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

Rating: M

Takes place after The Second Raid, anime/OVA only, but with a few nods to events from the manga. Sousuke is more-or-less the same, and Kaname should be the same, but she'll be a bit quicker to her softer side in some cases - and that might translate to somewhat out-of-character depending on your point-of-view lol. Will be a fairly long story, but will only start to show it after the first few chapters.


The next day; 2 months total
1 day from school's start

Kaname worked to prepare lunch, but still felt worried. She glanced at the clock for the seventh time:

10:53

Sousuke still hadn't woken up.

Before, she probably would have chalked this up as a rare, yet worthy opportunity to make fun of his military upbringing failing him. Now she was just concerned; had it really taken THAT much effort out of him?

Even that indirect 'it' made her cheeks turn red though; everything was fuzzy, but the sensations were still very vivid. Sousuke hadn't been half-bad, and with what little experience he had, had made her feel really good. If he could just use that calculating and planning nature of his even better, he'd do well - but she knew having him go for a loving touch would take even more effort. And so far, the 'stains' had been the only thing that'd annoyed her after she woke up, even after discovering she felt a little 'weird' down there, but the rest simply made her heart beat faster. How was she going to say all this to his face though, if he even asked her how it had felt for her?

Eventually, she came out of it, and was startled to hear the shower running - then she just felt relieved. It wasn't too long before Sousuke himself came out, in 'civilian' uniform, with only his hair damp. She noted that he looked the same as he usually did, and acted much the same, expression included - but still, his feelings about last night must be swirling around in there somewhere, deep down.

"Kaname" he said evenly. "Thank you for allowing me to use your shower."

"You're welcome" she said softly, after a moment. She placed her hands behind her back, still worried. "Are you okay?"

"If you're referring to my health, I am fine." he answered, which made the corner of her lip curl. Then he slowly glanced to the side: "If however, you are referring to 'last night' - I do not know."

"You mean, you haven't recovered yet?"

"Not fully" he admitted. "And my 'sleeping in' is a serious concern-"

"Of course it is" she thought, mentally giggling.

He continued: "-but also, I am conflicted."

Jolted, she stepped closer. "What does that mean?"

He looked at her evenly, military-still. "Kaname, I was not able to bring you to the... 'peak' last night." he continued, distinctly uncomfortable for a moment.

She made a little sound, and her cheeks heated up, glancing to the side. She said nothing, merely held a hand to her chest.

"I think that this means that I've failed to please you." he continued faintly. "However, I, uh - I 'feel' like that is not the case. Which is it?"

She fidgeted a bit. "Well uh-" she breathed, before clearing her throat. "If you weren't able to do so nine times out of then, or similar 'numbers', then it would mean you're failing, Sousuke. But - well -"

She trailed off, but Sousuke was patient.

Her hand slowly became a fist over her chest. "But this was only the first time" she continued, rather softly. "Not only is it rare to happen then, but my own body was working against us, because I'd never done... 'that' before."

Sousuke's expression cleared somewhat. "I see" he said mildly, glancing up. "So the first time is generally restricted to a test; it cannot be perfected, no matter the effort. Correct?"

A few seconds passed, then she sighed. "More-or-less" she said faintly, then stepped closer. "But still, it's not exactly a good thing if you use the same technique to bring a girl to the, uh, 'peak'."

He blinked, nonplussed. "Why is that?"

"Because, as we experience it over and over and over again, our body gets used to it" she said carefully, making sure he got it, getting more confident as she went on. "That translates to less pleasure, and less pleasure leads to a vicious cycle that will eventually make it impossible to reach that peak. This applies to doing the same routines, the same actions every single time as well; they lead to a vicious cycle."

He looked troubled, and he turned away for a time. "I did not realize intimacy had such a trap" he said, then looked at her. "I would have preferred it if I could use the same routine each time, but you've made it clear that is not possible."

"Just don't get the wrong idea" she said, more gently this time, briefly confusing him. "When I say same routine, I mean every single little thing being the exact same. If you suddenly did something different, my body would be surprised because that's not routine. And surprise leads to stronger reactions."

