After what seemed like an eternity of frantic snuggling and nuzzling, the pink haired girl eventually calmed down. Whether be it for reasons of physical exhaustion or she reaching her daily skinship quotas, Hiro knew not the reason.
But one thing was for sure, she looked like she took a dip in the wellspring of rejuvenation with how refreshed she looked. If he didn't know better, he would have accused her of sucking his life force to sustain herself.
Releasing her vice like grip on Hiro, she proceeded to take a step back and slowly stretch her body to work out all the kinks that had accumulated in the past half hour of frantic (one-sided)cuddling she administered to Hiro. Stretching her body as if she had just awoken from a particularly satisfying afternoon nap, with the accompanying noises of pleasure, she shifted her body in places that gave his eyes a visual feast of a lifetime.
If Hiro's eyes weren't so focused on how her chest pressed itself deliciously against her uniform top, he would have noticed that the pink haired girl was observing his reactions with her half lidded eyes slyly watching his every move. And the slight upward tilt of her lips betrayed how much she enjoyed the attention she was getting from her darling.
A jolt of pain across his lower back stopped Hiro from enjoying his visual feast any further. The harsh reality of having his back squashed against the hard bark of a tree trunk for the past half hour made itself known as a knot of muscle in his lower back cramped painfully.
Wincing his eyes from the pain, he proceeded to diligently massage his lower back to release the built up tension and to loosen the muscle cramp.
Just then, the pink haired girl seemed like she was about to say something. Hiro's ears immediately perked up. Finally! He was about to find out if conversation was one of her qualities!
He must have jinxed it with his eagerness as she immediately stopped mid-way and only made an irritated "tsk" sound. The rustling of the bushes behind him confirmed his suspicions that she was avoiding someone.
"There you are. I was looking all over the place for you."
A hoarse voice called out from behind Hiro. He turned around to identify the speaker.
The first thing he noticed was that he was wearing a Stamen suit. The second thing he noticed was the massive injuries that he had on his body. He had a brace on his neck, a sling for his arm and a bloody bandage over his left eye that was still stained crimson. He looked like an escapee from the morgue that wasn't told that he was supposed to be dead right now. The third thing he noticed was the crowd of black suited men with dark sunglasses trailing him at a distance.
But what scared him the most wasn't the injuries or the bandages. It was that the silver-grey haired Stamen was tall and powerfully built. His well defined muscles rippled against his Stamen suit and he was clearly a man of great physical capability.
Which somehow stuck a deep primal fear within Hiro when he saw such a mighty person look like he was basically a cripple. Was he a Stamen transferred from the front line to recuperate at the rear? Would that be his fate when he went to the front lines?
Hiro was so preoccupied that he did not notice the pink haired girl brushing past him to walk towards the Stamen.
"You shouldn't bother people like that. He doesn't know what you're capable of."
The pink haired girl merely huffed in response.
"Hey you."
The Stamen addressed him directly.
"Sorry she bothered you. Let me give you a piece of advice."
Hiro ears perked up again, he was interested in any scraps of information regarding the mysterious pink haired girl that basically groped him for the last half hour.
"Stay away from her. She's not a regular Pistil."
His eyes flickered towards Hiro's left shoulder.
"It would not be good if we lost a trainer such as you."
Hiro narrowed his eyes, it seemed that people only judged him for the patch he wore on his shoulders these days. But he bit his tongue and held back a sarcastic reply.
Then he noticed the pink haired girl had her gaze burning a hole into him the entire time even though multiple black suited men were speaking to her. He strained his ears to try and catch what they were talking about but it was no good. But he was glad he was looking towards the pink haired Pistil at that moment, as it seemed his day still had surprises in store for him.
She winked at him , blew a kiss and spoke the first actual intelligible words he heard from her.
"I'll see you later, Darling~"
And with a swoosh of her greatcoat that caused some of the leaves on the ground to rustle. She left behind only the ducks in the lake and a stunned ex-Stamen in her wake.
"Aren't you going to join the graduation parade? You know, sneaking off somewhere to hide during an important occasion such as this isn't how you're going to improve your relationships with the squad."
She was always good at finding him whenever he went out of his way to not be found. She knew all of his hiding spots like the back of her hands.
That's the scary power of a childhood friend for you.
"Not like it would change their opinion of me anyways. What about you? Don't you feel bad leaving Goro to stand there alone and giving the adults the wrong impression? Not to mention you're squad leader too, so truancy is gonna look twice as bad on you."
Hiro leveled a questioning look to the blue haired girl standing over him with her fists on her hips.
