fmp odbd ch04b, Light Novel, Full Metal Panic, 1. The End of Day by Day
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Full Metal Panic!
The End of Day by Day
Chapter Four, Part B
May 16, 2004
Same Time
Maruyamachou, Shabuya, Tokyo
"How's this place?" the middle-aged man asked when they reached 'Love
Hotel Hill' in Dougenzaka.
He was pointing to a hotel painted in chic colors with a "vacancy" sign
lit up. The signboard said "Hotel Diversion". Renting the room was 5500 yen
for two hours, and 9000 yen per day.
The rain, which had been sprinkling since earlier, was gradually becoming
heavier. Soon it would probably turn into a torrential downpour.
It wasn't more than 100 meters from the business district, but this area
was quiet and deserted. The only people they passed were couples (why is
everyone either walking in small steps or half running?). There was almost no
one walking by themselves. A single partner or a man by himself stood out.
"Ooh... that'll do."
Without thinking, she clinched her fists.
When he saw that, the middle-aged man- Kamoi, he called himself- looked a
little dubious, but pulled himself together and put his hand on Kaname's
shoulder.
"It's okay? Yeah, okay. Then let's go. Alright? Alright?"
"Wait a second."
She slipped out from under his hand, and trotting in front of the love
hotel, she briefly checked out its exterior. She looked around the surrounding
area, and checked how it was situated in relation to the other buildings.
"Okay. Let's go in."
"Alright, Mizuki. I'll try my best, ha ha ha..."
Mizuki was the alias that she had quickly thought up. Sorry, Mizuki...
Kaname thought apologetically to her friend.
Taking long strides and leaving the high-spirited man by himself, Kaname
went through the entrance of the hotel. The cheap automatic door rattled open.
The lights inside were dim. It didn't have the large lobby like a regular
hotel; the ceiling was low, and the pathway was narrow.
There was a reception desk, as well as a strange lit-up board across from
a small corner. It was about half the size of a school blackboard, and it had
pictures of 40 guest rooms lined up on it. Under each picture was the room
number, a red light and a button, about half of which were lit up.
(...what's this?)
She thought blankly. As ideas of what it would be used for swam around in
her head, Kamoi caught up with her.
"What kind of room would you like?" he asked.
Ah. In other words, you chose the room with these buttons. Pictures
without the lights on probably meant that those rooms were "in use".
(In use...)
She suddenly came back to herself.
Am I serious? Coming to such a place, it's not the least bit decent.
It's not too late, I can change my mind. I can leave this kind of love hotel.
No, no. If I do that, I won't make any progress. Problems with morals or
chastity are on a whole other level. Those words that he used often- "a
security issue". That's why this might be the breakthrough. Don't chicken out.
Use your head. Come up with something.
It was a short conflict. Kaname calmed down her feelings and checked one
of the vacant rooms. After that she carefully scrutinized the structure of the
love hotel that was on an "in case of disaster" sketch of the building next to
the check board. The location of the room. The location of the window. Which
way was North... good.
"Room 202."
"Eh? There are better rooms, you know. That one looks a little small-"
"Then I'll go home."
"Ahh- I was joking, joking. I'm sorry, that'll be fine. Okay? Okay?"
Kamoi said, trying to pacify her. He had absolutely no dignity.
They pressed the button, took the keycard and headed to the second floor.
There was an elevator right next to room 202. As she halfheartedly
answered her partner's small talk of "Which school has that uniform you're
wearing?" and "It's okay to just relax," Kaname entered the room.
(This is surprising. It's not that bad after all...)
She thought at first glance.
The lighting was bright, the furniture was new, and every nook and cranny
was clean. There was even a large screen LCD television and audio set. She had
thought that a love hotel would be more shabby and indecent.
But of course, the most prominent thing in the room was the huge double
bed in the corner. Beside the bed was a tissue box and- ahh, that's enough.
It works. Anyway, time to explain the situation to the old man.
"Now then, I have something I need to tell you-" she started to say as she
turned around, but Kamoi was breathing heavily and coming near her. While
taking his jacket off he unfastened his tie, and strutted towards her. There
was a strange look in his eyes. He was definitely a different person now.
"We can take a bath afterwards."
"Huh?"
"You're so cute, Mizuki."
"Well, besides that I have to tell you-"
"You don't have to be afraid."
"No, that's not-"
"Ahh, a high school girl's uniformmm."
"Now just wait a minute, first I have to tell-"
"Mizukiii!!"
With almost enough energy to collide with her, Kamoi sprung and clung onto
her. She about choked on his breath, which reeked of liquor. With the power of
a tsunami, Kaname pinned him down with almost no resistance. An ordinary girl
probably would have cried out. But unfortunately for him, Kaname was different.
She had run through a barrage of bullets and shells flying all around her with
Sousuke. Ruthless terrorists had pointed their gun at her. She had even gone
one on one with that robust Sergeant John Danigan in a literal fight to the
death.
Compared to that, this guy was a pushover.
"Really...!"
Without becoming confused or excited, with her right hand she grabbed the
20-thousand volt stun gun that she had placed in her bag to be able to take out
quickly. She calmly removed the safety, and with the intent to be no crueler
than this, she accurately pressed the pins up against Kamoi's flank and jerkily
pressed the trigger.
"-!!"
After he convulsed for a few moments, he stopped moving completely. His
extremely heavy body was now pressing down on Kaname, who was lying on the bed
face up.
With difficulty, she pushed her companion off of her. Then taking a deep
breath, she muttered:
"I wonder who the victim was in this scenario...?"
After taking a few minutes to get her breath back, Kaname set into action.
With a "pa-", she opened up her overnight bag and groped through its contents.
She pulled out two pairs of aluminum alloy handcuffs, tear gas spray, an ultra-
strength flashlight, and another disposable stun gun. If you compared her to
what you would call a standard female high school student, she was the heavy
arms exception of all time.
These were weapons that Sousuke had forced on her a while back that she
had never really looked over until now. The handcuffs were articles that she
had confiscated from Sousuke. All of them were things that had been in the
corner of a drawer covered in dust until today.
Putting the handcuffs between her teeth, and then grabbing the stupefied
Kamoi's legs, she pulled him into the bathroom. She of course staggered many
times due to the adult male's unexpected weight.
The bathroom was surprisingly magnificent. The Jacuzzi style bathtub was
big enough to easily fit two people.
(Ah... it's actually made for two people...)
She realized curiously, and then she looked at a metal fixture next to the
bathtub. It looked as if it were made to hold a towel, but its positioning was
unnatural. It probably had some use extremely unfathomable to her.
Oh, well. It looked sturdy enough.
She handcuffed Kamoi's leg to the fixture, checking its strength many
times. That'll do. He definitely wouldn't be able to leave the bathroom. Even
if he should start yelling for help, that's the kind of place this hotel was.
The soundproofing was excellent.
Alright, next.
She violently shut the bathroom door, then looked around the wash bin.
She grabbed the complimentary bathrobe and returned to the bed.
"Now then..."
Putting her hands on her hips, she carefully looked at the clothes she was
wearing. They were the same winter clothes that she was used to. But her guess
from earlier- since she couldn't deny the possibility of a transmitter, she had
no choice but to separate herself from all of her things at once.
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