Full Metal Panic Afternoon Rhythm  Pieces of Yesterday Side Story

**Hey guys! **

**I've promised that I would begin work on 'Pieces of Yesterday', and to get back into the right frame of mind, I've typed up this short side story. It's nothing huge, but hopefully it might tide you over a little until I get done with the finale. That might take me a little while, as I've recently gotten my hands on Alice: Madness Returns, and the original was my most fav compy game ever. So yeah, I'll be splitting up my time between that, and trying to finish up P.O.Y., but I hope to have it done and posted before the end of next month. I _WILL_ strive to accomplish this. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this little blurb, and I'll see you soon! ^^**

**Mika**

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><p>Kaname sighed to herself, leaning back in the plush red couch and she continued flipping through channels in an attempt to find something interesting. Sousuke had excused himself for a moment as he went down to the lobby to check the mail, leaving her to her own devices in the large apartment. Absently, she found herself tracing her lips lightly again with her fingertips. It had only been a few days since that double date with his sister and her boyfriend, and still she couldn't fully believe how heated things had gotten in the back of that limousine. Nothing extreme obviously, but it was still a lot more than either of them might have thought. Hell, it wasn't everyday a personal driver had to cough to get the attention of rather tangled teenagers in the back of their limo rides.<p>

Though embarrassing, the memory had Kaname giggling a moment as she remembered just how red Sousuke's face had been while trying to come up with a reasonable lie to explain how they had gotten sprawled along the far seat. Still smiling at the thought, Kaname gave up on finding anything on tv, and moved over to the video rack to see if anything caught her interest. Her vision going from one DVD box to the next, she stopped when she noticed an unlabeled one sticking out from the bottom of the pile. Curious, she took it out and turned it to try finding a label. "What the heck is this anyway?" Finally just deciding to open it, she found that there was no booklet inside, just the disk in the holder.

Taking it out and scooting over to the DVD player, a thought crept into the back of her mind, one that had her blushing furiously. "Could this...it couldn't be...w-well he is a _guy_ and all, but..." Hesitant to push the play button, her finger twitched, and before she knew it, the disc was loading. The few seconds before anything came to the screen were unbearable, and when the main disc menu popped up, she found herself jumping a little before the images on the screen registered to her. When she finally realized what it was on the screen, her earlier trepidation dissipated, now finding herself trying to stop from laughing. The disk had not been hidden adult entertainment as she had thought, but what she had found was far better than anything else. It was Sousuke's dance club performances that Yuki-san had given to him after dinner.

Grabbing hold of the DVD remote, Kaname searched the menu for dancer specific routines, her smile widening as she landed on his name and pressed play. Within seconds, the screen shifted to reveal a dark stage with what looked like three figures, though she couldn't tell if they were facing the audience or not. Suddenly, the lights came on, and Kaname blushed slightly when she realized that she had picked out Sousuke from the back almost far too easily. He and two other boys were dressed in black slacks, white button ups, fedora hats, and colorful suspenders with matching cummerbunds. It felt appropriate that his was red, though that fact in itself was more or less to distinguish him as the lead from the other two, who had been dressed in blue ones.

The moment she saw him turn, the sound of a piano started up, and the words rang out from the speakers...Sousuke was lip-syncing and dancing to Queen's '_Don't Stop Me Now_'. Watching him and the other boys move, the confidence they carried themselves with as they mirrored each other, Kaname was battling herself for amazement and trying to hold back the building laughter insider her from seeing him act in such a way. The Sousuke she knew would never be caught dead doing anything close to what she saw right now, whether it was for an undercover mission or not. That, and he'd had no real concept of rhythm when it came to doing stuff like that at all.

As the song finished and the lights faded, a new title came up on the screen, displaying the next section. "Partner...Performances? What the heck?" A dark stage with figures was all that she could see from the minimal back lighting they had used, the main lights flaring to life once the music had started. He wasn't lip-syncing this time, but dancing with a girl, and though she felt a little jealous at the expressions he wore, not to mention how damn good he looked in that tight black shirt, Kaname found herself enviously wondering at who the girl was that he would look at her in such ways. It could have been an act for all she knew, they were dancing to '_I Get Excited_' after all, but she still found herself wondering if the girl had meant anything more to him. His mother had mentioned that he and Tessa had dated for a short time, but nothing was ever said about this girl.

