Mobile Suit Gundam: Tekketsu No Kyojin

by Stryker. AJ

The Battle of Edmonton was won, though in its aftermath, Gundam Barbatos and its Pilot were lost in an apparent explosion caused by the Graze Ein that alledgedly destroyed them both. In actuality, however, it had simply sent the Gundam and its Pilot to an entirely new world, where they now fight for a new cause, and with new friends. (Slow burn story)

37. Reunion (Part 2)

Several days after the previous chapter

Mina Carolina and Nac Tias were, by their very nature, easy to concern.

Don't get them wrong; they weren't balls of anxiety, but even so, they did still have a tendency to find themselves growing concerned rather easily, and although they weren't as bad as, say, Mylius when it came to being a ball of nervous energy, the duo were still rather easy to concern over the smallest of issues.

And as such…

"You two, with us."

… when two members of Team Mike, namely Nanaba and Gelgar, had come to the Survey Corp base just a few minutes prior amidst a break period (weird how they had been getting a lot of those recently) and asked for them to follow them to parts unknown, one could only really imagine just how anxious the two were as they did as their superiors had asked.

As they rode onwards to parts unknown, Nanaba did seem to notice how her juniors were appearing very jittery, and in an attempt to resolve this, she glanced back at them and assured them that they had nothing to be concerned over. This in itself was a minor situation that required their presence to resolve, and although they were, somewhat understandably, apprehensive of that reason, the duo opted to just trust in their superiors and follow them onwards regardless.

After a long, quiet hour of riding from Rose to Trost, Mina, Nac, Gelgar and Nanaba all found themselves in front of a decently sized tent that sat near the entrance into/from Rose, and upon stopping at its entrance, the four dismounted, with the older members of the group all motioning for their juniors to hang back for now as they moved to get them clearance into the tent.

Curiously, the two juniors found themselves staring up at the sizable structure; they were unaware of its significance, and by all accounts, to them it was simply just a tent, though considering how there were a multitude of soldiers all armed to the nines with rifles and blades, with even a handful of wall-mounted cannons aimed down at the structure from up above… it was likely that it was not just a measly tent.

Whilst waiting for Gelgar and Nanaba to return to them with approval to enter, the two junior soldiers found themselves awkwardly standing about as they found themselves unsure of what to do or say to pass the time; they were a little too nervous to talk like they usually did back at base, and honestly, they didn't have much to talk about anyways, considering how practically everything that was on their minds these days was in relation to-

"Huh…?"

"...?!"

Tensing up rather abruptly when they heard that voice coming from behind them, both Mina and Nac spun on a dime, with them turning their attention behind themselves and seeing a familiar blonde soldier riding up to them from behind. With her were other members of Team Mike, specifically Tomas and Henning, both of whom appeared mostly neutral as they dismounted their horses and moved up to join Nanaba and Gelgar in getting approval to enter the tent, much to the poor guard they were hounding's dismay.

The Elites weren't the ones to have gotten the juniors' attentions, however, as they were quick to lock onto the soldier that they had been dragging alongside them. She looked just as they had remembered her, with her head of blonde hair tied up into a ponytail, cold blue eyes that softened when she made eye contact with them and short stature all still maintained, even now. The only thing that appeared to be different on her was the Military Police Brigade uniform that was now present on her person, something that gave her a refreshing look in spite of the samey look she still had on, but that aside, as soon as the blonde had gotten off her stallion…

---

"ANNIE?!"

… both Mina and Nac were quick to make a beeline for her as they held their arms out with glee. Annie found herself momentarily taken aback by this as she held her arms out to stay her friends, though it was all for naught, as she was quickly struck by the force of twin soldiers that, whilst weaker than her, were powered by delight at seeing a good friend of theirs once more.

"Oof!"

Credit where credit was due, though, Annie did not fall backwards, even after being hit by twin human sized torpedoes, which was very impressive, especially if one considered how one of the two was almost twice her height, and as Mina and Nac held her close in a three-way hug, the blonde couldn't help but return the gesture with the smallest of smiles.

"Mina, Nac… why are you two here…?" asked Annie, genuine confused as she was finally let out of her friends' grasp, to which the two blinked curiously as they looked at their friend, seeming just as lost as she was all the while.

"We… were about to ask you the same thing, actually," admitted Nac, with him scratching his chin awkwardly as he spoke, and moments later, Annie sighed as she shook her head with dismay.

"So… they kidnapped you too, huh?" mused Annie, with her glancing past her friends and over towards Henning and Tomas, who were trying to barge their way past Nanaba and Gelgar, who by all means had come first and were having their letters of approval processed first as well. It was truly a sight to behold, not that anyone present cared, anyways, as Mina and Nac both flinched at her words.

"K-Kidnapped?! Well, no… uh… Nanaba and Gelgar kinda just came to get us," stated Mina meekly, to which Annie sighed.

"Lucky you," groaned Annie as she recalled how she had been ordered by a senior to just stand outside the MPB base some time prior. She did as she was told for a while, and after about five minutes had passed, Henning and Tomas appeared out of nowhere, lifted her up and above their heads and threw her onto a horse, where they explained to her the situation as they rode on.

"... none of my superiors told me of this…" stated Annie back then, with her appearing very much pissed off as she said this, which was understandable. She would've thought this to be some sick trick being played on her by her superiors or perhaps even some sorta actual attempt at kidnapping her, but she actually recognised both Henning and Tomas as genuine Elite soldiers of the Survey Corps, so she knew that they probably wouldn't do anything so immoral.

… probably.

"Well, sometimes, your superiors enjoy playing practical jokes on you," hummed Tomas, with him recalling how a previous commanding officer of his did that quite frequently to him, and to that, Annie could only glare at him with a deadpanned gaze before shaking her head.

"Jokes are funny, sir. If this was meant to be funny, then I am not laughing," stated Annie coldly, and to that, Tomas could only shudder at Annie's harsh nature whilst Henning rolled his eyes at her words, though that aside, nothing more was really said as they continued onwards, towards Trost.

"I tried to ask Tomas and Henning about why we were headed here, but they weren't telling me anything. Henning just told me that it's a surprise and kept on riding," stated Annie, with her annoyance at having needed to ride from Sina to Trost being very much apparent as she spoke, though she didn't think too much on that as Mina flinched at her words.

"Youch… well, hopefully it's nothing too bad, I guess," mused Nac as he scratched the back of his head, and to that, the man jerked a thumb behind himself and continued speaking. "By the by, any clue what's inside there? I think our sirs and ma'am wanna get us approval into the place."

"I'm just as clueless as you guys are," admitted Annie with a shrug, and when her friends gave her a pair of bewildered looks, Leonhardt sighed and shook her head. "I know that the MPB juniors have certain privileges that few others receive, but even I have limits on what I can and cannot know, you know?"

"... fair enough, I guess," mumbled Mina, seeming somewhat disappointed as she spoke, but that aside, she was quick to move on as she began asking Annie about her life with the MPB. The blonde didn't comment too much on that, with her stating that it was alright, and how she had also made some… new acquaintances in the form of one Hitch Dreyse and Marlow Fruedenberg, though outside of that, things were… boring, really.

"It's all incredibly mundane, and if I'm honest, I missed the two of you a lot," admitted Annie in earnest, with her blushing faintly as she said this, and to that, Mina could only smile sheepishly at this admittance whereas Nac blushed a tiny bit at it; Leonhardt was never one to show any sign of affection, even towards her dearest of friends, so for her to do so now… it warmed both of their hearts quite a bit, and in Carolina's case, it was enough for the pigtailed soldier to seize her shorter friend's hand, much to her surprise, and hold it with both of hers with a smile.

"We missed you too, Ann!" squeaked Mina, with her returning to her old self, if only for a moment, as she smiled brightly at Annie, who had to hold back on a faint blush as she acknowledged her pigtailed friend's words. When it came to affection, Carolina was always a lot more straightforward with showing it, and although it was usually a good thing, at this current moment, Leonhardt found it to be a bad thing, considering just how close her friend was getting to her right now. "We're sorry we couldn't write to you, though… there's just been so much happening recently… I promise we'll find time, though!"

"There's no need to push yourselves. Some things are more important than writing a few words on a letter, after all," assured Annie, with her gently squeezing Mina's hands with her own as she spoke. This seemed to be the wrong response, however, as the pigtailed young woman's cheeks puffed themselves up at what she was saying, though before she could retort, Nac stepped forwards and placed a hand atop her shoulder, halting her momentarily as he spoke up in her place.

"Perhaps… but to us, you're more important than all of this things combined, Annie," smiled Nac, with him speaking in such a genuine manner that Annie had to take a moment to process his words, and once she had done so, she looked away, still unused to getting hit with as much affection as he routinely offered to her, as she did so, though thankfully enough, before any more of her walls could be broken down by either of her friends, Tomas called out to the small group of three, with him ordering for them to follow them in now.

"Sir," greeted the trio as they stopped in front of Tomas, who appeared somewhat awkward at their formalities all the while, though he said little of this as he nodded and motioned for them to follow himself and his team in. As they did so, Nac couldn't resist asking a question or two, however, and thankfully enough, Tomas didn't seem to mind answering.

"Uh… sir, forgive me for being a little repetitive, but… what exactly is this place, anyways?" asked Nac warily, with him entering the tentage alongside his friends and superiors, and although he was about to respond verbally, Tomas eventually hummed before he opted to let Tias figure that out on his own, and although that act came off as rude at first… it was quickly apparent that he had good reason to do as such, as, upon entering the tented area, the three juniors were greeted by…

'W-Whoa…!' thought Mina, with her eyes widening in shock and awe as she glanced up at the gleaming gold crest of the Ghost of Shiganshina, which reflected the light shining down upon it with little to no issues whatsoever.

'This place… it's… it's its holding pen?!' bellowed Nac mentally as he flinched away from the kneeling mechanical behemoth in shock. Of all the things to see here, this was the last thing he had expected… not that it was a bad thing, of course…

'Why… why would they bring us here?!' yelled out Annie mentally as, for the briefest of moments, her stone cold facade faltered as she flinched back in a mixture of shock, awe, reverence and terror, something that was picked up by her friends, though they said nothing of it for now as they kept their gaze on the massive figure kneeling before them…

… and likewise, the massive kneeling form of ASW-G-08, Gundam Barbatos stared right back at them, with its lifeless, unblinking optics showing no signs of life all the while. The mere sight of the Gundam was more than enough to instill a sense of awe within the soldiers as they beheld the unit in all of its current glory, but even so, whereas the junior soldiers, much like a few of the Garrison around them, chose to keep their distance from it, the members of Team Mike instead stepped towards it, with Henning in particular waving a hand in its general direction all the while.

He wasn't waving at Barbatos, of course, but rather, he was waving his arm towards three individuals; Mika Zacharius, Lynne and…

"Captain! We're here with the new blood!" informed Henning, with him speaking in an unhelpfully loud voice all the while, and as he heard him yell out at him, Mike, and by proxy Lynne, couldn't help but flinch at his volume as they turned to face him head on, in turn parting their bodies just enough for Mina, Annie and Nac to see that they had initially been standing in front of-

---

"M-Mika…"

Mikazuki had never been one to show any proper form of surprise, but in this one instance, the pilot found himself being shockingly expressive as he eyed his three friends in shock.

By his sides, both Mike and Lynne found themselves taken aback by the young man's expressiveness, if only for a moment as they watched his eyes visibly widen, and likewise, his initially calm scent had altered in the former's nose; no longer was he the face of neutrality, but rather, his demeanor had shifted into something more… frantic.