"Goro was always going to stand alone in the graduation parade, I was allocated a booth near the front row for observation. It would have seemed weird if I took part in the graduation parade considering I'm already a full fledged Pistil instead of a recruit."
Hiro shot her a disbelieving look.
"Like anyone cares to take note of the small details like that. We all know the adults just pretend to pay attention so they can get an excuse to indulge in the sweet wine they only serve at celebrations like this."
Ichigo rolled her eyes.
"We might be able to get away if we were just another Pistil or Stamen. But we're not."
At that moment, Hiro did the exact same action towards Ichigo that he disparaged many others for doing all the time around him.
He glanced at the patch on her left shoulder.
Wings and a dagger.
"Yeah, we're not."
He replied bitterly. Hiro's eyes flickered towards the clock across the wall and took note of the time, as he made to leave to his next destination.
He could feel Ichigo's gaze never leaving his back as he made his way to the departure terminal.
The silence was oppressive. Hiro usually enjoyed silence but even this was too much for him. It felt like a physical pressure was trying to choke out all the air from his lungs.
He stood a couple of paces away from Naomi, as she gripped the handles of her luggage case so tight her knuckles went white. He pretended he did not notice that. He needed to distract himself with something in order to escape this oppressive atmosphere. So Hiro did what he seemed to do best for the past year he had been in Plantation 13.
He brooded about the past.
"New orders. Directly from APE."
Doctor Franxx handed him an enveloped sealed with the wax stamp of APE. Ichigo looked over his shoulder curiously and awaited for him to open it. Anything directly from Papa was a huge matter, so she felt a sense of anxiety as she thought of the possible scenarios.
Would it be finally time for her and Hiro to hit the front lines? Were they going to be decorated with an award in some pompous ceremony for their achievements? Just a month ago, they finally managed to figure out how to tweak the joints of the Standard Franxxs in order to achieve a 9 percent superior handling and reaction time. Which was a massive improvement considering it was a minor change that did not affect the production costs of the Standard Franxx, nor require any major overhauls to the design.
"By the way, the rest of the squadron has also received their letters from Papa."
Ichigo mind turned at that revelation. Everyone got a different letter? What did that mean?
"What's in the letter?"
"I don't know. That's what the seal is for you know. Stop assuming I automatically know everything for some reason."
Werner deadpanned. He then left the room as per APE protocol that no third party could be in the presence during the opening of a sealed confidential message.
With agonizing slowness , Hiro broke the seal and opened the letter. He held it so close to his body and stared at it so intently that Ichigo had trouble reading it over his shoulder. Her shorter height compared to the black haired boy not helping matters at all. Even hopping up and down didn't give her the view she wanted.
Finally, Hiro turned towards her and pushed the letter towards her. She would never forget the expression on his face during that moment for the rest of her life.
Hiro just seemed utterly lost. He murmured the following words as if he was sleepwalking,
"We're being reassigned. APE feels that we've accomplished all we could as a trainer squadron."
Ichigo now understood the reasoning for the hollow look currently on Hiro's face.
"Where are we going? To the front?"
She couldn't stop her voice from shaking. It seemed the time had come to finally awaken from the dream.
"No. To a Plantation to the rear. Plantation 13."
Ichigo heaved a sigh of relief, so not the front lines then. No imminent risk of death or injury, she could continue being with Hiro.
"We should tell the rest!"
Ichigo made to leave but a hand gripped her wrist. Hiro looked at her with empty eyes. It was a look that would periodically return to haunt her in her nightmares.
"They're not coming with us. They're going to the front to join a combat unit."
And with that sinking feeling in her tummy. She realized why Hiro felt so shattered. He realized why Ichigo and himself were spared the death sentence. And he hated himself for it. She too felt the creeping guilt crawl across her skin like a disgusting slime that infected every pore.
She fought the urge to puke.
Ah, so this is what it feels to have survivors guilt.
But at least she and Hiro would be safe, for the moment. They would be safe in that Plantation at the rear. And she clung to that hope like a life buoy. Her dream wasn't ending just yet.
Little did Ichigo know how wrong she would be.
Plantation 13 would be where everything changed.
"Positive pulse and P-factor dropping. Timed out. Commencing Stage-6 linking. Measuring ability score. Negative pulse detected. Positive pulse on standby. Three. Two. One. Timed out."
She thought it was a fluke, a freak accident, something that was completely impossible, but she couldn't even activate a Franxx with Hiro after arriving at Plantation 13. No matter how much she tried and tried.
After two years of successfully being Hiro's Pistil in the Special Tactical Fighter Training Group. Two years of falling asleep together in the library after studying Klaxosaur biology through the night and losing track of the time, where she sometimes even had the privilege of shaking him awake in the mornings. Two years where their Mass Production Streliza moved like it was an extension of their bodies.
