"Darling, I need to let go of our hands now, kay?"

Zero Two's turquoise orbs gazed into his eyes with love and affection as she nuzzled her horns against Hiro's forehead. Overwhelmed by such an open display of affection, Hiro could only stiffly nod as he felt the warmth linger in his hands as Zero Two slowly released her grip.

He shivered in pleasure as he felt Zero Two made an effort to slowly run her fingers through his as she detached herself, giving him a final tease of skinship that made him blush once more.

"Aww, don't give me that look, Darling."

Scratching his cheek as he looked away, Hiro mumbled his apologies. Zero Two felt her eyes water from happiness when she saw such open reluctance show on darling's face.

He's getting clingier to me, that's so cute.

"Hehe, once we get back, we can hold hands all you want."

Giving a final peck on his lips, Zero Two grinned as she turned around and prepared to enter the Pistil terminal.

Shaking his head to clear away the fluffy white clouds that had blanketed his mind, Hiro exhaled as he gripped the handles of Zero Two's Pistil suit and proceeded to open his heart. As he closed his eyes, he felt a throbbing warmth in the distance and proceeded to embrace it.

"...!"

Woah, that felt REALLY good.

As Hiro gasped at the pleasurable sensation that flooded his body, he barely noticed Strelizia booting up as he heard Zero Two moan and arc her back.

"Zero Two… Did you feel that as well?"

Wiggling her body to soak in the pleasure and release the tension that had built up in her, Zero Two groaned out,

"Mmm, I'm feeling it too. It felt even better than our first time together, Darling~"

"Yeah, it really does feel much better than our first time! As I go deeper inside you, I can't tell where I end and where you begin anymore."

"I think that's because our hearts got closer than ever, Darling!"

Hearts getting closer huh...? Maybe this is the true power of the Franxx.

As Hiro pondered his newfound theory on piloting, Zero Two's voice broke him out of his introspection.

"Let's fly, darling!"

The boosters on Strelizia's back roared as they took flight. Hiro's breath hitched in his throat as he gazed at the world around him as Strelizia soared through the sky.

"Amazing..."

"It never gets old huh, darling?"

"Yup!"

As they raced off to rescue their squad mates at the mine, only one thought crossed his mind.

Piloting with Zero Two feels amazing!

Miku groaned in pain as she blinked away the blurriness of her returning vision. Her bandages were stained red from the reopening of her wounds and pulses of pain rocked through her body from the recovering bruises she had received from her mock battle with Delphinium. As the ringing in her ears began to subside, she noticed someone was calling out to her.

"-ku! Miku!"

That crying face of his looked so stupid, honestly. Did he even notice that his nose was running in an undignified way?

But at least that jerk had enough heart to shed tears for her. Seems like he's not all that bad after all.

"Miku! You're back!"

A painful impact collided against her back.

"Hey! Hey! My body still hurts so... wait where do you think you're touching!? Hey, get off already!"

"I'm so glad you're alive Miku! I'm so glad!"

Jeeze. At least be considerate and notice that he was getting tears and snot on her Pistil suit. But Miku couldn't deny the little flash of happiness that streaked her heart as she rubbed the back of her idiot partner to calm him down.

"Alright! That's enough, you crybaby! Let's get back to the fight!"

Giving Zorome a quick smack on his head, Miku positioned herself at the Pistil terminal and prepared to reactivate Argentea.

"Seems like the both of you are back to normal huh? That's good, for a moment, we thought you had died!" Kokoro's voice chimed in.

"I never died!"

Ichigo did not wish to break up such heartwarming banter from her squad mates, however, the groaning of twisting steel behind Delphinium told her that they had more pressing issues at hand.

"That's enough of that! Argentea! Genista! Help me barricade this entryway!"

As Argentea and Genista surged forward to bolster the locked entryway which seemed to be on the verge of breaking down, Ichigo radioed HQ for support.

"Delphinium to HQ! Where is our backup? We can't hold out for much longer!"

