As he stood on the platform, waiting for the transporter's doors to open, he sighed quietly.
"You should've stayed, Hiro." Naomi says softly. "Did you refuse because of me?"
"No." Hiro looked at the smooth steel he stood on. "It's not like I'd be of any use even if I stayed. And you know how much I hate being useless."
He notices his clenched fist. He doesn't care.
Naomi nods. "You're still running away. From your partner, and from yourself."
A small tear makes its way down her face. "You remember how many of our friends disappeared from the orphanage, right?"
Her voice hitches. "There's no telling when we could end up just like them."
She drops her suitcase. "So don't try to play the hero!"
"Who cares if it's favoritism? You're lucky you have a chance to stay at all! We've made it so far." She covers her face with her hands.
"I would definitely stay, even if it killed me!"
Hiro flinches. Even if it killed me. Is that how much she envies me?
"Quit your chatter." The security cuts in.
"N-Naomi…" Hiro says weakly.
"Why… Why did you have to be my partner?" She's still covering her face. Her shoulders shake as she can no longer speak through the sobs.
Slowly, she stands up and picks up her suitcase. The carrier's doors open and she wordlessly walks towards it. Just before she enters, she turns around.
"Well… take care Hiro. I don't think we'll ever see each other again."
He startles at her words. What does she mean?
"I'm done now, but you still have a chance. You don't have to factor me into your decisions."
A loud, extended beep signifies that the carrier doors are soon closing. "Wait a second, Naomi!"
As he takes a few steps towards the doors, she throws her suitcase with all her strength, pushing him back onto the platform.
"What are you doing?" Hiro winces, trying to stand up.
"I don't need those things anymore. Share them with everyone."
"W-wait!"
"You know..." Naomi looks into the sky. She has a serene smile on her face. "I really like this name you gave me."
She tears up, but she smiles anyway. "Hiro, I hope you find a good partner."
The doors slam shut with a shivering finality.
"Naomi…" He gets up and tries to run to the closed doors, but the security officer holds him back.
"Don't! You can take the next carrier and still make it!"
Tears stream down Hiro's face. "Naomi…"
"We will hereby begin the startup ritual. With this, you kids will finally become official parasites." the mechanical voice of Papa echoes slightly.
The garage doors open, the gears and mechanisms interlocking smoothly.
Suddenly, they stop with a bang. From Delphinium's cockpit, neither Ichigo nor Goro could see anything.
"What's going on?"
Fog starts rolling in from the distance.
Hiro grips the suitcase's handle.
The security shifts impatiently. "What's the matter? Get in already."
"Actually, I think I'll…" Suddenly, he's interrupted by a loud crash in the distance. "What was that?"
Far off, Hiro spots two horn-like things. They were jagged, and had glowing blue accents. "Those weren't there before…"
Suddenly, the ground cracks and heaves, and the carrier Naomi was in was tossed into the air, before slamming into the dry earth, and being crushed by rubble. He could hear the shredding of steel and the inner workings of the carrier.
"Naomi!" Hiro screamed. A dozen images fly by in his mind.
A little girl holding a doll. Taking her hand and pulling her along. How she cried and laughed and smiled. How she was his partner…
…and in an instant, she was gone.
Tears trailed down his face, and he screamed in agony. No one deserves to die like that.
Amongst the rubble stood a huge creature, made of black, smooth armor. In the chinks, striated shadowy muscle stretches and creaks. Glowing blue lines trace over its entire body. It's head is as large as a FranXX.
As it roared, the ground shook, and Hiro saw glowing patterns going all the way down its throat. It had no eyes, only more blue lines. For the first time in his life, he felt real fear.
…am I going to die?
Behind him, the security shouted into a small device. "It's a klaxosaur! Ready to intercept fire!"
"So th-that's… a klaxosaur?" Hiro's voice was tinged with fear, hate, and awe.
He heard a row of plantation canons unlock behind him, before the sound of artillery flying fills the air. He watches them fly towards the klaxosaur, bouncing off the beast's black armor. It steadily makes its way towards the landing platform.
Just as it's about to reach the platform, they turn on their side, and slam into the platform's supports. Their tail reaches up, and slides over the side of the plantation, destroying the canons in fiery explosions.
The sheer momentum of the swipe throws the now-unsupported platform aside… with Hiro on it.
He desperately clings the railing, before the platform slams against the edge of the plantation. He's thrown from the railing and luckily, onto a small walkway.
Hiro struggles to get up, wincing at his scrapes and bruises, before opening his eyes. He sees the massive klaxosaur start moving away…
"Wait, that's where… Damn it!" Adrenaline pushes him forward, and he gets up leaving behind the suitcase.
As he starts chasing after the klaxosaur, following it on the walkway, he realizes he's far too slow. The beast quickly outpaces him, surging forward with loping strides. In the wake of the klaxosaur, he sees a glowing orange eye through the smokescreen of dust, before it jumps away.
"Another klaxosaur?"
"Klaxosaur!"
"Run away!"
"Take shelter!"
