Rampaging One Night Stand

by Shouji Gatou

  “Where is it?” Mao asked.

  《Shuto Expressway, Route 11. Koto Ward. Rainbow Bridge. The lane headed for Odaiba.》

  “Good. Tighten the net and continue surveillance. If it pings any more monitoring systems in the area, let us know.”

  《What do I get out of it?》

  “Candy.”

  《Roger.》 The AI fell silent.

  “Big Sis,” Kurz asked suspiciously, “are you teaching it weird words again?”

  “Got a problem with that?” Mao retorted. “It’s my AI. Now, we basically know where they’re headed...”

  “The harbor?” he guessed.

  “Most likely. If they don’t trigger cameras for any of the surrounding roads, we’ll know they’re near Odaiba. And once we’re in the area—”

  “Her tracker.”

  “Precisely.”

  Their enemy wasn’t the only one using that hoary old method of tracing someone with a homing device. With Kaname at risk of being kidnapped at any time, Sousuke had her wearing a necklace with a miniature transceiver in it. Mithril had a few other safeguards in place to protect her, but even Kaname wasn’t likely to know about those.

  Even if the enemy realized she had that necklace, it would be too late. The team already knew they were in the harbor district; they’d just have the de Danaan’s mother AI run a search on the warehouses and boats entering port.

  “I’ll take the M9. You two take the truck,” Mao ordered. “I’ll send you our RV point later. Got it?”

  “Roger,” said Sousuke.

  “Yeah, yeah,” replied Kurz.

  “All right. Initiate counterattack,” Mao declared, and jumped lithely off the hood.

  27 June, 0025 Hours (Japan Standard Time)

  Shuto Expressway Route 11, Minato Ward, Tokyo

  The van carrying Kaname and Tessa crossed the Rainbow Bridge, then got off the Shuto Expressway at the Ariake Interchange. There were relatively few cars for a Friday night.

  Four years had passed since budget issues forced the cancellation of the World City Exposition, but the development of the waterfront was still ongoing; massive skyscrapers and shopping centers stood side-by-side with empty lots, rife with weeds.

  Takuma was sitting in the van’s passenger seat. Kaname and Tessa were side-by-side; across from them was a man holding a gun. He didn’t look like he would let his guard down for a second.

  Tessa’s eyes were pointed downward. She looked fragile and tortured. From time to time she froze up as if enduring something, after which she’d grip the end of her braid and press it against her mouth.

  Kaname had been shocked when Sousuke had chosen Teletha Testarossa to be released first during the hostage exchange. It wasn’t that she’d wanted to be saved first; her feelings were more simple than that—the basic fact of “he chose her.”

  Does it mean he cares more about her? Or is it just a sign that he trusts me? Her heart swung like a pendulum between the two. Which one is it? I wish I knew. It hurts so much... But no answer came.

  She remembered the sight of the water fountain getting blown to pieces, along with Sousuke. She was relieved to realize that she hoped he was okay. Thank goodness. I don’t hate him. I don’t despise him.

  It occurred to her, vaguely, that this might be the most important thing right now. She still had her faith, and faith could make anyone invincible, even at times like these.

  The car passed through Odaiba and went south, heading for an isolated pier in the back of the harbor. Everything she could see—massive warehouses, bridge cranes, silos—was dimly illuminated by orange light. They passed through a logistics center gate and came out into an area free of people. Rows of carefully piled containers created an abandoned city that towered over the car, as if to hide it from view.

  They turned a few corners and reached their destination, a cargo ship at the end of the pier. It was red with rust and over 100 meters long, but the length itself wasn’t especially unusual. As the van neared the prow, the boat’s name could be seen: The George Clinton. There were lights on inside the ship, signaling that it was inhabited.

  The van came to a stop at the ship’s gangway. At the men’s urging, Kaname and Tessa got out and were escorted on board.

  Waiting for them on the deck was a woman in a skin-tight orange suit. Kaname knew from past experience that the suit was for operating arm slaves.

  “Takuma,” the woman said, and he stepped past Kaname to approach her.