He was sweating at the imagery (she was assuming), but he appeared to consider her words. "And this 'shifting' routine," he asked slowly, "it applies to all aspects of intimacy, does it not?"

"I believe so" she answered.

"Including changing positions?"

"Yeah."

"Ah."

After that, they entered a bit of a silence, neither quite sure what to say. It was clear that despite the lack of blush, their hearts were still racing in different ways due to what they were talking about, even in circles.

Until: "Did you, uh, like it?" she asked, very very shyly.

Judging by Sousuke's increased sweating, he knew exactly what she meant, and there were hints of his familiar panic. However, after ten seconds of this, a thought seem to strike him and he became calm again, much to her surprise. She watched as he slowly came closer, feet away in fact, looking at her with a strange intensity. And more than that, he started to lean forward, and not just his head. She wanted to gasp at what she was seeing, but she didn't want to disrupt this, not one bit.

She slowly closed her eyes, opening her lips - and Sousuke's kiss was just as great as the others. After about ten seconds, he pulled away a foot, hands resting on her arms.

Her cheeks were pink. "I'll take that as a 'yes', Sergeant" she said mildly, feeling she could wait for the full explanation, even piece-by-piece if she had to.

He slowly nodded, relieved. "You have my gratitude, Kaname."

She merely smirked, and pulled him back in, his confused surprise making her feel warmer.

When she pulled away, he looked at her, blinking. "That is a strange reaction to gratitude" he merely said.

"For you" she corrected, still smirking. "For anyone else, it makes perfect sense, because that was my answer to the same question."

He opened his mouth, then closed it as he pieced together what that meant. "You mean, that you also liked it?" he asked slowly.

She merely smirked more.


The next day; 2 months total
School's started

The two of them walked together, Sousuke's pack slung over his shoulder with one arm, and her bag in both hands. She was just slightly behind him as they went along.

And she had to admit, though she subtly felt the 'freedom/ease of movement' thing Sousuke mentioned, she was more amazed by the subtle difference in feel. Somehow, instead of the rather bland feel of her old uniform, this felt more soft, almost like a cloud. But was that even his doing, or just a happy coincidence? She discreetly looked at him, trying to decide.

"Hey, Sousuke-"

She breathed out; a targeting laser had appeared over his cheek.

She should have yelled something, but Sousuke was faster, both in realizing it was there and looking toward it's source. "Just ignore it" he said, continuing to walk, sounding disapproving.

But he only went three steps when he realized she wasn't following.

She was in shock. "What?" she breathed, unable to say much more.

Sousuke, laser pointers of any kind and "Just ignore it" did not go together.

"Kaname?" he questioned, turned toward her.

"How - how can you stand there and say 'just ignore it'?" she demanded.

"Because the perpetrator is Wraith, not an enemy" he said, not missing a beat.

She opened her mouth... and then promptly sweat-dropped, with a stupid expression, she was sure. "But why!?"

"As this is the third overall attempt, I can only conclude he is trying to mess with me" he said, looking off into the distance, where she thought Wraith might be. "After all, he is constantly exposed to the elements, which must not be entirely pleasant."

"Oh." she said, rather put off. "Gah, damn that woman and her nerve!"

Sousuke blinked. "Woman?" he asked, nonplussed.

She started, realizing he might have never known that about Wraith (hell, she was just plain unlucky to have seen it happen). "Uh, the night with my assassin-" she said, faltering for a moment. "Wraith was hit, and after things were over... there was this big gap over the eye, peeled back like metal."

"Full body suit?" Sousuke wondered, sorta to himself. "Voice disguiser?"

"Probably."

There was silence between them, during which she noticed that the laser targeter was still covering Sousuke's face, the target himself preceding to ignore it entirely. She just felt uncertain, knowing this was not at all like how he'd normally react; was something wrong with him?

