Full Metal Panic Fan Fiction ❯ Christmas Panic ❯ chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: Do not own Full Metal Panic or any of its characters. Please keep this in mind for all of the chapters in this story. Thanks!


“Wake up Kaname....ERRAH.....Wake up Kaname....ERRAH..... You're Gonna be late!”
The alarm clock sounded loudly in the small apartment. An arm reached out in confusion and began beating the desk beside the alarm clock. Finally it found its objective and with one whack to the chicken's head, shut the alarm off.

A very sleepy girl dragged off the covers and managed to upright herself to a sitting position. She reached her arms high above her head and stretched her lethargic muscles. Standing slowly she bounced between the walls, as she trudged her tired body towards the shower.

Warm water slowly massaged her senses, bringing about at first a minor awareness, then gradually a full state of alertness. It was thankfully the last day classes until after the holiday season. After today, she could skip the alarm and spend a full morning sleeping. It had helped that she had been able to pick her work schedule for the next two weeks, and luckily for the first week, she had managed the late afternoon/evening shift. The last week she did mornings. That meant she only had one week to suffer the lonely nights that this Christmas season would give her.

Normally, she spent Christmas with her father and sister in America. This year she would be spending it alone. Her father was going to be tied up with meetings at UN headquarters because of the latest incident in Afghanistan. Her sister was spending the holidays with her boyfriend's family in the Rockies. Kaname had opted to stay in Japan and at least be close with her friends. The only days she would be alone would be Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the following day after. Kyoko's family was going to spend those days with their extended family in Kyoto. Despite her friends pleading she had refused the invitation to join them. It just didn't seem right to her. Christmas is a time for family. She had already planned on spending it at home with the memory of her late mother. She was going to cook her own Christmas dinner and spend the day watching the old black and white Christmas movies that her mother and her had enjoyed. Sure, it sounded really sad, but with every crazy event that had happened to her in the last year, it was actually going to be relaxing for her. No guns, no terrorist, and definitely no bombs!

Speaking of bombs, Sousuke would probably start interrogating everyone in front of her building if she didn't hurry up and finish getting ready for school. She sighed loudly as she turned the water off and stepped out into the cool air of the bathroom. Putting on her bathrobe, she wrapped her hair in a towel and proceeded back to her bedroom. She busied herself with getting dressed, then trying to get a comb through all the knots in her long hair. Satisfied that the knots where out, she secured the bottom with a single red ribbon. After double checking her book bag, she exited her apartment and made sure to lock it.
A quick elevator ride to the lobby of the building found her hurring through the doors to the crisp air outside.


“Kaname.” Sousuke nodded his head in greeting. He'd grown accustomed to her morning ritual. He'd even grown accustomed to her lack of greetings in the early morning. His objective was most definitely not a morning person. In fact she suffered from low blood pressure in the mornings. It sometimes took the whole walk to school before she fully came to her senses. He was content just to walk with her in silence.

They exited the train and made their way from the station towards the high school they attended.

“Morning Kaname!” An eager Kyoko waved to her still sleepy friend. She hurried over to join the odd pair who she called friends. She stopped the just short of them to aim her little pink digital at them, catching Kaname in a large yawn.

“Why are you so happy this morning?” Kaname glared at her, not to thrilled at being target of Kyoko's strange addiction.

“Well Kaname, it's the last day of school before Christmas. Isn't that exciting.” Kyoko used her matter of fact voice. She liked to point out the obvious to her friend, mainly because she found Kaname's reaction fairly amusing.

“No duh stupid! I still don't think it warrants such happy reactions this early in the morning.” Kaname tried to stifle another yawn before the headed to their first class.

The morning had went very routinely for the students of Jindhai high. It was lunch time before the trio was able to socialize again.

“Are you sure Kaname. My family would still love you to come with us to Kyoto. It wouldn't be a problem. Really!” Kyoko urged her friend.

“It's okay Kyoko, I'll be fine, plus I really have already made plans. Don't worry about it.” She laughed nervously.

Kyoko new that laugh all to well. Kaname was hiding her true feelings. She always used that crazy laugh to try and cover them up. She stared at her friend, her eyebrows twitching into a worried frown. “I wonder what her plans are? She won't tell me? I wonder if Sousuke knows? Then again, he's so dense when it comes to girls that he probably has gotten the wrong idea again.”

Kyoko was right about one thing, Sousuke had noticed something off with Kaname, but he had headed in the wrong direction with it again. In fact, late that afternoon found Sousuke interrogating two members of the chess team.

“So, you are saying that you have not been terrorizing miss Chidori in any fashion. I have a hard time believing that with all of the strategizing you two do in the classroom.” Sousuke had the two timid chess players tied in two separate bathroom stalls. The pair were sweating nervously and denying all accusations.

“Honestly, we haven't done anything to Kaname! Where just chess players!” The short, chubby player exclaimed.

Down the Hallway, not far from the boys washroom............

“Ah Kaname?” The timid Kyoko inquired “Have you seen Sousuke? He was absent during our last class.

“Was he?”

