"More or less." Kazama sighed. "But those guys really aren't
The convoluted plots of deviants never failed to strike Sousuke as immensely ridiculous. "I see. Did you ever think that Miss Chidori might be rather upset?"
"Well, yeah," admitted Kazama guiltily, "but I really want those negatives back."
"What's on them?"
"Arm Slaves. All different kinds, but U.S., Japanese, and self– defense models mostly."
"Oh yeah?" Suddenly, Sousuke was quite interested.
"Yeah, I went around to bases all over Japan to take those pictures. It was a ton of work, too. Isn't AS technology one of your hobbies, Sagara?"
"I wouldn't exactly call it a hobby…"
"I've even got a picture of a Marine M6 in Okinawa."
The M6 first saw combat in the early '90s, most prominently in the Gulf War. Once people saw it on the news, it became an extremely popular piece of equipment.
"Was it the A2 model? "
"Yeah. It had a shield with reactive armor and everything."
"Really? How were its actual movements?"
"The operators at the base said the balance wasn't great," Shinji reported. "That makes sense, because its control system is the Rockwell-built MSO-II, right? The feedback architecture has a lot of flab, so when the bilateral angle exceeds three point five, it's even susceptible to handheld firearms."
Sousuke nodded, acknowledging all the jargon.
"Basically, its best use still would be a well-plotted ambush or a suicide charge. I read somewhere that the newest model M9s are still a long way off from widespread use…"
As Shinji rambled on about technical mumbo-jumbo, the two young men sat cross-legged on the balcony. Their military geek discourse soon buried all memories of the foiled underwear theft.
"Your knowledge is impressive. You don't sound like a civilian at all," praised Sousuke.
"There's still so much to learn," said Shinji modestly. "You sure know a lot, too, Sagara."
"Thanks, but—"
Clattering, the balcony curtain opened, interrupting Sousuke's attempts to be demure.
Sousuke and Shinji's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.
Kaname stood in front of them, frozen with fright, rage, or some combination of the two. Her bath towel barely concealed her shapely chest, and it covered even less of her legs.
Tightly clutching her towel, Kaname demanded to know what was going on.
As Sousuke and Shinji struggled to explain themselves, Sousuke realized he harmlessly had been playing with a pair of underwear.
His eyes traveled from the damning cotton evidence to Kaname and back.
"Chidori!" he chirped. "What a coincidence."
Quietly, Kaname disappeared into her apartment.
Shinji and Sousuke shared a sigh of relief.
And then, she reappeared—with a metal softball bat in hand.
"That's one hell of a bruise, buddy!"
Kurz wrapped a sack of ice around Sousuke's arm.
"I believe she intended to kill us. Kazama got lucky—I distracted her just long enough for him to leap into the shrubs below."
"From the fourth floor?"
"Yes. He plunged into the cherry tree and to the ground from there."
"Were you trying to kill him?"
"I was lucky to get away. Imagine the lieutenant commander's disappointment if the girl we're supposed to protect had ended up killing me."
Kurz laughed. "Actually, I can totally picture his expression."
Knowing the lieutenant commander's stoic disposition, he probably would sigh once, fill out some forms regarding the distribution of the deceased's possessions, and then move right on to the next job. Lieutenant Commander Andrei Kalinin never seemed particularly surprised by any person's death.
"She'll probably
"I don't blame her, you perv," joked Kurz.
A moment later, Mao contacted them from the M9. "Guys, I was just on the horn with the de Danaan."
"New orders?"
"Yes. The mission's over: The enemy no longer has any reason to kidnap Kaname."
"What do you mean?"
"We blew the crap out of the base where she was wanted. We annihilated everything, including all their research data. That means we can relax for a while."
"Huh. So, do we go back to the ship now or what?" asked Kurz.
"That's the best part. We get to take a week off!"
"No way! Yes!" whooped Kurz, raising his hand for a high five.
Sousuke just sat there, looking disgruntled. "I was supposed to go on a class trip the day after tomorrow—five days and four nights."
"He said you should," Mao cleared her throat to do her best impression of Kalinin, '"Go and have a good time.'"
"The lieutenant commander said that?"
"Yeah. We already paid for the trip. Were to stick to the budget. Looks like it's an order."
"But—"
"Just go, Sousuke," said Kurz, who abandoned all hopes of a high five. "Relax. Kaname's safe, so just take a load off and try to act like a normal kid for a change."
After thinking it over for a moment, Sousuke said: "Okay, I'll go. It will be a valuable learning experience."
