That's wrong, I thought. The Friday morning air filled the classroom. Distant laughter. The sound of someone slapping a desk. Voices calling out to each other. Closer by, my friend Saki was saying something. But Yuzuriha's heart was drawn to the window. Before morning homeroom. Standing in the middle of the classroom, Yuzuriha was making idle chatter with her classmates. Talk about a streaming drama she'd watched yesterday, talk about a new crepe shop apparently opening on Central Walk over the weekend. Yuzuriha laughed and nodded along. Yeah, yeah, I know that one! Oh, that place! But half her awareness was somewhere else entirely. By the window. The very back seat. That's where she sat. Nyaan. The girl with the vivid red hair who'd transferred in a week ago. Today, too, she had a book open. A paper book. With an old binding, the kind you hardly ever see in the colony. The title was too far away to read. Her slender, pale fingers gently turned a page. The movement made no sound. It was as if the classroom's clamor deliberately steered clear of Nyaan's vicinity. Her hair was straight, reaching down her back, and today it was once again neatly tied into twin tails. The very tips were dyed just a hint of purple. Catching the light of the colony's artificial sun, that purple glinted faintly from time to time. Her eyes — ice blue. The first time she saw them, Yuzuriha thought they looked like ice. Sharp, narrow eyes. Quiet eyes that didn't show much emotion. But sometimes, only when she was gazing into the distance, those eyes would waver with a hint of sadness. "Yuzuriha, are you listening?" Saki's voice brought me back. "[surprised]Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm listening, I'm listening!" I hurriedly put on a smile. Saki gave me a slightly exasperated look, but quickly resumed talking. Yuzuriha stole another glance toward the window. *(Today, I'll definitely talk to her.)* I made that decision in my heart. Last week, the first day Nyaan transferred in. Yuzuriha had immediately rushed over to her. "[excited]I'm Amate Yuzuriha! Nice to meet you! If there's anything you don't get, just ask me anything! Oh, are you free after school? I'll give you a tour of the school!" The result — a spectacularly complete lack of response. Nyaan looked at Yuzuriha for just a fleeting moment, then immediately returned her gaze outside the window. Without saying a word. As if there was no one there at all. A week since then. Yuzuriha talked to her every day. Good morning. Did you understand today's lesson? Want to have lunch together? Want to go to a cafe after school? All of it, no good. No, she hadn't even been told "no." It was closer to being "ignored." But Yuzuriha wouldn't give up. She'd always been like that. Once she decided "I want to be friends with this person," no matter how cold they were, she absolutely wouldn't stop until she got them to open up. Her mother Kasumi would say, "I wonder who you got that stubbornness from," but she thought so herself. *(I'll definitely make her talk.)* Yuzuriha clenched her fist, just a little. ――― First period ended. Break time. Yuzuriha gathered her courage and walked over to the window. The classroom was noisy as ever. Someone was talking about a game. Someone else was begging to copy homework. Through that everyday noise, Yuzuriha advanced. Nyaan was still reading her book. Seen up close, she was even more beautiful. The red hair of her twin tails flowed from her shoulders down her back. Her profile was as refined as a sculpture, her eyelashes long. The sailor-style school uniform fit her slender frame perfectly. She was a little taller than Yuzuriha. Maybe about 164 centimeters. Compared to her own 157, it stung a bit. *(I wish I had five more centimeters.)* Thinking about unrelated things, Yuzuriha opened her mouth. "[gentle]Nyaan-san, what are you reading?" Nyaan's fingers stopped. But she didn't raise her head. "[cold]……It's none of your business." Her voice was low, quiet, and terribly cold. Deep in Yuzuriha's chest, a sharp pang struck. But she wouldn't lose. "[gentle]Do you have time after school today? There's a new crepe shop on Central Walk, apparently. Want to go together——" "[cold]No." Nyaan closed her book. A soft *thump*. She stood up. Her ice-blue eyes, positioned slightly higher than Yuzuriha's, looked at her for just a moment. There was no emotion in them. Not even rejection — just the kind of look you give something "that isn't there." "[cold]Sorry. I have something to do." Saying that, Nyaan left the classroom. I watched her back. Her twin tails swayed slightly. Yuzuriha stood there, rooted to the spot. *(Failed again.)* How many times this week had it been? Every time she tried to talk, she got this cold treatment. Even so, Yuzuriha wouldn't be discouraged. She wouldn't be discouraged, but — still, it stung her heart, just a little. *(Why is she so alone like that?)* A question welled up. *(Those eyes. Sometimes, they look so terribly sad. Did something happen?)* The more she thought, the less she understood. But there was one thing she knew for sure. *(I'll definitely get her to open up.)* Inside Yuzuriha's chest, a stubborn flame quietly flared up. ――― After school. Near the school gate, Yuzuriha was hiding. To be precise, she was crouched behind a shrubbery, intently watching the students leaving through the gate. *(What am I doing?)* Somewhere in her head, a calm version of herself muttered. But her body wouldn't move. Nyaan came out just barely before the final leaving time. She passed through the gate alone and, as if it were the most natural thing, turned right. The opposite direction from where the other students headed in scattered groups toward Central Walk. She walked toward a less-traveled area. Yuzuriha's feet naturally followed after her. *(This is wrong.)* She understood it in her head. Tailing someone isn't something a person who wants to be friends does. But — *(Because I don't know anything.)