He wasn't panicking, Mike doubted that he'd ever get onto such an extreme level with his scent, but all the same…

"..." a pause, with Mikazuki's gaze darting up to glare at Mike as he silently asked the obvious question, and in response to this… was nothing. Zacharius offered the pilot no response as he gently patted him on the shoulder, a gesture that was taken more as an insult than anything, before he walked past the young soldier, and thereafter, Lynne gently patted him on the back, a sign of encouragement that felt more akin to a backstab, before she left as well.

"We'll leave you kids to it," smiled Lynne encouragingly as she did just that, with her pausing briefly to gently seize Mina's shoulder before she got out of earshot alongside her fellow Elites, with all of them standing by the entrance into Barbatos' holding pen all the while. From a distance, the soldiers, be it Team Mike or even the members of the Garrison that were overlooking the Gundam's holding pen, watched on in silence as the pilot stood before his friends, seeming almost like a statue with how stiff he appeared to be.

And likewise, Mina, Annie and Nac all remained ramrod straight as they observed Mikazuki from a distance as well. It felt… odd, really. For the past few days, the pilot had been on their minds almost 24/7, and by all means, there were so many things that they wished to ask him, but even so, now that they were standing before him proper, without there being any fancy training exercises or technicalities standing in their way, they found that it was… very difficult to verbalize anything.

Likewise, Mikazuki, even if he would not admit to it, had been thinking about his friends for a long while now. Mina, Annie and Nac were his everything in this twisted world, and he knew that he would inevitably have to face them one day and tell them about everything. He had spent the past few days doing his best to figure out just what he'd say to them when that time came, but he could never get it down to snuff; the prospect of reuniting with his… friends was simply too much of a daunting task, even for someone like him.

And now… here they were, standing before him with no warning whatsoever… Mikazuki should've figured that something was up when Mike had asked for him to be with himself and Lynne in Barbatos' holding site, though regardless, the pilot said nothing as he simply watched the trio standing before him stare right back at him with conflicted looks of their own, though not long thereafter, Mina, after taking in a deep breath and releasing it, took a step towards her friend and spoke.

"Mika…?"

No response from the pilot, who looked away swiftly as he felt his heart clenching at her voice. It… had been a while since he heard her, and to hear her once more was almost enough to make something inside him break. That sudden gesture was more than enough to make the pigtailed soldier flinch as she took another step towards him, though she held that gesture back as she took several more in his direction.

Mikazuki didn't acknowledge any more of Mina's words as she closed the distance between the two of them, with him simply frowning as his mind ran through every possible scenario that could play out within the next couple of minutes; some were positive… many were negative. Call it pessimism, but the pilot had a tendency to expect the worst out of others, and in this current moment, that also included Mina, who was getting closer and closer with each passing second.

And after about half a minute, Mina was standing directly in front of Mikazuki, with her staring slightly up at him with an expression that he did not focus on. He didn't look her in the eyes; he… would rather not acknowledge the glare he had assumed her to be giving him, after all, and with a twitchy frown, the pilot somehow forced his gaze away from the girl even further as he tried to put some distance between the two of them without making it seem obvious.

Apparently, subtlety was not his strong suit, which was not a surprise to anyone, as Mina caught wind of this almost immediately, and with a frown, and grimaced slightly and launched her hand forwards. Mikazuki widened his eyes when he felt her hand grasp onto the collar of his innerwear with seemingly no issue, and moments later, instead of receiving some sort of attack like he had initially expected, Mika had been caught off guard when instead, he had gotten…

'... a hug…?'

Mina had both of her arms wrapped around Mikazuki's waist, with her holding him close in an incredibly affectionate manner. This act in itself was more than enough to catch the pilot off guard, as he had assumed her to still be furious with him. Still though, Mika wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and after a few moments of indecision, the young man uncertainly returned the gesture, with him gently holding onto Carolina's smaller body with his own callous hands.

"Mina…?" muttered Mikazuki, confused as to this unexpected (to him) act on Mina's end of things, though he was quick to silence himself when he realized that the young woman was crying softly into his chest, with her having buried her face into it by now as she held him close.

"... I missed you, Mika… I missed you a-a lot," admitted Mina bluntly, with her smiling into her best friend's chest as she felt joy at having been reunited with him after so long flooding her system, and at that, Mikazuki's eyes widened in surprise… surprise… and relief as his callous hands tightened themselves around Carolina's Survey Corp jacket, and as they did so, a new, slightly smaller hand was brought forth and set itself down atop his own, prompting him to look up and see…

"No… we missed you, Mika," smiled Nac, with him having closed the distance between himself and Mikazuki whilst the latter was being hugged by Mina, and after offering the pilot a gentle smile, Nac leaned moved to his side and offered him a hug as well, surprising Mikazuki quite a bit, though he accepted it nonetheless, with him almost smiling all the while.

"You… don't hate me…?" muttered Mikazuki incredulously, with him glancing over towards Nac as he spoke, and all the while, Annie approached the trio warily as she opted to keep her distance for now, and all the while, Mina couldn't help but snort as she pulled away from the hug momentarily before she pouted up at the pilot in dismay.

"Mika… we would never hate you, even if we were held at gunpoint," stated Mina sternly, with her smiling as she glanced up at her friend, whose cheeks did, admittedly, redden just enough to be noticeable as he processed her words. It wasn't much, but it was still a win in both Mina and Nac's books, and as he recovered, the latter spoke up in agreement with his friend.

"Damn straight. This whole… development with this… er… Gundam of course…" a moment of pause as Nac stared up at Barbatos with trepidation, only to quickly snap his gaze back towards Mikazuki once more before he lost his nerves. "... it's a little nerve wrecking for all of us, and we'll probably need more time to fully process this whole thing… but we can't really hate you for keeping it a secret from us.

"Right, Annie?"

Blinking in dismay as her name was abruptly brought up in the conversation, the blonde soldier in question found herself flinching as she realized that she was inadvertently being brought into the fold, and with a frown, she glanced away from her friends as she hugged herself uncertainly. Honestly, she was still unsure of how to actually feel about Mikazuki at the moment, but even so… did she hate him…?

… no, really. She doubted that she could ever truly bring herself to hate a soft prick like him. Trusting him once more would take some time, sure… but to hate him would take until the heated end of the universe for her to accomplish, and truth be told, it required much more effort than Annie was willing to put in.

"Yeah… it's kinda hard to hate you, of all people, you turd," admitted Annie, and although her wording was crude, the sentiment behind her words was very much heard by the pilot, who found himself widening his eyes in surprise as he heard her, and moments later… something seemed to… shimmer in his irises. Annie wasn't sure how to put it, but it seemed as though some amount of… light had just returned to his gaze when she had said that.

She might've just been delusional, but either way, after a momentary pause, Mikazuki found himself unraveling himself from the hug he was receiving from both Mina and Nac as he marched over towards Annie, who tensed a little at his unexpected approach, and as soon as he was directly in front of her… the pilot suddenly sprung his arm forwards and seized her wrist, startling Leonhardt something fierce all the while.

And moments later, within the blink of an eye, Mikazuki had pulled Annie back towards where the others were standing at and almost immediately pulled all three of them into a gentle embrace. The act in itself was more than enough to catch all three of them momentarily off guard, but even so, they didn't dwell too much on it as they found themselves easing into Mika's unorthodox way of showing affection.

And off in the background, Team Mike, alongside several other soldiers that were around them, couldn't help but feel their jaws dropping onto the ground like a sack of bricks at what they had just bore witness to.

"... you could've given me a warning, you know?" complained Annie as she eased into being at the center of the group hug, to which Mikazuki snorted.

"And where would the fun be in that?"

---

A couple of minutes had passed before Mikazuki had been willing to part with his friends, and by then, the pilot was already starting to look and feel more like his usual self as he regained his usual demeanor and looked between his friends with his usual deadpanned gaze.

Likewise, now that their initial reunion had been complete, Mina, Nac and Annie found themselves feeling somewhat… unsure of what to do or say as they stood awkwardly by Mikazuki's sides. Many questions swirled around in their heads as they stood by him, and they truly wanted nothing more than to ask him about them, and seemingly sensing their curiosity, the pilot spoke up on a dime.

"You all have a lot of questions, I'm sure," observed Mikazuki, with him standing up as he spoke, and upon hearing him, the soldiers all flinched at just how obvious they were being with their curiosity, though either way, rather than stand around on ceremony, Mika instead motioned for them to follow him as he turned towards Barbatos. "Follow me."

"Where…?" asked Mina, with Nac appearing just as lost as she was, though Annie seemed to have some idea of just what the pilot was getting at, though she spoke not of it for now as she watched him aim his Maneuver Gear wires up at the chest of his Gundam before firing them onto its chest unit, startling a few of the soldiers present all the while.

"Somewhere private," mused Mikazuki, and upon saying this, he flung himself up and onto Barbatos' chest without another word. The other soldiers present, plus most of Team Mike, all flinched at this to varying degrees, with both Mina and Nac appearing somewhat hesitant to follow, but even so, Annie was quick to snap them out of their thoughts as she mirrored what Mika had just done, with her giving them an unimpressed scowl all the while.

"You heard him… let's go," hummed Annie before she launched herself up and onto Barbatos' chassis without much hesitation, and although they were somewhat hesitant, perhaps a little rightfully so, to do the same, Mina and Nac were quick to follow as they mirrored her movements and flung themselves up and onto the unit's chest in a matter of moments, and shortly thereafter, they landed atop it with minimal issues.

Well, Nac landed with minimal issue, anyways, as Mina had to contend with the slick surface of the unit's chest armour messing with her traction. Thankfully, Annie was able to save her from falling back onto the ground by grabbing onto her wrist, much to her relief all the while.

"T-Thanks for that, Ann," smiled Mina gratefully as Annie nodded and pulled her back up, and thereafter, the trio all surveyed the general area around them with wonder as they found themselves to be shockingly high up above the ground. Although not the tallest structure they've been on, Barbatos was still a strong contender for being one of the tallest they've stood upon in forever, as, from atop its kneeling form, the trio could see most of Trost from their vantage point, which caused some of their hearts to flutter a little in wonder all the while.

Their hearts were also thumping rather harshly against their chests as they realized just how close they were to Barbatos' head unit, though they thought little of this for now as they stared down into the opened cockpit of the unit, where Mikazuki sat with a mostly neutral look on his face. He was devoid of his Survey Corp uniform, with him instead wearing just his blue innerwear at the moment, and as he sat within his unit's chest, the pilot glanced up at his friends with a mostly neutral expression.

He remained disconnected from Barbatos for now, though. No point in connecting to it just yet, he reckoned.

"Your questions?" repeated Mikazuki, with him sounding just as he always did as he spoke. Hearing him speak so… well, normally… it made his friends ease in a little as they were reminded of how, even if there were some… new aspects to him, the pilot was still the same person that he was these past four years, and it relieved them quite a bit, to say the least.

Though at the same time, being so close to Barbatos' head unit did unnerve his friends quite a bit, though they did their best to ignore this as Annie sat by the edge of the cockpit, with her hanging one leg down its edge whilst the other remained bent up to her chest. If he was bothered by this, Mikazuki certainly didn't show it.

Still though, although he had essentially invited his friends to ask him anything and everything that they had on their minds, and God only knows how they want to ask him so much… the three of them all appeared to be very much unsure on whether or not they should speak their minds. They were happy to be with him, sure, but even now, their uncertainty in regards to his true nature shone through, with them all fidgeting awkwardly as they tried to figure out what to say first, and having taken stock of their nervousness, Mika huffed and spoke up once more.