The cries of several armed security are completely ignored.
"A moho-class, huh? It's big, strong, and has a fine look." The left half of his face and his entire lower jaw are completely made out of dark gray metal. His left eye is a glowing blue orb and he has a small metal horn on the left side of his forehead.
"This is no time for casual commentary! Prepare to evacuate!" A red-haired woman next to him retorts.
She turns to the armed guards. "Hurry up and retrieve the parasites!"
"What's happening?" asks Goro, as he stands up from his seat inside Delphinium.
The klaxosaur charges at Garage 2, tearing through the metal easily. It sticks it's mouth in, and the patterns in its throat begin to glow with a harsh blue light.
As Ichigo gasps in surprise, the light is suddenly turned off when a smaller beast-shaped creature slams into the side of the klaxosaur, knocking it away.
A veil of dust rises, hiding the battle from view…
In the dust, the klaxosaur roars in fury, as they try to shake off the small and persistent pest on their back.
As the dust clears, everyone sees the red and white wolf-like creature clinging to the klaxosaur's back and ripping away at it's armor and muscles beneath.
"A stampede, now?" whispers the red-haired woman.
Up on their seat, a figure in a white robe with a gold and red mask laments plainly. "What an ugly sight. Did she devour her stamen again?" Their body flickers slightly, before returning to normal.
Another masked figure behind them remarks. "It's hard to tell which is the real monster here."
The wolf-like beast on the klaxosaur's back rips out a large chunk of wires and muscle. The huge creature lets out a roar, before the patterns in their throat glow brighter. The klaxosaur's tail opens up to become what looks like an engine turbine, which also starts glowing.
The massive monster finally manages to shake off the red and white wolf, throwing them forwards.
The beast bounces off the ground, before landing on all-fours.
Suddenly, the klaxosaur fires off a huge blast of energy. Simultaneously, the wolf-like machine whips its tail forward, blocking the brunt of the blast.
As the laser fades away, the plantation's walls explode from the shockwaves and pressure.
Hiro grips the rails, resisting the aftershocks of the blast. "What the…"
He looks up, just before the orange-eyed beast from before slams into the walkway. The impact shakes the entire plantation. It lodges on the railing precariously.
Hiro himself is slammed against the inner wall of the walkway, gasping as the air in his lungs is shoved out. He collapses onto the ground, groaning.
From inside, the cockpit is kicked open. A limp figure flops to the ground, slamming against the smooth steel with a strange finality. Hiro walks over and recognizes them as the stamen from before, the one with a respirator and a sling.
He rushes forward and checks the man's pulse. Blood slowly pools on the ground, and the man doesn't move.
He's… dead.
Fear shoots through him. At the same time, it thrills him.
"The taste of danger," huh?
He looks up and sees the pink-haired girl from before, Zero Two. Half of her face is covered in blood. She leans on the frame of the entrance to the cockpit. "Forget about him. He's done for."
"You're… What are you doing in there?" He stands up, groaning a little bit.
"What, you ask? I'm going monster hunting, of course." She grins. Hiro notices her canines were sharper than normal. How'd I miss that before?
"You're going to pilot this FranXX alone?" He says faintly.
"I gotta go." she pushes herself off the edge of the cockpit, and turns around. She takes a few steps before stumbling and dropping to her knees.
"Wait a second!" Hiro calls as he rushes over to her. He clasps her hand. "You can't! You're hurt!"
She smacks him away, shouting roughly. "Out of my way!"
"This is insanity! Besides, you're by yourself now. FranXX can't be pilotted alone." He tries to reason with her.
"I'm always alone. That's how it's always been. I'm used to it." she whispers the last words.
"No! You'll die!" He shouts.
"I don't fear death. That thing's going to start moving again eventually." She says, nodding at the klaxosaur in the distance.
"And when it does, everyone here is gonna die either way."
...die?
"I'm not afraid of death. I have a job to do." She starts limping deeper into the cockpit.
"I'm going." she says those words with a finality like the body on the floor.
I'm powerless. Right now, I can't help my friends or fight a klaxosaur.
The words escaped his lips. "Wait. I'll pilot that FranXX with you. I'm not about to let you go alone."
She turned around. "Oh? Are you prepared to die?"
He smiles, and there's something feral in it, something wild along the edges.
"I don't know. But as I am now, I don't belong anywhere. That's no difference from being dead." Tears form in his eyes, even as he smiles.
"Huh… You really are just like me. You and I are very similar. It's been a long time since I last saw a human cry." she says softly.
Louder, she speaks, as she brushes a tear from his eye. "I like the look in your eyes, it makes my heart race."
She offers a hand, which he takes with no hesitation. She pulls him into the dark cockpit, with a smile on her face.
"Let me get a taste of you… You are now…" Her smile grows wider. "My darling!"
She holds him at an arm's length, before leaning in and pressing her lips against his.
He tasted bitter blood, and a soft undercurrent of something faintly sweet. And from there, his memory fails him.
At winter's first breath
birds take flight towards the sun
the Jian with no mate