The target audience for these summmaries are those people who haven't seen it all, but are so hooked they have-to-have-it-all-NOW. You know who you are. Don't mind my dry sarcasm, and I'll try to keep my personal comments separate.
Please note that more often than not, all 'quotes' are paraphrases- not exact quotes.
*Part Time Steady*
A typical morning showing both Kaname and Sousuke getting ready for school...
A shot of Kaname's poor alarm clock...
A pan of Kaname's girly stuff...
A pan of Sousuke's .... Sousuke-type stuff.
They both say farewell their photos (Kaname's mom, his former commrades)
Each leaving their appartments...
In the train station, a schoolmate greets Kaname- it's Shirai, who asks her for a date. Although he seems cheerful, confident, and not-terrible looking she's not interested. He won't drop it, however, and when she yells at him to leave her alone, up pops Sousuke (fully armed, as always) to 'persuade' Shirai to stop the harassment. Kaname tells Sousuke it's alright, it's just Shirai from 2nd class.
Sousuke lets him go, but not without a threat. Kaname sighs over Sousuke's rough treatment, and he tells her he was just joking. 'Uh huh', is pretty much her reaction.
As they leave, a now-miserable Shirai begs Kaname for attention- he says he's even willing to leave his girlfriend for her.
Take a wild guess about who the fuming girl watching from around the corner is...
Lunchtime, and Kaname's saying how wierd it feels today, like she's being watched.... (she is...)
Kyouko calls for Kaname's help with Sousuke...Seems some really nasty rumors about Kaname recently showed up as graffitti in the boys' restroom...
And Sousuke's busy making good on his threat to Shirai for his harassment of Kaname.
Shinji's stuck outside the restroom, really in need....and Kaname breaks in, totally angry...
(for a moment she reflects on the loss of her purity, for stepping into the boys room)
Sousuke is suprised to see her in there, and calmly tells her the girls' room is next door...(while he's in the middle of torturing Shirai...)
But the next yell isn't from Kaname, it's from Mizuki, come to rescue her 'darling'.
But Shirai isn't very appreciative- very casually he dumps her right there.
Everybody is pretty mystified, from Shinji to Kyouko, and Sousuke confirms that Mizuki is Shirai's girlfriend. Cuz, if so, she'd be good to interrogate...a comment which gets him really close to the door courtsey Kaname and her halisen.
Later- Sousuke's playing a pc game. Not just any pc game....a dating simulation game.
Shinji lent it to him, because Sousuke's entirely befuddled about how japanese teenagers date.
Kaname and Kyouko wonder why Sousuke's virtual girl is mad at him...
He explains she asked him to go shopping with her, and she's angry because he said no.
He doesn't understand why she's so angry about it though...
Kaname tries to explain the vgirl just wanted his help picking out stuff, but he still doesn't get it....since civilian clothing isn't exactly an area of expertise for him...
The vgirl tells Sousuke he's an 'okatu'- he insists he's not a nerd, he's a specialist!
THe vgirl cries runs away, insulting Sousuke as she does so, and it's game over.
He gets desperate and tells the game he's willing to negoitate, but....really, it's game over already.
Kaname and Kyouko have left, Shinji tells Sousuke they must have given up on him.
And he still doesn't understand.
After school, Kaname's standing in the train station....and sitting on a bench near to her- Sousuke reading his fake newspaper, pretending to not be following her.
She whips out her halisen and whacks him a good one...
She yells at him, asking him why can't he just stand with her? He explains that he's still protecting her, and has to remain vigilant.
Kaname gripes about the upcoming holiday Golden Week, and he tells her to make sure to stay away from places with lots of people, so he can follow her easier.
She's not happy....when crying Mizuki walks by, getting their attention.
She's on her cell, placing large orders for food, in Shirai's name.
Sousuke wonders if she's having a terrorist meeting at her place....
Shirai yells at them it's their fault she was dumped, and it's clear her calls were revenge orders...
And that since it was all their fault Shirai dumped her, Sousuke will be going out with her tomorrow!
Later- at Kaname's place, she quietly steams while cooking dinner for her 'guests'.
Shirai has decided they'll spend the night at Kaname's place (since she lives alone), and will prep Sousuke to play Shirai. Sousuke still doesn't get it, and thinks Shirai's behavior has been totally irrational (hitting on Kaname, dumping his girlfriend...)
Seems Mizuki has bragged about Shirai to some old girlfriends, and they are expecting to meet him tomorrow, so now she needs a stand-in, since she can't lose face showing up dumped.
