Gundam SEED Fan Fiction ❯ Chaotic Outbreak Infinite Energy ❯ Lightning Chapter 2 Brett ( Chapter 2 )

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Chapter 2 Brett

 

Athrun lay in the bed; his body badly damaged after Shinn had nearly killed him while he had tried to escape. Everything came back to Athrun about his escape; he was impossibly out powered and was even out numbered. His entire body was sore and he was bandaged up in different places; bandages trying to aid in his recovery. The pain was severe but he opened his eyes and saw Kira.

 

“Kira; I knew you were alive…” Kira smiled and nodded to his friend; suddenly Athrun remembered the other person he escaped with. He sat up quickly demanding an answer; “is Meyrin ok?” Athrun bend over and put his arm across his chest to try and stop the pain; that nearly crippled his conviction.

 

Kira eased him back down while he calmed his friends fears; “she is ok. She is actually in a lot better shape then you are; you must have been protecting her. She is fine; Mirrialia had a nice talk with her and she is resting.” Athrun settled down, but then his mind became once again troubled while other thoughts traversed his mind.

 

“You survived, so did the pilot of the Epyon survive too?” Athrun sounded worried; he knew the pilot from the previous war and knew he was a good friend. Kira could not bring him self to answer; it had only been a few days since they had the ceremony, and it was still difficult to bare the truth. Kira was very unhappy with what had happened; it was his friend that died too. Athrun needed a clear answer; he asked again and slowly his friend worked up the courage to tell him.

 

“We never found him; there was nothing left of his mobile suit. Not even the cockpit was left in one piece; and we found shreds of his pilot suit… but nothing close to a body. If he was alive… I doubt it would take him this long to contact us; still a lot of people are not giving up hope yet.” Kira finished and his expression was sad; unable to tell anymore news. “I'm sorry Kira; he was a good friend. He died protecting you guys, and I know he is a better place. Brett would not want us depressed over him…”

 

Kira nodded, but was still really unhappy with this. Cagalli burst in with questions for Athrun; Kira took this as his opportunity to leave and told Athrun to rest up. Kira exited out into the hall; the thought of Brett being dead had brought back painful memories. “GOD DAMN IT!” he yelled and slammed his fist into the wall. “Why did he have to go and be a hero like that!”

 

The scene kept replaying in his mind; Kira was tied up with Shinn and the Impulse, and Brett went in the Epyon to protect the Archangel. Brett flew his machine right into the path of the beam of the Minerva's Tannhäuser. He activated his shield; protecting the Archangel for another few crucial seconds, but had sacrificed him self when the beam overcame the shield. What was worse was that Kira had to watch it; helpless to stop the event.

 

The scene would not stop haunting Kira; it was a nightmare by itself for Kira; that day still remained in his mind as a hard day to accept. He knew that it was not just bad for him; many of the crew had come to know him, but now he was not there. Mirrialia was also having trouble accepting it, and her feelings for him did not make it easier. Asagi was hit the worst; she refused to come out of her room; constantly believing that he would come back, but that was not the case and she knew it.

 

Kira was still cringing at the reality when he heard Mrs. Murrue's voice; snapping him from his overwhelmed state. “You okay Kira?” she asked and Kira regained his composure before answering. “No; I'm still having a hard time with Brett's death. Once was hard enough, but twice is so much worse.”

 

Murrue gently grabbed Kira's arm and together began to walk down to the back of the ship. They stopped in the viewing area, and looked out on the ocean; the wild life and gentle blue glow relaxing Kira. “I know it has been hard Kira; Brett made a lot of friends, and he was a good kid who took too many risks. I still remember the first time we met in Orb; I feel responsible for his death. I never should have let him go out; now most are still paying for my decision. I guess his streak of luck finally lost out…”

 

“No Mrs. Murrue; it is not your fault. I just wish he did not do that; now most of the crew was depressed. When I fist met him back in Orb; he was always like this, but I don't think he ever knew that clearly. I will never forget that first time we met back in Orb…”

 

The Arch Angel had just barely made it to Orb's port; the previous attack by the four mobile suits including the Aegis had left the ship crippled. The Orb military had created an amazing cover to hide the Arch Angel. The ship found itself safely in Orb; where it could be repaired and Kira could have some down time. The ship had been crippled by the last battle, and Orb had agreed to take it in on a few conditions.

 

In the offer; Kira had to aid Orb in thee design of their mobile suits, and their OS's. Kira soon found him self at Morgan Rate; the building was large and filled with Orb's new mobile suits. Kira had just met Erica Simmons who gave him the full tour of their facilities. The secrets of Orb lay before Kira's eyes, and it was simply amazing to think of all that Orb truly had.