The calm and measured voice of Hachi came through, but what he said had the opposite effect of reassuring Ichigo. In fact, it sent chills down her spine.

"Strelizia's coming to back you up. Hold out until it arrives."

"All right! If we can just hang in there until-" Futoshi's cheering was cut off by the harsh demands of Ichigo,

"Strelizia!? Who's the pilot? Hachi, who's piloting it!?"

It couldn't be. They wouldn't dare send him. His life was in danger if he kept piloting with Zero Two.

"Ichigo! Get a grip! We're losing power to Delphinium!" Goro desperately called out in an attempt to calm her down.

As Ichigo's focus slipped from her frantic worrying, the slack that had been introduced into Delphinium's output proved to be fatal. The Conrad-class Klaxosaurs began to rip through the steel barricade and tear it apart.

"What's gotten into you?" Miku cried as she felt the barricade give way under Argentea's hands.

Ichigo's mind began to shut down. She panicked at the idea of Hiro being a cold, immobile corpse laying in the Stamen's seat. She calculated that since this was his 2nd flight of death, he would either die after this or have just one final chance left at survival.

But in the darkest recesses of her heart, she knew the truth.

This wasn't about Hiro's safety.

Her jealous heart whispered toxic thoughts to her mind. She remembered the mock battle in Delphinium. She had confessed her heart out, he had kissed her, even if it was for the faintest of moments. Their minds and souls became one as they reconnected just like old times. And then they moved in perfect unison as Hiro unleashed his full capabilities that pushed Delphinium to it's very limits.

She remembered how warm his hand felt as he squeezed back in response.

And now he was piloting with that... that homewrecker!

She felt as if the carpet was pulled out from under her. As if their memories from their time together as childhood friends grew fainter as Hiro replaced them with new ones with Zero Two.

She had spent her entire life in pursuit of a single goal. Countless hours were spent in front of the mirror every morning as she tried to make herself as attractive as possible before meeting him. She took extra care to wear the hairpin that he'd gifted her, every single day. Ichigo even styled her hair such that it had longer bangs on a single side that she could brush conspicuously as Hiro mentioned offhandedly once that he found such an action 'cute'.

And now, he chose Zero Two over her. A horned girl with Klaxosaur blood that he had barely met for less than a week.

Ichigo heart screamed in pain as the blades of jealously repeatedly stabbed it.

This is bad, she's panicking and her mind's completely shutdown. It's always Hiro that causes her to freeze like this.

Goro knew that he had to take command or else the entire squad would be wiped out. As his eyes spotted an alternate route, he ordered,

"Everyone, run to the center and escape!"

With the Conrad-classes hot on their tails, they all ran for their lives as they prayed to Papa to watch over them.

As they reached the center, they realized that Papa had currently put them on hold.

"There's even more of them at the center..." Kokoro uttered in fear.

"We're surrounded!" Zorome yelled.

With icy fear gripping her heart, Miku looked towards Ichigo for answers.

"Hey leader! What are we gonna do about this?"

Ichigo had to have some sort of plan! She was an Aggressor after all! She was one of the best pilots of the entire Ground Forces!

As Ichigo's brokenhearted voice sounded off, Miku knew no answer was forthcoming.

"Prepare to make a final stand. Take down as many as you can before... before..."

Ichigo's voice relayed her doubt and fears as she stared down a giant mass that approached them.

So the Conrad-classes have already combined. This infestation is worst than we thought. We're dead.

If only I didn't lose myself thinking stupid thoughts, we could have still made it out.

I've failed as a leader.

That's what I get for allowing Hiro to take the lead all the time during our time together.

I'm a terrible leader as compared to him.

As the giant Conrad-class closed in on Delphinium, Ichigo resolved to keep her eyes open until the very end.

"Hiro..."

She prayed.

And was answered.

"Hey, Zero Two."

As Strelizia swooped in from above like an guardian angel and slammed Queen Pike into the giant Conrad-class, Hiro made conversation as casually as one would when enjoying their meals at the mess halls.

"Mmm?"