  “Big Sister. It’s just been awful!” he said. He sounded more cheerful in that moment than Kaname had imagined from him, yet his joy was repaid with a hard slap across the face. “Big Sister?” Takuma said, staggered, a hand to his cheek in dismay.

  “Why didn’t you take your medicine on the plane?” she demanded.

  “I’m sorry. I spilled it in the bathroom and it grossed me out, so I just threw it away...”

  “You were caught as a result, and we lost four men getting you back,” she told him coldly. “Oi and Ueda and Yashiro and Hatano. Were you aware of that?”

  “But those guys were always talking back to you,” Takuma protested. “They made fun of me, too. They said I was a coward—”

  She seized his left cheek between her fingers. “But they still went to save you. And they died in the process.”

  “I... I’m sorry...” All through the exchange, Takuma was casting occasional glances at Tessa, as if he felt ashamed to be seen this way. Tessa, though, had already averted her eyes. It didn’t look like she was embarrassed for him, though; it was something deeper—there was a sense of loathing that flitted in and out of her expression. Like she was looking into a mirror...

  Pathetic. Ti-tic.

  Huh? Kaname looked around for the source of the sudden whisper, but nobody seemed to have said anything. It had sounded a little like Tessa’s voice, but the other girl’s mouth was firmly shut.

  I-Ike that. No-No-Not li... I’m not like that.

  The voice reached her again. For a minute, Kaname thought maybe she was the one talking, and she quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. But it wasn’t her; nobody else seemed aware of the voice.

  Was it because it was too far away? Or because it was terrifyingly close? Kaname didn’t know for sure, but that was the last of the voice that she heard.

  “I really am glad, though.” The woman pulled Takuma into an embrace, expressionless. The discrepancy between the gesture and her tone suggested something deeply off about the siblings’ relationship. “I was so worried. I thought that they might realize how important you were, and then hurt you.”

  “Big Sister...” Takuma trailed off.

  “Did you get your medicine?”

  “Yeah. I took it.”

  “Then go downstairs and rest,” she ordered. “You’ll have things to do soon.”

  “Okay. I’ll do that.” Takuma went below deck, accompanied by one of the men.

  “Now, you two,” the woman began, turning her gaze to Kaname and Tessa. “Why do you think I let you live?”

  “Why else?” Kaname said, going over retorts even as she spoke. “All bad guys need to spill their big plan before they die. It’s like, a total cliché.”

  “You’re quite the little idiot.” The woman turned away, not smiling. “Take them away. I’ll let you handle his interrogation as well.”

  The man nodded silently in response to his orders. He prodded Kaname and Tessa from behind, urging them into the ship. They walked through a few passageways, which were lined with doors, before being led into a dreary cabin and locked in.

  27 June, 0110 Hours (Japan Standard Time)

  Shuto Expressway Inner Circular Route, Minato Ward, Tokyo

  “So, you let Tessa go first?” Kurz asked from the driver’s seat. He held an Ito En green tea in his left hand while his right nudged the wheel, taking them smoothly past taxis and trucks. He was getting every ounce of speed he could out of the secondhand vehicle.

  “That’s right,” Sousuke responded
from the passenger seat. Expression despondent, he gazed out the window at the patterns of lights rushing by them. The red of taillights, the orange of street lamps, the green of neon... In the back of his mind, they all blended together into two faces. “Maybe I was stupid,” he muttered.

  “You were totally stupid,” Kurz responded offhandedly.

  “I don’t enjoy hearing that from you.”

  “Oh, yeah? I really enjoyed getting to say it, for once.”

  Glaring sullenly out the window, Sousuke asked, “So, what would you have done? Would you let the colonel go first, or Kaname?”

  “Let’s see... I’d let the girl I liked more go first,” Kurz decided. “The sweet little object of my raging hot passion. That’s the most important thing, y’know.”

  Kurz Weber could be described as follows: roughly twenty, with blond hair, blue eyes, a narrow jaw, and symmetrical features. He was a good-looking man, but utterly lacking in social graces. He hated hard work and discipline, and he never approached his missions with anywhere near the seriousness they required.

