Mitsuru genuinely didn't know how to feel about Zero Two. It had been a few weeks since she and Hiro had gotten together and he still didn't know what to think of her. And for someone studying Psychology, that was downright infuriating. Mitsuru liked to think he was a pretty good judge of character, not quite as good as his girlfriend, but still quite competent. But what he thought of the pink-haired girl was nearly as complicated as his feelings for Hiro.

Hiro had been his best friend. He had been everything Mitsuru aspired to be. Hiro's endless questions as a child had inspired his own curiosity for how he came up with them, which had led him into his desire to be a psychologist. And his optimistic demeanor had been a saving grace for the typically downtrodden ash-blond boy.

But after the accident, Hiro hadn't been the same. Academic brilliance had faded slowly over the years and through their time as teenagers, until he was just barely above the average. The questions had stopped, and Mitsuru struggled to understand why no one else really noticed. Something terrible had happened, of course, and everyone in their group had mourned with him, but Mitsuru felt like he was the only one who really saw the depth of how Hiro was affected. And despite his best efforts at talking or consoling or just being there for Hiro, nothing pierced the veil of apathy that slowly gathered around him. So friendship faded into tolerance and respect into disappointment as Mitsuru couldn't bear to watch the black-haired boy not meet his enormous potential.

Somehow, that had all been turned on its head in the span of a month. Zero Two had showed up and Hiro was a new man. The sort of man Mitsuru could have seen the boy he had admired growing up to be. The sort of man he could respect again. But after so long, his old reservations weren't so quick to change.

It also wasn't something he really liked to think about, and so his verdict on Zero Two went similarly unresolved. Which wasn't helped by the fact that the two of them always seemed to be around.

"For the fifth time, nothing happened!"

"So we're supposed to believe that after leaving the party early with each other, you both went back to Zero Two's room and stayed there all night without anything happening, even though you have slept together previously and she has very explicitly stated that she would like to again?"

"That was uncharacteristically well worded," Miku said to Zerome, sounding a little surprised at the boy's analysis.

"Of course it w – wait, what do you mean 'uncharacteristically'?!"

"Anyway, Hiro, answer the question," Miku urged, holding the annoyed blond at bay.

"Uhhh…"

"Yeah, Darling, why don't you tell them what we got up to," Zero Two said suggestively, leaning even more into him. It was a move Mitsuru recognized and had been on the receiving end of by virtue of also having a big-breasted girlfriend.

"We…uh…watched a movie…"

"And…"

"And…nothing. Tha-that's all I remember."

"Is that so? This doesn't remind you of anything?" Zero Two asked, taking hold of Hiro's hand and leading it up to one of her boobs, letting his fingers trail along its outer slope.

"Hey, no groping girlfriends with the group! That's the rule!" Zorome interrupted with a small yell. Zero Two backed off a little and Hiro blushed, but not as hard as Mitsuru could feel he was. The 'rule' had been put in place not long after be and Kokoro had gotten together and he had acquired a liking for his new girlfriend's thighs. He still hadn't quite lived that down.

"Psht, you guys are no fun," Zero Two pouted, but she backed off, something Mitsuru didn't think she would have done not too long ago. That interested him too, because for as much as Zero Two obviously brought Hiro out of his shell, he seemed to have a taming effect on her as well. He wasn't one to say that opposites attracted or any other similar saying, but Hiro and Zero Two's relationship did seem to work with uncanny ease. Such as…

"So, Darling, what's your excuse this time?" the pinkette said abruptly. Hiro slowly looked up from the book he was reading to look at his girlfriend, who was sitting on the arm of his chair with her legs lying across his lap. Mitsuru could practically see ears around the group perk up at her words, especially Kokoro's.

"I don't follow," the black-haired boy said slowly.

"It's been weeks since you've taken me out. I want to know what you're going to come up with to get out of it this time."

"Why would I want to get out of a date with you?" he asked, a confused and straightforward expression on his face. Zero Two returned the look, the couple staring at each other with mutual confusion until Mitsuru couldn't hold back any more and chuckled under his breath. That broke them out of their staring contest and for once Zero Two blushed more than Hiro.

"Fuckin' smooth," Zorome muttered from where Miku had him in a headlock to get him to work on the homework he was falling behind on. Futoshi chuckled next to him, diligently playing on his phone.

