It was morning now.

Yu tried not to yawn, but a certain sense of exhaustion filled him. He knew why, of course - after waking up in the middle of the night, he hadn’t gone back to sleep. It had seemed irrelevant then, when he was shaking and trying hard not to make any noise. But now that it was daylight, Yu could feel the effect that it had on him: he could barely keep his eyes open.

Not that he would let that show. It would be unacceptable for him to be sleepy, especially if there was a Victim attack. He didn’t want to be seen as a liability. Even though it didn’t daunt his fellows, like Garu or Rio, to be seen acting unprofessionally, Yu wasn’t the type to take part in such mannerisms. Not that he held anything against acting as such - for all he cared, Rio and Garu could whine all they liked, as long as it was clear that the battlefield was a place of strict warfare. Joking around in a situation like that could get someone killed.

Yu almost sighed as he thought this, not wishing to start his day off with something so overtly depressing. If he did so, Yu knew that it would linger over him all day, unless something of greater importance distracted him. He couldn’t deal with it the way most people did - by social interaction - because his introverted ways often drove people away. In any case, his silence gave him a lot of time to think - perhaps too much.

A sudden burst of noise shook Yu out of his thoughts. He was standing in the doorway to the training room, where the other pilots and repairers were already gathered. The sudden noise that he had heard was the sound of Garu yelling at Rio, while the latter ran around, laughing and waving some sort of garment in his hands. As the blond-haired pilot ran past him, Yu darted his hand out and deftly snatched the cloth from the boy’s raised hand.

Yu looked down at the object in his hands, pensive. It was a t-shirt, apparently, with a clearly inscribed insignia of GOA etched onto it. From what Yu could see, it wasn’t of any real importance. He looked up and saw Garu standing in front of him, the green-haired boy’s expression one of relief mixed with worry.

“Ah, that’s mine, Yu,” Garu murmured sheepishly, as if he were apologizing. “Thanks for getting it from Rio.”

Yu raised an eyebrow curiously, but handed the shirt over to Garu. The older pilot smiled gratefully at him and proceeded to turn around at yell at Rio. Yu resisted the urge to roll his eyes, tuning the two boys out and walking over to where Kazuhi stood. She was speaking with Phil and Tune, but offered him a smile as he approached.

“Oniisama, you’re late,” she greeted, almost teasing him.

Yu’s expression remained carefully neutral as he replied, softly, “I’m here now.”

Kazuhi frowned a bit, noting the tired look in her brother’s eyes, but decided not to worry about it. Instead, she smiled at Phil brightly, asking, “Do you know what Rio doing with Gareas-san’s shirt?”

Phil smiled back, rolling her eyes slightly. “Apparently, it’s Garu’s little brother’s birthday, and he was going to send him a GOA t-shirt because he couldn’t afford anything else right now - he spend it on some weird game.” Phil explained. “Rio decided to heckle him about it, and you saw the rest.”

“I didn’t know that Garu had a little brother!” Tune exclaimed, “How old is he? Do you know?”

“Yeah,” Phil replied, nodding. “I think he’s six.”

“Is he going to come to GOA when he’s of age?” Kazuhi asked, intrigued.

Phil shrugged. “I’m not sure. Besides, isn’t six a little young to be thinking about GOA? I didn’t even know what it was until I was ten or so.”

“Oniisama and I knew when we were really little,” Kazuhi stated calmly, looking up at Yu. “We planned to come, ever since Okaasama told us about it. And we knew that we were going to make it and become a pilot and repairer team, too, didn’t we, Oniisama?”

Yu gave a slight nod, though he made no other indication that what Kazuhi had said was true, nor did he add to her story. In a sense, it was true, though the way she had told the story made it seem different. After all, they had known about GOA at a young age, and Yu could even remember talking about becoming a pilot with her as his repairer once. But Kazuhi’s story seemed wrong to him - perhaps because he knew that it wasn’t the whole truth.

Then again, the whole truth would be greatly disquieting. Yu knew that it would be better if Kazuhi deluded the other repairers - even if he didn’t agree with spreading around half-truths.

