Full Metal Panic! || All This Time
Eyes red and burning with tears, Kaname started earnestly up at him, waiting for an answer. She knew she was being unreasonable, she always knew, and damn if she hadn't been doing better, but this time... She couldn't let it go. Even though he had done everything right, even though he had apologized, even though what he'd done hadn't even been that bad in the first place, she still just couldn't let it go. Her chest was tight as she dredged up the distant past and demanded answers from him for things she didn't think could still hurt.
"You've always liked her more than me! That's why you put her first when you had to give back that terrorist kid!"
Sousuke had been stunned into silence when she shouted that at him. She clung tightly to his shirt, so tight his sides were sure to bruise, if only faintly. His lips were pressed together and going pale, and his grey eyes were dulled with pain. If only he'd known that was still bothering her, he would have told her more clearly years ago. He'd always spoken better with actions. His speech was more like a technical manual than a poem, so even though he tried to put things into words, he always relied on the things he did to get himself across more clearly.
But all this time, all of his choices, every way he thought he had shown that she came first – always – and still she was left to feel this way.
He opened his mouth to speak, pausing at the tightness in his throat. Wetting his lips, he reached without looking for the water on the counter at his side. Taking a small sip, and then another, once he felt like he could speak clearly he covered her wrists with gentle hands. "Kaname... I've always thought you and I have made a good team. We work well together. When everything is moving too fast to think, you're always right there, keeping up with me."
He bumped his forehead to hers, holding her gaze until they both softened, and she started to lean into him. "Because I could trust you to keep up. She was always clumsy, and she wasn't so athletic. You're faster, and you're stronger, and I knew you wouldn't let them kill you that night. You're too stubborn."
They grinned at the mild teasing, and she let go of his shirt to hold his hands. He tilted his head for a quick kiss and gave her hands a squeeze. "It's because of how much I believe in you, that I chose her to go first. Where you're concerned, I've never been able to make the decision that all of my training told me to do."
"You rebel," she added in a deadpan, then burst into a fit of giggles and wiped her tears from her eyes.
He smiled to her, his love and his pride shining brightly in his eyes, and finally helping her to relax. "You made me selfish. Thank you."
