Another ride in Strelizia, another trip to the medical bay it seemed.

The day after the mission in the mines, Hiro felt the familiar stabbing sensation of a needle pricking his skin once more. He wondered to himself if the damned blood tests would stop once he had managed to prove that he could consistently survive piloting with Zero Two.

Seriously, having to report to the medical bay after every ride was proving to be a major mood killer after all the ecstasy he always felt after piloting with Zero Two.

Well, whatever happened next time, the excessive medical tests would stop one way or another, that's for sure.

Either by death or definitive proof that he was Zero Two's destined partner.

Just one more ride left. Would he break the curse or merely be a footnote in Zero Two's history of partners?

His anxious thoughts were broken up by the sound of the door belonging to the medical bay sliding open.

"Darling, aren't you done yet? I've been waiting for you for so loooong..."

The way she stuck her head out sideways as she peeped into the medical bay was honestly way too cute, Hiro thought. His heart melted once more when he saw how Zero Two was complaining childishly while she took time out of her day to follow him around. A bashful smile grew across his face as he gave her a thumbs up in reply.

The medical orderly however, wasn't as happy as Hiro to see someone interrupting his work.

"Code 002, please do not bother the medical staff while they are attending to a Parasite. Return to the waiting area at once."

At his cold tone that he used to brush her away, Zero Two puffed her cheeks out and whined.

"Pffft... Whatever, this bores me anyway."

As the door slid shut once more, Hiro pondered to himself if he had been unknowingly blessed by the heavens for having the luck to have drawn the affections of his current partner, Zero Two.

She was pretty. Her long pink hair framed the beautiful face that always blew kisses and winked flirtatiously at him. Her developed body contained delicious fat and softness in all the right places, which he fully felt whenever they embraced, which was occurring more often these days. His heart swooned at the way her nose scrunched as she flashed her cheesy grins at him whenever they bantered with each other. He could never tear his blue-green eyes away from her turquoise orbs that always shone as she gazed at him with her full attention and affections whenever she laid sight upon him.

She was physically affectionate. To the point that after only a few short days together with her, Hiro felt his body start to crave her touch more and more often. The way she always aggressively closed in and pushed for maximum skinship, the way she always embraced him whenever she had the chance to, the way her tongue danced with his whenever she kissed him. It was as if physical contact with him was an essential requirement to live for her.

She was flirtatious. In fact, flirtatious would be putting it mildly. On their last piloting session together, she outright propositioned him to sleep together. As a pleasurable shiver ran through his body, somehow, he knew that she was going to go even further from here on out. For some reason, Hiro felt himself looking forward to the idea.

She was devoted towards him as well. Sometimes to scary extents. His mind recalled the sobbing wreck of Mitsuru as he cradled his destroyed hand to his chest. All done because Zero Two refused to pilot with anyone else but him. But her devotion manifested itself in nicer ways as well. He noticed how Zero Two would always seek him out whenever she could, how she would follow him around all day with a cheerful grin on her face as they flirted, bantered and essentially spent every second together enjoying each other's company.

In a way, Zero Two truly felt like someone that he was responsible for. Where his single role was to embrace, protect and nurture her smile and happiness. The happiness of his partner, no...

His princess.

She also smells really sweet and nice.

Blood rushed to his face as the darker parts of his wants teased him about his favorite aspect of Zero Two.

He hoped the medical orderly wouldn't take that as an excuse to run extra tests.

"You shouldn't barge in like that, you're just making yourself into a bother for everyone."

As Zero Two moved back to the opposite corner of the waiting room furthest away from the blue haired girl currently glaring daggers at her, she counterattacked.

"And what about you? Why are you even here in the first place? You're not even his Pistil anymore. You should stop acting like you're darling's partner all the time."

This horned girl! Just because she shamelessly threw herself at Hiro all the time! Couldn't she see? Hiro was too nice to reject her advances and he let her get carried away all the time. And now, she was trying to get rid of her? Get rid of her competition?