Vaguely, Yu could hear Kazuhi and the other repairers talking with each other and giggling every so often (more the other repairers than Kazuhi on the latter, but she giggled once or twice.) He tuned them out; his barely awake state made him revert back to the simplest commands, which didn’t involve gabbing with a group of teenage girls. Not that he would do that usually, but there were times when Yu found himself just sitting back and listening to the repairers talk. He was quiet enough that they weren’t bothered by his presence, and he was patient enough to decipher what was being said. But today, he was too tired to even think about listening in.

He had just fallen into a comfortable daze when an arm wrapped around his shoulders and an annoyingly loud voice stated, “Ne, Yu, didn’t you get any sleep last night?”

Yu tried not to sigh as he looked over at Rio. The older boy was grinning brightly, though there was a darkening bruise on his right cheekbone - most likely from where Garu had shown his irritation towards Rio’s earlier escapade. Rio was looking at him expectantly, but Yu simply looked at him, saying nothing.

Rio frowned, pouting, “Aw, c’mon, Yu! Say something! Be a good little boy, Yu-chan!” The suffix was emphasized, and Rio grinned brightly as he said it. If anything was going to get a rise out of Yu, it would be that.

Humph!

Rio gasped for air as he felt Yu’s elbow connect with his stomach, and he kneeled over slightly, clutching at his abdomen. Immediately afterwards, he glared up at Yu, muttering, “Aa, k’so! Yu, that hurt!”

“Thus, the point.” Yu muttered at him in response, slightly amused. Rio’s arm was still resting across his shoulders, and Yu’s eyes widened considerably as he felt the arm begin to tighten. Within seconds, the brown-haired pilot found himself in a neatly constructed head-lock.

“Oh, really?” Rio joked, mock punching Yu in the head, “Well, then, I guess you deserve to be taught a lesson!”

Yu tried to free himself from Rio’s grasp, but it proved futile. Nothing the sudden demise in conversation about the room, Yu realized that everyone was looking at them. Yu felt his face burn with a hot blush; he hated being the center of attention. Squirming to get out of the headlock, Yu muttered, “Let go of me, Rioroute.”

It wasn’t as forceful as he had hoped, given his soft-spoken tendency, and Rio laughed. Despite that, the sandy-haired pilot released him and looked over at Garu. Rio grinned brightly, stating, “Ne, look, Garu! I got Yu to talk! Ha! That’s better than you.”

“Oh, please. He told you to let him go.” Garu responded, rolling his eyes. “That’s hardly a heart-to-heart.”

Yu stepped away from Rio, rubbing his neck and frowning. So he was a game? Great. He took that moment to glare at both Garu and Rio, and then proceeded to walk away from both of them. Yu tried to calm himself, but he just wasn’t in the mood for his fellow pilot’s jocose actions that morning. Besides that, he was tired.

Taking his weariness into account, Yu decided to leave. He could miss a day - he’d mark himself as sick. Every pilot was granted a few sick days, though it wasn’t wise to use them, considering that every day of training was imperative for the safety of both GOA and Zion. But at that moment, Yu just didn’t care. So when he reached the doors, he let them open and left, heading towards his room.

Yu had gotten a total of five feet before he heard the doors open and close again with a quiet hissing sound. Almost instantly, a hand touched his shoulder and Rio’s face came into view, looking remorseful.

“Hey, Yu, are you all right?” Rio asked, wide-eyed. “Look, I’m sorry if I made you mad or something; I was just joking around, really! Are you upset?” Rio’s expression was truly apologetic, and he looked at Yu like he would be really distressed if he had actually hurt the younger boy’s feelings. After all, he hadn’t meant to do anything mean; his actions had been done in the spirit of friendship. But, if Yu hadn’t realized that...

Yu stared up at Rio with a blank expression on his face, but decided to reassure his fellow pilot verbally; knowing Rio, that would be the only way that he would leave Yu alone. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Rio asked, stepping back from Yu but leaving his hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. “You seem tired. Didn’t you go back to sleep?”

Yu’s head snapped up, his eyes narrowed slightly. How did Rio know that he had been woken up? He frowned, but said nothing. It didn’t matter, though, because Rio read his expression perfectly. Yu mentally sighed; his nightmares were something that he didn’t want to deal with right now. Yu abruptly turned away from the sandy-haired pilot, shaking off his hand and walking down another hall.

