Tactical Retreat
By Lord Raa
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Disclaim-me-do: Perhaps ½ teaspoon of crushed chillies is a little too much for a mug of hot chocolate.
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Part 2
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Captain Tessa Testarossa was preparing some clothes to take on her forthcoming vacation. She considered the dress uniform she had on the hanger; it was formal, but it did hug her body in all the right places.
However, it was a reminder that she was Sousuke’s commanding officer. Even if this was a vacation, reminding Sousuke that he was her subordinate might not work in her favour if she wanted to become romantically involved with him.
‘Sousuke is so formal,’ the silver-haired young woman mused. ‘It’s nice that he’s polite, but he’s so distant… I need to show him that I’m not an unapproachable person, but someone who he can talk to about his problems.’
With that, Tessa discarded the idea of the dress uniform and selected most of her casual clothes. If things progressed to the point where the two of them were to go out for dinner in one of the more upmarket restaurants in Tokyo, then she’d just have to out and buy a new dress.
That idea made the Captain smile as she packed her suitcases.
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If the conversation Sousuke Sagara had with Kaname Chidori and Kyoko Tokiwa earlier that morning had seemed odd, then the atmosphere at Jindai High School was entirely extraordinary.
Sousuke had often been on the receiving end of strange looks over the years. From the time he’d brought back a mountain goat after an assassination mission in Helmajistan to the time he had told Sergeant-Major Mao that he had experience with condoms.
Though, the oddest thing about that particular conversation was that Mao had seemed rather disappointed that he had used them as emergency water canteens rather than their intended use; with her muttering something about a missed opportunity for a practical demonstration under her breath.
As the trio approached the main building at Jindai, it seemed that the unusual atmosphere was caused by what could be described as a welcoming committee.
“O-Ren-san?” Kaname asked as Sousuke scanned the group for potential threats.
“We, that is the Student Council, would like to speak with Sagara-kun,” Ren explained.
“Yes,” Hayashimizu nodded before pushing his glasses up his nose. “There are some concerns about your well-being, Sagara-kun.”
“I am fine,” Sousuke replied.
“Please, I think it would be best if we were to have our talk in private.”
“If you insist. I’ll see you later, Chidori-san, Tokiwa-san.”
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As Sousuke sat in front of the Student Council, it reminded of a formal military hearing.
While he had experienced such occasions, he hadn’t had to stand before one for some time. The last significant formal hearing concerned his deployment on the Tuatha De Danaan as part of the Special Response Team.
But now that the young mercenary thought about, it seemed that his superiors preferred more informal interaction with him.
Especially Captain Testarossa and the way she had dropped hints that he would be welcome to join her for dinner when he was on the submarine.
Shaking that line of thinking off, Sousuke turned his full attention to the Student Council.
“Now, Sagara-kun, you should know that a matter of grave concern has been brought to our attention.”
“What would that be, Sir?” the soldier replied in a formal tone of voice.
“Yesterday, you were in the hallway when a sprinkler valve ruptured over where you were standing. Is this true?” Hayashimizu asked.
Sousuke nodded. “Yes sir, that is true.”
“Sagara-kun, the council needs to know the extent of any injuries you suffered after yesterday’s accident,” the Council President continued. “While many students were inconvenienced by the sprinkler failure, you were the one who took the brunt of the water.”
“I was not injured,” Sousuke answered. “And I have washed and dried the shirt you loaned to me yesterday. It is in my bag.”
“Thank you, Sagara-kun, I will collect it later today. Now, if we have settled the matter of the sprinkler incident, there is one other thing that has been brought to the Council’s attention.”
“What would that be, Sir?”
“It’s a delicate matter, and I, we, the Student Council, do not mean to cause any offence,” the President said, uncharacteristically dancing around the issue.
“I don’t understand,” the mercenary admitted. His keen vision scanned the room for clues as to what was causing the trouble.
The Council all seemed reluctant to press the matter, each of the members looking at their hands nervously until Ren Mikihara took the matter into her own hands.
“Sagara-kun, the Council is concerned about you and your wellbeing. While we’re all very glad that you were unhurt yesterday, when you removed your shirt, it looked like you had been seriously injured,” she explained. “Possibly several times.”
“Oh, you’re referring to my scars?” Sousuke asked. He was relieved that he now knew what they were referring to. “I cannot talk about them to you.”
