Zero Two continues on her journey to make Hiro the perfect lunch, so she goes to her senpai Nia for some help. Nia is more than willing to help out.

XxX-xXx-XxX

"Hey, Hiro." The person in question happily turned away from his rather one-sided conversation with Goro about the finer points of fishing, thankful for the chance to get away. The tall bespectacled boy was a good friend, always dependable, but the topic of fishing seemed to unlock some hidden side of him that would literally never stop talking.

"Sorry Goro, we can continue this conversation later," Hiro said with a gentle smile, stepping away from his friend. Goro simply waved off his apology with a knowing grin.

Facing the one who called him, Hiro smiled again. "Thanks for the save, Mitsuru. You know how he gets."

Mitsuru scoffed. "Completely unbearable, yes, I'm familiar." Hiro gently laughed at his scowl.

"Anyways, some scruffy looking homeless blonde guy told me to give this to you," said Mitsuru, passing a roughed up letter to Hiro. "Honestly, how can anyone be okay with such a disgusting appearance? He had on rags, for heaven's sake, and looked like an utter beast. The nerve," he ranted with his nose in the air.

Hiro rolled his eyes with a smile at Mitsuru's snobby tone. Ever observant, Mitsuru noticed Hiro's actions and glared at him, before dropping his gaze to the letter. "What's it say?"

Lifting the envelope, Hiro immediately noticed the unique seal - a flaming skull wearing a pair of rather pointy shades with two small waves of fire on either side - the logo of the Dai-Gurren Brigade, a famous and very successful competitive mecha fighting team. "Ah, this must be from Simon-senpai."

"Simon-senpai? That mentor of yours from middle school? You two still talk?" Back when Hiro and others were in their final year of middle school, they had gone through a mentor program with the high school they currently attended where a third-year high schooler had been paired up with a third-year middle schooler. Hiro had gotten the friendly and high-spirited Simon as his mentor and the two had immediately hit it off, continuing to communicate past Simon's graduation. Even the Mecha Club that Simon had inherited from his elder brother was still going strong under Hiro's own leadership.

"Well yeah, we're not all socially inept like you." Mitsuru grumpily hmphed at Hiro's dig. "He's never done something this fancy though. I wonder what he wants?" Mitsuru scoffed. "Why are you asking me?" Ignoring his drama queen friend, Hiro shrugged to himself. "Only one way to find out."

Tearing open the envelope, he pulled out the folded letter within. Flipping it open, Hiro softly groaned at the sight of Simon's familiar handwriting. Perhaps he had hoped Simon had recently improved his penmanship, but the barely eligible chicken-scratch told a different story. Reading the message with squinted eyes, Hiro's eyebrow slowly raised higher and higher. Mitsuru watched with a mildly concerned expression.

"Huh, he says he was told to invite me to his house tomorrow afternoon by his girlfriend for reasons unknown, but apparently Zero Two visited them recently? Something about bringing along Strelizia as well. I wonder what this is about?"

Mitsuru scoffed. "Sounds like a headache to me." He pivoted on his heel and began making his exit. "Be safe, don't die, and get home by 7 am and all that," Mitsuru sarcastically called over his shoulder, running a hand through his hair. "Don't forget, your bedtime is at 9, even on the weekends. Wouldn't want you to get grumpy over lack of sleep."

"Oh shut up." Hiro laughed back.

"God knows what you and Zero Two do at night," Mitsuru muttered under his breath.

"I heard that! I know all about you and Kokoro! You can't hide from me!" Hiro yelled after him. Mitsuru continued to walk away, but Hiro could feel the blush even from the distance he was at. He smirked and mentally thanked Zero Two for that tidbit of information.

XXX-XXX-XXX

The next day, a bright and sunny Saturday, Hiro found himself standing before the small mansion that Simon and Nia resided in. Competitive mecha fighting was a surprisingly lucrative career, and Hiro doubted anyone would be able to defeat Simon's prized Gurren Lagann as long as he was piloting.

