Beforewords:
This is just an idea I had, thinking about two things:
"What if Zero Two didn't turn into a crazy sumbitch towards the end of Ep. 14?" and;
"What if the feelings of regret and remorse were preserved, as seen in the very beginning of the episode, and developed in that direction?"
Well, this is my answer to it. Won't say too much about it where this will go, but this fic will most likely consist of only 2 chapters. This chapter stars our favorite bro as "The Voice of Reason," if he already wasn't that.
And yes, this small-ish project is what has been taking away from my other, much larger, project. So yeah, enjoy, I guess.
"Hiro!"
As Ichigo cried out his name in distress, he was the only thing that was present in her mind. That girl—that monster—finally got Hiro in its grasp.
Finally restraining Strelitzia, Ichigo hoped out of the pistil terminal while opening Delphinium's cockpit. Goro followed her, helping to open Strelitzia's cockpit as Ichigo's left arm was currently numbed by the damage sustained to Delphinium. As the faceplate fell open, Ichigo immediately ran in to see Hiro slouched over as Zero Two gently held him. Using all the strength she could muster, Ichigo threw Zero Two off of Hiro and into Goro's arms. However Ichigo failed to notice the tears rolling down the horned girl's blank face.
"Hiro!" Ichigo cries again, shaking the boy relentlessly in an attempt to wake him up. Over and over again she yells his name, his eyes fluttering in a state of both unconsciousness and consciousness.
Zero Two watches the scene unfold while Goro assists in keeping her balance. "D-darling…" she mumbles as she slips from Goro's gentle hold and assumes a sitting position, arms covering her tearstained face as she let loose.
I'm so sorry.
Only if I knew.
Before long, a recovery team assisted in bringing the two disabled Franxx as well as its pilots back to the plantation. Hiro was rushed to a medical room and Ichigo refused to leave his side, although her arm needed tending to. Eventually the medical staff calmed her down enough to see her arm needed attention. Meanwhile Zero Two stood watching as Hiro was wheeled away, now uncertain of everything. He was nearly killed because of her clouded judgements and desires.
Eventually she came back to herself and walked off to change back into her uniform. While doing so, she still couldn't escape the fact that her darling nearly died because of her recklessness. Whatever doubts the other members of Squad 13 had were definitely confirmed by her actions.
Leaving the locker room, she began to stumble through the metal hallways with uneven footsteps, distraught marred her face. Zero Two had to tell him that she was sorry for everything. She had to make peace with him, knowing that he was her darling many years ago.
Behind her, an angry and agitated Ichigo followed with the rest of Squad 13 in tow.
"Zero Two!" she yelled, but the horned girl refused to acknowledge the words. Ichigo repeated this again, but to no avail. She had to face the monster that attempted to kill Hiro. Raising her good arm, she places it on Zero Two's shoulder, spinning her around to face her.
"Where are you going, you monst…" Ichigo begins, stopping when she sees the distressed face of Zero Two. A quiet gasp is heard from from behind Ichigo. "What the hell…?" Ichigo quietly mumbles
"I-I'm going to see m-my darling," Zero Two quietly states, holding back tears.
Ichigo is taken aback, surprise taking over her face by the way the girl was acting. There was no way this was real, right? Not once has she seen the horned girl act in such a troubled state. Maybe it's all an act to keep Hiro all to herself? That must be it.
Regaining her composure, Ichigo quickly ignites once again. "Why? Just so you can finish what you started?! Like he's some sort of prey to you?!"
Hearing her words, Zero Two's expression darkens as she struggles to keep the dam of emotions from flooding over.
Ichigo continued her barrage of rage. "You're a goddamn monster! You even turned Hiro into one too!"
Zero Two then turns towards the wall of the hallway, leaning against it with both arms to try and stabilize herself. She closes her eyes trying to prevent the shorter girl's blazing green eyes from boring into her own.
"What?" Ikuno questions from behind the group. "What do you mean by that?"
