Full Metal Panic Fan Fiction ❯ Resolution ❯ When you think it can't get worse... ( Chapter 4 )

Resolution

 

I don't own Full Metal Panic or any of its characters.

 

Signs and symbols:

 

“Speech”

 

“Thoughts”

 

SOUNDS/YELLING

 

Scene change

 

 

Chapter 4: When you think it can't get worse...

 

Rain was falling from the cloudy sky, in the darkness of the night. But the city of Tokyo was only lightly affected by it, and was busy like at any other time of the year.

 

At the base of an apartment a suspicious character was sneaking around, wearing a black ninja outfit, and a mask. However, his eyes still gave it away that he's a mere schoolboy, and not some pro burglar. The kid carefully sneaked to the gutter, on the side of the building, and started to climb up on the metal pipe. He was careful not to make much noise. Even if the place he targeted was empty, his current act was still quite illegal.

 

He finally reached his destination, and climbed onto the balcony of one of the apartments. The boy moved carefully to the door, and started to unlock it. “Come on Shinji you can do it!” he repeated over, and over like a mantra, trying to convince himself that this is the right thing to do. “You have to know what's going on,” he added from time to time.

 

He wasn't really successful in picking the lock; actually, he didn't even have the slightest idea how to open the door without the key that belonged to it. It's only natural that he was more than surprised when the lock finally budged, giving he free access to the interior. He opened the door and stepped inside.

 

His nostrils were immediately assaulted by the strong scent of gunpowder and metal. The room was completely dark, so the boy couldn't see any of the danger's he was facing. His next move was also a huge mistake. He started to search for a switch, to turn the lights on. What he didn't know was that there were two other figures in the room, both wore night vision goggles, and had guns in their hands.

 

While the boy was busy, the stronger built of the two other figures moved closer to him. He leaned really close to the boy, till they were almost touching. “Boo!”

 

Shinji let out a huge shriek, what was threatening to shatter the windows. He backed away from the person that touched him, but his path was blocked by a table. The boy stumbled in it, her fell over, and landed on the floor with a heavy thud. He continued to back away on all fours, not noticing that a piece of paper got stuck in his belt. Then he felt a second human touching him. Panic is a bad word to describe how scared the boy became.

 

“Please don't hurt me!” he screamed, while running for the balcony, he stumbled quite a few times till he reached his destination. After thins, he practically jumped down from the fourth level of the house. Luckily for him, he could use the gutter again. This time, to slow his fall on his way down. Once the boy reached the ground, he would have relaxed if it weren't for the grenades that he saw landing around him. After the first explosion, he ran for it, screaming something about dangerous weapons.

 

What he didn't notice was that those grenades were only flash-bangs.

 

“That should teach him,” remarked Melissa, watching Shinji, as he made a run for it.

 

“Mao, now that we are alone...” the sentence was not continued, because a fist took over the space that was occupied by a certain sniper's head. “Ok, ok, ok. Come on, can't you take a joke!” he whined.

 

“I thought Kaname and Sousuke left for New York,” thought Shinji, while making his way to Kaname's place. When he reached the building, he once again started to climb upwards. “Since Kaname is at Sousuke's, I can look around at her house. I have to find out the truth about her and Sousuke! And then, I can stop them from doing something that they will regret later. They're my friends after all!” declared his determined mind.

 

Finally, after half an hour of climbing, Shinji reached the terrace of Kaname's housing. But, before he could start working on the lock, he was stopped by a robotic voice. “Warning! You entered a restricted area! Prepare to be terminated!” it declared flatly, the next second, several robotic guns came out of their hiding spots. Shinji didn't even have enough time to scream. The weapons opened fire, and once again the boy had to jump. This time, it was the huge bush below Kaname's home that saved his life. It also tore some vital parts off the piece of paper that was still stuck to him.

 

Shinji didn't wait for any further attacks he immediately jumped up, and ran for it, screaming something, about dangerous, and illegal anti-burglar systems.

 

Same place half an hour later

 

Chidori Shunya finally reached the apartment of his treasured daughter; even if they didn't have the best of relationship, he wanted nothing more than to know that she's safe. He still loved Kaname the same way as he felt for his younger child, who was standing right next to him. The middle-aged man took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he'll have to tell Kaname, he placed his key to the apartment into the lock.

