The next morning after breakfast, it was time to explore the village again. This time, in much greater detail than the last. Because this was to be your home now, it was important that you knew what was in all the buildings, that way you'd know what could be salvaged from them. The biggest priorities were water and electricity, but finding some undamaged furniture or clothes would go a long way toward making the manor feel like home.
Squad 13 had split up into groups to search by drawing lots. You had drawn the shortest of the batch, and Mitsuru became your partner for the day as a result.
In the morning, the two of you searched several homes and shops but had not found anything helpful in any of them. You did find something interesting, however. One of the shops you explored had rows upon rows of books, but not the kind you were accustomed to. It would be hard to call them novels, considering each page was made up of several boxed illustrations with word bubbles sprouting from whichever character happened to be speaking. They reminded you of children's picture books, but the content was far from something meant for a child based on the vocabulary.
Sadly, Mitsuru hadn't been as interested as you in this discovery and quickly left the shop soon after entering. You left to follow him after making a mental note to return when you had the time.
After that, you had explored a rundown building near the cliff's edge. Inside were hundreds of small offices, just like Nana and Hachi's back at Plantation 13. Being reminded of your former caretaker and commander made you feel a twinge of guilt. Were they punished because we ran away? I'd hate to think that our leaving could have had that kind of result. Knowing APE, though, it wouldn't be out of the question.
Exiting the building, you take a moment to admire the sea. It's quite beautiful, as the waves peacefully roll across and into themselves. Then, out of the corner of your eye, you notice something odd. A large grey pipe seems to run down the edge of the cliff, which is easily close to five hundred feet high, toward the sand below. Now, why would they have something like that? The beach isn't very wide there, and without the trees it isn't as scenic.
"Hey, Mitsuru," you call out to him as he makes his way out of the complex. He looks at you, waiting for you to continue. You wave your hand, ushering him over. "Come take a look at this."
"What is it?" he asks, stepping beside you. "You're much better at understanding technical stuff than I am," you say before pointing to the pipe. "Why would they run that up here? Salt water can't be used for hydration, and a building like this wouldn't need it for anything else, right?"
Mitsuru rubs his chin with his right hand. "Hmm. This building was some kind of industrial plant. I could definitely see it being used, as the seawater would be perfect for cooling down machinery." "But it's not," you point out. "Well, then, let's take a look," he says as he kneels down beside the pipe and gives it a shake. The material rattles, but doesn't show any signs of budging.
He then follows the line to the office building where there is a momentary break, revealing a mess of large wires. "Oh, so that's what it's for," he says to himself. "Care to clue me in?" you ask. "It's for electricity. You know, power," he answers. "Ah," you reply, "but why would it be coming from down there?"
Mitsuru stands and begins walking in the direction of the beach. "I guess there's only one way to find out."
About twenty minutes later, the two of you reach the beach. The FranXX are still waiting in their inactive state for your return, but you veer off in the other direction and begin to snake back toward the village along the continually narrowing shoreline. Running your hand along the cliff face as you walk, you find it to be extremely smooth, the sea having worn it down over time.
"So, any guess for what we're going to find?" you ask Mitsuru. "Hopefully something that can generate power, and a way to supply it to the manor," he answers. "Do you think the village's infrastructure is still capable of doing that?" you ask. "Who knows?" he shrugs. "If things are designed well, they'll work even after being in a state of disrepair for long periods of time. They just need to be serviced first, not that I'm sure we co…."
Mitsuru's voice slowly fades to nothing, and you immediately snap your focus to him. He had been walking in front of you by a good ten or so feet and had just rounded a corner when he fell silent. "Hey, Mitsuru," you catch up and place and hand on his shoulder, "what's the… oh, wow."
It's now become clear to you why Mitsuru had stopped speaking. In the cliff face, about one hundred feet from your current position, is a massive hole. The opening is easily several hundred feet in height, and half that in width.
"What is that doing here?" you whisper. "I don't know," your companion answers. "But it can't be natural." Mitsuru begins to quickly walk toward the opening. "Wait, what makes you say that?!" you shout, picking up the pace so you aren't left behind. Mitsuru doesn't hear you, however, and continues to rush toward the cavern.
