"Yes, they've still got a few!" Hiro said joyously, holding a small paperback book in his hands. Zero Two looked at him with curious bemusement, not sure what was so important about that book.

"This is the latest book in the 'Space Cowboy' series," Hiro explained when she asked. "The last one ended on a cliffhanger last year and I've been waiting to find out what happens next for ages. I'm definitely getting this." He held the small paperback firmly, as if someone was going to snatch it out of his hands. He also abruptly came back to himself, realizing he had dragged Zero Two into the store over a book.

"S-sorry about that," he said, giving his girlfriend an embarrassed look, while she smiled quietly at him.

"It's alright, I don't mind. I guess you like reading more than I thought."

"I guess. It's just interesting, you know. You can read about something that happened a thousand years before you were born or be a part of a fantasy world with creatures and things that could never be real. Anything can happen and there's a thousand different ways it can happen. Characters can come to life and feel more real than anything with the right amount of effort."

"Hmm, you like reading way more than I thought."

"S-Sorry, I guess I'm rambling," Hiro said, just a little embarrassed, but Zero Two quickly shook her head, sending her pink hair flying around her head.

"No, I like it, it's cute." That didn't help Hiro's embarrassment, but his blush was a treat all its own for Zero Two. "Plus, I like to hear about the things you like. Even if it's not something I like."

"You don't like reading?" Hiro asked with a surprised tone. He could hardly imagine going without his favorite pastime.

"Not really, it…" Flashes of lonely days and the spines of endless books surrounding her lingered in her mind, accompanied by things she'd rather forget. "…it's just not something I really enjoy. I don't like sitting still for that long. Plus there's hardly ever pictures."

"Heh, I should have known. I can read for hours, but I really can't imagine you sitting quietly for that long. It just…doesn't suit you," Hiro said, thinking out loud more than anything.

"Nope, I'm a free spirit, unable to be chained down by big serious books with far too many words and no pictures," Zero Two said, turning dramatically in the book store isle.

"Those are my favorite kind," Hiro said, feigning hurt. People shot dirty looks in their direction as Zero Two's bright laughter broke the quiet of the book store.

Ichigo watched with a cautious and just barely twitching eye as Hiro studied across the table from her, face first in a textbook and intermittently mouthing the words to himself as he read. It was a cute tick she had noticed years ago that appeared whenever he was deep in thought. Now though, her irritation wasn't so much with him and that quirk, but the other girl that was also watching him silently mouth to himself.

Despite insisting she had nothing to study for, Zero Two had decided to come to their little study session, bringing the headcount up to an unwelcome seven. She sat there, across from Ikuno, fiddling with her phone and watching Hiro with a silly looking smile on her face. And to make matters worse, she had her feet up and planted firmly on Hiro's lap, her bare toes idly playing with the hem of his shirt.

Ichigo quickly looked away when Zero Two glanced her way, returning to the statistics homework she was ineffectively working her way through. Normally, she was studious and attentive, but something about Hiro's pink haired girlfriend being in her peripheral vision left her unfocused and unable to study.

"Got it, it's 7x + 4y," Zorome said triumphantly, though it was hard to tell with his face stuffed in his math textbook.

"That's not even close to right," Miku said offhandedly, writing something on her own homework sheet. Naturally, Zorome immediately saw her statement as a personal attack.

"Oh yeah? Then what's the answer?" he asked defiantly.

"14x + 9y," Miku returned readily. She had seen his enflamed retort coming a mile away and was more than ready for it.

"14x – 9y," Zero Two said suddenly. Both Miku and Zorome looked at her with confusion.

"Huh?" Zorome said, eloquent as ever.

"You missed a negative, it's -9y," Zero Two reiterated, not looking up from her phone.

"...it is. How did you know that?" Miku asked after checking her work, extremely puzzled.

"I'm in that class too," the pink-haired woman said off-handedly as she craned her neck to see what Hiro was writing. Ichigo's displeasure deepened a little more.

"You are? I've never seen you there," Miku said suspiciously.

"The class is boring and the teacher is boring. I just do the homework and turn it in. I'll go for the tests, but I'm not sitting through that snore fest."

"What about lectures? How do you know what's going on?" Zorome demanded, more than a little irked at being shown up.

"I read the book. Plus, it's not that hard, it's just algebra."

"Yeah, well 'just algebra' is kicking my ass," he whined, looking over his work to try and find what he did wrong. "Hiro, how is it that you have a hot and smart girlfriend, and I've got nothing?"

