The Garden: where all children were born and raised before they eventually went on to either become Parasites, or were cast aside and forgotten as failures. They lived cold and sterile lives, with authoritarian caretakers who supplied food and clean clothing, but none of the nurturing attention and love that the children really needed.

Code 196 typically stayed away from most of the other children, preferring to read educational books and avoid most interactions unless absolutely necessary. It wasn't that she was shy, she just didn't see the point in engaging in play or making 'friends.' If she could read and learn as much as she could, then she would become the best Parasite possible, and she would never be cast aside like so many of the other children.

And thus, she had spent her early days reading, learning, and only interacting with her peers when necessary. But one day, that all changed.

One of the special research subjects, Code 016, had been making waves amongst the children. Going against the orders of the adults, he had given himself a name other than his code designation: he called himself 'Hiro.' And he didn't stop there; Hiro gave the rest of the children names, too. He began with his closest friends, then moved on to the other children, until he had named almost everyone he met at the Garden.

Code 196 had taken no interest in this boy's shenanigans, as she figured that the adults would eventually whisk him away for defying their orders and he would never be seen again. She kept her distance from him, just as she did with the other children. Because of this, she was one of the last children to receive a name from the child-idol.

Sitting in her usual corner, reading a book about tactics employed by FranXX pilots in encounters with various classes of klaxosaurs, Code 196 was surprised when a shadow fell across the words on the page she had been examining. Looking up, she saw that Code 016 – Hiro – stood just a few feet from her. Feeling that there was no reason to engage with him, she merely sat and stared back at him, waiting for him to say his piece.

Smiling a wide, innocent smile, Hiro placed several large cards on the ground in front of her; after a moment, she realized that the cards spelled out her code: 196. He pointed first to them, and then to her, as he cheerfully said, "Your name is now Ikuro!" And without another word, he happily skipped off – in her mind, she assumed to bother another child with his quest for a level of independence.

She sighed. Honestly, she was fine with her original designation. Names were annoying and hard to remember, whereas codes were easy. They provided a sense of order and normalcy. She scoffed: 'Ikuro!' What a terrible name, anyway. She shook her head, then went back to reading her book.

Almost immediately however, another, higher voice called out to her. "Hi!" a sweet, bubbly voice said.

Despite her annoyance at being yet again interrupted, Code 196 looked up, seeing that now… now the most beautiful girl she had ever seen stood before her. She was small in stature and had short, light blue hair. Her eyes were a bright, shining emerald – similar to 196's own – and the girl smiled a bright smile that made the strangest feeling take root in 196's chest. The girl clutched a teddy bear tightly to her chest, and the sight was the cutest thing 196 had ever seen. In summary, she was dumbstruck. She wanted to reply to the girl's greeting, to say something, anything, but she couldn't do it; her mind stuttered and failed to form coherent thoughts at the beautiful angel standing just feet away.

The girl looked down at the cards Hiro had left at 196's feet and frowned. 196 didn't like it when the girl frowned; she wanted her to smile again, to be happy. The girl made a thoughtful face, then turned one of the cards clockwise. She smiled again, and 196's heart soared at the sight.

"Your name is now Ikuno!" the girl proclaimed. "Like it?" she asked, still smiling that adorable smile of hers.

Still unable to formulate a verbal response, 196 – Ikuno – slowly nodded.

The girl flashed her brightest smile yet and said, "Great! My name is Ichigo, nice to meet you!" And she held out one of her hands, extending it towards Ikuno.

After a brief moment of confusion in regards to how she should respond, Ikuno reached out and took Ichigo's hand. The child smiled at her, and for the first time in her life, Ikuno smiled back.

Slowly, Ikuno rose in consciousness. The Garden fell away, replaced with her bed in the boarding house in Mistilteinn. The early-morning rays of sunlight shined in through the bedroom's window, illuminating everything in a warm, golden light.

Still laying down, she rolled over onto her side, looking to her roommate, Ichigo. Ikuno smiled, thinking about her dream. She had it every so often; maybe once or twice a month, and it was one of her most precious memories. Ichigo had given Ikuno her name, and had captured Ikuno's heart in the process. Even now, after she had finally, finally confessed her feelings to her friend; after Ichigo had turned her down, Ikuno couldn't help it: as she watched her friend softly inhale, still sound asleep, she thought to herself, if only, if only.

Sighing, Ikuno sat up. She rubbed her eyes, stretched, and put on her glasses before slipping out of her bed to get ready for the day. Just as she completed her outfit with her signature butterfly-hairclip, she heard a whimper from behind her. Turning to face Ichigo, Ikuno saw that her blue-haired friend now had a scrunched-up look on her face. The girl whimpered again, then pushed out with one of her arms. The teddy bear she had been clutching, Mr. Flufficans (without really meaning to, Ikuno had memorized the names of all of Ichigo's stuffed animals, because of course she had) fell off of the bed and onto the ground.

