppose this means I should offer you a ride back to the hotel." A familiar voice called out from just around the corner. Sousuke turned and stared as Farzen Zalad leaned against a post, his courier bag hanging off one shoulder. "I think your Angel is getting nervous without you." He observed.
Sousuke swallowed. "I... I wished to thank her."
Farzen nodded. "She will not be awake to hear your thanks for several days though Kashim."
"It's not a problem."
"Kashim..." Farzen sighed and looked down at Sousuke. "You really need to go back to your woman. She is likely worried about you as are your friends. You should tell them that Wraith will survive."
Sousuke nodded. "You are right, when did you become so wise Farzen?"
"It must rub off from being around your father." Farzen said. "Come on Sousuke, I've borrowed a ride and we can get you to wherever your woman is."
Sosuke stumbled. "Majhid... I had forgotten with all the other things that had happened over the last few days. He truly wants to see me?"
"Yes, he does." Farzen turned to him. "He... when the woman we captured informed us you were supposed to be dead... well, I am glad your father did not believe her immediately. I do not think he would have handled it well."
"And... he wishes to meet Kaname." Sousuke let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. He pursed his lips in thought. "I will have to speak with her, but this would be a better time than most as there are yet a few weeks before school begins."
"You'll come?" Farzen asked in surprise.
"After making my own arrangements to insure her safety, I will come." Sousuke said quietly. "Nothing matters more to me than that."