The next few days had gone by without incident. By the second week of school, X and Zero had been getting along nicely. They'd even managed to get along with Vava until now. Vava seemed to respect those he perceived as strong, and have a disdain for those he saw as week. He seemed to like teasing X for small faults, especially during PE.

It was now PE class in the second week of school. The class was taught by their coach, Sigma. he was a tall, muscular, charismatic reploid with a clean bald head. He tended to push his students in warm ups, but most every student found him charismatic. Today, he lined them up to play dodge-ball. "alright, reploids!" he roared in a mighty voice, "you've all worked hard this week, so I think you deserve some fun. thus, you will all play dodge-ball. Remember, should you hit someone in the face, you're out! Now line up and i'll form you into teams.

The students lined up and were split into teams. X was glad that he was on the same team as Zero, but got nervous when Vava approached them. "Well, Zero, looks like we clash yet again. Today we see who's more skilled." Zero crossed his arms with a stern look. "And you, X. Hope you're ready to get your butt kicked." Vava stalked up to X, using his height to give him an intimidating look. "Now, Vava, we don't know what'll happen." X tried to appeal to the reploid, but Vava only got into X's face even more. Then, they heard a whistle. "Alright, teams. get to your sides of the wall, when I whistle again, you start." At this point, Sigma had lined the balls along the center of the room.

As X and Zero walked to their side, Zero chided X. "You shouldn't let him get in your face like that. If you don't do anything, he'll walk all over you." X looked uneasy. "I don't want to pick a fight. Besides, you just keep engaging him." Zero scoffed. "I've no patience for a guy who keeps picking fights, I gotta make sure his ego doesn't get annoying." The two reploids stared at each other, Zero insistent with sternness and X pleading in gentleness. finally, Zero sighed. "Well, I won't push you, but I'm not gonna let him mess with you anymore." Before X could properly process what Zero had said, they heard the whistle.

And so the game began. Zero and Vava had run the fastest, each grabbing a dodge-ball and dashing back to the wall. X got unlucky, and was left without a ball. The battle got into full swing quickly. The dodge-balls were being thrown left and right, to and fro. X had a hard time getting anything to throw, but at the same time he was good at dodging. Zero and Vava seemed to be dueling directly, only pausing momentarily to score a shot on another player. "Go Zero!" X cheered to the side. Vava quickly glared at X and threw a ball at him. X managed to dodge, the ball whizzing past his torso. Zero had his opening, and threw his ball at Vava. It bounced off of Vava, who had barely just thrown his ball. "You're out, Vava!" coach Sigma shouted over the noise. The dark haired reploid clenched his fists and walked over to the side. "I'll get you for that X. You distracted me." he growled to himself.

After the first round was over. Sigma set the class up for a second one. The blow of a whistle, and the battle began anew. At this point, X had gotten used to jumping over low balls being thrown. Vava didn't engage with Zero in particular, which suited him fine. Zero seemed more keen on using the ball he had to deflect others, as so long as they didn't hit him directly, he was fine. The round raged on, and both teams were down to about five members each. Suddenly, Vava shouted, "Hey, X! Take this!" With that, he threw a ball at X with all his strength, fueled with a rage. The ball went higher than X expected. He had tried to jump out of the way backwards, but the ball slammed into his face, knocking him back even more. X tried to gain some footing, but he ended up landing on his foot wrong and twisting his ankle. With a yelp of pain, X hit the ground. Zero looked in shock a for moment as he heard "Score, that'll teach you!" form Vava. "You..." Zero growled as he wound back a ball with his own fury. He hurled a ball at Vava, who was distracted in his gloating. The ball struck Vava in the gut as he was laughing, knocking the wind out of him. Vava fell to his knees, gasping for breath. The class's focus, however, was on X.

Zero rushed over to X's side. X was groaning in pain, and his nose was bleeding from the impact of the ball. "X, what hurts? Are you..." Zero stopped himself. of course he wasn't ok. "He got hit bad. he needs to go to the nurse's office." Sigma declared. "I'm fine, coach. I'm just...ah!" X tried to get up, but the pain from his ankle kept him from moving. "X, grab onto me." "huh?" X was caught by surprise as Zero put his arms around X and lifted him up. "Coach Sigma, I'll take X to the nurse's office," Zero stated. He held X up without breaking a sweat, and X was quite flustered. Sigma chuckled with pride. "If you're up to the task, Zero. Take him there." With a nod, Zero walked out of the gym.

As Zero carried X down the hallway, the brunette reploid could only blush. His ankle hurt, but his situation was a good distraction. There he was in Zero's arms, Zero's strong arms. X found himself gazing at Zero. His face looked rather handsome in X's eyes. Blood rushed to X's cheeks when he realized that he was making these observations. He quietly gasped when Zero glanced over at him. "How are you feeling, X? Are you hurting?" X scrambled for words."Wha.. I.. I'm a little better. Thanks for carrying me. You didn't have to...""Don't be ridiculous," Zero cut him off. "X, you're the best friend I have here. I shouldn't have let Vava get a chance to hit you." Zero tightened his grip in anger. X felt a pinch from Zero and winced "Ow. Zero, you're hurting me.""Sorry, X." Zero quickly adjusted his grip, with a new worry in his eyes that X hadn't seen before. This was the first time he had seen Zero act with a gentleness and care. It was new for X to see Zero this worried about something. Was X really that important to him? Eventually, Zero made it to the nurse's office. After a short explanation, Zero laid X down on a bed. "The nurse will take care of your leg. You can take it easy now." "Thanks, Zero. Please don't be too angry with Vava. I'm sure Sigma is taking care of that." Zero then put his his hands on X's shoulders. X stared into the blonde reploid's eyes as he said, "Ok, X. If that's what you want. But I'm not gonna let this happen again." Zero patted X on the head. "You're my best friend, and you mean a lot to me."

Hearing this, X's heart raced, and he blushed a light red. Zero turned to leave with a thumbs up, having not noticed this reaction. "Take care, X." As Zero left, he nurse came up to X, first aid kit and clipboard in hand. "My, he's quite the hot-blooded boy, isn't he?" The nurse said with a smile. "Yeah," X replied. "But he's got a good heart."

X was left in his thoughts as the nurse tended to his ankle. 'Why does he make my heart race like that? I know he's my friend, but I feel something else.' Then it dawned on him. 'Oh, dear. I think I have a crush on him.'

Vava, for his part, had gotten a strict reprimand from Sigma, as well as a light deck to the head.

After Zero returned and PE had ended, Sigma pulled Zero to the side. "What is it, Coach?" "Zero, you seem like an active sort. You should join one of the school sports clubs." At this, Zero grinned."And what would you recommend?" Sigma chuckled. "If I remember correctly, you said you were into fencing. why don't you try the repliforce club?"

(Author here. Well, this took longer to make then I had thought. Rest assured, this is something I intend to go far with. Here marks lover no.1. If you have any suggestions for hi-jinks or how the love interests are introduced, feel free to leave a comment. Next up is the debut of a certain flower, if you know what I mean.)