 

He was happy because of his decision not to tell her that he had a key to her apartment, since this granted him access to her place at any time. He was sure, if Kaname knew she would have changed the lock immediately. So, he decided that it's for the best, to keep quiet about it.

 

He soon had the door open. When he and Ayame stepped into the apartment, everything was dark. Shunya wasn't surprised at this, and believed that Kaname is asleep. Then he heard a robotic voice. “Warning! You entered a restricted area! Prepare to be terminated!” the next second, the lights in the room came to life, and the two Chidoris faced about a dozen of robotic guns, all pointing at them.

 

“Kaname this isn't funny at all,” remarked the father. His answer came in the form of gunshots, and both he, and his daughter, were soon forced to flee the room. “This is impossible!” thought Shunya while trying to calm down his younger daughter, who was shaking from fear. He was barely able to keep from doing the same. “Can it be that they already captured my darling little Kaname?”

 

The now panicking father desperately dialled his daughter's number to contact her.

 

Several hundred miles away, Kaname and Sousuke were sitting on their plane ride to New York. The girl's phone started to ring. She searched her bags for it, but once she found it, the phone started to play another tune. “Oh great! Fine time for the battery to run dry.” grumbled the girl while placing the now inactive telephone back into her bag.

 

“Don't worry Kaname. It was probably only Kyouko,” remarked Sousuke. “You can call her back once you refilled it.”

 

“You're right Sousuke. But I wonder why she wanted to call me in the middle of the night, Kyouko loves to sleep!”

 

“It can't be too bad. Mao would have informed me,” reassured Sousuke. “I suggest that you take some rest,” Kaname nodded to this, and stretched before snuggling into her seat, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep.

 

At the same time Shunya Chidori was in the agony of agonies not getting why Kaname didn't pick up. He continued to repeat, calling his daughter's phone over, and over again, but every time he got the same old speech. “Sorry, but this number is temporally unavailable, please repeat your call later.”

 

Unknown to him, Kaname was completely safe. The flight to New York passed without any incident, the Mithril private jet prepared to land, the crewmen returned to their posts leaving Sousuke and Kaname alone in the passenger's area.

 

Both of them were nervous. Kaname was afraid that she and Sousuke run into her father, and the two start to fight.

 

It doesn't need to be said that the war veteran boy would of course use his more dangerous arms, she didn't want that, especially in a well populated city. Sousuke was more concerned because the two of them will have to enter UN buildings, several times, and he wouldn't be able to decide who the enemy is, until those moved, and well. One word: Shootout.

 

However, Sousuke had another reasons to be uneasy. “Kaname.”

 

“Hm...” answered the girl, looking at him after buckling her safety belt.

 

“Here,” he answered, pulling out a small package from his bag, handing it to her. Kaname looked at Sousuke warily knowing what kinds of presents he always gave away. It wouldn't be a too big wonder, if she found some-kind of weapon. She slowly unwrapped the package, and to her surprise she found a fan and a small case. When she opened the case she found a diamond ring in it, her jaw immediately dropped.

 

She couldn't help but blush, she admired the ring for a few seconds, it was simple but yet again beautiful, it took some time, but she managed to rip herself from her dreaming state and looked at the boy. “Ok Sousuke, just tell me before I get overjoyed. Wait, let me guess, there is a gun in the fan and a locator device in the ring.”

 

The boy looked at Kaname dumbly. “Kaname, actually, the ring is a real promise ring,” he explained.

 

Kaname was speechless. “R...really?” she asked, not really believing the words of the boy.

 

“Kurz suggested that you might like it,” explained Sousuke.

 

“Like it?” asked Kaname with joy. “I love it!” she said, with the safety belt being the only thing stopping her from jumping into Sousuke's arms.

 

The boy smiled broadly. “So is my present sufficient enough?”

 

“More than.” she answered, hading him the case with the ring. Sousuke stared at the case then at her, not getting the reason of her action. “Don't you want to put it on my finger?” she asked. The soldier blushed, and took the ring from the case. He clumsily slid the ring on her finger. Kaname smiled up at him, and leaned forward to brush her lips lightly against his. “Thank you Sousuke.” she whispered into his ear. “It's the best present I ever had!” she added smiling broadly.

