WHO: Koji Kabuto and Kaname Chidori, with an appearance by Macua Huitl.
WHAT: A fated encounter in Asakusa! Teenagers talk love!
WHEN: May 28th, after school.
MISSION: Socialize, socialize, socialize!
WATCH OUT FOR: Famous pilots and tsunderes.

Summer was a magical time. Despite the school system still holding class, summer also meant field trips to various places. It was meant to get the kids out of the teacher's hair for a day or two. This was why Atami village had sent its high school to Tokyo 02. It was also why Koji Kabuto was dressed like the most stereotypical tourist ever.

The pilot of Mazinger Z was dressed in a bright Hawaiian shirt under his school uniform coat. Koji was also carrying a large camera and snapping pictures of various landmarks around the shrine....Sometimes a person who looked interesting. "Oh cool! A Guardian Statue! And from this angle! AND this one! And this one!"

"Ugh. Koji stop being lame. Lets cruise for chicks." One of the other male students fans himself while he watches Koji.

"Haha...I guess I'm over doing it. However, girls like a guy with a talent and photography seems like worthy talent to have. How does this look?"

His friend looks at the view screen. "You left the lens cap on."

"EH?!" Koji frowns. "Now I'm gonna have to go back to the start of the shopping arcade."

"NO! Lets just go see the Asakusa Gundam...Come on."


Kaname Chidori, on the other hand, isn't here vacationing; in fact, she's been working part-time at a little family diner in the Asakusa district after school for a little extra spending money. It's not difficult work, but it's time-consuming. And sometimes after a long shift at work, Kaname ends up feeling a little tired.

Despite the onslaught of tourists that hit the area today, Kaname still managed to get out of work on time, something that she's thankful for. Though her Classical Literature test today was the last of her tests for the school week, there was still homework she had to get done for tomorrow's classes. Not to mention, she had promised that she'd meet Macua somewhere later tonight to discuss... well, whatever it was she wanted to discuss.

Kaname frowns. Macua had been acting pretty weird recently, and it had put Kaname on edge as well. Thankfully, though, her worries hadn't dulled her senses--otherwise she would have missed the very thing Koji had dropped.

"Hey!" she shouts as she races towards the duo. Her fast pace never slows, even when she leans down to scoop up the lens cap he had dropped while adjusting his lens. "You forgot this!"


The pair stops as they look over at Kaname, looking her over. Koji's friend whistles, nudging Koji in the side. "Hey, thanks sweet thing. You work here?"

Koji accepts the Lens cap, placing it back in his pocket. "Hey, thanks." He is a lot less sleezy than his friend but that doesn't stop him from giving Kaname a once over with his eyes. He takes a quick picture of one of the buildings before looking back at Kaname with a grin. "I would've been in pretty big trouble if Sayaka figured out I lost her lens cap."


"S-sweet thing...?" Her face twitches slightly at the pet name. Was this guy Kurz's long lost brother or something?

Come to think of it, he does sort of look familiar...

"Actually, I just got off work," she says. "I work at one of the diners close by. Are you from around here? I'm pretty sure I've seen you somewhere before."


Koji laughs nerviously and elbows his friend. "You got no game man. Don't even try it." The pilot of Mazinger Z gives Kaname a wink.

"Tch, just because the great Koji Kabuto has a girlfriend doesn't mean he knows women. I'm pretty sure your ass got lucky with Sayaka." Koji's friend growls, elbowing back.

"First of all...I am pretty great. Second of all, just because I have a girlfriend doesn't mean I can't flirt man. Look, talk, not touch. It's the fundimentals of a successful relationship...Also Sayaka will kill me if I do anymore. It's not like I'm gonna sweep this girl off her feet to the land of high romance or anything!" Koji stops and then looks at Kaname with wide eyes. Did he say that outloud? Probably did. "Haha...Yeah, we're from out of town. We're on a class trip! Koji Kabuto, nice to meet you!"


And suddenly, a memory comes to mind...

o/ "Kaname! Did you see it?! Did you see it on the news?"

"Huh?" Kaname looks up from the notebook sitting in front of her.

"Koji Kabuto!" Shinji shouts, his eyes filled with the same tears of fanboy glee he gets the day after a new Gekiganger has aired. Already, Kaname knows that she's not going to want to hear what Kazama has to say, but she'll tolerate it, anyway. She rests her hand in her cheek and sighs, but still Shinji continues.

"Do you know him?!"

"No, not really," she says flatly.

