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SAINAN NO KEKKA MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD
"What do you think?" The blond head on the other side of the room didn't move, staring out the window at something down below. Noin cleared her throat. "Hey Zechs, what do you think?" "Of what?" he said, his glance out the window never wavering. She heaved an exasperated sigh. "Zechs, you're not listening to me!" "Of course I am," he said, still not looking at her, but she could see an amused grin on his face. "Keep going. You're going to tell me about the ops plan, aren't you? That's the old copy. I changed them yesterday. The new ones are in your box already." She glared at his back for a few moments, then leaned over and tossed the papers in her hand into the trash. He was still smiling, but now his attention was fixed on something on the horizon. Probably mobile suit practice. She watched his profile for a moment, the smile under the silver mask, the long platinum hair. It took her a moment more to realize that he was smiling. Zechs Merquise, the silent, emotionless boy, was smiling. He had not been silent and emotionless to her for quite some time, but still, it was strange to see that smile on his face. It made him look almost human. If he would take the mask off… "Stop staring at me, Noin," he said. She jerked her eyes away, realizing she was blushing. Cursing herself silently, she began shoving papers back into her desk. She was blushing like a thirteen-year-old girl. Granted, she a thirteen-year-old girl, but she liked to think that she acted older than her age. It was stupid. Out of all people, Zechs Merquise… She supposed one could call it a teenage crush. To her ears, the words "crush" and "Lucrezia Noin" did not go together at all. "I'm leaving," she said shortly, standing up and slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I have to study for my engineering test." "So soon?" He sounded so perfectly serious that for a moment she was caught off guard, floundering, helpless and trapped beneath the blue gaze which suddenly swung around from the window to face her. She swallowed. "Well, unless you want me to fail my test." "Why don't we go for a walk?" he said. She blinked. A walk? Zechs Merquise, asking her on a walk? Zechs Merquise did not go on walks. Zechs…did he simply want to go for a walk, or was he asking her to…? "Noin? Hello? A walk? You know, those things where you put one foot in front of the other?" "I KNOW what a walk is," she snapped, embarrassed at being caught off guard. Only Zechs could do something like that to her. Only Zechs… To her mortified increased embarrassment, she realized she was blushing again. Zechs didn't let her get a second word in. With one hand, he slid the pack off her shoulders and deposited it on the desk, then grabbed her arm. "OK. No more waiting. We're going for a walk." "Zechs Merquise!" It took her another moment to realize that he was laughing. "What is WITH you today?" "It's a beautiful day," he called over his shoulder, pulling her after him down the stairs and out the back door. "Perfect for a walk. And don't worry…no one will see us." She caught the teasing tone in that remark. Her head was spinning. This was so unlike Zechs…unlike the Zechs she knew. Or that she had thought she had known. There was a wooded trail walk a short distance from the cadet administration building where cadets could study or ride bicycles in the afternoon to escape the heat of the hot African sun. What it was more commonly used for, however, was a pretense for…other activities as infamous as the trail's nickname, "Lover's Alley." Said wooded trail was approaching in the distance, and she pulled back on Zechs' arm. "Zechs, we are NOT going in there." "Why not? It's nice and cool there. Good for a walk." "Zechs, you know what goes on there! I won't be a part of it!" He stopped then, staring thoughtfully at the sky for a minute and then looking back at her. "Are you saying that my intentions aren't honorable?" "You're an idiot," she said flatly. "I don't know what your so-called intentions are, but I'm the wing commander, and I am not going to be made a fool of." Zechs dropped her hand abruptly, and for a brief, horrid second, she thought she had insulted him. That he was going to turn and walk away and leave her there. No! her mind screamed. No, that's not what I meant, Zechs, don't leave…don't leave…me… "Why are you so hard to get to know?" he said. The question was entirely unexpected, and her mind went blank for a moment. "Wh-what?" "You." He wheeled on her, the mask glinting in the sunlight. "Noin, I'm trying. I want to be your friend. We work well together, but we fight all the time. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong." She closed her eyes. "You're not doing anything wrong," she said softly. "It's me. I'm sorry." "What do you mean?" "I…" Her eyes were still closed but she could feel him leaning down over her, the question permeating the self-confident, yet secretive aura that she had grown used to feeling around him. His presence made her giddy, like she was drunk on some delicious wine. "You…" "I what?" "You make me…" That was not the right thing to say. Her eyes flew open, and she was startled to see the mask close to her face. She could see the blue of his eyes very clearly, very bright in the sunlight. "Zechs, please…someone might see us." "So what?" He heaved an exasperated sigh. "That's the problem, Noin…why are you so concerned with what others think of you?" "Look," she snapped, the words stinging her, "maybe I'm not like you, Zechs. All right? Leave it at that!" She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her hand. "Noin. I'm sorry. Can't we…can't we just take a walk? Nothing special. Just a walk. OK? It's too hot and too early to be studying engineering. And I want to get to know you. I've tried…but I guess it just doesn't work when we're trapped inside the admin building all day." She bit her lip. "Zechs." "Just an hour. One hour." His voice was so earnest and sincere that she could feel her resolve wavering. No. I'm still mad at him. I don't need to talk to him right now. No. I- "Come on, Noin. Please?" She sighed. "All…all right." Waiting for the impending feeling that she had done something wrong by agreeing, but surprisingly, all she felt was a wash of happiness over her. "Just for an hour." He didn't touch her this time, but she followed him towards the trees. The shade was a welcome relief from the hot sun, and she paused beside one of the tree trunks, closing her eyes and savoring the coolness. "So where are you from, Noin?" Her eyes snapped open and she blinked in surprise. Zechs had caught her off guard yet again, for what seemed like the hundredth time today. The question was a friendly one, one that