Disclaimer: Sunrise


Tokyo, 2020

"Here, try compiling this code," Kira finished the code and shoved the notebook PC back to Athrun.

"Huh, you're done already?" Athrun checked Kira's work. "Oooh, thanks, Kira." He said, checking the code Kira wrote.

As Kira promised, he was helping Athrun with the model for the programming of his new project. Later, he was going to make an entirely new program for his entry to the competition. They were now working at Kira's room. Athrun was making sure there was no problem with the code, while Kira was doing random things with his PC, occasionally lending Athrun a hand.

"When is the competition?" Kira asked, going back to his own PC.

"Last week of August, in Yamanashi," Athrun answered, not removing his eyes from the notebook, still checking the rows of code, and Kira hummed slowly in response. "When is the Judo inter-high again?" Athrun asked this time.

"The first week of August."

"Does the judo club hold training camp again this year, then?"

"Of course. We'll be going at the start of summer holiday, the usual 3 days and 2 nights."

"Are you playing on a team again?"

"No, I'm participating in an individual tournament this year."

Athrun's hand on the mouse scroll stopped. Every time Kira joined a Judo competition, it has always been a team competition, never the individual one.

"You know," Athrun finally removed his attention from his notebook. "I was always wondering why are you so focused on judo club, Kira?" Athrun asked. "You are so smart, you should have joined me in a robotic club, or maybe computer club, you are always so good at programming," he turned his head to Kira, who was still sitting on his chair, facing the computer on his desk. "I joined the judo club with you in junior high because it seemed fun back then, and because you joined too. But I didn't think you would continue until high school. And I didn't expect you to be that determined to win the tournament or the Inter-high."

"I don't," Kira admitted. "It was more like a distraction. Training keeps my mind clear, and fighting in the mattress helps me control my emotions."

Athrun was confused. Why did Kira need to control his emotions? Kira always seemed to be calm and collected. He was not the type to burst suddenly or a temperament person. "Why do you need to do that?" Athrun couldn't help but ask.

But the said person didn't say anything. Instead he removed his eyes from the screen in front of him, glancing sideways to the desk. Following his friend's line of sight, Athrun guessed he was looking at his desk's drawer. The only thing Athrun knew was, Kira was keeping some stuff there, from his past.

"Is it about your real parents?" Athrun asked, though he knew nothing about Kira's past, he had guessed that Kira had bad memories with them, as he never really wanted to talk about it.

"Yeah…" Kira nodded. "We didn't part in a good way," he continued.

"Well, if you are feeling like talking about your family to someone, I'm here," Athrun offered. He couldn't push him to talk; it needed to be on Kira's pace.

At the offer, Kira said instead, "Fllay and I broke up yesterday."

"Is that so?" Athrun said, turning his head back to his notebook. Huh?

Wait.

"Wait, what!?" Athrun turned his head back to Kira, his jaw hitting the ground. "You serious?"

"I am," Kira answered solemnly. "I saw her kissing someone else—Sai was it? I wasn't sure—Lacus was there too, with me."

"What? Lacus was there too?" What a disaster, Athrun mumbled. "Are you okay with this? Looks like you suddenly break up with her, it was so abrupt. Shouldn't you talk about it again with her? You know, clearing misunderstanding, if any—"

"I know what I saw. Seeing is believing, don't they say?"

"Well, I understand but… Are you really okay with it, breaking up like this?"

"She said it in front of me; that I'm not her boyfriend anymore, to that guy. If that's what she wanted, then so be it." Kira stood up, walked to his bed, and sat there. "I'm done; I want to focus on the inter-high. After that we have to prepare for the college admission test. We'll be quite busy then."

And I had to look for Cagalli too, Kira added in his head.

"Did you like her, Kira?" Athrun dared himself to ask. "When you were together with her. I won't be discreet about it; you know how Lacus and I feel about Fllay… Sorry though," he added, feeling guilty but not that guilty. "But… well, yeah… Did you?"

"I don't know… I can't even remember." Kira plopped down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "That day, when I saw her with another guy, I just felt like something snapped inside me. All the feelings that might have been there before just disappeared into nothing. But instead, I'm confused… Like how could it disappear so quickly? I didn't even feel anything for her, except for anger."

