Miriallia was the first thing Cagalli saw when she woke with a splitting headache. The brunette had fallen asleep seated on the floor next to the couch. Cagalli couldn't recognize where she was. It was neither her home nor Miriallia's. The clock read 2:00 and the sun streaming in through the cracks in the curtains suggested it was afternoon. She was disoriented and couldn't remember what day of the week it was. With both her and Miriallia lying here in the afternoon, it must be either Saturday or Sunday. She tried to move without waking Miriallia to no avail.
The concern on Miriallia's face was reflected in her own. Why was she so confused about where she was and what had happened?
"Cagalli?" Miriallia approached the conversation gently.
"What's going on Mir? Where are we? What day of the week is it?" Cagalli sat up massaging her head. "Any change you have something for a killer headache?"
Miriallia lunged forward sweeping Cagalli into a tight embrace. "I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried about you."
Cagalli returned the hug, realizing how shaken Miriallia was. The last thing she could remember was returning to her apartment after her morning run on Friday. Flashes of euphoria muddled her memory, but she couldn't remember anything substantial since Friday morning. She was in pyjamas too large to be hers or Miriallia's.
"It's Saturday afternoon." Miriallia began answering her questions. "You didn't show up for your morning class yesterday and I covered for you. I'm pretty sure that that loud, silver-haired friend of Athrun's kidnapped you and brought you here to Athrun's condo. Athrun and I spent yesterday searching for you and he found you here drugged when he got home. He gave you Heroin, but I'm not entirely sure why. He got his blond friend to bring me here and then they left together. That's about all I know. How are you feeling?"
"My head hurts like someone has taken a hammer to it. I'm hella confused about what happened. But other than that I'll be fine once I have some coffee in me."
"I'm so glad you're okay." Miriallia sat back and release a breath that she seemed to have held all night. "I can make you some coffee. I see a coffee maker."
"Do you mind if we go for a walk instead? We can grab coffee on the way. I need to move. My joints feel rusty." Cagalli slowly got to her feet and stretched, the sleeves of Athrun's nightshirt gathering past her elbows. "I need to talk things out."
"Sure, anything you need."
"I'm going to find something to wear."
"I'll search for some painkillers."
"You're heaven-sent."
In ten minutes, the pair were walking towards a coffee shop. Cagalli was dressed in a pair of Athrun's jeans that had too much room in them for her comfort and the smallest tee-shirt she could find. She carried her running gear in a backpack along with some water. The painkillers Miriallia found would require another ten minutes to take effect.
"You're awfully calm," Miriallia noted as they caressed their coffee in the chilly afternoon breeze.
"There is too much of a blank for me to really react. I'm still trying to piece things together." Cagalli confessed.
"Someone kidnapped you Cagalli. That's serious." Miriallia exclaimed, suppressing her anger.
"Yeah." She agreed with apparent nonchalance.
"How're you not bothered by that more?" Cagalli's calm was beginning to frustrate Miriallia.
"I don't know." Cagalli indulged in a long pause to gather her thoughts. "I guess because it was Yzak. And he took me to Athrun's house. And more than being upset about it, and this headache mind you, I keep thinking about why he would do that." She paused again to organize her thoughts. "And the only reason I can come up with is that he was trying to repair something that he thought he broke."
Miriallia chewed on her cheek as she contemplated the logic Cagalli laid out before her.
"It is a best effort at best intentions. Not sure how I cannot take that as a show of care. Because even if it was an entirely selfish act, the only reason he'd feel bad about affecting me and, or, Athrun is if he cared enough to feel bad about negatively affecting us."
"He kidnapped you. He drugged you." Miriallia was still angry because she hadn't come down from the stress of losing track of Cagalli for a whole day. "That is undoubtedly warped."
"Definitely. But it wasn't malicious." Cagalli reasoned. "I'm pretty sure Yzak couldn't think of a better way to fix the situation. He did try to talk to me and I completely shut him out. He seems like the drastic overreacting sort when he feels helpless."
"How does that not scare you!?" Miriallia was exasperated.
Cagalli shrugged. "I don't think he would ever hurt me. He's just childish."