"Anyways…where do you want to go? We can do anyth…almost anything you want," Hiro said, barely stopping himself from promising something he might regret.

"Bah, you're no fun! Shopping wasn't that bad. Plus, I know you liked those outfits. Especially the one I wore the other day." Mitsuru knew just the one she meant, an extremely attractive and slightly provocative take on a Japanese sailor outfit. Hiro hadn't been able to take his eyes off her practically the entire day.

"Hmmm…. I dunno. What do you want to do, Darling? You always let me choose."

"Umm…I hadn't thought about it. Let me think about it?" he said with an unsure tone, like he'd lose his chance to choose by waiting.

"Okay, but because I know you'll take forever if I let you, I get to draw until you pick something."

"Why would that be an incentive?" Hiro asked for everyone present as the pinkette grabbed a sharpie. She critiqued the black marker for a second before looking at him with clear giddiness.

"Cause I'm gonna draw on you!" She went to work right away, holding his arm with one hand and starting with a thick black line. Mitsuru was surprised Hiro didn't struggle or protest, especially since he recalled the shorter boy having an aversion to being touched. Just another thing Zero Two had apparently freed him of.

Everyone else moved on, Miku and Futoshi poking fun at Zorome for his continued inability to work for more than forty seconds without distraction and Kokoro chatting with a recently arrived Ikuno. No one except Mitsuru paid any attention to the couple sitting quietly across from him, both concentrating intently. Zero Two continued to draw on Hiro's arm, at some point pulling his attention in to what she was creating.

It was only a few more minutes until the buxom girl pulled away, critiquing her work. Mitsuru could finally see what she has drawn and couldn't help but be impressed. The loose shape of a bird sat on Hiro's bicep, stylized so that it looked like it was made of wind. Thin winding lines complemented the thicker ones, all weaving together to form an insubstantial bird in flight. Hiro seemed to be in a similar state of awe until he finally managed to break his eyes away from the picture.

"How about an art museum?" he said with a bright smile, the same smile Mitsuru had seen so often on a boy he had thought only still existed in his memory. He was surprised and happy to see that he was wrong. He could only hope to see him more often.

"So your grand idea for a date is to sit on a bus?"

"On the way to a famous art museum that houses hundreds of priceless works of art, yes," Hiro returned quickly, holding his girlfriend's hand to keep her from moping too intensely.

"But busses are BORING! And bland. And bleh!" Zero Two whined.

"And banausic."

"And ban-whatever! Point is, I think I'm owed some entertainment," she said, dropping into a sneaky tone.

"And I'd agree," Hiro said in an equally sneaky voice, ducking in so their lips were barely separated. "Good thing we're here," he finished quickly, just before Zero Two could kiss him. He immediately started disembarking the bus, his glowering girlfriend following after him. It was only after he thanked the driver (who gave him a quick wink) and they were standing on the sidewalk that Zero Two deigned to say anything.

"You know, I used to have boys begging to kiss me. And I never dressed up special for any of them. I think you might need to reconsider your attitude if you want to keep your kissing privileges."

"My kissing privileges? I'm not sure I'm the one who would suffer if kisses were so tightly regulated. And don't pretend you don't just dress up because you like it."

"You mean that you like it."

"I know what I said," Girl said adamantly.

"Whatever you say, Darling," Zero Two conceded, though she did happily skip ahead of him, moving her long legs smoothly, the clinging scarlet tights she was wearing making the movement extremely eye catching. The contrast with her almost oversized sweatshirt gave her an incredible contrast of cute and sexy. Hiro wasn't sure if he felt over or underdressed in jeans, a plain shirt, and an open sweatshirt, but he also wasn't sure he dared bring it up and risk being teased.

"Wow," Zero Two murmured alongside a whistle as they walked into the museum atrium. Classic Greek columns stretched up to the large and beautifully painted dome that capped the big room, and large windows made the room all the more vibrant.

"Hello, welcome to the Mistilteinn Institute of Art. Admission for two?" the receptionist asked brightly, a cheerful smile on her otherwise average face.

"Please," Hiro said, paying the small entrance fee to get them into the large building.