 

Eventually the two arrived at the core of the mobile suit facility. “Kira this is where we test our mobile suits. Out there in the field are three of our best mobile suit pilots, and right now they are just doing their exercises.” Kira watched through the window; the three mobile suits had extreme trouble moving, and it was becoming obvious they were not that good. “Those guys are terrible…”

 

One of the mobile suits turned towards Kira, and a female voice came over the intercom. “Hey we are not that bad…” Kira was speechless; he was a little surprised to hear a female voice, but Mrs. Simmons just sighed. “Well that's our problem right now; we need a properly designed operating system. That is where we need you Kira; you have real experience… and we are hoping you can lend that to develop a support OS.”

Song A peaceful planet

 

“You know I'm working hard on that project; seriously I'm just taking my time so it is perfect!” Kira and Mrs. Simmons turned around to see a young brown haired boy who looked similar to Kira. “I'm sorry Brett; I know we have been pushing you hard to get it done. Now that we have Kira things should go twice as fast. Kira; Brett is the sole person working on the operating system as of right now. He is quite the technical genius, and he developed the base OS, and is now working on a superior version.”

 

“Yeah and if he could only just get it done we would be even better…” shouted the same female voice as before just before a new one intervened. “Mayura you are being too hard on him!” shouted another; causing Mayura's voice to come back on. “Asagi; you and Juri are way too nice to that guy; some technical genius when he can't finish the project.” Brett looked down at his feet; “yes it is my fault the new support operating system is not fully done. Despite how smart everyone says I am; I just cannot believe that when there are this many problems.”

 

“Kira; Brett is a bit of a perfectionist, but he is incredibly smart. He is also going to be the lead pilot of the Astrays' team; his piloting skills are amazing compared to any other pilot we have.” Kira was amazed at this guy who was no older then him; “so that must mean that you are a coordinator right?” Brett shook his head; “no. I'm a natural; that is kind of why I'm so amazing, their words not mine.”

 

“Girls that is enough exercises for today; why don't you all take the rest of the day off?” Erica said causing the pilots to breath a sigh of relief. Kira walked over to a couple of computers and looked at the data. “You monitor their vitals while they are doing this?” Erica nodded to Kira's question; “it is important that we do. It is incredibly hard for them to do the things they are doing now. Brett was the one to insist this so we would have a better idea.”

 

While the three mobile suits went to go dock so the pilots could debark; a video began to play of another Astray's performance during a practice course. The blue Astray was quick; it displayed strong pilot skills, and quickly finished the course with few problems. Near the end of the course; the Astray tried to get fancy and ended up crashing on the ground. Erica sighed again, but this time it was much deeper; “that was Brett with the old operating system that our pilots are still using.”

 

“That was with the OS those girls were using? That is pretty amazing performance; you must be a great pilot to do half that good.” Brett bowed his head trying to not show how embarrassed he was; “well I'm really not that good. If I was then I could have done that stunt, and it is only because it is like second nature to me.” A door opened and in walked the three Astray pilots; the sweat on their foreheads was evident that it had been quite a workout in those mobile suits.

 

“That sounds like Brett to me; always trying to do the impossible.” The blond pilot said and walked over to Brett and rubbed his head just enough to be playful. “He is not that great Asagi; you are still giving him too much credit. Why don't you just marry him if you like him that much?” Mayura said as she walked by; Asagi said bye to Brett before her and Juri ran after Mayura.

 

“Don't mind Mayura Brett; she likes you, she is just tough.” Erica said, but Brett was not listening. “I will show her one day; I'm going to be the best out there, and I will save lives; no one is going to die because of my mistakes.” Erica patted him on the back before she showed Kira to Brett's work station. She turned on the computer and Kira took a look at Brett's computer. “Wow this OS is amazing considering that you have been doing this by yourself.”

 

“Well it is a new smarter form of OS that he is designing; it takes into account the changing conditions of the environment, but I'm sure you can understand why.” Erica stated causing Kira to gasp at the thought; “A learning OS? That would make it much easier on less experienced pilots; why don't you show me how far you got?” Erica backed away and left the two to work by them selves.

 

Song Tears

 

Hours passed by, and even Kira was impressed by how advanced this program was. They worked together and found them selves making great strides. Another hour passed before Kira felt the need to talk about some thing else. “So how long have you lived in Orb?” Brett lost his focus from his task, and sighed; not wanting to lose his train of thought. “Well pretty much all my life, or at least as long as I can remember, but Orb has been very good to me. You know you are really something Kira; after a few more hours you will probably have perfected this. So what is it like out in the battlefield; I hear you are an amazing pilot.”

 

 

“Well I do not think I'm that great; it was not really my choice to become a pilot. To tell the truth I only did it because my friends were on that ship, and I have fell into the position since then.” Brett laughed at Kira's statement before saying anything. “You sound like me kind of; I do not like the idea, but I do want to protect something. Preferably I would rather not fight, but that is not the world we live in; so I want to protect what matters most. Sadly I just cannot feel like I can accomplish that; not with my mobile suit.”

