Ichigo stood leaned up against a wall tapping with haste on her communicator. Hiro obviously knew the startup ceremony was to begin soon, so where was he? Not here in the boarding house of course, probably hiding somewhere in the forest. He wasn't responding to any of her messages. This worried the blue haired girl even further. With a flurry of moving fingers, she sends another message in hopes that Hiro would respond to this one.

Setting the communicator in her pocket, she moves her focus to the center of the living room.

"Partner Killer?" Futoshi asks while his mouth is full of bread. Did he have any manners?

"Yeah, all the stamen who ride with her die within three rides. Three!" Zorome exclaims while holding up three fingers emphasizing his point. "No way I'm going to ride with her, that's for sure."

As Zorome goes on about the many rumors regarding this 'haunted' pistil, Goro enters the room through the door beside Ichigo. "Hear anything from Hiro yet?" the boy with glasses asks.

"No, not yet. I've been trying to reach him all day." Ichigo solemnly answers. "I'm worried about him, he's been gone since this morning."

"You know how he is, he'll turn up when he wants to. Maybe he'll attend the ceremony."

Having heard their short discussion, Zorome turns away from the group and towards both Ichigo and Goro. "Do you two know if he's going to stay?" he asks.

"No," Ichigo responds, "we haven't heard anything from him today. Last time we spoke, he's been set on leaving."

"That's sad to hear," Kokoro softly adds, "he's been with us for as long as I could remember."

Peeking up from her book for the first time, Ikuno questions "What about Naomi? It was Hiro's fault that both of them failed."

"Whatever the case, we don't need deadweight like him in this squad. Maybe this was always meant to be." Mitsuru says while walking around the circle couches. "We might be able to get more competent squad members."

As soon as he finished his statement, Miku gives him a look of disdain and mumbles something under her breath, not loud enough for Ichigo to pick up on it.

"I'm hopeful he stays. We're a team." Goro says as he turns to Ichigo.

Hiro meant too much to all of Squad 13, and for him to leave them all behind, that fact alone saddened both Ichigo and Goro. He was the one who gave everyone in the squad names back at the Garden. Before Hiro gave everyone their own names, they would refer to everyone by their Code Numbers. Ichigo still remembers the day when Hiro first gave her the name she has now. While she doesn't remember exactly how Hiro conjured up the name, she holds the name very close to her heart.

"Yeah, we are…" she silently tells herself.

Where'd that bird go? Hiro wonders to himself as he marches further into the forest. The trail of blood and feathers had ended abruptly several feet back. Maybe it managed to get up off the ground?

Hearing the sound of distant chirping, he turns towards its origin. "It's alive," he quietly hums to himself.

Continuing his pace, he progresses even further into the forest. Venturing further, Hiro comes to a large clearing where a foggy lake sits in the middle. Dead trees surrounded the lake, all of them stripped of their branches. As much as he had wandered around the forest, this area seemed to have evaded him. There was a sense of beauty here that he couldn't put his finger on.

"Huh, I've never seen a place like this here before…" Hiro trails off as he walks closer to the lake's edge.

Before getting too close to the water, he notices a pile of clothes thrown on a nearby tree branch. Upon getting closer and inspecting them, he realizes they are similar to that of a parasite's uniform. Unknowingly, he reaches for a particular light pink article of clothing.

A movement across the lake's surface draws Hiro attention towards it, with the piece of clothing still in hand. At first, he is unable to to discern exactly what's out there. As the figure becomes parallel with the surface, he is able to make out certain details. Obviously a girl was swimming out there, but what were those things on her head? Horns? Being so far out in the lake, Hiro wasn't able to clearly see the features. Realizing that he'd been staring at this girl, his face quickly grows red with embarrassment and turns away as a result.

Regaining his composure, he looks back out onto the lake. Looking across the waterline, he sees that the figure had disappeared from the surface. Several seconds pass without the girl resurfacing for air making Hiro worried. "She's not drowning, is she?!" Hiro exclaims as he runs out from the treeline and into the lake.

