Chapter 296 - 297: Ah, White Moonlight; Ah, Good Bro (Bonus - for 200 Power Stones)

Chapter 296: Chapter 297: Ah, White Moonlight; Ah, Good Bro (Bonus Chapter for 200 Power Stones)

[No, guys, how are you all this laid-back? What Inori meant was that she herself was created by that Ulen Hibiki]

[What the Archangel really excels at is that totally-chill vibe]

[Holy freaking "chill"]

[Inori isn’t talking in riddles; too bad her audience is all deaf]

[I think it’s because they never even considered it. When you’ve already got Coordinators, the odds of an artificial human are naturally low]

[So Cagalli and Athrun get to spend another whole month in their own little two-person world?]

[Cagalli’s supplies for one, split between two—half a month at most, I’d say]

[Eating and drinking’s no problem, but what about, you know, the bathroom situation?]

[Cagalli’s combat suit probably has a way to handle it, but Athrun...]

[Emmmm, hard to say]

[Let’s hope they can find some outpost with air—an airtight compartment or the like. With that much wreckage, surely there’s got to be one they can use]

The audience was busy debating, while aboard the Archangel, everyone finally enjoyed a brief respite.

Their destination after leaving the Debris Belt, Junius Seven, was also a ruin.

And Kira’s idea of rest was simply to float in the lounge, gazing out through the porthole.

"Kira."

A gentle female voice came.

It was Flay.

"F-Flay...?"

Kira’s voice dropped to a whisper.

"You seem to have been wearing your pilot suit this whole time, Kira." Flay gently steadied Kira’s shoulders from behind.

It had already been the better part of a day since she’d come aboard.

Not all that much time had passed since the Archangel first found her.

"Mm, this can be worn for long stretches, and besides, it’s more convenient."

In truth, it was just her laziness acting up.

Back at Heliopolis, Kira would still make breakfast for Inori, but feeding Inori and the like was a pleasure, a form of recreation, not work.

And here she didn’t even have to cook for herself; apart from piloting the Strike, all Kira did each day was "watch the sea" here...

"That won’t do—a girl still ought to mind her cleanliness and hygiene," Flay said. "But it seems you can’t even bathe here. Honestly, when on earth are we going to reach somewhere safe...?"

Having survived a brush with death, all Flay wanted was one good, proper bath.

But sadly, that wish of hers had gone unfulfilled up to now, because resources aboard the Archangel weren’t exactly abundant, and a nonessential thing like bathing simply couldn’t be done for the time being.

"By the way, how is it that you can pilot a mobile suit (MS) like that, Kira?"

To Kira, this question of Flay’s felt very much like a death warrant.

And at that moment, the scene unexpectedly cut to another flashback.

In the memory, it was once more scenes of how Kira and Flay used to spend time together—taking Kira out shopping, buying clothes, playing around together...

[Ah, the one who got away...]

[Ah, Ave Mujica...]

[Don’t even bring up Ave Mujica—now’s the time to rebuild the glory of mecha combat]

[Friendly heads-up: remember to catch next week’s live broadcast of the GBN 2.0 launch event—there’s a Champion exhibition match]

[Flay just planted a huge landmine here; if it ever gets out that Kira’s a Coordinator, it’s gonna blow up]

"Kira."

However, at just this moment, yet another voice came.

"Ah..."

It was Inori.

Flay instinctively let go of Kira and stared at Inori.

She knew the other was a "big star," but in fact the rumor that "the Songstress of Orb is a Coordinator" had always been around, so Flay really couldn’t bring herself to like Inori.

"What is it?" Kira let out a breath, as though she’d been set free.

"The Strike’s maintenance is complete," Inori said.

"That’s wonderful." Kira breathed a sigh of relief.

The Strike was repaired.

And that also meant she would once again be able to protect everyone.

"Then... Flay, I’ll be going now." Kira looked over at Flay beside her.

"Mm, Kira, do stay safe too." Flay tilted her head.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that Kira’s attitude was a little strange...

After Flay watched Kira leave, the scene switched over to ZAFT’s side.

"Rescue authorization has come through, but our losses this time were too heavy, so the only units we can spare for the search are GINNs. The G-weapons all have to undergo major overhauls now."

Yzak returned to the lounge bearing the orders.

And Nicol and Dearka, who were in the lounge, breathed sighs of relief upon hearing the news.

"The odds of Athrun surviving are as high as eighty percent, but the supplies Athrun’s carrying are limited..."

Nicol was still somewhat worried.

"No need to worry about that," Yzak said. "We ran an analysis over here—Athrun and that red machine most likely drifted off together, and there should still be supplies aboard the red machine. If Athrun can defeat his opponent, it ought to buy us a week or two."

The three of them were a bit worried about Athrun, but all three were utterly certain that Athrun was still alive.

"So what do we do next?"

Nicol asked.

"With a problem this big blowing up, Captain Le Creuset has to return home to face an inquiry, so we’ll just make use of this window to carry out the search," Yzak said.

"Mm. We absolutely have to get Athrun out of there!" Nicol’s face was set with determination.

And then, the image cut to Athrun.

Athrun and Cagalli were asleep, leaning against each other in the Aegis’s seat.

[Grass (a type of exclamation), your bro’s still worried sick about you, and here you are picking up a girl]

[Dying of laughter—one second the bro’s all grim-faced, the next the man himself is here living it up]

[They’re even snuggled right up together]

[Hahahahaha]

[You guys haven’t heard—the story’s timeline is apparently almost at Valentine’s Day]

[gazing off into the distance]

Cagalli and Athrun hadn’t deliberately fallen asleep leaning against each other. Mainly it was the length limit of the breathing tube itself that kept the two from separating.

Athrun’s own oxygen was already completely empty; that he could still breathe at all was entirely thanks to the support from Cagalli’s side.

"Mm—wuwaaah!"

Upon waking, Cagalli caught sight of the person beside her and got a fright.

She instinctively shoved Athrun away, but the breathing line tugged the two of them back together again.

"Mm..." Athrun, too, finally came awake at this point.

Unlike the energetic Cagalli, Athrun wasn’t looking nearly as well.

"Hey, are you all right?" Cagalli asked.

"It’s nothing."

It was just that he hadn’t eaten in over a day; he could still tough it out.

It was only that, without water for over a day, his mouth was parched.

"Right, you don’t have any supplies over on your side, do you?"

Cagalli had just remembered.

"You still have some?"

"Mm, the nutrient fluid on my end—let me check."

There was an AR display on her helmet, so Cagalli could see the rough figures. "Oh, amazing—it can still last twenty-eight days!"

The water reserves listed beside it, though, seemed unable to hold out that long—only twenty days.

But that didn’t matter, did it—the nutrient fluid contained water too.

"I remember the support breathing tube can also be used to pass food through... there we go."

Cagalli operated the backpack unit, then fed a tube along the breathing line over to Athrun’s side.

"I’m not short on food over here—anyway, just give it a try first." Cagalli said.

"Mm."

Athrun felt the drinking tube slide through the breathing line.

He took a sip; sweet and sour, the taste wasn’t bad.

It was just a touch thick, and after drinking it, he felt a little thirsty...