She wouldn't stand for that. She had spent her entire life with Hiro. She was not going to let this homewrecker shoo her away.

"Just because I'm not his Pistil for the moment doesn't mean I can't check up on Hiro and make sure he's okay. In fact, I'm surprised that you even bothered to come here to wait for him, considering YOU were the one to put him in the medical bay in the first place with your recklessness."

Zero Two snarled at her 'for the moment' declaration. This stupid, jealous ex. When will she finally realize that darling was done with her and she was just clinging on to old memories?

"I'll have you know, darling was the one who requested it."

Ichigo rolled her eyes upon hearing that. Did Zero Two honestly think that she would believe such an excuse? It was clear as day that Hiro was being stringed along by her.

Sarcastically, she snarked at Zero Two,

"Yeah, I'm sure you didn't manipulate him in any way like rubbing your breasts on him like you always do."

Ah... so she wanted to go there, didn't she? If she wanted a cat fight, she came to the right place.

Alright you blue haired strawberry washboard. This means war.

"Well, if you didn't have raisins on your chest, I'm sure darling would have an easier time falling for you."

Strutting up towards Ichigo until her chest was level with Ichigo's gaze, Zero Two smirked at the shorter girl as she crossed her arms below her breasts and emphasized their size.

"You should see darling's face whenever he notices them bouncing."

"...!"

With a blush staining her cheeks, Ichigo looked away in embarrassment at Zero Two's forward display. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she stuttered.

"Hiro likes them on the smaller side as well! I've seen him look at me when he thought I wasn't paying attention!"

"But he doesn't look at you much nowadays, does he?"

The sheer smugness that radiated off Zero Two as she grinned towards her made Ichigo's temper flare up beyond the limits of her self control.

One day, she was going to "accidentally" stab her with Envy Shop and write it off as a training accident.

"I'll tell you what, let's make a bet shall we? Between rivals."

A bet?

Ichigo's ears perked up at that. What did this lizard, dinosaur-klaxosaur slut have in mind?

"When darling comes out, let's see who he goes to first. If he goes to you first, I'll let you have an entire day of fun with him with no interruptions."

"And what do you win if he picks you?"

Ichigo muttered to herself, as a rush of nervousness flushed through her body at that very moment.

"How about... you let me and darling eat our meals together from now on without any of your protests?"

Ichigo winced at that, she knew that Zero Two carried a lot of momentum at the moment with Hiro, but she really didn't want to back down at this smirking homewrecker. She didn't want to feel the shame of retreating right after the verbal spar they had just exchanged.

She knew this bet carried unfavorable odds against her.

She went ahead anyway.

"Deal."

As Zero Two returned to the far corner of the waiting room to put as much distance between the pair, Ichigo looked towards the door that led to the medical bay with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

She had messed up.

Doing his usual annoying swirl of the test tube that contained his blood, the medical orderly sent him off with his usual disinterested monotone.

"That's the last of it. Code 016, you can take your leave."

Buttoning up the sleeves of his top, Hiro hopped off the medical bay as he prepared to finally leave this infernal place of disinfectant and bleach.

Little did he know that he was about to walk into another type of hell.

A hell that consisted of pink and blue.

"Darling!"

"Hiro!"

Two voices rang out in unison that signaled his unavoidable doom.

Now Hiro always prided himself in reading the atmosphere. As much as he would have liked to think, Hiro did not consider himself completely oblivious. Maybe he got embarrassed a little too easily, considering recent events, but Hiro never felt he was particularly dense regarding certain cues.

Not when it came to his chances of continued existence on this mortal plane.

"Uh... Hi?"

As he awkwardly waved towards the two girls that had waited for him to complete his medical checkup, he desperately tried to figure out someway to survive his current predicament.

"Daaaaarling~ You promised me that you'll show me around didn't you? Lets go right now!"

"Hiro, you must be famished after your checkup. Lets go to the dining room! It's past lunchtime but I'm sure we can find something to eat."