“Wait!” Rio’s voice called, and he grabbed Yu’s arm before the latter could disappear down the hall. Rio turned Yu to face him, brown eyes narrowed in concern, and he asked, “Don’t you remember last night?”

Yu frowned and gave a slight shake of his head. He was angry with Rio for following him, but if the only way to make the older boy leave him alone was to answer his stupid questions, then Yu figured he would do just that.

Rio blinked, confused. “B-but... it was just last night. We talked to each other by the Ingrids. And you don’t remember? You said that you were having nightmares.”

“I did have nightmares last night, Rioroute.” Yu slowly admitted, becoming confused himself. “But I didn’t leave my room.”

“You didn’t?” Rio replied incredulously, eyes wide. “But I talked to you! I know that it wasn’t just a dream, because the clothes that I had on were in the hamper this morning - I threw them in there when I went back to sleep. So you had to have gotten up!”

“I didn’t.” Yu insisted, shaking his head for emphasis. “I don’t know how you knew that I had nightmares.”

“About demons, right?” Rio asked. Yu’s eyes widened - Rio had been right - but the sandy-haired pilot didn’t wait for Yu to respond before holding his head in his hand and making a very loud, frustrated sigh. “Geez, what’s going on here? I know that I talked to you.”

It only took a moment for Yu to realize what was going on, and in that moment, a dozen repressed memories came rushing back at him. He could feel his face paling.

No... oh, no, not again. Not here.

But if what Rio was saying was true, then...

“Yu? Hey, Yu, man, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost. Are you all right?”

...then they were back.

For him.

Yu began to tremble, unnoticeably at first, as his memories came back, overwhelming him. That coupled with the fact that he was exhausted caused him to become light-headed, and he could feel himself swaying slightly.

“Yu! C’mon, say something!”

They’re back. For me. They’ve come back.

Yu shivered as his world abruptly went black.

“YU!”




Crack!

He twisted, trying to dodge the metal shaft, but failed. It struck him on the side, jarring his nerves with the sound. It didn’t hurt much, though, and he was able to quickly spring up and strike back. His opponent jumped out of the way, nervous, and he smiled. It was time to complete this match.

Boldly, he leapt forward, shaft held tight in his grip, and pulled a fake to confuse the adversary before him. It was hastily performed, but luckily, his foe fell for it, and tried vainly to dodge the other way - only to meet a fist of metal. That was it. His competitor was defeated. He had won.

“Nice job, Zero,” a voice crackled in his helmet, and Zero snapped out of his battle mind-frame. He grinned; it was Erts. “Although you probably could have beat him much easier if you hadn’t wasted time playing around.”

“I wasn’t playing around,” Zero murmured. The sound of his opponent getting up made him turn and look at the ground, saying, “You okay, Roose?”

“I’m good!” came Roose’s reply, sounding cheerful despite his obvious defeat. “Nothing hurt but my pride.”

“Well, that’s good.” Erts observed, listening via Zero’s com link. The blond-haired boy sounded as he usually did - calm and soft - and Zero smiled. It was comforting to have a friend that wasn’t so much like him.

“Good? No, it’s bad!” Zero amended, eyes widening. “Very bad! I meant to hit you! If you were a Victim, that means I wouldn’t have won!”

“It’s just training-” Roose began, but Zero continued.

“No, no, no! I must become a pilot! I need to! And that means I should have won!”

Erts sighed, “Uh, Zero... you did win.”

“Yeah,” Roose agreed, “I really don’t want to be killed.”

It went on like that for awhile, with Zero spontaneously bursting into short rants about being a pilot. The session was nearly over, so few people noticed the three standing candidates, and those who did notice paid them little mind. Soon, a bell toned, signaling the end of the lesson. The boys quickly left their suits and went to listen to the instructor’s closing announcements.

“All right,” the instructor called to the group of candidates, “You will each have a thirty minute resting period before lunch begins. After lunch, report back here for post-training session analysis and a brief workout.”

“Another one?” Roose muttered, his voice teetering on the edge of whining. Erts cast him a sympathetic smile, while Zero either didn’t hear him or didn’t care. The three candidates began to slowly make their way toward the sleeping quarters when Clay and Yamagi caught up with them, both boys grinning.

