"A lot of guys look at you, Kana. You're really pretty, you know," commented Kyouko with a tinge of envy. She pulled up her socks and reached for her orange softball pants.
"Thanks, but it's not like that. It's like he's up to something."
"You know, Kana, you've been ragging on Sagara nonstop."
"I have?"
With long strides, Sousuke crossed the school grounds, stopping in front of the athletic club wing. Surveying the building, he saw there were six windows in a row on the second floor. He located the stairs.
He went up.
"Yes, you have!" said Kyouko.
Kyouko knew Kaname very well—including that Kana was quite popular despite having a dangerous mouth and a very candid demeanor. She was generally very good-natured, so much so that she practically had been forced into the position of student council vice president.
For Kaname to criticize someone she didn't really even know—and to do it behind his back—well, that was a very rare thing, indeed.
"For someone you're not interested in, you sure seem to talk about Sagara an awful lot."
"Don't be ridiculous! It's not like that. Ha ha. Ha ha ha!"
As a longtime friend, Kyouko also understood that Kaname's laugh roughly translated to: "I don't know, but I don't want to talk about it."
"Come on. Let's go."
Having finished changing into their uniforms, Kaname and Kyouko started to leave the changing room, where there were still many girls in various stages of undress.
But just as they were about to reach the door, it crashed open violently.
Eighteen changing girls looked into the eyes of the student in the doorway: Sousuke.
There were eighteen simultaneous gasps.
"Eeeeeeeeeeee!" Shrieks rattled the windows.
Sousuke stood there dumbly, wearing a look of profound surprise.
Completely wasting a golden opportunity, he barely glanced at all the girls in their underwear. (Scantily clad women were only a distraction from the mission at hand, he knew.)
Springing forward, he grabbed Kaname and threw her to the ground. Somehow, by the time they hit the floor, he had drawn a pistol Out of an ankle holster.
"Everybody, get down. Get down!" he yelled as he made a lightning-quick turn toward the open door.
He waited, gun trained on the doorway.
Nothing happened, of course.
Keeping Kaname pinned to the ground, he kept the gun pointed at the door. He surveyed the room and did not see anyone who appeared threatening.
Actually, upon second assessment, there were eighteen girls crowding around him with murder in their eyes.
Ten minutes later, the mayhem was over.
"I never suspected you to have something like this," said Miss Kagurazaka, inspecting the .38 caliber revolver.
"I apologize for the trouble, ma'am," Sousuke said meekly. He looked worn out; his uniform was torn, his face was scratched, his wrists were chained behind his back to a chair (with his own handcuffs, which the girls had found clipped to his belt).
He never liked interrogations.
"I'm confiscating this."
"Please—"
"Sorry, no exceptions!"
"Please unload it. Those are hollow point rounds—very dangerous."
"Oh, for the love of…" Miss Kagurazaka trailed off. Then, she stood up. "Miss Chidori, I'm leaving him in your custody."
"What?"
"I have a staff meeting. We're planning the class trip, you know. He definitely is to blame for all this chaos, so talk it over with the other girls and decide how to deal with him, okay?"
It was unclear whether the teacher trusted Kaname or simply was irresponsible. Either way, she was gone already. Sousuke, who regarded Miss Eri Kagurazaka the same way Cambodians viewed U.N. peacekeepers, was extremely disheartened to see her go.
Under the intense glowering of so many pissed-off young women, Sousuke had a good idea what was in store for him.
"The Geneva Accords state—"
"The what?"
"Never mind."
Kaname had no reason to know anything about those; she probably thought Geneva was the capital of Brazil.
"So, Sagara, what's the big idea? I mean, being a perv is one thing. But you'd have to be retarded to jump in here like a freaking commando! Are you mental or what?"
"'Mental'? You mean, 'smart'?" How can I be retarded and mental at the same time? What is the meaning of this contradiction?
Sousuke realized it didn't matter. Each second felt like eternity.
"You psycho! Look at this!" Kaname rolled up her sleeve. "See that? My elbow's all skinned up because of you. What are you gonna do about it?"
Sousuke assessed the damage. The skin was not broken, but it was a little bit red. The injuries Sousuke had sustained during the fray were far worse, but no one seemed to care about that.
Finally, he spoke. "It should heal very quickly."
"That's mean!"
"You creep!"
"A girl's injuries last a lifetime!"
"So, what do you have to say for yourself)"
"Apologize to Kana."
Sousuke felt like a tank caught in crossfire. As far as he could tell, it appeared they did not appreciate his actions.
"I'm sorry for violently handling you," said Sousuke. "But please let the record show that it was not my intention to cause you or your friends any harm."
"Then, what were you doing?"
"I'm afraid that information is classified."
"What do you mean, classified'? Tell me!"
"No, I'm sorry…"
Pushing her bangs off her forehead, Kaname said: "Tell us why you came here in the first place."
Thinking quickly, Sousuke answered, "I want to join the club." None of the girls knew how to respond to that.
"I was a member of a similar club at my last school. I'm very proud of my participation, and that's why I was hoping to join. I'm confident in my physical strength and think you will only benefit from including me. So, what do you think?"
Internally, Sousuke commended himself for the bold delivery of his impassioned plea.
"Look, Sagara," began a flustered Kaname, "this is, well, it's the girls' softball club."
Sousuke processed this information. "So… boys can't join?"
"Of course not!"
"I think the circumstances warrant an exception, don't you?"
Fed up, the girls picked up Sousuke, chair and all, and kicked him down the stairs.
On a display screen, a black-haired girl opened the door to her apartment and went inside. After she swung the door shut, there was the gratifying sound of a lock clicking into place.
"Eighteen-hundred forty-five hours. Angel is safe at home. No shadows," reported Melissa Mao into a walkie-talkie-like device.
She toggled the display to see what Kurz was up to with the AS. She couldn't see Kurz, of course, because of the ECS, but she knew that he would be running along the road and probably would be back in a couple of minutes.
Mithril's intelligence bureau prepared a base for their mission— a safe house of sorts. Just across the district line, they had a good view of Miss Chidori's apartment.
Their room didn't have any real furniture—just a cheap table and some folding chairs. Still, the apartment was pretty full, loaded up with small weapons and surveillance equipment.
"I can't get over how expensive everything is here in Tokyo," grumbled Mao to no one in particular. She polished off a hamburger; then, she pulled out her menthol cigarettes, firing one up.