Before Hiro is able to get too deep into the water, the water in front of him explodes revealing a girl with long pink hair. As she breached the lake's surface, she had a small fish within her mouth that was attempting to wriggle free. On the top of her head resides two alluring crimson horns that glistened within the sunlight. Under her emerald eyes lies eyeshadow that shares the same color of her horns. Never before had Hiro seen a girl this beautiful and no other girl he knew could compare.

Seeing the girl standing in front of Hiro, she spat out the fish back into the water. Coming back to his senses, he sees that this girl was in fact naked. And she didn't seem to care one bit.

As the girl moved her head closer to inspect the young boy, he begins to stutter in embarrassment. "N-naked! Y-you're naked!" is all that Hiro is able to muster.

"Oh? And here I thought you were dead," the odd girl states before passing Hiro and heading towards where presumably her clothes are.

Hiro stands there confused by her statement. This girl who he had never seen before was in the nude, swimming in the lake, and presumably fishing as well. Wanting some sort of identification from this girl, he begins asking her questions. "Are you a parasite? Why were you bathing here?"

The girl stops after leaving the water, giving Hiro some hope she'd answer one of his questions. "It's so weird, I heard the ocean was salty," the pink haired girl says as she give her hand a lick.

"Uh, this isn't an ocean?" Hiro questions, making his confusion grow even more. What is up with this girl?

"I know that much," the girl says, finally answering one of Hiro's questions. "But it's the most ocean-like place I know. Aren't you going to swim?"

Taken slightly aback by the question, Hiro answers with, "Wha-? Nah, I'm good." This girl is very weird indeed.

"Really? But it feels so good" the girl says with a hint of disappointment as Hiro slowly makes his way back to land. "You were staring so hard, I thought you wanted to swim too."

"Well, uh, that was because I thought you were drowning!" Hiro explained once he reached the bank. He was hoping that this girl wouldn't take his actions in a bad way. "That's why I jumped in and I, uh… could you put some clothes on please?" Hiro requests as he turns away in an attempt to save some grace.

The girl then gives him a questioning glance as her hand meets her chin. Before long she stretches out her arm and points a finger to him. "Ah! I get it! You're a pervert!"

Hiro jumps in surprise as the accusation is thrown at him. "I- wha-" he stammers as he tries to figure the situation out. With a smile, the girl then moves her accusing finger down towards Hiro's fist. Opening his hand reveals light pink panties, the same ones he picked up from earlier.

Freaking out about the revelation, Hiro tries his best to hand them back over to its rightful owner. "I-it's not what it l-looks like!" he sputters as he finally gets a grasp on the situation, fist thrusted forward with the panties in hand towards the girl.

Oddly enough, the girl starts laughing hysterically at Hiro's little show. This only makes the boy feel even more embarrassed, face red once again. Once the girl gets a hold of herself, she thanks the raven haired boy for his efforts from earlier. "But you did jump in to save me earlier? I appreciate that," she says still trying to recover from her laughing fit. "Thank you."

This guy's funny. Though he might be a pervert, he seems kinda cute, Zero Two thinks to herself as she gets dressed.

"You're a parasite too, aren't you?" asks Hiro, who sits with his back turned in an attempt to give her some sort of privacy.

"No," Hiro bluntly replies.

"Do you pilot?"

Skipping a rock back into the lake, Hiro does his best to explain. "I can't pilot, and I probably never will. I even took my partner down with me too."

Oh, is that so…

Hiro sighed. "I don't have a place in this world anymore."

Yes you do.

"I guess we're similar then," Zero Two states, gaining Hiro's interest.

"I've been alone for a long time, thanks to these horns," she continues as she slides a headband in place where the two crimson horns reside on her forehead. It clicks into place giving off a quiet beep.

"If you don't belong here, just build a place where do you. If you don't have a partner, just find another."

"And if you can't," the girl says with a devious smile. "Take one by force!"

Leaping on top of Hiro with both hands on his shoulders, she gets in close to give his cheek a soft lick. Through the sheer force, Hiro fell on his back and now partially submerged by the lake.

"Darling…" Zero Two quietly muses to herself as she sits over the boy. "Your taste, I've missed this taste…"

Just the same as before… but his cheek does taste better than his hand.

"I, uh, what?" the boy below her was visibly confused by her saying.