After over 87 logged excursions in their Mass Production Streliza. After having a synchronization bond with such high scores that they plowed through everything in their path.
Everything fell to pieces after reaching Plantation 13.
"Code 015 and 016, please leave the cockpit and head to the briefing room."
The cold voice of Nana pierced through the dark cockpit of their Standard Franxx. The basic model that all pilots, Pistil and Stamen, would train , sortie, fight and die in. The simplest to operate and with the maximum ease of use.
And yet, they were unable to even boot up the OS. The only thing that worked was the indicator that the Franxx was powered up with magma fuel. Which the full red bar glowed in the dark cockpit as though it was mocking her.
Mocking her failures.
"Please..! One more try! I promise it will-"
"Code 015. This is the 7th activation attempt. It's been over 90 minutes. Please leave the cockpit and head to the briefing room."
"Hiro..! Do something!"
Hiro's eyes were blank and unseeing. As if he was a puppet with it's strings cut. He barely had a grip on the handles of her Pistil suit.
"Uwah... you would expect better from the Special Tactical Fighter Training Group."
Miku cringed at the embarrassing performance by those she assumed were the cream of the crop of the Ground Forces. The elites of the elites that everyone from Garden looked up too, even the double digits looked up to them. And to make things worse, it wasn't just a member of the Aggressor squadron, but the Flight Leader himself and his Pistil second in command. Which made Miku cringe even more when she thought about it.
"Man... and I was SO hyped when I heard the Special Tactical Fighter Training Group were being attached to our Plantation. I even had my notepad ready to write down everything they said and learn from the best of the best. It seems in the end, they were all just marketing by APE, huh? Guess they should have hired me instead for their trainer squadron." Zorome sneered.
Ichigo couldn't bring herself to look any of the pilots observing the test in the eyes when she exited the cockpit of the Standard Franxx. Hiro was still slumped in his Stamen seat and remained unresponsive to her calls. Without any other choice, she grabbed Hiro by the wrist and started dragging him to the briefing room to meet the administrator and strategic officer of the Plantation.
All the while, the glint that reflected off the 3D printed emblem of the Special Tactical Fighter Training Group on her Pistil suit's left shoulder mocked her every step of the way.
Her wings felt heavier than ever before.
"How embarrassing. Please tell me this is a gigantic joke set up by the doctor."
Nana shook her head when they arrived at the Plantation's briefing room. Ichigo scowled at her, but even she agreed deep down that what just happened was a complete unmitigated disaster.
Hachi, straight shooter as always, spoke normally as if there was no tension in the air or hurt pilot feelings.
"From the data we managed to analyze from the failed connection tests, we've determined that the problem lies with Code 016. His Yellow Blood Counts are at an all time low. His body just seems to be unable to produce the required YBC to even boot up a mass production machine. On the other hand, Code 015 YBC count is at the usual levels, so she would have no issue continuing her Pistil duties. She merely requires a working Stamen."
"Don't call Hiro a problem!"
"But he is a problem, in his current state, it would be impossible for him to continue piloting."
"...!"
Ichigo's voice caught in her throat as she struggled to find any way to refute Hachi's statement.
Hachi then pushed on with an outrageous suggestion.
"However, we cannot let news spread that the Aggressor Flight Leader is unable to pilot a Franxx. The morale of the Ground Forces, not to mention their trust in Papa, would be shattered. At the same time, we still have a functioning member of the Special Tactical Fighter Training Group right here with us in the form of Code 015. We merely need to find her a functional Stamen to continue the charade where the Ground Forces can maintain their trust in the STFG."
"Charade...? Are you serious? Hachi, are you even listening to yourself?"
Ichigo looked at Hachi like he had lost it. She looked around for support.
Nana refused to meet her gaze.
Hiro stared at his feet with his blank eyes that saw nothing.
"We have a double digit Stamen in our Plantation squad who has a Pistil struggling to keep up with him. Code 056."
"Goro..!?"
Ichigo exclaimed. Hachi continued as if he wasn't interrupted in the first place.
"Yes, all we need to do is to replace Code 056's Pistil with Code 015 and the combat capabilities of Plantation 13's squad would increase significantly. Not to mention the morale boost of having an active duty Aggressor engaged in combat. We can shift Code 703 to be Code 016's Pistil. If all we need to get back into this is to just get Code 016 activating any form of Franxx again, then Code 703, as uninspiring as her performance might be, would be good enough to just merely be a Pistil for activation tests. Meanwhile, we'll keep Code 016 in Plantation 13 as to avoid spreading the news of today's failure by the Special Tactical Fighter Training Group's Flight Leader."