The smiles on both their faces were bright and beaming. Doing their best to invite him along their planned excursion.

Holy crap how is it even possible to look that scary with those thousand watt smiles?!

Well he was screwed either way.

Time to die Hiro.

Pick your poison.

Unless...

"Ahahaha! Oh I would love too but you know, I have a card game planned with Goro right now, soooo-"

Goro, you're the best.

As Hiro praised Goro so intensely in his mind to the point that he swore to make him into the leading figure of a new religion if given the chance, he made his desperate scramble for safety.

And distance.

"Woah! Look at the time! This medical checkup took way longer than I expected, ahaha! So see you around!"

With his heart racing, Hiro sped off, leaving two stunned Pistils in his wake.

I'm going to go to my room, lock the door, barricade the windows and hide under my blankets until the next Klaxosaur attack.

"Oh no you don't! You come back here right now, darling!"

Ah well, seems like a different kind of Klaxosaur is gonna attack me anyway.

To her credit, Zero Two broke out of her daze as she sprinted in pursuit of her darling. Like a fox chasing after it's prey, she grinned.

Ichigo could merely blink at the combined absurdity of the events that had occurred the past minute and groaned into her palms.

"Our Magma Fuel reserves require replenishment. With the mine damaged from the recent Klaxosaur attack, I have put in a Kissing request with Plantation 26."

Nana looked over to Hachi as she scrolled through her notifications at the console in the Plantation's command center.

"Kissing request has been granted approval by Papa. We'll change course to link up with Plantation 26."

Hachi nodded. A fuel transfer operation always attracted a significant amount of Klaxosaurs, he would need to start preparing defensive plans.

"He still isn't eating?"

Goro asked in concern as Futoshi came back with the tray of food still untouched.

"No, and he's been like that ever since we came back. Maybe I should eat it so it doesn't go to waste."

Goro rolled his eyes at Futoshi's skewed priorities as he glanced inside the sickbay where Mitsuru laid resting in one of the beds.

He had ugly, terrible scars where the doctors had operated on his crushed hand. Multiple stainless steel pins protruded out from his skin where they held the metal plates in place that were grafted on inside his hand.

Every so often, a soft whimper of pain would come from behind the closed curtains as he tried to move his fingers on his right hand once more.

All in all, Mitsuru made for a pathetic sight.

The sound of footsteps announced the arrival of their Team Leader as she came to check up on her injured squad mate.

Glancing towards Goro, Ichigo asked the question that was on everybody's minds.

"How is he doing?"

"You should go take a look for yourself."

Grimacing at her upcoming task, Ichigo nodded as she prepared to approach Mitsuru.

Drawing back the curtains and ignoring the hiss that followed as she introduced light to his bed, Ichigo spoke with Mitsuru.

"Tell me exactly what happened in that briefing room, Mitsuru."

Ignoring the glare that he threw her way, Ichigo awaited his reply.

"That girl... Zero Two... She truly isn't human at all! She came up to me offering a partnership. She was all smiles and giggles as she drew me in closer."

"And then what happened?"

"She asked me to shake hands with her. When I did, she crushed me with all of her inhuman strength! Even when I was screaming my lungs out, she didn't stop! It was as if she was out to kill me! What's worst, she had a smile on her face! She was smiling the entire time!"

Mitsuru threw himself forward and shook Ichigo by the shoulder with his one good hand.

But Ichigo didn't let it affect her, she stood her ground.

Because Mitsuru had valuable information about Zero Two that she required.

She endured his freakout and continued to listen to his ranting.

"Hey! Calm down man!" Futoshi yelled as he saw Ichigo being shaken by Mitsuru.

Ignoring the cries from his fellow squad mates, Mitsuru continued.

"You're our squad leader aren't you!? You have to take responsibility! That girl truly is inhuman to the core, I'm telling you! You have to stop her from piloting with anyone else or they'll end up like me! Not even Hiro will be spared!"

