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[chidori]

Kaname Chidori, age 16, has been living on her own ever since her father and younger sister moved back to New York sixteen months ago. Part of her figured she'd live alone in her apartment until she got married or something. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine that she'd be forced to live on a military base.

Say goodbye to sleepovers with Kyoko. This whole moving business was something that she didn't even want to begin to explain to her best friend. She didn't bother to even try and explain it to her father. Instead, she just told him that there were problems with packages being stolen at her apartment complex and provided him with a PO Box to send letters to instead.

It was probably better if he and her young sister, Ayame didn't know what was going on, anyway. If they knew she was in sort of danger, they'd only worry. Her dad would probably move back to the US, and moving to this base was bad enough. She was still trying to come to terms with all of this, herself.

Goodbye, perfectly normal high school life.

Kaname shifts the box in her hands. Most of her things she had shipped off; they should already be in her room. But this box is filled with things that are special to her. Old family photographs -- especially ones of her mom. A few photo albums. Her childhood blanket. The Bonta-kun plush toy she's had ever since she was a baby. The box isn't exactly heavy, perse, but it's certainly large and unwieldy. That's part of the reason why she's having such a rough time carrying it.

Still, she's been walking around this base for ten minutes now, and she's still completely lost. And unfortunately for Kaname, her usual shadow, Sousuke Sagara, wasn't around. Thankfully, though, there's a figure up ahead.

"Hey!" Kaname calls out, as she quickens her pace. "Do you know where the dorms are?"

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[cluelesssoldier]

Sousuke nods, noting her tone in the back of his mind. He hears her question and gives a single nod. "That I can help with. This way." He scans the area to figure out where they are before giving a gesture for her to follow him.

Sousuke begins leading Kaname toward exactly where her room was. After all, this was just one of the things Sousuke was expected to know. He walks in silence, sweating slightly. What do you say in a situation like this?

[chidori]

This way. Great. At least the military maniac had his bearings here. She certainly didn't.

For a half-minute, Kaname pads beside him in sullen silence. One by one, the questions start piling up, one after another. And as they pile up, Kaname can feel a vein pulsing with anger at the side of her head. Then abruptly, without any sort of warning, Kaname turns on heel to face him.

And she doesn't look happy.

"Are you ever gonna answer my questions, or what?! Who are you, and why exactly was I kidnapped?!"

[cluelesssoldier]

Sousuke stares at her. He deserved this. He braces himself for one of her usual attacks. That might make this easier for her. Normality in some form.

When she doesn't do it, the young soldier gives a slight sigh, looking uncomfortable as he tries to figure out how to present this.

"I wasn't lying when I introduced myself as a Sergent to the class. I'm Sgt. Sousuke Sagara. I work for a paramilitary group which operates from the shadows, handling anything from terrorism to drug cartels. I was assigned to protect you from being kidnapped...much like other girls your age. However, that is all I know. My orders are your safety, Ms. Chidori." He looks at her, looking a little less stern than usual but still pretty guarded with what he shows on the surface.

[chidori]

"Much like other girls my age?!" Kaname shouts. With one swift movement, she reaches into her box and pulls out her harisen, and with the box balanced precariously in one hand, manages to slam the paper fan right onto Sousuke's head with the other.

"That isn't normal in the least!"

She places the harisen back into the cardboard box.

"How can that be all you know? Aren't they supposed to brief you on the target or something before you go on a mission?!" At least, that's how it was in the movies, anyway. "Do you at least know if those terrorist freaks were brainwashing me?"

[cluelesssoldier]

Sousuke is struck and doubles over with a very slight wince. He straightens himself looking at Kaname as if nothing had happened just now....save for a large red mark across the top of his face. He actually looks like he is hiding some of his discomfort.

"I received information on you based on a intelligence report but anything more than that has been classified for some reason." He actually looks somewhat worried about this. "My mission is to protect you. I'm your insurance that nothing like this ever happens again." He looks after for a moment.

"I don't know what they were doing but---I have heard a term over and over again. "The Whispered"....Whenever like something like this happens, I have heard someone mention "the Whispered" but I have yet to learn what it means. I'm afraid that is all I know, Ms. Chidori." He lets his shoulders slump somewhat, looking almost sad about everything.

[chidori]

"Classified?" Kaname echoes, quietly. Suddenly, all of Kaname's aggression has melted away, replaced with something more akin to worry. "Whispered?"

Kaname looks down at her box. Her most important possessions are in this box. They're some of the last remaining fragments of her normal life.

"The group you're working for," she says. "They're not part of Unity Group, are they?"

She gleaned this much from talking to the others.

[cluelesssoldier]

Sousuke shakes his head a single time, looking off into the distance. "No. We're independent from Unity or any world government." He knows that makes him sound more suspicious. "I will protect you, Ms. Chidori. As long as I'm able to."

The young soldier begins to walk toward her room again. "I apologize for the situation you have been place into. It was not my intention to pull you into this part of the world." He genuinely feels bad for her but he isn't sure how to help. A normal person might try to comfort her. Sousuke....wasn't sure that would be appropriate considering her habit of hurting him at an accidental touch.

[chidori]

Kaname lets out a long sigh. She's not getting the answers she wants, but it's becoming abundantly clear to her that no one -- not even Sousuke -- has any idea what's going on.

"Look, Sousuke, there's no need to apologize," she says. "I mean, those weirdos would have captured me and thrown me in that weird pod even if you weren't there. The big difference there is that if you weren't there, I probably wouldn't have been rescued at all. So..."

A beat.

"Thank you. I'm really glad that you were there to rescue me."