Zero Two made a noise as she focused on piercing the heart of the Klaxosaur that lay below them.

"You said you can pilot Strelizia alone if needed right?"

"Yup! What about it?"

"But, that only applies to the stampede form. You never had the chance to experience piloting Strelizia much when she's in her actual normal form, right?"

"Well, yeah... I don't understand where you are going with- Ah, Darling!?"

Zero Two made a noise as Hiro shut his eyes and focused on releasing his hold over their shared connection to Strelizia. Shifting control over to Zero Two. Cracking open an eye, he smiled at Zero Two,

"There you go! Here, enjoy yourself Zero Two!"

Zero Two's eyes widened as she made an "oh" face as she realized what her darling had done. He would let her take the lead on piloting Strelizia while he focused on supporting her?

Darling. Was. Perfect.

Perfect.

"Darling."

"Hmm?"

"I'm gonna kiss the crap out of you when we get back."

"Ehehe. I'm looking forward to it, I guess?"

After flashing one last cheesy grin at Hiro, Zero Two turned back to focus on her new found control over Strelizia.

Time to have some fuuuuuuun

Strelizia looked around the swarming masses of Conrads and smirked, there was plenty of food

and fun

to be had today in the mine.

Strelizia's boosters purred along with it's pilot as it prepared to perform her massacre of Klaxosaurs with newfound glee.

"Alright darling, keep up with me kay?"

"Of course! Just don't get too carried away, Zero Two. It's kinda disgusting when Strelizia is coated with Klaxo blood."

"I'll try not to ruin the paint job~"

As Strelizia somersaulted into the air to transition into a dive with Queen Pike, Hiro was already shifting over to his newfound support role with ease.

"Marking Klaxosaur concentrations on the screen, dive right there to get the most impacts."

"As expected from my darling, Perfect in bed and in support~"

"B-bed!? But we didn't share a bed yet..."

"Not yet."

The blush currently on Hiro's face could light every single Klaxosaur in the mine on fire from it's intensity alone. He always felt the hair on his neck rise in pleasure whenever she used "that" voice on him. Loudly clearing his throat, Hiro shook his head and went back to tracking targets for Zero Two to squash to pieces.

However, there was one thing that was nagging at the back of Hiro's mind as he watched Zero Two elegantly stab, pierce and crush Conrads under the might of Strelizia.

That it was genuinely taking longer than he had expected for Strelizia to clear out the Klaxosaur mob. And he suspected it wasn't because of her piloting skill or lack thereof. He tapped Zero Two on her shoulder as she added another Conrad to the tally.

"Zero Two...?"

"Kinda busy here darling~"

She was holding back.

It was plainly obvious from her movements that she wasn't even putting her heart into it. That she was moving Strelizia slower, twisting and turning with a forced gentleness that spoke as if she was afraid of hurting something.

Or someone.

Hiro's heart fluttered and clenched at the same time. On one hand, his heart surged with happiness at the idea of Zero Two caring about him so much she would even restrain herself just to avoid any chance of hurting him in the process. On the other hand, his heart clenched at the thought that he was holding her back from her full potential.

He didn't want a partnership... no. He didn't want a relationship where Zero Two couldn't be herself around him.

He wanted to be her equal, her partner in all aspects.

"I want you to go all out."

"...Darling?"

"Hold nothing back, Zero Two. Go all out. Let me see your true abilities."

Zero Two's eyes widened at his request. Her lips quivered as she thought of her darling being a broken bloody mess as all her Stamens were reduced to after piloting with her.

She couldn't risk that. Never! She would protect her darling with her life. And if she couldn't, she would follow him into the afterlife at a moment's notice.

Because a world without darling isn't a world worth living in.

"...I don't want to hurt you darling."

"And I don't want to keep holding you back. Zero Two, trust in me. I promised to give you, my everything. So take it Zero Two. Take my life force, take every last drop of blood. I belong to you, Zero Two. I'm all yours-"

With a hand over his heart, Hiro declared.