"Hey, why can't this be natural?" you huff, having now caught up with him. "Oh," Mitsuru almost looks like he had forgotten you were with him, examining the outer edges of the cavern's rock. "Look at how smooth the rock is. Nature wouldn't do that, it would be jagged and rough."
"But the cliffs outside are smooth," you counter. "That's because of hundreds or thousands of years of weathering," he explains. "See this," he points to the opening and traces its shape in the air. "It's almost perfectly symmetric, and it's just as tall inside as at the mouth. This was built, not formed. Besides..." his eyes flick toward the ceiling and yours follow. "Recognize anything?"
"That's the pipe carrying the electric wires," you answer, looking up at the dull gray tubing. It continues to run overhead before vanishing into the black expanse at the back of the cavern.
There's a click to your right, followed by a bright new source of light. "You want to go further in?" you surmise, looking at Mitsuru expectantly. "We have no choice," he states. "If that leads to power, it will make things much easier for us in the long run, even if we can't get it running right now." You step beside him as he points the flashlight further into the cave. "This day gets more interesting all the time."
The two of you walk for no more than a few minutes before you make your next discovery, a pair of enormous steel doors. While they might have once proved to be nearly impenetrable, the left has been removed from its hinges and rests against the tunnel wall. Its other half remains attached but appears jammed into an open position, allowing access to what lies beyond.
"Looks like your theory was right," you say to Mitsuru. "Yes," he agrees. "However, I wasn't expecting something like this. Maybe a food storage cellar because it's the same temperature underground all year, or some kind of shelter, but if the doors are anything to go by then this was something much more important."
"Wonder why they would run the power lines from the surface down to here if they wanted to remain hidden?" you wonder. "Maybe that's because they were buried at the time," Mitsuru offers. "It's been over two hundred years since humans abandoned the surface to live in Plantations. Based on the area surrounding this village compared to everywhere else we've been, most of it has degraded to a barren wasteland." He shrugs. "Either way, we should keep moving."
Mitsuru walks through the open doors and you quickly follow your only source of light. Immediately as you walk in, you encounter a checkpoint of sorts. Several lanes are separated by concrete barriers, with a small building the size of a small shack between each. Stopping to peer inside one, you find a plastic stool and a desk with some ink pens and a mostly rotted clipboard.
"This is just like the checkpoints they have set up at the outer wall to the Garden," you announce. "You're right," Mitsuru nods, looking up from another guard post. "That would make this a military installation, wouldn't it?" you ask. Mitsuru considers for a moment before replying. "I'd say that's close enough, the governments of the old world are the only things I can think of that would try to build underground like this. It's too difficult under most circumstances to construct stuff under the surface, especially something of this size. The surface is much easier."
Mitsuru points the flashlight further down the tunnel, where it reflects off something. You raise an eyebrow and glance from the dark-haired boy to it a few times. He tilts his chin up in acknowledgment and you investigate further.
The light continues to bounce off the object as you draw closer, casting it onto the ground and nearby wall, somewhat illuminating the immediate area. Eventually, you are able to make out the cause of the reflection, a piece of cracked glass. The piece turns out to be part of a much larger pane that had once made up the windshield of the large wheeled vehicle before you. The frame is rusted from age and disrepair, but the cab still houses one of the two windshields.
"Looks like the last people here tried to leave in a hurry," you deduce, examining the misshapen hunk of metal. "Indeed," Mitsuru agrees. He kneels beside the truck and picks something up. "Here," he tosses the object toward you.
You fumble with it in the dark for a moment before finally getting a good grip. It feels metallic as you run your hand over it until you reach a small button. You click it and a beam of light springs forth from the end, hitting you directly in the eye.
"Ow, damn it!" you curse, dropping it. "That is two hundred years old," Mitsuru scoffs matter-of-factly, "it's a miracle it works at all. Don't drop it." "Sorry," you grumble, waiting for the sensitivity in your eyes to fade.
