Through his sleep-muddled senses, Hiro was faintly aware of the sound of giggling coming from somewhere close by, too groggy to pinpoint the exact location and too drowsy to care. He grumbled in displeasure as fingers began to poke at his cheeks, weakly attempting to fight off his attacker as the giggling grew.
Hiro loudly sighed, slowly opening his eyes to see a blurry blob of pink before him. "Daaah-ling!" He rapidly blinked away the sleep in his eyes and the fuzzy image cleared itself to reveal a beaming Zero Two. "Wake up!"
He squinted, her blinding smile too much for him, and rolled over in the bed, burying his face back into his pillow.
Zero Two pouted. She grabbed hold of his blankets and began to pull. "Darling! I said wake up!" Hiro tried to yank his beloved blankets back, but Zero Two was too fast, throwing his covers aside with her ridiculous strength before he could get a proper grip. He curled up with a moan, trying to preserve all the warmth he had lost with his blankets.
"Hmph! I don't see why you have to make this so difficult for me, darling!" Zero Two grumpily said, crossing her arms. "You leave me no choice!"
She climbed up on to the bed and firmly planted her feet on either side of Hiro's prone body. Feeling parts of the mattress sink beside him, he blearily looked up with questioning squinted eyes. Zero Two smirked back down. "You're gonna get out of this bed, darling, whether you like it or not!"
"... where are your pants?" Hiro quietly mumbled, stretching a bit as he flipped onto his back to look up at her and the clear under-the-dress view she was presenting. "I like your panties though." He put an arm behind his head, staring up at her with a much more awake expression. "Very cute," Hiro drawled, giving a thumbs up with his free hand.
"Oh, you noticed!" Zero Two smiled brightly. "Thanks, I spent a long time picking them out at the store - there were just so many options, but these are just so cute, don't you think so, darling?" She lifted her sleeping gown above her waist to point at her undergarments. "See the little red ribbon? When I saw that, I just had to buy them!" He nodded thoughtfully, humming along in approvement.
Letting her legs buckle, Zero Two suddenly dropped her full weight on to an unsuspecting Hiro's stomach, who made an interesting sound between a choke and a yelp. "Now get up." She easily slapped away his flailing arms that uselessly tried to push her off. "I'll get off if you promise to get out of bed, daaah-ling."
"I-I'm a-actually just f-fine, t-thank you very mu-much," Hiro gasped out. However, he continued to thrash about, trying and failing to either get Zero Two off or get out from underneath her.
After letting him struggle for a couple seconds, she leaned down with a small smile, planting her hands on either side of Hiro's head and slightly lifting her weight off him, allowing him a couple gasps of air. "See? Just fine," he shakily grinned back up, an expression that was instantly wiped off his face as Zero Two forcefully sat back down on his stomach. "Oh really?" She smirked.
"Al-alright alright, I give!" Hiro choked out. "I'll get out of bed, I'll get out!"
With inhuman grace, Zero Two leaped off both Hiro and the bed, daintily brushing away some nonexistent dust on her sleeping gown before looking up with a bright smile. "Glad you see it my way, darling! Now hurry, or we're gonna miss it!"
Sighing torturously, Hiro slowly propped himself up on his elbows. But when Zero Two leaned in close to press a soft kiss against his lips, gently cupping his face with her hand, he couldn't help cracking a grin. "That's not fair," he half-heartedly complained. A cheeky grin thrown across her shoulder as she left the room was her only response.
Shaking his head to himself with a smile, Hiro heaved himself off the bed with a grunt of great effort. Picking up the blankets Zero Two had thrown aside, he placed them back on the bed, all bundled up on the far side. Hiro stepped into the slippers Zero Two had bought him a while ago - ones that matched with her own, of course - and slowly trudged out of the bedroom.
Making his way to the living room, he gave a friendly greeting to Ikuno and Ichigo when he spotted them. "Morning," Hiro smiled at the two who were seated on the ground around the table in the middle of the room eating cereal. Ichigo responded with a little wave, her mouth full, while Ikuno continued to stare into her bowl with dead eyes.
Hiro gently laughed. "No real food?" Ikuno's head shot up to glare at Hiro, who instantly put his hands up and began mumbling a series of apologies. "Cereal is real food," she snarled. With a small giggle, Ichigo comfortingly pet Ikuno's head, deflating the riled up girl in seconds.
"Well, Hiro, you're basically the only one of us that can cook edible food. Excuse the fact that we had to make due with how late you sleep in on Saturdays." Ichigo suddenly brightened up. "Can you make us pancakes?!"