* Where she lives. What she does during break time. Why her eyes look so sad. I don't know anything. *(I want to know. I want to know more about her.)* That feeling was moving Yuzuriha's feet. Nyaan passed through the Rivière residential block and headed further into a less populated area. The path gradually entered an old, unmaintained district. Paint peeled from the walls, and streetlights were sparse. This was — the outskirts of the North End residential block. Yuzuriha swallowed hard. This area, close to the colony's outer edge, was particularly old even within Helios Seven, and few people lived there. Rents were cheap, so it was a place for people without much money to spare. Nyaan walked straight ahead. With unwavering steps. Eventually, she stood before a large fence. "D-7 Sector — No Entry" A faded sign hung there. The fence was about three meters high. Barbed wire was also strung along it. But one edge was slightly torn, and — Nyaan slipped lightly through the gap. Yuzuriha couldn't believe her eyes. *(She went into a restricted area!?)* Her heart pounded loudly. *(I have to go back. This is really, seriously bad.)* Even as she thought that, her feet wouldn't stop. If anything, they drew even closer. *(I want to know what that girl is doing.)* Before she knew it, Yuzuriha had also slipped through the gap in the fence. Her uniform skirt snagged and tore a little. But she couldn't afford to care. Beyond the fence was a different world. ――― D-7 Sector. The old industrial district. A place sealed off fifteen years ago when Helios Seven declared its perpetual neutrality. Its area was roughly 2.8 square kilometers. Countless aging factories and material warehouses stood in rows. Yuzuriha had heard about it. That this place was once a munitions factory, for a time. *(Why would Nyaan be in a place like this……)* Nyaan proceeded without hesitation. Passing through the ruins, climbing over a collapsed wall, she eventually disappeared into a duct for piping. Yuzuriha followed. Inside the duct, it was dark, damp, and smelled of rust. She crawled forward. Something hit her knee and it hurt. The bandage she'd just put on yesterday had probably come off. *(Right now, I'm doing something I absolutely shouldn't be doing.)* Even so, she couldn't go back. The option of turning back was no longer in her head. Emerging from the duct, the view suddenly opened up. ――A vast space. The ceiling was high — maybe forty meters. The total length was over 120 meters. The remains of a dock once used for ship maintenance. A hangar. Lighting was sparse, most of the area dim. The air was cold and heavy. And then — Yuzuriha held her breath. It was there. A gigantic humanoid shadow, over eighteen meters tall. A mobile suit. It stood in the center of the hangar. Under the dim lighting, a cold metallic gleam shone dully. Both arms were fitted with some kind of device, different from human arms. Armor on the chest. A single horn-like antenna on the head. Yuzuriha trembled. *(A mobile suit…… A real one, and a military model at that.)* In Helios Seven, there was a strict law called the Armed Machine Prohibition Ordinance, and bringing in armed MS was completely forbidden. Violation meant up to twenty years of hard labor. And yet. Something like this was here. At that moment — A sound. A small sound, like metal being struck. She looked up. Around the mobile suit's shoulder. A figure on a lift. Red twin tails. Nyaan. She had opened the shoulder armor and was servicing something inside. A serious profile. Completely different from the expressionless face she showed in the classroom. Serious. Somehow sad. And — filled with a sense of mission. Yuzuriha couldn't move. Just looking at that profile made her chest tighten painfully. *(That girl is doing something like this, all alone……)* Why. How come. For whose sake. Questions swirled madly in her head. Then. *Clatter.* A loud noise. Yuzuriha had bumped into a pile of junk at her feet. Oh no. On the lift, Nyaan stopped moving. Slowly, her face turned this way. Her ice-blue eyes widened. Shock, wariness, and — just a trace of fear. Their gazes met. A few seconds. A few seconds that felt like eternity. Yuzuriha's heart pounded more fiercely than ever before. Her lungs felt frozen, refusing to move. Her fingertips were cold. *(I've seen something I shouldn't have.)* Her instincts screamed. I have to run. But her feet wouldn't move. As if she were sewn to the spot. Nyaan didn't move either. She just stared intently at Yuzuriha. It seemed like her eyes wavered, just a little. *(Ah, just now, she looked like she was about to cry.)* The moment I thought that. My body moved on its own. I turned around and ran. Through the duct, past the ruins, over the fence. "[scared]Haaah, haaah, haaah……" Before I knew it, I was back on a street with people around. My legs were shaking. Looking at my knee, a little blood was seeping from where the bandage had come off earlier. But that didn't matter. The only thing in my head was that scene from before. The gigantic mobile suit. Nyaan, servicing it all alone. That sad-looking profile. "……Why." My voice trembled. ――― By the time I got home, it was already completely dark outside. The Rivière residential block. A modest house along the Mio River. A standard 2LDK colony residence. The home where Yuzuriha lived with her mother, Kasumi. "[calling]I'm home……" My voice shook a little. I could tell myself. My mother came out from the kitchen. Kasumi was forty-five, a nurse at the colony hospital. Soft brown hair and droopy eyes just like Yuzuriha's. Yuzuriha's cheerfulness was probably inherited from this person. "[gentle]Oh my, you're late. Did you stop off somewhere?" "[laughing]No, I just stayed at school a bit. Sorry, I'm starving!" I covered it up with my usual brightness. But I could tell myself. My smile w