Chapter 13 – April 2056 – Sirius Line Alpha

Terao Noboru was feeling a bit of regret.

He had underestimated what it meant to accommodate 172 people.

He had wanted to make a cool, dramatic impression when reuniting with Nagamine Mikako. But reality didn’t go along with his plans.

After docking the ships and securing the access gate, the moment the boarding began, young women surged in like a raging torrent — dodon.

『Where’s our room?』or『Can I get something to drink?』they’d say, catching hold of the young Noboru, playfully bombarding him with selfish demands.

Two hours into the boarding process, including transporting the injured and ill, they had somehow completed the intake of all 172 operators — but the chaos showed no signs of settling.

He was just a newbie, after all. Nobody cared that his actual job was communications technician — instead, the veteran crew members pushed him around at their convenience: 『Show me to my room』, 『Bring my onboard uniform』, 『Pick up the laundry』, 『While you’re at it, massage my shoulders.』

Forget looking for Nagamine — Noboru was just blindly running around the ship, unable to even take a proper break. Of course, even in the middle of that mess, he made sure to check every girl’s face he passed, hoping to catch a glimpse of Nagamine… but no luck.

Seeing Noboru in that state, a kind senior took pity on him and said, 『Hey, take a break here』 treating him to a can of coffee from the vending machine.

Gratefully accepting the gesture, Noboru sat down on the bench next to the vending machine in the corridor.

— Nagamine, where are you?

Wearing a pitiful expression, he gulped down the coffee.

He had dressed up in the pristine white uniform of the Space Army, determined to show his best side to Nagamine — but the hems of his pants were all crumpled and dirty.

Trying to ease his breathing, he unfastened the hook on his stand-up collar. Now he just looked even more sloppy.

— Well, no need to panic. She’s definitely somewhere on the ship.

He took another sip of coffee and let out a small sigh of relief — when his phone rang.

It was from Nagamine, no doubt. But the message was shorter than anything he’d ever received from her before.

***

【Noboru-kun.

I’m here.

What’s the secret plan?

— From Mikako】

***

Startled, he looked up and glanced around.

“I’m here, Noboru-kun.”

A familiar, nostalgic voice.

At the end of the hallway, there was a woman gazing his way.

She was wearing a nurse staff uniform.

She waved her phone in her hand and slowly walked toward him.

“We finally met, huh, Noboru-kun.”

Nagamine Mikako smiled.

“Ah…”

He was too embarrassed to look her in the eyes.

“Nagamine, you got taller.”

Trying to say something clever, nothing came to mind—so he just blurted out something trivial.

“I grew five centimeters. But the changes in weight and my three sizes? That’s a secret.”

Nagamine had changed, and yet she hadn’t.

That’s how it felt—and Noboru let out a breath of relief.