With a smile, Hiro nodded. "Of course." Ichigo gave a small cheer. Ikuno had already returned staring at her cereal, oblivious to the world around her. Hiro sighed, taking a seat on the couch. "But first -"
Zero Two kicked open the door leading from the kitchen to the living room, two bowls of cereal balanced in either hand. "Darling, it's Saturday morning cartoon time!"
She pranced over to where Hiro sat to delicately hand him one of the bowls. She placed the other bowl down on the table and grabbed the nearby TV remote, flicking on the TV that was mounted on the wall couple feet away.
Excitedly switching through the channels, Zero Two made a small cry of delight when she found what she wanted - a station that aired reruns of old Saturday morning cartoons. Having discovered the channel a couple months ago, Zero Two had made it a tradition to wake Hiro up every Saturday and drag him out of bed to watch with her. Seeing as Saturdays had once been Hiro's sleep-in day, he was initially less than pleased - but one flash of Zero Two's puppy-eyes made him give in instantly.
Tossing the remote aside, Zero Two grabbed the bowl of cereal she had left on the table and threw herself back on the couch, snuggling into Hiro's side and placed a quick kiss to his cheek. Eyes now glued on the screen, she mindlessly began shoving spoonful after spoonful of cereal down her mouth.
Ichigo gave a quiet sigh of exasperation and comfortingly patted a wincing Ikuno's shoulder as Zero Two loudly sang along to the opening of GaoGaiGar, horrible off-key of course. Rolling his eyes, Hiro started on his own bowl of cereal. When Zero Two glanced over, eyes shining, he couldn't help the smile of absolute adoration that broke across his face.
Balancing his cereal on his knee, Hiro reached an arm around Zero Two's shoulders, pulling her closer to his side and pressing his lips against the top of her head with a smile. Zero Two happily leaned into his embrace, still eating her cereal.
"Enjoying yourself?" Hiro smiled. Nodding gleefully, Zero Two grinned. "Of course!" His smile grew, and he placed another couple kisses against her hair, Zero Two giggling at the slightly ticklish feeling.
"Stop it, darling, I'm trying to watch!" Hiro shrugged and continued his assault despite her half-hearted protests. "Not my fault you're so cute."
Ikuno groaned. "You two make me sick." Ichigo quietly snickered into her bowl.
XXX-XXX-XXX
An hour later, Zero Two was completely knocked out. The combination of waking up far earlier than she was used to, using all her energy to hype herself up for that week's GaoGaiGar episode, and her complete disinterest in anything after said episode meant Zero Two usually crashed only a couple minutes after the credits played.
Since she was currently sprawled over the couch, Hiro now went through his usual routine every Saturday after watching Zero Two's show. Taking both his and Zero Two's bowls to the kitchen, he quickly washed them and made himself busy making breakfast for everyone else.
He returned to the living room, two plates full of pancakes, bacon, and fried eggs balanced in his arms. When Ichigo spotted him, she gave a quiet cheer of happiness, startling Ikuno out of her stupor and causing Zero Two to mumble in her sleep.
"Pancakes! Bacon and eggs too! Thanks, Hiro!" She whisper-shouted gleefully. Hiro smiled, passing the plates to an excited Ichigo and thankful Ikuno. "No problem. There's a ton more on the kitchen counter, make sure Futoshi and Zorome don't eat them all when they get up. There's some boiling water Mitsuru can use for his tea. I made some fruit salad for Kokoro and Miku - they're in the fridge. Oh, and tell Goro we're out of milk, I used up the last bit. I started up the coffee pot for you, Ikuno, so-"
"Hiro." Ikuno cut him off with an exasperated grin. "We get it. Thank you."
Hiro shrugged. "It's not my fault you guys are like overgrown babies." He flashed a bright smile. "But you're welcome. Now excuse me."
Making his way over to the couch Zero Two was sprawled across, Hiro knelt down and carefully lifted the sleeping girl, cradling her in his arms. He slowly walked back to their bedroom, taking great care to not hit her against any corners or doorways, and gently placed her down on the bed.
As he kicked off his slippers, Zero Two yawned from the bed, eyes slowly blinking as she slightly lifted her head to look around. When she realized where she was, she sighed. "… I fell asleep again… didn't I, darling?"
With a soft smile, Hiro nodded, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "Mhm. I think you lasted a couple seconds longer than last week." Zero Two groaned, letting her head fall back on to the pillow.
"Sorry, darling, I keep waking you up and always end up just falling asleep," she mumbled, turning her head away. "You must be getting sick of it. I'll just go watch next week's episode alone."
Hiro reached out and took one of her hands into his own, his thumb making comforting strokes along her skin. "No… I love it. I love that you have something you're so passionate about that you feel the need to show me. I could never get sick of that."
