"Ugghh.." A short boy with shaggy, dirty blonde hair sticking to his forehead groans, sweat rolling down his reddened cheeks. "Is it getting hot here, or is it just me?" he manages to crack a joke to the red head beside him, who was clearly unimpressed with how her eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed into a straight line.
"It's better you shut up, unless you want my temper to reach boiling point." Miku snaps at Zorome who shrugs his shoulders in response. Releasing a sound of annoyance, the petite girl rolls her sleeves up to her elbows and proceeds to fan herself hardly.
"Mou! I feel like I'm gonna melt!" she wails.
It's been weeks since the school festival, and in no time at all, the group had slowly gotten even closer with Zero Two and after finishing their exams with satisfying results, it was finally time for summer vacation; few weeks away from the stressful atmosphere of the school and a few weeks to enjoy themselves under the heat of the sun- that is, as long as the heat wasn't something that came from fires of hell, and unfortunately, that was the case for the hot and sweaty teens.
Luckily, it was already after school hours and the group found a nearby convenience store that wasn't too crowded.
"Here, have this you two." Ikuno says, placing a cold pack on both Miku's and Zorome's heads. "It would be too bothersome for the two of you to fight at this hour." she huffs, feeling a bit humid herself.
"Thanks, Ikuno!" the two teens say in unison.
Meanwhile, Mitsuru rids his vest off with a grimace and carefully undoes the buttons to his collar. 'Tch, how inconvenient.' he thinks to himself.
"Here, Mitsuru kun." seeing a hand holding out some canned drink to him, his gaze trails upward to see Kokoro's face lightly shimmering from sweat, her long, wavy hair tied into a ponytail. "It's green tea." she says with a smile.
Mumbling a quiet 'thanks', the olive haired boy slowly reaches out, his fingers gently grazing hers as he brings the cold drink to his forehead.
'Ahh..much better.'
"Futoshi." Zero Two exclaims, wide eyed. "What's that stuff?" she points to a pastry doused in chocolate in Futoshi's hand, with some cream coming out every time the plump man takes a bite.
"Hrm?" wiping off the remaining cream off his cheek, Futoshi begins explaining, "Ah this? It's an ice cream puff! Wanna try one, Zero Two?" he grins excitedly, offering an extra puff to the salivating pinkette. Without a second thought, Zero Two grabs the pastry and takes a small bite. Instantly, some cold, vanilla flavored cream invades her tongue, accompanied with the crispness of the puff itself, and the bittersweet chocolate glaze.
"This is sooo good!" she moans in delight. 'I bet this'll be better with some honey!'
Futoshi lets out a hearty chuckle, taking a bite from his own cream puff. "Yo, Zero Two, that's the face you make when you plan on smothering something with honey!"
"Really?! Is it that obvious?"
"Mhm!"
Watching the two teens bonding over sweets, Hiro's lips unconsciously turn upwards. his heart warmed whenever Zero Two would revert into some adorable persona whenever she ate something she loved; what bothered him though was the high chance of her developing diabetes over her obsession for anything sweet, maybe it would be good for him to take her to some normal diner sometime to ensure she gets proper nutrients.
Although, he imagines her eyes reverting to a puppy like stare whenever he tries scolding her for her sweet tooth, and honestly, how could he say no to those big, teal eyes?
'We're both helpless..' he sighs to himself as he looks back to Zero Two, whose cheeks were puffed up happily, until suddenly, he feels a strong arm wrap around his shoulders. Looking up, he sees Goro smirking at him with Ichigo by his side.
"Looks like you're enjoying the view, ain't ya?" Goro teases, making Hiro blush.
"T-that's not it" Hiro stutters. "I was just spacing out."
Rolling his eyes, Goro's smirk grows wider. "Uhuh, tell that to your face." he snickers, pointing at his raven haired friend, "It's red all over."
"It's 'cause of the heat!" pulling away from his best friend's hold, Hiro looks away and covers his rose colored face, inwardly cursing himself for blushing too easily. Seconds pass when Goro starts speaking once more, albeit, more seriously.
"Y'know, it's already been months since you and Zero Two had met..." the bespectacled boy began, "to be honest, I never thought she'd get along with our squad!" Goro chuckles, eyeing the horned girl trying to feed Miku some cream puffs. Smiling, he also adds while turning his gaze at Hiro, "Also, it's quite great you're starting to hang out with us again, right, Ichigo?" he faces the blue haired girl who was silently listening.
With a pinkish glow on her cheeks, she nods meekly.
"Yes."
