Disclaimer: Don't own Full Metal Panic or any of it's characters.

Rating: T, with hints of M

A little different on the sell, but otherwise, surprise :P Been a few months since "Explaining Love to a Sergeant" in-story (for those who aren't into M-rated stuff, they basically got close and 'did it' eventually), but not too much has changed, other than a bit more experience lol... Enjoy.

"Hmm..."

So he said as he carefully looked over the spreadsheets, which were littered across his desk, though more organized than most uses of the word, attention fully focused upon them. He noted which stocks were rising/falling, competition and their methods, as well as location and routes. In particular, the cost of metal was slightly higher than he'd anticipated, but the stocks of specialized electronics were falling rapidly, which would save him more overall.

Footsteps, the subtle clicks of a key unlocking a door...

He heard this, and his instincts instantly recognized his visitor as Kaname with only a mere flick of his eyes.

"Okay, I'm back from shopping!"

He turned his attention to Kaname, knowing that continued focus on the spreadsheets would only anger her (ignoring her always did so). "Hello, Kaname."

She got a little flat look, then sighed. "It's been two months since school started, and you still can't say 'Hey'" she said, pulling her feet out of her shoes. She still wore her school uniform, having gone shopping after school had ended, and dropping off the groceries at her apartment. Whereas he had simply walked home, doing his specific work.

"I said it that one time" he pointed out mildly.

"Yeah, then immediately backspaced over it with 'Sorry, Ms Chidori'" she said, imitating him with a deeper tone of voice.

"It's not that bad of an impression, quite possibly" he thought, then out loud: "Was that wrong?"

She stared at him for the longest time, looking fairly irritated, until she hung her head. "Technically, no, just me wishing you'd loosen up sometimes" she said, ruefully at first, then changing to playfully soft. "But if you weren't this stiff and disciplined and humorless, you wouldn't be strangely lovable" she continued, raising her head with a small smile on one corner of her lip.

He realized he liked that particular smile, and was looking forward to seeing it more; a little quirk of couples?

He brought his focus back, acknowledging this new aspect and putting it off for more in-depth study later. "Thank you" he answered gently.

They looked at each other for awhile longer, then Kaname's gaze drifted to his desk, which soon got her full attention. She slowly tilted her head before asking, "What are you doing with all that?"

"Research" he answered easily, taking the sheet he had been studying earlier and making sure to organize it with the rest.

"For school stuff?"

"No, more of a personal nature-"

"What the hell are you thinking!?" she demanded, having suddenly gotten closer and nearly yelling right in his ear, so he was rather put off. "I mean seriously, your schoolwork is still behind because of that last mission you went on, and you might have to take remedial lessons! And yet you're doing something personal? Why waste time like this!?"

While still put off, he turned to face Kaname again. "I do not think it is a waste of time" he said mildly.

"Oh yeah, and why's that?" she asked sarcastically, pretty much right in his face.

He was unfazed. "The purpose of this research is seeing what it would take to secure an income for myself in the future" he said, hoping he worded that right.

Kaname opened her mouth to say something, but his words sunk in before she could, and her expression changed radically. "...future?" she repeated, sounding a little stunned. "You mean, like, uh... 'future' future?"

He merely nodded.

"Oh" she slowly said, slowly leaning back up to her normal height, his eyes following this motion. "Well why didn't you tell me-" she started angrily before stopping, then she appeared to be guilty for a split-second. "-uh, that it was so serious?" she continued, in a softer tone.

He hummed just the slightest bit. "I believe it was because I was saying 'Hello' minutes ago, then you reacted to that" he started. "And 'one thing led to the other', as I recall."

The barest glimpse of a flat look, then she crossed her arms, but not in the annoyed fashion. "Fair enough" she relented, then she glanced at the spreadsheets on his desk. "So, when you say income, you mean in addition to Milthril's pay?"

"...without, actually."

Both of them were surprised; Kaname at what he'd just said, and Sousuke that it had been much harder to say than he'd anticipated.

"Sousuke" she breathed, worried and confused.

He slowly sighed, turning to face the spreadsheets, but not fully. "As I have come to realize, my life at Milthril is just... not fulfilling, to a degree." he said carefully. "Fighting and following orders were all I knew, but it did not give me joy, or any emotion at all really. I was just a killer, a mercenary. Now, as I fight with the Arbalest, I do it to help people, but-"

When he trailed off, Kaname slowly shifted beside him: "But what?"