"Interesting reveal" he mused, then turned toward her. "But in either case, 'Wraith' has failed to provoke me, and I do wish either of us to be late. Shall we go?"

After a moment, she smiled. "Sure."

Sousuke turned to go, during which time she snuck a quick eyelid-pull taunt in Wraith's direction, complete with tongue out - then she hurried after Sousuke.


School yard

"I'll betcha Sousuke's gotten even more paranoid, and merely looking at him would have him aim a gun at you."
"Nah, even he wouldn't do that. Then again, he wouldn't know love if it shot him."
"If that happened, he'd know love, but see it as an enemy."
"If anyone could kill love, it's that guy."

Kyoko heard all this, and sighed; boys and their wild theories. So far they've included:

*Sousuke becoming more trigger-happy, and being run out of the country
*Kaname being more aggressive (because of Sousuke)
*Sousuke having lost his memory, thus no knowledge to blow stuff up
*Kaname had gone completely soft

And more outlandish ones as well. They were getting ridiculous, really.

But they weren't done: "Hey, why don't we get the freshman to attack Sousuke when he comes? The perfect initiation!"

"We want to initiate him, not kill him!"

"That guy doesn't kill unless they're trying to kill him; that won't be the case. And while we're at it, use that new laser pen to make him paranoid."

"You boys will regret that" she said cheerfully, just loud enough that they heard.

They were startled, but otherwise appeared dubious of her warning - oh well, their loss.

And soon enough, the small crowds gathered in front of the school soon noticed the two of them approaching (she took this opportunity to take a few pictures). However, when she looked at the taken pictures, she was surprised: Sousuke and Kaname were holding hands.

Ooo, that was juicy news right there!

/

"Tell me again, why are we holding hands in public?"

"Because I like it" she answered mildly. "If anyone has a problem with it, they can answer to me. I'm not gonna let other people's opinions stop me."

"Hmm" he breathed in response, thinking it over.

"Wait - do you not like it?" she asked, looking at him, slightly worried.

"I did not say that" he said in response, looking at her. "Though there is a slight worry that it might draw unwanted jealousy from other guys, which could lead to numerous problems."

"I think we'll be fine" she answered mildly back, passing the first group of people, who were stunned yet whispering among themselves. "I mean really, what's the worst that could hap-"

She stopped; just as she'd raised her hand, a small red dot had moved over her palm.

Sousuke noticed this, glanced behind him to the left (where it originated), then went back to looking forward after a moment. "There is no danger."

"...why?" she asked, after a moment.

"That beam was emitted from a 635nm red laser pointer" he continued evenly, both of them having stopped walking for now. "It is incapable of being used as a weapon, and presents no danger."

She didn't answer for a few seconds. "Wow" she breathed, genuinely amazed at this, starting to pull him along again. "You really have changed."

"How so?" he questioned, looking at her, both of them approaching the school doors.

"Well normally, you'd see the laser pointer, or something that was slipped into your locker, or whatever it was and just assume it was a weapon" she said, with some annoyance as she recalled those incidents. It passed quickly though: "And now, you actually look before you assume, like figuring out those laser sights were from Wraith and an ordinary laser pointer instead of a enemy, for one thing."

"As I understand it, that is is very good."

"More than that" she exclaimed lightly, stopping just outside the doors, turning toward him. "It's the subtle difference you've lacked all of last year!"

"Then I am indeed fortunate to have gotten your instruction, Kaname." he said softly.

This left her suddenly tongue-tied. "Uh, thanks" she whispered, feeling happy, and was about to say something else - however, a flicker of movement caught her eye.

"Sousuke watch out!" she yelled, at the same time as "Sorry about this, dude!" was yelled.

Sousuke turned to face his 'attacker', an unknown freshman armed with nothing more than a paper fan. He did not react even as his assailant got closer and closer, raise his hand high and-

SMACK!

He had struck Sousuke's head dead-center, with little effect.

Kaname stood there frozen, somewhere between horror at the situation, and what-the-hell anger at this bastard!