Immediately, Zero’s attention was caught, and his eyes lit up. “What is it?” he asked, sensing the mischievous ambiance that surrounded the two boys.

“Oh, nothing...” Yamagi taunted, smirking. Erts sighed, Roose blinked, and Zero glowered as Yamagi said this, obviously trying to make them beg for the information. Clay, on the other hand, saw through Yamagi’s plot and decided to tell the group himself.

“Actually,” he began, ignoring Yamagi as he tried to make Clay stop, “We saw the strangest person pass by here. She over talking to Azuma-sensei right now.”

Almost instantly, the boys turned to look at Azuma and the strange woman that he was talking to, casually moving towards them as they did so. Well, Clay and Roose moved casually. Zero practically bounded over eagerly, making it no secret that he was trying to overhear their conversation, and Yamagi was right behind him. Erts didn’t move at all initially, but sighed and moved after Zero, hoping to catch his airheaded friend before the boy got himself into even more trouble than usual. In the end, all five boys were clustered together near the two adults and were trying to furtively eavesdrop on the conversation.

“-that I would, ah, drop by for a visit, so to speak.” the woman said, adding a giggle to the end of the sentence.

Azuma wasn’t fooled by her blithe disposition, and calmly replied, “Look lady, the rule is, you can’t be in GOA without a pass. No pass, no visit, no matter how many dear old friends you have lurking around here.”

“Well, how do I get a pass, then?” the girl responded.

“You don’t, unless you’re authorized to be here.” Azuma snapped at her, obviously growing weary of the woman’s blunt commentary. “We can’t have a bunch of freakin’ tourists coming to GOA, and that means you. Unless you can get clearance, you’re leaving.”

“But-”

“Exit’s that way.” Azuma muttered, gesturing towards the far door with his right hand. He turned abruptly, the woman instantly forgotten, and briskly left the area. Zero jumped as Azuma nearly saw them, but the instructor passed them by, apparently having other things on his mind. Zero grinned and turned to the rest of the candidates, about to say something, when the familiar voice of the woman cut through.

“Excuse me,” the voice asked, and all five boys looked up at her with various expressions on their faces. Zero and Yamagi looked surprised and baffled, while Roose stared at the lady with a bemused sense of confusion on his face. Clay’s expression was curious while Erts was frowning slightly, a bit nervous about the woman’s sudden interest in them.

It was Zero who spoke up, jumping out their hiding spot and watching the lady with wide, interested eyes. “What you want, woman?”

Back in the hiding spot, Clay sighed, hitting his head with the heel of a hand as he heard Zero’s overtly sexist remark. Yamagi and Roose followed closely behind Zero, Yamagi looking like he wished to interrogate the woman while Roose only looked mildly interested. Erts and Clay exchanged glances before stepping out as well, their curiosity getting the best of both of them.

“Well, I was wondering if you could help me.” the woman began, smiling kindly - or so it would seem to a common passerby. Erts’ eyes narrowed slightly; he knew from the lady’s tone and expression that she only wanted something from them. While that wasn’t a crime, he knew, Erts didn’t trust conniving people, and this woman appeared to be as deceptive as they come.

“That depends.” Erts said calmly, stepping forward and placing a restraining hand on Zero’s shoulder. Not that he didn’t trust Zero, it was just that he knew Zero had a knack for getting himself into bizarre predicaments due to his inquisitive ways. Erts, for one, didn’t want this situation to go to far, especially if the strange woman was dangerous in some way. “What are you asking for?”

The woman smiled sweetly, and Erts took the moment’s pause to study her. She was young, but older than the majority of them - he guessed that she was around his brother’s age - and her overall appearance was definitely appealing. She was attractive, despite her outlandish clothes, and her blond hair and blue eyes made her look the part of a model of some sort. If she hadn’t spoken to them, Erts probably wouldn’t have thought that much about her being there, despite the general oddity of her appearance. But now that she had, his alarm bells were ringing. He could sense a mask about her, covering up what she really was, and that made him nervous.

“I’m looking for an old friend of mine.” the woman said politely, nodding her head at Erts. But she looked away from him after saying that, and glanced back down at Zero. “His name is Yu Hikura.”

Zero pondered what she had said for a moment, pensive. Then, turning to Erts, he asked, “Hey, Erts, who the hell is Yu Hikura?”

