Dialogue

"...He could still sleep in a situation like this. He's really something."

"He's tired. Kira's been through a lot, too."

At Miriallia's words, Katz, standing nearby, let out a soft laugh. But it wasn't a happy one. "Heh. Been through a lot... For Kira, is something like that really just a little trouble he can get through by putting in some effort?"

"Katz, what are you trying to say?"

Hearing something off in Katz's tone, Tolle shot him a reproachful look.

"Nothing... It's just, didn't they say Kira rewrote that Mobile Suit's operating system? But have any of you thought about when he did it?" Katz asked, looking at Kira, who was asleep against the wall.

"When? Of course... Uh..."

At Katz's question, Tolle and the others fell into thought.

They all knew Kira had never handled that kind of Mobile Suit before.

After all, that officer had said back at the colony that it was the latest model.

So if he really had rewritten its system, he must have started the moment he got into that Mobile Suit and the battle began.

But—

Everyone except Flay had seen how the battle played out.

The Strike Gundam had suddenly become incredibly agile in the middle of the fight.

And the time that had passed between then and now...

So Kira had made the changes in that short time, while fighting a Ginn—

The thought left them feeling conflicted.

They'd known all along that Kira was a Coordinator. That was why Professor Kato relied so heavily on his abilities, always piling difficult tasks on him.

But they'd never imagined—or perhaps never cared to consider—that Kira's abilities were so overwhelmingly superior.

"...That's how they are. They can handle even the hardest things with just a little 'effort,' and ZAFT is full of people like that."

Katz's voice sounded dejected. "...How are the Earth Forces supposed to win against people like that?"

There was something else Katz hadn't said aloud: how could an ordinary person like him ever beat Coordinators like Kira?

Sai and the others nervously turned their eyes toward Kira's sleeping face. He looked utterly innocent in his sleep.

He was still a boy, with a youthful face, only sixteen years old, just like them.

They'd always thought he was simply smart, a little scatterbrained, but easygoing.

They'd never realized that the gap between him and ordinary people like them was so decisive.

For the first time, they understood this reality, and it left them inexplicably weighed down and conflicted.

Only Flay looked bewildered, unable to understand why they'd suddenly become so gloomy.

"Kira Yamato!"

Just then, Murrue and Mu appeared in the doorway.

Hearing them, Tolle hurriedly nudged Kira awake.

Still bleary-eyed, Kira recognized who had arrived, rubbed his eyes, then rose from the bed and floated over.

A moment later.

"I refuse!"

The moment Murrue stiffly explained why she'd come, Kira was wide awake.

The angry sound of his voice drew Tolle and the others' attention.

"Why do I have to pilot it? Maybe you're right that there's a war going on around us. That's reality. But we chose neutral Heliopolis because we hate war! Please, stop dragging us into it!"

Kira didn't want to fight. He didn't like fighting. If anything, he preferred a quiet, peaceful life.

Murrue, who had been about to play the villain, was at a loss. After all, she'd never been a stern villain before.

Seeing her reaction, Mu took over. "But you're the only one who can operate that thing right now. There's nothing we can do about it."

"What do you mean, there's nothing you can do? I'm not a soldier or anything else! I'm just an ordinary person!"

Kira shouted back.

He was a Coordinator, yes, but he was also just a sixteen-year-old boy who'd never had anything to do with war.

The feeling that one careless mistake could mean death had nearly broken him. He didn't want to go through it again.

"Then if another battle breaks out, are you going to say you're not a soldier, just an ordinary person, and refuse to help, then sit here and wait to die?"

Mu understood what Kira was feeling because that was how it had begun for him, too.

But it was precisely because he understood that he knew what reality was.

Hearing Mu lay out the reality of the situation, Kira didn't know how to answer.

Watching Kira lower his head in silence, Mu placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke gently. "Right now, you and I are the only ones who can protect this ship. That's the reality we're facing."

"But... I..."

Looking at Kira, whose voice had begun to tremble, Mu's expression softened. "You have the power to protect everyone, don't you? So do what you can, as best you can. Protect what you want to protect. Don't wait until you've lost something and want it back before you regret it. That kind of pain is something you'd never want to experience."

Kira looked at Mu in astonishment, then lowered his head again, bitterly.

"Take your time to think it over. But you really don't have much time left to agonize over it."

Mu patted Kira on the shoulder, then turned and left.

"Um, excuse me, where are we going?"

Sai hurriedly stood up and asked where the warship was headed.

"To a military base belonging to the Eurasian Federation."

Mu answered as he was about to leave. "Of course, that's only if everything goes smoothly. Let's hope it does."

Mu's words left Kira feeling deeply unsettled.

Power. Regret—

His gaze drifted toward the red-haired girl. Then, still confused and troubled, Kira turned and ran off without looking back.

"Eh? What's going on?"

Flay watched Kira glance at her and then turn and run. She couldn't help looking at the others. "What were you talking about just now? What's wrong with that boy, Kira?"

"You know the Mobile Suit brought your escape pod to this warship, right?"

Sai thought for a moment before answering. "Kira was the one piloting it."

"You mean that boy named Kira was piloting the Mobile Suit?"

Flay Allster looked startled. "But how could he pilot a Mobile Suit?"

At Flay's question, Miriallia and the others, who knew the whole story, furrowed their brows.

"Kira is actually a Coordinator."

Katz, standing to the side, told her the truth outright.

"Hm!"

At his words, Flay's eyes turned cold. She instinctively looked toward her boyfriend, Sai.

"Katz!"

Tolle scolded him.

They all knew Kira had a crush on Flay, and they also knew how much she hated Coordinators.

Of course, Kira knew that too. That was why, even though he'd met Flay first, he hadn't dared reveal how he felt.

"What's the point? At this stage, do you really think we can keep hiding it?"

Hearing Tolle's reproachful tone, Katz couldn't help arguing back.

Tolle opened his mouth at that, but in the end, he couldn't say anything.

Sai noticed Flay's gaze and lowered his head pensively. "Kira is a Coordinator, but he isn't ZAFT."

"He's our good friend. Our most important friend."

Miriallia spoke up to defend Kira.

"I see..."

But as Flay listened to them, her expression gradually changed.