"It's the taste of danger. It bites and lingers," she addresses him while smiling. "I've only ever tasted it once."

As the horned girl began to stand, Hiro laid there very confused by what happened.

"I think I've taken a liking to you. You'll be my Darling, won't you?" Zero Two asks, looking directly into his eyes. Within his eyes, she tries to find the boy she knew way back when. What she sees instead is a tiny blue fire nearly snuffed out, but wishes to burn brighter. In a way, his eyes reminded Zero Two of her own.

"D-darling? Don't you mean partner?" Hiro replies, deeping his confusion.

Maybe you need a little push.

"You probably just need the right partner, so why not be mine?" she questions slyly with a hint of mischief. "Besides, you were the first person that isn't afraid of me."

As Zero Two stands over Hiro, she extends a hand out to him. Her emerald eyes inviting him to join accept the gracious offer. Hiro still lays there half submerged, confusion replaced by uncertainty.

Take my hand. Like you once did for me.

Hiro eventually comes to the only decision he can make in this predicament. He raises his own arm, placing his hand within hers. The blue fire within his turquoise burns slightly hotter, his decision firm.

Zero Two then helps the sodden boy out of the water. She only manages to get him halfway to standing before she hears movement out in the her head to the source, her face quickly changing from elation to animosity. Zero Two breathes in sharply while her entire body tenses up with disgust, accidentally dropping Hiro back into the water with an audible splash.

"We've been looking for you," announces a gray haired man followed by several APE special agents and plantation guards. "You shouldn't be running off alone."

Zero Two turns to Code 086 and retorts with hostility. "Why? There isn't anything else to do until the welcoming ceremony."

Walking closer to her, he places a military cap on her head, concealing the crimson horns. "As your partner, I'm the one who suffers from it," he scolds, the word 'partner' something he would not like to say.

Hiro now standing picks up on the way he said that word. "Partner? What do you mean by that?"

"Listen to me boy, not anyone can handle this pistil. You see what she has already done to me," Code 086 cautions to Hiro as he gestures towards the neck brace he wears with the one arm not in a sling.

Yeah, serves you right for the way you're talking to him.

He turns back towards the group surrounding Zero Two as the special agents try to make her presentable. As they begin to march through the forest, Hiro suddenly exclaims.

"Wait! What's your name?"

His question caught Zero Two off guard. You… don't you remember? As Zero Two came to a standstill, the rest of the group did the same. She hoped that he would say her name during their time together, but that never happened. Or maybe he just needed a confirmation? But then again, she knew only one person with the combination of pink hair, emerald eyes, and crimson horns.

"A name?" Zero Two asks quietly. "I thought we didn't have names."

She pauses for a second before continuing. "My code number is 002, but I go by Zero Two."

As Zero Two and her escort begin to march through the forest once more, a couple Plantation guards remain to escort Hiro to some place else. As he is being dragged along by one of the guards, he can't help but think he might have found his place again. But those thoughts are quickly dashed once he sees something off to the side.

Hiro sees the same bird from earlier, but there is no chance at saving the bird now. Its limp body rests within the jaws of a small black cat. As Hiro stares with dilated eyes at the cat making its way into the forest, it stops in its tracks and looks back towards Hiro. The cat stares back into his eyes, foreboding dark green eyes burrowing into his own. It's almost as it knew what this bird was to Hiro. Breaking away its gaze, the black cat jumps into the brush disappearing from his sight.

Grief-stricken, Hiro sighs as he hops into the small cart with the guards. He hopes to forget all about that bird. But he can't stop thinking about the girl by the lake.

I'll find you again, Zero Two

A/N

Chapter 2 I guess.

These first couple of chapters might be a bit slow and stick to the canon, but I've been doing my best to fit in foreshadowing and symbolism of what's going to happen as this story progresses. Also, I don't know how often I'll update, but I will say I'll try to be consistant-ish. No promises, no God, and no cheesecake.

And if I may ask, is my writing style "cold?" I just feel like I don't put enough character into the characters when I try writing from the perspective of one of them, but I could just be playing myself here. Whatever, I'll improve or something as I continue, but who nose. Knows. Heh, noses.