Hiro's own mecha Strelizia that he shared with Zero Two was in its specialized travel case beside him as he walked up to the door. Knocking a couple times, Hiro began tidying up his appearance. He had an immense amount of respect for both Simon and Nia, so by no means was he trying to show up in their house looking like a mess.

It seemed all for naught, however, as Simon opened the door in a dirty white shirt and overalls, arms and face stained with oil.

"Ah, Hiro! Come in, come in! Nia and Zero Two just left to go buy some supplies. Apparently, that girlfriend of yours wanted some cooking lessons, and Nia was more than happy to help." Simon ushered Hiro into the house and shut the door behind him.

"Cooking lessons…?" Hiro asked cautiously. Simon laughed. "What, bad experiences with Zero Two's cooking?"

Hiro shrugged, a small smile on his face. "The food itself wasn't the greatest, but I enjoyed the meal pretty well."

"Don't you worry. Nia is a great cook! Anyways, come on in! Nia said the food will take a while, so I got the mecha arena all set up in the living room." Simon said proudly, leading Hiro down a hallway.

"A friend of mine is here too, Viral's his name. He was nice enough to deliver the letter. Did you get to meet him?"

Hiro recalled Mitsuru's rant about a beastly looking homeless blonde man. "Er, no, the letter went to a friend of mine. A friend that had a few choice words for his appearance."

Laughing, Simon nodded. "I keep telling him to clean up himself up or everyone will think he's some crazy homeless guy. Well, it's his life I guess. C'mon, he's probably getting tired of my Gurren Lagann destroying his Enkidudu. He'll be thankful to fight someone else for once."

"He's a mecha fighter too!? That's awesome!" Hiro excitedly exclaimed. Simon smiled at Hiro's enthusiasm. "Yeah, he's usually my co-pilot in the competitive two pilot matches." If anything, the shine in Hiro's eyes grew as he learned more about Viral. The respect he had for competitive pilots was immense. Hiro's passion could be neatly and easily divided among three main things: Zero Two, his friends, and mecha fighting. He had fought hard to maintain the flawless record of the club he had inherited from Simon, and any chance to use his Franxx-class mecha was always a plus for him.

He mentally gave his heartfelt thanks to Zero Two for setting up this reunion with his old mentor as well as for the chance to break out Strelizia against pro-pilots, before eagerly following Simon into the living room to challenge the very much homeless and beastly looking Viral.

Mitsuru had that description pretty spot on, Hiro thought idly as he set down Strelizia against Viral's intimidating six-armed Enkidudu. He grinned as Simon began the countdown and gripped his controllers with excitement.

XXX-XXX-XXX

When there was a couple knocks at the door an hour or two after he arrived, Hiro was the only one to notice, seeing as how Simon was too busy loudly taunting a very angry and equally loud Viral. Even with the handicap of only being allowed to use Lagann, Viral could not find any success against the leader of Team Dai-Gurren.

"I'll get it!" Hiro called out over the intense yelling coming from the two men. Jogging to the door, he opened it - and was immediately tackled to the ground by a pink blur.

As Zero Two peppered his face with quick rapid kisses, he greeted her with a laugh. "Hey, Zero Two."

"I've missed you, darling!" She cried joyously. "We saw each other this morning!" Hiro laughed. "That was hours ago," Zero Two pouted, before returning to covering Hiro with kisses.

From behind her, a soft and gentle giggle could be heard. Craning his neck to look around the pink haired girl on top of him, Hiro smiled up at the pale cream haired woman by the door. "Hey there, Nia."

"Hello Hiro," she smiled back. "Are the boys in the living room?"

Hiro managed to prop his upper body up with his arms, Zero Two now nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck. Laughing at the slightly ticklish feeling, Hiro nodded. "Yeah, when I left they were getting pretty into it."

