Simultaneous Time Travel: Gundam? All Teammates are Old Six

Chapter 21: Whispers in the Ward and an Unexpected Tenderness

[Archangel, Medical Room]

Consciousness struggles to rise from the endless depths of the sea.

Hearing was the first thing to recover.

The rhythmic ticking of the instruments filled my ears, faint and steady, like a lullaby.

Next comes the pain.

The pain came from every corner of my body, like being repeatedly pierced by countless red-hot steel needles, or like being thrown into a runaway washing machine, with my bones and internal organs being shaken out of place.

"hiss……"

Ling Yu struggled to open his eyes, and it took him several seconds to focus his vision.

A snow-white ceiling, the smell of disinfectant, and... a peaceful sleeping face so close to my eyes.

Frey Alsta lay beside his bed, a few strands of red hair falling across her forehead, trembling slightly with her steady breathing. She seemed to have slept for a long time; traces of tears still clung to the corners of her eyes, and her brows were furrowed even in her sleep, as if she were having some unsettling nightmare.

Ling Yu blinked, his brain still a little fuzzy.

What's going on? Is this a post-battle bonus scene? Or... did I pull a hidden character in a gacha pull?

He tried to move, raising his right hand, but felt a gentle resistance.

Looking down, he saw that Frey's hands were tightly gripping his, as if he were clutching a lifeline. Her hands were cold, but he could feel the force and the stubbornness with which she refused to let go.

A strange sensation flowed slowly through Ling Yu's heart along the skin that had been touched.

He twitched his finger slightly.

"Well……"

Frey's eyelashes trembled, and she suddenly woke up.

When she looked up, her sleepy blue eyes met Ling Yu's eyes, which held a mixture of teasing and inquiry, and time seemed to freeze for a second.

"You...you're awake!"

After a brief moment of surprise, Frey's cheeks flushed instantly. As if electrocuted, she hurriedly loosened her grip, shrank back awkwardly, her eyes darting around, unable to look at him any longer.

"I...I was just a little worried because you hadn't woken up yet...No! I was worried that my 'assets' might just be ruined!" she hurriedly explained, her voice growing softer and softer.

"Oh? So you're worried about assets." Ling Yu smiled weakly, aggravating the wound on his lip, making him wince in pain. "Well... Ms. CEO, our company's employee benefits are pretty good, aren't they? We even have a service where the CEO personally accompanies you to the hospital?"

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Frey's face turned even redder. She forced herself to stand up, her gaze falling on the dried bloodstain on Ling Yu's face. Her brows furrowed again. "Don't move! I'll go get you a towel!"

Her movements as she turned around were somewhat clumsy, and she almost bumped into the medical cart next to her.

Watching her slightly flustered back, Ling Yu's smile deepened.

Deep within his chaotic consciousness, the log panel of the [Ace Pilot Substitution System] was silently refreshing.

[...The critical event 'Miracle Survival' has been detected and completed.]

[Mission Rating: A+ (Bearing the mental strain and physical G-force of an ACE-level pilot with a mortal body, the cost was enormous, but the effect was outstanding.)]

[Rewards are being processed...]

[Received system points: 3000 points.]

[Unlock special achievement: 'The Falling Comet'.]

[Achievement Reward: One chance to draw from a special gacha pool (guaranteed SR pilot card).]

[Driver Ling Yu's physical condition has been detected as extremely poor. The aftereffects of the 'Life-Burning' effect are being assessed... Immediate rest is recommended; otherwise, irreversible damage to his body will occur.]

So it was a side effect of Char's card... The price of "Red Horned Triple Speed" is definitely not something my ordinary body can easily bear.

Ling Yu thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, watching Frey walk back to the bedside with a wet towel.

The girl lowered her head and carefully, with an almost reverent gesture, gently wiped the blood from his face. Her movements were very light, and her fingertips would occasionally brush against his skin unintentionally, bringing a cool and soft touch.

A faint, sweet fragrance wafted into my nostrils.

The atmosphere in the medical room suddenly became somewhat awkward.

"I said, CEO of Frey," Ling Yu suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.

"...What?" Frey's voice was barely audible, and she lowered her head even further.

"As the company's star asset, my performance this time should earn me an S-level performance rating, right?" Ling Yu said in a half-joking tone. "I won't ask for the performance bonus; after all, we're a makeshift team right now and need to save costs. But... could we change the reward method?"

"What...reward?" Frey asked instinctively.

"For example, the CEO's personal service or something?" Ling Yu grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. "The wind is quite noisy today, and I feel like my youthful romance story is about to begin."

"you……!"

Frey, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly raised her head, glaring at him with a mixture of shame and anger. That cynical smile was so hateful in her eyes, but when she met those seemingly frivolous yet profound eyes, all her anger deflated like a punctured balloon.

She discovered that she couldn't actually be angry with him.

"You...you're a hopeless idiot!"

Frey dropped those words and the towel, then rushed out of the medical room as if fleeing.

Watching that hurried figure disappear, Ling Yu's smile slowly faded. He raised the hand she had held for so long, as if the girl's warmth still lingered on it.

He turned his head, looked out at the deep universe outside the window, and whispered softly.

"Thank you, Frey."

This is no joke.

He knew that if it weren't for Frey's decisive action at the last moment, he would probably be nothing but cosmic dust by now. That seemingly willful and spoiled young lady displayed courage and boldness beyond everyone's imagination at the crucial moment.

Outside.

Frey leaned against the cold wall, her heart pounding uncontrollably.

She covered her burning cheeks, her mind a complete mess.

Assets...performance...idiot...

These words swirled in her mind, but in the end, they all settled on his soft "thank you".

In that instant, she clearly felt that the ice in her heart called "revenge" cracked open with a barely perceptible fissure.

He is more than just an asset.

He is Ling Yu.

---

[Medical room, at the entrance]

Kira Yamato hesitated for a long time at the door of the medical room, holding a cup of hot drink.

He felt both guilty and worried. Guilt for being unable to pilot the assault vehicle, causing Ling Yu to suffer such pain in his place; and worry about Ling Yu's injuries, the horrific scene of him being carried out of the cockpit still haunting him.

Taking a deep breath, he finally mustered up his courage and prepared to push the door open and go in.

However, the moment his hand touched the door, he saw what was inside through the observation window.

The atmosphere in the ward was subtle yet harmonious.

Frey, who had just run out, had returned at some point. She was bowing her head, silently tidying the blankets for Ling Yu, who was lying on the bed. Her movements were clumsy but earnest, and her face still had a faint blush.

Ling Yu simply watched her quietly, his eyes holding a complex light that Kira had never seen before, a mixture of tenderness and mockery.

At that moment, it was as if an invisible wall separated the two of them from the rest of the world.

Kira Yamato's steps came to a halt in that spot.

He watched as the girl he secretly loved took care of another boy with a tenderness he had never experienced before.

The hot drink in my hand had gone cold without me even realizing it.