"I heard Nana and Hachi discussing Hiro's 'saurification,' that he would eventually turn into what this monster is," Ichigo answers in a softer tone, but not letting the anger sweep away. Upon finishing, a loud thud resonates through the wall, its source coming from Zero Two's fist impacting the hard metal metal. Where the fist lies is a sizeable dent, from pent up energy finally being released.
"That's… that's not true! I-I didn't mean it!" the horned girl roars with anguish while holding back tears, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
With no sense of stopping, Ichigo continues her volley of beration. "You knew this would happen to him! You didn't do anything to stop it! Y-you pitiful, loathsome, disgusting goddamn freak!"
Finishing, Ichigo starts moving forward in an attempt to do some sort of physical damage to Zero Two. "You'll never see Hiro again, damn it!"
Before she is able to take a second step, the horned girl suddenly collapses to the ground. The floodgates she had been trying to keep closed were now fully open, with Squad 13 looking on. Not once had she been brought to her knees through sheer emotional degradation, but there she lay with a puddle of tears slowly forming next to her face. Zero Two knew that she would not have been able to keep up her aloof personality forever, especially now that her darling was nearly killed—by her own hands.
Faces of shock and disgust begin to form on the faces of Squad 13, however they were not directed towards the sobbing mess of a girl. Both Futoshi and Zorome turn away from Ichigo, but not before the shorter boy mutters under his breath. "Yeah, who's the real monster here."
Mitsuru stood staring Ichigo down, squinted eyes filled with even more distaste than usual.
Miku closed her eyes and shook her head in displeasure.
Ikuno and Kokoro looked towards both of the girls in front of them without trying to focus on one in particular, not sure how to assess what happened.
"Ichigo…" Kokoro starts, before being cut off by Goro.
Goro, who was standing beside the blue haired girl, was taken aback by her ferocity. "Ichigo! What's gotten into you? This isn't you!" he steams, trying to get the girl to see reason.
"I said what I needed to say," Ichigo coldly replies, as she stares down at the crying mess on the floor, dark green eyes showing some sort of contempt.
"No! This is wrong, and you know it!" Goro explodes as he grabs Ichigo's shoulders, forcing her to look up at him. "I care about Hiro too, but this," gesturing to the sullen girl on the ground, "isn't going to help him. If anything, you're going to end up hurting him! You've gone too far!"
At the mention of potentially doing harm to Hiro, her demeanor shifts dramatically. Ichigo recalls how happy Hiro had become once he met Zero Two, and to possibly bring Hiro to a lower point is absolutely taboo. Turning her gaze back to the trainwreck in front of her, she manages to make out several words from the sobbing.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry, d-dah ling… s-so sor-sorry…" is all that can be heard from her constant sobbing and hiccups.
Looking back to her partner, she tries to plead with him. "It's just an act, Goro! Just to get closer to him!"
"If Zero Two wanted him dead, he would have died a long time ago," Goro emphasized as stares into Ichigo's eyes, resentment all over his face.
"B-but…" she stammers trying to find reason, but unable to find the correct words.
Turning back towards the rest of Squad 13, Goro begins. "C'mon, let's go," but before he makes his way towards the rest of the squad, he walks towards quietly sniffling girl still laying on the cold metal of the floor. "Kokoro, a hand please?"
Kokoro's eyes widen in surprise, but wastes no time in walking over to Goro. Crouching down, he slings Zero Two's left arm over his shoulder. Seeing what to do, Kokoro quickly slips the disheartened girl's right arm over herself. Rising together, they both gently lift Zero Two up as they begin to walk away.
"We'll be up top, Ichigo," Goro coldly deadpanned. "Come whenever you've calmed down a bit."
As Squad 13 walked away, Ichigo could feel their stares penetrating the back of her head. She didn't want to look at their faces of disgust.