 

The words of Brett struck a cord with Kira; he felt the same way, but soon the awkward silence that followed made Kira quickly change the subject. “So you were pretty impressive on that test run… were you just trying to prove that you were that good?” Brett was about to respond when Cagalli's voice came in answering for him. “He was trying to impress Asagi…”

 

Brett turned to see Cagalli running towards him. He opened his arms and Cagalli ran into them and gave him a big hug. “I really missed you while I was gone.” Brett hugged back; “glad to see you made it back safe; it's good to see you again Cagalli.” Kira was completely baffled since Cagalli had never mentioned him, but decided to ask; “Cagalli you know Brett?”

 

“I've known Brett for a couple of years; he always use to call me Mrs. Cagalli, but we are friends so I made him stop. Brett has always been trying to get Asagi's attention; I keep trying to tell him Asagi just wants him to ask her out, but he is too proud.” Brett shook his head at Cagalli's boldness; “what do I have to be proud of Cagalli? I know when something is out of my league; the fact is that I'm not good enough for her. Not that I could imagine being right for anyone; I'm not the kind of guy who gets the girl anyways.”

 

Cagalli's foot hit the ground hard; the sound drawing Brett's attention to her for her next rant. “I'm sick and tired of you dancing around this Brett. If you are not going to talk to her then I will!” She stomped off in a hurry; Brett was just a little too intimidated to do anything. Brett sighed and sat back down next to Kira, and looked at his new friend. “I'm afraid she is going to do it this time. She is a great girl, and she has been looking out for me since we met. You see I never knew my real parents, and I was taken in by a family in Orb. The government discovered my talent, and I have been here with Cagalli since; well more like she met me here and we became friends.”

 

“So you never knew your parents... I have to admit that I'm not really close to my own parents.” Brett was sad to hear Kira say such a thing; the hour was getting late, and the amount of progress that had been accomplished was astounding; even if it would take a while longer. “Well Kira; that was pretty amazing for a single day's work. I would say we are pretty close to being done for tonight; so why don't we call it quits.”

 

Kira was not ready to call it quits; “we only have a bit left and we can test it; I can stay and finish.” Brett shook his head and called for someone to escort Kira back to the Archangel. “I'll stay up and finish Kira; you have done more then enough work. I can finish in another three hours give or take. It is only ten a clock at night; so do not worry about it. You go see your friends and leave the rest to me, and we can pick up later.”

 

Song Remembrance

 

A guard came over and Kira got up; before he left he turned around and asked Brett one more time if he wanted him to stay. Brett waved his hand for Kira to leave, and he left. Brett continued to work for hours on end with no breaks; he still felt there was no need for more people to work on this then necessary. Mid-night rolled around and Brett had barely blinked; suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and he nearly jumped.

 

His breathing slowly went down and he turned to see Cagalli and Mrs. Simmons. “You guys scarred the hell out of me! Do not do that!” The girls were stunned as well; not only by him jumping, but that he was still working. “Brett what are you still doing here; Kira went home hours ago. Why are you so stupid when it comes to things like this?” Cagalli asked and Brett could only rub the back of his head. “After watching Kira I knew what I needed to do, that guy needed sleep and rest more then I do. He is a real mobile suit pilot, and I still need to work harder to get to the same level as him. I can finish this; I just need another hour, I can do this. I will design the perfect OS and no one will die.”

 

“Brett stop pushing yourself; you need sleep and you have been working way too hard. You are making me really worry about you; you are always doing this.” Cagalli stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Brett; Cagalli is right. You have been pushing yourself very hard lately. At this rate you are going to burn out.” Brett sat down and went back to work; “I just will be another hour, I promise. Do not worry about me; I will be just fine; I will show everyone what I can do.”

 

Cagalli and Erica could see there was no way for them to convince him; just like every other time. They exited the room to see Asagi, Mayura, and Juri standing there; looking very impatient. “How is he doing? Is he over working him self again?” Asagi asked franticly and Cagalli punched the wall; “Damnit! He is so stubborn; he is over working him self, and hew is never going to ask Asagi out at this rate either.

 

Listening to Cagalli's statement caused Asagi to blush, and Erica decided it might be best for someone else to try. “Asagi why don't you go spend some time with him and get him to sleep and stop working. I'm sure he would listen to you…”

 

Asagi turned bright red; “no… There… I mean he cannot... He cannot really be interested in me; he is so amazing, and I'm just.” Cagalli ran over to try and denounce Asagi's statement when she heard Erica. “He is amazing to be working this hard; I really hope he does not over do it.” Cagalli was still unhappy with this; “he has always been this stubborn. He thinks nothing of him self; damn him.”

 

“Cagalli and Asagi; you two go home and get some rest. I will make sure that Brett gets some sleep.” Asagi and Cagalli were hesitant at first, but eventually agreed. The two blond girls walked away, and as they did Asagi could not help but ask. “Do you really think Brett would want me as his girlfriend?” Cagalli immediately responded without any thought; “of course he does. He just is too shy to ask you out. He is always trying to impress you; he would love you to make the first move.”