"...in a deranged psychopath kind of way!"
Cagalli laughed. "Yeah. But children don't hurt their friends. Only their enemies."
Miriallia sighed. "So, you're just going to let this slide? Like it's no big deal?"
"No. He's definitely going to get an earful. But I'm not inclined to take any formal action beyond that. I also probably owe him a conversation so that this doesn't happen again."
"What about Athrun?"
"Not sure I'm really up for that one."
"Cagalli, he searched for an entire day with me. He took care of you and made sure you didn't die or get sick or whatever from the drugs that Yzak gave you. He left us in his home so that you would be safe. All that even though you've frozen him out for two weeks or more. If anyone deserves a conversation, it's Athrun - the guy who did not kidnap and drug you."
"He did drug me. I could be a Heroin addict."
"You're being pedantic."
"I'm not up for any kind of complications in my life right now."
"I'm not telling you to date him. I'm just telling you to talk to him and let him know for sure that you're out."
"I haven't talked to him for two weeks! He must know I'm out."
"He searched every park and hospital with me. I'm pretty sure he's hanging on."
Cagalli frowned, unable to refute Miriallia's logic. "You may be right."
They walked in silence parted by occasional conversation. An observer couldn't trace a thread through their exchanges because of their varied topics. They strolled along for three hours and arrived at their destination under the cover of evening.
"Where are we?" Miriallia asked, when Cagalli stopped to stare at a mid-rise condominium. Unlike the one where Athrun lived, which kissed the sky, this one sat in the shade of surrounding buildings and hills.
"This is where Yzak and Dearka - the blond friend - live."
"Oh."
"Might as well finish this and move on from this chapter, eh?" Cagalli sought concurrence from Miriallia with a weary smile.
"Better not to let things fester," Miriallia agreed. "Want me to stay down here?"
Cagalli shook her head. "Come up if you don't mind. I don't want to be too outnumbered."
"Absolutely."
Miriallia followed Cagalli's lead as they took the stairs. The cogs spinning in Cagalli's brain were apparent on her face. Miriallia reached for her hand and squeezed it gently, to reassure Cagalli of her support. The blonde smiled in response.
The wait following the knock was a tense one.
"Is Yzak home?" Cagalli asked Dearka, who stared at her, dumbfounded, after opening the door.
"You want to see Yzak...?" Dearka was surprised and slightly concerned with the lack of anger in Cagalli's features.
"Yeah, I think we have some things to sort out." Cagalli nodded, her voice unwavering.
"Who is i-" Athrun dropped his sentence in shock at the sight of Cagalli.
"Hi Athrun." Cagalli's calm demeanour immediate reverberated with nervousness. "Thanks a lot for taking care of me."
"It's no problem. How're you feeling?" Athrun's tone betrayed his pent up worry for Cagalli's welfare.
"Painkillers and caffeine have a way of fixing all of life's problems." She smiled, a hint of discomfort in her expression. "Is Yzak around?" She asked Dearka again.
"I think we should talk first." Athrun would not relinquish his stake in the conversation. "Do you mind Miriallia?" He asked the brunette to keep up manners, giving Cagalli a taste of her own medicine.
Miriallia interrupted Cagalli before she could respond. "Not at all. I could use some time off my feet and Cagalli favours evening walks."
"Thanks, I promise not to lose sight of her," he assured, eliciting a smile from Miriallia before ushering Cagalli away against her wishes. The last thing Cagalli could hear was Miriallia accepting Dearka's invitation into his home.
"She may hurt Yzak," Cagalli warned, not impressed with being handled by others.
"Yzak deserves it. And you need to stop ignoring me."
"I need to do no such thing." Cagalli crossed her arms defiantly. "Also, Yzak was only trying to help in his own strange way."
"Strange? He drugged and kidnapped you." Athrun was flabbergasted with Cagalli's apathetic reaction to the situation.
Cagalli let out a frustrated sigh. "You and Miriallia are so similar. Honestly, he's your friend. I shouldn't have to defend him to you."