There was a collective facefault from the group, and Clay jumped up, amazed at Zero’s blunt stupidity. “Are you a moron?!” Clay asked, his eyes wide with astonishment. “He’s a pilot, you idiot! Number three! He pilots the Tellia-Kallisto. For crying out loud, Zero, we learned that on the first day!”

“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER ALL OF THE FACTS?!” Zero snapped back, holding his arms out wide in exasperation. “Okay, whatever, I remember now. He’s the eerily quiet one, right?”

Clay sighed, his head in his hands. “Zero...”

“You’re right, Zero,” Erts said, trying not to laugh. He smiled down at his smaller friend, who at the moment was casting Clay with an irritated stare. He then looked back up at the woman, who appeared to be quite amused the display. Erts inquired, “Why do you want to see Yu Hikura?”

“That’s my own business,” the woman replied calmly, and Erts’ eyes widened slightly as he sensed the irritation in her mood. She was losing her forbearance, he could tell, because up until that point her emotions had been carefully held in check. “In any case, I was wondering if you could assist me in locating him. I need to speak with him, and really, a pass would be too much of a hassle. It’ll only take a second.”

Erts listened to the woman warily, using his empathy to try and dig deeper into the woman’s inner feelings. He wouldn’t have done that usually, but he was getting bad vibes from the woman. Despite this, her emotions held no malice in them, just a bit of impatience and urgency. Also, Erts could sense an underlying feeling worry in her thoughts - as if something was greatly troubling her. Still, nothing to truly be alarmed about.

“Sure!” Zero’s cheerful voice interrupted Erts’ thoughts, and his eyes went wide as he realized that the younger candidate was agreeing to the woman’s terms. “I mean, you know where they are, don’tcha, Erts?”

“Ah, well-” Erts began cautiously. He didn’t want to lie to his friend, but truly, he didn’t want to help the strange woman either. Still, he knew that Zero would probably do it with or without his help, and there wasn’t any time to pull the brown-haired boy aside and try to reason with him. So, sighing, Erts did the only thing he could think of. “GIS docked a while ago. I’ll show you.”

Immediately, his mind was screaming at him to stop. He was breaking the rules, he was going to be punished, if anything bad amounted from this, Ernest would be extremely upset with him...

But Zero just grinned up at Erts, his face attaining the familiar, out-going expression that it often did when he embarked on some kind of new experience. Zero looked back at Yamagi, Clay, and Roose, who all were still standing there quietly. “You guys wanna come too, or should we meet you in the lunch room?”

“I’m going to lunch.” Roose said instantly, smiling. “I’m starving. C’mon, Yamagi.”

Yamagi frowned as Roose touched his shoulder and muttered, “I’m going.”

“It would probably be best that only Zero and Erts go,” Clay offered, pushing up his glasses with his index finger. “It’ll attract less attention that way, and besides, we candidates have no business interfering with the pilots anyway. If Erts goes, it’s acceptable because of his brother, and Zero going with him would seem unnoticeable. The rest of us should probably leave.”

“Wait, hey-!” Yamagi began, but Roose and Clay each grabbed one of his arms and started dragging him towards the lunchroom. “Hey, no, I want to go, too-!” The three boys disappeared around the corner, and Yamagi’s voice could be heard shouting for a few moments longer.

Erts and Zero watched the occurrence with identical looks of bemusement on their faces. After the sound of Yamagi’s yelling had died down, Zero looked up at the blond-haired woman. “Okay, we can go now. What’s your name, anyway?”

“Megumi,” she replied with a smile as they began to leave the premises. “Megumi Kajitani.”

“I’m Zero, and he’s Erts.” Zero introduced them, though he hadn’t been asked. A grin was on his face, and Erts could tell that he had been intrigued by the mysterious woman. Perhaps because of her strange clothing, he resolved.

With the introductions made, they proceeded to follow Erts out of the lobby, to where the pilots were gathered.




Kazuhi was calmly listening to Phil tell a story that she had heard from another repairer when Rio burst into the room again. The sandy-haired boy scanned the room quickly before picking Kazuhi out, and Rio immediately made his way over to her. Eyes wide, he said, “Something’s wrong with Yu!”