  What made him even more insufferable was the fact that, despite all this, he was Sousuke’s equal in combat skill. There was even one area in which he far outstripped Sousuke: He was a master sniper, capable of putting a hole in a 500 yen coin from one kilometer away without breaking a sweat.

  He had no experience in a proper military; like Sousuke, he came out of the mercenary game. Sousuke still didn’t know where he’d trained, or where he’d fought. Kurz frequently spoke of his time in Japan, but he never mentioned how that had led him to the life of a soldier of fortune.

  Bringing up Kurz’s past, then, was about the only thing that could put a damper on the man’s typical cheer. Sousuke had seen that melancholy cloud his expression more than a few times, but when asked, Kurz’s standard reply was, “ah, things just didn’t go my way.”

  Of course, right now he was hiding behind his usual mask of irreverence and annoying his comrades to no end...

  “Nonsense.” Sousuke furrowed his brow at his partner’s response. “It’s not a question of personal preference. I’m talking about the most efficient decision.”

  “That’s what makes you stupid.” Kurz chuckled and took a sip of his tea. “If you ask me, neither choice was going to change the situation much.”

  “But...”

  “At times like those, you gotta follow your instincts. It’s a sixth sense sort of thing; trying to calculate everything like a game of chess is a waste of time.”

  Sousuke said nothing.

  “Or are you going for the harem ending?” Kurz asked slyly. “‘I’ll make them all happy!’ and such? If that’s the case, I’m all for it. Behind you all the way. Go get ’em, Sagara-kun.”

  “I shouldn’t have said anything,” Sousuke grumped, and Kurz smiled again.

  “Well, at the end of the day, it’s a pretty ‘you’ way of doing things...”

  Just then, they got a call on the radio. “Uruz-2 to Uruz-6 and Uruz-7. Bad news.” It was Mao, on the move in the M9.

  “What is it, Big Sis?”

  “The JSDF and the police have gotten involved,” she told them. “I think they just pinpointed the enemy location.”

  “What’s bad about that?” Kurz wanted to know.

  “It means police cars with sirens will be storming the pier. We’ll lose the element of surprise. That puts Tessa and Kaname in danger.”

  “That is bad news.”

  “Can you stop them?” Sousuke asked.

  “I can try to hack them from here and give them dummy orders,” Mao said, “but it won’t do more than buy us time. Anyway, get a move on.”

  “Got it. Damn...” Kurz tossed the can into the back seat, gripped the steering wheel anew, and slammed the pedal to the floor.

  4: The Fuse of Battle

  27 June, 0110 Hours (Japan Standard Time)

  Cargo Ship George Clinton, Akami Pier, Koto Ward, Tokyo

  The ship looked like it hadn’t been used in a long time. The lockers were empty; the bunk beds were bare. In the corner sat an old, dead CRT TV.

  Tessa was overwhelmed by fear and and a sense of powerlessness. Takuma had fallen into the enemy’s hands; now, they might be able to use that lambda driver-mounted weapon.

  She had to do something, she thought, but no ideas were coming. She was helpless while a horrendous act of terrorism was being plotted just a few rooms away.

  She’d been a fool. She’d made so many mistakes, had so many lapses in judgment. And because of her, he... Sousuke was...

  While Chidori Kaname inspected the cabin’s various furnishings, Tessa sat on the bed, clutching her knees and staring vacantly at the opposite wall. At last, after making sure there was nothing in the room they could use, Kaname took a seat on the bed across from her.

  The silence was awkward. It was Tessa who chose to break it first.

  “Chidori-san.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re a very strange person.”

  “Oh, yeah? I’d say I’m pretty normal, actually,” Kaname responded, gazing up at the ceiling.

  “No, you should be normal... But even in the situation we’re in now, you’re searching for a solution,” Tessa observed. “You provoked that woman. And back at the school, you tackled Takuma...” Those weren’t things that a ‘completely normal person’ could do.