"THIS GUY!" And in one swift movement, Shinji's unfurled a three-foot long poster of Koji standing in front of the Mazinger Z, his arms folded over his chest. "HE SAVED THE ENTIRE COUNTRY OF MEXICO LAST NIGHT! ISN'T HE THE /GREATEST/?!" Shinji rubs his face against the poster admiringly. Kaname can't help but feel a little weirded out by the entire thing, and it registers on her face. o/

"Oh, you're /that guy/," she says flatly, arms folded over her chest defensively. If he thinks she's some sort of fangirl /floozy/ for returning his lens cap to him, he's sadly mistaken!


Koji blinks at Kaname's hostility. He doesn't register it at first. "Uh..." He looks at his friend who is just laughing at Koji. "Yeah, Koji Kabuto. Hey!" He waves again, looking back at his friend who is leaving to go tell the others to come see Koji get his ass kicked. There is an awkward silence. "Generally you gotta say your name now."


"Don't think that you can win me over with a pet name and your reputation," she says, head held high. "I'm not /that/ easy." Considering that Kaname Chidori hadn't even lost her first kiss, she actually wasn't easy at all.

"Well, I've returned your lens cap, so I should get going." She spins on her heel, and begins to walk off.


Koji watches with a weird look on his face. "What just happened. Hey! Come on! What did I do?" He follows after Kaname.


Kaname stomps off angrily, only to notice that Koji's tailing her. If Sousuke was here, he'd already be in a headlock and in the midst of a hostile interrogation. But since he's not, it's up to Kaname to resolve this issue.

Kaname spins on her heel to face him.

"Look, you!" she says, pointing at him. "The only sort of guy who goes around calling girls 'sweet thing' then introduces himself as some big name pilot is a total /sleazeball/! Some girls might fall for slimy pickup tricks like that, but I /won't/!"


Koji looks at Kaname. "Uh that was my friend. I didn't call you sweet thing. He's that guy over there." Koji points to the group who is watching this exchange. He finally understands what this is. She's probably nuts. "O..kay. Well have a nice day lady. Thanks for finding my cap." The Super Robot pilot waves behind him, looking over his shoulder to make sure she doesn't have a gun.


"You know, you should probably look for other friends to hang out with. Hanging out with guys like that will only give everyone the wrong impression!"

She breathes.

"And you're welcome," she says, pausing before giving Koji his long-awaited introduction. "My name is Kaname Chidori. I'm a third-year student at Jindai High School here in Tokyo-02."


Koji stops in his tracks, looking over his shoulder. "Eh? I can't help what those guys say. Don't you have guys at your school?" He starts to grin and shakes his head. "Was that so hard? I mean I was beginning to think you were some crazy Dr. Hell assassin sent to kill me or something...Then again, they usually give me their names. So, you're a third year?"


"Well, yeah, but I don't make a habit of hanging around /those/ sorts of guys," Kaname says. "Besides, I don't usually get along with people like that." Kurz Weber being the sole exception.

Kaname does, however, flinch at Koji's suggestion. An assassin sent by Dr. Hell? What sort of girl did this guy think she was, anyway?!

Instead, Kaname laughs weakly. "No," she says, raising her hands in an act of surrender. "Just a normal, everyday high school student."

/So, you're a third year?/

"Yeah, as of this April. I'm not looking forward to the entrance exams this winter, though."


Koji chuckles and shakes his head. "Well thats no fun. Being normal means you got nothing to you. I doubt thats true." He leans on the closest building, looking up for a moment. He snaps a picture of the top of the building. "I guess I used to be a normal High School student. I mean I'm pretty tough so I'm one of the gangleaders of the area where I'm from. Other than that, normal as apple pie."

Koji looks back at Kaname. "Well...besides Mazinger. Thats where I get my reputation with most people."


"A /gangleader/?" A gangleader was the one piloting the Mazinger? When it came down to it, Kaname didn't know much about armored suits, but a /gang leader/ piloting the Mazinger? Was the EFA really /that/ desperate for pilots?

"Don't you ever want to be known as something /besides/ the pilot as the Mazinger Z?"


"Hmm? Nah, It's my grandfather's legacy. If I didn't pilot Mazinger, a lot of people would be in trouble. Plus its the last thing he left before he disappeared so I owe it to him." Koji looks at Kaname giving him that look, raising an eyebrow. "I guess you wouldn't get it. I was very close to gramps before he left. Raised me and my little brother after my parents died. Likewise, I got Professor Yumi and Sayaka to worry about. So when I think about it, I don't have much of a choice but I would do it even if I did."

