Amathian Legends Presents…

Full Metal Party!

Tuatha de Danaan

Hangar, 0815 hrs.

"That was some bad-ass gun slinging there Sousuke." said Sergeant Major Melissa Mao.

Sergeant Sousuke Sagara climbed down from the ARX-7 Arbalest as carefully as he could. Still sporting a sore rib from a mission to Pakistan a few weeks prior, Sousuke was taking it easy while performing his missions as best he could. He wasn't one for sitting around doing nothing.

"Thank-you Mao." said Sousuke in his monotonous voice, removing his helmet. "ARX-7 performed quite well today, no major damage to the joints or internal systems."

"Yo, Sousuke!" called Sergeant Kurtz Webber, rushing over to greet his friend. Sousuke grimaced as Kurtz slapped him hard on the back. "Opps, did that hurt you buddy?"

"Affirmative." said Sousuke.

"Sorry pal." said Kurtz. "So you heading out now?"

"Out where?" asked Sousuke, immediately thinking of another mission. "Does Captain Testarossa require me to take Arbalest out on another mission?"

Kurtz and Mao laughed long and hard at this innocent question. The 'serious sergeant' kept his face straight, but inside he was beginning to become confused by everything going on around him.

"I meant are you ready to go back to Tokyo." Kurtz clarified.

"Affirmative." said Sousuke. "I will be continuing my mission as Kaname Chidori's bodyguard the moment I touch down."

"No you won't." said a stern voice behind him.

Sousuke recognized that voice and immediately snapped to attention. In front of him, Mao and Kurtz both went to attention and offered salutes to Lieutenant Commander Kalinin. The former Russian soldier returned the salute and looked down at his subordinate with an icy stare.

"Mr. Sagara, you are required to take a leave of absence." Kalinin informed Sousuke.

"Sir?" Sousuke questioned, not understanding the meaning of the order. "Does this have to do with my previous performance in Helmajistan or is someone targeting me?"

"Neither Sergeant." said Kalinin, just as seriously as his subordinate. "You are to take a leave of absence due to your injuries. Your body cannot take any more abuse until it has fully healed."

"But sir, I-" began Sousuke.

"This order came directly from Captain Testarossa herself." continued Kalinin, ignoring Sousuke's protests. "You will take a week off to recuperate while you are in Tokyo. How and where you do it is your own business."

Sousuke opened his mouth to argue at first, but suddenly paused to think about how strong a case he could even make against such an order. Finally, he straightened up and replied. "Understood sir."

Jindai High

Free Period, 1440 hrs.

"So are we going to do it?" asked Kyoko Tokiwa, her hands on her legs as she leaned over.

"I like the sound of it." said Mizuki Inaba with a grin. "I can't wait."

"Does Kaname know?" asked Shinji Kazama.

"No, I don't think-" began Kyoko.

"Know what?" asked Kaname, appearing behind Mizuki all of the sudden.

Kaname's long, luxurious black hair was kept back by the red ribbon she always wore regardless of what else she was wearing. Her brown eyes scanned her friends carefully, trying to determine what it was that they were talking about.

"Well Kaname, we were thinking about having a-" began Kyoko, who was interrupted by another voice. This one was uninteresting and serious.

"Sorry I'm late everyone." apologized Sousuke, appearing out of the bushes. He was stuffing something behind his back.

At first glance, it looked like was just tucking in his shirt. For someone like Kaname, however, his hand suspiciously looked like it was holding a Glock 19. Kaname frowned at him, but either he didn't notice or didn't care what she thought about it.

"Sousuke!" exclaimed Kyoko. "You've been gone for two days! Where did you go?"

"My apologies Miss Tokiwa." apologized Sousuke. "I cannot reveal that information to you."

"Why not?" asked Shinji, though he already knew the answer.

"That's classified." Sousuke answered truthfully. "But it appears that I am just in time to make it to English. Excellent, I won't draw as much attention to myself."

"Draw attention to yourself?" said Kaname. "Everything you do draws attention to yourself!"

"Negative Miss Chidori." Sousuke encountered seriously. "Most terrorists would not notice a high school student missing from class unless they were specifically targeting that person."

"Huh?" said everyone in the circle.

"Uh, never mind." said Sousuke, quickly remembering that all of these people were civilians. "Counter-Terrorism training is beyond your level of understanding."

"Anyways we were talking about having a slumber party." continued Kyoko, looking away from Sousuke and focusing on Kaname. "Interested?"

"That sounds fun. We can have it at my place." Kaname offered. "What about you Sousuke?" "What?" asked Sousuke.

"Do you want to go to a slumber party?" Kaname repeated.

"I don't understand." said Sousuke. "What is the purpose of having a party where you sleep? Is it some sort of Japanese holiday?" "No silly!" said Kyoko. "It's just a sleep-over. We eat food, watch movies, play games, you name it."

"I see…" said Sousuke, trailing off as he took in the information. "Well, I am suppose to take it easy for a while…"

"So you'll come?" asked Kaname.

"Affirmative." said Sousuke. "It will be a valuable learning experience."

"Then we'll meet at Kaname's house around eight tomorrow night." said Kyoko.

The bell rang, indicating the end of free period. Sousuke sighed as he followed Shinji into the changing room. What on earth could he talk about at this 'slumber party'?

Kaname: Alright, we're all here and…uh, what is that Sousuke?

Sousuke: Oh these? These are copies of AS Fan, I thought they would make interesting conversation during our activity.

Kaname: What are you talking about?

Next Chapter of FMP! Slumber Party: Party Crasher

Sousuke: Spirit de Corps is vital to any unit. I suppose it's the same for high schools as well.

Kaname: Huh?