Ikuno bent down and picked up the bear, then placed it gently against Ichigo's chest. Instinctively, the sleeping girl immediately folded her arms around the bear, entrapping Ikuno's hand in the process. Ikuno blushed at the fact that the girl she loved was now hugging her hand so tightly. But then Ichigo whimpered again and that troubled look returned to her face. A familiar feeling struck Ikuno's chest, and with her free hand, she gently brushed one of Ichigo's bangs behind her ear. Ikuno then began to stroke her hair, hoping to have a calming effect.

After several moments, Ichigo's face took on the look of serenity that she only got when she slept, and her grip on Ikuno's forearm relaxed. Carefully extricating her appendage, Ikuno smiled at the sight of the sleeping girl. No one had the privilege of seeing Ichigo like this; so small and vulnerable, except for Ikuno. She ran her hand along Ichigo's soft hair one last time, then turned and made her way out of the room to finish getting ready for the day to come.

While Futoshi, Miku, and Zorome prepared a breakfast consisting of rations, freshly-baked bread, and the fish caught earlier that morning by Goro, Hiro, and Zero Two, the Parasites not in charge of cooking breakfast milled about the common room, eagerly awaiting the delicious meal to come.

Ikuno sat on one of the small sofas, reading one of the few books she had smuggled in from the beachside town that Squad 13 had explored all those months prior. She had wandered into a small building with a sign so heavily damaged that it had been unreadable, but Ikuno would recognize the shapes of the books inside anywhere. She had sifted through many piles of torn and water-logged tomes, most of which were in just as bad – if not worse – of a condition as the sign outside. But in the back of the small building, in some boxes, were books that were relatively undamaged. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to sneak many back to Mistilteinn, Ikuno had grabbed just a few of the most interesting looking ones. Part of her had feared the potential reprisal she would suffer if anyone found out what she had done, but she had felt that the lost knowledge of the past was worth the risk. She hadn't had much time to read them, however, and had only begun to do so following Squad 13's relative isolation from the outside.

Glancing at her squad mates in the room around her, Ikuno wasn't afraid of the other Parasites noticing that she held a forbidden relic, as they had never taken an interest in her books in the past.

Currently, she was reading a book titled Jurassic Park by someone named Michael Crichton. Honestly, she had grabbed it mostly for the skeletal creature on the cover, figuring that it might have had something to do with klaxosaurs. But alas, it had not. So far, the story had focused on creatures called dinosaurs, which appeared to have no connection whatsoever to klaxosaurs, and humanity's folly in trying to recreate and control the prehistoric creatures.

Ikuno found the story to be extremely interesting. Not only was it a window into the distant past, where humanity had yet to be forced to live in plantations on a mostly-dead Earth, but the story also navigated numerous moral issues regarding humanity, logic, and the inherent disorder within the illusion of order. While Ikuno didn't understand some of the language or references, she understood enough that the story made sense.

One of the most poignant points so far was a quote from her favorite character, Dr. Ian Malcolm: In short, 'Life finds a way.' No matter what barriers are put in place, natural order – or chaos, depending on how one looked at it – always broke free and restored itself.

Within a population of all-female dinosaurs, they still managed to mate and reproduce, with some becoming male in order to do so. While the Parasites were indeed not dinosaurs, Ikuno sympathized with the idea that females could reproduce together and leave something behind for the future, as Kokoro had talked about on the day of the incident with the Nines.

Ikuno had told Ichigo that she wished she was a boy, after all. If not to reproduce, then for her to look at me the way she used to look at Hiro.

She gave a low sigh, then went back to reading. Right now, she wanted to find out if Dr. Malcolm and the rest of the surviving characters made it out of the chaotic failure that was John Hammond's Jurassic Park. And just as one of the Tyrannosaurs made a reappearance in the story, Ikuno noticed that a certain blue-haired girl had appeared downstairs, joining the rest of the squad. Years of practice allowed Ikuno to observe her friend while appearing wholly focused on her book.

Ichigo bounded over to Goro, excitedly bouncing on her feet as she talked to him. He stood there calmly, smiling as she spoke and nodding or replying every so often. At one point, Ichigo said something as she glanced over at Hiro and Zero Two, and when Goro responded, they both fell into a fit of laughter.