"Use me, Zero Two."

Closing her eyes for a moment, Zero Two exhaled loudly.

"Promise me you'll be fine. Promise that you'll come back to me safe and sound. If you do, I'll use you as you wish."

With his fingers stroking her cheeks, Hiro whispered in the gentlest voice he could muster,

"I'm your partner, forever and always. I promise you."

With her eyes watering up at her darling's declaration and promise, with her heart beating in her chest as she cried in happiness at such devotion from her darling, Zero Two nodded and smiled seductively,

"Well then, get ready for all of me. Prepare yourself, Darling~"

"Mmm, I can't wait."

Feeling out the connection between herself and Hiro, the bond that signaled the flow of life force, thoughts and memories between the two partners, Zero Two shifted from her carefully managed bond-distance from her darling as she approached closer to the beating core of his soul.

Caressing the red pulsing core of his bond towards her as if she was his lover,

Zero Two pulled it close into her in a mimicry of an lover's embrace as she indulged deeply into his soul.

"...!"

"Darling?!"

Worried at the sound he had just made, Zero Two paused her actions for a moment and immediately checked on her darling. She rolled her eyes at her overreaction as she noticed the pinkness of the blush staining his cheeks.

"Oh. So that's what you think about when you're around me."

Zero Two giggled.

So he had started the mind meld and liked what he saw? Now that gave her an idea.

Purring her desires to her darling,

"If you would like, I can do everything you're seeing right now, for you afterwards. In bed."

"L-let's just focus on squashing those conrads for now."

In his tiniest voice ever, Hiro squeaked out his reply, embarrassed as he was at being propositioned by Zero Two.

With a rumbling of the Earth, the remaining Conrads merged to once more form the giant mass that threatened Delphinium just a short while ago.

As it charged at the currently immobilized Strelizia, there was a flash of light that blinded everyone in the mine. A flash of light so bright, it caused the pilots of Squad 13 to shield their eyes from the searing burn it caused.

Strelizia became dyed in red.

"Strelizia's sync rate is rising! 114...117...125..." Nana cried out at the Command Center.

"Doctor, what in the world is going on?" Hachi asked.

Stroking his chin as he looked at the display, Werner murmured,

"That boy might just make Zero Two's wish come true."

Strelizia's thrusters roared as the red maiden of steel barreled towards it's target. Putting all of it's force behind Queen Pike, Strelizia rammed the oversized lance into the skull of the giant Klaxosaur.

"Great job darling! Let's keep going! We can do this!"

"Let's go! Zero Two!"

Even as Hiro's heart palpitated under the strain it was going through, he couldn't help but yell along with her as he pushed forward with his partner...no,

His princess.

As he felt Zero Two's entire being surround him in a warm, soft and loving embrace that he felt brush against him down to his very blood cells, he couldn't help but grin.

If he was going to die, then this would be the best way to go out ever.

With a bang. Not a whimper.

The magma energy in Queen Pike reached a critical mass as it erupted in the depths of the Klaxosaur's insides, the massive explosion it released blowing it to pieces. As a shower of blue coated the entire mine shaft, chunks of the Klaxosaur's gore began to rain down and bounce off the ground with wet, sickening thumps.

Gasping for breath, Hiro slumped back in his seat as all the adrenaline that had surged through his body cooled down and he had to deal with the aftereffects. Clutching his heart that palpitated at a million miles an hour, he barely heard the telltale rustling sound of Zero Two cuddling up to him.

Soft hands removed the ones which were clenching his heart as he gasped for breath. Replacing his grip with a warm and gentle touch on his chest as Zero Two nuzzled her horns on his forehead. She gently pressed her hands down on his chest as she cooed comforting words in his ears.

"You did well, darling. Shhh, shhh. It's all over now. You fulfilled your promise and returned to me safe and sound. Deep breaths, darling. Breathe. Here, listen. Follow my timing. Breathe in... and out... You're the best, darling."