"I know that you're all distrusting of me. I can't blame any of you for that," stated Mikazuki solemnly. He sounded very much saddened by this, yes, and none of his friends could even bring themselves to dispute this fact as they flinched away from him, but all the same… "But at least let me win back some of your trust by telling you, all of you, the truth. I promise I won't lie about anything."

"Cross your heart and hope to die?" tried Mina with a shadow of a smile, to which the pilot nodded lightly., prompting her to sigh softly as she sat awkwardly by the edge of the cockpit with a frown, and moments later, she spoke. "Alright then, well… let me get the obvious one out of the way then… why?

"Why didn't you tell us about… all of this?"

As she spoke, Mina motioned to… well, everything, really. To Barbatos, to its cockpit, and finally, to Mikazuki himself. The implications behind her words were easy to get, and with a frown, Mika nodded lightly as he found himself doing his best to figure out a proper response, and after some time, he answered her question as simply as humanly possible.

"If I did… would you have even believed me?" posited Mikazuki flatly, to which Mina winced. He had a point there, really, but all the same…

"Well, we wouldn't have, but if you had just shown us…!" argued Nac, with him trying to bring some logic into this as he held a hand up, only for Mikazuki to cut him off again.

"If I did, I'd just get all of you scared and alienate you from me," rebutted Mikazuki sternly, with him frowning as he imagined the situation he had just spoken of. Likewise, his friends imagined it as well, and by all means, they weren't a fan of what they had just thought up; it was a very likely outcome, had he revealed his true self to them all those years back, but even so… Mina and Nac wished to think differently.

They wished to argue that this was not the case, that they would've ran with Mikazuki's little secret and keep it under wraps, for his sake. They thought themselves better than what Mika had been concerned about for so long.

Annie, however, knew better.

"He's not wrong there," stated Annie, with her frowning as she crossed her arms and leaned down to eye Mikazuki closely. Mina and Nac both flinched at her words, though they otherwise said nothing as their blonde friend continued. "Imagine the scenario; Mika drags us to God knows where and just… shows this to us. I have half a mind to guess that either of you, or Hell both of you, would run off screaming with your tails between your legs before he got another word in."

"I… w-well… you…" began Mina, with her trying to refute Annie's claim, only to find herself at a loss when she realized that… she was right, really. Had Mikazuki revealed this to them all those years back, they would've no doubt been horrified by it, and it was only through happenstance and a bond that had been forged through half a decade that they were able to remain as calm as they were right now whilst speaking to their friend…

Nac himself remained silent as he processed Annie's words, more or less confirming her thoughts as she sighed softly to herself and shook her head. Mikazuki found that to be somewhat amusing, with him looking between Mina and Nac all the while; both appeared to be very much ashamed of themselves as he did so, with them looking away meekly all the while, though much to their surprise, the pilot huffed softly in amusement before shaking his head.

"I don't blame either of you for that, honestly. I was honestly expecting you to do it too, if you had ever learnt about Barbatos back then. If it means anything, I'm sorry for expecting the worst from both of you," apologised Mikazuki sincerely, eliciting a faint blush from his friends as they nodded in acknowledgement, though that aside, after a few moments of relative silence, the pilot spoke up once more, with him not enjoying the quiet, for a change, all the while. "Is that all you wanted to ask?"

"... well, no. It's just… we're still a little unsure of how we should go about asking most of what we have in mind, really," admitted Nac meekly. Mikazuki raised a brow at his words, prompting the guy to elaborate. "Give us a while… we'll figure out how to verbalise our thoughts eventually."

"Alr-"

"You said that you'd be truthful with us, yeah?"

Annie's sudden and very much unexpected cutoff towards Mikazuki's words had caught most of the present soldiers off guard, with Mika in particular humming softly as he glanced her way. Frowning lightly, the pilot locked eyes with his fellow top 10 before he nodded stiffly, a sign that he was still remaining true to his words, and with a deepened frown, Leonhardt continued on with an… odd expression etched onto her face.

It wasn't anger, but rather, it was intrigue, something that was very rare for someone like her.

"Then tell me… what are you?" asked Annie, with her rubbing her chin thoughtfully as she spoke. Hearing this confused everyone present as they eyed her curiously, and with a frown, Annie reiterated what she had spoken with a somewhat annoyed expression. "You claimed to be human when we were all gathered in court, but I doubt that you were being completely honest back there. You're human enough, but at the same time… you're different enough to be an exception. You're not like Eren, seeing as how you control your… Gundam, not become it, and he's already abnormal enough as is. So… what exactly are you, Mikazuki Augus?

"Are you a human… or are you something else entirely?"

"Annie, you can't just… ask someone that…!" scolded Nac critically as he waved a finger in Annie's general direction, much to her annoyance as she rolled her eyes at his words, but all the same, Mikazuki couldn't help but huff softly at the young woman's intuition. Leonhardt was always the one with an eye for details amongst their small friend group, and it was nice to see that she hadn't changed, even now, though either way, the pilot found himself sighing softly before he responded to her words.

"I already told you back at the court. All of you; I'm a human… just like the rest of you," stated Mikazuki flatly, with his response coming off as a little… underwhelming to the soldiers present as they nodded at his words, but he wasn't done just yet. His friends wanted the truth, yeah? Well, then he'll just have to give it to them flat out. "But at the same time… I'm not."

"... uh…" began Mina, only to be cut off when her friend continued.

"You wanted the truth, so I'll give it to you now. I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else about this, though. It's… something that I want only you three to know," requested Mikazuki, with him looking between his friends as he hoped for their cooperation. All three were taken aback by this at first, but even so, they were quick to nod along, prompting him to nod as well before he continued. "Thank you… now then, I guess a reintroduction is in order…

"You already know that my name is Mikazuki Augus… but what you don't know is that I was not born in Shiganshina. I was born in Chryse, Mars, where I grew up for most of my life before I moved on to become the Ace Pilot of Tekkadan, and five years ago, I became your friend."

A pause, with everyone present taking a moment to process what he had just said, with them not quite getting any of what was presented to them whatsoever all the while. Mikazuki reckoned that he should've seen this coming, really, as the terms he had just hashed out made no sense to anyone that wasn't in the know, but even so, Mina, sweetheart that she was, spoke up in an awkward tone of voice, with her scratching the back of her head all the while.

"Chryse…? Mars… Tek…ka…dan? Are… those things that were only in Shiganshina… or?" asked Mina, sounding genuinely confused and curious as she spoke, and for all it was worth, her inquiries had gotten a good chuckle out of Mikazuki as he smiled lightly at her with amusement, and not long thereafter, he corrected her.

"No. I guess it's my fault for telling you all those terms without explaining things properly first… none of you know what any of that means, after all," apologised Mikazuki, with him almost smiling as he said this. His friends all perked up at this, with them thinking that they'd get a good explanation behind all that was spoken of all the while, and to an extent, they did get just that… and at the same time… they got a bit more than they had bargained for as well. "None of you know what Chryse, Mars and Tekkadan are… because they don't exist. Not here."

"W-Wait… what? How can they not exist when you said that you…?" began Nac, only for Mikazuki to respond to him mid-sentence.

"That's because those terms don't exist on this planet, but they did exist on mine," stated Mikazuki bluntly, and upon hearing this, the soldiers present found themselves deathly confused, prompting Mika to smile lightly before he shook his head, and shortly thereafter, he continued.

"I… will try to explain."

---

And, for all it was worth, Mikazuki did indeed do his best to explain the fundamental basics of outer space and planets to his friends within a short span of time.

To their credit, neither Mina, Nac nor Annie had said a word as Mikazuki explained all this to them, and he had done so in an, admittedly, decent way. He told them how the Walls they resided in were but a speck of dust atop a massive ball that was floating amidst the empty void of space, and how the stars were not just dots that marred the sky above them at night. He told them about the planets he saw all those years back, the beauty of space and the vastness of it all, and as soon as he was done, and as soon as he had allowed what he had just said sink into the minds of his friends… Nac was the first to speak up.

"... I… er… I-I don't mean to be mean or anything, Mika, but… t-that seems…" began Nac, with him slowly but surely showing his doubts in regards to this whole explanation towards space and all, though he trailed off near the end, prompting Annie to sigh before she picked up where he had left off.

"Completely stupid, irrational and, at best, the ramblings of a madman?" posited Annie, with her being as harsh as ever with her words, and upon hearing this, Mina scolded her for being so rude whereas Nac blushed faintly as he acknowledged how Leonhardt was speaking the truth, though all the same, the blonde didn't give two shits about the matter as she continued. "Because everything you just said sounds absurd."

"Fair enough," admitted Mikazuki, with him almost smiling a little as he acknowledged the heightened skepticism behind Annie's voice. The same applied to Mina and Nac, and it was for the best; a healthy dose of skepticism was very much necessary these days. "It's up to you if you want to trust me on this, so I won't hold it against you for not believing me."

"... I believe you, though," smiled Mina, with her smiling kindly as she leaned down and flicked Mikazuki's ahoge, much to his bemusement as he stared up at her. "You might've kept your secrets from us, but outside of… well, all this, you've never been one to lie, and I… I trust your word on this, even if I probably shouldn't."

"You're still too soft for your own good, Mina," scolded Mikazuki, with him sounding very much bemused at just how little his friend had changed after the Trost incident, though that in itself wasn't really a bad thing, really, as he did very much find her soft nature to be… endearing, but that aside. "But thanks. I appreciate your trust, Mina."

"You're welcome!" smiled Mina cheerfully as she offered him a thumbs up, much to his amusement, though as she did so, Nac and Annie both remained carefully skeptical, with one doing so more than the other all the while. They didn't believe him whatsoever, and honestly, Mikazuki couldn't even bring himself to blame them!

"Either way… ignoring the downright ludicrous claims that you've made in regards to where you come from, what more can you tell us?" asked Annie, with her tone of voice making it rather apparent that she wanted to know more, even if she was very much distrusting of the legitimacy behind Mikazuki's claims, and to this, the pilot shrugged.

"Whatever you three want to know. Just ask," was his response, and at that, Mina piped up without thinking.

"I… you said that you lived in this… Chryse location… y-yeah? Well… what… w-what was your life like? Was it… good… or…?" asked Mina curiously, with her genuinely wishing to know what Mikazuki's life was like prior to this as she asked. Honestly speaking, she already knew that her answer wouldn't be one that she'd like, as she had always guessed that the pilot had grown up in some less than ideal conditions in his past, considering how he was in the present, but even so…

… having some confirmation to her thoughts wouldn't hurt too badly, she reckoned…

"I was an orphan," responded Mikazuki rather instantaneously, with his eyes growing somewhat dim as he admitted to this. His answer did little to surprise the three, though Mina did slouch a little at the confirmation, but regardless, the pilot continued on with little issue. "I've been one for… my entire life, actually. I never met my family, so I don't really know what kind of people they were like."

"So you lived on the streets?" asked Annie, with her frowning lightly as she asked this. Nac had given her a bewildered look when she said this, with him nonverbally telling her that what she had asked was a stupid question, and in hindsight, it really was, but even so… "There are orphanages all around the Walls, even in the poorer regions, so maybe…"

"Yeah, I did," cut off Mikazuki, with him frowning lightly as he said this. Hearing this made a lot of the present soldiers wince in dismay, but even so, just as with Mika's previous confirmation of himself being an orphan, this didn't really surprise any of those present whatsoever; the pilot had been an incredibly streetsmart individual, after all, and he had to have gotten those skills from somewhere.