 

“But be careful with the fan,” continued Sousuke, making Kaname look grimly at him. “There are several blades in it,” Kaname nodded, and pushed her anger aside. “So thins is a kind of geisha fan?” she asked.

 

“With a little modification.” responded the boy.

 

“Don't tell me that you smuggled a grenade onto this?”

 

“No there's a very small, but very strong battery hidden in it. Do you see that small level at the base of the inner section?”

 

“Yes,” responded the girl starting to understand what's going on.

 

“If you pull it, then the needles on the fan have an electric charge.”

 

“So it's a shocker disguised as a fan?” asked Kaname. The boy nodded. Not much later a small bump and a slight shake informed them that the plane landed.

 

As the couple left the plane, they were greeted by a bulky man with dark skin, short black hair, and brown eyes. He was surrounded by the air of authority, but at the same time, the man was practically radiating a playful attitude. When Sousuke and Kaname saw him, they both came to a hold. Somehow the man was strangely familiar, though, they were sure they've never before met him.

 

“Are you two the squirts I'll have to baby-sit?” he asked moving to the couple.

 

“I assure you that when needed I can be a most fearsome opponent.” responded Sousuke in a monotone voice.

 

“Yeah boy, I heard what you two pulled on the De Danaan. But you're still a kid. I also heard that you have a tendency to blow things up. I'll make one thing clear! This city is already noisy enough; so keep the C-4 in your bags! I don't want to hear any bang-bangs, and definitely no kabooms! Got it?”

 

Kaname couldn't help, but chuckle at this. She had to wonder, why the man was so familiar, and why he knew so much about the two of them, but she just couldn't figure it out. “Now then!” continued the man. “Then mane is Nicolas Mao. But everyone calls me Nick.” Now it clicked to both teens.

 

“You're Melissa Mao's relative?” the two asked at the same time, with their mouths agape with surprise.

 

“Who do you think gave me the warning about your tendencies Sagara? My sister may drink like a fish, but she isn't stupid! Now, if you would follow me?” requested the man leading the two to the terminal.

 

Soon, Kaname and Sousuke were sitting in a white Mithril van that was headed towards their temporal home. They both knew that facing Kaname's father can get dangerous. Though, the form of that danger was different in both of their minds. They also learned a few things about Nicholas Mao. Namely, that he resembled his younger sister in many ways.

 

Right now, he was cursing, using very colourful language, because he once again got a red light. The teens did their best, and tried not to listen, and block out his remarks. The radio helped them a lot in this, and they were both trying to focus on it as much as possible. To Sousuke's joy, and Kaname's utter dismay the station was just broadcasting the news.

One boring report was followed by the other, political debates, financial issues, bombings, and other things. Kaname was about to fall asleep, when suddenly; the announcer stopped for a few seconds, the sounds of paper rustling came from the speaker. Then he continued.

 

“This is just in!” called out the radioman, sounding quite shocked. “Yesterday evening there was a bombing in the main building of the UN. Within environment directorate,” when hearing these words, Kaname tensed. “It can't be excluded that it was a terrorist attack. Sadly a death was confirmed.” the girl in the van took a deep breath. “It is believed that the victim is Chidori Shunya the current...”

From this point on, Kaname didn't hear a word of what was said, her mind went completely blank, she completely forgot everything around her.

 

The next second, she dove for the controls of the car. It was plain luck that the boys managed to grab her in time, and keep her from obtaining control of the vehicle. “I have to go there!” she yelled while trashing wildly. “Let me go Sousuke!”

 

The light long ago turned green, signalling that the cars can go, but the Mithril van didn't move, but boy did it shake. It still stood, after several other drivers pushed the horns of their vehicles to their limits. This was no wonder, since both Nick and Sousuke were needed to keep Kaname's hands away from the steering wheel, as the young girl was once again proving that she's stronger than she looks.

 

“Calm yourself Kaname we'll go, and see what happened. What you're doing is useless,” soothed Sousuke with only moderate success. This was at least enough for him to pull the girl away from the steering wheel. This was immediately manned by Nicolas, who immediately hit the gas once it seemed safe.

