Hearing Kira address Zhou Tianming, Athrun immediately became angry, his pale green eyes glaring at Kira.
"Athrun, Mom said we should be polite."
Athrun pouted: "I can be polite to anyone except him!"
Watching the two bicker, Zhou Tianming instinctively felt they were flirting and couldn't help but smile.
Between the two, Athrun was slightly taller than Kira, with a more athletic build and energetic demeanor.
Kira, on the other hand, had slender arms and legs, his slight frame making him appear almost weightless. His gentle words and actions gave off a fragile, easily bullied impression. As Zhou Tianming quietly observed, Athrun noticed from the corner of his eye and turned, his blue eyebrows furrowing: "Are you laughing at me? If you've got the guts, let's have a match! I'm not the same as I was years ago!"
Zhou Tianming didn't respond immediately.
Why does this kid still dislike me so much?
It's been a long time since I had any contact with PLANT.
Unless...
"Did your father praise me again?"
At these words, Athrun froze momentarily before lunging at Zhou Tianming with flailing limbs.
Kira quickly wrapped his arms around Athrun's waist from behind: "Athrun, calm down!"
After restraining Athrun, his violet eyes turned to Zhou Tianming: "Brother Zhou Tianming, please stop teasing Athrun."
Zhou Tianming narrowed his eyes with an amused smirk: "I'm surprised you could hold him back."
Kira's eyes widened in momentary panic as he glanced at Athrun, relieved when he saw the other hadn't noticed. Then his violet eyes glared back. Stepping closer to both, Zhou Tianming reached out to pat their heads.
The flailing Athrun immediately twisted like a kitten whose head was being held down. Kira reacted swiftly by leaning back, but Zhou Tianming still caught up to ruffle his hair too.
After some playful tousling - with Athrun trying to bite and Kira wearing an exasperated expression - Zhou Tianming asked: "What kind of match?"
Athrun retracted his bared canines, looking pleased: "Follow me!"
He shook off Zhou Tianming's loosened grip and ran off.
Kira sighed helplessly, removing Zhou Tianming's hand before turning to follow.
"Aren't you tired of always pretending?"
Kira paused mid-step before continuing forward.
His gentle voice floated back: "Not tired."
As they ran ahead, Athrun stopped at a distance and turned to shout: "Hurry up! Or are you scared now?"
Zhou Tianming chuckled and followed.
I'll show you the harsh reality soon enough.
This is for your own good, little brother.
Trailing behind the two, watching them chase each other in playful abandon, Zhou Tianming felt a wave of emotion.
He recalled their original storylines - one burdened by hatred with a perpetually stern face, the other trapped in self-pity and stubbornness.
Now this looks more like living.
Considering the time, the outbreak of war is imminent. How long can such leisure and smiles last?
Indeed, time is running out.
This is a great war that will affect all of humanity. Only those with power will have a seat at the table.
Following the two youngsters, they arrived at a sports field.
The spacious ground was set up with various obstacles—high walls, wooden stakes, sand pits, trenches, and more.
"We're competing in this?"
Zhou Tianming asked curiously, "You usually play with these?"
Athrun replied indignantly, "It's not playing! This is training! As warriors defending our homeland, these are the basics!"
"Athrun is really good at it," Kira praised. "He can complete the entire course flawlessly in five minutes."
Zhou Tianming surveyed the field, which was nearly 500 meters long. Some obstacles were hardly friendly to children with their small limbs. Completing a full lap was no easy feat. He clapped in admiration. "Impressive!"
Athrun puffed out his chest proudly. "Dare to compete?"
"Go ahead and set the rules. After all, I'm an adult—you decide."
"You have longer limbs and better stamina. How about you run two laps, and we run one?"
"Huh?!" Kira exclaimed from the side. "Me too?"
"Of course!" Athrun nodded. "We're best friends. We'll team up to defeat the big bad guy!"
Kira sighed helplessly.