"You're angry at her?"

"Yes…" Kira answered slowly. "I told Lacus about my father…"

"Your real father?" Athrun was surprised. Kira was always feeling down whenever his past was mentioned. Nobody knew about it, even he and Lacus.

"Yeah…" Kira closed his eyes, and started telling Athrun what happened after Fllay and her partner left, minus the way Lacus held him and the part where he shed tears.

"So that's why…" Athrun mumbled. If that's what happened, then he could understand why Kira was never willing to share his story with him. Even for that short time, if he was in Kira's shoes, Athrun was sure he couldn't trust his parents back. "I'm sorry, about your parents." He added.

"It's in the past," Kira said, as if dismissing it, "Enough about me. How about you, Athrun? I don't think I ever saw you with someone other than Lacus. You sure you guys are not together?" Kira asked.

"We. Are. Not. Together," Athrun emphasized each word slowly. "I've known her forever and she's always like a sister to me, beside she is—" Athrun was about to say that Lacus already had someone she likes, but decided against it. If he said something like that, Kira would think Lacus already liked someone else, and they would forever be on the loop. "Forget it," he finally said. Even if he dropped a clue on who was Lacus's love interest, Kira might not get it, he sighed.

And then his mind went back to what happened on his way to Kira's house.

He was really grateful to that girl. He had seen a few students at his school, mostly from sports clubs, got suspended and weren't allowed to play in the tournaments where they were supposed to play. The worst case was the boys Aikido club; some of the members got into a fight with another school's students, nearing the National tournament event. In the end, the headmaster banned the club activity for 1 year, the perpetrator transferred school after being bullied for ruining the club image. And all that happened when he was in the first year. From there, he understood how strict Toshima High was.

And he didn't want to be that kind of student. His father would have killed him, or disowned him. So, he was really grateful he didn't have to fight with those people. Thanks to her.

Actually, he didn't know why he asked about that girl, Cagalli. Maybe all could end with him just thanking her, and they would go separate ways, just like that.

But there was something in her that made him didn't want to let the stranger just go. There was something that made him curious about her. Her appearance, her stance, she felt different from anyone he ever knew. Her hand when she gave him the card, he could see some callouses, but somehow he could tell it wasn't from sport; he knew because Kira had some too, and they were different. And when he looked into her eyes too, he felt like there was something more in her amber eyes, though he wasn't sure what. He even remembered something as trivial as the color of her eyes. If it was just a regular girl, he wouldn't even remember.

"Athruuun!" He felt someone poked him on his arm.

"Gah!" He nearly jumped, as his musing was suddenly interrupted.

"Hey, I've been calling you a few times." Kira was sitting on his bed, his right hand stretched out, with his index finger pointed out. "What were you thinking?"

"It's nothing." Athrun scoffed, going back to his notebook. He couldn't believe he was so engrossed over a girl to the point he couldn't pay attention to his surroundings.

"Athrun…" Kira asked, his voice was somewhat astounded.

"What?" He shouted.

"Your face is a little bit red…"

"It's not!" he croaked, and buried his face on the screen of his notebook, but he knew Kira could see it, heck he could even feel the heat on his face.

"What? If you are not with Lacus, then is there someone else? I don't think I ever saw you blush like that, Athrun. Interesting, how many years has it been?" Kira mused, remembering Athrun's first girlfriend, Luna. "I'm curious what kind of girl could make Athrun Zala like this. You were so dry with Luna back then. She was the one who confessed to you, but she also dumped you after a few months." Kira laughed.

"Shut up," Athrun muttered, embarrassed. Remembering the history of his love life was kinda embarrassing. Back then he was still clueless with these kinds of things, he ended up making Luna frustrated with him.

"So… Who is it?" Kira asked, still curious.

"Nah, there is none." Athrun insisted.

"No way, don't expect me to buy that nonsense. You never blushed, Athrun," Kira laughed.

"Just drop it! I don't even know anything beside her name and where she works part time."

"So there IS someone?" Kira exclaimed.

Athrun gasped, and put his hand over his mouth, realizing his slip.

