Running Away Won't Solve Anything

"Why are they fighting again?"

Noer looked at Yzak, who was being pinned to the ground by the others, and found himself at a loss for words.

Why "again"?

Because Athrun and Yzak seemed like sworn enemies from a past life. If they spent more than twenty minutes together, they would definitely start arguing.

If no one pulled them apart within half an hour, they would definitely come to blows.

Most of the time, Athrun gave in. But once Athrun lost his temper, Yzak would most likely get beaten up one-sidedly.

Noer truly admired Yzak's courage to keep fighting despite repeated losses. After all, someone who lost all ten out of ten fights yet still bared his teeth and charged forward was, no matter how you looked at it, a...

"Tap, tap."

Just as Noer was wondering what Yzak would get beaten into this time, a set of footsteps passed by him.

A woman with neat white hair strode quickly over to Yzak and the others.

"Diakka, let him go—"

"Yzak!"

"..."

Yzak looked up at the sound, then pursed his lips, turned his head away, and said nothing.

"Councilor Essalia."

Seeing Yzak's mother suddenly appear, Diakka and the others hurriedly released him with awkward smiles.

Yzak silently climbed to his feet, but something seemed wrong with his neck. His head remained turned as he stared behind him.

"Yzak!" Essalia raised her voice.

"Tch."

Yzak smacked his lips and turned his head back slightly.

"Athrun, I'm terribly sorry."

Essalia helplessly shook her head at Yzak's unruly behavior. She had no way of dealing with his personality.

"Councilor Essalia, you're too kind."

Athrun straightened his clothes and bowed to Essalia. "I was also at fault. I sincerely apologize!"

"..."

Councilor Essalia could not help shaking her head and sighing at Athrun's gesture before saying to Yzak, "Yzak! Apologize!"

"Huh? Why should I—"

"Yzak!"

"Sorry!"

Yzak turned to face Athrun, clasped his hands behind his back, and kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"...Heh heh."

Athrun froze for a moment, then seemed to realize something. He gave a bitter smile and said, "It's fine. I was a little harsh just now too. I'm sorry!"

"As long as you know—"

Yzak pursed his lips and turned away, his tsundere nature on full display.

"Pfft—Hahaha!"

Just as Yzak's words left Athrun speechless, Diakka suddenly burst out laughing.

"Diakka, what are you laughing at?!"

Yzak whipped around and glared at him. He had the distinct feeling this guy was laughing at him!

"Nothing, nothing. I just suddenly remembered how you two used to be like this. Both the one doing the beating and the one getting beaten had to apologize. It's kind of pathetic when you think about it."

"Ahem, heh heh—"

Nicol seemed to remember something too and could not help turning away with a laugh.

"Nicol!"

"Sorry, I just suddenly remembered something funny too."

"..."

"You envy them?"

As Noer silently watched Athrun and the others, Cruze suddenly spoke from behind him.

Noer's eyes narrowed slightly, but he did not deny it.

"If not for what happened at Junius, you would be just like them—"

"Cruze..."

Before Cruze could finish, Noer cut him off.

"Hm?" Cruze looked at Noer.

"When are you going to break that habit of rubbing salt in people's wounds?"

Honestly, Noer had not noticed it before, but ever since he had started interacting with Cruze, Cruze's sharp tongue had given him quite a headache.

It was not that Cruze actually talked much. Rather, his words always struck straight at the heart, making it easy for them to stir one's emotions.

Coupled with Cruze's pleasant tone, his words were especially easy to remember.

Most people simply could not withstand it.

The most troublesome part was that whenever Noer talked with Cruze, even if they did not say much, the topic would somehow drift toward unpleasant memories.

There was nothing forced about the way Cruze shifted topics. It was as if that was simply how things were supposed to go, and Noer could not find any fault with it.

So, to keep from being led around by Cruze, Noer would go back and review their conversation after every chat.

But the next time they met, nothing changed. He would still get drawn into Cruze's rhythm. Faced with such utterly overwhelming conversational skill, Noer eventually gave up.

Later, Noer simply chose to flip the table. The moment he noticed the conversation heading in the wrong direction, he shut it down directly!

"What exactly are you running from?"

Just when Noer thought the topic would end there, Cruze suddenly changed directions again.

"Running away? Am I?"

Noer shot back. Which eye of yours saw me running away?

Cruze said nothing. He merely tilted his head and looked at Noer.

"Forget it. If you say I'm running away, then I'm running away. Thanks for the medicine. Bye."

Noer slipped away immediately after saying that. Although he could not see Cruze's eyes clearly because of the mask, he somehow felt a chill run down his spine.

"Running away won't solve anything, Noel Cassia."

Cruze did not stop Noer from leaving. After spending this time getting to know him, he had more or less found Noer's weak point.

And he had also basically formed some ideas and plans for dealing with Noer.