"…okay, you two are all set. I hope you enjoy the museum and be sure to check out the special watercolor exhibit on the third floor!"

"Thanks! Come on Darling, we've got colorful stuff to look at!"

The next two hours melded together as the couple moved through the large building. Everywhere they looked, there was some piece of art to examine. Portraits and landscapes, realism and abstract, statues, sculptures, mosaics, friezes, frescos, and a number of other types of art that Hiro couldn't tell the difference between. He cared more about what the piece looked like than how it was made.

Zero Two had a very different approach, seemingly just the opposite of his, especially when it came to the paintings. Almost every one she examined with a careful eye, looking at the colors used, the style, the way lines were marked, occasionally even commenting on the type of brush she thought might have been used.

"…and look here, you can see how her hand slipped a little while doing this line. She made this group of rocks to cover it up."

"Okay, but how do you know the artist's a woman? I know you didn't look at the tag," Hiro said, only reeling a little from the wealth of information coming from his girlfriend.

"The brush strokes and style are the same as that one over there. Same artist," she said quickly. Hiro checked and wasn't sure if he should be surprised or not when Zero Two was spot on.

"That's incredible," he breathed quietly. "I had no idea you liked art so much."

"It's alright, I'm not sure I have a passion for it or anything." Hiro couldn't help the dumbfounded stare he gave her, barely believing the words he had just heard.

"Zero Two, you just spent the last twenty minutes examining and breaking down every painting we looked at and you have the nerve to say you don't have a passion for art?"

"Well, I mean, it's cool to look at and everything, but I'm not as big a fan of the darker colors. So much of this is all dark and muted. Technique is interesting, but it's all so…dull. I mean, look at this," she said gesturing to a random work along the wall. "What's this about?"

"Umm, a dog? It's a painting of a dog, isn't it?" It was indeed a painting of a dog, but that didn't satisfy Zero Two.

"Okay, yes, but not really. Look at all the dark colors, how serious the dog looks. The brightest color in the whole thing is the white in the dog's fur, and even that looks depressing. Sad, dull, boring. Barely expressive. Not interesting in the slightest."

"What is interesting then?" Hiro asked, the couple wandering away from the dog picture and ambling through the gallery.

"I don't know, something more colorful than that, at least. More lighthearted too, no one likes to be sad. All of these are so serious and it just feels pretentious. If the artist isn't having fun making it, how are we supposed to have fun looking at it?"

"But what about if the artist wants it to be about something serious?" he asked, genuinely curious of what Zero Two's answer would be.

"You're allowed to make a depressing piece with bright colors. All that black lets you see is emptiness. Think of how much more you can say with all that space if you use some different colors."

"So what you're saying is that your favorite kind of art is something bright, expressive, and fun."

"Hmm, yeah, I guess," Zero Two said, swinging their linked hands between them.

"And how have you not demanded we go see the special watercolor exhibit yet?" Hiro asked, genuinely confused and curious.

"There's a watercolor exhibit?" the pink-haired girl asked, her big green eyes blinking owlishly.

"…yeah, the girl at the front desk said so."

"Oh, oops, I wasn't listening, I was looking at your butt."

"…I don't know if I should be surprised or not," he sighed, only a hint of a blush rising to his face.

"You wouldn't be if you could see it. Mmh." Hiro didn't have anything to say to that, but he did let out a little help when one of his girlfriend's hands came down to grab at his ass.

"Okay, none of that in public please," he said gently grabbing Zero Two's hand and repositioning it.

"Only in public? You'll have to make it up to me later then." Hiro didn't have an answer for that, but fortunately one wasn't needed as they walked into the large watercolor gallery and Zero Two's attention was snatched away. "Oh, wow, this is awesome! Ooo, let's look at that one first! Why haven't we been looking at these he whole time?"

"Because someone was more interested in staring at butts than listening," Hiro said quickly, dragging his feet a little so Zero Two couldn't go charging through the gallery without letting go of him.

"Psht, that's what I have you for, Darling. Better halves and all that."

"Doesn't that refer to married couples?"

"I dunno, you're supposed to be the smart one. What the heck is this supposed to be?"

"I'm not sure that's accurate at all. And I think it's a giraffe."

"But it only has two legs! And it's blue!"

"It's…abstract?"