"I… I'm sorry to hear that, Mika. I really am," stated Nac genuinely, to which Mikazuki nodded. He could tell that his friend was being honest with his words, which was very much appreciated, but even so…

"If you feel pity for me, then save it. I don't need or deserve any of it," stated Mikazuki, with him sounding almost insulted at the possibility of his friends taking pity upon him. Mina and Nac both winced at this, as they were both guilty of feeling such a way, but even so, Annie remained as is as she nodded in affirmation.

"Noted," mused Annie, sounding almost sarcastic as she said this. Mikazuki wasn't sure what to make of that, so he simply nodded at that before they continued on. "What was life on the streets like in this… Chryse, though?"

"Horrible," responded Mikazuki near instantaneously, with him rolling his eyes a little as he spoke. His response wasn't much of a surprise once more, as his friends, although somewhat shaken by his nonchalance at first, quickly drew a connection between how he acted to his potential upbringing, and after a moment of silence, he continued. "Mars was a horrible place to live in, and Chryse was just as bad. There was never any authority to turn to, and anyone could be pulled off the streets at a moment's notice, even in daylight, and no one would care."

"Sounds almost like Maria and Shiganshina… except worse," muttered Mina in horror, to which Mikazuki nodded whilst Annie scoffed.

"Well, I guess that's why you were able to keep up the ruse for so long, huh? You've basically lived through Shiganshina and Maria… except worse, somehow," mused Annie, with her words holding an undeniable air of sarcasm behind them… sarcasm… and remorse as she stared down at Mikazuki with sympathy. Said sympathy was quick to disappear, however, as she continued. "How many times were you almost snagged off the streets, anyhow?"

"I lost count," admitted Mikazuki, much to Mina and Nac's horror, though as for Annie, she couldn't resist a small grin as she acknowledged how much of a fighter Mika was. Him being here made it apparent that he had survived for very long in such treacherous conditions, and she could respect that a lot.

"Well… how did you survive all that, though…? Surely, you didn't just… live on the streets of Chryse for fifteen years, yeah…?" asked Mina, with her concern being very much apparent as she spoke, and to this, the pilot shook his head as he continued.

"I was able to take an odd job here and there. A few delivery jobs and some electronic work here and there. I only really went all in after I got into CGS, the Chryse Security Guard," stated Mikazuki, with his words causing his friends to perk up briefly; Chryse Security Guard, huh? Perhaps- "It wasn't much of a security company, though. We were more like mercenaries for hire than anything."

"M-Mercenaries…?" echoed Nac, with horror dawning upon his features as he recited that occupation. Likewise, Mina found herself paling slightly as she heard this, and likewise, although she was more subdued than her friends, Annie's eyes did widen in shock at this new revelation as she felt several gears in her mind click into place; it suddenly made sense now, she reckoned.

Mikazuki's cold, uncaring neutral gaze, his overly muscular physique (too muscular for someone of his stature, no less) and how he excelled in all of these military routines… it suddenly became apparent to her that it was no coincidence. The pilot had experience with all this in the past, and likewise, it was very likely that he…

"How many?"

"Huh?"

"How many people have you killed whilst working for CGS?"

Annie had pulled that bandage off with the force of a tidal wave and the subtlety of an avalanche, and upon saying this, she got a look of disapproval from Nac and a horrified stare from Mina, but all the same, she cared not for their judgement as she casted her gaze down upon the pilot, who simply frowned lightly as he averted his gaze from his friends.

"... I've lost count at this point," admitted Mikazuki bluntly, with him staring at his own reflection in the cockpit's main monitor whilst speaking, with his admission to this being more than enough to make everyone present flinch to varying degrees. The pilot's hollow gaze was not seen by anyone but himself, though he continued to speak regardless.

"I see," muttered Annie, with her nodding lightly as she said this, and thereafter, the atmosphere between the three grew somewhat tense as the trio let this new revelation sink in. Mina felt close to throwing up at this revelation whereas Nac appeared to be somewhat queasy, but even so, Annie didn't seem to care whatsoever as she exhaled softly and played with a few locks of her blonde hair absentmindedly. "Was it in self defense… or…?"

"Sometimes it was, others… not so much," responded Mikazuki flatly as memories of his time as a simple soldier within CGS came back to him in full, and as he relived them quite vividly, with the sound of gunfire, screams and explosions audible only to him reverberating through his eardrums, he continued speaking as though locked in a trance. "But I always knew that if I didn't kill them… they would kill me. The people we were hired to take down didn't care if we were children; they just wanted us dead. That's how life worked in Chryse; the weak ate the strong, and to survive, you have to be strong."

"So you forced yourself to grow stronger… so strong that you could control… this?" asked Nac, with him sounding somewhat queasy as he lightly punched Barbatos' chest unit. The sound of his knuckles impacting the unit's chassis could be heard by most, and as he said this, Mikazuki nodded lightly as he leaned forwards in affirmation, and all the while, he showed off his Alaya-Vijnana spines to his friends without shame.

"Ah. But there was always a limit to how strong you can be. I… overcame those limits, but it wasn't ever enough, so I…" muttered Mikazuki, with him staring down at his own reflection on the main monitor of his unit, and after a soft exhale, he continued. "I looked for other methods of doing so."

"Other methods… such as…?" goaded Mina worriedly, to which Mikazuki glanced at her flatly before responding.

"The Alaya-Vijnana surgery," responded Mikazuki, and as he formally introduced the name of his 'spinal defects', the pilot reached back and gently ran his fingers through the empty space between his three spines, causing his friends' eyes to all widen as they realized what he was speaking of, though he didn't let them comment on it before he continued on. "I know that you, and a lot of other people, have wondered what they are, these spines of mine. Nac always said that they were a defect; a lot of people who lived in the outer Walls have them, apparently, but he's wrong for once. These are my Alaya-Vijnana system spines, the things that allow me to control Barbatos."

"I… h-huh…?" muttered Mina after a few moments of silence, with her eyes widening in a mixture of shock and confusion as she processed what she had just heard. It was absurd, to say the least, as she was completely unaware of just how the spines actually worked and the full extent of their use, but even so, Nac, being the smartest person present, perhaps a little over Annie even, seemed to get what his friend was saying, prompting him to rub his chin thoughtfully before speaking up.

"These… spines… they help you control Barbatos… but… how?" asked Nac, with him getting the most obvious question out of the way as he spoke, to which Mikazuki shrugged before jerking a thumb back at Barbatos' end of the Alaya-Vijnana system.

"I don't know. All I know is that Barbatos has an Alaya-Vijnana system too. I simply connect myself to it and he comes online. It's all I need to and care to know, really; as long as I can control Barbatos, I'm fine," stated Mikazuki, with his words making Nac flinch a little; he was aware of how Mika wasn't lying with anything he had said, but even so…

"Could we… see you do it? If it's not too much of a problem, I mean," requested Nac, with him waving his hands around as he spoke, only for Annie to lean towards him and jab his chest, causing him to flinch in surprise all the while. "Ann…?"

"Are you dense? If Mikazuki does that, then Barbatos activates… and if it activates…" stated Annie, with her pointing skywards as she said this. Following her finger, both Mina and Nac found themselves paling slightly when they saw a cannon directly above Barbatos' chassis, aimed down at the unit, and to that, the tallest person present gulped before shaking his head.

"Ah-"

"It's fine."

"Huh?!"

The surprise was apparent in everyone's voice, even as Mikazuki leaned back and plugged himself into Barbatos' end of the Alaya-Vijnana system, locking himself into the unit with an inaudible click all the while. As he did so, the pilot felt the data flow coming from the Gundam's end of things; it was faint, dormant, and all it needed as a signal from him to activate, and he had offered it one… albeit a little more tame than he usually would.

'We're not fighting, not yet. Just wake up a little, alright, Barbatos?' requested Mikazuki warmly, to which his Gundam hummed softly as its Ahab Reactors began to thrum with just a bit more intensity.

Outside, a handful of the soldiers present flinched faintly when they heard the Ahab Reactors thrumming louder than usual, but even so, Mike had them hold their positions; he was certain that Mikazuki would not do anything rash, not at this very moment, though he did remain on guard for now, and his guard only shot up that much more when, somewhat abruptly, the Gundam's optics glowed a light green as it powered up.

The green glow of its optics had caught the three up top's attention as well, prompting them to flinch away from it as they realized that it was active, but even so, within the unit's cockpit, Mikazuki remained mostly neutral as he tapped the main cockpit monitor several times over, and moments later, things were fully active.

"Optical units operating normally," recited Mikazuki as he ran through the usual power up routines, causing his friends to turn towards him all the while. "All systems are green. Dispelling waste heat," a pause as hot air was ejected from the various vents on Barbatos' chassis, barring the face vents as Mikazuki did not wish to push any of his friends off its chest, "is this enough proof for you?"

"I… uh… er…" began Nac, with him peeking into the now lit cockpit of the Gundam, only to flinch when he saw just how high tech everything really was; when things were dim inside, the guy couldn't really see what was actually within it properly, but now that it was fully lit up and activated, the oldest person present found himself fumbling with his words as he looked into the cockpit with widened eyes.

Said eyes only widened further when he looked towards the optic-to-cockpit visual feed and saw… himself?! He wasn't the only one to feel shocked, though, as both Mina and Annie found themselves quickly overwhelmed with confusion when they too saw themselves mirrored on the visual feed, with Mina waving a hand all the while; to say that she was startled when the mirror of her waved her own hand in conjunction with her own would be… an understatement, to say the least.

"W-What's going on… why's there a copy of us on that wall?! And how did it even get there to begin with?! It used to be just a normal flat surface!" protested Mina as she panicked a little, but even so, Annie, who was slightly calmer than any of her friends at the moment, thought rationally and glanced behind herself, where she made eye contact with Barbatos, and upon doing so… "Eek! Annie?!"

"Back there," mused Annie, with her motioning towards Barbatos' head unit as she spoke, and as she did so, the pigtailed girl turned and eyed the Gundam, or more specifically, its optics, and when she did, she seemed to realize something, with Nac doing the same moments later. "That's how it works, yeah? Whatever your Gundam sees gets sent down here for you to see as well."

"Yeah," confirmed Mikazuki as, rather abruptly, a few new visual feeds popped up on screen. Mina, Nac and Annie all flinched at this whereas Mika hummed softly at it, and moments later, the former three's names appeared hovering over the heads of their visual selves, surprising them briefly.

"Eh? Aren't those our names…?" asked Nac, baffled by this unexpected feature of the cockpit as he spoke, to which Mikazuki nodded.

"Ah. Barbatos knows almost everything that I do thanks to the Alaya-Vijnana system, so it knows all of your names as a result," stated Mikazuki, with him requesting that the visual feed be taken down, to which his Gundam complied. Mina, Nac and Annie were very much fascinated as they watched the unit's systems sort through itself several times, though after a few moments of nothing, Mika continued. "I can only really control Barbatos thanks to the Alaya-Vijnana system."

"So you weren't lying when you said that you were the only Gundam pilot, huh?" mused Nac, with him lightly punching Barbatos' chest as he said this. Mikazuki gave a light nod at that, to which the black haired man chuckled faintly. "God damn… it must be pretty cool, y'know? Like… to actually be able to control something this awesome!"

