Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Our story begins high, high up in the sky, overlooking a massive circular white structure at the top of which was a smaller circular dome containing a vast amount of greenery and plant life. However, the environment is not our focus. