Noin was in a new class. It was only her sixth month in the academy; she was promoted to another class of the same grade due to her good performances. She was really excited about this. She has just finished the morning section of her first day in her new class, and learned some political issues and skills of repairing mobile suit. Her hands still had the smell of the grease and were stained. She decided to wash her hands before going to canteen and having her lunch. She quickly prepared the books and notes for the afternoon section and prepared to go.
At this time, some cadets of the same class came to her, blocking her way to the door. One of them started, “I suppose we should help her to repair the robots, right?” The other cadets answered this question by producing several laughs. Noin answered, “If you please, may I go out?” Another cadet said, “As a good girl, you should politely asked, ‘Would you please let me out?’ ” Noin was angry, but she did not want to fight. She looked directly at the cadets and kept silent. They were all male cadets who were taller and bigger than her. So what? Noin knew she was also a strong person. As the only female cadet in this class, she had to gain respects from the other cadets first. She had to remain calm and cool because she did not want to be the first one who did a wrong thing in that situation. One cadet stretched his hand out and touched her face, Noin quickly stepped back. The cadet teased her, “No wonder she can promote to the best class in this grade. Look, she’s really pretty!” after an evil smile, “Hey, show us the charm which you showed to the instructors.” Noin was angry but yet she struggled to stay calm. She hated discriminations, especially those against female. She always thought that men and women were equal and they could be equally strong after being trained. What could she do? Explaining facts did not help at all; the only way to solve this problem was to outsmart them. But how? She said, “I believe that it is now lunch time. We are all equally strong; if you want to challenge me, please do it during lessons.” She was teased again. “We should understand that good girls don’t fight, or they can’t get good husbands!” Noin was then really angry, her eyes showed sparks of anger. “If you think because I am a female, I will not fight with you. You’re wrong.” She spoke each word clearly to let them hear. “OK, then fight or you will not have your lunch.” was the answer. “If you want to fight with her to show that you are stronger, then please fight with me first.” A new male voice was heard. It came behind Noin. Noin looked at the male cadet, who was her classmate. He wore a mask, but his long, blonde hair fell gracefully from his hidden head. His eyes were hidden and only the mouth was shown. He was tall, even taller than that group of male cadets. “So you have already attracted one of our classmates.” One of them teased. “Thanks for your help. However, I don’t need a champion.” Noin said politely. She was really surprised by this cadet. She has not seen him before. “So you will fight, right?” “No, I will not.” Noin simply answered. “I will not fight because I don’t see any reason for me to fight.” “How can the instructors let an idiot join our class?” one cadet said in a high voice. “May I be excused?” Noin asked again, and this time, she meant to force her way through. “No.” the boys pushed her back. “Fight or stay.” It was very hard to tolerate what they said. “Trust me. You and I are going to beat them.” The masked cadet said. “No, I really don’t want your help.” Noin said, and then sharply to the annoying cadets, “I will fight with you, but remember I fight because I have to, not because of any reasons you mentioned!” She was ready to fight then. One of the cadets attacked her first, then followed by the other two. Noin escaped from all their attacks. They were very angry and the three attacked her together. She received some punches, but she did not fall down. Suddenly, she felt something hard and cold hit her. She searched for it and was knocked onto the floor. It was a heavy metal ruler. The ruler was about to hit her face and at the very moment, the blonde-haired cadet attacked the cadet holding the ruler. “She’s without weapon.” He said, punched the cadet. “Don’t you know what’s fair competition?” He then attacked the other cadet which had not attacked Noin yet. He shouted to Noin, “Get up, you’ve got to beat the remaining three on your own.” Noin stood up and began to fight again. The blonde-haired cadet was trying to stop the other two to attack her. He was really a good fighter, and the two quickly stood aside. As for Noin, she struggled hard to beat the three. She could not beat them as her skills were not good enough, but she managed not to be beaten. As her opponents found this, they cursed her and retreated. Noin was relieved after they had gone. She also realized that she had to overcome many difficulties in order to gain others’ respects. She saw the blonde-haired cadet looking at her and approaching her. She said, “Thank you for helping me. I hope you won’t get into trouble.” He simply said, “I just think that you should have a fair combat. You bet the three by yourself.” They both stood for awhile. Noin noticed that the hair of the cadet was in platinum gold, instead of blonde. He was much taller than her. She finally introduced herself, “I am Lucrezia Noin. Please call me Noin.” The cadet said with a smile, “My name is Zechs Marquise. Call me Zechs.” After a while, he said, “I believed that we should go straight to the canteen, otherwise we will have nothing to eat.”
When they arrived the canteen, as Zechs said, they had nearly nothing for their lunch. Most of the food were eaten and they could only have bits of everything to eat. They had the lunch together and during that time, Zechs suggested they should go to the Virtual Reality Room that night. Noin was surprised. She stopped eating and solemnly asked, “Why do you want me to be your opponent?” She was not sure whether Zechs was her friend or not. Zechs noticed her surprise and said with a hidden smile, “We haven’t finished the combat yet.” He paused a little while to let Noin think for a while. “Remember the combat three months ago? You just typed a message and went away.” Noin remembered then, “You’re the one practicing with me?” she said as her eyes showed great excitement. “I always wanted to find who he/she is. I am glad you tell me at last.” They were both satisfied with the idea. It was good to have a skilled opponent, also they wanted to know how much did each other improve during these three months.
That night, they met at the Virtual Reality Room. They fought against each other in the system. After struggling for two hours, Zechs won. Both of them were amazed by the skills of the other. Zechs locked the system and typed, “Thanks for a nice combat.” Noin smiled when she read the message, she whispered, “I’ll beat you next time, Zechs.”