Figuring she had heard enough of Mitsuru's ranting, Ichigo brushed his hand off her shoulders and made to leave without another word.

If what he said was true, then Hiro would truly be in danger for his third ride with Zero Two. However, she had no authority to block them from piloting together, that was up to APE HQ to decide.

Walking away from the ranting Mitsuru, she pondered her options.

Mitsuru made a motion to pull her back but Futoshi was restraining him from further actions. Tiring himself out on struggling against Futoshi's bulk, Mitsuru slumped back on the bed and panted in exhaustion.

Meanwhile, the frown never left Ichigo's face as she thought about how she could save Hiro from his fate.

"Got you~"

Hiro groaned as he felt Zero Two nuzzle herself into the crook of his neck as she wrapped her arms around him from behind. As much as he struggled and twisted his body, her vice like grip firmly held him in place.

"Thinking about it, the library was way too obvious a location to hide away in."

Hiro complained out loud as Zero Two indulged herself in the spoils of her capture. As she moved from nuzzling his neck into sucking on it, loud wet smacks rang out in the silence of the library. Hiro shivered in pleasure as he found himself relaxing into her embrace as he felt Zero Two's hands start to feel up his chest. The twin mounds of softness pressed against his back as he allowed her to have his way with him like always.

"Maybe darling wanted to be caught. Or were you playing hard to get like always?"

Hiro shivered once more in Zero Two's embrace, delighting her as she felt it in her arms, as he groaned out his reply.

"I'm not playing hard to get- AH WAIT WAIT PLEASE DON'T BITE ME AGAIN!"

Hiro pleaded with Zero Two as he felt her sharp canines brush against the skin of his neck once more.

Like she did yesterday while they were in Strelizia.

"Have I ever told you, I can smell liars? Besides, I remember you moaning pretty happily when I bit your neck yesterday."

Blowing her hot breaths on his neck, Hiro shuddered in anticipation as he turned his head to look at Zero Two with a pleading face.

It was a face that made Zero Two's core flush hot as she blushed from the desire racking through her body. She squeezed her thighs together as Zero Two felt her need for her darling spike to new heights.

"You can't just keep doing that! People will notice if I have a constant bruise on my neck!" he complained to her.

"Maybe I want everyone to see that I've claimed you, darling. That love bite will be my mark on you, so that it'll keep away all the thieving-cats that might want to get their paws on you."

There was no way out of this, Hiro groaned to himself. While Zero Two never applied her enhanced hybrid strength into actually hurting him, she always applied just enough to lock him in place whenever she had managed to... catch him.

Exhaling the breath that he was holding, Hiro relaxed his body as he snuggled in return into Zero Two's arms. The happy squeal he heard behind him confirmed that Zero Two had accepted his surrender as she started cooing sweet honey into his ears.

Besides, she was right, even if he didn't want to openly admit something so embarrassing to her.

He kind of wanted this anyway, like she said.

"Zero Two...?"

"Yes, darling?"

Zero Two paused her affectionate cuddling for a moment as she strained her ears when she heard her darling call out to her in a soft, needy voice.

"I don't like this position, I want to see your face."

"...!"

Zero Two bit her lip as everything in her body screamed at her to throw him on the ground, tear off his clothes and take him right now. Fluttering her eyes as she put all her self-restraint forward into controlling herself, Zero Two released her hold and turned him around before engulfing him into the most loving embrace she could muster.

Her horns were nuzzling against his head like always, the sensation of which allowed him to truly understand that he was with Zero Two and no one else. The horned girl that seemed to have dominated all of his waking thoughts in recent times.

Wrapping his arms around her as he reciprocated her embrace, Hiro groaned in pleasure as he nuzzled himself into the crook of Zero Two's neck and savored her scent.

As he gulped down lungfuls of her sweet and slightly musky scent, Hiro moaned into the crook of her neck as he pressed his body against hers, all shame having seemingly fled his body as he gorged himself on Zero Two's body. Zero Two cheesed once more as she enjoyed the sight of her darling openly indulging in his feelings and love regarding her.