But-" he started, glancing at her. "I feel my life here, at Jindai High, and with you... is far more rewarding."

She gasped, her cheeks turning red and her eyes 'shining'.

He slowly breathed out, the admission having unsettled him, but merely because this was still not his area of expertise. "And because I feel that, being called away on missions now... is interfering with that reward, as it were. And I do not appreciate the small-yet-viable risk that I could be killed in action, leaving you here, alone" he said, feeling his heart 'pound'. Now he knew what it meant; it almost felt like a hammer on the inside of his ribcage.

A full minute passed by, then Kaname slowly stepped closer, making him look up at her in response. Her hands moved carefully, then touched themselves to his cheek and his hair, respectfully.

"I think that's the sweetest thing you've ever said." she said, in the her softest tone.

Then she kissed him.

He managed to kiss her back, but he gasped a bit when her tongue suddenly licked across his upper lip. Still, he slowly settled into the experience, holding her by the waist as he opened his mouth. However, Kaname merely continued to lick across his upper (and lower) lip, strangely ignoring the invitation to enter his mouth.

When she pulled away, he was left staring at her, slightly out-of-breath.

She merely smiled a little, on the corner of her mouth. "And you know, it actually works out with my future plans" she said, keeping her touch at his cheek and hair, but now moving to just behind him. He tried to glance over-his-shoulder toward her, but the small nudge from her fingers showed he wasn't to, at least not yet.

"Uh, how so?" he asked softly.

She did not respond right away, merely continued to toy with a few strands of his hair, and somewhat caress his cheek. This did not make him nervous, as on several occasions, Kaname had done similar 'sessions' with him. She had (exasperatedly) claimed that sometimes she was in that type of mood, and it could happen at almost anytime, randomly, and was not anything remotely bad or wrong. He still didn't fully understand, but he had contented himself with it, as it was pleasant.

"What do you actually plan to do?"

"Ah" he breathed, feeling her hands now starting to work on his shoulders. "Well, since I would no longer operate the Arbalest on Mithril's orders after a few years, they would need more Lambda Drivers in my place. So, I think I would go into the supply business, selling AS parts and ammunition to anyone, but only the highest quality would go to Mithril."

"Do you even know how to make one? And what about those Bonta-kun suits; weren't they a sales bomb?" she asked, mostly soft, but with a touch of playful now.

"As far as Bonta-kun, I did not realize the suit's exterior was affecting the sales" he said mildly, her fingers continuing to 'dig' into his shoulder muscles; it did feel good in spots. "Now that I understand civilian emotions and society a little bit better, I should be better equipped. And not fully, but I intend to find out.

"How so?"

"By careful examination of what A.I. remembers, what information I can scrounge up from servers worldwide... and perhaps, if you were willing, a little of your assistance, Kaname."

Five seconds of silence, then: "I can think about it."

Her tone gave no indication of approval or eagerness, but he was still relieved; he had expected resistance. She was not completely happy about being a Whispered in the first place, after all.

Her work on his shoulders continued after a little.

"But what about Mao? And Kurz? Won't you miss them?"

He noted she did not mention his Captain, but after a moment, he remembered that women sometimes did not like competition - even more if the relationship was already established. However, he did not think it was deliberate, more subconscious. "I believe I will" he stated faintly, slowly breathing out. "However, while we would not see each other too often physically, I do not intend to be out of communication with them."

A small hum from her, and he could almost hear her smiling, somehow. "Still, this business of yours - could it support yourself and me, if you needed to?"

He blinked, and his heart-rate spiked further, but he could not place why. "If my calculations are correct, it would take careful management for awhile, at first" he managed to say. "There would be little margin for unnecessary things - but, it is possible.

Silence, except for their breathing.

"Well then-"

He started a little; Kaname's soft breath had almost literally been whispered against his ear.

"In a few years, once everything's in order for both of us - I intend to make you mine."

He was confused; make him hers? Then a thought entered his head, and he remembered that teenagers sometimes spoke of making people 'their's' through inter- uh, 'sex'. But it also spoke that doing so was unofficial, and everyone knew that; Kaname must as well. So why would she say-

Unless-

He started going full-on nervous, and he could already feel himself starting to sweat. He was pretty sure his lip was trembling, and his eyebrow (or some other part of him) starting to twitch...

A soft little giggle in his ear surprised him, enough that he jerked. "I said 'in a few years' you silly goose!"

"Goose?" he thought, blinking and nonplussed by that, but also simultaneously trying to process the fact that he was suddenly very warm. "Oh" he breathed, unable to do much more.

