"Dearka," Athrun says suddenly.
"Huh?"
Athrun eases himself up into a sitting position and looks me in the eye. After the guards found him attending the trial, they made him go back to the infirmary immediately after it finished, and proceeded to station guards by the door to stop him from leaving again. Although, I doubt that they'd be able to stop Athrun from finding a way to sneak out, no matter what they do. For some reason, I had decided to check up on Athrun, to make sure that he was alright. But now, given the current situation, I'm starting to regret my decision. I can see Athrun is about to thank me. Do we really have to go through all this?
"I'm really grateful. For everything you've done for me." Oh god. Here it comes. "Thank you, for saving me. I'd be dead, if it wasn't for you and Miguel. You two risked your lives to save me. I didn't think you would do something like that." He sounds so sincere.
Give me some credit. I may not like Athrun Zala, but I wasn't just going to let him die like that. I'd never forgive myself. Besides, if I had let him die he would've probably found a way to haunt me for the rest of my life. Something I don't need.
I try to formulate some sort of response but Athrun continues talking. Oh no, there's more.
"And thank you, for catching the real culprits. For making sure that justice was served. If you and Yzak hadn't come up with the evidence like you did, Nicol…he'd be dead too. So really, you saved two lives. Thank you so much…"
Athrun trails off. I've never been good with all this emotional stuff, and the ensuring awkward silence makes me reconsider saving Athrun's life.
"I should have just left you to die," I mutter under my breath.
Athrun hears my comment and starts to laugh. I smirk a little as well, and then all of a sudden, somehow, the two of us are laughing together. As if we are friends. Are we friends? I'm not sure. I wouldn't say we are friends, exactly, but I don't mind him so much anymore. Athrun's not that bad, really.
"Seriously though," Athrun says, when at last the fit of laughter has passed, "I owe you one, for saving my life."
Hmm. That doesn't sound that bad. To be able to ask a favour from the great Athrun Zala.
"Alright then, I'll keep that in mind."
When I return to my room, Yzak is already in there. He's sitting on his bed, staring down at the ground. Yzak doesn't even lift his head when I enter the room. He's upset, I can tell. But why? After we managed to prove Nicol's innocence, the two of us have been nothing less than celebrities. Even people we have never met before have been coming up to us to thank us for what we did. We should be happy, enjoying the attention and fame. So whatever could be the matter?
"Yzak, what's going on?" Yzak's usually nothing but angry, but now he just looks…defeated. I've never seen him like this. Something terrible must have happened.
When Yzak speaks, his voice is soft and shaking. "Le Creuset has picked the members of his team."
Finally! After all these weeks of waiting and trying to impress the instructors. But why would Yzak be so upset about it? Unless…
"He didn't pick us," I realise with a sudden dread. This cannot be happening. All my hopes and dreams, crushed. With a single deed. I was so sure that Yzak and I would be chosen I'd never even stopped to consider what might have happened if we weren't.
"That's not even the worst part," Yzak continues. "The two of us would have been chosen…except…except for the fact that we humiliated Le Creuset by proving him wrong. It didn't go down very well with his superiors. They're watching him very closely now. His reputation has been ruined. He was very nearly demoted. Would have served him right, that bastard." Yzak sounds furious now – even more than he normally does. "So he decides to take it out on us!"
But… How can this be happening? "What we did was right! We made sure that the real traitors were discovered and that justice was served. What's so wrong about that?"
"I don't know. But when I see Le Creuset next, I'm going to make him regret what he did." And with that, Yzak storms out of the room without so much as a backward glance.
I am left alone in the quietness of the empty room, as the gravity of the situation sinks in. We may have saved Nicol and found the real culprits, but was it worth all this? No, we did the right thing. Even if we end up losing our place on the Le Creuset team, we still managed to save an innocent life, and find the real traitors. That's more important, isn't it? Isn't it?
I just can't stop thinking about how unfair this is. We did nothing wrong, but for some reason we are still getting punished for it. How could Le Creuset do this to us?
A part of me thinks: is this how Nicol felt when he was framed? This feeling of hopelessness and despair?
There's always next time. I try to think positive. But deep down, I know that there won't be. This would have been the greatest opportunity of my life – no, the only opportunity – and I lost it.
How did it all go so wrong, so quickly?