"Well, you stopped talking to me after spending a night with him. So I reserve my rights to be as pissed off as I want. You want to tell me why we're not talking?"
"Because..."
The silence that followed Cagalli's lack of coherent response annoyed Athrun. "Oh my god. The reason you get the psychotic thinking behind Yzak if because you're both children!" He practically threw up his hand in frustration.
"At least I'm not still in love with my ex!" Cagalli yelled spitefully.
Athrun couldn't find it in him to blink as he digested the accusation. "What?" he said with an air of banality.
"Look. I'm just not interested in being a rebound while your true love sashays in and out of your life in between her globe-trotting good deeds. You need to find someone else for that." By the tone of her voice, Cagalli was still riled.
"What are you talking about?" Athrun spoke slowly, searching his memory bank for anything that would being sense to this conversation.
"I really don't feel like explaining your feelings to you."
"You really should, because I'm pretty sure what you think my feelings are differ from what my feelings actually are. Hence my confusion."
"Do none of you remember the things you say when you are drunk?!"
"I remember saying I was exciting to spend time with Audrey, the ex I assume you're talking about, but I can't remember anything that would give you the idea that you are a rebound."
"Well, your uncharacteristic giddiness coupled with Yzak's relentless soliloquies on the issue painted a pretty clear picture."
"I have no idea what Yzak said in his monologues. All I said was that I'm excited to spend time with a friend."
"An ex-girlfriend."
"She's my friend more than she is my ex-girlfriend."
"I don't really understand that whole concept."
"Of friendship?"
"Of platonic relationships completely replacing romantic ones. How can you not feel something for her when you see her?"
"I do. But it's substantially different from what I felt when I was in love with her. Trust me. I would know. I was the one who was in love with her."
"And now you're just out of love?"
"People change. It didn't make sense anymore. We met right before we were both in college. College changes you. Being at military college is different from being a cadet. We just didn't fit anymore. I still love her. But she's one of my best friends."
"I don't get it. I can't do that. Be in love and then just not."
"I don't understand how you can be in love and then just have nothing. Anybody I've been in love with will always be special to me."
"I don't get that."
"You didn't seem to have an issue with Lacus."
"You weren't ever in love with Lacus. Your closest friends don't see you as the perfect complement to Lacus. I am not single-handedly responsible for the idea that I am a rebound."
Athrun massaged his forehead. They had not made it past the initial flight of stairs. This conversation was tedious, and wearing thin on his patience. "Come," he commanded, taking her by the wrist and leading her up the stairs. They shortly found themselves on the roof, in a sanctuary fashioned from trees and water fixtures. "Yzak was really attached to us. We were the first couple that he ever saw in love. His parents married for the benefit to the families. He saw us every day and didn't realize that slow distance that builds up between people where they fall out of love amicably. That kind of observation is too deep for Yzak's understanding. And when we decided that we weren't a couple anymore, Yzak reacted like an only child in a divorce. Rather than taking what Yzak says for it's face value, it makes more sense to think about this," he gestured towards the space between the two of them, "as something that reminds him of what Audrey and I were like. The most likely scenario here is that he is afraid of ending up being as conflicted and confused as he as when Audrey and I broke up."
Cagalli listened with patience despite her restlessness. She couldn't go anywhere even if she wanted to because of Athrun's hold on her wrist.
"So, I don't know what he said, and I'm not sure how that played into your understanding of what I said, but when I said I'd like to see Audrey, I wasn't talking about alone by candlelight or moonlight or whatever it is you imagine things to be. In fact, aside from the usual suspects, I expected you'd be there as well. You'd like Audrey. She's like you in many ways, but with an aristocratic upbringing that makes her very humble." Athrun joked sarcastically.
Cagalli lay on her back, staring at the darkening sky. She reflected on everything that Athrun had said for long moments. "I don't like the thought of you being in love with someone else."
Athrun chuckled, laying down beside her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "I think they call that jealousy."
"You made her Chinese food."
Of course, everything was about food with Cagalli. "I can make you Chinese food too. I've had the practice."
"I don't ever want to eat Chinese food again." Cagalli insisted indignantly.