With a small laugh, Hiro scooted up the bed. "And you're so cute when you fall asleep. I wouldn't miss that for anything in the world. I love seeing your smile when I wake up, I love getting to watch you be so excited, and…"
With a gentle hand, Hiro tilted her face so they could see eye to eye. "And I love you, Zero Two. Always."
Zero Two stared at Hiro, a blush slowly starting to form on her face. Suddenly, she turned away, her back facing Hiro. "...I love you too."
A massive grin grew across his face. "Huh? What's that? What'd you just say?"
"Hmph."
Hiro chuckled. "Scoot over, I wanna go back to sleep too."
"Hmph!" Nonetheless, she moved over, allowing Hiro just enough space to lie down on the bed beside her.
"Aw, don't be like that. I proclaim my everlasting love to you and you treat me like this?"
"I hate you."
Hiro climbed into bed, wrapping his arms around her stomach and pulling her into his chest. He pressed a kiss against the back of her neck and smirked against her skin when he felt her shiver.
With a huff, Zero Two flipped around so she could face Hiro, their faces inches apart. Her cheeks still had a tinge of red and she had a small pout. Meanwhile, his grin had only grown slightly smaller.
"...I love you too, darling."
Zero Two leaned forward, pressing their lips together. After a while, she pulled back, both of them breathless.
Gently, she said, "I love you so much it hurts sometimes, and I wonder how I was so lucky to find someone who loved me just as much as I love them… darling?"
"Yes, Zero Two?" He said quietly.
"Hold me for a bit." She snuggled into his chest, her voice becoming softer and softer.
"Of course," he whispered. He closed his eyes, placing a kiss against her forehead.
Her breathing slowly evened out as she fell asleep, safe in her darling's arms. He soon followed suit, the scent of the beautiful girl in his embrace lulling him back into his dreams.
XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX
So, been gone for a while. Sorry about that, you'd think summer vacation would mean I'd have more free time, and I do, but then I couldn't think of anything to write and I have like a bunch of half-written rough drafts and ugh it's annoying and I was being lazy and blah blah blah.
Then fucking Episode 21 came around. How could I not write anything after that ending? So here's some fluff to tide over both myself and everyone out there reading this until Saturday comes back around. (Although that preview doesn't look too hopeful. Goddamnit DitF, just let us be happy.)
Ep21 sure was a doozy. So many things happened. The Nines being Zero Two's clones wasn't too surprising, but seeing Delta and Epilson being crushed was definitely surprising. I hate to admit it, but Nine Alpha going all berserk was pretty awesome. He's still a little bitch though.
Definitely worried about Ikuno, but I have faith that she'll pull through. Like I said in another one of my earlier author's note, I never really cared about the Kokoro/Mitsuru relationship so no comment there. Ichigo and Goro being badasses, what's new? Although I'm definitely starting to feel bad for poor Ichigo and her arm that gets constantly ripped off. Ouch.
Rest in pieces, Dr. Franxx. He died doing what he loved: sporting massive hard-ons for Strelizia. By the way, Strelizia Apath is some fucking Gurren Lagann shit and I love it. I sure hope it comes back in future episodes, as well as base Strelizia of course.
And of course the cliffhanger. Ugh. I know it's very unlikely she's not dead or anything, but god it hurts. Why is DitF so fond of these fucking chains of emotional scenes? Zero Two finding Hiro, the two of them under the mistletoe, then comatose Zero Two. My heart wasn't built for this kind of abuse.
Anyways, about the story. Predictably, I began writing this on Saturday morning, and of course I procrastinated finishing it until Thursday. Honestly, this could've been done and posted on Tuesday but I have bad work ethics. I chose GaoGaiGar to be the cartoon they were watching for a couple reasons: 1) it's a signature mecha anime, and that's like the epitome of Saturday morning cartoons, 2) I wrote Hiro and Zero Two to both be big fans of mecha in Ch2 of Bento and Rain, 3) it's a very roundabout reference to Gurren Lagann, and 4) I didn't know what else to put.
Don't think about the extremely inconsistent sleeping arrangements of the HS!AU fics. I'll be writing a legit full-length HS!AU story once the series is over and we stop getting hit by all these fucking plot twists and cliffhangers.
Also, this author's note is over 400 words. Whoops. Special thanks to Nyanlight for encouraging me to write this, even if that encouragement took a bit to kick into action. Next fic will probably be Ch3 of Bento, unless Ep22 is super crazy and I just have to write something for it. Hope you enjoyed reading, and don't forget to leave a review!