 

“Head to the environment directorate!” commanded Sousuke.

 

“But that's on the other end of the city!” yelled Melissa's brother.

 

“Try telling that to the girl, who just learned that her father has been killed,” responded Sousuke while pulling Kaname in a tight hug effectively making her surrender.

 

Sousuke's remark wasn't too wise. “I swear, if I get my hand on the bastard who did it! He's dead!” yelled Kaname as if answering him. “My father may have been a total ass, but he's still my father!” The males in the van were slowly starting to get nervous; the girl was practically burning from determination.

 

“Kaname... could you explain the reason of your sudden mood swing?” asked Sousuke. The next second, the boy received a slap that made his teeth chatter.

 

“You should understand that without me telling! He may be a jerk, but he's still my father!” Nick turned the Mithril van around, not caring about the huge traffic incident his action created. He drove away leaving behind hundreds of cursing drivers, while Sousuke and Kaname fought on.

 

If possible, the traffic became even worse on the way, and it took at least another hour for the small group to reach their destination. The organization that was supposed to protect the nature around the globe, was housed in a medium sized skyscraper, along with several other foundations and groups. Of course lately they were doing everything, but their job.

 

The building was surrounded by several police cars, with gawking people and journalists all over the place. When Kaname looked up, she had to shudder at the sight. The window of a room, somewhere around the fortieth level, was blown out, and a thick layer of soot decorated a large portion of the outer section of the building around the hole. Kaname gulped, she knew that room too well, she's been in there a few times when she was younger, and now it became the place where her father died.

 

“It's all right Kaname, I'm here!” whispered Sousuke into her ear.

 

Kaname nodded, and stood straight trying to act like her normal self again. “Let's go.” she said, and the two started to make their way across the crowd to the police cordon.

 

“I'll wait here just in case,” yelled Nick after them. Sousuke looked back and nodded, to signal that he understood.

 

The couple made it's way across the crowd, the resistance they encountered while doing so was quite strong, and Sousuke came pretty close to using his weapon. Luckily for him, Kaname noticed that earlier and laid her hand on his, effectively stopping him, before he could move into action. “Not here!” she whispered to him, and Sousuke slowly removed his hand from the gun.

 

When the two reached the police cordon, the next problem came. Just as Kaname stepped over the plastic string an officer blocked her way. “Please stay on the outside Miss,” he asked politely, but firmly.

 

“Tell that to someone who cares! I'm here to visit from Japan, and in the taxi I hear that my father was blown up! What would you do? Now get out of my way!” yelled Kaname.

 

“May I ask your name then?” responded the policeman with annoyance dripping from his voice.

 

“Kaname Chidori! That's who!” yelled the girl. The sly smile disappeared from the policeman's face. The look that the law enforcer gave her was priceless. He slowly backed away, and let her trough.

 

“But I swear! If you two are only journalists!” he warned once regaining composure.

 

“If we were journalists we would have cameras!” countered Kaname as she and Sousuke made their way into the building. When the two of them got inside Sousuke was immediately hit by a bad feeling. His old military instincts were all kicking in, and he didn't know why. “Kaname be careful! Something is wrong,” he whispered to her.

 

Of course, the girl almost laughed. “Come on Sousuke, those guys will never try to attack me with all those police around here.”

 

“Don't be that sure of that!” answered Sousuke. During his years as a soldier he developed a kind of sixth sense for detecting danger, he knew well, something will happen. The next second, both heard the sound of several policemen running their way, and the sounds of someone talking about terrorists could be also heard. Sousuke and Kaname shared a glance and both nodded knowing what to do. They quickly but quietly left the building, before their route of escape could be blocked.

 

Once outside, both came to a halt. The people, who were gawking till this point were all running to save their lives, but for that there were at least twice as many police officers surrounding them, pointing their guns towards the teens.

 

“They were the ones! I saw them in the building on the night of the explosion!” yelled a female voice from within the rows of the police. Kaname quickly searched for the source and identified a middle-aged woman who was not wearing any kind of uniform. Apparently she was a diplomat, Kaname and Sousuke both immediately knew, she was working for the rouges.

