Faced with Athrun's questioning, Cagalli wore a stern expression, gritted her teeth, and quickly devised a plan. She swung her head, forcefully aiming to headbutt Athrun.
Seeing this, Athrun swiftly reacted, twisting his body away from the wall behind him and leaning backward.
As he did so, Athrun suddenly realized he was still holding Cagalli's hand. By the time he thought to adjust his grip, it was already too late.
Cagalli was pulled by Athrun's momentum, tumbling toward him.
Losing her balance startled Cagalli, and she couldn't help but let out a gasp.
"Ah!"
Thud!
The two fell to the ground.
Cagalli, now lying fully on top of Athrun, widened her eyes in shock. Athrun, pinned beneath her, also stared wide-eyed, momentarily dazed, his grip loosening slightly.
Sensing the restraint on her hand slacken, Cagalli reacted quickly, breaking free from Athrun's hold and seizing the opportunity to snatch the pistol from his waist.
The sudden change snapped Athrun back to attention. Just as he was about to counter and restrain Cagalli again, something dark suddenly covered his head.
With one hand gripping the Claw Knife, he used the other to tear the blanket off his head.
As light returned, he saw Cagalli had retreated to a distance. Her face flushed with a mix of shame and anger, she aimed the pistol at him with one hand while vigorously wiping her lips with the other.
Watching her wipe her lips, Athrun, almost involuntarily, raised his free hand and lightly touched his own lips.
"You bastard! What are you doing?!"
Seeing Athrun touch his lips, Cagalli's shame and anger intensified. Her eyes widened as she shouted at him.
The sound jolted Athrun out of his daze. His gaze turned cold, and he pointed the Claw Knife at Cagalli, his voice icy.
"What are you trying to do?!"
"I can't let you pilot it! It shouldn't exist in this world any longer!"
Some of the shame and anger faded from Cagalli's face as memories of the past surfaced in her mind. Her voice tinged with sorrow, she spoke loudly.
Hearing this, Athrun's expression grew cold and resolute. He replied firmly,
"It's my MS. I must bring it back intact."
As he spoke, a look of determination rose in his eyes.
"If you insist on stopping me, you'll have to step over my corpse to do it."
With that, Athrun twisted the Claw Knife in his hand, further intensifying his combat stance.
His resolute posture, uncompromising demeanor, and the look of readiness to die in his eyes struck Cagalli's heart like heavy blows. Her fingers trembled slightly around the pistol.
"What are you waiting for?"
A sharp, demanding voice rang out.
Cagalli's heart jolted, her eyes widening as she stared at Athrun. The hand holding the gun shook even more.
Athrun could see Cagalli's state and instantly understood that she had never directly killed anyone before.
"Do it!"
"All you have to do is pull the trigger."
"Why aren't you pulling the trigger?"
"Weren't you quick to shoot during the day?"
"What are you trembling for?"
Realizing this, Athrun maintained his tense stance while continuing to apply psychological pressure on Cagalli with his words.
The icy voice spoke sentence after sentence, each word striking Cagalli's heart like a heavy hammer.
Hearing Athrun's voice, Cagalli's pupils contracted. The thought that pulling the trigger would directly kill the person before her, that the gunshot would mean taking a life, that she would become a killer—these thoughts made it increasingly impossible for her to press the trigger.
Time passed second by second, the standoff continuing. Yet their mental states had diverged completely. Tormented by the conflict between killing and not killing, Cagalli's resolve crumbled like a collapsing dam.
"Dammit!"
She let out a nearly broken shout.
Swinging her arm, she flung the handgun away.
Athrun, who had been prepared, quickly reacted. Moving with panther-like speed, he dodged while simultaneously lunging toward Cagalli.
He grabbed her and they rolled together on the ground.
At the same moment, a gunshot echoed through the cave.
"Throwing a gun with the safety off? What were you thinking?"
Pinning Cagalli with his forearm across her chest, Athrun shouted the question at her.
Cagalli turned her face away from him and muttered in protest, "If you hadn't been overwhelming me with your words, I wouldn't have done something so stupid."
As she spoke, she glanced at Athrun, a blush of embarrassment coloring her cheeks, her voice growing even softer. "You're hurting me."
Hearing her small voice, Athrun finally realized his arm was still pressed against Cagalli's chest. Flustered, he quickly stood up, stepping back two steps before grabbing the blanket and tossing it to her.
Feeling the blanket cover her, Cagalli hurriedly sat up and wrapped it around herself, keeping her head lowered and avoiding Athrun's gaze.
Retrieving the gun Cagalli had thrown, Athrun clicked the safety on and returned it to the holster at his waist.
Glancing at Cagalli's appearance, he chuckled and teased, "Dressed like a resistance fighter, yet you break under a little verbal pressure. Are you really an armed rebel?"
"I've never killed anyone with a gun. I never intended to kill anyone," Cagalli retorted loudly, looking up at Athrun's amused face. Then she stared at him and complained, "Not everyone is like you! In that situation just now, you acted completely cold-blooded."
"Cold-blooded?"
Athrun seemed taken aback by her assessment, murmuring the words to himself. Then he gave a bitter smile and nodded. "Perhaps I am."
Saying this, he returned to his previous spot, resting one arm on his bent knee while keeping his gaze fixed on Cagalli.
He warned her, "If you're going to remain an armed resistance fighter, you'll have to overcome this barrier of killing directly with a gun. If you can't convince yourself to accept it and calmly pull the trigger, you'll end up dead in battle someday."
"Why must I convince myself to pull the trigger and kill someone?"
Cagalli looked at Athrun and countered his argument.
Hearing her rebuttal, Athrun stared blankly at her, his eyes seeming to say:
'Are you joking me?'
'You've already become an armed rebel, yet you haven't mentally prepared yourself to shoot and kill people?'
"Are you cursing me?"
Feeling Athrun's scrutinizing gaze as if it carried insults, Cagalli slightly furrowed her brows and asked.
Hearing this, Athrun waved his hand dismissively at her.
"I'm not cursing you!"
While explaining, his tone suddenly shifted.
"It's just that hearing your words earlier, combined with your identity and how you fired at me during daytime, I find you somewhat incomprehensible."
"What's so hard to understand! I joined the resistance to overthrow oppression, not to kill people. I've never killed anyone, never even considered killing anyone."
Pausing briefly at this point, Cagalli continued.
"When I shot at you during daytime, I never intended to kill you either. I just wanted to restrict your movements."