Nia smiled knowingly. "How typical. Come on, Zero Two, let's get these groceries to the kitchen and start on their meal."

"Hai!" Instantly, Zero Two stood ramrod straight and saluted to the older woman… right in the middle of helping Hiro get up. No longer having someone to support him, Hiro fell back to the ground with a loud yelp. "Oh, darling! Sorry!" She hurried to help her grumbling boyfriend to his feet.

With a laugh like tinkling bells, Nia made her way into the living room, Hiro and Zero Two right behind her. Simon and Viral had their backs turned to the door, too busy with their fight to notice the trio enter the room.

As they walked into the living room, Simon triumphantly shouted, "LAGANN IMPAAACT!" Viral only screamed in rage as Lagann slammed Enkidudu into the ground.

Loudly, Nia announced, "We're baaack!"

Spinning around, Simon's eyes lighted up. "Ah, Nia!" He vaulted over the couch to plant a quick kiss on her head, careful not to get her or her clothes dirty with oil. Viral, mournfully cradling his crumpled mecha, could only sadly greet them. "Princess Nia… Miss Zero Two."

"You boys just stay here and relax. Zero Two and I will get started on our lunch right away! Let's go Zero Two!"

Zero Two looked up from where she had been fiddling with Strelizia next to Hiro. "On my way!" Turning to look at Hiro, she grinned happily. "Nia knows how to cook, darling, so I promise this will be the best meal you've ever had!"

Hiro reached down to squeeze her hand with a smile. "I'll be waiting right here. And I promise to eat every bite this time." He softly pressed a kiss against her lips.

With another happy grin, Zero Two jumped to her feet to follow Nia into the kitchen.

Simon and Viral both smirked at Hiro. When he caught sight of their smug expressions, Hiro groaned and threw the nearest thing he could reach - a couple of pillows - at the laughing pair.

Viral dodged with cat-like ease, leaving Simon to be assaulted by Hiro's pillow barrage.

XXX-XXX-XXX

Once in the kitchen, Nia began teaching an eager Zero Two everything the older woman knew about cooking.

"Let's start with something simple! We'll make a meat stew." Zero Two nodded rapidly, giving Nia her utmost attention - something quite rare for the pink haired girl. Few things were able to make her focus, but learning how to cook for her darling? Was there anything more worthy of her attention?

Leaning down to open one of the cupboards, Nia pulled out a massive pot, hefting it over to the stove and placing it down. Zero Two briefly wondered if it was a coincidence that both of them were far stronger than their significant others, before casting the thought aside.

"The good thing about a stew," Nia smiled brightly, "is that you use practically any ingredient! As long as you have some meat and vegetables, you'll be fine!"

"Hmmm, I see." Zero Two nodded.

"That's why we bought some beef and chicken stock today. Oh! And there's this package of jerky I bought a couple months ago. We can use that too." Nia said, pulling out the packaged beef from the plastic bags. She then went over to the pantry to pull out a half-empty bag of jerky, before dumping that, all of the beef, and the entire can of chicken stock into the pot before starting the stove.

"Of course, some seasoning for taste!" Nia opened another cupboard to pull out two shakers of salt and pepper. "You said you like sweet things too, right?" "Yep!" Zero Two nodded firmly. Nia smiled. "Then why don't we add some sugar too?" She reached further in and pulled out a small bag of sugar.

Returning to the pot, Nia shook all three containers over the pot for a couple seconds. "Now, we have to add some more liquid in there, or it just won't be a stew, right?" 'That makes sense,' Zero Two thought. "So, what's Hiro favorite drink? I usually use Simon's favorite, but since you're making this for Hiro…"

"Uh, be right back!" Zero Two dashed out of the kitchen and returned a couple seconds later. "Milk! Darling said he likes milk!" Smiling at Zero Two's enthusiasm, Nia clapped her hands. "That's perfect! There's some milk in the fridge, can you grab it for me while I get some other stuff ready?" Saluting again, Zero Two hurried to the fridge while Nia began unpacking their groceries, putting some things into the pantry and leaving others on the kitchen table.