"What?" Hiro asked, surfacing from his homework at the sound of his name. Zero Two just leaned over to him and ran her fingers through his black hair.

"He said you're lucky to have me, Darling," she said, delighting in the feeling of his messy locks.

Hiro just blinked at her for a second. "Yeah," he finally said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, going back to his reading before he saw Zero Two's beaming smile or Ichigo's deepened scowl.

"Zero Two," Ichigo said with a healthy dose of bite, "shouldn't you be studying for something? We have our first tests of the semester next week."

"Nah," she said shortly, her eyes not budging from the screen of her phone. Ichigo felt her brow twitch again.

"'Nah'? You shouldn't be so careless with your education! It costs a lot to go here; you should care more!"

"I'm here on a scholarship," Zero Two said dismissively, waving her hand slightly like that would invalidate Ichigo's point.

"That doesn't make a difference! Jian U is a notoriously challenging and prestigious college, with lots of extremely well-known and influential graduates. You're standing on the shoulders of giants; you should have some respect."

"Why?" Zero Two asked, finally lowering her phone to look at the shorter girl with her burning teal eyes. Ichigo had always thought the color was a bit odd, but now with them staring her down, they were downright scary. "I don't know them, and they definitely don't know me. Great, they did something, whatever I do doesn't change that. So if my actions don't have any effect on them, who are they to tell me how to live my life?"

"Zero Two, you can calm down, no one's attacking you," Hiro said cautiously, breaking the staring match between his oldest friend and his girlfriend as Zero Two's eyes darted to him, quickly losing their bite. For as much as Ichigo didn't like Zero Two, she could definitely understand why the girl's gaze softened when looking at Hiro, particularly in the face of his earnestness.

"Sorry Darling, I know you don't like it when I get angry," she said, wrapping her arms around Hiro's shoulders, leaning forward to do it so the boy had an easy chance to look down her shirt's purposefully lower neckline. Hiro valiantly resisted the urge to look.

"I just don't want you to get too worked up, you tend to get a little…volatile," he said carefully. Zero Two smiled seductively at him, her fingers tangling in his hair again.

"Will you kiss me then? Take my mind off things?" Ichigo stifled a snort at the shameless question, but also forced down a shard of jealousy, especially as Hiro leaned in. She had to purposefully stare into her homework, adamantly refusing to watch.

The kiss seemed to drag on, even as Zorome muttered 'gross', the two participants lost to the world until they broke apart. "Mmm, keep kissing me like that and I'll get worked up in a different way, Darling," Zero Two said quietly, but still loud enough for Ichigo to hear. Hiro's face flushed, but not as deeply as it would have a few weeks ago. He was slowly getting used to Zero Two's teasing, though he doubted he'd ever be entirely immune. Ichigo, however, knew she'd never stop hating it.

"Shameless flirt," she mumbled, scribbling something barely legible on a sheet of paper. Zero Two's eyes darted towards her, as did Ikuno's, but Ichigo didn't see either of them, too busy being angry at her paper to notice.

From there, the conversation shifted back to studying, though Ichigo still couldn't focus, though not because of the usual squabbling from Miku and Zorome. Zero Two continued to be horribly distracting, asking Hiro different questions about what he was reading and studying. The black-haired young man answered eagerly each time and Zero Two listened attentively, but Ichigo saw that she was paying more attention to him than to what he was saying. Eventually the pink-haired girl borrowed a pencil and piece of paper from Hiro and started to doodle, leaning back in her chair and continuing to toe at the hem of his shirt as she did.

Just as she was getting to be frazzled to the point of utter ineffectiveness, Hiro finished with his work and started collecting his things. "Done already?" Goro asked, reminding Ichigo that he was there.

"With everything for now," Hiro returned, packing away his books in his usually orderly fashion. "I've got a few more things to work on, but…"

"He said he'd do something with me if I let him study, and I did, so now we're going to go do something that's actually interesting," Zero Two interrupted, folding the piece of paper she had been drawing on into origami.

"Critical Thinking is interesting," Hiro said quietly, pulling his backpack over his shoulder as best he could with Zero Two holding one of his arms.

"Sorry, I'm with her on this, dude. I don't know how you get your head around some of those problems," Goro said, shaking his head. "See you back at the room?" He said it more as a question than Ichigo was comfortable with.

"Yeah, eventually. Zero Two hasn't had as much sugar tonight as usual, so she'll probably pass out sooner than usual."

"Hey, I'm not a pet, I'm right here!" the girl exclaimed, poking at Hiro in a way she knew would get a reaction out of him.