 

Even though that they could prove their right, considering they weren't even in the city when the explosion happened. Both teens knew that the people they were dealing with could easily rearrange things, so Sousuke still gets prison, while Kaname is shipped off to some lab. The teens, and the group of police officers stood still, both sides trying to decide what the best thing is that they can do. Sousuke once again reached to his gun, but Kaname's expression told him not to.

 

The police were watching every movement of the possible terrorists. They didn't knew, if the opponent had explosives stored away somewhere, and as police they want the incident to end in bloodshed. Sousuke and Kaname were also in a bad situation, they were completely surrounded, and even if they get out of the circle of lawmen, the people on the street could still attack them. Sousuke had to admit that he saw no way out of this one. Then he heard Mithril car's roaring engine, e looked up, trying to find it, but he only saw an old derelict of a van instead of the white transporter.

 

“ECS.” he mumbled to himself.

 

Of course everyone thought that the incoming vehicle is part of a kamikaze attack, and they were in a hurry to get out of the way. Sousuke saw his chance. He pulled out two smoke grenades igniting them immediately, effectively, covering the area around him in a thick layer of smoke.

 

In this situation, the police didn't dare to open fire. They didn't want to risk that innocent bystanders are hurt by their actions. Sousuke and Kaname used the temporal disarray, and jumped into the moving car as fast as they could, with Sousuke hitting his head quite hard against the handbrake. He rubbed the sore spot, and looked back at Kaname, who was just recovering from the shock of the last minute.

 

The police finally awoke to what was really going on, but they only had time to gawk as the “ancient” van seemingly disappeared into nothing. They simply couldn't believe what they saw with their own eyes. “This isn't happening!” groaned Kaname, with a desperate voice. “First some muggers, then terrorists and now the police! My life is now running for my freedom! What happened to my youth! What happened to the seventeenth year of my life!” she cried.

 

“We have to find a place to hide,” remarked Sousuke, looking unaffected by the little incident.

 

“The hotel won't be good. The police will be looking for you everywhere!” responded Nicolas, while recalibrating the ECS system. Seconds later the people around them would were witnessing a red truck. “I know a good place,” continued Nick “A friend of mine has and old house in the outskirts of the city. He doesn't use it, and never really took care of it, so... it's pretty crappy.”

 

“As long it is safe we'll bear with it,” responded Sousuke. Kaname nodded agreeing. She turned to him using her puppy eyes begging for some attention. The boy didn't understand and stared back at her dumbly. She slowly inched closer spreading her arms, when Sousuke saw this it slowly clicked to him.

 

“Come here,” he said with a smile. The girl, seeing that he understood, practically jumped onto the boy. “I'll do everything I can to keep you safe,” he whispered to her.

 

“Everything,” she responded halfway somewhere else.

 

“Everything, and more, if it is needed from me,” he added. Kaname felt him placing a hand on her shoulder, while his other palm travelled to her cheek. She smiled, when seeing Sousuke's face moving closer to hers. She closed her eyes, and seconds later she could feel his lips on hers. His kiss was just like every other she received from him. Feather light, treating her as if she'd be made out of china. She usually preferred those, but this time, she wanted something more. She snuck her arms around his neck and pulled him closer with all her power, making the pressure of the kiss almost crushing.

 

Sousuke soon also understood what she wanted, and made the kiss more demanding. When she opened her mouth, he immediately brought his tongue over to hers to taste her. Even in her crappy mood, Kaname returned the gesture with all her power, not giving control of the situation to Sousuke. At least a minute passed like this, before Nicolas Mao's voice interrupted.

 

“Could you keep from producing children till we get there?” he said, pouring could water on the moment.

 

Sousuke slowly released Kaname, but she still held him loosely, afraid to let go. He looked at Kaname's puffy and slightly bruised lips, of course he immediately panicked. “Sorry!” he said, with fear all over his face, but Kaname simply shook her head and repeated the same kiss as they had sooner. Sousuke panicked and tried to end it, but his girl didn't let him.

 

His struggles were ended by the laugh of Nicholas “Chill dude! She was the one who wanted to be kissed like that. No need to get hot feet.”

 

When Kaname finally released him he stared at her with eyes wide open. When she saw his expression she also laughed. “Do you think you can hurt me like that?”