“Jeez, I must be slipping, normally I would notice that......hmmmm I must have too much on my mind.” Kaname thought. As they continued down the hall she noticed that the boys bathroom had been taped off and a long line of students where waiting to get in. It was then she noticed the voices coming from inside of the washroom.

Sousuke was just readying to use scare tactics on the two hostages. He slowly pulled one of his pistols from the inside his backpack. He took at this time at the boy with glasses.

“I'll ask you one more time...”

Crack!
“Sousuke you idiot what do you think your doing” Kaname shouted as she lined up her paper fan once more.

Crack!

“Ouch Kaname, that hurt.” Sousuke was mindful of thump throbbing on the top of his head.

“Well, no duh! Let these two go at once!”

“But Kaname, I was just about too....”

Crack!

“It's not a problem” He muttered as he set to work on loosening the bonds he had used to restrict the suspicious boys.

“Aaagghhh! Somedays, that damn Sagara really gets to me!” Kaname huffed as she vented her anger to her best friend.


“Oh, I don't know, Kaname. You always seem to be having fun when Sousuke's around.” Kyoko loved watching the two of them fight. It was always highly entertaining. She had even just manged to get some great photos of Kaname's fan connecting with Sousuke's head.

“Yeah, some fun always trying to clean up his mess! He's always tying someone up, or bringing his damn guns to school, or worse yet, blowing up his locker and half the bloody room with it!” Her faced was etched into a very unattractive scowl at the last thought.

“Oh well, I won't have to worry about those things for a whole two weeks! Today took forever. I'm so glad that the day is finally done.” Kaname was finally cooling off and that beautiful smile was slowly returning.


The pair had just entered the cool crisp air outside when a voice reached them from a distance.

“Miss Kaname........Miss Kaname, wait a minute!”

Turning, the pair were surprised to see Tsubaki running full tilt towards them. The leading member of the schools martial arts group, had taken to having some great affections for Kaname Chidori after saving her and Kyoko from street thugs.

Kaname smiled and waved at her friend. He had taken to wearing contacts after to many botched fights with Sousuke because of his failure to wear glasses. Although, since getting the glasses, she had managed to keep the two from scrapping. They just seemed bent on trying to prove something to each other. Kaname had no idea just what that was and she was pretty sure that they didn't know either.

“ Oh! Hi Tsubaki. Glad schools out for awhile?” Kaname inquired as an out of breath Tsubaki finally reached her.

Sousuke had finally finished cleaning up his mess in the bathroom and was proceeding out into the school yard. As he made his first step outside he noticed his beautiful Kaname talking to that annoying martial arts brat. Deciding to make something of it, he marched over towards the two only to be slowed up by Shinji.

“Hey Sousuke, what do you have planned for Christmas vacation?” Shinji asked.

“Ummm nothing.” the soldier replied. His eyes still on the man who currently was speaking to miss Chidori. The man who was standing far to close to her.

“What do you mean nothing? Don't you have plans to spend it with family and friends?” Shinji again inquired.

“Negative.” Sousuke was still fixed on the couple at the end of the school yard.

“What is he trying to pull this time? What does he have in his hand? It looks like a gift, why would he be giving something to Kaname? Did I miss something?” Sousuke thought trying to remember if Kaname had told him anything in the past week that would warrant such actions.

“Gee Sousuke, you look a little nervous.” It was then that Shinji noticed what was occupying Sgt. Sagara.

“Ooohhh I get it. Jealous are we?” Shinji smiled as he teased the now red faced Sagara.

“Negative. What are you referring too?” Sagara stated trying to cover his embarrassment.

“Oh come on Sousuke, it's pretty obvious. You always get uptight whenever Tsubaki is around Kaname. I mean it's not secret that Tsubaki is crazy about Kaname, I mean after the biohazard scare at the school, he basically declared it to the whole world.” Shinji continued as they began walking towards the pair at the other end of the school yard.

Kaname grinned wickedly as she accepted the prettily wrapped present from the boy with beautiful eyes. “For me Tsubaki, you shouldn't have.”

“Merry Christmas Miss Chidori!” Tsubaki announced proudly. He was glad that he had beat Sousuke to the punch. Although he wouldn't have been surprised if the war nut hadn't even bought anything for Chidori. He knew that the odd ball Sagara was a complete idiot when it came to girls. That's why he was so surprised that Kaname even hung around the guy. Although, it was like she had a choice. Sagara had made it his life mission to cling to the poor girl. It infuriated him so.

Kaname gasped as she opened the box. Inside was a beautiful pair of ruby earrings. “Oh Tsubaki....they're beautiful!” she exclaimed.

Sousuke was now close enough to her Kaname and was a little surprised at her words.

“Jewelery? He got her jewelery? Dammit, why is he giving her gifts?” Sousuke was looking very nervous as he stopped at the pair.

“Hey Sousuke, You wanna finish this today!” Tsubaki tried to anger the other man.

“Affirmative!”

“But Sousuke, shouldn't we get going? It's starting to snow!” Kaname tried to prevent the tension from escalating.

“Don't worry Kaname.....It's not a problem.