This is the least Kaname and Sousuke can do, since it's their fault...and Sousuke decides to go along with it. His reasoning is that he lost to the game earlier, simply because he doesn't have the right information. This is a good way to get that information.
Kaname protests, but Mizuki smugly tells her she doesn't have a reason to object to something like this, does she? After that, Kaname only sighs...
Later, Mizuki and Sousuke are *still* practicing, while Kaname's trying to sleep in bed- but she feels some private sastification as Sousuke's persistent nerdiness keeps ticking off Mizuki...
But she has a tough moment, listening to Mizuki initiate some sappy 'I love you' talk, but gets over it when she hears Mizuki start crying. This seems to perplex Sousuke even more, and it's clear that Mizuki doesn't like him as Kaname had feared, she's only going through this because she thinks she has to.
Sousuke still doesn't understand.
The next morning Mizuki and Kaname meet her three friends, Manami, Madoka, and Shouko. Then Sousuke shows up, posing as best he can as Shirai, and it's just too funny- beyond my ability to describe.
Needless to say, he isn't anything like the friends were expecting....
The six of them are in a desert place, and Sousuke's telling military stories, while sometimes remembering to eliminate military refrences.
One of the girls tells him he seems to be the strong, silent type, not the type Mizuki had described Shirai as. He says, nope, that's not like me at all. He continues with how worthless he acutally is, and how he would rather spend time hanging out with girls than anything else. He's a really awfu liar, but does it cheerfully. Sousuke even tries complimenting Mizuki, but it's just..wierd.
(he compares her value to that of a spy sattellite....)
They go to Karaoke....which...well, Sousuke isn't that good at...
Then they are at the movies, and it's a military movie (not a typical date movie..)
Sousuke has a problem with the plot, and stands up in the middle of the theatre to yell at the screen....(as they walk out of the theatre, Sousuke's rubbing the back of his head and Kaname carrying her halisen on one shoulder...)
They're at a UFO catcher machine- Sousuke is trying to win a bear, but fails....Kaname has to whack him because of his violent reaction...
At a park, Sousuke is off getting the girls drinks, the three girls are talking secretly, and Kaname asks Mizuki if she really thinks this is working. Mizuki insists it's alright, it will be over soon- and the girls come over asking if that guy is really Shirai.
She insists it is, and nearly walks right into....Shirai (who's got a girl on his arm). Of course, she blurts out his name in surpise, before she can stop herself....
Kaname tries to help out Mizuki by taking Shirai by the arm to distract him and lead him away, and this is when Sousuke shows up. He's pretty pissed to see Shirai there...and shoots at him! Shirai and his girl run off...
The gig is up, but Sousuke doesn't know that yet. Mizuki is still hanging onto the lie, but the girls throw out the ultimate gambit- they want proof they're lovers, and want to see Mizuki and 'Shirai' kiss!
Sousuke has to quietly ask Kaname if a kiss is lips on lips...
As if it's his duty, he grabs Mizuki around her waist and kisses her...
Which results in Mizuki totally overreacting- she smacks him back into the lake, crying, and shouts- she hadn't given him permission to kiss her. Everyone just watches....
Mizuki runs off when she realizes exactly how *over* the whole thing is...
The girls ask Kaname who Sousuke really is, and she's pretty forceful in telling them what an idiot he is. She complains about how he just does everything he's told to do...
The girls say goodbye- they have to go find Mizuki. They understand her, and know she's like she is only because she's lonely. Leaving, they wish Kaname good luck with Sousuke (she protest they aren't like that!).
Sousuke's still sitting in the lake, wondering if what he did was really so terrible.
Kaname tells him it definatly was. Then it comes out that to Sousuke has kissed lots of guys before- a guy who got shot in the belly, another guy who was hurt by a grenade...
Sousuke is thinking of CPR.
Kaname relents, and helps him out of the water....and she thinks he might kiss *her* when he comes so close...
And blushes when he asks her what's wrong. Nothing she nervously insists, and he insists she might be ill (her face is *very* flushed). She stomps off, angry, insisting she's not angry, and she has no reason to be angry anyway.... And Sousuke is left, still not understanding anything about dating.
End
Er- visual quality drops a little bit- to a level not unusual for a tv series, not terribly distacting, but still noticable.
The episode seems rushed, but it's still sort of funny, if wierd. One of the only episodes in the series that looks at 'ordinary' life for Sousuke in Tokyo.