The gentle massaging of Zero Two's hands on his chest, the comforting whispers and the cuddling eventually all contributed to Hiro's body calming itself down as it readjusted to normality.

But there was still something important that had not been resolved. It was a matter of utmost importance, so important that Hiro could not afford to leave it hanging in doubt. Truly, this went beyond even the success of their current mission.

"Zero Two."

The absolute seriousness in his voice made Zero Two lock her eyes onto his orbs and provide him with her full attention.

"Yes?"

"When can I claim my kisses?"

"Pervert."

Ichigo stood with her rest of her squad as they awaited the duo to exit from Strelizia. Her heart was racing as her mind flashed her images of Hiro's broken body being dragged out of Strelizia's cockpit. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as she desperately tried to convince herself that Hiro was still fine.

A hissing sound finally made everyone perk up and look towards the cockpit of Strelizia as it opened to disgorge it's pilots. If the rumors of the Partner Killer was true. If they needed to add another name to the casualty list.

If they needed to mourn.

For short moments that seemed to last an eternity, Ichigo's heart waited through the excruciating seconds that would determine Hiro's fate.

For once, Fate seemed to have mercy.

Zero Two walked out of the cockpit with her arms supporting Hiro as he stumbled out along with her. He was walking, alright, but from the way it seemed that Zero Two required to support his weight, it was clear as day that Hiro was not exactly in perfect shape. Although one couldn't tell from the smiles that were adorning the couple's faces.

The tinkling sound of laughter rang out even from the distance between the pair and the rest of the squad.

Ichigo realized the sinking feeling in her stomach that plagued her from the beginning was still around, even after confirmation of Hiro's safety. Except it was there for a different reason. A reason she soon realized as she squinted her eyes at something that interested her.

Hiro had a small bruise on his neck.

As if he had been bitten by something.

Or someone.

She had touched him.

Intimately.

Ichigo ground her teeth so harshly she felt her molars scrape against each other.

"The numbers are conclusive. Code 016 is the best performing Stamen in Strelizia's history. He is a perfect match for Code 002."

"Get to the point, Werner."

"Do I have your permission to execute the Filament Plan?"

"Request denied. Raw performance and compatibility isn't everything. This is only his second flight, isn't it? Historically, he still has one more trial to pass if he is to prove that he is capable of becoming her permanent partner."

"...This specimen is different, I can assure you. At least unfreeze Strelizia's design so I can improve their chances."

"That might be possible. However, if you wish to make modifications to Strelizia, it would have to be done with whatever resources you currently possess. No additional magma fuel, Franxx components or engineering manpower will be allocated to you. If Code 016 indeed proves to be the special specimen and survives his third flight against all odds, we can renegotiate the implementation of the Filament Plan."

"Understood. Werner out."

As the visage of Papa disappeared from his communications display, Werner Franxx hurriedly pulled out his tablet as he compiled all of his notes and blueprints of Strelizia.

Tapping his stylus on the desk, he glanced out his office's window as he pondered the options available to him with his currently limited resources at Plantation 13.

Maybe he could...

No, no, no. The boy was a close quarters combat expert, that wouldn't work.

As he saw a team of Garage mechanics transport a container of steel tubes using the cranes, an idea whizzed past his brain.

Yes, that would work.

Rushing to sketch the new design out on his tablet before the details eluded him, Doctor Werner Franxx worked on his new experiment.

However, he did not manage to get far before the chirping voice of Nana came through on his intercom.

"Doctor Franxx, Hachi wishes to see you in his office to discuss Strelizia's performance regarding today's mission."

Damned fools! Can't an old scientist be left to his experiments for once?

Groaning to himself, Werner responded that he would be there shortly as he grabbed his coat and prepared to leave his office.

"Oh right, I almost forgot to save my blueprint."

With a swipe and a quick series of taps to name his saved work, Werner left his office to meet that blasted Hachi.

He was going to squeeze Nana's butt even harder today to make up for his frustration.

As he left his office and turned off it's lights, the tablet's display shone in the darkness.

FRX-01C

Strelizia Custom.