"Interesting," Mitsuru mumbles to himself. "What is it?" you ask, since your vision hasn't returned to normal. "This truck was carrying a fuel tank like the ones the plantations use, so that means they had magma fuel down here. And by the looks of it," he shines his light on the wall behind the truck and the nearby ground, "this truck lost control with a full load, rolled several times, and crashed into this wall where it was abandoned."
"How do you know it was full?" you question him. "The wall is scorched from the magma fuel, and the metal on the ground isn't the same uniform shape as the rest of tunnel. It melted when the magma touched it and then solidified later."
"Well, if they had magma fuel down here, that means we should keep going, right?" you say, pointing your light further down the tunnel. "Just in case there's still some left." Mitsuru nods. "It's unlikely, but yes."
Resuming your march down the tunnel, it isn't more than a few minutes before the walls branch out and you enter what you assume is an incredibly large room. Your flashlights aren't strong enough to reach the walls to your left or right, but after switching them from wide to narrow beams you can just make out the shine of a metallic wall in the distance. If you were to guess, based on what little is visible, this room is close to the size of a plantation's main hangar.
"This room is huge," you whisper. "I agree," Mitsuru replies. "Be careful not to get lost, and to check your footing. I don't know that I could drag you back to the others if something were to happen." "Thanks, you too," you wink. Mitsuru simply shakes his head and continues forward.
You follow him, sweeping the beam of your flashlight across the room but not really finding anything. I guess whoever this place belonged to really cleaned it out when they left.
You are just about to call out to Mitsuru and suggest going back when something catches your eye. The flashlight illuminates the ground beside one of the walls, and it with something that looks vaguely like a metal support rising toward the ceiling. However, something feels extremely off about it.
For starters, the support isn't shaped right to bear the weight of the massive ceiling. From where the beam illuminates about ten feet off the ground, it looks to be about seven or eight feet wide. It's conical in shape and grows wider as it extends. Supports are supposed to be a constant width, that way the load they carry is evenly distributed. Why would they have one shaped like this, especially down here?
The color is all wrong, too. The floor and walls of the facility to this point have been shining steel, easily reflecting your flashlights and further illuminating the rooms. This support is painted a dull grey, stubbornly absorbing all the light your tiny flashlight manages to throw at it. Well, that's different.
When you shine your light at the base to examine if it truly is a cone, you are further shocked to find that it takes a completely different shape, one that is slender and resembling that of a foot. It's something close to the heels Nana would wear. Why does this feel so familiar?
Finally, you trace the light up the support. At first, the steel beam continues to grow, until at its largest it connects to something else. Beside it is an identical support running back down to the ground.
Further up, after the two supports have merged into a single beam, is a sharp corner where two pieces of metal meet. The coloration goes from the dark grey to a much lighter one, before you come to a stop on an orange strip that runs across the lighter surface.
Switching the flashlight to the wide beam, you almost drop it once you return your eyes to the oddity. "There's no way," you gasp quietly, "there's no way… Mitsuru!" you yell at the top of your lungs. "What is it?!" he shouts and sprints over to you, wearing a concerned expression. You don't answer, instead continuing to stare at what you have found. Mitsuru's gaze follows yours and he takes a sharp breath. "...A FranXX."
What you had been unable to piece together using only the narrow beam of your flashlight is now obvious under two wide beams: the vaguely feminine model of a FranXX restrained to the dock. It's a far cry in visual design from the models that you use, or even the standard models in general.
It shares the mixed color scheme of the deep grey and light gray that the normal units do and also the orange visor, but the similarities end there. The arms and legs of the unit before you are much thinner than today's, something that would be a distinct weakness when fighting Klaxosaurs. There's also no evidence of any thrusters in the heels or along the waist. While Squad 13's FranXX had more than most, Standard Model FranXX were still equipped with some for maneuvering and travel. This FranXX, though, would have needed to be transported to its deployment zone or walk the whole way instead.