Zero Two soon returned to Nia's side with the plastic carton of milk. Untwisting the cap, she almost retched when the smell hit her ultra-sensitive nose. With tears in her eyes and the sleeve of her jacket over her mouth and nose, Zero Two said in a muffled voice, "Nia, I think the milk is spoiled." She glanced at the tiny date on the side. "By three weeks."

Nia tutted. "Don't you know? Milk doesn't really spoil right at the date, it's perfectly fine for a while after that. I read that from an article online." Zero Two raised an eyebrow, sleeve still over her face. "Oh? When does it really expire then?"

Nia smiled blankly at Zero Two. "I don't know, I didn't read that far." Taking the carton from Zero Two, Nia pulled a large kitchen knife out of nowhere and cut open the carton over the pot, dumping all of the chunky milk over the boiling mixture. "Besides, it'll add to the flavor." She said happily.

Unsure, Zero Two slowly nodded. Simon said Nia was a good cook, and her darling trusted Simon, so she would trust her darling.

"Speaking of flavor, let's add some more! This is the perfect time to add fruit and vegetables!"

"Ah, Nia…" Nia turned to Zero Two, who was staring at the ground, sheepishly holding her hands behind her back. "We can't use those fruit. I dropped them and got them all bruised, remember? I'll just go throw them out…" Nia whapped Zero Two's hand that was reaching for the fruit with a wooden spoon. With a yelp, Zero Two jumped back. "It's fine, Zero Two. It'll add to the taste, just like the vegetables and these mushrooms I got outside!"

Gathering all the fruits, vegetables, and the mushrooms that Zero Two was pretty sure still had dirt on them, Nia dumped all of them into the pot. When the pot's cap wouldn't close with all the things inside it, Nia once again pulled out her kitchen knife from nowhere and stabbed the pot's contents multiple times until everything fit under the lid, all with a sincere smile on her face. "There!" She turned around proudly to a skeptical and slightly terrified Zero Two. One of the fruits had splattered a small streak of red liquid across her cheek. "While that boils, we can start on the rice. They can eat the stew with that and the bread we bought!"

With a small sigh of relief, Zero Two nodded. Rice was something she could do. "Hai!" The pink haired girl saluted.

XXX-XXX-XXX

After a while, the three guys had gone from physical mecha fighting to virtual. It was only in the virtual version was Viral able to use his beloved Enki Durga after all, and Simon was also able to fight with four new forms. Hiro was basically salivating at the thought of Strelizia's possible upgrades and had almost fainted when Simon offered him the controls of Gurren Lagann. He had jumped at the chance to pilot the mecha known globally as the best, and was happily destroying virtual enemies with Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann.

Taking a break, Hiro wondered aloud. "Say, why exactly are you here, Viral?"

Viral shrugged. "How could I not jump at the chance to try the cooking of Princess Nia? Simon here is always praising it, and I also save some money too."

Simon grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, but it really is good, I promise. It's too bad Kamina and the others couldn't join us. Who knew they had plans today? Those guys are usually free on Saturday."

"That is rather strange." Viral conceded, nodding slowly. "Oh well," he shrugged. "Come on, boy, I want to you to have a taste of my Tengen Toppa Enki Durga!"

Grinning at the challenge, Hiro took the controllers Simon offered to him. On the screen, Tengen Toppa Solvernia, Nia's own custom mecha that was extremely similar to Strelizia, rose out of the ground in a spiral of green light to face her twelve armed adversary. The drill spear in her hands spun to life. "You're on!"

XXX-XXX-XXX

As Zero Two was scooping bowls of rice out of the rice steamer, she jumped in surprise as something popped and splattered inside the pot.