"Beats getting into the occassional Gang fight over turf."


"Wouldn't get it? Just because I don't know anything about piloting giant /machines/ doesn't mean that I don't know anything about family obligation! I'm close to my family, too, you know!" Well, maybe not her /entire/ family, perse... especially not her father. But she did keep in close contact with her younger sister.

"That's what I can't stand about pilots," she says. "If they're not trying to find some way to get out studying, they're talking down to everybody!"


Koji just laughs. "You're doing it too."

He stands up straight, pointing at her. "Assuming I'm just some pilot, who has to spend his time working all the live long day. I'm not military. Far from it. I mean yeah the Government can tell me to ship out but I don't gotta wear some itchy uniform. As for school...Err..Homework is never really a problem"

"You barely know me."


"Hey, I was just wondering!" she protests, her mind wandering to yet another boy pilot she knew. Unlike Koji, he /was/ part of Mithril, and while she wasn't sure what exactly happened behind the scenes, she /was/ pretty sure that he did more than just go out and fight when he was directed.

"So, you a third year too?"


"Hmm. Nope. I could probably test out if I needed to." Koji yawns and stretches. "But eh. I'm comfortable where I am." He looks at her. "So what do you got against pilots?"


"Don't have anything," Kaname says shortly. It's not as though she has something against /all/ pilots. She was good friends with Meiya and Sousuke, after all.

"So then, if you can test out of your grade, then why don't you?"


"Comfortable." Koji looks at her. The pilot of Mazinger Z leans against the wall again. "You certainly seem to have something. I mean you seem like you have a boyfriend whose a pilot or something."


"A boyfriend?!" Immediately, Kaname launches into full-fledged defensive, hands waving maniacally, her lips curled in a nervous smile. "Look, I don't have a boyfriend at all, let alone a pilot one! Besides, even if there /was/ someone I liked who was a pilot, there's no way he'd be able to find time for me with a schedule like /that/."


Koji shakes his head. "Geez. You women are weird. Just own up to it. It's not like liking some guy is going to be some kind of social stigma. If anything it makes you a normal high school student." He places a reassuring hand on her shoulder, giving her a thumbs up. "Look, any pilot who just pilots is neglecting his duties as a person. They are just people to. So any pilot you like will make time for you even if he has to fly around the world to see you. Just how it is....It helps Sayaka pilots her Dad's robot but I don't see her all the time either. Man, I would be dead if I did. We tend to fight a lot."


/Any pilot you like will make time for you even if he has to fly around the world to see you./

Kaname looks down as the Mazinger Z's pilot's words, a faint blush painting itself across her cheeks. Sousuke /had/ flown an AS just to protect her, but where does obligation stop? How is /she/ supposed to know what he thinks when it's his duty to do /just that/?

Kaname lets out a long sigh and scratches the side of her head. For a guy as simple-minded as Sousuke, his motives were pretty difficult to translate.

"So," she says, once she's recovered. "Is that Sakaya your /girlfriend/?"


"Yep. That's her." Koji grins at Kaname, noting the blush. "See I knew I was right. So what are you going to do about it?" He spots a vending machine, gesturing for her to follow. "Come on. Lets get something to drink."


Kaname, strangely enough, complies, tailing after the pilot to the nearby vending machine; she inserts a few coins, makes her selection, and then opens the canned beverage. She downs half of it one fierce gulp.

"Look, I'm not admitting to anything!" she says, once she's done with her beverage. "I told you before, I don't have anything like that!"

She sighs. Loudly. "Look, even if there /was/ someone I liked (and there's /not/)," she adds as an aside. "...there's no real way to even /tell/ if he recipriocates my feelings! So it's not worth worrying about! Drop it!"


Koji watches her write herself into a corner. If she didn't act so defensive, he wouldn't have any idea about this guy. Koji buys himself a beer, taking a gulp before shaking his head. "Look, it doesn't matter how he feels. If you feel like that, then you feel like that. Geez, I need to stop watching those date tip shows with Sayaka...I sound kinda lame right now."


"You don't understand," Kaname moans, exasperated. "He's not a normal guy! If he /was/, all of this would be easy."

She sinks onto a nearby bench. "Why am I taking advice from someone who fraternizes with perverts, anyway?"


"Hey, I'm a pervert too. Just not in the mood at the moment...And you're taking advice because some needs to give it to you. Otherwise you'll end up that dogboy and his girlfriend on that anime I caught my friend Boss watching once..." Koji shudders and looks over at Kaname. "And all guys are the same. Does matter who they are. Just be straight forward. No mind games. I like you. Use those exact words. Not any of this kinda sorta stuff."