"Are you kidding? You don't even know here and she got the power to make you spaced out like that, even make you blush? She's incredible," Kira laughed out even more. His best friend was a really calm and composed guy, and it was a rare thing to see him so flustered, over a girl, on top of that. "How did you meet her? When did you meet her?"

"I'm not telling you anything. Heck, there is not even a thing going on between us."

"Fine then," Kira dropped it, because that might be true. But he doubted it, though. If something caught Athrun's attention, a girl, no less, she might have done something to make her stay on his mind.

"Kira, help me with this, it's bugging again, I don't know where to fix," Athrun said, scrolling through the code on his screen.

"If you don't know then how am I supposed to know?" Kira asked, peering at his screen. "You coded that one."

"Just help me out, okay? I've scanned it many times from the first code, and couldn't find the bug at all."

And just like that, the conversation was forgotten, for now.


Mito, 2012

"Kira!"

"Cagalli!" Kira half-ran toward his sister who just walked inside his room. "What is that?"

"It's oden*, I bought it at the convenience store," Cagalli said, holding out a plastic bag with warm bowls inside.

"Huh? How? We already used up the money we got from father. Did you bring any money with you?" Kira asked.

"Here, I'll tell you while we eat." Cagalli pulled him down. "Is mother back already?"

"I don't think so; I haven't heard anyone back home until you came," Kira answered.

"Good, let's hurry."

A few weeks after Via and Ullen big fight, they were rarely home. Ullen would go to his new girlfriend's place and Via would lock herself in her room. Sometimes after the fight, the twin found out that their mother had turned into alcohol and cigarettes to cope with her self-pity.

None of them paid any attention to Kira and Cagalli again. When Via was not under the influence of alcohol, she would just ignore them, always looking at them in disdain. But when she had too much alcohol in her system, whenever she saw one of her children, or both of them, her temper would rise, and she would always get violent on them. Cagalli was usually the victim; she would hide Kira away from her mother so she wouldn't hurt him, and Kira always hated it when his sister did it. But his body was always so much weaker than his sister. Once Kira didn't listen to Cagalli and went after her, trying to help her from their mother, she bruised his left hand and he felt the after effect for days.

Ullen pretty much didn't want to be involved with them, though he did nothing to harm them. Instead, he was the one who helped them sometimes. Usually, Kira was the one who would talk to him. Back then, Ullen always praised Kira for being a smart kid. When Kira asked him for something to eat since they haven't eaten anything, Ullen would seem to be bothered by him, and would hand him some cash and told him to get something by himself, and left.

Kira and Cagalli used the money they got carefully. None of them would take care of them anymore. Ullen would always eat out, Via mostly would buy convenience store meals for one person only sometimes, so no one would feed them. They would skip breakfast, eat lunch at school (it was a good thing their school provided lunch everyday), and buy something from the convenience store for dinner.

Hiding back to their closet with the door slightly ajar—just to make sure in case their mother was back to find them, Cagalli and Kira sat there, opening the package Cagalli brought.

Kira's eyes sparkle at the sight of the warm oden. The weather was getting cold lately, and they were always resulting in cup noodles whenever they wanted something warm with some soup.

"I'm sorry if the inside were not your favorite. If there is anything you want from mine, take it. I'll eat what you don't like." Cagalli offered him.

But Kira shook his head. "I'll eat everything," he said. There was the konnyaku jelly he hated, but this was not the time to be picky.

They drank the soup first, and both of them closed their eyes, feeling the warm and tasty broth filling their mouth.

Kira took a bite of the fish cake, and savored the taste, feeling grateful that he was still able to eat the delightful dish.

"So, how did you get these?" Kira asked between the bites.

After chewing down her tofu, Cagalli finally answered, "I was walking around here and ended up in the park. I still got some coins, and was looking around for vending machine, hoping to find some canned corn soup." She paused to resume eating. "But I couldn't find it, and was thinking of buying some warm drinks for you, when I met a girl there. She looked like a high-schooler, or maybe a college student," Cagalli tried to remember her. "She asked me what I was doing there, and I said I was looking for something to eat for my brother, and only have some coins. She had one bowl of oden, and my tummy just made a sound at that sight," Cagalli said, a little bit embarrassed remembering that.