"That's a bit drastic." Athrun changed his tune at the sight of Cagalli's glare. "What do you like to eat?"
"Creamy pasta," she answered simply.
"I can make you pasta."
"Can you put shredded carrots in it?"
Athrun face scrunched at the thought of creamy pasta with carrots. "That sounds easier to make than it does to eat."
"I'll pick carrot pasta over you any day," Cagalli threatened playfully.
"I'm never going to be jealous of pasta or carrots Cagalli," Athrun said with a deadpan seriousness that did not suit the humour of his words.
She sulked for long moments. "I don't like this feeling. It pretty much sucks." She confessed, having reflected on her obvious jealousy, embarrassed that she did not recognize it in herself.
"I know. But we would not be who we are without without where we've been in life."
"All right already. Enough wisdom from you for one day. For one whole year in fact." Cagalli resigned, needing some time to process what felt like a two week tantrum in this moment.
"I'll stop if you promise that in the future to talk things through with me before you decide to shut me out."
Cagalli frowned and nodded before nervously kissing Athrun until she wasn't nervous anymore.
"You have a problem Yzak," Cagalli laughed as the five gathered around a coffee table eating Thai food from take-out containers.
"Yzak has many problems," Athrun chimed in, "You may have to narrow it down for him."
"I think she's referring to his inability to apologize," Miriallia spoke up with a hint of seriousness lacking from her predecessors' voices.
"That's one of the many sociopathic tendencies that make's Yzak, Yzak," Dearka explained to the newcomer.
"Get off my case, you damned fools!" Yzak barked.
"The chances of that happening are slim," Cagalli assured the enraged silver fox.
"I'm the entire reason you two are talking," he snarled in response.
"You wouldn't have to fix anything if you just stopped breaking things," Athrun teased halfheartedly.
"All right, all right, that's enough for one night. I think we all feel better having ridden Yzak on his creative problem solving over the last two hours." Cagalli came to Yzak's defence, realizing that she was the closest semblance of an ally he had in tonight's crowd.
"Well, look at that," Miriallia broke the momentary pause, "He doesn't know how to say thank you either."
"What, is there a sass pheromone that attracts you guys to each other or something?" Yzak rolled his eyes, about as fond of Miriallia as he was of Cagalli at their introduction.
"There should be," Cagalli's brow furrowed with interest in the concept, "How awesome would that be Mir?"
"It would definitely take the tediousness out of finding our kin," the brunette agreed.
"I think you people need to get out of my house." Yzak ordered, a pout deeply engrained into his tone.
Athrun and Dearka laughed at Yzak's bratty disdain.
"I think we'll get going," Cagalli agreed. "I've lost half my weekend already. Besides, Yzak can't well kidnap us if we're here."
"Get out!" Yzak pointed toward the door indignantly.
"Yeah, yeah," Cagalli dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "You ready Mir? We can share a cab."
"I can take her home," Dearka offered to escort Miriallia home. "You want to tag along Yzak?"
"For more snide judgement from a stranger? No thanks. I'd rather drive this fork through my eye."
"What a drama queen!" Cagalli chuckled, helping Miriallia to her feet. "We don't mind cabbing to we?"
"Honey, I think Dearka is trying to create a situation where Athrun can drive you home without bringing too much attention to it." Miriallia patted Cagalli on her shoulder, "But the drugs must have killed the part of your brain that understands subtext."
"I believe we're not done picking on Yzak. Let's go back to mocking him." Cagalli deflected.
Miriallia deliberately ignored her. "I would appreciate a ride home if you don't mind Dearka. I'm pretty much maxed out on Cagalli time."
Dearka smiled at her familiar ease with him which was clearly a product of her fatigue. She seemed like a strictly guarded person by the subtleties of her demeanor.
Cagalli surrendered. "I tried to save you the chauffeuring," she declared valiantly to Athrun, linking her arm through his.
"You're pretty much an idiot," Athrun sighed.
"Can I meet you downstairs?" Cagalli asked as they left the apartment. Athrun nodded and Cagalli returned to the apartment, finding Yzak clearing the leftovers.