Nia rushed to turn off the stove and lifted the pot's cover. "It's dooone!" She sang out. Zero Two winced as her nose was once again assaulted, this time by the smell of the pot's contents. She now had doubts about whether or not Nia was truly a good cook. Maybe Simon was just crazy?

As Nia began pouring the stew into a large bowl, Zero Two watched with growing concern at the brown sludge-like substance. Would her darling even be able to eat this? She doubted even she could. But she knew of his respect for Nia and Simon - there's no way he would decline eating in fear of disrespecting the two. What to do, what to do? The longer she thought about it, the more worried Zero Two became.

"Er, Nia, I'll be right back. Is that alright?" Zero Two cautiously asked.

Nia smiled brightly. "Oh, of course! But do hurry. We're about to start eating soon!"

Zero Two rushed out of the kitchen. 'I can't let darling eat this!' She thought worriedly.

Entering the living room, Zero Two ran to where Hiro sat on the edge of the couch watching the other two duke it out on the screen. Normally, she would've been just as interested in the mecha fighting as he was, it being one of their many shared interests, but this was of utmost importance. "Darling! I have to, uh, talk to you about something! Come on comeon comeoncomeon!"

"Wha- Zero Two? Alright alright, I'm on my way!" Hiro was barely able to get off the couch before she dragged him out into the hallway.

"What's the matter, Zero Two?" Hiro asked, confusion on his face.

Gripping his shoulders tight, Zero Two frantically shook him back and forth. "You can't eat the food! I don't think anyone can! You'll die!"

"What? The food that you and Nia cooked together?" Zero Two nodded rapidly. Hiro said with concern, "But that would be rude… and I said I'd eat every bite of what you guys made."

"Darling! She put in pepper, salt, AND sugar! I know I'm not the greatest cook but that can't be okay!" Hiro laughed nervously. "Maybe it's a secret technique…?"

"And mushrooms with dirt on them!"

"A-a secret ingredient?' His face began to pale.

"And three week old milk!"

Hiro looked like he was about to throw up. "Damnit, Mitsuru was right… Simon's insane." He muttered under his breath.

"DAAHLING! What are we gonna do!? Waaah, you're gonna DIE!" Zero Two wailed, burying her face in his chest. "And i-it's gonna be because of meeeee…!"

"Hey hey, it'll be alright! It's gonna be fine, Zero Two!" Hiro began to slowly rub her head comfortingly, trying to calm down the hysterical girl in his arms. "Here's what we're gonna do…"

XXX-XXX-XXX

Hiro re-entered the living room to find it empty, TV off and mechas left alone in their arena. "Guys?" He called out, dreading what would happen in the next few minutes.

"Oh, we're over here, Hiro!" Came Simon from a nearby room. Following the voice of the older man, Hiro ended up in what he assumed was the dining room, judging from the large table in the middle of the room as well as the small opening to where he could see the kitchen was.

The other three were already seated, a large bowl of brown bubbling stew, fives small bowls of rice, and a plate of bread set out before them. Nia has already began spooning some of the stew into the rice bowls.

Simon was basically drooling at the meal while Viral seemed extremely wary. Nia seemed to just be happy with Simon's reaction and was taking great care to especially fill up his bowl in particular.

"Hurry up and get over here, Hiro, I wanna eat!" Simon exclaimed, gesturing at the younger boy to sit at the table. "Where's Zero Two?" Asked Nia curiously.

"She, uh, had to take a call. But u-um, wow, this looks amazing!" Hiro stammered. He began to slowly and stiffly walk towards the seat Simon was motioning at. The closer he got, the stronger the stench of the stew became. Viral already looked like he was a step away from death.

Once he was close enough, Simon reached out and grabbed Hiro before basically throwing the younger boy into the seat next to the older man.

Simon slammed his palms together into a prayer, and shouted, "Thank you for the meal, Nia!" Once this was weakly echoed by the other two, Simon immediately began digging into his food.