With cold, ruthless logic, Hachi proposed a solution that would cut out the dead weight and push the successes forward. It was an cold, calculating and almost mechanical way of looking at things. If one assumed the parasites were nothing more than an number or expendable resource. It was logical.
Hachi had basically already filed both Hiro and Naomi under the failure section of his filing cabinet.
Ichigo looked at Hiro for a response. They were going to be seperated! Did he not care at all?
"Hiro...! Hiro...! Hey..! Don't let them do this... Hiro! Say something!"
With her final plea, Hiro answered, but not in the way she would have hoped.
"It's fine."
And her dream turned into a nightmare.
The ringing of the bell that signaled the arrival of the transport pod broke Hiro out from his reminiscence.
He looked at the clock. 25 minutes had passed without a single word exchanged between him and Naomi.
Just as he was thinking how strange it would be to see a person off for the final time without a single word being exchanged. Hiro heard a line whispered in the breeze that made him freeze.
"I hate you, you know."
His neck snapped towards Naomi. His eyes wide. Did she really just say that? Was he dreaming? Did he mistake it for something else?
Whatever chance of it being a mistake evaporated as Naomi resolutely met his gaze with a glare worthy of hell.
"Why...?"
Hiro, stunned as he was by the suddenness of such a situation, could barely form a coherent question.
"BECAUSE YOU'RE SO FUCKING SELFISH!"
Hiro froze. This wasn't what he expected. His entire world seemed about to break apart.
"You know, when I found out I was to be paired with the Special Tactical Fighter Training Group's Flight Leader after he failed to active a Standard Franxx with his Aggressor Pistil, do you think I was happy or excited?"
"I-"
"NO! It felt like the entire world came crashing down on me!"
All Hiro could do was stay rooted with his traitorous feet refusing to let him run away and listen to Naomi unleash her true feelings.
"Do you even realize who you are? I thought I had it bad when I was paired with a double digit elite like Goro and was forced to realize that I was holding him back. Then you came along, you. You, who was another double digit elite, nay, you were more than that. You were the fucking Flight Leader of the Special Tactical Fighter Training Group. The pinnacle of APE's Ground Forces, the absolute best of the best. Paired with me. ME! A triple digit NOBODY. How was a triple digit piece of trash like me supposed to succeed where Code 015 failed?"
"Don't bring Ichigo into-"
"Screw her! Not everyone is like that blue-haired bitch you know? Not everyone acts like her where the entire universe revolves around you! You were so self centered to think that everyone would act like Ichigo and have their lives revolve around you. I wasn't excited to be your partner. In fact I hated it. I hated the fact that it felt like I was left to drown in a ditch without even giving me the courtesy of a life jacket. I had to endure endless scorn and ridicule from others who put me down for holding back the Flight Leader of the STFG. I had to bear it and listen to how I was so fucking useless that not even a Stamen of your caliber could carry my dead weight load into activating a Franxx. I even had people suggest that I become a caretaker at Garden instead of a Pistil because I was so useless."
The tide was unleashed. There was no stopping Naomi now. She had come too far. The emotions she had bottled for the past 12 months came crashing out in a tidal wave.
"When YOU were the problem instead! At least with Goro, I could at least activate my Franxx. But to keep up looks for the rest of the Ground Forces, they made me the scapegoat for your failures!"
"Naomi-"
"I'M NOT DONE YET! But oh, you want to know what truly made me hate you? What reallllly pushed it over the edge?"
In a shivering voice full of fear, Hiro death marched to his execution.
"What?"
"You never apologized to me. Not even once. You were so stuck in your petty angst and self pity, that you couldn't suppress your giant ego for one second to realize, there were other people than you suffering as well."
Hiro was stunned speechless at her tirade.
The door of the transport pod slid open and as Naomi stepped inside the transport pod and turned to face him, she flashed the brightest, emptiest smile Hiro had ever seen from another person.
Delivering her next line with a chilling malice.
"I hope I never see you again, Hiro."
A malicious God in a broken world granted her wish.
That was the last thing Naomi would ever find herself saying.
As Hiro's body lifted in the air from the force of the blast emitting from the exploding transport pod, he wondered how had everything in his life turned out to be so messed up.
While he laid on his back, slightly bleeding from the shrapnel wounds that had managed to pierce his skin and uniform, Hiro heard a wet thump land near him as he turned his head to the source of the sound.
A severed hand with part of the white bone jutting out at the wrist had landed right beside his head.
It was still gripping the handle of Naomi's luggage.
In the distance, the alarm that signaled an Klaxosaur attack blared.