She giggled again, then she moved both hands onto his hair, and kissed the top of his head. "Plenty of time."

He felt relieved, knowing that there was time to consider things. He also knew that her kiss's location was uncommon (she preferred his lips or his cheek), but he did kinda like it as well. However, when she started walking away without saying/doing anything else, he was confused. He quickly turned his head toward her. The sudden warmth he felt only increased the more he observed her retreating figure, and he realized he did not wish her to leave.

Odd.

But what about the heat? He hadn't felt this warm since the multiple times they'd-

He got really nervous again, but just as suddenly as it appeared, it stopped as he remembered a conversation they had the last time they'd, well, 'done it' some time ago:

He tried to slow his breathing, and only partly succeeded, laying there on his bed. "I must admit... this 'afterglow' I've read about, it uh, really works for you, Kaname" he whispered.

"Oh, Sousuke..." she breathed beside him, really soft, her cheeks turning pinker.

"You-" he started faintly. "Kaname, you like it when I say such things?"

She breathed out, almost a giggle, even as her sweaty body gleamed. "Very much" she softly said to him. "Things you don't normally say, at all, but you still say them sincerely? I like that."

"Then perhaps-" he started, faltering a bit but managing otherwise. "Perhaps next time, well, I can be the one who 'comes onto you'."

Her mouth curled a little, mostly soft, but he also recognized some playful in there. "I would love it if you came onto me" she said, as mildly as was possible for her soft tone. "But Sousuke, despite all you've learned... unless we're already 'doing' it, you haven't shown any signs of those kinds of urges. And until it actually happens, you might not be able to recognize it."

"Hmm" he had breathed, laying curled against her arm, his finger currently resting just below her right breast. "It would be a powerful 'want', correct?" he asked, slowly moving his finger just to the underside. "I would feel really warm?"

She breathed out at this touch, but though she did not react much after that, it seemed clear she was liking his little 'tease' there.

She smiled, really soft now. "And you wouldn't want to be anywhere else, but with me" she'd whispered, slowly looking up at the ceiling. "Only me. Nothing else would matter."

"Nothing else would matter" he slowly stated to himself, with barely any volume.

He did not wish her to go; he suddenly felt very warm, particularly around his chest and 'other' regions; all other things he had planned for today had suddenly become insignificant. He saw Kaname move as if in slow-motion, where his brain was going full speed - he knew what it was he was feeling, but he needed a plan, he needed time to think things through-

He gave a little gasp, inaudible to anyone but him.

Kaname was just at the door, her right hand on the knob-

"Oh!" she breathed, turning around, only to realize Sousuke had lightly gripped her by her free wrist. She glanced down at this arrangement, then back at him. "Sousuke?" she breathed.

He wondered if he was being reckless... but no, this was an instinctive urge; he could not overthink things of this nature, especially the deeper ones.

He slowly stepped closer, touching both hands up to her shoulders. At first she just glanced at where his hands were, but she breathed out when he slowly started moving up, right onto her cheeks. Overall a good sign, he thought.

When he started leaning in, she was further surprised, her lips opening instinctively. Because he was extra slow this time, Kaname had plenty of time to decide, and soon she started closing her eyes, lifting herself up a little. The kiss was simple, but soon he was opening his mouth, further surprising her even as she went along with it. He even stuck his tongue in before they'd really started, making her squeak, even as his hands lowered just a bit around her collarbones.

"Sousuke?" she wondered, really breathy against him, her fingers finding his hair. "What's gotten into you?"

He did not answer, but one hand slowly went even lower...

Kaname jerked when he found her chest, and she tore herself away from him with a gasp, but purely because of surprise. He remained a little worried as Kaname recovered, a mere inch from him, panting a bit.

"What are you...?" she breathed, eyes closed, repeating going 'Hah hah hah'.

"I am-" he started, slowly working his other hand through her hair (which she had no issue with). "Kaname, I am still learning, but I bel- I feel that... that at this moment, I-I only want you."

When there was no reaction at all, he worried that it hadn't registered with her, or that he had done something wrong - until she smiled, eyes half-open.

"Well-" she breathed softly, suddenly with 'that' tone. "You're learning."

The warmth increased a little. "...very good" he answered softly, noting this.

She giggled at that, then she launched herself at his mouth, kissing him passionately.

He groaned instinctively, but it was one of approval - he gripped her by the waist as he returned the favor.

A potential what-if look into the future, on all sides :)

That's about it, lol XD