Chapter 3

Hiro groggily walked out of his shower early in the morning on the first Monday of September. He had been woken up a few minutes earlier by his mother because today would be the beginning of his primary school education. This was something he was against, mostly because he knew that at least in first grade, the school would have nothing to teach a boy as well read as he was.

Despite the protests he so desperately gave to his parents, he had no choice but to attend. He put on his uniform, which was identical to the ones worn by Franxx pilots centuries ago, then he and his parents left for the school.

It was a large, white, three story building with large windows. It was located near the museum dedicated to the old Franxx program. Even from the school, Hiro could see the preserved chassis of the Squad 13 Franxx.

After waving goodbye to his parents as they drove to their workplaces in the city, he walked past the crowd of new students to his classroom. Only two other kids were in the classroom. One was a boy with short and shaggy ginger hair with green eyes and freckles. He was rather loud and extroverted, arguing with the other student about where to sit.

The other was a girl with blonde hair that reached her shoulders and deep blue eyes. She seemed more polite than the boy was, but also remarkably stern for her age. Hiro chose to ignore the argument they were having and sat at the back of the class, not wanting to bring any attention to himself.

As he waited, more and more students came into the class and took their seats. As he read the history book he brought with him, someone sat next to him. It was the same girl from earlier, wearing the school's female uniform, similar to the red uniform worn by Zero Two so many years ago.

"Hi Hiro." She said, looking extremely tired. "Its been a while."

"Oh...yeah." He replied, not looking up from his book.

"Is that a school book?" She asked.

"No. It's mine." He replied, starting to feel uncomfortable as she leaned closer to look at the book.

Just before he was about to tell her to move away, the classroom's teacher walked into the class. It was a woman with waist length dark olive hair that was tied into several thin braids. She had rather tan skin and dark brown eyes. As she set her books on her desk, the class observed her quietly.

"Hello, children!" She finally said. "My name is Ms. Seikatsu. I'm pleased to be your teacher this year. Please tell me your names."

As all the students in the class introduced themselves, Hiro was thinking of how incredibly awful his day was going. Worse still, he knew each day would be like this for the foreseeable future. As he thought to himself, Kūkyo poked him.

"What is it, Kūkyo?" He asked.

"Mind telling us your name, young man?" His teacher said.

"Oh, sorry. My name is Hiro. I apologize." He said, bowing towards her.

"I see this class has bored you already." She said.

"I'm sorry." He said again.

"Well, if you wish for a more interesting class, I'm sure you would like to know about the special prize that you will get should you perform well." She said, now referring to the entire class. "The ten students who do very well will all be taken on a field trip."

"A field trip?" They all seemed to ask at once.

"Yes. You will be taken to a very beautiful place called the Garden." She said. "There, you'll have the chance to learn even more."

"What do you mean?" Kūkyo asked.

"You who are at the top of your class will be tested once this school year is over." She continued. "Depending on your score, you will then have new curriculum laid out for you to help you grow."

"What does that mean?" One of the students asked.

"It means you'll be taught all sorts of things. I know a few of you love history." She said, looking at Hiro. "You will have the opportunity to learn more about what happened a long time ago, for example. Who knows? You may even get to sit in an actual Franxx."

Her last sentence resonated with Hiro's innate obsession with the Franxx. He started to day dream about what it would be like to actually see the very seats that the old Parasites used to sit in.

After she explained their special prize, he decided that he might as well do well so that he could go somewhere more interesting. For the next several months, he completed his assignments with diligence. He also made sure to do extracurricular activities, particularly soccer, so that he would be better distinguished.

He also managed to make friends, although he was still very introverted. On the final day of school, he and his small group of friends walked down the hallways to find the large wall that listed the top scoring students of each classroom.

"You know, Kūkyo, if you spent more time studying instead of eating candy, you might have been in the top ten." Hiro said as they looked for their names on the bored.

"You make it sound like you already know I did badly." She replied.

"Yeah, not all of us are super smart like you, Hiro." One of his friends said, the boy he first saw in his class.

"I'm not super smart, Tamaki." He said. "I just do my work."

"You don't do anything but work." Said the other girl from Hiro's first day.

"You're not that much different, Fumiko." Hiro said, finally finding his name.

As he would expect, he was the number one student in his class. He scored perfectly in all subjects except for physical education. He also received more points because of his extracurricular activities. In second place was Kūkyo.

This was surprising to Hiro since he never once witnessed her studying. She too had scored perfectly in all of her subjects except for history, which she admitted she didn't care for too much. His friends Fumiko and Tamaki scored sixth and ninth respectively, which seemed to make them fairly proud.

Of course, the only reason Hiro cared about his score was so that he could go to the place called the Garden. As Hiro was beaming from his score, Kūkyo was paying attention to something else. Their teacher for their first grade in school was talking to men in uniforms.

They were armed, so she knew that they must have worked for the government. After a brief discussion, their teacher nodded and the men left. Hiro noticed that Kūkyo was seemingly lost in thought, so he pulled on the sleeve of her arm.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

When she snapped out of her curiosity, she put a lollipop in her mouth and nodded, showing him a smile. He wasn't entirely convinced, but before he could ask again, the school's bell rang. An assembly was held meant to honor the top ten students from the grades 1 to 4.

It was announced that they would be taken on a special field trip, courtesy of the government, who wished to encourage students to do better in school. The students would be departing on a Saturday, giving them eight days to prepare.

They were allowed to bring three items from home with them, since anything they needed would be given to them during their trip. Hiro automatically went to his parent's library, wanting to find an interesting book to take with him.

As he looked at the filled shelves that lined the walls, for some reason, only one book stood out to him. The picture book he read with Kūkyo when he first met her. The memory of reading it with her returned to him. It was a welcome thought, but he quickly pushed it away once he realized he was smiling about it.

The other two items were a figurine of Strelizia and a bracelet given to him by his mother for his birthday. The remaining eight days flew by and soon, he found himself back at his school. He and the other ten students from his class lined up in front of its entrance as they were instructed to do.

At exactly mid day, a large white shuttle landed in front of the school. It was shaped like a large cigar and didn't seem to have any windows or doors. After a few moments, a panel in the side of the shuttle slid away, revealing its interior.

It was very plush and had several bowls of candy inside, making the children's mouths water. Ms. Seikatsu then began to address the students. She simply bid them farewell, telling them to enjoy themselves.

With that, all the kids rushed into the shuttle. All except for Hiro and Kūkyo, who were slower climb into it, although for different reasons. Hiro was simply unsure about what exactly he was stepping into. However, Kūkyo was more concerned with where exactly they were going.

Although she was fairly dense, she was also very observant and began to wonder why they were being treated so specially despite being so young. However, due to still being a child and her intense love for sweets, she hopped into the shuttle and began gorging herself with candy, making the thoughts in her head disappear.

As the shuttle took off, the walls and floor became transparent, allowing them to see the world around them. They were extremely afraid of the height, but became less terrified after a few minutes. Curiously, once they got past their fear, the walls and floor solidified again.

As they continued flying towards their destination, they felt an immense amount of pride and accomplishment, despite not knowing exactly where they were being taken or, more importantly, what they'd have to do.