"Then she gave her oden to me, asking me to hold on to it and not eat it, and went somewhere. When she was back, she brought another two bowls of oden. She took the oden she gave to me, and gave me the new odens. She said she had been like us before, so she understands," Cagalli continued, tearing up a bit.

Kira was surprised. Someone, a complete stranger, was willing to help his sister.

A complete stranger helped his sister; meanwhile all he could do was hide inside the closet, while Cagalli was doing everything to protect them both, and to keep them both alive.

"Kira?" Cagalli asked, as Kira suddenly stopped eating.

"I… I couldn't do anything… for us…" tears started dripping on his cheeks.

"What are you saying? And you are crying again," Cagalli put her bowl down, and plopped her hand on Kira's head, patting him.

"But I—!"

"It's okay, Kira," she moved forward, hugging her brother. "I'm glad that you are here with me," she continued to pat his back, "Because with you, I'm not alone. If I don't have you, maybe I won't even try to fight back. I'm strong because you are with me." She pulled away, and stared at Kira's face, smiling at him, "So never say that you are not doing anything."

But hearing the reassuring words from Cagalli made his chest filled with so many emotions, and instead, he cried harder.

"Geez, crybaby Kira," Cagalli teased, tapping his shoulder, while Kira furiously wiped his eyes with his hands.

"Someday I'll be as strong—no, stronger than you!" Kira vowed. "So I'll be the one who protect you."

"Kira, you better stick to studying, you can't even hurt a fly," Cagalli said, picking up her bowl again.

"I'll show it to you! I'll be stronger than you, so no one can hurt us ever again," Kira said adamantly.

"Sure, sure," Cagalli giggled, "If that's what you are saying, here," Cagalli picked one thing from her bowl, a treasure-bag**. "Here, I give you mine. Eat that and be strong, so you can beat me."

"You okay giving me this?" Kira knew that Cagalli gave him this because she knew his favorite.

"Of course. It has meat in it; you better eat that and get bigger, and get strong."

"Then I'll give this to you," Kira picked the konnyaku jelly and put it inside Cagalli's bowl.

"I knew you would do that," Cagalli sighed, unlike Kira, she didn't really have any preference with foods, she practically ate everything edible. "If you are picky with food, you won't get bigger you know."

"I will! Just watch me, if I can be stronger than you, you'll have to treat me to oden, but all fillings should be this treasure-bag!" he said, eating the said ingredient Cagalli just gave him.

Both of them giggled after a while, enjoying a calm, precious, peaceful time.


Kira was sitting on his seat, holding a picture frame.

Inside was the picture of him and Cagalli, smiling widely in front of a shrine from their trip to Mt Fuji. It was the only picture he had of his sister, the only portrait he brought from his house to his life of foster care.

Before, when Athrun had asked him why he continued to do Judo, memories with his sister came crashing down on him.

He was fed up with being weak, always relying on his sister to protect him.

So he trained himself to be strong, so when he found her again, he would be the one who would protect her. Besides, Judo was kinda like therapy to him, after feeling so useless under his sister's protection he finally found something that could make him feel better, and helped make him focus on what he had to do next, forgetting the past, being strong, and looking for his sister.

"Where are you now, Cagalli-nee? I'm going to the Judo inter-high this summer, aiming for the trophy. Do you still remember the thing you promised me?" Kira mumbled, running his fingers gently on the glass covering the picture. "You said you're going to find me, but I don't want to be the one who always waits for you. This time, I'll find you, sister."

From outside, Kira heard the voice of his mother, calling to him. Answering shortly, he stared at the picture one more time, and put it back to his desk drawer, and walked out his room.


*Oden: a type of Japanese dish, popular during autumn and winter. Usually contains lots of ingredients like konnyaku jelly, fish cake, radish, etc., simmered in broth.

**Treasure bag: one of many popular oden ingredients, made from tofu skin pocket filled with slice of meat, mochi, mushroom and green onion (from YT video on making of oden)

Please note I'm not deeply involved in robotics and martial arts, so my knowledge is limited. Sorry for any mistake regarding those matters.

This is how far I have pre-written this story, so the next update might be slow. See you next time~

Cheers~