 

“But...but...” he stammered lifting a finger.

 

“Come on grow up already Sousuke,” she mumbled while fighting back the laugh.

 

Nick wasn't kidding when he told the young couple that his friend didn't really take care of the house.

 

In fact, what he said was and understatement. The house looked more like a ruin than what it really was. The uncut grass that stood almost two feet tall and was full of weed, what was the smallest of the flaws. There were several tools laying around in the messy yard, all of them were covered by a thick layer of rust, ensuring that anyone, not careful enough, will leave the place with one or another injury.

 

The house itself was an old wooden one, with the white paint that once covered the outside long gone. Only the few small freckles gave away the colour it once had. The windows were almost all broken, and the roof was full of holes, ensuring that in the case of rain the people inside have to be very careful if they don't want to get a free shower.

 

“Great!” mumbled Kaname “I know that we have to lay low, but don't you think that this is a little too much?”

 

“Kaname, actually, this is our best shot. We can't risk entering any other house. You heard the radio on our way here. That diplomat has put a million dollars on both of our heads. Anyone who recognises us would immediately call the authorities in hope to get the reward,” reasoned Sousuke.

 

Kaname was about to argue, when she saw the way the male Mao looked at her. “I have to agree with your boyfriend. There's not a single person in town; who isn't tempted by such a sum. Now move it. Before the neighbours start to gawk. I'll be right back, I just need to hide the car.” Sousuke and Kaname both left the car and moved to the old house as fast as they could to get inside. Once they disappeared in the house Nick stepped on the gas, and took off to find a good hiding place for the van.

 

The interior of the house wasn't any better than the exterior. It was worse. There where several moist and mildewed spots on the sealing, marking the places where water came trough. The parts, saved from this treatment were covered by a thick layer of dust and webs, and the furnishing wasn't in any better shape, with some pieces threatening to fall apart by the very touch. Kaname was more concerned by the fact that the place was crawling with insects, including cockroaches that easily had the size of smaller rats.

 

The girl was close to fall into another shock when she saw all this. “How the hell will I keep from screaming out all night?” she asked from herself, when seeing how the place looked. Then she turned to Sousuke with a desperate expression. “Are we really going to stay here till we find a way out of the country?” she asked. Sousuke went straight to the window to see where the enemy could take cover in a possible shootout.

 

“I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do to improve the condition of our surroundings. We can use the current state of the house to surprise any intruders. If we would clean anything the enemy entering would immediately know that somebody might be preparing for an ambush,” responded the boy while he scanned the surroundings of the house through the utterly dirty window.

 

“Don't you understand Sousuke? There are bugs all over the place!” cried Kaname.

 

“I'm aware of the fact, but you'll have to tolerate it. I'm sorry Kaname.”

 

“But what if one of these things crawls onto me? I'll scream for sure,” whined the girl with tears threatening to fall.

 

“Kaname please, try to calm down. Your fear in unreasonable. In Afghanistan there were scorpions all over the camp at times, and both me and my comrades had to sleep with them around,” informed Sousuke while continuing with his work.

 

“But Sousuke!” she continued still whining. The boy sighed, he turned away from the curtainless window and looked at Kaname with apologetic eyes.

 

“It can't be helped.” he said “There's no other place we can go.”

 

Kaname nodded sadly “I understand. But why does all this happen to me? I only want a normal life. But I'll never have that again.”

 

Sousuke stepped closer to her, and reached out, but he didn't dare to touch her. This scared little girl was not his brave and strong Kaname he learned to love. However, he knew well that in the morning she'll be back to her normal self. The next thing the boy knew that she had him in a crushing hug and was snuggling against him furiously. Sousuke carefully embraced her, fearing that she brakes apart if his hold is too strong. “Thank you Sousuke,” she mumbled.

 

“Don't worry Kaname. I'm here for you as long as I live.” he whispered back, and kissed the top of her head. Kaname simply nodded.

 

“I know, and that's what makes me nervous. I don't want you to sacrifice your life for mine.”

 

“Then we'll keep fighting till both of us fall,” answered Sousuke.

 

“We'll do that,” agreed Kaname. She once again smiled broadly with determination written across her face.