Her lack of armor is also profoundly apparent. While you thought that the FranXX you piloted sacrificed armor in favor of mobility, this unit clearly takes the cake. Delphinium could take several blows from a Klaxosaur and keep fighting. Genista, due to the armor of her dress, could take a lot of damage and still remain standing. The rest of Squad 13 was in between. But this unit, without a helmet or a reinforced chest plate, which protects the magma reactor and coincidentally led to FranXX having a womanly bust, would be lucky to survive even a single hit.
Mitsuru is awestruck. "This must be one of the prototypes from when the FranXX were first being designed." "It's so different," you whisper. "This thing wouldn't stand a chance against one of today's FranXX, let alone a Klaxosaur." "I'm sure they deployed them in squads back then, too," Mitsuru says. "But they would have needed to overwhelm them to win, not take them on individually like we do."
"This is unbelievable," you say without realizing it. "Do you know what this means? We've got a place to put all the FranXX, for one thing. And if this is some secret government facility like we think it is, that means they probably built the FranXX right here. We could maintain ours and if we ever had the time or figured out how, we could build our own."
"That's a pretty optimistic assumption," Mitsuru says carefully. "We definitely need to look into this further, but for now we should go back and tell the others. We've not been back since breakfast and it's probably late afternoon by now. Ichigo will be worried about you."
You give him an annoyed stare. "Don't you mean she'll be worried about us?" "Nope," Mitsuru chuckles as he begins to walk out. "Yeah, well, I'm sure Ikuno's scared you won't come back too!" you shout, trying to one-up him. "Hardly," he laughs. "Now come on."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As Mitsuru leads the way back to the manor, the two of you continue to discuss your incredible find. The underground complex would not only be a place you could store your FranXX to keep them away from prying eyes, but it could also hold the tools necessary to maintain them in the long term. Your excitement continues to grow as you walk through the manor's oaken doors and ascend the staircase until you are finally at the entrance to the ballroom, ready to announce your big find.
You allow Mitsuru to enter first and follow behind him, but are somewhat surprised to see that despite the day growing late, four of your friends are still missing. "Hey guys, guess what we-"
The door behind you flies open, smashing into the wall with a loud crack. "(Y/N), Mitsuru!" a panting Miku shouts, the two of you being the first individuals she saw upon entering the room. "Come quick!"
In an instant, your excitement turns to dread. Your mind begins running over worst-case scenarios. Somebody's hurt, no somebody's dead… snap out of it! Before you can wander any further, your instincts as Squad 13's second-in-command kick in. "Miku, what's wrong?" you demand.
The redhead begins sobbing. "It's Zero Two…she's…" Miku's words are lost as she begins to degrade further. You grab her hand and force her to look at you, speaking without hesitation. "Miku, it's going to be alright. Zero Two is hurt, right? Can you take us to her?" Unable to speak, Miku nods before rushing out of the room, pulling you along behind her.
You aren't really sure of the path you're taking to reach Zero Two as Miku leads you, and after running for several minutes without any signs of her you begin to wonder if, in her emotional state, she has led you down the wrong path. However, that fear is dashed as you begin to hear screaming. Homing in on the sound, you sprint past Miku and follow your ears to a building that has been mostly reclaimed by foliage.
The door to the building is wide open and it's immediately apparent what the problem is as soon as you enter. In the middle of the room, between rows of shelving, is the cause of the screams you had been hearing. It was Zero Two, with her left hand crushed beneath a steel I-beam that had collapsed from the ceiling. The horned girl thrashes violently back and forth, throwing herself repeatedly against the beam in a futile attempt to free herself.
"Zero Two," you shout rushing to her side. "I'm here. I'm going to fix this, just give me a second." She stops for a moment, looking directly into your eyes, allowing you to see that hers have gone from their pleasant cyan to an angry red. She takes a sharp breath, giving you hope that she'll calm down enough that you can rationally think about how to free her, before letting out another bloodcurdling scream and bashing herself against the beam.
It is only at this point that you notice the pool of red liquid that has formed at her feet. Blood… oh God, that's a lot. How long has she been bleeding, and how bad is the wound?