Minutes passed as she stood in the now empty hallway, alone with only her thoughts. Why had they acted like that? She was right about Zero Two all this time! She wanted to kill Hiro all this time, she was right! But if what Goro said was true, Hiro would have already been dead by the third ride. Yet, she had never seen Zero Two act in such a vulnerable state. Not once had the girl shown such emotion; only stoicism, rage, and with Hiro, joy and wonder. Was she really sorry for what happened to Hiro?
How human are you, if at all?
There was only one way to find out.
Breaking out of her trance, Ichigo began marching towards the plantation's medical bay.
Soon reaching the door to the attic room, Goro is the first to break the silence the three had during their trek to Mistleteinn. "Open the door, please. I've got her," the blonde boy quietly asks Kokoro. Slipping out from under an exhausted Zero Two, she makes for the door while Goro lifts the pink haired girl's entire body into both of his arms, bridal style. She was surprisingly light for being as tall and strong as she was.
Opening the door, Kokoro steps aside allowing Goro to enter first with Zero Two. Locating the bed with white sheets to the right of the room, he shuffles towards it with the girl in his arms. Kneeling down next to the bed, he sets her head down first on the pillow, Goro can't help but think about the events that transpired not too long ago.
Was it really necessary for Ichigo to be that rough towards the only thing in life that makes Hiro smile? Indeed Ichigo cared about Hiro more than anyone else in the squad, but the brutality with her words? Why was Zero Two acting in the way she was currently? When he caught the girl that was thrown from Strelitzia's cockpit, she was in shock with tears streaming down her face—not the emotion one would feel after intentionally trying to kill someone.
Snapping him out of his thoughts, Kokoro quietly piped up from the doorway. "I'll be downstairs with the others, Goro."
Without taking his eyes off of the girl that lay in front of him, he nods in acceptance. "I'll be down later, alright?" Before she leaves completely, he makes a simple request. "Oh, and close the door too."
Zero Two shifts a bit on the bed as she hears the question. "Wh-what? Shouldn't someone else be in here too?" Kokoro questions softly, confusion all over her face.
"No, it's better if I'm alone. Trust me," Goro promises, turning his head away from Zero Two to meet the ashen haired girl's gaze with a soft smile.
With an understanding nod, Kokoro silently shuts the door to the attic room, leaving the two parasites in peace. Goro remained kneeling to the side of the bed, Zero Two's back facing him. Looking around the room, he spots a desk against the far side with a set of two chairs.
Might be in here for awhile, Goro thinks to himself. Rising from his kneeling position, he makes his way towards the desk with the chairs. Grabbing one of the two, he quietly brings it over to the side of the bed. Setting it down, he slowly slides onto it without much resistance. Rubbing his nose in thought, Goro takes off his glasses, setting them next to a hand mirror laying on the nearby nightstand. Returning his arms to his body, he leans forward in the chair into a more relaxed position.
Within the stuffy attic room, Goro sat for many long minutes. He felt prepared to stay in the room for however long it would take, if anything were to happen. As he waited, the already setting sun made contact with the horizon. The already dark room was growing darker, especially with the shades drawn blocking all the light.
As the young boy remains seated, Zero Two feels unease building up as his ghost-like presence hovers over her. She didn't know what he could want from her. Why hasn't he left yet? she thinks to herself. What does he want? Couldn't he see what I've done?
But the only thing Zero Two could answer was her current desire: just to be left alone. Alone like she had always been. Made all the worse now after what she had done to her darling. An unforgivable act. Heresy.
To hurt him, let alone kill him.
Fresh tears begin to roll over the dry stains that cover her face at the thought, unseen to the seated boy behind her. But it didn't matter anymore if anyone saw her like this. She just wanted to melt into the bed, not wanting to be seen by anyone, ever again. Hearing her quiet sniffling and seeing her trembling body, Goro finds an opportunity to begin.
"You didn't mean it, did you," he whispers.
Caught off guard by the question, Zero Two stops her quiet sobbing for a moment. "Wha-what?" she chokes out, confused.