"Hehe, I'm a little embarrassed too because I got a little sweaty from chasing after you so much. But it seems like you're enjoying it more than ever because of that."

Pausing his indulgence, Hiro buried his face in the crook of her neck, his newfound embarrassment making it known on his cheeks as he confessed to Zero Two.

"Yup, I'm really enjoying it."

"Oh, trust me, I can feel exactly how much you're enjoying this."

Zero Two purred as she slid her core along the stiff length of her darling, taking note of it's every detail through the layers of clothing that separated them.

Seems like we'll be a perfect fit after all!

Also, I'm gonna have to drop by the laundry room later and pick up a fresh set of panties after this.

Well, considering darling had made her ruin her underwear, she only thought it fair if she made him ruin his!

With a devious smirk that sent shivers down Hiro's spine, Zero Two tackled him to the floor.

As he lay on his back, he realized what she was going to do as she straddled him and wrapped her legs around his waist.

Lifting her skirt up until it went above her hips, Hiro's eyes widened at the sight of her black pantyhose being revealed to him. His eyes followed her every motion in a daze as she positioned herself such that his manhood was currently nestled between her warm thighs.

With a slow, rocking motion along with the sound of fabrics being rubbed, Zero Two rode her darling in rhythm.

"Darling...! Darling...! Darling...!"

As Zero Two locked her gaze onto his and panted out his name, Hiro couldn't help but shut his eyes as he mimicked her motions in sync. The spikes of pleasure shooting up his spine made him groan as he rocked his hips alongside Zero Two.

Feeling the pressure build up within his lower body, Hiro held on to dear life on to the hands of Zero Two. Upon noticing that her she was bringing her darling to his peak, Zero Two's heart fluttered and soared as she cried out in ecstasy.

Interlacing their hands together, Zero Two confessed her heart out as she wholeheartedly accepted the one person in the entire world that saw her not as a beast,

But as his princess.

"Darling...!"

"Zero Two! Zero Two!"

Their gazes locked onto each other's as the words that Zero Two had been saving her entire life came spilling forth from her heart.

She confessed.

"Darling...! I love you!"

And then she had realized what she had just done.

The enormity of what she had just said came crashing down upon her. A surge of fear flooded her body, overriding the pleasure that she was currently feeling up till now.

She had finally confessed to her darling. There was no going back anymore. She couldn't hide behind her flirty persona no longer. Darling now truly knew for sure that she wanted to be more than mere partners. That she wasn't just some over affectionate Pistil crazy over her Stamen.

He now knew she wanted them to be lovers.

And if he had rejected her, her entire world would shatter into a million pieces. With just three words, she placed herself at the mercy of him. His next line would determine if she lived or died.

What had she done?

Zero Two felt a burning sensation in her eyes as she tried to shut them to prevent the tears from falling. She didn't want to end her fairy tale like this. Her teeth chattered in place, with her entire body shaking as the sobs threatened to overtake her.

Stupid! So stupid! All she had to do was to keep playing the seductress, spend everyday with darling and keep her dream alive. All she had to do was to physically embrace and comfort him like she was currently doing and it would have all been fine.

But she had to ruin it by confessing her love.

He would NEVER love her, she was just some fling that he was using for her attractiveness.

Because she wasn't human.

And he would always prefer a human girl over a horned beast like her. It was a simple truth that extended to mere biology. Nobody would prefer to mate outside of their own species unless they were deviants.

Deviants like her, who had the audacity to fall in love with a human boy. To demand his heart in exchange for her tainted, filthy beast one.

How dare she pretend that she could mix with his kind just because she had her black wings ripped off by the witch?

How dare she commit the sin of inter-species courtship? Of intercourse?

She didn't deserve this raven haired boy's love. For she was but a mere beast masquerading as a human.

For he already had someone of his own kind to return to. A full blooded human that wished to pair with him and become his mate. How could she compare?