 

Asagi was still uncertain in her mind about what she should do. Part of her wanted to shout her feelings, but she still felt so ordinary. The night continued on and Brett stayed working as hard as ever. Erica checked in on him every hour; at five in the morning she returned to find him passed out with his head beside the keyboard. She walked up beside him to see the newly finished support OS.

 

There was no doubt that it still had to undergo testing, but right now it was still impressive. She smiled at him while he moved slightly in his sleep; Erica had come to think of him more as a son. She wondered if she could even bare to see him in battle, but his skill was undeniable. Still while sleeping he was finally at peace; away from the hectic work he had buried himself in.

 

A blanket was draped over Brett's back; he pulled it around him self. Erica was amazed at his progress, but the fear of Brett burning out was much worse. He was going to be the leader of all the Astrays; if so he could not be so tired. She went and found a pillow and brought it back for him. She put it under his head, and shut his terminal down. “Sleep tight Brett…”

 

Kira awoke in the morning fully rested; he woke up and started his computer to see a secure envelope that was sent by Erica Simmons. He opened it to see a disk; he opened the disk to find the full OS program had already been finished. Kira searched through the message and heard how hard Brett had worked.

 

The young brown haired man was still asleep in nearly the same spot; even so late when all the lights were on; nothing could wake him. “This guy is supposed to be our leader…? Talk about a lazy guy; I doubt he could handle any more.” Mayura declared with an aggravated tone; Asagi was beside him; enjoying watching him sleep. She was enjoying being so close. She still had not worked up the courage; she had heard about how hard he had worked. She only felt distanced by his superiority to her. Erica had left strict orders to not let him do any more work for the rest of the day.

 

Brett woke up around noon; dazed from the lack of sleep, and still wondering what had happened. Then he shot up wondering what time it was; “oh no…! What time is it; I over slept didn't I. Damn I got to go get working on the OS…” Mayura smacked the back of his head forcing Brett to stop talking. “Take a break you moron; you have worried Mrs. Simmons. She gave us orders to make sure you relax today; you are not aloud to do any work what so ever.”

 

Brett was still half asleep, but he had not taken a day off in over a month. Asagi pulled Brett up to his feet; she gently rubbed the back of his head, in an attempt to ease the pain. “Actually we were told to take you out and to make sure you are no where near work… So come on lets go!”

 

Asagi pulled Brett away from his terminal and out the door; Mayura sighed before following the two. This task felt more like babysitting to her; they both liked one another and she knew it. The task seemed more like a waste of time, but she liked Brett to; even if she was too proud to admit it. The more she thought about it; the more she knew she was going to have fun today.

 

Brett had barely any time to change; he soon found out that there would be no escape from the two girls. He had forgotten that he even had casual clothes; with nothing but work on his mind. He exited the change room, and Asagi looked him over and smiled; she enjoyed him in a hoodie and jeans. Somehow it made him seam so much more attainable.

 

It had been so long since he had done anything fun with anyone else. All of his time was spent alone or working and his work ethic could only worry people. Taking a day off now at the point when he was so close to achieving Orbs perfect OS felt shameful, but Brett soon found out that there truly was no escape from these two companions.

 

The car roared out of Orbs military compound; Brett was in the back seat and could feel the speed. The two girls sat in the front of the convertible; they discussed between them where they should take Brett. Brett had ideas, but was to busy trying to get use to the speed. Mayura was a bold driver; Brett could not even start to get use to the driving style. “Um… Mayura I think Brett is having a hard time with your driving. Think you could slow down for him?”

 

“He is going to have to get use to it if he is to be a pilot… he should be use to it by now. Stop babying him Asagi just because you like him…” Asagi got embarrassed and quickly pinched her friend; she did not want Brett to know. Mayura let out a sigh; she wished that Asagi would just say it already to Brett. She hated that Brett was torturing her like this, but if she could help it then today would finally see the two together.

 

“LOOK OUT!” Asagi shouted and Mayura turned to see a young couple crossing the road. Mayura's foot slammed on the brake and the car quickly came to a stop. The young man was shielding the girl; everyone looked up to see that no one was hurt. Brett hopped out of the vehicle and looked at Mayura; “Mayura I think I will drive from now on…”

 

Mayura undid her seatbelt and turned around; yelling at Brett as she did. “It's your fault I was distracted; we would not be in this position if it was not for you.” Asagi sternly told Mayura to stop blaming Brett; it was completely unfair to blame him. While Asagi calmed her down; Brett approached the young couple who did not appear any older then him.

 

“You two ok?” Brett asked the young couple; the girl jumped out from behind the guy and began shouting at them. “Why don't you watch where you are going! This is a cross walk; you almost killed us…” The young lady turned her attention from the girls in the car over to Brett; she looked at him and her anger slowly faded. The young ladies anger faded and disappeared; she knew she had a boyfriend but this guy reminded her of Kira in terms of looks.

