With that, Siegfried ignored Badgiruel's dark expression and Mu's frantic signals. He patted the lost-looking Kira and left the briefing room without looking back.
"Too arrogant. Just because he can pilot an MS, he thinks he can…"
"Natarle, I think he is right. Soldiers should not be like that."
Staring at Mu in shock, Badgiruel had not expected even him to disagree. She then looked to Murrue, but still did not get the answer she wanted.
"Lieutenant, you should go and talk to Sai. No matter what, this was our fault."
Over the next few days, Siegfried kept his promise in full. ZAFT did not pursue them, but he no longer took part in any maintenance work on the GINN, and unlike the Strike Gundam, the maintenance crew could not service this "enemy" mobile suit at all without his help. As a result, the machine was left untouched, sitting in the hangar as a problem no one wanted to face.
Even so, although Siegfried refused to pilot the GINN, he still lived and ate aboard the Archangel. Unwilling to live at others' expense, he instead took on general maintenance work for the warship itself. It was his way of paying back what he consumed each day.
Madoc, who understood the whole situation, could not bring himself to blame the boy for his choice. That GINN gradually became something everyone in Ganaku avoided, and all of them knew about the conflict between Badgiruel and Siegfried. At the same time, they could also understand the boy's anger, so the atmosphere aboard the ship stayed awkward and strained without anyone addressing it directly.
After finishing the day's routine tasks, Siegfried returned to the dormitory and found Cagalli standing to the side with a bundle of clothes, her expression stiff. He and Kira had originally been assigned single rooms as pilots, but because Cagalli's identity was sensitive and unsuited for sharing with others, and because neither of them felt uncomfortable living together, the four-person room continued to be used by just the two of them.
After the complete falling-out, Siegfried had considered the many civilians still aboard the ship and the severe strain on daily supplies, and he had offered to give up the privileged room. The bridge, however, had never given a clear response. As a result, the situation remained unresolved, hanging in the air between them.
"Not going to shower?" This was usually Cagalli's bathing time, and to avoid awkwardness she always finished before Siegfried came back. Today, however, her schedule had been delayed by circumstances beyond her control.
"There was a shipwide notice just now," she said. "Because supplies are tight, personal bathing is now once every three days. It's not just water. Food is running out too, and rations for non-combat personnel have been cut again."
In truth, the Archangel's retreat had been rushed, and they received no resupply while inside Artemis. If they had not gathered some materials shortly before the collapse of Heliopolis, taking in so many civilians would have left them helpless without ZAFT needing to lift a finger. Hunger alone would have stripped them of any fighting strength.
"Oh, then I'll wash the day after tomorrow," Siegfried replied calmly. Under special conditions, bathing once every three days was more than enough for him. Still, the shortage of supplies felt like a marker in time, reminding him of the destination that awaited them next.
So in the end, we really are going to beg for survival in a grave, he thought. A ship full of living people, yet they had to go there and compete with the dead for resources. The irony left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Unlike Siegfried's indifference, Cagalli kept sniffing her arm. Seeing the boy walk in without caring, she instinctively took a few steps back, widening the distance between them. Her movements were small, but full of unease.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I, I didn't shower," she muttered. "So, so there might be a smell."
Her hesitant answer made Siegfried look at her more carefully. There was nothing about her that gave off much of a "girlish" feeling, and after living together for so long, he often forgot about her gender entirely. This habit of his only made things more confusing for her.
"What are you staring at?" she said, her voice growing quieter. "I only skipped one day. It can't smell that bad."
Before she could finish, Siegfried leaned in close to her side. Whether on purpose or not, he even made an exaggerated sniffing sound, then looked at her seriously. "Yeah, there's really no smell. Relax."
"Damn it, smell yourself first!" Her face burning hot, Cagalli grabbed Haro and hurled it at the annoying boy in front of her.
"Haro, Haro, silly woman is shy," the little robot chirped.
Regardless of Siegfried's thoughts or Cagalli's embarrassment, Murrue ultimately decided to head into the debris field to obtain urgently needed supplies. From the standpoint of a crew member, Siegfried had no moral high ground to criticize the decision. However, when assignments were being made, his request left the entire bridge at a loss once again.
"You're saying you want to team up with Natarle?" someone asked.
"Yes," Siegfried replied. "I'll take part in the supply transport, but I want to be in the same group as Ensign Badgiruel."
"But you two…"
"Some problems have to be resolved sooner or later, don't they, Captain Ramius?" he said, looking directly at Murrue.
Murrue glanced at Badgiruel with a troubled expression. The sharp and capable officer did not think long before agreeing. In her view, no matter how justified Siegfried's reasoning was, she did not believe she had done anything wrong, and leaving valuable fighting strength unused did not suit the Archangel's situation either.
Before departure, Siegfried found himself staring at Cagalli, who insisted on squeezing into the team. He felt a headache coming on, because no one aboard the Archangel yet knew what kind of hellish scene awaited them. Seeing her innocent, eager expression, he hesitated, but after failing to dissuade her, he could only bring her along.
At least in that place, he thought, she would be forced to see the "reality" of this world sooner rather than later. It was not a lesson he wanted to teach, but one he felt could no longer be avoided. With that decision made, there was no turning back.
As expected, once the Archangel's transport fleet entered the debris field, what appeared before them was a vast sea of wreckage. These were fragments of something that had once been a continent-sized artificial structure. It was the remains of the PLANT agricultural satellite, Junius Seven.
While everyone stood in shock, unable to speak, Siegfried silently took the lead and was the first to enter the core area of Junius Seven. Influenced by his actions, the others followed one after another, even if their hearts resisted every step forward. No one wanted to be left behind, yet no one truly wanted to go.