She was nothing but a half-breed. A hybrid.

A mongrel.

A beast and a human could never be together.

As Zero Two relentlessly tore her own heart to pieces, she halted her previous actions and sobbed her heart out with her fists clenched onto his chest. Tears splattered and began to soak his uniform top as Zero Two bawled her heart out.

Overwhelmed by her sudden outpouring of emotions, Hiro did the first thing that crossed his mind.

He pulled Zero Two close to him into a hug and held her tightly as she sobbed into his chest.

"I'm sorry...! I'm sorry...! I said something really stupid so...! Please! Forget what I said! Please, lets just go back to how we were before!"

"Zero Two... I-"

"Don't say it! I know... I know I'm just a disgusting person, you wouldn't want someone like me as your lover. I hurt you. I sucked up your life force. I put your life at risk every time we pilot. I'm not even human!"

With every line, Zero Two condemned herself to hell. Hiro's voice choked in his throat as he realized how much she had been carrying behind her carefree and flirty persona. He was so dense to not realize how much she was hurting.

"Honestly...If you chose to be with Ichigo, I wouldn't even be angry at you. You would still be my darling in my heart, forever and always."

With watery eyes, Zero Two declared her intentions to unshackle his bonds and set him free. Free from being chained to her, the red horned beast.

Nodding to himself and taking in all the information that he was just provided with. Hiro exhaled as he cleared his head and calmly came to a decision.

In the meanwhile, Zero Two's wailing cries had softened to a soft, irregular sob every so often as she hid her face in Hiro's chest. Hiro merely maintained the hug in silence as he awaited her to calm herself to a more reasonable level of emotions. Once he felt that enough time had passed for her to gather herself, Hiro made his move.

In a steady voice, he called out to her.

"Zero Two."

Zero Two lifted her head and shyly looked at him as she awaited the reply that would seal her fate.

A percussive force greeted her head in lieu of any expected reply.

"Uweh!? Darling?!"

With her tongue cutely extended out, Zero Two cried out as he bopped her on the head.

"Are you serious?! Have your horns made you stupid or something!?"

"...Wha!? Don't call me stupid- Uweh! Darling!?"

Bopping her head once more, Hiro noted that she always extended her tongue out in a really cute manner whenever he bopped her head.

I'm going to do that more often if she keeps having that reaction.

"Stop hitting me!"

"I'll hit you as many times until your brain works you idiot!"

"My brain is working fine!" Zero Two whined childishly.

"No it's not! Tell me, what sense does it make for us to cuddle, hug, kiss and hold hands everyday as we flirt every waking moment that we spend together only for you to come crying your heart out that you're afraid I don't like you as anything more than a mere partner?!"

Blinking her eyes, Zero Two blushed as she looked away and scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

Oh right. That really didn't make sense now that he put it that way.

"Ehehe, maybe I've miscalculated somewhere."

Blocking the incoming hammer fist of bopping doom from her darling, Zero Two squealed out her apologies,

"Okay! Okay! I messed up badly! I'm sorry! I'm a total idiot!"

Giving out his best good-natured huff, Hiro settled back into hugging Zero Two.

But he found himself unable to stay annoyed at the pink haired girl after a few short moments. Deep down in his heart, he was overjoyed that he had managed to get through Zero Two deepest issues and insecurities. From now on, they would have nothing more to hide between the two of them. No more hidden personal issues that would have caused them angst.

Hiro truly felt like he had broken through and made a real, life-long connection with the horned girl.

However, the reality of being pressed against the hard floor of the library soon made itself known as his back protested at him from the soreness it had accumulated. As splendid as the current atmosphere was between the both of them, Hiro groaned as he realized that he needed to get off the ground before his back actually started to kill him.

Just when he was about to tell her to get off, Hiro noticed something about Zero Two that gave him a creeping sense of unease.

Zero Two had lifted herself on her elbows and held her face in her palms as she stared at him from her lying down position on top of him.