 

“I'm so sorry for that; perhaps I could repay you by buying you lunch as a start for an apology. I would rather not have a whole thing about this…” Brett's words soothed both of the couples anger; the lady smiled and blushed at how much of a gentleman this guy was to her. “I promise I will treat you to what ever you both could possibly want. After you can ask anything of me; just a small way to say we apologize.”

 

The young man was quick to agree, and the girl soon followed in accepting Brett's offer. The last thing they wanted to do was draw attention to them selves. Brett walked over to the car and asked Mayura to get into the back of the car. Mayura was not about to till Asagi gave her a sad puppy dog eyed face, and then Mayura reluctantly got into the back. Asagi and the young lady got into the back as well; while the young man sat in the passenger seat.

 

Brett waited for everyone to do up their seatbelts before leaving. Once everyone was strapped in Brett stepped on the gas, but at a slower speed; not a word was spoke between anyone till Brett decided to break the silence. “So what are your names if you do not mind me asking?”

 

The young man turned his head to look at Brett; “oh sorry about that… My name is Tolle and that back there is my girlfriend Mirrialia.” Brett could not help but be intrigued by these two; he figured that things still needed to be patched over. “Well you two are a lovely young couple; so what are you to doing? Just on a date in the city or something…?”

 

A laugh came from the couple, but Mirrialia had to ask this young man something. “Excuse me, but what are all of your names?” Brett was still focusing on the road but was embarrassed at his stupidity. “Oh sorry how rude of me; my name is Brett, and that is Asagi next to you, and Mayura is beside her.”

 

The group took turns introducing one another to each person, but Tolle could not help but ask if this guy was indeed who he was. “Hey you know you look like this guy we know; you don't happen to know Kira do you?”

 

The back of Tolle's head felt a sudden jolt of pain; he turned to see Mirrialia had hit him. “Tolle how could you just say that to him. Stop being so rude to him…” Brett let out a quick laugh; “I guess you are talking about Kira Yamato. Yeah I met him the other day and together we worked on the OS for the Orb military. I got to say Kira is a great guy; we talked about quite a bit… you must be some of the friends he told me about.”

 

The car pulled up in front of a restaurant; everyone got out of the car and walked into the restaurant. It was fairly up scale and fancy, but surprisingly it was pretty well empty. “Wow this place is so fancy; you do not have to treat us Brett…” Miriallia started to protest but was soon cut off by Mayura who was looking to embarrass him. “Do not worry Brett is loaded; right Brett?”

 

“Well I would not say loaded; I just work a lot, and well I do not have a girlfriend or anything else so I guess I just kind of save up…” Tolle remembered what Kira had told him, and Tolle know knew this was Brett. “Hey Kira told us that you were some kind of incredibly hard worker. Kira kept talking about how smart you were and how great you must be at everything. He was really surprised you were a natur…”

 

Another fierce blow was delivered to the back of Tolle's head; Mirrialia could not believe how bad Tolle was being. Mir walked up to Brett and bowed; “I'm really sorry for him. He is hopeless without me, and I'm sorry he said that.” Brett was about to protest when a waitress came over and lead them to a table. Mayura and Asagi sat on opposite sides of Brett while Tolle and Mir sat together.

 

“I really do not mind that people know I'm a natural, but then again when people learn that their opinion of me changes. Suddenly I'm amazing or something special; to tell the truth I do not feel that special. I keep screwing up and making mistakes that I should not be doing in the first place. I'm not that amazing at all and I doubt Kira should be taking about me in such high regards… Why should I be considered special; especially when I'm not?”

 

A soft hand grabbed Brett's and squeezed his; he looked up to Asagi looking concerned at him. “Don't say that Brett you really are great whether you are natural or not. You out perform everyone else on the Astray team and some are coordinators.” Brett laughed at what she had said; “well I do not feel that way. I have always felt like I do not belong; everyone is mad at me for acting like its nothing, but I just do not feel it.”

 

The awkward silence was finally broken by Mir; “well I cannot believe a cute guy like you is single.” Tolle immediately was worried about what Mir meant by that comment and nearly choked on his water, but she silenced him. She was trying to cheer Bret up and he was not helping. “Well the reason is because he just buries himself in work. Brett has plenty of girls who know about him coming after him, but he thinks he is so pathetic that he is not good enough for any of them… not like he has good tastes.”

 

No reply came from Brett in response; Mayura had pretty much summed up Brett's problem. “See he knows I'm right but he will not doing anything about it. He probably has some crush on a girl that works with him; but he thinks he is too pathetic to ask her out. She probably likes him and is getting frustrated; meanwhile I cannot put him down because he just ends up agreeing with me.”

 

Asagi was not happy with how much information, and the hints Mayura was dropping for their guests, and she was even more worried about another girl getting Brett. Soon the waitress arrived and broke the conversation; in barely any time they each had a different meal in front of them except for Brett and Asagi who had ordered the same thing. Mayura could not help but laugh at how similar they were but she just started eating afterwards.