Sighing, Ikuno decided to look away. She had figured that Ichigo had fallen for Goro. It made sense; he was smart, caring, and kind, and he and Ichigo had been extremely close since their time in the Garden. While the fact that it wasn't Ikuno standing there talking, laughing, and being withIchigo still sent a shock of utter disappointment and loneliness through her heart, Ikuno found consolation in the fact that Ichigo was happy. Seeing her friend smile so widely and laugh so brightly, Ikuno couldn't help but smile a small smile to herself, hidden behind her book. Ichigo was happy, and in the end, that was what mattered.

After everyone had mostly finished eating, Ichigo stood at her spot at the head of the table and addressed the squad, "All right, everyone. First off, I would like to thank Futoshi, Miku, and Zorome for an especially delicious breakfast."

Everyone nodded and thanked the three cooks as well. Through a mouthful of bread, Futoshi smiled with a slight blush at the recognition; Miku flashed a smug smile and nodded; and Zorome jumped up on his chair and struck what Ikuno assumed he thought were heroic poses. Everyone laughed at the hyperactive boy's antics, which only added to the group's jovial mood.

Ichigo chuckled and, after a few moments, motioned to regain everyone's attention. "Okay," she said, "next, I want to address today's chores. There has been a change in weekly responsibilities, as I think that it would be beneficial for everyone to do something new, so that we are all more well-rounded when it comes to our knowledge of necessary skills for survival."

Intrigued, Ikuno raised an eyebrow as she watched and listened to her friend. Ichigo pulled out a notepad and a pencil, then began to list the new responsibilities of each Parasite. "On fishing duty for this week will be Futoshi, Miku, and Zorome." Ichigo glanced at the three people in question and addressed them, "Don't worry, guys. I'll have Goro teach you so that you know what you're doing. It only took him a few minutes to teach me, so it shouldn't be too difficult." She looked to Goro and smiled, and he gave a bashful smile back as he readjusted his glasses and a slight flush crept up on his cheeks.

Ikuno had to suppress a scowl. I guess they've been spending more time together than I thought, she thought to herself. Almost immediately however, she mentally shook herself. Ichigo's happy, and that's what matters, she repeated. But it still didn't make it hurt any less.

Ichigo glanced at her list again, then continued speaking, "On laundry duty will be Kokoro, Hiro, and Zero Two." Kokoro simply smiled a sweet smile in acknowledgement, while Hiro and Zero Two nodded in unison, then went back to cuddling each other in their shared chair. Watching them for a few moments, Ikuno couldn't help but feel slightly envious of the two lovers' closeness. Then Zero Two shoved a honey-coated piece of fish into Hiro's mouth and Ikuno felt decidedly less envious.

"On cooking duty are Goro and Mitsuru." Both boys looked to each other and nodded.

"And last but not least, general cleaning duty falls to me and Ikuno." Ikuno thought she saw a very slight blush color Ichigo's cheeks as she made the final portion of the announcement, but for what reason, Ikuno had no clue. So, she simply gave a small smile and nodded in acknowledgement, just like everyone else had. Of course, Ikuno was undeniably happy that she would be getting to spend more time than usual with Ichigo this week.

The girl in question cleared her throat before adding, "of course, all other duties which require special skillsets, such as management of the water filtration system, will remain the responsibilities of those who already perform them." Hiro and Mitsuru nodded. "And this change in duties doesn't mean you can't still partake in your favorite pastimes, such as fishing." She glanced pointedly at Goro, who nodded in thanks.

Ichigo concluded with a clap as she said, "All right everyone, let's do it, then!" Everyone stood from the table and said some form of acknowledgement, then went off to perform their individual duties.

Since fishing had already been done for the day, Futoshi, Miku, and Zorome moved off to the side to entertain themselves. Ikuno saw that it looked like Miku and Zorome were already arguing about yet another triviality, and Futoshi was trying and failing to intercede. Honestly, Ikuno thought to herself, those two just need to get it over with and kiss already. She shook her head as she watched for only a moment longer as Miku and Zorome argued about which of the two of them was better at arguing.

Then a voice right next to her said sweetly, "Hey, Ikuno."

Looking to her side at Ichigo, Ikuno flashed the smile she reserved only for her blue-haired friend, and responded, "Hey, Ichigo." Glancing at their surroundings, she asked, "So, what's our first stop for cleaning duty?"

Ichigo looked behind them at the table that the squad had been using for meals. Gesturing to the numerous plates and utensils left behind, Ichigo said, "First, we're going to clean all of this up."

Ikuno nodded, then went to the table and began to pile up plates to bring to the kitchen to clean. Ichigo did the same, and it wasn't long before they had brought all of the plates and utensils into the kitchen. While they couldn't use the faucet for water, as the internal water systems had been damaged in the battle prior to Squad 13's general isolation, they had a large basin filled with water suitable for cleaning.