“But…”
“In some cases, I cannot recall all of the details of the injury that caused the scar. In other cases, I cannot talk about the situation that caused me to suffer the injury as I have been sworn to secrecy.”
Hayashimizu frowned slightly. “You have to understand that the Student Council was concerned that you were being ill-treated in some way. Is that the case?”
“No, Sir, it is not,” the mercenary said honestly. “Any injuries that occur are occupational hazards.”
“Very well,” the President nodded. “Then you are dismissed. Please take care when you are doing whatever it is that occupies your time outside of school.”
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As he took his seat in class, Sousuke was coming to the conclusion that he would need to find a suitable explanation for his scars. Even Kaname Chidori, who knew some of the details about his role with MITHRIL, seemed to be increasingly concerned about them. They were becoming the metaphorical elephant in the room.
Just ignoring the matter had served him well, but maintaining a silence around them was becoming troublesome as people were beginning to get suspicious. And he couldn’t tell the truth about them, as several of them were sustained during classified missions.
So that seemed to leave him with one course of action: a cover story.
Unfortunately for Sousuke Sagara, he lacked experience with the creation and implementation of cover stories. He would need advice from someone with more experience with this sort of thing.
And the only people he could think of with experience of fabricating stories were his fellow members of Urzu team, Mao and Weber.
‘I will need to speak with them soon.’
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At the train station, Melissa Mao smirked as Kurz Weber struggled with Tessa’s luggage.
“Careful with those cases, Weber,” she warned. “They’re expensive.”
“I AM taking care of them,” the sniper insisted. “Though it would be easier if you were to take one of them.”
“And I thought you were a gentleman,” Mao taunted. “You know, like how Sousuke is.”
Tessa’s head jerked up at the mention of Sousuke. “That reminds me,” she said calmly, though her cheeks were turning pink as she voiced one of the most important details of her trip to Tokyo. “What are the sleeping arrangements going to be?”
Mao had noticed the Captain’s crush on Sousuke a long time ago. And while she might have wanted to see the two young soldiers getting together, it might not be a good idea move things along without prior approval from Kalinin and Mardukas.
“Well, since it’s a two bedroom apartment, we’ll be bunking up while Sousuke and Kurz take the other room.”
The Whispered pouted as she realised that there’d be two chaperones, but her brilliant mind was already formulating a plan to allow her some personal time with certain young mercenary without too many interruptions.
‘I might be able to bribe one of them to leave us alone for a few hours. But which one should I go for? I may only get one chance…’
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Sousuke and Kaname walked home, enjoying the afternoon sunshine after a day that had been just as out of the ordinary as the previous one.
While there had not been any significant events, such as an infrastructure failure, the faculty seemed to behave with a certain degree of hesitancy when they were around him.
It was as if they all expected him to have some sort of emotional breakdown.
He mentioned his observations to Kaname.
“Well,” she said as they stopped at a crossing. “It’s not every day that a Japanese high school encounters someone who’s been through what you have.”
“Possibly not, but that doesn’t mean that I’m different from any other professional soldier, does it?” Sousuke asked as the lights changed.
“What?” a stunned Kaname asked. She realised that Sousuke was walking off without her and rushed to catch up. “You do know that in most countries, you have to be 18 to enlist, don’t you?”
“I was not the only child to take up arms during my time in Helmajistan, Kaname. In fact, recently, I…”
“Yo, Sousuke!” a female voice called out, interrupting the recollection.
“Oh, hello, Mao-san,” Kaname smiled politely. ‘Perhaps she can help me make Sousuke see sense?’
“Heya, Kaname. So, what are you two up to?” Mao asked.
“We’re just walking home from school,” Kaname answered.
Sousuke, however, took a more pragmatic approach to his superior officer’s presence. “Is something the matter, Sergeant Mao? Has Urzu team been recalled into action?”
“No, no,” the Chinese-American woman said, flashing a disarming smile. “I’m just here to let you know that Tessa is in town.”
Sousuke froze. He’d almost completely forgotten about the “tactical awareness training” he’d been ordered to give Tessa.
“Tessa?” Kaname repeated, inadvertently saving the young mercenary’s blushes.
“Yeah, she’s in town for a visit,” Mao confirmed. She was about to add something about her looking forward to the visit when a car came speeding round a corner.