 

Mir and Tolle took turns recounting their journey through space. Each journey was recounted along with every battle to this very point. All three Astray pilots were shocked to here what they had been through; it was all to overwhelming for them. “To think that you went through all that and that Kira was the only mobile suit pilot. That guy must be something else to protect that ship all those times…”

 

“You bet he was!” Tolle shouted with a mouth half full of food; Mir could only sigh at her embarrassing boyfriend. Everyone had finished their meal and Brett had paid the bill. The female blue haired waitress walked over and gasped at the amount of cash that been left for her. “Umm… Excuse me but I think you maid a mistake on the tip sir.”

 

Brett walked back and checked the amount he had left; “no I left that as a tip for you. You were a great waitress…” The young girl was Brett's age and had long blue hair down her back. She blushed and decided to thank him with a kiss; the kiss caught Brett of guard. He liked it and he chose not to fight back; this young lady was beautiful, but not everyone was happy with it.

 

Asagi was been eaten up by watching this young girl with her tongue in Brett's mouth, and was fighting back the urge to go take this girl down. Mayura noticed and ran over to Brett and grabbed him by the ear. Mayura pulled him away by the ear; the young waitress asked for his number, but Mayura was looking out for the girl who should be with him. “Sorry sweetheart, but Brett is out of your league… my god how could you just do that when you are suppose to be with Asagi and I.”

 

At a quick pace Brett was dragged out side; Asagi was happy he was away from her, but she was not crazy about Brett getting hurt. Mayura finally let go and Brett asked her if she why she did what she did. Mayura scowled at him and walked close to Brett and whispered in his ear. “Yes I would like you to be with someone, but not the first girl who frenches you… It should be someone you know; maybe someone you really like…”

 

Brett was honestly confused at first but then caught what she meant. “No I could never be good enough for Asagi…” Brett whispered back in a voice just loud enough for Mayura to hear. Mayura let out a long sigh; she turned to the other three. Mayura had a new plan to get Brett and Asagi closer; “so you two want to join us three for some good old arcade fun and a movie.”

 

Tolle looked at Mir; his expression clearly displayed that he wanted to join in. Mir had no objections and agreed; beside the fact that this was really their one chance to have a little fun. All five got into the vehicle, but this time Brett was forced to sit in the back. The car sped off towards the arcade with Tolle beside Mayura who was driving just as rough.

 

“So Mir how did you two get away from your ship; I did not think that the Orb government would allow you out. After all you are soldiers right…?” Mir laughed at Brett; “It's a long story, but let's just say we do not want to cause a fuss in Orb today…” Brett laughed to statement, but then the car came to a stop and Mayura parked in a spot near the arcade.

 

Mayura commanded everyone to get out and join her inside; the others were still wondering why she was so eager to do this, but it did not matter. They entered the extremely large arcade that was filled with all kinds of games. No one knew where to start with all the lights and sounds flashing around them. Mayura had already come back with a mass amount of tokens for everyone to share.

 

Half the tokens found there way into Mir and Tolle's possession, and Mayura sent them off. The two girls encouraged Brett to do the test of strength first; a single punch put him in the top rank. Neither of the girls knew he was so strong; their amazement was clearly marked across their faces. “Oh… um sorry I guess this thing is broken right…” Mayura still had her eyes wide open; “well it's broken now.”

 

All three ended up on a racing game next; all three were ready to race, but Brett was excellent at this too. He caught an early lead and dominated to large extent of the entire race. The third lap came and Brett began to lose his lead to give the girls a chance, and both of them noticed and took the opportunity.

 

Mayura began to drive with intense passion and one the race with very little extra effort. Asagi came in last; she got out of the mock chair and turned away in embarrassment. This was not her came; Brett knew that she was unhappy that she lost. “Hey Brett now is your chance; go ask her to play her favorite game with you…”

 

Brett got up and walked up to her; his hand touched her shoulder and she turned and made eye contact with him. “Asagi you want to go play that dancing game you love with me?” Asagi eyes lit up at the though of him wanting to spend time with him; he knew that it was her favorite game which mean that he was interested in her interests. This felt like a dream but Asagi was not going to let this chance pass her by.

 

A strong tug on Brett's arm and the two were off towards the game. Mayura smirked at her accomplishment; finally they had shown that they were really interested, and this was a good step. Mayura was not going to let it stop here though; Brett and Asagi got onto the platform and Asagi inserted the coins.

 

She cycled through the songs, but could not decide; “Brett what should we do?” Brett looked over at her and she looked so ecstatic to be doing this with him. “Why don't we shoot for the stars and show everyone how good we are together.”

 

Those words were exactly what she wanted to hear; she picked one of the hardest songs, but truly Asagi was so incredibly happy to hear the word together from him. She stopped on the hardest song available; her heart was racing from excitement but she was going to prove how good she was. They both smiled at each other signaling to the other that they were ready to go, and then Asagi hit the start button.