"Yeah… awesome. That surgery must've been very much worth it, huh?" mused Annie, with some of her interest being piqued as she watched Mikazuki lean forwards, exposing the tube connecting him to Barbatos all the while. For a moment, he said nothing as memories flashed back to him in an instant… memories that were…

---

"It's free, kid. You can have the surgery as many times as you'd like. Sure, you'll more than likely die whilst having it, but that's not my problem."

"Go ahead, cry! Cry as loudly as you'd like! It'll make for some good music while we drill open your back!"

"Back again, huh? You've got some balls, kid, to get two of those systems installed into your back!"

"Third time's the charm? You crazy lil' bastard, you must have the devil's luck or something!"

---

"No."

"...?"

"It wasn't," stated Mikazuki firmly, with him looking between his friends as he leaned back against his chair. His gaze was harsh and his expression was firm, something that was odd to see in him, as the pilot was rarely so serious when it came to speaking to them, and as they processed what he had said, the young man continued to speak in a flat tone of voice. "I already told you; you need to have surgery to get the Alaya-Vijnana system. But what I never told you was just how dangerous it was to get it."

"... h-how bad was it?" asked Mina, with her frowning as she looked at Nac uncertainly. The man stared right back at her with an uncertain look in his eyes; as Cadets, all of them had been given basic to middling training in regards to surgeries, and although few of them would have to perform one in the foreseeable future, they still found it educational and, by all accounts, not particularly life threatening. Surely, this Alaya-Vijnana surgery could be-

"I remember the Old Man telling me that once, he saw a hundred kids take the surgery," recalled Mikazuki flatly, with his eyes hollow and his voice devoid of life as he said this. "Only two made it out fine."

"T-TWO OUT OF A HUNDRED?! YOU'RE KIDDING, ARE YOU?!" protested Nac almost immediately after hearing this, with his eyes widened to their limits as he heard this. His outburst caused several of the soldiers down below to glance upwards at them as they heard him, but even so, they were duly ignored as Tias lurched forwards in utter disbelief. Likewise, Mina had both hands up to her mouth as she suppressed her horror at what she had heard, and even Annie's cold facade had crumbled when she heard what he had just said.

"I do not kid, Nac. You should know this by now," stated Mikazuki bluntly as he spoke, and as he said this, Annie furrowed her brows in confusion.

"What I don't understand is why you specified kids… a hundred of them specifically. Was there a criteria for such a thing, or were the people of Chryse just sickos?" asked Annie, with her just barely able to keep her disgust at bay as she crossed her arms, pretending to appear disinterested all the while. Nac displayed a similar level of intrigue as she asked this, but vice versa, Mina looked close to puking as she looked away with a hand still up to her mouth.

As for Mikazuki himself, he was about to open his mouth to respond to Annie's question, though before he could do so…

"..."

"Hm…?"

… Barbatos was quick to send a silent message to its pilot, with it requesting that it do some of the heavy work this time, and as it did so, the main cockpit monitor flashed momentarily before a few articles appeared on the optic-to-cockpit visual feed. Their sudden appearance was more than enough to catch the present soldiers, including Mikazuki himself, off guard, though they thought nothing of it as the Gundam pulled up a few reports that were pulled from some old CGS archives from over half a decade prior.

Noticing the words in these reports, Nac leaned down and narrowed his eyes as he did his best to properly read what was on screen, with Mina and Annie remaining silent as they allowed him to do so undisturbed, though as soon as he was done with his reading, the black haired man leaned back and held a hand up to his mouth, quivering heavily all the while.

"Nac… N-Nac… what did the… what did it say?" asked Mina, with her sounding just a tiny bit afraid of what her response would be, and to that, Nac, although hesitant to respond, did so with a shaky voice.

"The… t-the Alaya-Vijnana system that was used on Mika… it… i-it was a crude imitation of another made by a superior company… and because of this… i-i-it… it could only be implanted into t-the upper b-b-backs… of children, m-most effectively at the a-a-age of… 10…" recited Nac hollowly, with his eyes growing glassier and glassier with each word he uttered. Mina herself found her heart metaphorically stopping for a whole ten seconds before she glanced down towards Mikazuki, who kept his gaze averted from his friends as this happened, but all the same…

"Why… why would you go through something so… dangerous, Mika?!" demanded Mina, with her damn near jumping into the cockpit, with Annie being the only one to hold her back as she did so. Thankfully enough, though, she was able to do this as tears erupted from the pigtailed girl's eyes, landing on the pilot's lap all the while.

"Mina, control yourself…!" advised Annie, though her words did little to actually calm the young woman down as she struggled harder against her blonde friend; she wanted an answer from Mikazuki and Mikazuki alone, and truth be told, Leonhardt had underestimated Carolina's strength. The pigtailed soldier was slowly breaking through her grip on her, which was commendable, but all the same… the blonde also wished to know… why.

Why would Mikazuki undergo such a dangerous surgery… why-

"I did it… because you have to be strong to live in a place like Chryse," stated Mikazuki, with him quickly reminding his friends of just how harsh his old life really was, and without missing a beat, he continued. "And being in CGS meant that you needed to be stronger than usual. There were… many things I had to do while under their employ, some of them requiring me to use my Alaya-Vijnana system, and others with my body, so it was best to have both ready for anything if the need ever arises."

Once more, Mina, Nac and Annie were all reminded of just how harsh life had been for Mikazuki. Life in Shiganshina, based on what little the former two knew of it, was already hard enough, but they were aware that it wasn't so bad that people would do something as absurd as… this to ensure their safety, but all the same, Annie in particular found herself nodding lightly as she found Mika's readiness to be very much admirable; being prepared for anything and everything that could arise was very much commendable, but all the same…

"... this… CGS… I… it's a company, right? Well… there had to be others working in it, yeah? What… w-what were they like?" asked Mina, with her trying her best to find a positive in what she was learning as she asked this. After learning about Mikazuki's Alaya-Vijnana system, the pigtailed soldier really needed some good news to balance out the bad, and thankfully enough, Mika had quite a bit of good news to share with her. "You made friends… r-right…?"

"I guess. I had some friends back at CGS," recalled Mikazuki, and as he said this, Barbatos' visual feeds flashed briefly before various faces popped up on screen; mugshots, to be specific, of the various members of CGS before they had become Tekkadan, only for the information to glitch momentarily as it updated to include information on them that came from their Tekkadan days. Leaning down to get a better look at the words, Nac, Mina and Annie got a good read on what was on screen.

"Orga Itsuka… Akihiro Atland… Norba Shino… Takaki Uno… there are… so many of them!" thought Mina out loud, with her eyes widening at the variety of individuals that worked under CGS. Annie nodded at this, with her finding the amount of child soldiers working with Mikazuki to be impressive… and concerning, but at the same time, both she and Nac realized something.

"So many of them… all of whom look so young…" observed Annie solemnly, with her gaze lingering on the mugshots of Takaki Uno, Ride Mass and Yamagi Gilmerton as she spoke. Nac himself flinched as something within his mind clicked into place, and likewise, Annie, having realized the same thing as well, spoke up yet again. "They have it too, don't they? The Alaya-Vijnana system."

"Ah," confirmed Mikazuki solemnly, with him nodding as several more mugshots and names were shown; it felt oddly nostalgic, to be seeing all these names and faces on screen… Trow, Embi, Hirume, Chad Chadan, Dante Mongro… Biscuit Griffon. The files of his unit had not labeled the poor boy as deceased just yet, though considering the low thrum of sadness emanating from Barbatos' end of the Alaya-Vijnana system, Mika reckoned that, even now, neither of them had truly gotten over Biscuit's death just yet…

"That one over there looks important," hummed Annie, with her pointing towards Orga's mugshot as she spoke. As she did so, Mikazuki felt his heart clench a little as the last recorded image of Itsuka stared over at him, something that his friends seemed to notice as they stared at him in concern, though he was quick to shake it off as he exhaled softly, as though removing a weight from his shoulders, and answered.

"That's Orga. He's our boss and the one I considered to be my brother before I arrived here," explained Mikazuki, with his words catching everyone off guard as they looked at him in surprise. Mikazuki considering someone a brother was quite a baffling statement, as, even now, they didn't think he actually considered them family, not in the same sense as Mrs Carolina considering them her family at least, and seemingly sensing their surprise, the pilot smiled faintly before explaining. "Surprised? I can't blame you, but it's true. Orga's done a lot for me. He gave my life purpose, a meaning, and in turn, I did all that I could to help his dreams be realized."

"Give your life meaning… how so?" asked Annie, genuinely curious as to what Mikazuki could be speaking of with this, prompting the pilot to smile lightly before responding.

"… he gave me a purpose, something to strive towards… and to that… I'll forever be in his debt," stated Mikazuki softly, with him almost blushing as he said this, and upon hearing this, and upon hearing the genuine nature behind the pilot's words. This was perhaps the fondest they've ever heard him speak in… forever, really, and it really made it apparent that, whatever it was that was told to him by Orga… it was well and truly important, so much so that, even now, he admired Itsuka for it alone.

This in itself was more than enough to deter them from asking about what he had told him, however; even someone as airheaded as Mina could tell that this was an incredibly personal issue for Mikazuki, and as such, they respected him enough to not encroach on the matter just yet, and as a compromise, Nac cleared his throat and asked another question out of curiosity.

"I see… say… the uh… that wall-"

"...!"

"It's not a wall. It's Barbatos' Optic-To-Cockpit visual feed," corrected Mikazuki after Barbatos had thrown a fit about his visual feed being called a meager wall, much to his amusement, though after his friends processed this bit of info, they were quick to nod, with Nac correcting himself moments later.

"Ah… s-sorry. The, uh… visual feed… it said that Mr Itsuka was the… leader of CGS?" mentioned Nac, with him appearing quite curious as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'm… not doubting his effectiveness, but still… he is… quite young to be leading an organisation, much less a mercenary group…"

"You're right… but it wasn't CGS that he had led. It was Tekkadan," explained Mikazuki flatly, with him smiling at the memory of that name. Likewise, Barbatos thrummed faintly at the drop of that organisation's name, though he spoke nothing of it as his friends appeared confused by this sudden namedrop, prompting the pilot to smile kindly before continuing. "I should explain…"

"Please."

And over the course of the next few minutes, Mikazuki explained to his friends about how the Chryse Security Guard had Tekkadan. He told them about how CGS operated, how cruel things were for the Second and Third Groups, which were mostly comprised of people that were on screen prior, and how they turned the tables on their superiors within the First Group.

Mina and Nac in particular were taken aback by the way the First Group were executed by Mikazuki himself, though Annie had no such reservations; if anything, she was glad that those dirtbags were no longer a part of the living. Had he known this, the pilot's liking towards the blonde would've increased just that much more, though as things were now, he simply continued.

Somewhat briefly, the pilot explained to his friends about Gjallarhorn, how they were basically the main governing body around Earth and how they were kind of assholes (barring Chocolate Man, anyways, but even then he was an ass as well), and he explained to them the events leading up to CGS' reformation into Tekkadan, including but not limited to…

"You went into a fight without any prior knowledge when it came to piloting Barbatos… against three enemy Titans?!" protested Mina in horror, and to this, Mikazuki shrugged as the Gundam in question pulled up an image and a report of the Mobile Suits that Mina was referring to, outside of itself. The EB-06 Graze and its Commander Variant appeared on the visuals with minimal issue, and as they popped up, Annie noticed something.

"Wait… those are called Mobile Suits… like Barbatos? There were others made?" asked Annie curiously, with her curiosity being genuine as she rubbed at her chin. Barbatos' Ahab Reactors thrummed lightly at her observation as it 'chuckled', though as for Mikazuki himself, he nodded slightly as he spoke.