Sousuke merely turned his head back, expression the same. "Initiation ritual?" he asked after a moment, as if nothing had happened, to which the man nodded. "Then you have passed. Congratulations." he continued approvingly, which pleased the young man, and he ran off to who knew where.

She watched him go with a stupid expression; what had just happened!?

The courtyard was, frankly, stunned; this was not the same Sousuke from last year, who would have reacted to both incidents with all kinds of weapons aimed and fired.

Sousuke turned toward her. "Shall we go inside?" he asked evenly.

"Who are you!?"

She made a horrified sound after she said it; both asking herself how she could have possibly asked that even with the earlier worry, and scared about how Sousuke might take it.

Sousuke blinked, and he started to look confused, before a thought struck him. In fact, this inexplicably seemed to make him aware of the stunned gazes of their schoolmates. "They do not acquaint me as the same Sousuke they remember, do they" he said mildly, after a time.

"Well" she said mildly, with some bluster. "Can you blame them? I'm not even sure you're the same person, and I've been with you the whole time!"

"Hmm. Then perhaps I should make it clear to them" he said mildly, then faced the crowds, putting his hands behind his back (letting go of her own hand to do so).

"Classmates, you must be terribly confused by my new behavior. Well I can tell you this: I am still Sousuke Sagara of Jindai High School, in charge of waste disposal and umbrellas until further notice. I simply have a new understanding that I lacked before, and thus I am less prone to misunderstandings. This means that the number of incidents, bombings, and any other disturbances I have caused in the past is far less likely now."

He appeared about to say something else, but seemed to think better of it. "That is all" he concluded, turning away from the crowds.

She started giggling, then laughing, the worry starting to evaporate; so he was suddenly a little different, not really a big deal right? "Okay, that speech arrangement is definitely you, for sure" she said, hand over her mouth.

"I am glad you liked it" he said agreeably, hands behind his back. "Though... there is one thing I left out."

"Huh?" she breathed, still shaking a little from laughter.

He paused, slowly breathing. "A sentence as such: And in addition, I have discovered a newly-found-out love for Miss Kaname Chidori of Jindai High" he stated, with some small signs of effort.

She gasped, cheeks turning red and her eyes shining.

He did not notice until five seconds later: "I thought about saying that, but I did not think it was approp- did this upset you, Kaname?" he asked, confused.

This jolted her, and she quickly shook her head. "N-Not at all!" she said quickly. "Just surprising - very surprising, and maybe embarrassing, and uh, a little flattering."

His expression eased a little, then he stepped forward, placing his hands at her shoulders slowly. At first she was surprised, but then she settled for liking his soft touch.

"Would you like to kiss?"

She blinked, her cheeks still red. "What?" she breathed, not sure she heard correctly. "Why?"

"Since rumor is already circulating about our hand-holding-" he continued evenly, like this was normal. "-and we cannot keep 'us' a secret for long, would you like to confirm their suspicions?"

She saw how close he was suddenly, and her heart beat faster. "What, here?" she asked shyly. "In front of everyone?"

"It is not a problem."

This time, he kissed her without prompt - slowly, rather hesitantly (hey, it was Sousuke), but still. And she couldn't have enjoyed it more, not giving a damn about the others erupting at this new development, or Kyoko taking a lot of pictures. Who really cared about all that anyway?


And done :) As far as wrap-ups go, probably not the best, but I think it works. Also, there's the other nod to the manga, literally a few sentences above this one lol.

Anyway, definitely my longest original one, at least at this time ;)

Edit: it's been noted that many can't believe our favorite Sergeant hasn't had a hard-on, that's it unrealistic, and such. Well, reality is unrealistic at times - I'm a guy, went through puberty, and didn't have any random hard-ons (seriously). Plus, even if Sousuke did experience it, he'd brush it off as bodily changes and ignore it. That, and the fact that it wasn't important whatsoever, would mean he'd likely not remember or want to remember it whatsoever years later. So, from his military perspective and memory, he could truly believe it hadn't happened.

That was my interpretation, for what it's worth.