Nia stared lovingly at Simon as he demolishing his meal, and by the time he started on his second bowl, the other two had barely even touched their own food.

When Nia turned her bright smile to them, Viral and Hiro scurried to not disappoint or insult the woman by not eating. Viral began to slowly and methodically shove spoon after spoon of rice and stew into his mouth and while Nia beamed happily at the beastly looking man, Hiro could see it. He could see how each and every mouthful was killing another piece of Viral's soul.

Hiro began to hesitantly start on his own bowl. He grimaced at the sludge-like substance within his spoon, before scooping a generous amount of rice alongside it. Hopefully, the rice-to-stew ratio was large enough that the stew wasn't as bad.

Unfortunately, Hiro found that out to be entirely untrue once the spoon entered his mouth. The taste of the sludge he was unwilling to call food was utterly disgusting, filling his mouth with its putrid scent and overwhelming his every sense. Hiro's eyes watered as his entire body trembled under the stew's assault.

Out of the corner of his teary eyes, Hiro spotted Nia watching him expectantly. Clenching his fists as the sludge made its way down his throat, Hiro offered a shaky smile to the older woman, putting up a trembling thumbs up. Clapping her hands in delight, Nia smiled back happily.

The second she looked away Hiro ducked under the table to silently dry heave a couple times. A muted cough from the other side of the table made him look up with lidded eyes, meeting a pale Viral's own pained gaze. 'We. Have. To. Get. Out. Of. Here,' the blonde man mouthed. Hiro nodded rapidly. 'Zero. Two. Wait. For. Zero. Two,' he mouthed back. With a determined nod, a spark of defiance returned to the older man's eyes.

The two of them ducked back up from underneath the table. Thankfully, Nia was too busy happily spoonfeeding Simon from his lap to notice their long absence while Simon looked to be enjoying Nia's loving doting too much to care.

With a grimace, Hiro and Viral returned to slowly consuming the horrific meal before them. As time went on, Viral threw increasingly frequent desperate glances towards Hiro, who was also wondering how long Zero Two was going to take.

Just when Hiro ran out of rice and was considering running for it, his phone ranged with Zero Two's custom ringtone, a long drawn "Daaaah-ling!" To Viral and Hiro, it was the call of salvation.

Frantically fumbling to get his phone out of his pocket, Hiro desperately answered the call. After holding his phone up to his ear for approximately 3 seconds he stood up, and, Simon and Nia watching in confusion, hysterically exclaimed, "Oh no! Zero Two isn't feeling very good! We'd better get back, wouldn't want her to suffer, y'know?!"

"Uh, she can just rest here…?" Simon said, confused by Hiro's strange behavior. "We're totally okay with-"

"IT'S FINE! We'll just, uh, be taking our leave. Thanks for inviting us, it was really fun~~~" Hiro's voice faded off into the distance as he speed-walked out of the dining room.

"Won't you need a ride…?" Nia asked hesitantly. Viral suddenly stood up, slamming his fist on the table. "I'LL GO! I mean, er, thanks for the meal, Simon, Princess Nia, but I should be taking my leave as well. I'll just leave Enkidudu in your care for now thaaaanks~~~" Viral's voice also gradually diminished as he chased after Hiro.

"Huh." Simon gave a confused glance to Nia. "That was strange." Shrugging, Nia cheerfully returned to feeding Simon, who was more than happy to bask in her pampering.

XXX-XXX-XXX

Nervously hifting from foot to foot, Zero Two anxiously waited outside the front door of the house, her phone clutched in her hand and Strelizia's specialized case at her side. Packing the mecha has taken longer then she had expected, especially since she had to do it quietly, so she hoped the phone call that was planned as an excuse to leave wasn't too late and that her darling didn't have to eat too much of the abomination of cooking she had helped make.