 

Mir and Tolle walked away from a game that Tolle had failed; he was so embarrassed at how bad he had played. “Man… I just cannot do anything right today. That was really embarrassing that I could not even do the flight combat simulator, and I'm suppose to be a soldier…” Mir held his hand as they continued to walk forward; “well maybe if you would listen to my advice you would have lasted more then fifteen seconds…”

 

Both of their attentions were suddenly drawn towards a large crowd cheering for something. What ever was going on had drawn a large crowd; Mir and Tolle were both interested and ran into the crowd. They squeezed through till they arrived through the crowd to see what was going on. They looked to see Mayura standing near the front and then they saw what was drawing all the attention.

 

One of the hardest songs in the game was being conquered by Brett and Asagi. The steps came fast and furious but Brett and Asagi showed no errors to the crowd. Their scores were reaching epic proportions; the payout for this game was becoming huge. The two continually glanced over with smiles on their faces. Both were having so much fun together and it showed very clearly.

 

“Wow those to are absolutely awesome!” Tolle's voice was no match for the music's intensity; Mir walked up to Mayura and spoke into her ear. “Are these two just really friends? They look like they are more then that.” Mayura let out a loud laugh, but Brett and Asagi were lost in their own world together where nothing could reach them. “Well they both like one another a LOT! But you see they both think that they are not good enough for one another; so that is why they are not a couple.”

 

Both of the young dancers were not holding back at all; each move was an attempt to impress the other. Asagi was incredibly happy to be doing this with Brett; this was breaking down barriers. Asagi wanted to just forget the game and run over and kiss him but she instead stayed focused on the game. Mayura was just standing there waiting for the end of the game; hopefully the two would finally come clean about how they felt.

 

The final step was struck and the crowd cheered for both of them. Asagi was glistening with sweat from the workout and so was Brett; both panted trying to catch their breath. The game congratulated both on their high score, and Asagi jumped into his arms still smiling. The game snapped their picture together for the leader board, but it was a score that would take immense effort to beat.

 

Hundreds of tickets pored out of the machine into the Asagi and Brett's possession. The amount would surely score an amazing gift for the both of them. They stepped down to have Mayura; Mir and Tolle congratulate them. Asagi and Brett were embarrassed; they now noticed the huge crowd that was watching, and they could not believe the cheering for them.

 

The crowd eventually left, but Asagi was still smiling at Brett. She had never had so much fun; maybe she really was right for him. Mayura handed the tickets over to Brett; she looked him square in the eye. “Common Brett you spent time with Asagi and now it is my turn to have some fun with you.”

 

Asagi laughed a little while she watched Brett be dragged off by Mayura. Mayura stopped in front of a light gun game; Mayura picked up the red plastic gun and tossed the necessary tokens into the machine. “You better not waist any shots; your record on the firing range is near perfect so get it right…” Brett rubbed the back of his head bashfully; he was still just as intimidated by Mayura as ever.

 

The game was about to start when Mayura backed so that her body was touching Brett's. She turned back to him and whispered near his ear. “Looks like you were really were having fun up there with her… You two really are right for one another.” Brett was blushing from what Mayura had said; he though about Asagi and him and started to blush even harder.

 

The more he though about it the more his thoughts contradicted his previous ones. Mayura punched Brett in the side of the arm; the force snapped him back into reality. The game had started and Brett started to fire like mad; trying desperately to catch up. Mayura was yelling for Brett to focus and start pulling his weight but Brett could not catch a break. His score was barely above anything and he was trying to regain his focus.

 

Asagi came running up to watch along with Mir and Tolle. Brett glanced back for a moment, and soon he had new motivation to succeed. His shots became deadly accurate; he reloaded and pegged each one with perfect accuracy. Each level Brett kept up the pace and even Mayura was easily impressed. Asagi and the others cheered for Brett. Mayura and Brett covered one another and looked like they worked well together.

 

The game ended with yet another record score. Mayura handed over the tickets to Brett; claiming that she did not need them and that Brett should give them to someone he liked. Brett caught the message loud and clear; “Asagi you want to come with me…” Asagi nodded in a hesitant fashion.

 

The two arrived at the counter where they were to exchange their tickets. The prize they could choose was pretty much anything they could desire. “So Asagi what do you want...?” Asagi's eyes lit up; “really…? I get to choose…” She scanned all the prizes and her e eyes locked on what she wanted, but she was a little hesitant. “Brett I know what I want but it will take up all the tickets and it was supposed to be a prize for both of us.”

 

“What did you pick?” Brett asked totally intrigued and Asagi pointed to a home version of the dance game. “That's a great choice Asagi!” She looked up at him and smiled; “ok why don't we get it, but on one condition. You have to play with me every so often…” Asagi was unsure how Brett would react, but Brett was amazed she wanted to spend more time with him. “I will play that game with you when ever you want Asagi…”

 

The choice was clear at this point; Asagi claimed her prize nearly instantly, and Brett was happy with the thought of spending time with her. Brett had noticed there were a few tickets left and asked the clerk to spend them on something else. Brett turned around with a small pink stuffed bear for Asagi; her eyes widened and she put her big prize down and hugged Brett.