Ikuno stood side-by-side with Ichigo as they both used sponges to soap up and wash the assorted dishes and eating utensils. Ikuno felt that she should say something for the sake of conversation, but every time she thought she had a possible avenue of discussion, it took one glance at Ichigo for it to disappear. Even after all of these years, being this close to Ichigo flustered Ikuno.

Ichigo herself was unusually quiet, seeming extremely focused on the plates she was scrubbing. At one point, their hands brushed as they both reached for the final plate to clean. A flush colored both of their cheeks as they both began to insist that they would clean it, then they both began to laugh.

Ikuno thought she would try to be 'cool' as she said, "Hey, it's less work for me; go ahead." But then she realized what it might sound like, and she immediately followed with, "not that I don't want to pull my weight or anything!"

Ichigo giggled in response, and Ikuno thought she would literally die because of the cuteness. Then, before Ikuno could react, Ichigo quickly reached over, grabbed the plate, and began to clean it. Ichigo stuck her tongue out at Ikuno playfully as she finished cleaning it, and Ikuno smiled and chuckled in response.

After placing the dishes in a rack to finish drying, they both moved on to the other portion of cleaning duty, which entailed dusting and making everyone's beds. This part of the cleaning was more tedious and time-consuming, so for the first thirty minutes or so of cleaning rooms, neither girl said much to the other.

Eventually, Ichigo finally spoke up and asked, "Hey, Ikuno, I was wondering, what book are you reading right now?" Currently, they were in Goro and Mitsuru's room – Mitsuru had moved in after Hiro had started sleeping in Zero Two's room, taking advantage of the newly available space and the opportunity to get away from Futoshi and Zorome.

Surprised at her friend's interest in what she had been reading, Ikuno debated with herself for only a moment before she decided to tell Ichigo about the books she had taken from the beachside town.

Ichigo didn't seem to disapprove of the fact that Ikuno had taken the books, for which Ikuno was thankful. So, Ikuno proceeded to go over the general plotline of the portion of Jurassic Park she had read thus far, and she watched as Ichigo slowed to a halt in her cleaning as she intently listened to Ikuno's description.

At one point, Ichigo said aloud what Ikuno had originally wondered when she had first started reading the book, "'Dinosaurs'…'saurs'…klaxosaurs? Does the book say anything about dinosaurs and klaxosaurs being related?"

Ikuno put down the pillow she had been fluffing and said, "No, I didn't see anything that indicated a connection between them." She thought for a moment then said, "Although, I did find an encyclopedia about dinosaurs in our library room. They lived tens of millions of years ago, before humankind, and were the dominant lifeform in their time. They came in all shapes in sizes, too. Some ate plants, others ate the plant-eaters, and others ate both plants and meat." Ikuno went on to explain some additional information regarding prehistoric life, enjoying the attention Ichigo was giving her.

Ichigo stared at Ikuno with wide eyes, seemingly enthralled in Ikuno's impromptu lesson on prehistoric life. Ichigo had no idea that reptilian beasts had ruled the Earth before humans even existed.

Thinking about the plotline of Jurassic Park, Ichigo asked, "So was it real? Did this 'John Hammond' guy really make Jurassic Park?"

Ikuno shook her head, "No, I think it was just a story; it's not written like the history books or encyclopedias we have, so I think the book is more meant for entertainment and teaching some sort of lesson more than anything else."

"Oh," Ichigo said with a slight flush, feeling silly that she had thought it was real.

Seeing her reaction, Ikuno smiled reassuringly and said, "But who knows? It's a book from so long ago, so it could have happened. Personally, I think that either way, it's a good story."

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, it sounds really interesting." She looked away for a moment, and that light blush crept back onto her cheeks.

She really has been blushing a lot more, recently, Ikuno thought to herself. While she of course wished that it was the blush of a girl talking to someone they loved in a special way, Ikuno knew that Ichigo was most likely blushing because of her level of inexperience with this subject matter and her need to ask numerous questions.

They went back to cleaning, and it wasn't until they made it to the final room that Ichigo spoke again. "Hey, Ikuno?"

Ikuno made a soft "hm?" noise as she made Miku's bed.

"Do you think…would I be able to borrow that book from you to read, later?" Ichigo asked, seemingly nervous about what Ikuno's response would be.

Excited at the prospect of having something to talk about in-depth with Ichigo, Ikuno had to stop herself from sounding too excited as she said, "Sure! I'm almost at the end of the book, so I'll give it to you later tonight. I would love to hear what you think."

She smiled at Ichigo, who smiled back and said, "Thanks, Ikuno. I'm looking forward to it!"

Ikuno nodded, then both girls returned to cleaning, focused on finishing so that they could go off to enjoy the rest of the day.