Speaking of her darling, Hiro chose right then to burst out of the door and collapse at her feet. "D-darling?!" Zero Two worriedly crouched down to check on him when a panic stricken Viral came running out as well. "Just pick him up and throw him in the car! We have to go, NOW!" He hysterically shouted, sprinting past the two of them to his car.

With wide eyes, Zero Two lifted one of her darling's arms over her shoulders and dragged him and the case over to Viral's car. Tossing in Strelizia, Zero Two much more gently helped a barely conscious Hiro into the car. The second Zero Two shut the side door, Viral slammed the gas pedal with all the strength he could still muster after eating Nia's cooking. With a loud screech, the car sped away, leaving only tire marks in its wake.

XXX-XXX-XXX

"Darling? How are you feeling?"

Hiro tiredly opened his eyes to see a worried Zero Two hovering over him. He shakily smiled up at her. "A lot better, especially with how well you've been taking care of me. Thank you, Zero Two."

She smiled back at him in relief. "I'm glad. Nursing you back to health is the least I could do. Now come here, let's get you some water."

Carefully, Zero Two helped Hiro ease himself up into a sitting position on his bed. Sitting down next to him, she slowly lifted a half-empty cup of water to his lips and gently tilted both the cup and his head back. After he had drunk all the water within, Zero Two pulled the cup away. She planted a kiss on his cheek and reached down to squeeze his hand before getting up for a refill.

Once they had gotten away from Simon and Nia's house, Zero Two had guided a mildly delirious Viral to the dorms the students stayed at. After helping her carry Hiro, who was still shifting in and out of consciousness, inside the building, Viral had promptly collapsed on the floor.

Zero Two was able to get Hiro comfortably situated in his bed and call Kokoro to ask how to nurse Hiro before Viral was able to get himself off the ground. After she offered her heartfelt thanks and apologies to the older man (who had waved them off), Viral had returned to his car and left, narrowly missing a lamppost on his way out. Zero Two hoped he had gotten home safe.

Spending the rest of Saturday and half of Sunday nursing her darling back to health from food poisoning wasn't exactly what she had in mind for the weekend, but Zero Two couldn't find much of a reason to complain. After all, it was because of her that her darling was so sick, so being able to help him recover seemed like an appropriate punishment, however un-troublesome she might've thought the task. Any time spent with her darling was time well spent in her book. Still, she had been slightly worried.

Thankfully, it seemed he was already on the road to recovery. When Hiro had just regained consciousness later that Saturday, he could barely move at all. After a good night's sleep and an excessive amount of doting on Zero Two's part, Hiro was able to get up and move freely - not that she let him, of course. Zero Two was more than happy with ordering Hiro to stay in bed and take care of him. The dark haired boy knew better than to disobey her - especially when she was acting this way.

On her way to the kitchen, Zero Two was noticed by Ichigo, who was at a table doing schoolwork with Goro and Ikuno. Miku and Kokoro were also there, sitting on one of the couches.

"Ah, Zero Two!" The pink haired girl met her eyes in question. "Is Hiro feeling better?" Ichigo asked.

Zero Two smiled happily. "Yes, he said he's feeling a lot better now!"

Ikuno looked up from the book she was reading. "You know, we would be glad to help…" she drawled out.

Shaking her head rapidly, her pink hair swishing around her, Zero Two adamantly said, "No! I wanna do this on my own!" Ikuno rolled her eyes with a small smile before returning to her book.

"Well," Goro laughed, "just remember we'll always be glad to help." Noises of agreement echoed from the other members of the room.

"Thanks," Zero Two grinned, "but I won't need any. I'll nurse darling back all by myself!" Miku quietly giggled while Kokoro gently smiled at the girl's enthusiasm. "I'm sure you will," she said comfortingly after Zero Two as she continued on her way to the kitchen.