  “Is that weird?” Kaname asked.

  “Yes, it is. I...” Tessa looked down for a while, falling silent. She decided that now was the time to say it. “You completely throw me off my rhythm when you’re around. I did so many foolish things tonight that I normally wouldn’t do. I teased and tormented my subordinate, and tried to spring into action in the most pointless ways...”

  “Spring into action? What do you mean?” Kaname didn’t seem to understand what she was getting at.

  “In the schoolyard, I ignored Sergeant Sagara’s instructions and charged out. I’ve never made such a foolish decision before in my life. Trying to save you from your foolish actions turned me into a fool as well.”

  Rather than acting insulted, Kaname nodded in remembrance. “Oh... yeah, you did do that. How come?”

  “Because...” Tessa hesitated. Why did I run out to save Kaname then? Why did I do that, knowing that it would be pointless at best and harmful at worst? Because I was frustrated. Because I wanted to show him, as forcefully as I could, that I wasn’t useless.

  The reason Sousuke had asked for Tessa’s release first was because he trusted Chidori Kaname. That meant, by implication, that he didn’t trust Tessa—that he didn’t see her as reliable. Given her utter lack of athletic ability, she couldn’t claim that his decision was wrong.

  But even so, why did he trust her more than Tessa? Her trained intellect offered her a variety of logical answers, but her feelings rejected all of them. Those foolish feelings she couldn’t fully control...

  This isn’t like me at all, Tessa thought. I’m a better person than this. I should get along with this girl... But despite telling herself that over and over again, for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to care for Kaname.

  Have I always been such a rotten person? she wondered. The thought of it sank Tessa deep into depression. Realizing there was a possessive side to her she’d never knew she had filled her with self-loathing.

  After all... just what kind of person was this Chidori Kaname? She’d earned so much trust from a soldier of Sagara Sousuke’s caliber. She was an ordinary person, yet so decisive in her actions that she sometimes slid into recklessness. She maintained these traits even in situations that would send most girls to pieces, trembling and crying.

  In the end, rather than answering Kaname’s question, Tessa asked one of her own. “You truly are strange. You aren’t afraid at all?”

  At this, Kaname made a big show of thinking. “Let’s see... I mean, sure, I’m afraid. It’s more, just... when I’m put in a situation like this, it makes me want to fight back?”

 
“Fight back?” Tessa questioned.

  “Yeah,” Kaname answered. “Everything that challenges me or tries to get me down... they’re like enemies, in a way. Enemies aren’t all people with guns; you find them in normal life, too.”

  Mountains of homework, morning drowsiness, nighttime loneliness, bullying... She had her monthly agony; she had fears about the future; she had fears about heartbreak.

  “If one of those enemies attacks you,” she continued, “you have to do something, right? Whether it’s grinning and bearing it, or fighting back... I guess that’s kind of how I try to live my life.”

  “But those mundane problems are surely of a completely different magnitude,” Tessa observed.

  “Yeah, true. I don’t know how to explain it, exactly,” Kaname admitted. “It’s just, well, I don’t know how you were raised, but... even if you’re living a normal life in Japan, you’ll probably end up in situations where you end up thinking, ‘I’d rather be dead than here.’”

  Tessa found that surprising. “Really?”

  “Totally,” Kaname said, half-joking, then leaned back against the wall. “It started for me back in middle school. I’d just come back to Japan after four or five years in New York with my dad. I’d transferred to a local middle school... and after that, it was the typical story, I guess. I’d picked up the habit of saying whatever was on my mind, so I got treated like a freak.”

  Tessa was starting to see what she was getting at. She said nothing.

  “I know I wasn’t exactly a saint myself. But... they were just so vicious... It was awful. I really did want to die,” Kaname recalled, distantly.

  “But you still fought?”

  “Yep,” she replied promptly, bouncing back. “It wasn’t the most dignified way of doing things, and I’d be lying if I said I don’t have any regrets... Maybe it would’ve been smarter to run away. But I learned a lot from doing things my way, I think.”