"Ah. There were a lot of other Mobile Suits where I'm from," confirmed Mikazuki, surprising his Wall dwelling friends with just how much variety there was in his world, though they didn't say much on this for now as Nac scratched at his cheek uncertainly.

"The point still stands, though… you still went up against an enemy with something that you didn't know how to control… it was incredibly dangerous, Mika," scolded Nac lightly, though in response to this, Mikazuki simply eyed him with a raised brow.

"I know, and I would do it again. They were going to kill everyone at the base, so what other choice did I have?" stated Mikazuki firmly; it was obvious that he did not regret this decision of his, and it showed. Annie, Nac and Mina felt their respect for him increasing quite a bit at that, but even so… they couldn't help but think their friend to be more reckless than they had first assumed.

Still though, they were momentarily focused on the image of the Graze that was on screen. It didn't look anything like Barbatos, with it instead looking more simplistic, albeit not without a threatening aura behind it. Its overall appearance screamed soldier, even more so than the Gundam itself, and considering what the pilot had told them about it invading their home, they were quick to identify it as an enemy footsoldier.

That aside, Mikazuki told them about how he had dueled a skilled pilot within Gjallarhorn with his Gundam. Unskilled as he was, he was still able to best him, and after achieving victory, they claimed the opposing Mobile Suit as their own and continued on with their original mission…

"Kudelia Aina Bernstein…" muttered Nac, with him speaking that name with no small amount of reverence whilst rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Mikazuki had told them about Kudelia's goal of assisting Mars in attaining some form of independence from Gjallarhorn, and that in itself was enough for her to gain the respect of all three soldiers present, but even so… "She's very young as well… for someone like her to be put on such a high pedestal…"

"Child prodigies are a thing, you know?" mused Annie, to which Nac flinched.

"Child prodigies, sure… but to put so much faith in one woman… and for so many people to put their hopes onto a single individual… it seems… excessive, really," admitted Nac bluntly, and to a certain degree, every one of them, Mikazuki included, did agree with him, though they didn't voice this out as the pilot continued.

As he spoke, Barbatos supplemented his words with a few basic pop-ups on the screen of its visual feeds. Pictures of the EC-06/TC, Graze Custom popped up when mention of Akihiro becoming a pilot became a topic, and truth be told…

"Whew, that's a neat looking upgrade," smiled Mina, with her finding the additional white armour pieces to be quite the look on the Graze Custom as she smiled at it fondly. Mikazuki was inclined to agree, really.

That aside, the whole debacle with the Brewers was kept brief, as Mikazuki did not wish to touch it all that much. All he told them was that they had a minor scuffle with some Space Pirates and got a Mobile Suit off them (he had to explain what a Pirate was to them, which was somewhat amusing), and upon telling them this, an image of the ASW-G-11R, Gusion Rebake, flashed on screen, alongside its predecessor, the Gusion, catching everyone's attention all the while.

"Those two look so different. Are we certain that they're not different Mobile Suits?" asked Annie curiously, to which Mikazuki nodded, and as he did so, the diagram of both the Gusion and its successor flashed briefly as their inner frames were highlighted through their outer armour, showing to Leonhardt that, beneath their outer shells, they all shared the same inner frames.

"Ah. They both use the Gundam Frame. It's universal with Gundams," stated Mikazuki, with him carrying on from there on. Mina had nodded a little at this, with her not seeing the finer meaning behind Mikazuki's words for now, though as for Annie and Nac…

"Wait… Gundams…? As in… plural?" muttered Annie, with some shock entering her system as she widened her eyes in… well, shock, and as she said this, the pilot nodded, causing the other two present to widen their eyes in surprise as the visual feed allowed a new diagram to appear.

Barbatos' sigil appeared first, taking up the whole screen, only to shrink down and fall in line with seventy-one other sigils moments later. Barbatos' took the eighth slot, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what this meant.

"T-There were Seventy-Two Gundams…?" muttered Mina, with her eyes widened in shock and awe as she stared at Mikazuki, who nodded as he spoke, supplemented with info via Barbatos' Alaya-Vijnana all the while.

"Ah. They were made for a fight years ago called the Calamity War, but they're so powerful that only Seventy-Two were made," stated Mikazuki, with him stating the bare minimum of what Barbatos had supplemented to him as he spoke. He thought it best to not mention how the War was 300 years in the past; that would open up a whole can of worms that he didn't wish to mess with…!

Thankfully enough, though, Mina, Nac and Annie, in spite of their still lingering shock at learning of this, accepted the fact that there were Seventy-Two Gundams in total decently quickly, and once that was over and done with, Mikazuki covered their whole recruitment into Teiwaz quite quickly, alongside their partnership with the Turbines-

"HOW MANY WIVES?!"

"An entire Warship's worth, Nac."

"A-And that's… h-h-how many…?"

"Er… about… two hundred crewmates. Why'd you ask, Mina?"

(Smelling salts were then taken and offered to a passed out Mina and Nac whilst Annie remained unresponsive for the better part of ten minutes.)

-he spoke about the whole debacle at the Dort Colonies. They had all unknowingly been selling illegal arms to workers attempting to unionize against Gjallarhorn, and as such, they were promptly seen as the enemies in doing so. Taking up arms against any and all Gjallarhorn forces that bared their fangs in their direction, Mikazuki and Barbatos had fought alongside Akihiro and his Gusion and-

"Ryusei… Go…?" muttered Nac, with him, alongside Mina and Annie, feeling very much dumbfounded by both the name and the appearance of the Mobile Suit on screen. It was still the Graze Custom, no doubt, but even so, the longer commander fin, added thrusters and, most noticeably, the fiery magenta and goofy animal eyes and fang painted onto its head unit was very much off-putting to all three of them, especially Annie, who found it… impractical, to say the least.

"Ah. Shino used it pretty well. He wasn't the best, but it's not fair to compare a mass produced unit to a Gundam," stated Mikazuki for some clarity, eliciting some understanding nods from his friends, though, at the same time…

"Yeah, though… why the pink…?" asked Mina curiously, with her not quite understanding just why someone as brash and… manly as Shino would choose such a colour, and in response to this, Mikazuki simply smiled.

"Because… he likes pink. That's all," stated Mikazuki, with him not wishing to get into the nuance that came behind Shino's decision to paint all of his units in such a bright, easy to spot colour, though regardless, after a short pause, he continued on, with him speaking of GaliGali and his Kimaris-

"G-GaliGali?" muttered Mina incredulously. "He sounds like a joke character in the books that Annie reads on occasion…"

"How did you… nevermind. She has a point, though… he does sound like a joke," admitted Annie, with Nac nodding along as he tried to think of what Gaelio Bauduin would've been like based on the nickname Mikazuki had given him, but even so…

"He wasn't a joke. He put up a good fight against me whenever we fought," admitted Mikazuki readily, with Barbatos' visuals now showing Gaelio's Mobile Suits as he spoke. These images were blurry, as they were never officially logged into the Gundam's systems and were rather just snapshots taken from combat recordings from the past, but even so, the menacing purple units that Gaelio had a liking towards certainly did intimidate the three individuals that were unfamiliar with them, though Annie in particular took note of something…

"The last two down there. Kimaris… and… Kimaris Trooper… they look almost like… Barbatos. Is it a Gundam as well?" asked Annie curiously, to which Mikazuki nodded.

"Ah. It is," confirmed Mikazuki, and when his friends' surprise became apparent, the pilot thought it prudent to elaborate. "A Gundam isn't all that different from any other weapon we use. We stole a Graze from Gjallarhorn, after all."

"So… did they steal a Gundam or something?" asked Mina for clarification, to which Mikazuki shrugged.

"I think it belonged to GaliGali's family, actually, but I don't really care too much about that sort of detail," admitted Mikazuki, and right there and then, the situation was bookended as the pilot continued on.

After telling them about how they penetrated the Earth Sphere Defense Force's… well, defenses, Mikazuki went on to tell them about how they fortified an island to take refuge on for a while before mobilizing to Edmonton, a city on another part of Earth that Kudelia had to get to if she wished to win over Mar's independence. He left out the more… painful elements, namely the death of one Biscuit Griffon, though he did speak about how he had decimated the Leader of the ESDF, Carta Issue, in a duel.

"She deserved everything that she got," hummed Mikazuki without a shred of hesitation, with him almost smiling as he recalled just how brutal that battle was. Such a one sided conflict… and to think that Carta had expected them to give her some benefit of the doubt after what she had done to them. The mere thought of this was enough to make Mika laugh internally, though externally, he remained composed as Mina and Nac flinched lightly in discomfort.

"I get that you had no choice… but the way you say it makes me think that you enjoyed beating her to a pulp…" whispered Nac softly, though not soft enough to evade Barbatos' auditory sensors, with the Gundam relaying what he had said to its pilot moments later. Mikazuki would've probably felt a little insulted by this… had it not been true, though it didn't really matter either way, as he was already continuing on regardless.

The final act in all this consisted of the Edmonton siege, which had Tekkadan holding their ground as they attempted to break through the blockade Gjallahorn had set up around Edmonton. Although more powerful thanks to their Alaya-Vijnana systems and their Gundams, Tekkadan were still held back by arbitrary laws that were put into place; namely, they could not outright invade Edmonton with their units, as in doing so would essentially be an act of war against its governing body… which was Gjallarhorn.

"Weren't you guys technically already at war with them, though?" pointed out Annie sarcastically, only for Mikazuki to shake his head.

"No. It was less of a war and just us poking at one another before now. We never did anything that would force a full scale retaliation from Gjallahorn before then," stated Mikazuki, with Barbatos feeding him some info in regards to warfare conduct and the like as he spoke. "As long as we didn't commit any warcrimes during the siege on Edmonton, we were fine."

"So… not to sound mean or anything, but… you guys committed some warcrimes, yeah?" said Mina, with her waving her hands about as she said this, and to that, the pilot almost laughed as he nodded.

"Yes. Yes we did."

Moving swiftly on, Mikazuki spoke of how Tekkadan had attacked the Gjallarhorn forces during a moment of ceasefire, something that was, in a sense, a warcrime, and as they did so, the Mobile Worker platoon had laid down cover fire as one Atra Mixta had drifted into Edmonton in an armoured car. Hearing that Tekkadan had resorted to such desperate means did upset the trio, but even so… they understood why it had to come to this.

They were quite literally fighting the clock at the time, struggling to get Kudelia to the Edmonton parliament in time before the election that could win Mar's independence took place, and, based on Mikazuki's tone of voice, they did manage to get her there, much to everyone's relief, but all the same…

"We invaded Edmonton, but we didn't damage the area. We only attacked those that attacked us, so we were still in the clear at the time," explained Mikazuki as his stomach churned uncomfortably at the memory. Mina and Nac seemed to be somewhat relieved at this, but even so, Annie could tell that this was about to take a bad turn, and surely enough… "So it was a surprise to all of us when Gjallarhorn ended up being the first to deploy Mobile Suits into Edmonton rather than us."

"T-They did?! Wouldn't they be breaking their own rules, though?!" proclaimed Nac incredulously, to which Mikazuki nodded.

"Ah. It was trying to kill Orga, Kudelia and Atra. Kudelia especially; it hated her, but I managed to get there in time to stop it," said Mikazuki, with him almost feeling proud as he said this, though he kept that to himself for now as he watched Mina and Nac exhale softly, though Annie remained just as she always was whilst nodding in relief; she might've been a stiff sonova gun, but even so… she did admittedly find Kudelia to be endearing enough to care for, to say the least.