The driver of the black sedan soon lost control and the late model car started to spin off the road, onto the pavement where Mao and the two students were standing.
It was only Sousuke’s reflexes that saved the two young women from a trip to the hospital. The scarred mercenary grabbed his friends and somehow managed to jump clear or the impact zone without anyone being hurt.
The car, however, was not so lucky and passenger side was severely dented and scratched. Moments later a trio of police cars arrived on the scene and uniformed officers surrounded the black sedan.
The reckless driver quickly surrendered and was escorted to the back of one of the police cars.
A policeman approached Sousuke and the two women who seemed to be holding onto him for dear life.
“Is everything all right? Are any of you hurt?”
“We’re fine, Officer,” Sousuke answered through gritted teeth. “Though I think my friends here are a little tense.”
The policeman noticed that Mao and Kaname were in danger of squeezing the life out of the poor man. “So, what happened?”
The burst of adrenaline finally left Mao and she was able to relax enough to climb off Sousuke and relay what had happened.
“It was a lucky escape. I think we can add dangerous driving and reckless endangerment to this man’s list of charges,” the policeman said, casting a scowl at the suspect. “Please accept our apologies for the disruption to your day.”
“It’s alright,” Mao said. “If you’ll excuse us, we have to be going.”
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Meanwhile, at Sousuke’s apartment, Tessa was talking with Kurz about the best way to progress her relationship with Sousuke.
“Sousuke doesn’t pick up on subtle hints,” the blonde mused. “Directly asking him out on a date would be your best option. Mao and I can look after Kaname for an afternoon.”
“Yes, I should ask him out when he gets in,” the Whispered nodded in approval. “I can even make it part of his tactical awareness lessons.”
Unable to help himself, Kurz decided to add a suggestion that could ensure Tessa would have pole position in the race for Sousuke’s heart. It would certainly get Mao back for making him carry all the bags from the station earlier.
“Of course, I could always find a way to leave you and Sousuke alone here in the apartment...”
The sniper was taken aback by the gleam in Tessa’s eyes when she heard that.
“What are you thinking, Sergeant Weber?”
“Well, I could arrange a distraction so Mao and I have to leave the apartment. Nothing serious, but you should still have a bodyguard, I don’t see why it shouldn’t be Sousuke.”
“Yes, I like this plan,” the silver-haired girl nodded in approval. “Sousuke would need to hold me close...”
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“Sousuke, I’m sorry if I hurt you earlier,” Kaname apologised as she saw the mercenary wince slightly as he checked his ribs.
“It’s fine, Chidori-san. I was just taken by surprise,” Sousuke smiled.
Melissa Mao was walking silently along with the two teenagers. She knew that it was hardly the most dangerous situation she’d been in that month, but something was different. She went over the possible reasons for why she felt different after the adrenaline surge.
One, it was because she was in non-combat situation. Japan was one of the safest countries in the world, so it was a fair assumption that a life-threatening situation was as unexpected as a lottery win.
But that reason felt a little hollow. After the time they’d all scrambled when the proximity alert on Kaname’s apartment had sounded and it transpired that it was a classmate that was being bullied into a panty raid, Mao had calmed down pretty quickly.
The second possible reason was because Kaname Chidori was also in danger. But that didn’t feel right, either. Sousuke had bled to keep Kaname alive, so a minor car accident wouldn’t have made her feel this way.
The third reason was that she hadn’t been the one to react to keep everyone safe. ‘Perhaps I need to go on this “tactical awareness course”, too...’
That thought amused her to the point where she smiled. However a brief possibility crossed her mind as she considered spending time with Sousuke.
‘You did like it when Sousuke held you close. And perhaps he’d like to be held close, too. You are a grown woman after all...’
The Sergeant-major shook her head. ‘No, you can’t think like that. Sousuke is your subordinate. It’s improper. If a man ordered you to sleep with him, you’d cut his balls off!’
“Wait, who said anything about orders?” Mao blurted out, her cheeks colouring slightly.
“Mao?” Sousuke asked, turning to face his teammate. “Is something wrong?”
“What? No, I was just thinking about a previous assignment,” she lied. “Something that happened a long time ago.”
“OK,” Kaname nodded, hoping to change the subject. “So, Sousuke, what’s your plan for the weekend?”