"What do you want?" He snapped, his bad mood lingering.
Cagalli unexpectedly advanced and wrapped her arms around a flabbergasted Yzak in a tight hug, holding him for much longer than was comfortable for either of them. "Thanks, you big idiot," she whispered, before pushing him back towards the leftovers. There was truth to his claim that she would still be with her head buried in the sands of denial if it wasn't for his crazy risk. Given Yzak's history was entrenched in military combat, and the limited circumference of his social circle, it wasn't hard to imagine how his actions seemed to be a good idea to him in the moment. "Next time, lets try it without the sedatives," she said, disappearing before he could respond.
Cagalli and Athrun were curled up on her couch. Since their reconciliation, they set a weekly movie night. They alternated on who got to choose the movie which had already evolved into a competition on who had the best taste in movies. So far, no one was winning because they have contradictory tastes in movies. Where Athrun favoured pace, Cagalli favoured substance. Athrun wanted his entertainment to require minimal intelligent thought to balance his workday, while Cagalli sought thought-proving entertainment to counteract the adolescence of her nine-to-five. They were opposite kinds of distractions for opposite lives. They were discovering that face-paced, thought provoking film was a rare entertainment art form.
"Look, I guarantee there'll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this thing. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're the only one for me." Cagalli whispered the dialogue with Richard Gere albeit with a giddiness that dampened the romance from the words.
"I think this guy is redefining the way I think about being a man," Athrun confessed, reflecting on his youth filled with macho propaganda. He was brought up in a world of fire axes and flame throwers, not of flowers and fireworks.
"Very few of us could do better than a Richard Gere character." Cagalli's words had an air of dreaminess to them, her eyes trained on the movie. Today, she felt like a positive romance that was a comedy of errors, where destiny won against the odds. The future of her relationship with Athrun was heavy on her mind and it was premature to be anchored by such anxiety. They had hardly dated long enough for him to know she didn't like flowers or valentines day. It was too early for the future to meddle with the present; she knew this logically, but was having difficulty shutting off her emotional brain which would pipe up at the most inopportune moment. She hoped a despite-the-odds, feel-good romcom like 'The Runaway Bride' would distract her. She was right; it was doing a fine job of placating her.
"I really didn't see you as a chick flick kind of girl."
"I'm not per se. But in college I had to sit through a lot of torturous ones. So I set out to find ones that don't make me ashamed of women, or the human capacity for love."
"There are worse movies than this?" Athrun teased.
Cagalli rolled over on her stomach. "Are you bored? We can do something else if you promise to extend the same courtesy to me when we're watching a movie of your choice that I'm not gung-ho about."
"Not a chance."
"I knew you secretly like it."
"Do not."
"Total man crush on Richard Gere. It's okay. I can see it. I prefer Julia Roberts myself."
"Her smile is a little big."
"It's her selling feature - the Mona Lisa smile."
"For one, it's freaky big. And have you ever seen the Mona Lisa!? I'm pretty sure the Da Vinci rendition has no teeth."
"Never in person. I would love to meet her but alas, my teacher's salary requires me to live through the internet and art books."
"I didn't think you'd be an art connoisseur. That seems uncharacteristic."
"Connoisseur is a far stretch. I know what I like. I don't necessarily like everything I'm told to."
"You're definitely an interesting person to discover." Athrun's gaze had an intensity that stopped time. Cagalli fought a blush and tried not to swallow her tension noticeably. She couldn't remember the last time someone have paid such undivided attention to her. It felt wonderful and horrible in the same moment. Her stomach knotted, trapping the hoard of butterflies that had taken residence there. Just as the anxiety was reaching an unbearable apex, the moment was interrupted by a ringing cellphone. Athrun sighed. "That's mine."
Cagalli rolled herself off Athrun and tucked her knees into her heart, hoping to insulate the pounding of heart.
