The restaurant Inori and her group had walked into was an ordinary family diner.
It just happened to also be where three members of an elite ZAFT Redcoat infiltration squad were taking a break.
(Yzak)
(Nicol — his VA is a woman)
"So that's the Songstress of Orb. She wears her stage outfit in public too?"
Yzak thought, inexplicably, of his fiancée. A match arranged through the Coordinator marriage system—if she went around dressed like that every day too…
"Apparently so. Bold choice, but everyone here seems used to it." Nicol sounded almost wistful. If they weren't on a covert operation, he'd be walking over right now and asking to talk shop about music.
After that, Athrun stopped paying any attention to Inori at all.
Every cell in Athrun's brain was focused on Kira.
Who was this person?
Why did this person look so much like Kira?
Could it really be Kira's sister?
No, no—there were plenty of people in the world who happened to look alike. Someone resembling Kira wasn't inherently strange.
Besides, Kira had grown since they were kids. It was completely normal for appearances to have changed. For all he knew, the Kira he remembered didn't look like this at all anymore.
"Hey, Kira—you're actually pretty photogenic, you know. Have you ever thought about getting on stage with Inori?"
"Me? Oh—no, no, definitely not…"
Kira shook her head quickly.
And Athrun's brain stalled completely.
Hold on.
What's your name?!
Kira?!
Wait—was this actually her?!
Hold on—Kira is a girl?!
What?
Abababababa—
Athrun Zala.
His mother had died at Junius Seven. His fiancée was nothing more than a political arrangement.
The person Athrun was closest to in the world—still alive—was Kira.
And in this moment, Athrun's entire world caved in.
"It's just a coincidence. Just someone with the same name. That's all…"
Athrun spiraled.
"Athrun, the operation goes tomorrow… Athrun?!" Yzak could tell something was off. "What is wrong with you?! You've been completely zoned out since we infiltrated Heliopolis!"
"Yeah. Sorry."
Athrun didn't know what to do with any of this.
"Anyway—the explosives are in place. Tomorrow, while the Earth Alliance is moving the Gundams, we execute the seizure—"
Inori sipped her orange juice and smiled.
This plan was, of course, her work.
Creuset's overall operation hadn't changed. But the actual Gundam seizure strategy was modeled less on the original SEED and more on the second season—SEED Destiny—the approach of blending in as tourists and then striking. It was Inori who had guided Miriallia, through a subtle nudge of consciousness, into selecting this particular restaurant.
[Athrun: Quiet, I'm having an existential crisis because my best friend turned into a girl!]
[Athrun: Change back RIGHT NOW!]
[My sides hurt I'm laughing so hard]
[Okay, SEED is definitely operating in the same space as Gundam Wing—full romance drama energy]
[Honestly Gundam Wing had some really absurd plot points, I hope SEED doesn't go that route]
[It's fine, they're all Coordinators in SEED—falling ten stories is nothing to them]
[Damn, that actually makes the romance drama logic work]
[So Coordinators exist specifically so the plot can put them through insane situations? They built the whole species just for this?!]
[Hahahahaha, someone go grab the comments from outside—I want to know what the other streams are saying]
Inori could read the Japanese-language danmaku.
Over there, for reasons she couldn't fathom, the same joke kept repeating: "Kira, she could have been a mother to me!"
Bizarre.
—It's not like Kira was anyone's loli.
Wait.
Did they actually mean that literally?
"Kira, your outfit is really cute. How do you put it together?" Miriallia eyed Kira's clothes with envy.
"She does it for me," Inori said. "Kira's fashion sense is… bottom-tier."
"It's not that bad, is it?" Kira scratched the back of her head.
Her clothes were entirely Inori's selections. Not stage wear—but the stylish, performance-adjacent looks that Hatsune Miku-sensei had personally walked them through how to put together.
"Before, Kira dressed like a tomboy—and had this inexplicable obsession with random belts."
Inori delivered the verdict flatly.
"Hm…?" Tolle had a sudden thought. "Does that mean, Kira—when you were dressed like a guy before, you weren't actually trying to look like a boy?"
"Huh? When did I ever try?" Kira looked genuinely confused. "I was just going for something a little more stylish."
"…"
Tolle would be shocked for the next hundred years.
So Kira's look when she first enrolled—that aggressively ambiguous presentation—had been her idea of fashion? An attempt to fit in?
Which, in a way, had actually worked. Because both Tolle and their other friend Sai had taken Kira under their wing as a junior guy, looking out for her in their own clueless way.
"Anyway, it's getting late." Miriallia glanced out the window. Night had fallen.
After dinner, Tolle and Miriallia had a movie to catch.
"Go on, you two." Kira had no intention of interrupting their night. "I'll come to campus tomorrow."
"I'll come too," Inori said. "I've never seen Kira's school. I'm curious."
"Ha—the 'Songstress of Orb' showing up on campus? That's going to cause chaos." Tolle had already mentally pictured it—every guy on campus losing their minds like a pack of wolves let loose.
"See you tomorrow then~"
With that, the four of them said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
"—I can't."
Athrun's fist was clenched.
"Athrun, is there something you need to do?" Nicol—perceptive as ever, and one of Athrun's closest friends—caught it. "We're on standby until tomorrow morning. That time is yours."
"Then—sorry, I'll be back." Athrun couldn't hold himself still any longer. He shoved through the door and stepped outside, just in time to catch Kira and Inori turning the corner at the far end of the street.
"That way!"
He ran.
And then he felt himself collide with someone.
"Kira—is that you?!"
Athrun grabbed her by the wrist.
"Ow—what the hell!"
The girl yelped.
"Ah—sorry."
Athrun let go. He noticed, belatedly, that her clothes were different from what he'd seen earlier.
A hat tumbled off, spilling a head of blonde hair.
Athrun stood there, flustered.
Wait.
This girl looks just like the one he'd seen inside?!
He'd only caught her face before—same face, so he'd assumed. But now that the adrenaline was cooling, something felt wrong.
The hair was blonde. Her clothes were the kind of boyish tomboy getup that had absolutely no fashion sense.
Most importantly… she wasn't as pretty as Kira.
But what on earth was going on?
Was there really a whole collection of Kira lookalikes wandering this colony?
He'd been trying to figure out whether that person inside was Kira's sister or Kira herself—and now he'd ended up here?
The blonde girl was furious. She fixed him with a glare sharp enough to skin him—like a young lion squaring up. "You sleazy creep! Is this what you call hitting on someone?!"