"And… you defeated it, right?" asked Nac, with him sounding confident in Mikazuki's victory, to which the pilot frowned as he looked away sadly.

"I did… but… I…" muttered Mikazuki, with him finding it… difficult to tell his friends just how much he had to sacrifice in order to ensure that the Graze Ein was defeated, though as though it were reading his thoughts, which wasn't too far from the truth, really, Barbatos' systems hitched momentarily before the visual feeds blanked out briefly, only to reignite once more, this time with footage from the Edmonton battle against the Graze Ein.

Gasps were audible from both Mina and Nac as they bore witness to the demonic visage of the Graze Ein; Barbatos might've had a hint of the demonic, but even so… the Ein was beyond even that, and it frightened the two, if they were being honest. Likewise, Annie found herself flinching as they watched the brief snippets of recordings from the battle between the Graze and the Gundam, with the former quite literally throwing the latter around like a ragdoll throughout it all.

"You are defective!"

Flinching at that voice, all three Wall residents were quick to realize that it belonged to the enemy Mobile Suit, and it sounded…

"He sounds… out of it," stated Nac uncertainly as the recording cut between shots of Barbatos being thrown around, with Annie nodding lightly all the while.

"That's one way to put it…"

"Sinful child… you animals know not the righteous path set out for men!"

The tightening of Annie's fist made it clear just how she felt towards the Graze Ein when it had said this, though it was quick to loosen when Mina lightly set her hand atop her fist; turning towards her, Leonhardt gave her a questioning look, one that was met with a sympathetic gaze. Carolina's gaze assured her that she understood her plight and would not judge her for it…

… little did she know, though…

"Your body is held down by sin… and by striking you down… I shall PURIFY you!"

"Kh… someone's got a God complex, sheesh…" muttered Nac, with his opinion on the Graze's pilot souring by the second as it spoke like some sort of messiah, though truth be told… its power seemed to be no laughing matter, as it was shown throwing Barbatos through an entire building whilst this audio recording played.

"None of you can be saved…! Not you…

"Not ANY of your comrades…

"Or that ACCURSED WOMAN!"

"?!"

The recording of a familiar gasp could be heard reverberating through the cockpit, and upon hearing it, the trio leaned forwards in surprise as they paid the recording more attention, and all the while, Mikazuki leaned back as he exhaled softly.

"Sins… save…?"

"Mikazuki, is that…?"

"To rescue my soul by killing me…? No… that is not for you to decide…"

"It is him… but… he sounds so… different…"

"Oi, Barbatos… I know you can hear me… there's no need to hold back, not anymore."

"What are you-"

"Just give me everything that you've got…

"BARBATOS!"

And following that proclamation, the recording began to grow blurry as static distorted the edges. Barbatos' visual sensors flickered as the Alaya-Vijnana system went into overdrive, shocking the three Wall residents further, but even so, they focused in on the recording as well as they could, with them noticing how the Gundam was now keeping up with the Graze with greater efficiency as they duked it out with reckless abandon.

At the end of it all, though… Barbatos had ultimately been the one to be defeated… until Orga's voice roared through the communication relay, and upon hearing him, something in Mikazuki had snapped, and he had his Gundam move in a way that far exceeded its prior speed by nearly tenfold. Mina had quite literally blinked, and in an instant…

"You moved?!" shrieked Mina in shock as Barbatos damn near teleported behind the Graze before using its Longsword to sever its arm, only to sever the other when it had attempted a drill punch, much to Nac's delight.

"Who cares?! Mika's fighting back! Get his ass!" whooped Nac enthusiastically, and right as he said this, Barbatos dealt the killing blow to the Graze Ein by stabbing it in the cockpit, killing the pilot in the process. Whilst doing so, however, Mina couldn't help but flinch as she was aware of just how her friend had, well… killed someone, though considering how pesky that someone was, she reckoned she could let it slide for now, but all the same, Annie, being the perceptive person she was, couldn't help but find this to be… too easy.

Something was about to happen… and she knew it, and evidently enough, something did happen, as, in an instant, Orga had yelled at Mikazuki to get out of there, something that Barbatos had attempted to do with little avail. Boosting backwards, the unit attempted to get away from it, but a force was pulling it back towards the Graze with reckless abandon, and after a powerful flash of white, the optical units went offline, and…

"... and after that, I arrived here," concluded Mikazuki, with him looking between his friends as he said this. Hearing this made them flinch lightly as they thought there to be a bit more behind his tale, but even so, they accepted it regardless as they watched the pilot fidget lightly atop his cockpit seat, and moments later, he spoke up. "And… now that you know about who I am, where I came from, how I got here and… all that… I want to know… what will you do now?"

"I beg your pardon?" mused Nac, with him frowning lightly at Mikazuki's words, prompting a quick elaboration.

"You all now know that I'm a killer from a place that you know very little about. I've killed people for many reasons; following Orga's orders, of my own volition, all of the like. I've done a lot of terrible things in my time with Tekkadan, and I don't doubt that I'll continue to do terrible things until the day I die… so…" began Mikazuki, with him fidgeting a little as he spoke, and whilst doing so, he both looked and sounded so… vulnerable as he did his best to find the right words to vocalise his thoughts to his friends, who looked just a bit concerned with what he was trying to get across, though after some time, he simply blurted out what was on his mind without a second thought, just as he had a tendency to do every other time. "I… understand if the three of you want to… stop being friends with me because of this."

Silence. There was nothing but silence as Mikazuki said this, and it was so oppressive that even Annie had to admit to feeling uncomfortable. Mika himself felt his stomach churning in an uncharacteristically fearful manner, as he dreaded the response he might get from his friends, and the response he got moments later came from Nac.

"I… excuse me…?" began the oldest person present, with him both looking and sounding disbelieved as he spoke, and as he said this, Mikazuki glanced up at him uncertainly before speaking.

"Like I said; I'm a murderer. Someone that's done terrible things for one reason or another. If you want to distance yourselves from me because of this, then I'm fine with it," stated Mikazuki awkwardly, with him scratching the back of his neck whilst speaking. Annie, Mina and Nac all stared at him incredulously whilst he spoke, though he ignored this as he continued. "I… I've lied to you three about a lot, and I personally don't think that I deserve any of your friendship regardless. You're all too good for me, so if you think it's best to move on from someone like me, then- OOF!"

"Shut UP!"

Near the end of Mikazuki's sentence, Mina, without any warning whatsoever, launched herself up and landed atop her friend's lap, with her landing in such a way that it had caused him just enough pain to stop talking. Him not expecting it had caused him to stop talking momentarily, which was enough time to allow Mina to speak up as she pointed a finger up at the recovering pilot accusingly.

"Stop talking as if we hate you for all that you've done, Mika!" scolded Mina, with her waving her finger at Mikazuki as she spoke. Her boldness was on full display, and it surprised Augus, to say the least, so much so that he said nothing as his friend continued, eliciting a thrum of amusement from Barbatos all the while. "It's true that… t-that you keeping all of this a secret did hurt us a little, and, well… we're still kinda struggling to come to terms with… well, all of this, but even so… we get why you didn't tell us, and more importantly… we don't hold anything against you for it… right, guys?"

"Heck no! It'll take more than… all of that to make us hate you!" stated Nac, with him flashing his friend a thumbs up as he said this, and likewise, although Annie seemed more skeptical with her response, she nonetheless nodded as she leaned back and sighed softly to herself before nodding along in agreement; she wasn't the kind of person to be as outspoken as Mina or Nac, but all the same… she had her moments too.

"What he said, I guess. I've still got my doubts… but in the end, you're still a good friend either way. I wouldn't trade you for anything, Mika," smiled Annie, with her offering the tiniest slither of emotion as she said this, and upon hearing this, something in Mikazuki shook with relief as his eyes widened in shock, and moments later, he spoke.

"Even after hearing about how many people I've killed… all the… things I've done and… all the atrocities I've committed… all of you are still…" muttered Mikazuki in disbelief, only for Mina to cut him off as she slung an arm around his shoulder and pulled him in for a half-hug, with her boldly leaning in close until their cheeks were touching gently as she cut him off.

Annie would admit to feeling envious of her current position whilst Nac grinned at her boldness, though unbeknownst to either pilot or soldier, the two of them were blushing at varying levels of crimson as this happened, though regardless, Mina continued speaking either way.

"We're still your friends, Mika! You had a terrible life… and we… we get why you did what you did; you said that you didn't deserve us, but if you want my honest opinion on all this, I'd say that you deserve better than us. You deserve so much more, and we… we'll do our best to give you all that we can…!" stated Mina, with her words spoken with genuine affection as she leaned away from Mikazuki with a wide smile, not noticing his uncertainty all the while.

"But… why…? Why do you even want to stick around someone like me?" asked Mikazuki, and without even thinking, Mina responded with full confidence.

"Because we love you!"

And upon saying this, all four of them present grew silent, with them growing pale as they realized what Mina had said; Carolina was the palest of them all, as she was quick to realize just what she had just admitted to as her eyes shrunk into dots whereas her mouth turned into a near perfect o shape. Nac coughed into his fist as he acknowledged the pigtailed woman's slip up, however honest her words were as he did indeed love Mikazuki as a brother of sorts, and likewise, Annie couldn't help but roll her eyes at her friend's slip up as she observed this all occur.

Mikazuki, however, didn't seem to take note of the possible implications behind Mina's words as he simply stared down at his friend with a surprised look in his eyes, and moments later, something in his irises swirled a tiny bit as he processed what he was just told, and moments later…

"You… all… love me?" asked Mikazuki, sounding more like a curious child than anything as he spoke, and upon hearing this, Nac chuckled faintly as he nodded.

"Well, duh! We've known you for five years; trained with you, slept with you, ate with you, fought with and, sometimes, against you… you had our backs for so damn long… honestly, it'd be more of a surprise if we didn't find space in our hearts to love you at this point," chuckled Nac as he leaned back and held up an index finger. "You're not just Mikazuki Augus to us, you know? You're a friend, a very cherished one. We know that we can trust you by default, and between you and me… I kinda consider you a brother as well…!"

"A… brother…" echoed Mikazuki with his eyes widened to their limits as he spoke; such a title was sacred to him, as he found Orga to have been the only one worthy of such a title… but even so, that was several years back, when he was a different individual. He was a changed person now, and as such… "I… I'm… very happy to know that you see me as such, Nac…"

"I'm glad you are, Mika, and I'm sure Annie has some good thoughts of her own involving you, isn't that right, Annie?" smiled Nac, with him turning to face the aforementioned blonde with a forced smile as he spoke. Seeing this made Annie flinch faintly as she knew that he was warning her to not fuck this up, and with a soft sigh, she nodded and spoke as well.

"Sure, I guess… I… admittedly, don't see you as a sibling or anything, but even so… you're a… cool guy, I guess?" stated Annie with a shrug. Her words were awkward and blunt, and beyond that, it was apparent that she had no idea how to articulate her feelings as effectively as Nac, but it didn't mean that she didn't try, though. "Kh… I'm not good with this mushy shit, so just… I don't fucking hate you, alright? That's all you need to know! Now stop looking at me like some sorta defanged wolf or… whatever!"

"... sorry, I didn't mean to stare," apologised Mikazuki awkwardly, with him smiling a tiny bit as he continued, something that made Annie feel somewhat awkward as her cheeks reddened lightly at the sight of his little grin. "But… thanks, Annie. That means a lot more to me than you'd expect. And I… don't hate you too."