Hearing the front door, she paused the DVD and walked over to lean on the entry frame, a scowl set on her face as she watched him remove his sneakers. "Sorry that took me so long. There's this older lady, Mrs. Ishikawa, she sometimes likes to have me try her new recipes, and she was asking about-...Kaname?"

"Sousuke, you have some _serious_ explaining to do!"

"Huh? W-What happened?" It was adorable how confused he looked, as if he had done something terribly wrong and was willing to remedy whatever it was as soon as she would let him. Enjoying the game, Kaname kept the slight scowl on her face as she took the small pile of mail from him, tossing it on the kitchen counter before guiding him to sit on the couch. "K-Kaname? Did I do something wrong?"

"Oh you bet your _ass_ you did Sousuke!"

"Wait, w-what did I do!" Not even bothering to turn around, Kaname clicked the remote to play the DVD once more, her scowl shifting into an evil grin once she heard the music going behind her.

"You waited almost a week to show me these of course." Sousuke sat there on the couch, frozen in shock as everything processed in his brain. The poor boy looked about ready to crawl under a rock and die from embarrassment. "And who exactly is that partner of yours Sousuke? You never said a word about her before?"

"T-that's Sarah, Sarah Miller. She was my partner. We had a good chemistry, so we were paired...t-there wasn't anything more to it than that, I swear. She's just a friend, though everyone liked to joke that we dated, but neither of us were interested beyond what we already had. She liked this one guy,...uh...I-I can't really remember his name right now, but there was nothing between us! Really!" Seeing how flustered he was, Kaname hopped up on the couch next to him, quickly kissing his cheek before she settled.

"Well, if that's all, then I _guess_ you can live a while longer Sousuke." Looking at her worriedly, she giggled as she nuzzled his shoulder, hoping to calm the poor boy down a bit. "I was just playing. I believe you. Although..." His momentary calm from her words had immediately shifted to caution once more, and she found it funny that she had so much power over his fight or flight responses with so few words. Glancing back at the screen, which now showed him as the lead with four others to a routine for '_Bye Bye Bye_', she looked back at him with a determined look in her eye. "If you want to make it up to me, then you have to take me dancing with you sometime. It's just not fair otherwise."

Finally, a small smile came to his face, turning to kiss her before taking hold of one of the other nearby remotes for his system, turning on the CD player and muting the television before setting it back down on the arm of the couch. "I don't think that will be a problem Kaname. Though if you like, I could show you a few moves now..."

This world don't turn when you're not in my arms  
>The sun don't shine whenever I'm without you<br>And there's an empty space inside my heart  
>When you're gone And whenever you're gone,<br>It's too long And the waiting is driving me crazy  
>Baby, I'm not alive Till you're here by my side<p>

Smiling against his mouth, she only opened her eyes enough to see him, still not completely used to how open with his emotions this Sousuke could be, but enjoying it none the less. It felt wonderful whenever he would simply do something because he wanted to, not being restrained by protocol or any sort of sense of duty. Idly she wondered if the Sousuke she once knew would have ever gotten the chance to do anything close to this, to be able to display feelings for her so freely, but the wonderful feelings she felt right then had her mind blanking as soon he kissed her again, his arms already around her shoulders and bringing her closer. "Sounds like fun to me..."

"I feel I must warn you though, you might get short of breath, or begin feeling overheated from exertion."

"I think I can manage."

I count the minutes I count the hours I count the seconds  
>Till you're here by my side again And every minute (every minute)<br>Goes on for hours (hours)  
>Until you're with me<br>Till I look in your eyes again  
>And time is standing still till you're here<br>with me I need your love to set me free, set me free


End file.

Full Metal Panic, Humor, Romance