Although she always tried to keep her calm at every situation, deep inside, Ichigo's heart soared seeing Hiro slowly include himself in everything he has been a part of before. It made her happy seeing him smile and laugh more freely, but a small part of her ached knowing those smiles were reserved for Zero Two, yet, she acknowledged how big of a help the pinkette was because if it weren't for her, Hiro would still be depressed and withdrawn.
Still, this didn't erase the constant pricking inside her chest and she doesn't know why.
"Ne, Hiro" Ichigo says, his name dripping like honey from her tongue, "since it's summer vacation, I was planning on going to the beach with the gang like old times..." her voice softens at the last part, briefly letting their childhood memories flood her thoughts. She remembers her and Hiro were super close back then, like siblings. She would bury Hiro in the sand, then they'd eat watermelons together and see who could spit the seeds the farthest, and finally at night, they'd walk together hand in hand and watch as the stars twinkled above the night sky.
'If only we could do things like that again...'
"..would you..like to join us..?" Ichigo asks, fists clenching in anticipation.
"Well..." Hiro wasn't that enthusiastic when it comes to beach stuff unlike before, but then again, he wondered if Zero Two would like to go to the beach as well, and knowing her, she'd be super ecstatic about it with her child-like nature.
"Is it okay if I bring Zero Two?" Hiro's words sends a pang on Ichigo's chest, yet, she manages to give him a smile. Afterall, Zero Two was already a part of their group. "Of course! I bet she'd be happy to join as well!" she says with forced enthusiasm.
"Really? That's gr-Ack!" Hiro lets out a small yelp when he feels a body topple over him, to which he soon realizes it was Zero Two enveloping him in a bear hug.
"Darling!" She exclaims, already feeling the effects of her sugar rush. "Hey, heyy! Try this cream puff! It's reeaaal tasty!" she giggles, holding the dessert near her darling's lips. "Say ahhh~" Zero Two smiles sweetly, making Hiro think nothing could go wrong with just one bite, right?
"A-ahh.." with his mouth slightly open, he feels the pastry graze through his teeth, and with one small bite, he carefully chews while examining its flavors. 'Hmm..it's sweet as expected..' he thinks to himself while swallowing the contents inside his mouth, unaware that a smear of chocolate made its way on his cheek, to which Zero Two instantly notices.
Without any hesitation, Zero Two leans forward and swiftly licks the chocolate off his cheek, making Hiro shiver and redden in embarrassment while Goro and Ichigo, who were there the whole time were slightly blushing after seeing such a bold act coming from the pinkette.
With Hiro reverting into a bumbling mess, Zero Two finds herself unknowingly licking her lips, "You taste real good, darling." she says nonchalantly before quickly changing the subject, "Anyways, did you like it?" she asks curiously, excited to hear her darling's opinion on her new found favorite dessert.
Regaining a bit of his senses, Hiro gives off a meek nod while making a soft sound of agreement.
"Really? Well then, we'll be buying this stuff as much as possible!" Zero Two declares while taking another bite of the cream puff she had previously fed to her darling. Exasperatedly, Goro and Ichigo share the same thoughts watching the pinkette devour her nth piece of sugary sin.
'Just how much sugar can this girl take...?'
As the sun started to set, the group finally part ways with each other; as usual, Zorome and Miku walked together while bickering, Futoshi and Kokoro both went home by themselves, while Mitsuru and Ikuno silently walked side by side. Goro told Hiro to go ahead without him since he'd be escorting Ichigo to her house first, which leaves the dark haired boy alone with Zero Two.
"Let's go darling!" Zero Two says while grasping on to Hiro's hand.
Moments passed as they chose to just revel in each other's presence, the silence between them calming, until Hiro starts to speak up. "Um, Zero Two? Don't you feel a bit stuffy with that scarf?" he asks while eyeing the red wool tightly wrapped around her neck; honestly, just seeing her wear that thing in summer makes him feel uncomfortable!
"Eh, not really." she shrugs, "I'm used to it"
"Is that so..?" Hiro murmurs before smiling at Zero Two. "Seems like it's pretty important to you, huh?"
With a hand clutching the material's fabric, the pinkette could only hang her head low while murmuring softly, "Yeah..someone precious gave it to me." a small smile of longing makes its way to her rosey lips.
A heavy feeling dawns upon Hiro as he notices the sudden shift of Zero Two's demeanor. Looking forward, he couldn't help but utter the words that came from the girl walking beside him, "Someone precious huh.." suddenly, a sharp jolt runs through his temples, making him wince in pain as he clutches his head tightly.
'T-this is..?'