"Kh, whatever, I guess," hurumped Annie, with her scowling heavily as she said this, though it was apparent that there was no malice behind her words whatsoever. If anything, she sounded… content with all this, and as such, no one spoke out about it as they let the matter slide.

"But the point is… that we all love you, Mika. You're more than just a friend to us… you're family, and as family, we look after our own, you got that?" smiled Mina, with her gently patting on Mikazuki's forehead as she spoke, and to this, the pilot glanced up and looked between Annie, Nac and finally at Mina, who beamed happily at him… and in response to her words, the pilot lowered his head…

… and he smiled.

Now let it be known that Mikazuki had smiled in the past; his smiles were rarely anything special, though, for they were usually nothing more than a mild twitch in the corner of his lips, but even so, that in itself was the reason behind why this smile in particular was so noteworthy, for it was a true smile.

The corners of his lips edged themselves up to the highest points of his face, nearly reaching his ears as he kept himself composed. There was a brightness to his grin that made it somewhat difficult to stare at him for long moments at a time, with all three of his friends having to look away from him lest they wished to be blinded by his absurdly bright and genuine grin… and as soon as they turned back to face him, they saw that he was…

"Mika…?"

"I… I guess I just needed to hear that. Thank you, all of you… for saying all that…" smiled Mikazuki, with him bringing his hands up below his face as a handful of tears fell from his eyes. Glancing up, the pilot looked between his three friends once more, all of whom were beyond shocked to see that he was actually shedding some tears. This was the first time he had done so since… forever, really, but all the same… the smile that was present on his face made it apparent that these were not tears of sadness, but rather… tears of relief.

And for all it was worth, Mina found herself gently punching Mikazuki in the chest as she smiled kindly at him.

"You're welcome, Mika. You're welcome."

---

Several hours later

Ultimately, after Mikazuki had recovered from his momentarily display of emotion, the small, newly reestablished friend group had taken it upon themselves to just… talk to one another to pass the time; they had missed out on a lot these past days, and they wished to make up for lost time now more so than ever.

Oh, and Mina had gotten off his lap by then; she enjoyed being there, but honestly… it was awkward for both herself and Mikazuki, so it was probably for the best.

"We don't know when we'll get the chance to come together again, so… let's just focus on having some fun together, alright?" mused Nac, and to that, the other three nodded along before they spent their time together.

Mina and Nac spoke of their time in the Survey Corps, with the former smiling lightly as she recalled the various antics of their friends and superiors that she considered to be endearing whereas the latter spoke to Mikazuki about a few of the things they learnt. In particular…

"I heard that there's a Preliminary Expedition coming up. Are you…?" began Nac, with him trailing off near the end as he spoke, to which Mikazuki nodded.

"Ah. It's technically meant to be confidential, but it's an open secret by now; I'm going to be a part of it," confirmed Mikazuki nonchalantly, eliciting a nod from all of his friends as he spoke.

"Make sure no one dies out there, you got it, Mika?" smiled Mina, with her offering Mikazuki a thumbs up as she spoke. To this, Mika nodded as he vowed to do just that.

On Annie's end of things, the blonde drawled on about her time in the MPB, with her stating that things were… boring, to say the least, but comfortable either way. She had a lot to do due to her position as a junior, though she suspected that her higher ups were pushing more work onto her shoulders thanks to her status as a junior, something that she did not appreciate one bit.

"Why I oughta… that's just mean! They should take some responsibility and at least show you the ropes or something!" complained Mina, with her waving her arms around in dismay as she spoke, to which Annie shrugged.

"Bleh, it's not like I didn't see this coming. Those in power tend to enjoy abusing it more times than not," mused Annie, to which Mikazuki nodded along. Didn't he know it, huh? Noticing his nod, Annie shot Mika a look that imparted no small amount of mutual understanding unto him, and after they nodded at one another, the duo almost smiled before changing the topic.

…

…

…

"So… is, uh… Shino…?"

"Is he gay? Probably not. Bixsexual, I think, is a better word to describe him with. Why'd you ask, Nac?"

"Oh, well, I'unno… but like… he is admittedly quite the looker…"

"... I see…"

Ah, right, Nac swung that way. Well, good for him, Mikazuki supposed.

…

…

…

"I'm sorry if this comes across as… cruel, but… have you ever wanted to meet your parents, Mika?"

"No, not really. I used to be curious, but I've stopped caring for a while."

"I see. I get it, but… it feels wrong, to know that your parents were never there for you."

"Well, at least I got to know how it felt to have a parent, even if it wasn't for very long."

"Yeah… I'm glad you did, Mika. I'm glad you did…"

And to that, Mina blinked a tiny bit as she acknowledged how, in a sense, their meeting did, in fact, grant upon the pilot a parent and, to a greater extent, allowed him to live a relatively normal life… and upon acknowledging this, Mina found herself smiling lightly as she nodded at that; she was happy that, if only for a year's worth of time, Mikazuki could know what it felt like to live with an adult that cared.

…

…

…

"So… this… Hitch individual…"

"Is annoying, but she's my partner, so I tolerate her."

"How kind of you, Annie."

"Shut it."

Rolling her eyes as she heard Nac ask about one of Annie's new acquaintances, Annie found herself grunting as she tried to not think about Hitch Dreyse. Annoying though she was, the woman was still very much a skilled individual, someone that Leonhardt could respect, but even so… she hadn't earnt her respect like those before her had so long ago, and that was honestly all that mattered.

Mikazuki in particular seemed keen on learning more, though Annie had kept a tight lip on most of her acquaintances within Sina. Her stone cold facade was already ruined enough by now, so to reveal more would only make things worse for her reputation!

…

…

…

Inevitably, however… things did have to end, and the conversation between the four 104th Graduates quickly came to a close when Lynne called up to the four friends from below. Tensing up when they heard her, the four were quick to snap out of their initial conversation in regards to Sasha's most recent fridge-raiding activity as they turned down towards the woman calling out to them, and when they did…

"Holy- is it that late already?!"

Tensing further when he realized that the sky was darkened to the point of being comical, Nac's eyes widened rather intensely as he stared up at the moon with a dismal look on his face; had they really been speaking for that long?! It had all began near the afternoon, and now, it looked to be around-

"..."

'Midnight…? Huh.'

"Hey, kids! I know that you're all having fun up there, but, uh… it's probably time for you four to split, you know? We were able to allot you guys and gals with some modicum of free time, but even we've got limits on all that, and lemme tell ya, we've long since passed that threshold!" called out Lynne, with her cupping her hands around her mouth as she spoke to amplify her volume. As she spoke, Mikazuki unplugged himself from Barbatos and peered out of the cockpit, with him staring down at Lynne alongside his friends.

"... she's got a point, really. We still have a lot of work to go through tomorrow, so it'd be best if we left now," stated Annie, with her sounding melancholic as she spoke. Mina looked ready to argue, though she quickly cut herself off with a dramatic yawn, with the realization of just how late it was hitting her the moment she had acknowledged it. Likewise, Nac's fatigue seemed to be catching up to him as he rubbed at his eyes tiredly, prompting Mikazuki to huff faintly as he got up and stood atop his unit's chest without much issue.

"Ah. C'mon, we should go," hummed Mikazuki, and without much fanfare, the pilot jumped off his unit's cockpit and landed on the ground, with Annie, Mina and Nac following him shortly thereafter, and moments later, the four walked up to greet Lynne, who smiled as she gently ruffled Mika's hair, much to his annoyance.

"I hoped you enjoyed your time in there! The Captain and the others left to attend a briefing with Erwin; I was able to convince him to let you stay here and talk with your friends, though he wants you to see him first thing tomorrow when you wake up. The meeting's pretty important, you know?" hummed Lynne, with her smiling kindly as she looked between Mikazuki and his friends, all of whom appeared surprised to see that he was allowing her to give him headpats, though either way, the pilot grunted and nodded faintly as he allowed her to lead them onwards.

Turning towards Barbatos, Mikazuki offered it a faint nod, a small farewell, before he got ready to leave the compound, though before he could do so, he was stopped by Mina, who gently seized his wrist before they could leave it fully. Pausing briefly at that, the pilot glanced back to see that his friend appeared to be very much uncertain of… something as she held him back, and seemingly sensing the tension, Nac and Annie were quick to give them some space, however reluctantly, as they retreated out to the exterior of the tent whereas Lynne observed all this from a reasonable distance away.

She was close enough to observe, but also far enough away to not eavesdrop as she watched on in silence.

"Mina, what's-" began Mikazuki as he turned back to face his friend, and right as he did so, he found himself being cut off when Mina abruptly pulled him into a warm, loving embrace. Their minor discrepancy in height made it so that Carolina's face ended up being buried in the pilot's neck, and in doing so, Mika found himself blinking in surprise at the gesture, though he didn't think much of it as he acknowledged how tightly Carolina was holding him.

It felt almost as though, should she release him, he would disappear from existence…

"I… I was a little embarrassed to do or say this in front of the others, but… I… I-I just wanted to say… thank you, Mika," said Mina as she held her friend close, and as she did so, the pilot blinked in confusion as he stared down at her curiously.

"Thank you…? For what?" asked Mikazuki, with him tilting his head slightly in confusion whilst speaking. To this, Mina found herself blushing lightly as she broke off from the embrace momentarily, and thereafter, she responded.

"Well… just… for everything. Sticking by us these past few years, being our friends and… for everything that you did for us in Trost. I know for a fact that we would've died multiple times over if it wasn't for you," smiled Mina, with her bright disposition making for quite the juxtaposition against how she was speaking of her and her friends' near death experiences, but even so… "Saying thank you is the least I can do in return, especially as your friend."

"... you staying as my friend is more than thanks enough, Mina," assured Mikazuki, with him almost smiling a tiny bit as he said this, and upon hearing this, the pigtailed woman widened her eyes as she processed what he had just said; her friendship meant that much to him, huh…?

Well, considering how the pilot didn't sound as though he was lying, she would say so… and with a smile, the pigtailed woman smiled fondly at her friend before she leaned in close and pulled him into yet another hug… and as he returned the gesture, with him understanding the wordless form of solidarity offered to him by his first true friend in this God forsaken world… the pilot was taken aback when Mina had abruptly leaned up and pecked him on the cheek.

"...!"

Surprise flooded the usually neutral young man's system as he flinched a little and brought a hand up to his cheek, momentarily releasing Mina as the pigtailed girl blushed and stepped backwards a little, and thereafter, she tried to play it cool as she offered him a peace sign alongside a big, doofy smile, one that looked very forced as she spoke in a jovial tone of voice.

"T-T-T-That was f-for good l-luck, Mika! For the, uh… y-your upcoming mission!" claimed Mina, with her grin shuddering heavily as she spoke. The look on Mikazuki's face was impossible to make out whether or not he actually believed her, but even so, he said nothing, at least not immediately, as he nodded slightly in response to her words, and moments later, before he could say anything back… "I… uh… I-I should be going! S-See you next time, Mika!"

And with that, she was gone, leaving behind a confused Mikazuki and a rather impressed Lynne, who had a feeling that she knew what was going on as she let out a wolf whistle directed at her junior, but all the same, as she approached the pilot, Mika frowned lightly and gently felt at his cheek, with him finding that gentle little peck on it to have been… somewhat endearing.

And, if anything… he wouldn't mind Mina doing it again, really…

"Yeah… see you…"