"Oh shit," Athrun rarely swore. "I totally forgot!" He answered his phone as he searched for privacy in Cagalli's small apartment. "Hi mom," he answered the phone in panic. Cagalli couldn't help but giggle at his frantic response, her anxiety momentarily paused. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot about our lunch. ...No, I know. This time it isn't work, it just slipped my mind. ...Can we do dinner instead? ...I'll make it up to you with your next Mother's Day gift. ...Elixir? ...Isn't that a bit fancy? ...What girl? ...How do you know I'm with a girl? ...I'm distracted by a lot of things! ...Dinner tonight? ...She might be busy. ...Ask her? Okay, hang on," Athrun looked at Cagalli holding his phone away from his face with a hand over the microphone, "Please tell me you have plans tonight."
"Oh please Athrun, I can hear you!" a female voice chided him loudly over the phone. "You tell that girl to cancel her fake plans and go buy her a pretty dress and I'll see you at 6 for drinks."
"Mom, it's-"
"I desperately miss the days when you knew how to say 'Yes, mother'. What ever happened to my darling son?"
Athrun sighed and Cagalli shrugged awkwardly, shaking her head frantically. There was that nagging anxiety again. "Yes mother. ...Her name? It's Cagalli. ...Yes, I'll tell Cagalli about dinner at Elixir at 6 so that she can make sure I don't forget. ...Love you too, mom."
"So," Cagalli said awkwardly as the couple stared at each other in silence following the phone call. "How bad would it be if I didn't go and you went by yourself."
"It would be bad for me tonight. And if you every had to meet her because, you know, this might actually work out, that would be disastrous."
"What are the chances...?" Cagalli trailed off.
"...that this is going to work out...?" Athrun continued.
They stared at each other awkwardly.
"All right, I guess we're buying a dress," Cagalli said, turning off the TV.
"Sounds like a plan," Athrun agreed. "Where are we going?"
"I don't know. You know what your mother likes to see. You tell me."
"I prefer you wear something I like to see."
"I'm not going naked."
"Something sheer then?"
"I think I have a pant suit around here somewhere..." Cagalli considered seriously.
Athrun quickly became very serious. A pant suit would be disastrous. Hs mother would identify with the tomboy in Cagalli which would lead to a lot of pain in his life. He needed to convince Cagalli that his mother was much more fond of Lacus than she actually was. "I think Lacus shops at that premium department store, whatever it's called."
"Of course Lacus shops at Luxotica. It's a premium mall cum resort. Is that your mom's type? Lacus?"
"Well, I was bethrothed to her by my parents..." Athrun said, not entirely lying. While his mother was fond of Lacus, she never considered her a suitable match for Athrun. However, she had little choice in the matter when their fathers sealed the deal. She had to support the union despite it being in the best interest of the families rather than the children.
Cagalli interrupted Athrun's thoughts. "We're really doing this, aren't we?" She asked seriously.
Athrun tried to lighten the moment with humour because of her apparent nervousness. "Shopping?"
"Impressing your mom," she corrected, unimpressed with the ill-timed joke.
"Yeah. I guess we are. Does that scare you?"
"Yeah. Yeah it does. I'm sorry. Maybe it shouldn't but it's pretty scary."
"Good. I think, ironically, it would be a game changer if you weren't scared," Athrun confessed.
"I'm less scared because you used ironically correctly in that sentence," Cagalli admitted.
"I think I'm more scared because that's what you're thinking about now."
"I've never met the parents ever before. Any tips?"
"We'll talk about it as we shop," he promised ushering her out of her own home. He needed to plan how to execute this dinner in a manner that would maximize his long-term happiness. "We don't have much time and I need to get one of my suits pressed and get a haircut."
"This terrified, obiedient side of you is fascinating." Cagalli was amused and now a small part of her wanted to meet his mother to see how she did it.
Yzak was waiting for Dearka in a dark underground bar near the base when the blond arrived. He had absconded a booth in a corner away from both the bar and the washrooms to maximize privacy. Photographs covered the table top and two new drinks were waiting patiently to be consumed.
"This is quite clandestine, even for you Yzak." Dearka refrained from a sarcastic greeting when he saw the scattered photographs and Yzak's serious expression.
"I think someone is stalking Cagalli," Yzak opened without waiting for the blond to take a seat. It wasn't news to Dearka that Yzak found small talk a waste of time.