 

“That's so sweet I love it Brett, and well I really should tell you that…” Asagi was about to finally tell Brett when a loud voice came from the exit. “Hey you two come on!” Tolle's voice broke the moment; Asagi lost her confidence and could not say what she had intended to do. “Asagi I had a lot of fun with you today; I just really enjoyed my time with you.”

 

A gentle kiss hit Asagi's cheek was the best thing of all; Brett put his arm around her and grabbed the dancing game before escorting Asagi out the door. The heat emanating from her face was intense, and went along with her red cheeks. She could not stop blushing from Brett's kiss and kind gesture's for her. No matter how hard she tried to stop blushing nothing seemed to stop the red color in her cheeks or her hearts heightened pace.

 

The five soon found them selves in a theater; the theater was showing romantic movie that still had plenty of action. All five sat down in the very middle of the theater; Brett had once again offered to buy everyone food. Asagi sat right beside Brett and was not going to move no matter what. Asagi and Brett shared their popcorn and drink while Mayura and the couple had their own.

 

Two hours passed by, and the movie had its shares of ups and downs. Asagi inevitably wrapped her hands around Brett's arms when a frightening portion happened. The romantic portions she could not help but rest her head on Brett's shoulder. Mayura was smiling from ear to ear from what she had seen; she felt like she had finally broken part of the barrier that was separating them.

 

The movie ended and all five stepped out of the theater into the bright setting sun. The sun was painful on their eyes; Mir looked over at their three new friends. “Well it is getting late and we should probably get back to where we said we would meet.” Brett nodded and all of them took off in the vehicle.

 

They arrived at the meeting place and said there good byes. The three astray pilots where unhappy to see there new friends go. “You guys take care of yourselves; do not stay in the army to long.” Mir and Tolle nodded in agreement to Brett; “don't worry I will take good care of everyone. Brett hope you finally start dating A…” Tolle's words were silence by Mir's hand before she pulled him away.

 

The day was pretty well over at this point; Brett sat in the back seat with Asagi. Mayura glanced in the rear view mirror to see Asagi sleeping on Brett's shoulder. Mayura winked at Brett through the mirror and Brett knew why she was. Brett looked up to Kira by the Orb compound fence, and he asked Mayura to stop.

 

Brett ran over and saw he was talking to another young man; Asagi had jumped out of the car to and ran over beside Brett. Brett greeted Kira and looked over at the young man he was talking to. “Hi there nice to meet you; are you a friend of Kira's?” Brett received no answer from the young man; he watched him turn and leave without another word. Brett watched him and three others leave in another car.

 

Night came and Brett continued to stay with Asagi and Mayura; the night ended with Brett and Asagi staying and sleeping in the same room. Mayura snuck out to see Cagalli waiting; “so are those two a couple now?” Mayura shook her head; “no but they got so close today. Soon enough they will… it's really fun hooking these two up.” Cagalli smiled; “good… Brett disserves someone as great as Asagi.”

 

“You should have seen them today; it was so cute that it almost made me sick…” Mayura went to walk off to her own room, but Cagalli stopped her. “Thank you Mayura for doing that for me.” Mayura just smiled and continued to walk away; “do not worry about it lady Cagalli. I want Asagi to be happy…”

 

Song Anna_ni_issho_datta_no_ni

 

The day finally came where it was time for the Archangel to leave, and Brett had come to say goodbye with Cagalli. The Arch Angel was about to leave, but Cagalli had arrived to say good bye to Kira. She had brought Kira's parents to say goodbye, but Kira was still in no mood to say hello. Brett voice broke the moment; he came running up to Kira out of breath and exhausted. “Sorry I'm late Kira, but I had to say goodbye before you left.”

 

“I'm glad you have came Brett…” An embarrassed expression came across Brett's face; “thanks Kira... Listen you belong in Orb; so just do what you have to and come back to here safe okay?” Kira nodded and Cagalli became furious; “of course Kira is going to come back alive!” Brett shook his hands trying to deny anything bad that he said; “Brett you just take it easy on yourself okay?”

 

“Don't worry about him Kira; Mrs. Simmons is watching him carefully and he is not aloud to over work himself again.” Kira laughed and Cagalli gave him a big hug good bye. After a minute they parted and Brett shook Kira's hand. Brett escorted Cagalli away and together they watched the Archangel leave.

 

“Kira will be ok right Brett?” Cagalli's face was full of concern in her expression for Kira. Brett knew how much he meant to her and he looked at the departing ship. “Kira will be fine; he is a great pilot and he will be just fine. They made it this far, and I'm sure that we will see him again…”