"No, it's stupid. And look at how splotchy the colors are. I could have done a better job of this."

"Hey, you have to have some respect for their artistic vision."

"Not if they don't have any respect for my actual vision. Look at this mess. You give me forty minutes and I could make something that looks better than this."

"Careful, you know what they say about overconfidence."

"It's a slow and insidious killer?"

"Wha- killer, what? No, I was just going to say be careful what you boast about, or else someone might hold you to it."

"If it's you, Darling, you can hold me any way you want."

"In that case…" Hiro quickly snapped a picture of the canvas. "You have to use the same colors to make something better than this. With just your hands, since that's how they did it."

"Hmm…what's my incentive?" she asked, looking over the painting carefully.

"You mean other than the knowledge that you were right?" Zero Two just gave him a winning smile. "I'll…I'll give you an hour to do whatever you want."

"Oh my, Darling, I hadn't figured you for such a pervert," the pink-haired woman teased with her usual sly grin.

"Hey, I didn't suggest anything! If anyone's a pervert, it's you!"

"Of course I am. So you should have known what I'd want to do when you offered. Which means you are definitely a pervert."

"…I'm not sure I like the corner you've backed me into on this," Hiro said with squinted eyes, and Zero Two laughed adorably.

"Don't worry, I'm in the corner with you. We can have lots of fun together."

"This metaphor is falling apart. Do you want to do it?"

"Do I want to make a bet for something I know I can do? Yes, I think I will! Come on, I want to cash in on that offer as soon as I can!"

"Wha…Zero Two, we just started looking at these! Don't you want to look around more?"

"Making stuff is way more fun than looking at it. And this stuff will always be here, we can just come back."

"…I guess we have been here for a few hours already. Fine, let's go."

"Onward then, to food!" Zero Two said cheerfully, skipping off towards the stairs.

"I thought you were going to be painting?"

"And I assumed you knew that you shouldn't work on an empty stomach!"

Hiro listened to the gentle humming coming from Zero Two as she worked, her hands covered in light colors and an absolute mess. His eyes flicked back and forth between her and what she was creating on the canvas in front of her, unable to decide which one was more worthy of his attention. On one hand, Zero Two remained as riveting as ever, having changed into a loose, colorfully stained shirt that bore the marks of many previous art projects and swaying slightly as she worked. But the creation that was slowly emerging in front of her constantly pulled his eyes to it, though he couldn't tell what it was yet.

"Who's staring at butts now?" Zero Two asked idly after a while, shaking Hiro out of the calm daze he had slipped into.

"Huh?" he said intelligently.

"My butt, you're staring at my butt."

"I…oh, yeah, sorry," Hiro mumbled, only now realizing he had been looking at his girlfriend's rear while he was zoned out. "I-I wasn't looking…or, I was, but…uh…"

"I wasn't telling you to stop," Zero Two teased, purposefully swinging her hips a few times. "Just noting your hypocrisy. Anyways, I'm done! What do you think?" The black-haired boy forced his eyes away from her swaying glutes to examine her finished painting.

The whole thing was pretty much incredible, largely as Hiro expected. The whole thing was a larger circle split into segments, each sixth created using a slightly different method. One was clearly made by a bunch of handprints being pressed against the canvas; others were harder to tell, like the one Hiro had noticed Zero Two making with a bunch of small flicks of her finger, splattering the color around. And when he took a step back to see the whole of it, all the different techniques together formed something strikingly similar to a crystal blue eye.

"Geez, you weren't kidding. This looks amazing. How did you get such deep color on these parts?" he asked, pointing to the outer edges, where the colors were much darker than towards the center.

"I just went over it multiple times. You get a bit more color each time. With watercolors, it's an easy way to get a nice gradient," she explained, enjoying watching her Darling examine her piece.

"This is really fantastic, you have a lot of talent, Zero Two."

"Aww, that's sweet Darling, but this isn't anything special. Anyone could do this much."

"No, not anyone can do this. In fact, a lot of people can't do this, including me. You've got real talent and you shouldn't dismiss that." Zero Two blinked in surprise a little, not expecting him to be so insistent. She definitely liked the fierce expression he had though.

"Okay, Darling. But I still won our bet. Which means…"

"Mgh, I'm almost scared to ask, but what do you want?"