“I’m giving some tactical awareness training,” the scarred teenager replied. When he saw the blue-haired girl pout slightly, he decided against mentioning that it was for Tessa. “It shouldn’t take all weekend, Chidori-san, so I might be free later. However, I can’t guarantee when this would be. I would hate to disappoint you.”
“Give me a call tomorrow then,” Kaname winked before entering her apartment building.
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As a concession to his teammate, Sousuke took the elevator up to his floor rather than the stairs. Something felt a little uncomfortable, but he took that to be the unfamiliarity of taking the elevator and its lack of exits rather than the fact that Mao seemed to be standing much closer to him than normal.
What also seemed odd was the way that Mao took his hand and led him to the apartment door.
“Mao?”
“Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about something else,” the Sergeant-major replied blushing. ‘I can’t believe I grabbed his hand like that...’
Sousuke opened the door to see Tessa and Kurz sitting at the table while they chatted. “Captain, is there anything I can get for you?”
“Hello, Sousuke,” the Whispered smiled. “We were just deciding what to have for dinner tonight. Is there anything in particular you’d like?”
“Not really,” the mercenary replied.
“Then we could have takeout?” Kurz asked with a smile. “I hear that there’s this place around the corner that does awesome ramen to go.”
Mao nodded in approval. “Sounds good to me. What about you, Sousuke?”
Sousuke didn’t see any reason to object to that planned meal. “That’s not a problem for me. Captain, you’re our guest, is this acceptable for you?”
“Yes, I think it’d be nice to have some ramen for dinner.”
“Then it’s settled. Well volunteered, Kurz,” Mao beamed. “I’ll have the seafood special. Best get some gyoza for us all to share, a couple of different flavours.”
The blonde was about to protest that it wasn’t fair for him to have to sort out the meal, when he realised that it was a good chance to let Tessa get closer to Sousuke.
And that was something that could possibly have other benefits. ‘Maybe the Captain might grateful enough to get me a promotion or pay rise...’
“Alright, I’ll go order it. Who wants what?”
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Dinner was a pleasant affair, with everyone enjoying their meal. It was enough to make Sousuke visibly relax around his friends and comrades. Mao noticed this and asked about school.
“There was an... incident at Jindai yesterday,” Sousuke admitted. “I was standing under a sprinkler valve when it failed, drenching me.”
“Oh, were you hurt?” Tessa asked, her voice filled with concern.
“No, just inconvenienced,” he replied. “However, it did bring up another issue. When I was changing into a fresh shirt, some people noticed my scars.”
Mao nodded, she’d seen the wound he’d sustained when rescuing Kaname. “What did you tell them?”
“I did not want to compromise anyone, but as I did not feel comfortable lying to the Student Council, I told them that I couldn’t remember the details for all of the scars and I couldn’t talk about the others. I didn’t know what else to say at the time, but I will need a more convincing explanation in the future.”
“So you need a cover-story? As luck would have it, I’m pretty good at coming up with this sort of thing,” Kurz grinned.
“I can believe that,” Mao teased. “No doubt you’ve told many stories to get women into bed with you...”
“Hey,” the sniper shrugged, “It’s not like I can tell them the truth about me working for MITHRIL, now is it?”
“Perhaps we should focus on helping Sousuke out,” Tessa suggested. “Perhaps you could tell the faculty that you were in a serious accident?”
“I’d believe that, too,” Mao grinned. “I remember how many times you came home bruised when we started this mission to look after Kaname.”
“And if we said that there was pending litigation, then it would cover Sousuke in the event that people wanted details,” Tessa added, ignoring the mention of Kaname.
“But I will still need to explain what the accident was.”
Kurz finished eating his ramen. “You’ve been injured while piloting an AS, right? So why not say that an AS exploded near you? It’s true, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Sousuke nodded. Over the course of his career, many Arm Slaves had exploded near him.
“Then it’s settled,” Tessa smiled happily.
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When he was sure that Sousuke was asleep, Kurz began to put his plan into action. As quietly as possibly, he grabbed the handcuffs he’d hidden away and moved towards Sousuke’s bunk.
He’d had visions of allowing Tessa to do what she wanted with a helpless Sousuke. And it was something that’d he’d found hot in the past with the right girl.
Sousuke’s sudden movement from his side to his front made things difficult for the blonde sniper to set things up as he wanted and he’d accidentally restrained the teenager face down on the bed.
“Crap,” Kurz muttered.
“What? Kurz? What’s going on here?” Sousuke demanded.
