Chapter 9: SEED – Plan Completed
After dinner, the three of them chatted while eating, talking about little things from their studies and daily lives. Tolle Koenig also used the opportunity to deepen his friendship with Kira Yamato.
Once they finished dinner, Kira Yamato tactfully excused himself and left. Miriallia Haw began washing the dishes.
Tolle Koenig sat there looking over his class notes and homework, checking to see if he could understand and solve them on his own.
After she finished washing up, Miriallia Haw saw Tolle staring at his notes and said, "Tolle, is there anything you don't understand? I can teach you."
"Miriallia, I'm fine. I can do most of it. Actually, I have a gift for you."
Tolle Koenig took out a necklace made by Nami. The pendant was a dolphin with red gemstone eyes. He handed it to Miriallia Haw.
Originally, he had thought of giving Kira a metal bracelet while Kira was still here, but on second thought, it didn't feel quite right. Better to give Miriallia her gift first.
Kira's could wait—after all, his own physique should now already surpass that of a Coordinator.
As a trump card to save Kira's life, there was still time before ZAFT came to steal the Gundams.
Or maybe next time he could just slip it into some food—save himself the trouble of finding an excuse to give something.
Miriallia Haw blushed and said, "Tolle, this necklace is so cute. I'll treasure it."
"Miriallia, no need to put it away—wear it every day. That way it'll be like I'm always with you. Here, let me help you put it on."
Tolle Koenig helped Miriallia Haw fasten the necklace, then hugged her and said, "Remember to keep it on. It'll protect you when I'm not around."
"Okay, Tolle, I'll wear it always."
Blushing, Miriallia Haw said this and then kissed Tolle on the cheek.
Tolle Koenig held her in his arms and whispered in her ear, "Miriallia, let's go on a date every weekend until we've explored all of Heliopolis. Let's leave our footprints everywhere we can. How about it?"
Nestled in his arms, Miriallia Haw shyly answered, "Okay, Tolle. We'll explore every corner of Heliopolis together."
Tolle Koenig thought, Plan accomplished—a perfect excuse to wander around Heliopolis. I'm a genius, hahaha…
As Tolle Koenig was grinning to himself, Miriallia suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and kissed him deeply.
Just as she released him, he immediately pulled her back into his arms and kissed her in return.
The two were locked together for a long time, kissing until they were both breathless.
Tolle Koenig then scooped Miriallia Haw into his arms and carried her back to the room…
Last night, the begonia met its first rain;
Several light blooms seemed to want to speak.
At dawn, the beauty rose from her orchid chamber,
Plucked a blossom, and compared it with her rouge in the mirror.
She asked her lover: "Which is fairer—the flower or me?"
He said: "The flower's grace surpasses yours."
The beauty, feigning anger, replied: "I don't believe dead flowers beat the living."
She crushed the blossom and tossed it before him:
'Tonight, my lord, accompany this flower to sleep.'
…
The next morning, Tolle Koenig woke up early and began his morning training, practicing Eastern-style martial arts.
Sigh… getting old comes with bad habits—waking too early and unable to sleep again. Even trying to sleep in is impossible. Still, this young body really is great—recovers fast. Otherwise, I'd never have the stamina for morning training.
When Tolle finished his exercises, he began preparing breakfast. At the same time, Miriallia Haw woke up and leaned against his back, saying, "Morning, Tolle. You're up so early… You've already made breakfast? This is such happiness. Tolle, you're so good. I love you so much."
She stood on tiptoe and gave Tolle Koenig a kiss.
"Morning, Miriallia. I love you too."
Tolle Koenig hugged her and said, "Miriallia, last night I dreamed of an old man with a long braid. He taught me a set of martial arts. When I woke up this morning, I still remembered the movements and techniques, and since I couldn't sleep again, I tried them out. Turns out they're actually pretty good. I'll show you later—once I get used to them, I can teach you too."
Tolle thought to himself, (That explains the whole Eastern Invincible-style martial arts thing. Sounds ridiculous, but it'll do for now.)
Miriallia Haw, curious, said, "Tolle, you're not sick in the head, are you? Is it really true? That's so amazing. Show me later. As for learning… it depends on how hard it is—if it's too hard, forget it."
"Alright, Miriallia, I'll show you later."
After breakfast and a short rest, Tolle went through a round of the martial art, even demonstrating how to slice a glass with a sheet of paper.
Though his attack power was still solid at 100, his stamina currently wouldn't last even a minute, so there wasn't much else he could show off.
Miriallia Haw was stunned, completely convinced by the "dream master" explanation. She even said she wanted to learn after school to see if she could master it.
Tolle Koenig assured her it was no problem—she'd definitely be able to learn it.
He thought, And if she can't, I can just have Nami make a few adjustments. The internal energy will just have to build up slowly.
During the school day, Tolle used Nami to gradually modify Miriallia Haw's body, finishing the full enhancement only after school.
Her constitution was greatly improved and her lifespan extended.
Her strength and speed were only slightly increased so they wouldn't affect normal life, but just enough to meet the standard to learn Eastern-style martial arts.
After school, under Tolle Koenig's guidance, Miriallia Haw also mastered the Eastern-style martial arts. Now there were two people who could use it.
In the future, even if anyone became suspicious, there'd be a ready-made excuse.
If necessary, he could just enhance a few more close friends so they could learn it too—blending into a forest of his own creation to protect himself.
After all, martial arts had always existed with countless different stories. As long as it wasn't unique, there was no fear of being caught and dissected for research, nor being mistaken for a Coordinator.
If he ever got "invited for coffee," at worst he'd just put on a little demonstration and enhance another batch of people.
Those who couldn't learn it could be brushed off with "not enough talent."
Over the following weeks, every weekend, Tolle secretly placed Nami's DG Cell fragments throughout Heliopolis, lying in wait for ZAFT—sooner or later, one would succeed.
If things went smoothly, it wouldn't even be a problem to get Gundam data in advance.
Sure enough, it only took a few days to gather the data—after all, the story was about to begin.
The Gundams were already built, including the Archangel, the Red and Blue Astray Gundams.
Aside from the gold one, which wasn't finished yet, the rest were ready.
The Astray Gundams' performance was probably about the same anyway, so it didn't matter.
Nami also simulated functions such as layered armor (beam-resistant), ablative gel (for atmospheric reentry), PS armor, and the Mirage Colloid system.
Thanks to the properties of the neo DG Cells, the Mirage Colloid system's duration was extended by reducing the waste of mirage particles.