“What?” Kazuhi asked in response, not waiting for an answer as she pushed past him and ran out the door. It only took her a moment to find her older brother - he was slumped against a wall, his face devoid of color, though it was made even more pallid because of the bright lights in the hallway.

Worried, Kazuhi knelt next to Yu’s shiftless form, and touched his shoulder gently, “Oniisama... Oniisama! Wake up!”

“I’m not sure how it happened!” a voice explained, and it was then that Kazuhi realized that she had been followed by not only Rio, but the other pilots and repairers as well. Rio was standing next to her, looking down at Yu with an anxious expression on his face.

“What do you mean?” Kazuhi asked, looking up and casting Rio with an intense stare. “What happened?”

“One minute we were talking about something, the next, he just collapsed.” Rio responded, looking as confused as he sounded. “I mean, he said that he was tired, but it was really sudden! I managed to catch him before he hit the ground, but it was close.”

Kazuhi didn’t reply, but merely looked back down at her older brother, biting her lip. Oniisama, she thought, you have to get up. A brief memory flitted through her head, but Kazuhi narrowed her eyes, determined to ignore it. No, it’s not going to happen here. It won’t. And yet...

Kazuhi shivered slightly, but proceeded to shake Yu’s shoulder again, while repeating, “Oniisama, wake up!”

Yu began to stir at the last comment, and Kazuhi’s expression brightened as his gray eyes opened slowly. Blearily, they focused on Kazuhi’s face and blinked a few times before Yu murmured, “Ka...zu...hi?”

“Oniisama!” Kazuhi responded happily, surprised at the amount of tension that was lifted off her shoulders by Yu’s revival.

“Oh, good, he’s awake.” a voice stated from behind her, which Kazuhi identified as Garu’s. There was a brief moment of silence after this was said, but soon the only people left in the hallway were Kazuhi, Yu, Rio and Phil. Yu had began to rise on his own power, and was now leaning heavily against the wall.

“Oniisama, are you all right?” Kazuhi asked, trying to help him stand. To anyone besides Yu and she, it would seem like a simple, health-related question, but what Kazuhi was really asking was, what caused this? Were you attacked?

Yu offered his sister a shaky smile, faint and barely detectable, and replied, “Yes. I’m fine.” His eyes flickered up to see Rio and Phil standing there, looking out of place but worried, and he nodded to Rio. “You can go back now.”

“Are you sure?” Rio asked, concerned. “Maybe I should contact the infirmary. I mean, you just collapsed. You could be sick.”

“I’m fine.” Yu repeated, the faint smile disappearing from view. His hand was on Kazuhi’s shoulder, steadying himself, and he stepped away from the wall. With his other hand, he gestured towards the now closed doors. “You’re missing the simulation.”

“But-” Rio began.

“Don’t worry, Rioroute-san,” Kazuhi said, giving both Rio and Phil a shaky smile. “I think he’s just tired. Go back in; it would be awful if both of us missed the simulation.”

Rio frowned, about to argue some more, but Phil intervened, replying, “You’re right.” She smiled at Kazuhi and nodded at Yu, commenting, “I hope you feel better soon.”

Rio and Phil proceeded to leave, and Kazuhi could hear them start to argue before they even reached the door to the training room. Kazuhi waited for a few moments to ensure that she and Yu were alone before asking, “What really happened?”

“It’s the truth.” Yu murmured, “I fainted.”

“I know that.” Kazuhi replied irritably - she did not have the patience to play games. “Don’t try and cover it up. The only other time that you’ve ever fainted was back at home, and we both know why. So what happened?”

Yu paused, his expression going carefully blank. “Memories.”

“Memories?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Of them.”

Kazuhi went silent, staring at Yu with a blank expression that slowly changed into a fearful one. She looked nervously down the hall, and then stated, “You should probably go to your room. I help you.”

For a moment, Yu looked like he was going to protest, but did nothing of the sort. It was obvious that he was too worn out to do much of anything; his eyes were half-lidded and his face was still pale. Anyone looking at the two of them would most likely think that Yu was sick, although both of them knew that health-wise, he was fine.

“You’re going to talk to me after you’re rested,” Kazuhi ordered quietly as she helped her brother walk.

“Fine.”