Hiro noticed with a sinking feeling in his stomach that she wasn't just about done with him yet judging from the twinkle that sparkled in her turquoise eyes.

"Daaaaarling~" Zero Two cooed, sending shivers of arousal and fear creeping up his neck.

Yup, something bad was definitely going to happen.

"Hmm?"

"You didn't confess yet."

Hiro winced at her accusatory tone.

"Well... you know... After everything we've said and done, you probably know the answer. Besides the momentum is kinda gone so...It's gonna feel really awkward for me to just randomly- OW WHAT ARE STOP THAT THAT HURTS!"

Zero Two mercilessly pulled his cheeks apart as she demanded her compensation confession from her darling.

"No way! You're not getting out of this one! I poured my entire heart out to you, darling! Now it's your turn to say the magic words!"

"Come on! Please don't do this, we were having a real good moment, you're spoiling it-OUCH OKAY OKAY STOP I'LL SAY IT!"

Releasing her pulls on his cheeks, Hiro rubbed on his cheeks that were smarting up in pain and hoped they wouldn't be too red and noticeable by the time he had to go meet someone else.

"I'm waiting~"

Clearing his throat, Hiro mumbled unintelligibly.

"...I will pull your cheeks again."

Clearing his throat once more and louder, this time. Hiro looked away in embarrassment as he huffed out in the most grumpy voice he could muster.

"...-ve you too."

"Hehe, someone's gonna get pinched~"

Swallowing his pride, Hiro drew upon his entire willpower reserves as he locked his eyes onto Zero Two's expectant gaze as he mumbled,

"I love you too."

But she wasn't done with him yet. Oh no, Zero Two was going to take some delicious revenge at her darling for bopping her head so many times.

"Love who?" She cooed.

Hiro rolled his eyes as he repeated himself.

"I love you, Zero Two." he huffed out.

Leaning close so her horns bumped into his head once more, Zero Two exhaled on his face as she proceeded with her final step of her revenge.

"Will that be your final answer? Dah-ling?"

Hiro shivered as Zero Two's teasing gaze transmitted the very words that she wanted him to verbalize.

He truly had a merciless half-klaxosaur girl as his new lover.

Shutting his eyes in embarrassment, Hiro felt like all the blood in his body had just rushed to his face in a surge of heat. He hugged her close and buried his face into the crook of Zero Two's neck as to avoid the shame of her viewing his current expression as he cried out the words she was truly waiting for.

"I love you, my princess."

Somehow, the squeal of delight in Zero Two's voice as she crushed him under her excited embrace made all the trouble and embarrassment of such an act worth it.

Just as she was about to dive in and kiss the ever loving crap out of her darling, the buzzing of his communicator rang out loud and clear as it ruined the shared moment between the two newfound lovers.

Rolling her eyes, she moved off her darling as he answered the incoming call.

"Boy, I need you to meet me in the Garage as soon as you can. Bring Zero Two with you. It's regarding Strelizia. Doctor Franxx out."

Without waiting for a reply, the doctor had already terminated the call.

Hiro looked over to Zero Two who was currently stretching out her body to remove the kinks that had accumulated from their position laying on the ground.

"Well you heard him, lets go then."

As he stood up, he felt Zero Two interlace her fingers with him once more. The shifting motion of such an act caused Hiro to realize that before meeting the doctor, there was something more important to be addressed as he glanced at Zero Two, who seemed to have realized it as well.

"...We need to go get some fresh clothes."

"Yeah..."

With a shared laugh, knowing look and interlaced hands between them, the new couple skipped their way towards the laundry room.

Shutting off his communicator, Werner Franxx grunted as he looked towards the Garage mechanics scurrying about as they rushed to complete the final modifications to Strelizia.

He prayed that it would be enough to see them through their next battle.

Under the harsh florescent lights of the Garage hangar, the air hummed with a buzz as the newly installed Magma Stakes mounted on Strelizia's arms and knees crackled to life.