"Gah, stop it, stop it!" he yelped, trying to twist away from his girlfriend's jabbing hands. "Here, give me those and let's go." One of Hiro's hands came down and grabbed Zero Two's, their fingers immediately intertwining. "I'll see you guys later," he called, the two of them walking off back towards the dorms. Ichigo didn't stop fuming until the pair were out of sight, and even then, she only snapped out of it once Ikuno poked her.

"Come on, forget it," the spectacled girl said, looking up from her own work. Ichigo tried, but couldn't help taking one last look at where Zero Two and Hiro had been sitting. The little piece of origami sat there, fully formed into a little bird with sharp lines and a word on one of its sides. 'If'. Curious, the blue-haired woman reached out and unfolded the little bird, slowly revealing what was written on it.

Or rather what was drawn. On the paper was what Ichigo had to admit was an incredible drawing. It was clearly a picture of Hiro, incredibly detailed and accurate, down to a scattering of spots next to his ear. His black hair was just as tangled, messy, and chaotic as it really was, jaw set in a sharp line of concentration and focus. His lips were parted slightly, frozen as he mouthed some word to himself. Even the single eye that was visible was rendered in such detail, despite the pencil medium. Somehow, the eye was incredibly realistic, and the emotion contained within was palpable. Thoughtfulness, focus, consideration, happiness, all of it was captured in the flat grey of graphite on paper. Ichigo was so fixed on the picture that she nearly forgot the words scrawled beneath it.

'Not flirting if you follow through.'

Ichigo crumbled the paper in her fist, threw it on the table, and stormed off towards the bathroom.

No one at the table moved for a few seconds after the short blue-haired girl stormed out, everyone just looking at each other. Eventually, Goro reached out and uncrumpled the paper, looking at it with a groan.

"Yeah, that'd do it," he said, tossing the smoothed paper back onto the table for everyone else to look at. Everyone took a turn looking the drawing and its taunting message over, each of them reacting differently. Ikuno gave a heavy sigh and returned to her work, though she continued to throw glances towards the bathroom where Ichigo had gone. Zorome regarded it with about the same level of indifference, though he did add a comment about the skill on display. Miku looked at it long and hard though before she said anything.

"That's kind of mean," she finally added, a sentiment Goro had trouble disagreeing with.

"She's always made it clear she doesn't care what other people think, but this is a step past that," he mused. "I think she and Hiro are good for each other, but she should make an effort to at least not antagonize Ichigo."

"Well, she doesn't seem to have any problem with me, so I'll try to talk to her," Miku said, standing up from the table. "I'm gonna go check on Ichigo too."

"Thanks," Goro said with a look of relief. "I would, but…"

"Yeah, probably not the best idea to have you in the women's bathroom," Miku said with a laugh. "I'll to talk to her, be back soon."

Miku was a little apprehensive about how she was going to have to comfort Ichigo. When it came to Hiro, the girl's usually cool-headed attitude completely disappeared, and the coming conversation was entirely about him. She just hoped that she could calm the blue-haired woman down. Still, she did take a quick, calming breath before entering the bathroom.

Ichigo wasn't hard to find; she was standing at the counter, absentmindedly washing her hands while staring through her reflection. "Hey, you okay?" Ichigo didn't respond, she only continued to rub her hands beneath the water. "We were all worried. Goro especially. He wanted to come check on you, but we didn't think that was a good idea."

"He was that worried? Why?" she asked, finally turning the water off and drying her hands. Miku sighed internally at her friend's obliviousness, wondering how she could possibly miss Goro's feelings for her. It was pretty obvious to everyone else in their group, at least those who paid attention. But then again, she hadn't ever been able to tell Hiro her feelings either and they had known each other since they were little kids. Maybe she just had an issue. Still, Miku wasn't going to spring Goro's feelings on her friend either. That was for them to figure out.

"You know how he is," she said offhandedly, to which Ichigo nodded, accepting the answer without any more words on the subject. Miku had to force herself not to roll her eyes. "Anyways, are you okay? We all saw…what Zero Two drew. Wrote. Whatever."

"She's shoving it in our faces. Gloating," Ichigo said, her hands curled into fists. "She's not good for him, but no one sees that. She's this…this storm, and she's going to tear Hiro apart."

"Ichigo, you can't think like that," Miku said with a quiet sigh. "You're not being fair, to Zero Two or to Hiro. Why can't you let them enjoy what they have?"

"Because it's all fake! Even her name is fake! Her name is Iota, not Zero Two. She can't even be honest about that! She is going to do nothing for Hiro except ruin any idea of happiness he can imagine."