"Okay, first, shirt off! Lay down!" Hiro followed her instructions with just a hint of hesitance, ending up laying stiffly on the mattress with his chest bare. "You really have to relax, Darling, it's not good for you to be so tense."

"That's mostly your fault, you know," he said.

"I can't imagine why," she said at the same time she pulled her stained shirt free of her body, revealing a tight black Lycra sports bra.

"Oh really, nothing comes to mind?"

"Nope. Turn on your side," Zero Two chirped impishly, and Hiro did what she asked. In a matter of seconds, she was nestled up against him, holding his arms.

"Okay, this one goes here," she placed one of his arms under her and wrapping around her waist, "and this goes here." His other limb was around her shoulder and up to her hair, where his hand rested. "Squeeze a little…" His embrace tightened, holding her flush against his body, with her face in his collarbone. "Now stroke my hair." He did, and she hummed happily, nuzzling into him further and squishing her cheek to his chest.

"And last of all…" Hiro jumped and let out a yelp as Zero Two's hands came down on his butt, squeezing and holding it playfully. "Haha, got your butt!"

"Zero Two! That's not appropriate!"

"Oh yeah? I thought the rule was only 'no groping girlfriends in public'. As far as I can tell, we're not in public and you said whatever I want for an hour! So you're not getting out of this! But I'll tell you what…" Her voice dropped down to the whispering tone that Hiro knew only came out when she was encouraging him to do something untoward with her. "You can do the same thing to me if you want."

She didn't say anything else as they laid there, sometimes gently rubbing her hands along his flanks and up his back. They sometimes talked quietly about nothing important, in a tone just barely loud enough to be heard, but otherwise they were quiet, enjoying each other's closeness and gentle breathing.

And eventually, Hiro gathered the courage to lay his hand on her bottom, earning him a small wiggle and a giggle from her, but nothing else.

Guess who took forever to write a chapter again! It's me. It's always me. Probably shouldn't tell you this, but I had this done, like, last month. I just let it sit a while. Mostly because I haven't found the motivation to start on the next chapter at all. Plus life is really busy right now, lots of things happening. But you're not here for that, you're here for story, so here's something related to that!

Godamora, not intentional, but glad you're enjoying. Order, it is nothing, you guys are super paranoid. And yes, of course she is. That's half the appeal of the entire community. Pokotokomu, technically, no, none of that is allowed per the guidelines. I do think its dumb and basically never enforced, but I'd rather not run the risk of being that one guy picked on or reported. Plus, AO3 is a good site too and allows for a wider reader base, so I might as well. Unknown, Ichigo is just jealous but doesn't really know she's jealous. Plus, doesn't everyone love drama between characters? Isn't that why we're all here? Glad you like all the character interractions too, it's hard to give everyone the screen time they deserve. Warriors, that was totally a Pacific Rim reference! Fantastic movie! Thanks for your patience and I'm glad you're enjoying. Dutch, thank you so much, means a lot! Nico, chapters come out whenever the hell I want, which has always and will always be the case. Sorry to keep you waiting, but them's the breaks. Biscuitbottle, good job, you got that coveted 'haha funny number' review, you have earned your golf clap. Glad you liked the different type of opening, that was something I really wanted to have happen. After all, starting the same way as everyone else is a good way to make your story like everyone else's, and that's not interesting. Hiro and Zero Two maybe do bond a bit quickly, but I'm going to pull the soulmate excuse on this one. Plus, each chapter is set about a week apart (mostly, the earlier chapters happen closer together), so if you look at it like that, it's maybe not as bad? Up to you on that one. And as far as Zero Two just wanting the D, as you put it, please allow me to assure you that all is progressing as intended and all will be made clear. Probably. If I ever manage to write the damn thing.

Anyways, glad you're all enjoying, thanks for the reviews, leave some more! No need to check AO3 on this one, there's no more lewd bits (I know you're all disappointed, but too bad). As always, next chapter is coming! When? Will it take less time than this one did? Why am I so bad at writing for a story that I really like? The short answer is 'stop asking hard questions'. The long answer is 'stop asking hard questions or I'll shiv you'. Hope that clears things up! Thank you as always for your support! Cheers!

~Aro