"Mitsuru!" you yell as he comes running through the door, with Hiro and Ichigo hot on his heels. "Grab hold!" you order, placing your back against the beam and running your hands underneath. He and Hiro quickly follow your command. "On three," you shout. "One! Two! Three!"
On the count of three, you pull up on the beam with all the strength you can muster, but it doesn't seem to budge. "Damn it!" you curse. "Again! One! Two! Three!"
There is a groan as the metal shifts ever so slightly, but hasn't yet moved enough to free Zero Two. Fortunately, she seems aware of the efforts being made to free her and has stopped struggling. The red in her eyes hasn't faded, but she stands completely still with Ichigo beside her, whispering words of comfort.
"Alright, last try!" you order. "Heave!" There is creaking sound as the metal beam begins to rise and the three of you grit your teeth. "Just a little more," Ichigo shouts. "Losing…grip…" Mitsuru moans. A second later his hands slip, leaving only you and Hiro to hold the beam.
Zero Two screams again as the beam re-exerts the pressure you had only just alleviated. More blood shoots out from beneath the beam, some of it spattering across your face. "God damn it, I am not letting you die here!" you bellow as you put everything you have into a final attempt to free your trapped friend.
The beam rises higher than it had on any of the other attempts and Ichigo pulls Zero Two free. As soon as she does, you and Hiro release your grip on the beam and it crashes down, destroying the desk it had trapped Zero Two against.
Rushing over to her you see the why so much blood had been spilled. Zero Two's left ring finger has been severed at the base. Snapping back to the beam, there is a rusted edge covered in blood. At the same time, Hiro moves in and holds his love close, trying to calm her.
Ichigo kneels beside Zero Two and instructs her to apply pressure to the wound to try and stem the bleeding, while wrapping a torn piece of her skirt around the girl's wrist. It won't be enough to stop the bleeding in time. You can tell Ichigo knows that too, but she's doing all that she can. "Give her to me," you order, stepping up and taking her from Hiro's grasp. Zero Two offers no resistance, curling into your embrace while holding tightly to her hand.
As soon as you are sure you can hold her, you race out of the building and back toward the manor. As far as you know, the only way to stop Zero Two from bleeding out is to cauterize the wound, and there was only one fire in this entire village. You just had to pray that it was still alive, and that dinner had been started before you left.
After sprinting up the drive, you rush through the still-open front door and climb the stairs two and three at a time. Kicking open the door to the ballroom, you find the remaining members of your squad anxiously waiting for some word of what had happened. Upon seeing you carrying Zero Two with your shirt now drenched in her blood, Kokoro turns white and collapses. Futoshi barely manages to catch her and prevent another injury that you don't have the ability to deal with now. And, as if your prayers had been answered, the fire is still burning.
"Ikuno, she's bleeding. We have to cauterize it!" you shout, gently laying Zero Two on the ground. Realizing your intention. Ikuno takes one of the knives from the table and tosses it into the flames. As she does, Hiro, Ichigo, Mitsuru, and Miku dash through the door.
"Where is it?" Ichigo asks, going directly to the fire and donning a glove. At the same time, you resume giving orders to the boys. "Hiro, Mitsuru, grab her legs and hold her down. Do not let her move." You grab a nearby rolling pin and turn to Zero Two.
The look in her eyes tells you she knows something's going on and that she isn't going to like it. "Bite down on this," you say coaxing her to open her mouth enough that you can fit the thin metal object between her jaws. "This is going to really hurt," you continue. "Try not to move as much as you can. You've got to bear it. Everything will be alright in one minute, I promise." Tears of pain roll down her cheeks, flowing from her once again cyan eyes as she gives you a slight nod.
You then straddle her midsection and hold each of her arms at the shoulder to restrict her movement. Ichigo approaches with the knife, which is now glowing with heat and kneels beside Zero Two. Seeing the heated blade, a renewed look of fear surfaces in Zero Two's eyes and she begins to fight against your hold.
"She's moving too much," Ichigo feverishly declares as she tries to get close enough to cauterize the wound. You grit your teeth. "Working on it!" Releasing Zero Two's left side as Futoshi rushes over to hold her down, you shift your left hand to her shoulder and right to her wrist, pinning it to the ground. Ichigo nods and places the red-hot blade against the wound.