Zhou Tianming shrugged. "Your call. I'm fine with anything."
"Good. Then go pay."
Athrun shot him a disdainful look. "You're not expecting middle schoolers to foot the bill, are you?"
With a sigh, Zhou Tianming turned to find the staff.
He was starting to dislike this brat.
Serves him right for falling for a troublemaker like Cagalli in the future.
Then it struck him—maybe Athrun doted on Cagalli so much because he saw his younger self in her.
Thinking about it, their experiences were somewhat similar.
Both were rich kids who lost their parents young.
Patrick was practically a cautionary tale for Athrun. Considering Athrun's demeanor in the original story—reserved, emotionally repressed—it was a miracle he didn't turn out antisocial, thanks to Lenore's excellent upbringing and his own inherent kindness.
Cagalli had it slightly better, surrounded by good friends and a brother like Kira, which helped her heal from trauma quickly.
Now that he thought about it, Athrun had always played the protector around Kira and Cagalli, almost like a parent.
As a child, he looked up to Patrick while shielding Kira, a Coordinator. As an adult, he treated Cagalli with the gentle indulgence of a father.
Perhaps Athrun projected his own experiences onto Cagalli, unwilling to let her suffer the same loneliness he endured after losing his mother.
"Hey! Hey!" Athrun's voice snapped Zhou Tianming out of his thoughts. "You're not seriously being this stingy, are you? Fine, I'll pay with my allowance!"
Looking at Athrun's current demeanor, Zhou Tianming couldn't help but smile. "Good kid."
Athrun's face instantly turned beet red, his small hands fidgeting awkwardly. "You're insane!"
With that, he dashed off, jumping around to warm up frantically.
Amused, Zhou Tianming shook his head. Noticing Kira's purple eyes watching him with a hint of anticipation, he added, "You're a kind and gentle kid too."
"Hehe~" Kira smiled shyly.
Seeing the two like this, the gloom in Zhou Tianming's heart dissipated.
So this was what it felt like to be admired by the protagonists?
Kind of satisfying.
After quickly paying for the private session, Zhou Tianming returned. "Shall we start now?"
Athrun's cheeks were flushed from movement, his forehead slightly damp as he crossed his arms and shook his head like a little adult: "I've been here many times. I'll let you run a few laps first to get used to it, so you won't make excuses when you lose later."
He gave a thumbs up: "Fair enough!"
"Then I won't hold back," Zhou Tianming said as he began warming up.
Five minutes later, he was sprinting across the field.
As he ran, Tianming's expression grew serious—scaling high walls, crawling through sand pits, dashing across wooden stakes.
Just then, his foot slipped on one of the stakes, causing him to lose balance and fall.
"Watch out!" Kira and Athrun shouted in unison.
But Tianming twisted mid-air, rolled upon landing, and sprang up like a gymnast, raising his arms with a wink at the two. Athrun immediately stomped his foot in frustration, glaring at him.
Meanwhile, Kira watched Tianming resume running with visible concern.
Facing away from them, Tianming's expression darkened.
That hadn't been intentional—he'd genuinely slipped.
It had been a long time since he'd engaged in direct physical activity after obtaining Xuanwu, usually just doing simple warm-up exercises.
Not long into this cross-country run, he'd noticed his body reacting sluggishly, his limbs failing to coordinate with his mind.
His first thought was whether overusing the Psycommu System had made his brain outpace his body's responses. But as he continued moving, instead of adjusting, the disconnect seemed to worsen.
Distracted by this, he'd nearly embarrassed himself with that misstep.
Soon, he completed the lap and returned to the starting point, smiling. "So? Pretty good speed, right?"
Athrun scoffed: "Too slow. At this rate, you'll definitely lose!"
Then Kira moved behind Tianming—where Athrun couldn't see—and gently tugged his shirt hem.
Tianming immediately realized Kira had noticed something was wrong.
He shook his head: "It's nothing."
Patting Kira's soft brown hair, he added: "Just an accident."