And for the second time that day, Kaname Chidori blushes.

I like you. When he said it, it seemed so simple. But gathering up the bravery to say those three words to Sousuke... that would be the difficult part. And there was no telling if he'd understand what she really meant. She could already hear his voice in his head:

"I like you too, Miss Chidori. I like you too, Miss Chidori. You are one of my closest contacts and valuable asset to Mythril."

Kaname sighs, sinking slightly in her seat. With a word as vague as 'like', Sousuke was /bound/ to misunderstand things.

"So," she says, "When do you go back to school?"


Koji drinks his beer, sitting across from Kaname. He finishes it, tossing the can at the trash can. He gets up and pays for another, opening the can. "Hmm? Technically, I am on a school trip. I just ditched the tour to see this part of Tokyo 02 myself. Sayaka is probably around here somewhere." He shrugs, giving her a grin as he takes another sip. "So Jindai High School eh?"


"Well, having lived here for as long as I have, most of the stuff in the area isn't really impressive," Kaname says. "You'll probably want to check out the Asukasa Gundam, though, being a pilot and all." Pilots had to be interested in that sort of stuff, right?

"Yeah," she confirms. "Then after this year, I'll hopefully be attending classes at Tokyo University. I /was/ thinking of attending Waseda, but the Shinjuku incident put an end to /that/ thinking."


"Yeah. I think I'll check that out." Koji sips his beer, nodding. "I mean I'm probably also gonna check out the temples too. Get a charm for my little brother...though he probably wants me to find him one of those beetles or something from one of those Masked Rider shows." He makes a list of gifts in his head as he listens to Kaname. "Tokyo U, eh? Hard school to get into."


"Yeah," she says, standing up; her back arched in a stretch. "But it shouldn't be much of a problem. Still not sure what I'm going to do once I get there, though."

Kaname turns to face Koji. While at first he gave her a bad first impression, he didn't seem like such a bad guy. She couldn't think of all that many men who could talk about love so earnestly to just about a total stranger. And virtually none of the guys she knew ever talked about their relationships with the family the way Koji did.

"You know," she says, "I think I might have misjudged you."


"Go to class? I'd probably see what kind of party's they have. I'm a guy who loves to meet the ladies." A stupid grin crosses Koji's face and he just laughs it away. "I dunno what I'll do when I get to that level. I might just take on gramps' old gig. He taught me a lot about mechanics and science."

"Hmm? Nah. I'm a guy. I'd probably hit on you like any other guy if I felt like it. Nothing really good natured about me." Koji finishes his second beer, tossing it in the garbage. "However, I'm close with my family. I don't got much of it anymore but I keep what I got."


Kaname spins around. "You know, it's nice that you can think that way. Wish I could say I felt the same way..." Depsite losing her mother, she felt no closeness to her father; if anything, the loss of Kaname's mother had only served to create further tension between the pair.


Koji shrugs and looks her in the eye. "Isn't that the way to be? I mean if you don't got your family, you're pretty lonely in the end. Then again, sometimes thats the way it is and you need to build your own family with the people you do have around."


Kaname's phone would start ringing.


Kaname smiles. "You know, now I'm sure that I misjudged you!"

But before she can say anything more, she's interrupted my a phone call; Macua Huitl's name lights up the screen.

"Excuse me," she says, and she turns around, then presses the call button. "Hello?"


Macua Huitl is on the other end. "Hey Kaname? Is something wrong? I thought we were going to meet up where I asked about an hour or so ago? Has anything gone wrong?" Macua is sounding nervous


Kaname acks. "N-no, I just, I lost track of time, that's all!" she manages to stammer out. "I'll be right over."

And once this is confirmed, Kaname snaps her phone shut. "I'm sorry, Koji, but I've got to cut this short. I was supposed to meet a friend earlier, and I /completely/ forgot about it."


Koji chuckles and waves. "Go. Just go do something fun with yourself. I'm probably gonna go drink some beer with my classmates and maybe go to Shinjuku later. Nice meeting you."


Macua says "All right, I'm sorry for the location but it's the best place to go. Given the remains of Shinjuku are quiet." Koji might have heard that last part ain't Shinjuku still in ruins...?


"It was nice meeting you, too!" And that said, Kaname races off, making her way to the place she promised to meet Macua, in the ruins of Shinjuku.