Around 13:30 standard time, January 27, CE71
Flay was roused from her drowsy afternoon nap by her "roommate" shouting excitedly.
"Damn it! Take this! Get hit already! Yeah, finally beat it!"
"Cagalli, you're too loud!"
Confronted with Flay's morning temper, Cagalli emerged from the simulator in high spirits. She was drenched in sweat, as if she'd just fought a major battle, and scratched at her short blond hair like a boy as she cheerfully apologized to Flay.
"Sorry, sorry. My bad, Flay.
I finally took down that perverted boss at the end who could summon twelve Magic Orb Guys with a wave of his hand. I got a little carried away.
Wow, I really did sweat a lot. I'm going to take a shower. You're not using the bathroom right now, are you, Flay?"
"Go ahead."
With Flay's permission, Cagalli hurriedly started taking off her clothes to shower;
and seeing that her roommate had a surprisingly curvy figure, Flay couldn't help "reminding" her.
"Take your clothes off in the bathroom, and put them in the laundry basket properly!"
Watching her roommate give an embarrassed, dry laugh and duck into the bathroom in nothing but her underwear, Flay listened to the sound of the shower and couldn't help thinking back over the eventful past few days.
It had only been two or three days, so why did they feel more vivid than almost a whole year of life since the war began?
That morning, she'd still been leisurely shopping with her girlfriends, and they'd teased her about Sai;
looking back now, though, the strange woman in sunglasses who'd told them to get out of the way stood out more. She must have been one of the people who later took part in the battle, too.
And there was Kira, the admirer that Lord Luther had specifically named. Thinking about it carefully, he seemed to be a friend of Miriallia's boyfriend, who was an upperclassman in her club. Hadn't she once said he was cute when they'd run into him?
The rest of what happened after that was already hard to remember.
She vaguely followed everyone to safety, dazed, and eventually ended up in a shelter full of strangers amid the panicked crowds;
after an unclear amount of anxious waiting, she was flung out of Heliopolis in a dizzying flash of red light;
then, while everyone in the escape pod was panicking because the shelter's escape pods seemed to be malfunctioning, they were rescued. When she climbed out of the pod, she found herself aboard a warship called the Gwameir.
There had also been some strange mobile suits, but since the ones who rescued her were non-humanoid mobile armor, she'd cautiously brought up her father's name, hoping the soldiers she didn't know would take her to him. But her father's name, which had always worked before, seemed to have no effect.
After finally waiting for the person in charge, Lord Luther, he'd maliciously frightened her. At the time, she'd thought they'd run into space pirates.
Fortunately, not long afterward, she saw the "Celestial Being Formation Declaration," and her roommate Cagalli helped explain things, too.
Although Flay didn't understand what Cagalli meant by "ideals" and "the future," she did understand that Celestial Being weren't bad people;
besides, the Gwameir had plenty of food and the residential area was well equipped. She'd even gained a little weight over the past few days, probably because she'd eaten too much and exercised too little!
Now that she'd accepted the fact that Heliopolis was completely destroyed, she could only comfort herself by thinking of this as a vacation. The accommodations were even better than the business-class cabin she'd taken to Heliopolis, so there really wasn't much to complain about.
Not only did she and Cagalli seem to be receiving special treatment, staying in a two-person room for officers instead of the four- or even eight-person rooms for civilians;
even the Celestial Being soldiers she occasionally encountered resting in the residential area were very polite. They seemed even more reliable than the Earth Alliance soldiers who had escorted her in the past.
Her roommate Cagalli was a pretty nice person, too, even if she was a little strange.
When the Celestial Being soldiers had "escorted" her to this room, she'd mistaken Cagalli, who was already inside wearing a hat and men's clothes, for a boy and made a fool of herself.
But that was Cagalli's fault, too!
From her table manners when they ate together and her everyday habits, it was obvious that she'd received the same elite education as Flay;
but she deliberately acted boisterously and tried to come across as more boyish, so of course Flay had mistaken her!
She wasn't interested in their hobbies, either. She had no interest in talking about perfume, clothes, or makeup;
but she was fascinated by the game simulator in what had once been the officers' quarters, and challenged it over and over whenever she had free time. What was so fun about all that fighting?
Still, thanks to Cagalli's analysis and explanations, Flay had gradually calmed down from her initial panic. According to Cagalli's interpretation of Lord Luther's "hint," she'd be able to see her father in another week.
When that happened, she'd have to talk properly with her father about this mysterious roommate who, in some ways, reminded her of him.
All in all, she was quite satisfied with life aboard the Gwameir. If she had to name one thing troubling her, it was the makeup.
After she tentatively made a request to the staff, she quickly received a free supply of cosmetics.
But although they all looked high-end, they were brands she'd never seen before, and they came from a place called Zum City that she'd never heard of.
Fortunately, they worked pretty well. It was a shame Cagalli had refused her request to try several kinds of makeup on her. What a pity—Cagalli had a nice face, after all.
While Flay sat on the bed with her knees hugged to her chest, mentally picking apart her roommate, Cagalli had already finished her quick shower and came out in her underwear, drying herself with a towel.
"Ah, that feels much better.
Flay, after I beat the game on the highest difficulty, the simulator showed a message saying, 'Please consult a staff member to unlock more content.' I'm going to ask someone about it. Want to come with me?"
"No, I'm going to take a bath and then browse the clothing store in the residential area.
I don't know why, but it seems I have quite a lot of points to spend.
Also, please get dressed before you come out!"
Though it had only been two or three days, this sort of conversation had already happened more than once.
Unbothered by Flay's refusal and "complaint," Cagalli simply changed into the free-issue, rankless Principality of Zeon military uniform and waved as she left the room.
"Honestly, she isn't ladylike at all."
Grumbling, Flay picked out a set of her new "spoils" from that morning and headed into the bathroom.
She tossed both her own clothes and Cagalli's into the washing machine, which had an automatic drying and ironing function. Then, after a quick rinse, she hugged her knees and sank into the fairly spacious bathtub.
As the warm water enveloped her, Flay's thoughts seemed to relax along with her skin.
"I wonder how Sai and the others are doing now."
Before you continue