"Hiro, you didn't want to hurt him, right?" Goro rephrases his question in hopes the girl would understand.
Hearing the new question, Zero Two couldn't hold it back any longer. What started as a quiet weep developed into an ugly, loud sobbing. "Y-y-ye-yes…" she wails through the wall of tears now covering her face.
Reaching out a hand, Goro hesitantly hovers it above the girl's shoulder before gently landing it. Making contact, he rubs the shoulder in an attempt to bring some sort of comfort to the crying girl. She doesn't mind the physical contact.
"I-i-it's be-because I-I'm a m-m-monster!" Zero Two wails through her cries. "I-I'm a monster! I t-turned darling into one too!"
"No, don't believe anything Ichigo told you," reassures Goro. "Hiro doesn't think you are, so I don't either. Hiro knew that he would become like you, but that didn't stop him. Hell, it probably even motivated him."
"B-b-but…" she stammers, quickly turning to face Goro, hand breaking away from her shoulder. Zero Two then lunges towards the blonde, firmly placing both hands on his upper arms, shaking him. "I am! Just look at me! I-I've killed so many of my partners! A-and, and, and I almost killed darling!"
Releasing Goro from her grasp, she falls back onto the bed, face first into the pillow. Her cries became slightly muffled through its softness. "I'm no good for him anyways…"
"What? No!" Goro claimed in shock of the girl's confession of dejection. "No, ever since he met you, he has been the happiest I have seen in years. He was able to pilot because of you. You've made such an impression in him, I don't even know."
Looking up from her pillow and with wide eyes, she makes eye contact with Goro. Her emerald eyes reminded him of a small child. "R-really?" she asks with a sniffle.
"Yes. Really," the blonde answers with firm confidence. Once Zero Two came into their lives, Hiro had become the happiest he has been since their days at the Garden. While everyone had their doubts about the girl, especially Ichigo, there were none at the sight of Hiro being joyous for once. Like he returned to his younger self.
Covered by half of the pillow, a small smile begins to form on the horned girl's face, signalling that Goro's work was done. He'll definitely be happy about this.
Seeing his handy work, he rises from the chair and moves closer to the bed. Kneeling down while placing a hand on the girl's back, Goro begins. "Listen, I know you want to see Hiro right now and I can bet he wants to see you, too," he pauses for a moment to let the words of truth set in. "I don't want to separate you two for too long, but can you please stay here for awhile? I'm worried Ichigo might do something she'd regret. What she did earlier wasn't right in the slightest. Towards you, or towards Hiro."
Looking away from him, the smile that was present on her face quickly turned into a frown, almost childlike in nature. "I'll figure something out, okay?" Goro assures her as he rises from his kneeling position.
He turns towards the nightstand next to the bed, reaching for the glasses that rest on top of it. Sliding the glasses on his face, he shifts towards the bedroom door to make his leave. Reaching for the doorknob, a hand shoots out from the bed, lightly grabbing his wrist. Before he's able to turn to the source, a soft voice sounds from the bed.
"Promise?" Zero Two asks, glaring with big green eyes and the bottom half of her face still obscured by the pillow.
"Promise," Goro reassures her, turning around to meet her gaze.
Closing her eyes out of contempt, the smile she once had returns. So this is what Hiro sees everyday, he thinks to himself.
Satisfied, she lets go of his arm, allowing Goro to open the bedroom door. Bringing the arm back, she adjusts herself on the bed into a more comfortable position. All the pent up anger, sadness, and regret was spilt, leaving room for some sort of temporary solace. Closing the door behind him, Zero Two makes one final request before it shuts completely.
"Tell him," she pauses, "tell him, I'm sorry, okay? And, um, thank you."
"Anytime, and of course I will," Goro says with a smile through the crack of the door.
Closing the door behind him, he stands outside of the bedroom for a little while. So that's her true self. Hiro's lucky, he thinks to himself. Time to go see how he's doing. And Ichigo too.