people who had just been introduced would ask each other. General information, that everyone should know. And for the first time she realized that neither of them knew anything about the other. She had known him for four years but had only recently begun to see the man emerging from the boy under the mask. Zechs was not known around the Academy for being social. Charismatic, and incredibly talented, but she had realized a short time ago that he really didn't have any friends. Not that she had many friends, but there were people she enjoyed being around. Zechs was one of them. Yet she didn't know the first thing about him. Where he was from, his family, his dreams for the future when he graduated from the Academy. And he…he did not know her. Somehow, somewhere, they had rushed into friendship without building the foundation. Maybe that was what was missing. She smiled at him and was rewarded by his puzzled stare. "Italy," she said. "Why the smile?" "Mm…nothing." Noin started walking again, heard his boots on the dirt behind her as he caught up. "I just realized something." "What?" "Nothing important." "Noin-" "It's nothing," she said again. "I'm from Italy. My father's the mayor of Venice. Well, was the mayor, anyway. He died a year before I came here." She heard his intake of breath. "I'm sorry." She shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I hardly knew him. He gave me money…that's all. Enough money to enter the Academy, which I'm thankful for. My brother came here too…he's seven years older than I am. He was the soccer team champion while he was here." "Yes, I saw a Giovanni Noin on the plaque in the gym. I was wondering if there was any relation." "You were?" "You sound surprised," he said. "Don't I have the right to wonder things like that?" She shook her head. "No, it's not that, it's…never mind." Zechs didn't ask, simply kept pace by her side as she meandered slowly through the brush, questions whirling through her mind. Zechs was actually thinking about her? She had no idea…not the quiet, aloof boy who seemed, most of the time, to not care if any of his classmates lived or died. He seemed almost…haunted. That was the word. Haunted. "Where are you from, Zechs?" He had been smiling, but she saw the familiar coldness come over his features. His face changed, and in that split second, he looked foreign to her. A stranger, someone she did not know. "I'm sorry," she said hastily. "I don't mean to-" He looked weary. "It's nothing. You have every right to ask that." "I promise not to tell," she offered, then felt very childish. "I mean," she corrected herself, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's just that…I mean, you asked me, and-" Zechs smiled again, but it was not a happy smile. "It's all right. I'm from France." Something about that did not sound right, but she didn't ask, simply nodding and trying to push back the question that had popped to the forefront of her mind as he had spoken. She stared straight ahead. It wasn't a polite question to ask, she told herself. It was rude. She was not a rude person. At least, she tried not to be. "Go ahead," he said from beside her. "Ask." She frowned at him. "Ask what?" "I know what you want to ask. About my mask. Why I wear my mask." Her jaw dropped. "How - how did you know that?" Zechs shrugged. "It's something everyone wants to ask. I can see it in their faces when they meet me. But I guess they're afraid." "So…" her voice sounded tinny in her own ears. "Why do you wear the mask?" He was silent for a long time, the only sound their footsteps through the grass and dirt, and then he took a deep breath. "I-" The clock in the Academy clock tower chimed three. "Oh shit," he said. The very fact of Zechs Merquise cursing would have taken her aback any other day, but on a day like today, it was perfectly ordinary. She realized what he was worried about; every day at three o' clock there was a cadet officers' meeting for selected groups, and the operations group had slated him to give a briefing today. "You're going to be late," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving him a little shove. "You'd better go." "Yes," he said, but he didn't move. It took her a moment to realize that he was staring at her again. "What?" Her voice was wobbly. If she had known what he would do in that next second, she would have shied away, but he was too quick for her to catch as he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss, a brush of the lips across the back of it, but a kiss nonetheless. Before she could recover her stunned wits, he was off, running through the grass and between the trees, disappearing behind the greenery. Noin clutched her hand, staring after him though he was out of sight, then turned dazedly and began walking slowly, hardly watching where she was going, just walking. One foot in front of the other. The trail curved up, with the trees thinning and disappearing, and she found herself on top of a small hill overlooking the academy. She could see the belltower in the distance. The old, tall tree at the crown of the hill was one she used to nap under in the afternoons when she had been an underclassman. Sometimes she and a small group of girls would bring their homework up in the evenings to watch the sunset. She knew other people used the hill and the tree too; couples looking for a romantic moment amidst the hectic military schedule, other students searching for a quiet place to study, photographers wanting to capture the Academy from a scenic angle. But that hadn't kept Noin from naming this her hill. She hadn't been up here in a while, caught up in the whirl of wing commander's duty. She had forgotten how beautiful the Academy looked. The back of her hand still tingled and she could still feel Zechs' lips on it. And it hadn't been a clumsy kiss, either, not the kiss of an inexperienced thirteen-year-old teenager trying to fill a man's shoes. Zechs was no child. She brought her hand to her lips, briefly. What if he had… Snatching her hand away, she hit herself on the side of the head. "I'm no romantic," she said aloud. "I'm the wing commander. What's wrong with me?" But shocking though it was, that simple gesture had made her feel…real. Feminine. It had made her feel like a woman. She had never felt like this before. "I'm thirteen," she said to the empty air. "I'm only thirteen…I'm still a kid." But deep down, she knew that was not true. The Academy took children and trained the childhood out of them. There were no children here. She supposed that was sad, to the outside world…but to her, it was a fact of life. She had never been a child, really. She had no idea what childhood was like. Did that count as her first kiss? "Zechs," she said softly. "Why do you wear the mask?"
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