It was then the second year for Noin in Lake Victoria Academy. She gained the third place in her grade in the first year. She promised herself she would at least be the second at the end of the second year. Zechs and her became great friends. They often practiced together, since there were no other compatible opponents in the grade. By the end of the first year, Noin still had some difficulties with the gadgets. She could deal with the communication systems, since she had used it before. But for other devices, some of them she had never seen before. Luckily, Zechs seemed to know a lot about them and he often helped her. Noin was grateful to him, but she had little to give him back except some little myths she knew.
In the second year training course, there were more training about the combating skills and fighting strategies. Combating skills demanded highly on the physical fitness of the cadets, because from the beginning of the second year, all cadets have to practice in real mobile suit. The cadets would experience the heat coming from the engine and the vibration caused by collision. They also had to balance themselves in the cockpits. It was the time when the physical fitness of the cadets was shown. Noin managed to pass all physical fitness tests easily and finish the practice each time. Zechs did the same, until then, Noin was his only opponent. Noin became an important friend to him, although he used to be left alone, the encouragement and support given by her meant a lot to him. They competed and improved together. Sometimes Noin could beat him but he always believed that he could beat her next time. The instructors were satisfied with their performances and even told them to practice with the senior grade students. Noin was happy with this arrangement. She slowly adapted to a life without both her parents.
One day, Zechs woke up early and saw Noin running our of the Academy playground. He was surprised, Noin was a good student and there was no reason for her to run away. But Noin returned at breakfast. When she heard Zechs asked about the things happened to her in that morning, she smiled and told Zechs to meet her at five o’clock the day after with a pair of trainers. Zechs began to understand what she did but surprise still came. In the next morning, Noin ran continuously for an hour without rest and kept on accelerating when she was running uphill. Although Zechs did not tell Noin, he was a little bit out of breath. He was really amazed that Noin had a two-hour run before any training of the day. From that day onwards, he insisted to practice running with her. Little by little, his physical strength improved further, although Noin’s strength seemed as good as him all the time. They usually took a rest near a stream and ran back to the Academy at seven o’clock unnoticed.
They always had a good time when they were running together. Sometimes they would talk, but most of their time, they just concentrated on running. Noin loved the hill and actually she enjoyed the scene rather than running. On one hot day, they again practiced running. It was so hot and humid that they had to take a rest near the stream. Noin went away to the upper part of the stream where she could not see Zechs. Noin did this before, so that Zechs could take off his mask and refreshed himself. Noin respected the right of Zechs of keeping his own secrets and never asked him about his past and his face. Zechs thought of this, he smiled, “Noin is really a good friend and a trust-worthy friend. When everyone is curious about my past, she helped me to defend myself. When everyone stands against me, she stays with me. Will she be the same in the future?” Just when he thought about this, he heard Noin exclaiming. Noin was calm and stable; she seldom showed great fluctuations in emotion. “Did something wrong happen to her?” Zechs thought and quickly ran upstream. He pushed the bushes away and at that time, Noin turned around and smiled brightly, saying, “Look, Zechs!” She showed the brightest and the most beautiful smile that Zechs had ever seen on her, but that smile quickly disappeared and Noin rapidly turned back against him. Zechs was surprised, “Noin, what happened?” “Zechs, your mask…” Noin whispered. Zechs finally realized that he did not wear his mask. Noin was not certain what to do, she slowly said, “Zechs, this baby deer is beautiful.” Then she slowly released the baby deer. The baby deer looked at Zechs in an innocent way. Noin continued, “If it stays here, it will be in danger, I am taking it to a place further upstream. See you in the canteen, bye.” She picked up the deer and disappeared in the wood. “The deer is, indeed, beautiful.” thought Zechs as he went back to get his mask. “But why Noin seems sacred by me? Is she afraid of seeing me without mask?” He puzzled and jogged back to the Academy.
When he arrived at the canteen, Noin was already there. After he took the food, he chose to sit beside Noin. He began, “How’s the baby deer?” “It was released at a place where I heard noises made by some deer. It quickly ran away from me. I think it has returned to its mother now.” She was not looking at him while speaking. Zechs knew the reason behind well and said in a low voice, “If you promise not to tell any soul on Earth what had happened, it will be fine.” Noin was surprised by the cold and hard voice. She thought Zechs would blame her or even scold her, she never expected such a cold and hard tone with those words. “Please forgive me, Zechs.” Noin looked directly to Zechs, only found that Zechs was looking at her coldly. Although he was wearing his mask, she could still find the coldness. None of them spoke to each other on that day.
After Zechs went back to his private dormitory, he lowered his mask and looked at the mirror. He has changed a lot since he went to the Academy. He has grown taller, although he was taller than other teenagers of the same age before he came to the Academy. His mask still fitted him well and he has already accustomed to it. No one has seen his face before except his parents, his sister and his friend, Treize. And then, it came to Noin. He was a bit angry not at Noin but at himself. Why was he so careless? He should know that his face could not be unveiled or otherwise he could run into deep trouble. Did Noin do this on purpose? No, it couldn’t happen. She was his best friend in the Academy and in the world. Did she betray him? He closed his eyes for a while. There seemed to be a world full of enemy and the number of people he could trust was less than five. He wanted Noin to be one of them but he had to find out. He decided to observe Noin for the next few months. At the same time, there was news about his little sister, who he had not seen for years. She has moved to a new place to live and became sick. He wanted so much to see her, but he could not. He could not let other people know she was his sister or even he cared about her. “For God’s sake, get well soon, Relena.” He whispered to the stars at night.
Noin felt a little bit guilty, although she had done nothing wrong. She thought it was not right to see her friend’s face. Furthermore, the way Zechs treated her has changed. His manner was cold and reserved. She tried not to think too much about this. The best way to solve the problem was to remain silent and treated Zechs just like before. She hoped that Zechs would understand some day. As days went by, Noin noticed that Zechs was worried about another thing but she could not tell. She wished she could ask him with the old, friendly manner, but Zechs stayed away from her. At last, she wrote to him, ‘I am really sorry for the thing happened. Please accept my apology. If you need a back-up, I will always be there for you.’ The second year ended, Noin gained the first place in class with Zechs in the second place. Noin was not really happy because she knew the trouble that Zechs had distracted him and made him less concentrated on the study.