Goro then starts to move through the hallways of the boarding house, leaving the girl to herself. Reaching the foyer of the house, he slowly descends the grand staircase of the building. At the bottom, he turns his direction to the lounge area is, finding most of Squad 13 present. They all appeared to be patiently sitting on the couches waiting for his return, besides a certain olive haired boy who stood in his favorite sulking spot. Walking in, everyone turns their gazes towards him, including Mitsuru, who only looked for a couple seconds before going back to stare out of the window.
"Goro!" Zorome suddenly jumps up from his seat on the couch, surprise all over his face. "We thought she killed you!"
"No we didn't!" Miku counters, hitting the shorter boy over the head with her fist.
"Ow!" he recoils in pain, rubbing the back of his head. "Me and Futoshi thought so, anyways."
"Yeah, you were up there for a long time, and I was going to go up there when we heard the crying," the larger boy explains from his seat. "Before I was able to leave, Kokoro stopped me," gesturing towards the girl, his face becoming flush with embarrassment at the mention of the girl's name.
The ashen haired girl nods in affirmation. "I thought it was for the best."
"Thanks, Kokoro," Goro smiled at the girl. Looking around the room, he sees that a certain girl is missing.
"Has Ichigo come back yet?"
At the mention of the question, their gazes suddenly depart from Goro. It was like they didn't want to acknowledge the girl's existence, given with what happened earlier. Ikuno is the first to speak up, concluding the awkward silence. "No, not at all. She's probably still down there."
Goro ponders on what to do. "I'll try to find her, and maybe talk to Hiro before it gets too late."
"And with Zero Two, I asked her to stay in her room," he continues, stressing the word 'asked,' emphasizing that she wants to remain in the room because she wants to. "If she decides to leave her room, please don't do anything to agitate her," Goro states, glaring at Zorome.
"H-hey, I haven't done anything yet! I swear!" he exclaims in innocence, violet eyes dilating in fear.
Miku glares daggers at her partner and almost ready to hit him for a second time. "Yet."
Contempt with his warning, and seeing Zorome getting fearful over nothing, Goro makes his leave towards the main door. "Alright, I hope to be back soon. With Ichigo, of course."
"Goro," a cold voice from the far corner of the room begins, "Do you really believe that she's actually sorry for what she did to Hiro?"
Startled, Goro turns towards the source. "Yes. I do," he asserts, meeting Mitsuru's cold gaze.
"You don't know what I saw in those forsaken eyes of hers, Goro," Mitsuru urged, recalling back when he was the only available parasite to pilot with Zero Two. She had left him mentally scarred and bedridden for several days because of her piloting prowess. It was always in the back of his mind, right next to the forgotten promise, though the forgotten promise was nearly faded.
"That was out of your own arrogance!" hollered Goro, using the same intensity as he did towards Ichigo from earlier. "You wanted to prove yourself to nothing, and look at where it got you. Hiro means a lot to Zero Two, and Zero Two means a lot to Hiro," calming down a bit, he hesitates on his next words. "It's something none of us could possibly understand."
The truth hit Mitsuru harder than a brick, flinching back in abstract fear. Seeing this, Kokoro jumps in. "Hey, calm down a bit. Mitsuru, come sit over here," she politely asks, gesturing to an open spot on the couch beside her. He hesitates for a brief moment, but recovers from the fear following her request. He sits down right next to Kokoro on the couch, Futoshi silently fuming.
Calming down completely, Goro sighs in frustration, closing his eyes he rubs the bridge of his nose under his glasses. "I'm sorry, okay? It's been a long day."
"It's alright," Mitsuru claims in defeat. "I'm sorry too."
With no more friction in the room, Goro silently leaves the lounge, then out of the boarding house completely.
This day's been crazy, he thinks to himself, walking through the forested paths of Mistilteinn. It can't get worse, could it?