Stopping on her tracks, Zero Two glances at her darling worriedly.
"Darling? You okay?"
With the pain slowly subsiding, Hiro slowly focuses his gaze at a pair of anxious, teal orbs. "I'm...fine?" he breaths out, slightly dizzy from the sudden attack.
"You sure?" Hiro nods, "Yeah, it's probably from the heat." he tries reasoning despite his own qualms. He has had headaches before, hell, he was used to feeling pain that almost numbed his whole body, but this, this sensation was new to him. It almost felt like a bullet shot through his head for a brief moment, trying to dig into his innermost thoughts and that scared him. For the first time in a few years, he felt scared for himself and he could see that fear reflected in Zero Two's eyes.
No, he didn't want to burden her; as much as possible, he wouldn't do anything that'll make her worry.
"H-hey, I almost forgot!" Hiro exclaims, trying to distract her, "Ichigo told me about wanting to go to the beach this Saturday!"
"Beach, you say?" Zero Two blinks once, twice, before crossing her arms in deep thought. "It's been years since gramps brought me to one. Kinda miss the sea's saltiness." she snickers."
"Well, would you like to come with us?" Hiro offers.
"Me, hang out with you guys?" Zero Two snickers before grinning widely, "what the hell am I even saying? Of course I'd love to go!" seeing Hiro's face light up, she smirks mischievously while wagging her eyebrows, "I bet you'd love to see me in a swimsuit, don't you darling?" she teases.
"T-that's..!" blood rushes to his face as his mind suddenly races with images of Zero Two in a variety of swimsuits and unfortunately, he couldn't find it in him to deny her accusations.
With her darling's bashful expression, Zero Two couldn't help but giggle,
"Darling, you're such a pervert!"
Once she says goodbye to her darling and enters her quiet apartment, Zero Two puts down all her stuff and heads to her bath and prepares the tub with cold and soapy water. 'A cold bath is always a solution for a hot day!' stripping off her parts of her clothing one by one, she carefully unwinds her scarf. Holding it at eye level, she examines the slightly worn out parts of the fabric and silently, she decides to repair the loose strands some other time.
'Someone special, huh..'
Thinking back at what her darling said earlier before suffering a sudden headache, she clutches her scarf tightly to her chest. "Till now he..." murmuring, she cuts herself off with a bitter laugh, "Damn it, I'm such an idiot.." taking a deep breath, she swiftly gets out of her clothes and slowly gets in the tub, revelling in the coldness of the water and its slight lavender fragrance. Sinking even deeper in the water, she tells herself,
"Stop expecting. It'll only hurt you in the end.."
'And yet, I cling to any kind of hope.'
drip..drip..
'Your kind stare..your gentle voice...your damned smile...'
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drip..drop..drip..
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'All of it, I devour without restraint..'
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SPLASH
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'Still, it's not enough'
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"Ah, it's cold."
Entering her room with freshly worn pajamas, Zero Two instantly flops down her bed and stares blankly at the ceiling, when suddenly, she remembers what Hiro told her earlier. "The beach huh.." she ponders. Earlier, she told him instantly she wanted to go, but now, she wasn't so sure. As someone who wasn't really fond of socializing, she had to admit she has never expected to gain friends, aside from darling, and ultimately enjoy their company, yet a small part of her wanted to hold herself back and go back to being alone. As a previous delinquent, she has gotten used to the constant fear of people, and because of that, she felt oddly at peace with the solitude it granted her. No one bothered getting close to her and her horns, and in return, she didn't have to feel attached to any of them. To Zero Two, they were all just faceless beings that'll ultimately disappear through time.
But now, no matter how hard she tried distancing herself at first, her darling's friends seemed to crawl their way through her hardened walls. Slowly, she felt herself getting involved with their shenanigans and ultimately enjoying their presence as each day unfolds. Her life now was far from the quiet life she used to live back then; it was exciting and at the same time, frightening. It scared her just how much she has become attached to them and because of that, she knows it'll bring her immense pain once she loses her newfound friends, and of course, her darling.
Sometimes, Zero Two wonders if it was better for her to have never known them at all...and yet, she absolutely hated that thought.
So amidst all her complicated feelings, she chooses to just enjoy every moment with them until she goes back to being all alone once more.
'Besides, I'm more used to being alone than being with others..'
'But for now, I've decided!'
"I'm going with darling to the beach!" Zero Two exclaims proudly, before suddenly realizing something. 'It's been years since my last trip to a beach!'
"Shit! I got no swimsuit to wear!" she facepalms herself in horror.
'Better go ask Miku to help me out..'