A scream mixed with the sound of bending metal echoes through the room and then… only the soft sound of sobs.
You release Zero Two, who quickly curls into a ball, hugging her injured hand. Hiro holds her as she cries. Ichigo chucks the knife onto the table looking disgusted with herself, and the feeling of guilt washes over you as well. You are unable to focus on it, however, as an excruciating pain flares through your legs, back, and arms.
You cough several times and fall to your knees. Ichigo rushes over to you but you wave her off. "Go back to Zero Two." She looks ready to protest but you stand. "Miku," the redhead's puffy eyes stare at you waiting for orders. "Hold my shoulder."
She obediently walks over, and Ikuno follows her. "You dislocated it?" Ikuno asks. "Think so," you grunt. "You know that waiting for Ichigo would be better," she counters while Miku puts her hands against your shoulder in the instructed position. "She's busy," you answer. "On three, Miku. One, two," you jerk your arm down violently while Miku still has a solid grip, resulting in a pop and a mix of pain and relief.
Miku covers her mouth. "You said on three." "I knew you'd chicken out if I waited that long," you reply, wiping your mouth. "Was that because of what you did?" she asks. You nod.
"'What he did?'" Ikuno repeats. "(Y/N), Hiro, and Mitsuru were trying to lift the beam off Zero Two," Miku explains. "Mitsuru lost is grip and it started to fall but (Y/N) yelled and managed to get it high enough to free Zero Two." She turns to you. "How did you do that?"
"I don't know," you answer. "I just knew I couldn't let Zero Two die, so I gave it everything I had." "The hysteric strength effect," Ikuno mumbles. "What's that?" Miku asks. "It's when the mind removes the normal limits it places on the body to keep it from hurting itself. It's almost always when the person is under extreme stress or is in a life-or-death situation. (Y/N) lifted the beam because his mind stopped trying to hold his body back. And he'll pay for it later." She shoots you a disapproving glance.
"If dislocating my arm meant I could save anyone of you, I wouldn't hesitate," you state. "I appreciate the sentiment," Ikuno replies, "but remember that your body has those limitations for a reason." You stand and look over toward Zero Two. "I don't intend to make a habit of it."
Ichigo is more thoroughly tending to Zero Two's wound now that she is calmed down. First, she washes in with alcohol before applying a layer of gauze and wrapping it in a bandage. You marvel at the sight, just thankful that the pink-haired girl is alive.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Later that evening after dinner, you excuse yourself to prepare for bed. Instead, however, you end up wandering to the balcony that wraps around the house. The night air is cool but not chilly, and the clear smell of the saltwater on the breeze is very calming. Ever since you had carried a bleeding Zero Two into the manor as the sun set, the mood had changed dramatically from yesterday's, and even this morning's.
Today started out just fine and everything here was going so well. Everyone was happy to be free, and confident that we would be able to make our own way. But after Zero Two… Your mind flashes back to seeing her trapped beneath the beam. She looked so afraid, like a helpless animal caught in a trap. If we hadn't gotten there when we did… you shake your head and dismiss the thought.
I thought that after Mitsuru and I found that military installation, things would be looking up for us. There's bound to be something helpful down there. For one thing, we can store the FranXX and maintain them if we can get some power. Who knows what else is down there, too. But we can't tell the others that now, it'd be completely lost in light of what happened to Zero Two.
I'd almost say I could have asked anyone if they felt safe here and they would've said yes…but not anymore.
"If you stay out there too long, you'll catch a cold," a sweet voice says from over your shoulder. "I'll be alright," you reply, not turning to face the speaker. Without warning, a pair of arms wrap around your waist and you feel Ichigo rest her head on your back.
You push off the railing and return her embrace. She buries her head in your chest but remains silent. "Go on," you coax. "Say it."
