Fighting Boy Meets Girl полностью

But it seemed like something Kalinin would do. If Gauron had known he was with Mithril, he would've drafted a countermeasure.

As it was, the rescue enabled Kashim and the Whispered girl to escape. Major failure.

"You'll pay for this, dammit!"

A transmission came from one of his subordinates: "Gauron, one of the firefighters said he spotted a suspicious person near the base's western fence, ostensibly escaping with a young girl in tow."

"A young man?"

"Not sure. In any case, they went west."

Gauron chuckled to himself. What luck! Kashim failed to meet up with his allies. If he went west, they were heading toward the coast. Kashim must hope to connect with his people there.

It was about twenty miles from there to the coast. No matter how fast they were, it would take them at least the whole night. There was plenty of time to repair the Codarl.

"My, oh my. It looks like this party's just getting started."

Trudging through the dark mountains away from the base, Sousuke and Kaname could no longer hear the cacophonous aftereffects of the battle. The only sounds were their breath and the pine needles fluttering about beneath their feet.

"Are you sure everything's okay?" Kaname checked as she supported the staggering Sousuke.

"I won't say I'm not worried," he said flatly, "but we have to get away from the base."

"I meant you. It looks like something's wrong."

Sousuke's usual stern expression shined with an aberrant gloss of sweat. Although his whole body was covered in grime, the bloodstain on his shirt was plainly visible.

"Let's take a break. At this rate…" Kaname began gravely.

Sousuke stopped and peered into the darkness behind them.

After a moment, he said, "Yes, I could use a short rest."

Sitting down on a large tree root, Sousuke removed his shirt. Kaname nearly screamed when she saw him in just his tank top.

There was a piece of metal, about the size of half a CD, protruding from his left side. It must have lodged there earlier, during his AS battle. Kaname could only imagine how incredibly painful that must have been.

She sputtered and gawked.

"I was lucky. It missed all the internal organs and major arteries. There should be a case of small bottles in my jacket pocket—would you please get that out?" Then, without the slightest hesitation, Sousuke yanked out the piece of metal, groaning only slightly.

Terrified, Kaname hurriedly searched the pockets of the jacket and handed over the small case.

Kaname couldn't stand to watch as Sousuke stoically scrubbed the wound with alcohol. Although his hands moved confidently and with purpose, his eyes stared blankly at something unknown.

"There's another case in the other pocket. There should be some tape in there."

"You mean this?"

Grabbing the tape, he tore up his shirt and taped it in place as a makeshift bandage. Kaname continued looking through the case.

"I looks like there's some morphine in here," she suggested timidly.

"Don't need it," Sousuke said in a dead tone that made Kaname immensely uneasy.

"But, I mean, you're—"

"If I fell asleep, who would fight the enemy?"

"True, but…"

"Let's keep moving. They'll come for us."

With great effort, he rose and started hiking through the forest.

What the heck? Kaname couldn't help but recognize the absurdity of it all. What's his deal, anyway?

She didn't understand how he could just treat his body like a machine, ignoring the pain. He just pushed forward, mumbling "opposition" this and "enemy" that. He really was just a smaller version of an AS, she decided. Whatever.

Ever since the battle, a strange feeling began to grow in Kaname: She was scared of Sousuke. Although the young man in front of her looked very much like any other, he seemed to be from an entirely different planet. To Kaname, in some ways he was just as scary as the terrorists chasing them!

"What's wrong, Chidori?"

She just stood there, blankly, until Sousuke turned around. "Hurry. The enemy's coming."

Sousuke was met with a blank stare.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"St-stay away from me!" Kaname stepped backward, prepared to run from Sousuke. "Don't come near me!"

Sousuke stopped near her.

There was silence.

Kaname wondered: Was he angry? Irritated? Would he shout? Even worse, would he hit her? Would he drag her by force into the cold darkness?

When she felt the impulse to turn around and run, Kaname noticed Sousuke's expression was not one of anger—it was one of hurt. He looked like someone who had been slapped unexpectedly by a friend.

He started to speak, stopped, and looked at the ground. Then, he finally spoke.

"You're… afraid of me." When she said nothing, he continued. "That's a natural reaction. I'm sure I must seem…"

And a shadow of profound loneliness crept across his profile, finishing the sentence for him.

Huh? Kaname was startled. What's that about?