"Okay, really? Ichigo, I've tried to be nice, but you sound insane. You've never even had a conversation with her that didn't involve you throwing a huge amount of shade at her, so I'm not really sure you're allowed to condemn her for making a bad impression. And either way, it's their relationship. We don't have anything to do with it! If she's actively doing something that's hurting him, that's one thing, but she's not. She's not some poisonous plant, she's just got a few thorns. Their relationship is fine, but if you keep acting like this, you are going to be what ruins it and neither of them is going to forgive you for it." Miku had to take a deep breath and calm herself, not realizing how worked up she had gotten.

"Ichigo, I'm your friend. I want to be on your side, but I can't. Not on this. This time you're just wrong. So please, just…stop." The two girls watched each other, wondering who would break eye contact first, until Ichigo finally looked down at the water dripping off her hands.

"I don't want to hurt him," she finally said, uncharacteristically quietly. It wasn't often Miku saw the blue-haired woman cowed. "I just don't want him to get hurt."

"I know," Miku said leaning back against the counter next to Ichigo. "We all know. But you have to let him take chances. Hiro's smart: if something's not good for him, he'll realize that. He doesn't need our help to know what's right. So just trust him. He'll be okay."

"Alright," Ichigo said, drying her hands. "I'll try. To trust him."

"Her too."

"…her too. I'll try. I'll try."

"You're a good friend, you know that right?" Miku said, looking at the shaky Ichigo out of the corner of her eye. "You care. A lot. That means more than you might think. Especially to Hiro."

"I try."

*Fades in from distance*

...ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHH, OOPS! Y'ALL WANT SOME CHAPTER?! I BET YOU DO! IT'S ONLY BEEN FOUR MONTHS!

As usual, sorry. It wasn't supposed to take this long, but this chapter just didn't want to get written. Plus I put it off. A lot. I mean, I had a lot going. Work, school (which I finished, suck it college), Christmas and all its associated horrors. It all comes to a frightful head that means this took so much longer than it should have. Plus it's not even that long. Barely 3000 words, which is my goal. So, sorry. I don't know. Fortunately, I know what the next chapter is and mostly what's going to happen. That doesn't mean it will be easy to write, but it at least won't take four months to make. And if it does...I don't know, I'll probably apologize again. Whatever.

How about some reviews instead though? The real reason we're all here. (What's that? It's not? It's only something I do to make it seem like I care and because I think I'm funny? Damn, some hard truths there.) Just going to ignore that, Warriors! Cute date chapter, yes, conclusion of which we finally get to see. Book is not an actual book, merely a reference to 'Cowboy Bebop', of which I have seen...two episodes? Got to watch that. Hope it was indeed worth the wait. godamora, things will stay cute...mostly. For a while. It'll be fine. But I agree that we need more fluff. Order, yep, pretty much. Though not too bad when you're having fun. Thank you. Trojan, wholesome is good! Glad you're acclimated to long waits, because that's probably not going to stop. Feystorm, glad I could brighten your day, hope this chapter does the same! O5-7, you're welcome. I think. Lexi, I will always feel like writing, it's just a matter of what I choose to write. Recently it's been...not this. Oops. Hope the angst was as fun as the cute last time, more cute to come! Unknown, yeah! Kinda! If you've never gotten excited to see a new book release, I honestly don't know what's wrong with you. Glad you enjoyed the roll scene, still pretty proud of that one. Dutch, thank you once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as you did previous ones. NotJackieChan (or are you...), you're welcome. Zephyr, glad you liked it, you are very welcome!

Thanks again to all you idiots who continue to review, it warms my heart. What's that, I can't call them idiots? Hmmm...fine. All you...devoted readers who are blind to my failings. Or something. I do sincerely hope this chapter is satisfying for you, I simultaneously think it should be longer, shorter, exactly this length, or non-existent, so do with that what you will. I will be back as soon as I can with the next chapter. My goal is two weeks maximum, but who the hell knows how well that will work out. So follow the story and then you'll be notified when I finally update. And favorite too while you're at it. Or something. Thank you to everyone who has already done so, I see every single one and it makes me happy. Here's to you and your continued fanatical support! What do you mean I can't say that either?

Anyways, good luck to you all in all you do, listen to some good music, don't forget to exercise (not kidding, it actually feels really good), and don't forget to drink water. Like, tap water. Normal, non-sugared, non-caffeinated, straight, boring, plain water. It tastes real good. And swallow, don't forget to swallow. Tangent over, bye, cheers!

~Aro