"Flay!"
Sai caught up to Flay and grabbed her hand.
But Flay immediately shook him off.
"Don't touch me!"
The disgust in her eyes made it look as though she had touched something filthy.
"Kira is a Coordinator. All of you knew… and I was the only one you kept in the dark!"
Her face was filled with hatred and revulsion.
—Right.
That woman's vulnerable appearance, the kind that made people want to protect her, had obviously been a disguise.
Had she used that harmless appearance just to win my sympathy?!
Flay was like a fan who had discovered that the celebrity she adored was actually the kind of person she hated most, instantly turning from a devoted supporter into an anti-fan who attacked her former idol.
"Disgusting! It's so disgusting!" Flay roared.
Just thinking about how closely she had pressed against Kira before made her feel as though her own skin had become dirty.
As though what she had touched back then had been something filthy.
"That's not it, Flay. We were only worried that you wouldn't be able to accept it…"
Sai tried to explain. He reached for Flay's hand again, but Flay stepped back and shook him off.
"Sai… you actually like Kira, don't you?"
"Flay, what are you talking about?!"
Sai tried to deny it, but his voice lacked conviction.
"You keep saying you just want to look after her. Really, you were only captivated by that artificial face, weren't you?" Flay's eyes showed naked disgust and contempt.
"I…"
"I'm nothing but Kira's substitute, right?!" Flay shouted. "Because you know that 'outstanding' Coordinator would never look twice at a Natural like you!"
Flay deliberately stressed the word "outstanding," making the sarcasm in her voice even sharper.
"That girl stole my fiancé and then shamelessly came over to me acting like some wounded little animal. Who does she think she is?!"
She had been deceived.
She had been deceived.
Deceived by her best friend and her fiancé.
Goosebumps rose all over her body.
"Flay—"
"Stay away from me!"
Flay finally left, and Sai sighed.
Flay was completely consumed by anger right now.
There was no talking to her in this state.
Then…
He would wait until she calmed down.
She was about to see her father. Once she met him, Flay would surely calm down.
Then Sai could find her and explain everything properly.
Sai turned around and left as well.
The two walked away in opposite directions, growing farther and farther apart.
Kira, meanwhile, crouched on the floor.
She buried her face in her knees.
She… did not want to think anymore.
"Inori… save me…"
If Inori were here…
But she was not.
Kira felt helpless.
She did not even know who she could talk to about what she was feeling.
There was not even another Coordinator aboard this ship.
"…Haro, Haro… Kira! Haro!"
A lively little voice.
"Ara ara."
A gentle voice followed.
"Kira? Why are you sitting here?"
A soft, gentle voice…
—It was her.
Lacus Clyne.
Right. She was aboard the ship too. She was also a Coordinator. She was even from PLANT. But what could she do?
She could not do anything.
"Leave me alone…"
Kira lowered her head even farther.
She did not want anyone to see the twisted expression on her face.
Lacus crouched down in front of Kira.
When she realized that still put her a little too high above Kira, she simply knelt down and sat on her heels.
Kira… was crying.
There were no tears in her eyes, but Lacus could tell.
Kira was crying.
Lacus gently drew Kira's head into her embrace.
[My heart hurts]
[+1. Inori is off stirring up trouble, while the "onee-sama" over here just shattered Kira, and she doesn't even have anyone she can talk to]
[She finally had a big-brother type looking after her, and it turns out he was just after her body]
[This is too miserable]
[Stress level maxed out]
[This hits harder than Episode Seven]
[Poster above, I suspect you're implying something]
[Grass (a type of exclamation), stop going off-topic]
[For what it's worth, I think Tolle and his girlfriend are pretty reliable]
[No, Kira is crying over here and those two would just shove their PDA in her face. That's even more hellish]
[Good lord, this is brutal]
Even the viewers felt that Kira's stress had been pushed to the limit.
Unfortunately, after that scene, the camera did not linger on Kira. It cut to Flay instead.
Flay was in the bathroom.
The scene itself had a rather suggestive atmosphere, but the way Flay scrubbed herself fiercely with soap seemed to stain that pink mood black.
"Flay, what's wrong?" Miriallia was showering too.
But when she saw what Flay was doing, she was startled.
Flay looked less like she was washing herself and more like she was scrubbing some filthy old rag.
"Flay?"
Miriallia called her twice, but Flay did not react at all.
Her eyes were vacant as she kept rubbing soap over her body, as though there were something filthy clinging to her skin.
"Flay!"
When Miriallia saw that Flay had already scratched herself raw, she stopped caring about anything else. She rushed over, shut off the water, and grabbed Flay.
"Let go of me! Let go! Go be friends with that disgusting monster if you want, but don't touch me!"
Flay screamed.
"Wait… Kira?!"
Seeing Flay in such a hysterical state, Miriallia finally understood.
Flay must have found out that Kira was a Coordinator.
"I knew it—you knew too." Flay's voice dropped low. "You were all just waiting to laugh at me, weren't you?!"
"That's not true!" Miriallia hurriedly said. "Kira really does like you. She really looks up to you!"
"Me?" A distorted smile appeared on Flay's face. "Her grades are better than mine, she can pilot a Mobile Suit, she's prettier than me… Ah… right. She can pilot a Mobile Suit. How did I not realize it then? Even my intelligence can't compare to a Coordinator's!"
For an instant, Inori's image flashed through Flay's mind.
"You're just jealous."
The voice told her.
"I'm not!" Flay shouted. "I'm not…"
Her voice grew quieter and quieter.
Disgusting?
Yes. Coordinators were monsters.
But that wasn't entirely true.
Because Kira really was better than her.
But as long as she kept Kira in the position of a little sister who needed her care and cast herself as the big sister, she could preserve her sense of superiority.
No matter how outstanding Kira was, she would still just be her little sister.
But…
Was it jealousy?
Was I… jealous?
"Why?"
Kira was asking Lacus, but because the previous shot had been of Flay, the transition made it seem almost as though Kira were asking Flay the question.
"No reason. I just want Kira to feel a little less miserable." Lacus's voice was soft and gentle.
"No… I'm not upset."
"But… Kira, you're crying…"
Kira could no longer hold herself together.
Tears spilled from her eyes.