Soon after, she returned to Hiro's and Goro's shared room with a full cup of water. Placing it down on a table, Zero Two made her way to Hiro's side. He was still propped up against the headboard of his bed, but it seemed he had dozed off. She smiled at how peaceful he looked. Gently getting on to the bed, Zero Two snuggled into his side, clutching one of his arms close to her chest. Laying her head on his shoulder, she shut her eyes with a sigh of contentment.

Sudden movement startled Zero Two out of the short nap she ended up having. She opened her pale green eyes to meet Hiro's blue gaze. "Hey there, darling."

Silently, Hiro gently pulled Zero Two into his lap. She was more than happy to comply, straddling her darling with great care. A giggle escaped her when Hiro softly planted his face into the crook of her neck. "That tickles, darling!" Feeling him smile against her skin set off another bout of giggles.

"Thank you, Zero Two," He mumbled. She scoffed and angrily looked away. "For giving you food poisoning?" Hiro pulled her tighter against his chest. Zero Two's arms rose up to cup his head against her.

"For taking care of me. It's not your fault Simon has a stronger stomach than I do." She sighed sadly. "I just wanted to cook something nice for you."

"And you will! I know you will," Hiro said comfortingly. Zero Two smiled at the fact that her darling, the sick one, was reassuring her, the one who was supposed to be nursing him back to health.

"But until then, do you mind just holding me?"

Zero Two's smile grew. "Never, darling. Never." She kept his head cradled against her body until she felt his breathing even out, before drifting off to sleep herself, her darling safe in her arms.

XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX

Jeez, this sure took a stupid long time to write. I got stuck on multiple parts because I wasn't sure how to naturally go on to the the next scene, and then I spent a lot of my free time playing video games, and a whole bunch of other excuses. I had no intention of it being literally the longest thing I've ever written on , and yet here it is. It's not even that much of a Hiro/Zero Two fic, smh. And I know that Zero Two didn't even really "cook" anything and it was basically all Nia, buuuuut whatever. That's one of those details that I've gotta ask you as readers to ignore.

The whole mecha fighting thing kinda just popped into my head while writing and it may or may not have gotten out of control. I hope no one thought it was too annoying. In related news, holy hell that Strelizia figure. I really really want it, but at the same time, I know I don't need it. It's so beautiful, but it costs money. Why must life be so cruel?

Hopefully the minor Gurren Lagann crossover didn't bother anyone too much either. Originally, I was gonna end the story with Nia's cooking, but I've decided to add a third chapter with my Modern!AU version of Ryuko Matoi (basically the same one in Resolve and Relaxation, but with none of the canon events happening). Might as well connect all my favorite Trigger series together, amirit? I'll definitely expand more on the this Highschool!AU eventually, I promise. Just don't expect a full story until after DitF is completed.

This part of the authors' note was written after watching Ep16. I was hoping to post this chapter before then, but oh well. Thankfully nothing super big and monumentally character changing happened but what a coincidence it was a cooking episode lol. Zero Two was a lot more chill than I'd thought she'd be. Guess my super affectionate version isn't too accurate. But Hiro just had to have that line about piloting, didn't he? Sigh. Whatever, my Hiro is still an avid mecha fighting fan. The whole fishing part was pretty funny with Zero Two being a master, Goro being pretty good as well, and Hiro being trash. I'm sure I could make up a fic about that, although I may have to study up on fishing. Zero Two getting friendly with the rest of the team was also really cute.

What I'm most looking forward to learning more about is that klaxosaur girl. Zero Two's sister? Her mother? The original that Zero Two was made a clone of? What's the deal with the Strelizia-on-steroids looking Franxx behind her? Or those six klaxo-arms? Is she the true villain? Or is she going to turn into an ally against APE? So many questions.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Be sure to leave a review, and hopefully I can get out the next chapter sooner than this one. I'll probably write some shorter fluff pieces first though.

YOOO that fucking Ep17 preview. Hyped af. Kinda sucks it took almost 2 weeks to get this one chapter posted, but it's almost 6k so it's okay.