"Could it be you?" Dearka asked nervously, looking at the photographs of the blonde teacher spread before Yzak. "You're becoming dangerously obsessive about her. Should I worry?" Many of the prints featured both Cagalli and her friend in elegantly seductive dresses. Dearka didn't take either of them as party-goers.
"It's not me!" Yzak barked, annoyed with the relentless teasing that had yet to cease. The not-so- subtle nervousness irked him the most. "Okay, yeah, maybe for a while I was following her too closely trying to figure out why you and Athrun were being weird about me, when I found out that Athrun wasn't able to get a hold of her. But then, I started following the guy who was actually stalking her."
Dearka couldn't help but laugh as he placed his rye back on the table, relishing the sip. "So you stalked a stalker?"
"I prefer calling it surveillance."
"I'm sure you would."
Yzak threw back the entire double shot of vodka hoping it would dull his growing anger. He drew an envelope from his jacket. Swiping all the photographs of Cagalli to one side of the table, he upended the contents of the envelope into the table. These were photographs of a dark, hooded figure in all the same places that Cagalli was at from Yzak's previous batch of pictures.
"Holy shit, you're actually serious." Dearka sat upright, taking immediate notice of the seriousness of Yzak's proposal. He sorted through the photographs to match photographs of Cagalli and the hooded stalker in the same areas with similar date-time stamps. "Have you told Athrun about this?"
"I thought I'd run it by you first, get your buy in before taking it to him. If I take it to him now..." Yzak's voice bashfully trailed off.
"Yeah, he'll think you're obsessed with Cagalli. More so than I did because of his personal investment in the issue."
"Exactly." Yzak was bitter about his situation. "As if someone like Cagalli is good enough for me." He dismissed haughtily.
"Did you ever get a face?" Dearka directed the conversation back to the photographs.
"I did." Yzak pulled a smaller envelope from his jacket and dropped it in front of Dearka.
These photographs, fewer in number, showed a face with clear features, eye colour and hair colour. "We can use this to track down the guy and deal with him." Dearka dropped the latest pile of photographs on the table and finished his drink. They were skilled at finding shadows; in this case they had a face. This assignment was like having a cake and eating it too.
"I know who he is," Yzak shared, waving for fresh drinks from the waitress.
Dearka laughed as the prompt waitress refreshed their drinks. "Couldn't wait could you?"
"I didn't look him up. I ran into him at Cagalli's school when I went to talk to her." Yzak leaned his elbows on the table between them, forcing Dearka to take him seriously. "He's one of Cagalli's students."
"Why are you reacting to this so seriously. So a student has a bit of a dangerous crush. We'll tell Cagalli to watch out. Not a big deal."
"Dearka, there is something weird about this one. He had no issues challenging me in his school. Street punks and high school brats don't ever take me on, especially when I'm mad. And Cagalli, the way she spoke to him, they are not just student and teacher. She talks to him differently."
"Cagalli wouldn't fool around with a student and Athrun. I don't think she has it in her." It concerned the blond that an adolescent existed that wasn't cautious in challenging Yzak to a fight, but Yzak could have misread the situation given how upset he was at the time. After all, he did think it was a good idea to kidnap Cagalli to force her to talk to Athrun.
"That's not what I mean," Yzak sighed. "They are, I don't know, like siblings or something. Cagalli may not believe us. Plus the kid's awfully sure of his relationship with her. I'm not even sure Athrun could convince her."
"Does Athrun know this kid?" Yzak shrugged at Dearka's question. "Okay, then let's take this to Athrun first. And decide how we proceed from there."
"My sniper rifle is good to go."
"Are you just pissed off because he's a ballsy kid or is he a real threat to Cagalli?"
"He wouldn't hurt Cagalli. Not yet. He seems like he wants to keep her safe. But, why would he do that unless he was in love with her. And if she's not going to reciprocate..."
"Well, then, we'll rely on Aria," Dearka referred to Yzak's rifle by her name. "But till then leave this with me and stop surveilling people outside of work."
As they drank silently, Dearka tried to determine why this information unsettled him in the same way a war would.