"What if it had been you?" Ichigo asks, her emerald eyes peering directly into your soul. You run your hand across her cheek. "She would have done the same for me." "But you aren't like her," Ichigo whispers. "None of us are. If it had been anyone but her, they would have-"
"Hey," you cut her off. "Everything is alright now. We don't have to worry-"
"Alright?" Ichigo questions you. "What's alright? Zero Two is now missing an entire finger. She nearly bled to death in your arms. I had to stick a burning knife in her wound to save her life. You heard her screams…. nothing about this is alright! I can't even tell you that she'll live. What if it gets infected? We don't have enough medicine to fight that off in the long term. And did you see the looks on everyone else's faces? They were terrified, I was terrified. We thought this place could be our home, but if it's going to try and kill us…" she hangs her head.
"We're doing the best we can," you reply softly. "This isn't going to be easy. Everyone knew that before they agreed to come along. Accidents like today are going to happen, and all we can do is try our best. I learned from watching you that being a good leader doesn't mean you have to always make the right decision. It means you're always looking out for your friends in every choice you make."
You run your hand through her hair and continue. "In the end, coming here could be the wrong decision. We could all end up dead… or we could turn this place into a paradise. I can't say for certain. But what I can say is that if we had stayed with APE, there would have come a day where we would be ordered to die. And if I am going to die, I'd rather it be out here, breathing air that hasn't been filtered five times before getting to me."
You put your hands on her cheeks and kiss the top of her head. "You and I are doing the best that we can. Let's try looking at the positives of today. Sure, Zero Two lost her finger, but she's alive. If it weren't for you and me, she wouldn't be inside, sleeping on Hiro's shoulder."
"You're right," a new voice says. You look up to see a girl with pink hair walking toward you in a nightgown. "If it weren't for the two of you, I wouldn't be with my Darling anymore," Zero Two smiles. "Thank you."
Ichigo has turned around to face the newcomer at this point, her hands resting on top of your own wrapped around her waist. "You don't need to thank us," Ichigo says, conjuring a smile of her own. "We'll do anything to keep all of you safe."
"How are you feeling?" you ask. Zero Two looks at her hand. "It hurts, but I've felt pain like this before. When I was little, the scientists would poke and cut me to see how fast I'd heal." She looks back up at you and her tone returns to the usual joyous one. "But I don't have to worry about that ever again. Miku and I even found more medicine in that building."
"Zero Two," Ichigo tilts her head to one side, "what happened?" Zero Two doesn't seem fazed by the question. "I pushed Miku out of the way." Your eyes go wide, and you feel as though your jaw has hit the ground. "I saw the ceiling coming apart and tried to help her," Zero Two sheepishly looks down while running her good hand through her hair. "I guess I wasn't fast enough."
You pull your hands back, releasing Ichigo and walk toward Zero Two. After reaching her you wrap the girl in your arms, causing her slight blush to deepen just so. "Thank you for trying to take care of Miku," you whisper.
Zero Two almost looks puzzled by your statement. "I would have done it for you, too," she grins, returning the hug. "You're my family, after all."
"Right," you repeat. "Family."
"Oh, Zero Two, there you are," Hiro says from the doorway. "When you didn't come back, I started to get worried." "Oh, Darling!" she releases you, running to him before planting a kiss on his cheek. "It's adorable when you worry about me." Hiro blushes at being kissed in front of you and Ichigo. "Zero Two… not in front of the others..." "Why not?" she grins mischievously, tracing his jawline with her index finger. "It's not like they don't do it too."
Now it's your turn to feel somewhat embarrassed as the color rises to your cheeks. However, before things progress any further, Zero Two takes Hiro's hand and leads him back inside for bed.
"Hard to tell she's even hurt," you chuckle. "And it was all because she tried to protect Miku," Ichigo replies.
"Told you we didn't need to worry so much," you nudge her. "If even Zero Two is looking out for us and saying we're family, then everything will be fine. Her acting this way will help, too. If she doesn't look or sound injured, then it's more likely the others will forget or believe it's not a big deal."
"That doesn't mean we can let our guard down," Ichigo counters. "We aren't as safe as we thought, so we need to be more careful going forward." "And we will," you agree. "But as long as you're by my side, there isn't anything that could stand in our way."