Night, Dawn Desert camp
Mikazuki shook his coat, which had collected some dust, and holding his meal tray, came to the campfire to eat.
Just as he was about to take a bite, his shoulder was patted.
"Mika"
Mikazuki looked up. It was Murrue, who had separated from him during the day.
"Oh, Murrue, what is it?"
"Thank you for helping organize the supplies."
"It was nothing."
Mikazuki shook his head and continued eating.
Murrue hesitated, remembering what she had seen in Barbatos' cockpit during the day. Her heart couldn't help but ache.
"I... Orga Itsuka talked to me..."
Mikazuki froze, his hand holding the spoon suspended in the air, but he quickly understood.
"Was it when we were on Barbatos?"
"Yes, Orga appeared when I was looking at that picture of yours."
"I see. Orga must have told you everything, about us."
Murrue gently nodded.
"I saw everything on Barbatos. You aren't people from this world... To be honest, I still find it hard to believe that something so extraordinary could really happen."
"Same here. I was quite puzzled myself when I first arrived."
Although Mikazuki said that, his expression was very calm.
Murrue chuckled.
"But I didn't see any vexed expression from you."
Mikazuki gave her a dead-fish eye look.
"Is that the point...?"
"Hehehehe."
The atmosphere between the two by the campfire was very pleasant. Murrue's previously somewhat depressed mood improved greatly after chatting with Mikazuki.
But while some were in good spirits, others were not.
On one side of the Archangel, Sai stared at the two people in front of him, utterly incredulous.
"Kira... Flay, what's going on? You... you... why was Flay in your room last night, Kira!"
He had gone to talk to Flay because of her attitude these past few days, (acfa) but to his surprise, he saw this scene: Flay, looking pitiful, hiding behind Kira, even more intimate than with him, her boyfriend.
"Enough, Sai," Kira paused, then said bluntly.
"No matter how you look at it, you're the one harassing Flay."
Sai's face darkened.
"What did you say?"
Kira said indifferently,
"I was very tired from last night's battle."
Saying that, Kira helped Flay walk into the Archangel.
A nameless anger welled up in Sai's heart. Flay was his girlfriend, yet Kira... yet... and this was his good friend!
The furious Sai charged forward directly. Kira also became annoyed and roughly subdued Sai.
A trace of impatience flashed in Kira's eyes, and he said fiercely to Sai,
"Please stop this. If we really fight, you'll be the only one who gets hurt, Sai."
With that, he pushed Sai down with a slight force of his right hand. Sai fell onto the sand but sustained no injuries.
Kira turned away, and Sai heard his voice.
"Flay is always very considerate, always by my side, hugging me, saying she would protect me.
No one has ever cared about how I felt fighting until now!"
Sai was moved. He saw Kira's tears. He was crying. A trace of unbearable sadness also seemed to flash in Flay's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
Just then, Cagalli, who was secretly watching from behind a large rock, suddenly heard a voice.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah!"
Cagalli was startled and turned around to see that it was an Earth Alliance MS pilot.
"It's you, kid."
Mikazuki's mouth twitched, and he retorted with dead-fish eyes,
"Being called a kid by someone only one year older than me, acting so old is a bit too much."
"Hey... don't be noisy. Why are you here?"
"Because I'm going back to sleep. But what about you, hiding here...? Hmm? Kira, Flay, and Sai? What are they doing there?"
Mikazuki started to walk over, but Cagalli quickly pulled him back.
"Wait, wait, don't go over!"
Mikazuki looked at Cagalli disapprovingly.
"What's going on?"
"You're Mikazuki Augus, right? You can't go over now. Don't you know about the legendary idol drama? No, their relationship seems even more complicated than a love triangle, oh hehehehehe."
Cagalli chuckled mischievously.
Mikazuki looked at her with dead-fish eyes. Although he didn't understand what this woman was saying, he knew from her laughter that she might have some mental issues.
Just then, his ears twitched, hearing a small explosion. He turned to look south.
"Hey, what is it?"
"There's a battle."
Mikazuki said that and then left, rushing towards Barbatos, which was on standby at the camp.
Murrue, who was discussing with Seabook and others, saw Mikazuki rushing past and couldn't help but call out to him.
"Mika, what's wrong?"
Mikazuki didn't stop, throwing out a reply without turning his head.
"There was an explosion."
"Explosion?"
Before everyone could react, Seabook's communicator rang. Listening to the communication, Seabook suddenly stood up.
"What? Tashu was attacked?"
"Look, it's lit up over there."
Now there was no need for a report; everyone saw the red glow on the horizon. That direction was exactly where the resistance organization's relatives lived, the city.
"Damn it! What kind of joke is this?!"
Everyone in Dawn Desert, including Cagalli, got into their vehicles and departed, but Mikazuki had already left ahead of them, rushing towards the town.
On the way, Orga said,
"Mika, they've retreated."
Mikazuki frowned slightly.
"Retreated? Aren't they fighting?"
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