“Shush, Sousuke!”
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Elsewhere in the apartment, Mao and Tessa paused in their small talk. The silver-haired girl had been skirting around the subject of Sousuke for some time.
The fact that she hadn’t brought up how she felt about him made Mao somewhat suspicious.
It was then that she heard some noises from Sousuke’s room. “Did you hear that?”
“That sounded like it came from Sousuke’s room!”
The two rushed to see what was going on and were understandably shocked to be greeted by the sight of Sousuke in his sleepwear lying face down on his bed with Weber trying to keep him quiet.
“What’s going on here?” Mao demanded. “Are those handcuffs?!”
“I can explain!” the sniper insisted.
“What are you doing to sergeant Sagara?” Tessa asked, unsure of why Kurz would want to restrain Sousuke. Her face turned scarlet as the most shocking possibility entered her head. “A-are you planning to...”
“No-no-no-no-no!” Weber protested, waving his hands up in a placating manner.
“Kurz, you have thirty seconds to free Sousuke or I will pull out your spine,” Mao warned.
The blonde fumbled for the keys and released the teenager. “I’m sorry, Sousuke, this wasn’t meant to happen like this!”
“How was it supposed to happen?” Mao demanded as she helped Sousuke off his bunk. “He was supposed to bite the pillow while you had your way with him?!”
“I was not planning to fuck Sousuke in the butt!”
“Then why would you handcuff him face down on his bed?” Tessa asked in confusion.
“I... he was meant to be on his back...” Kurz’s answer trailed off as he realised just what he was saying.
“Oh, so you wanted to look into his eyes?” Mao accused, standing protectively in front of the young man in question.
“Don’t worry, Sgt Sagara, we won’t let anyone hurt you,” Tessa said reassuringly. “What should we do now, Sgt Mao?”
Melissa turned to look at Sousuke, who was more confused than hurt at what was going on. She let out a sigh when she looked into his eyes. ‘I can see why Kurz wanted him on his back. Those eyes...’
Shaking her head, she decided that things would be best dealt with in the morning. “However, since we can’t be sure that Sousuke will be safe with this maniac free, we’ll have to tie him up. Let’s see how he likes it!”
“Hey!” the blonde protested. “I only did this for T...”
“Better gag him, too,” the Whispered smirked evilly.
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Once “justice had been served”, Sousuke found himself drinking a cup of hot chocolate and sitting on the couch next to Tessa and Melissa. Both of them had insisted that he called them by their first names.
It felt weird at first, given that they were both his superiors, but when he’d seen Mao put the boot in a few times when tying up Kurz, he decided to acquiesce.
Unsure of what to make of this situation, other than it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. He turned to Mao, someone who understood people more than he did. “So, Melissa, why do you think that Kurz was acting like that? He’s never said or done anything that suggested he liked me in that way before.”
The Chinese-American sighed. What was she supposed to tell him? That Weber couldn’t control his urges and wanted to slake his sexual desires on his firm, muscular ass?
No, that would be weird. As would using those words, she noted. “I don’t really know, Sousuke.”
“What about you, Tessa?” the confused young man asked. “Can you think of a reason for why Weber would do such a thing?”
Tessa blushed. She could think of a reason for tying Sousuke to a bed. In fact, she was kind of wishing that he was still restrained so she could snuggle up to him and kiss his manly chest and... ‘Wait, was Weber trying to help me with Sousuke by handcuffing him to the bed?’ “I... it’s hard to know, Sousuke. I don’t think that Sergeant Weber is the sort of person to randomly handcuff people to beds for immoral purposes.”
“That said,” Mao added, “I’m sure he’s had experience with beds and handcuffs before...”
“We should let him explain himself in the morning,” Sousuke opined. “It could all be a misunderstanding.”
“You’re too kind, Sousuke,” said Mao just before she took a sip of her hot chocolate.
“He’s saved my life, so I owe him the chance to explain what happened.”
Tessa placed her cup on the table before yawning. As she stretched, she placed an arm around Sousuke’s shoulders.
“Ca- Tessa?”
“Oh, sorry,” the Whispered blushed as she retrieved her arm. “I’m just tired.”
“We all are,” Mao decided, hoping to put an end to any further attempts on Sousuke’s chastity. “Sousuke, will you be OK on the couch tonight?”
“Yes.”
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To be continued...
