Title: Going Fishing

Series: Full Metal Panic

Pairing: Sousuke x Kaname

AN: This pretty much AU, given my vague familiarity with the novels. I'm about halfway through The End of Day by Day (which got made into TSR) and have some spoilers for Dancing Very Merry Christmas, Continuing On My Own, and Burning One Man Force, but the timelines are very fuzzy. So we're just gonna say that it happens during an imaginary senior year, pretending that whatever happens in the conclusion to Burning One Man Force (which hasn't been written yet, as far as I know. GAH!!) is happy and leaves them pretty much at status quo as of the end of Dancing Very Merry Christmas (i.e. completely ignoring the events of COMO and BOMF). Confused yet? Yeah, same here. So, um, spoilers for everything up to and including DVMC, because I refer to a scene that actually takes place in that novel. So all you hardcore canon-istas out there—eep, sorry! And there will be lime in part IV, so the rating will increase later. Just so's ya know.

Disclaimer: Not mine. The original characters and concepts belong to Shouji Gatou, who wrote the novels that formed the basis for the animes and manga.

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Part I: Choosing the Bait

Kaname leaned backwards in the chair, arching her spine and wincing at the resultant crackles. Though she refused to attend the cram schools most of her classmates had enrolled in, she had been putting in long hours studying for her college exams, and her body and mind were both utterly stiff. Plus, she had the most awful headache, but she couldn't tell if it was caused more by eyestrain from reading so long or by the uncharacteristic bun she'd put her waist-length hair into to keep it out of her eyes while she studied. She sighed and glanced over at her bodyguard and study partner.

"I'm taking a break. Do you want anything to drink or a snack while I'm up?"

Sousuke shook his head, declining without ever looking up from the thick Japanese history texts that were his choice of study material. They were at her apartment, mainly because it was more comfortable than his place and more secure than a public building like the library.

'One must always consider security above all else, after all. Especially if that one is Sergeant Sousuke Sagara.' Kaname's mental commentary didn't contain her long-ago bitterness towards Sousuke's fixation on her safety. After all her kidnappings and his various dramatic rescues, any protests on her part at his security measures were mostly out of habit and not particularly forceful.

Kaname rattled around in her kitchen, collecting snacks and drinks for two despite Sousuke's refusal. She supposed her habit of feeding him stemmed from her discovery that when left to his own devices, he mostly just ate those awful military rations. That was probably also why her snack choices these days were more on the healthy side, she mused as she finished neatly slicing an apple and putting it in a bowl on the tray.

Returning to the living room, she plonked the tray down between them and grabbed one of the apple slices before resuming her seat. Kaname leaned back and stretched her legs in front of her, crunching into her apple slice before eyeing the pile of study materials on the table before her with a decidedly hostile glare. Giving in to the urge for a more extended break, Kaname admitted defeat by pulling the restraints keeping her hair piled on top of her head. Tossing the pins on the coffee table next to the tray, she massaged her fingers against her scalp, her so-black-it-shone-blue hair streaming down behind her.

"I just wish I could take a break from all this!"

"I thought that's what you were doing?" Sousuke's expression was a bit confused as he briefly glanced up from his survey of the history of ancient Japan. History was his weakest subject, especially Japanese history, and so he was putting in extra time on it to make sure he could at least graduate from high school with her—or at least that's what he'd told Kaname. He hadn't mentioned any plans about college, or what he was going to be doing after she graduated.

'Of course it doesn't bother me, not knowing what's going to happen to us once I graduate. I'm still a Whispered, so I'm still in danger. I don't even know how many times someone's tried to kidnap me these past few years. He'll still have to be here to protect me, I'm sure. Probably.'

"I mean a vacation, I guess. One that doesn't involve me getting kidnapped, or being held hostage at gun point, or things blowing up." Kaname leaned back further, resting her head on the edge of the chair, staring distractedly up at the ceiling. "It'd just be nice to get away, do a little relaxing, you know?"

"I could make arrangements for that, if you'd like."

"Huh?" Kaname was sure her befuddlement showed plainly on her face, but fortunately Sousuke was still seemingly intent on his history text.

"It's been a while, but I did promise to take you fishing again. If you really want to get away, we've got winter break coming up, and it would be a good time for us to go."

'Who is this person, and where did he hide my Sousuke?' was the first thought that flashed across Kaname's mind, followed quickly by a mental shake of herself for the injustice of it. She was so accustomed to thinking of Sousuke as an awkward, socially inept idiot that his deliberate kindnesses always caught her off guard. But that kindness was as much a part of Sousuke as his ineptitude at relationships. She just had a tendency to forget how sweet he could be, especially whenever he would pull one of his monumentally stupid stunts that made her smack him into the ground.

"I think... I'd like that." Kaname managed to fumble out her answer, and went back to her studies even more confused by the look of pleased relief that had crossed Sousuke's face.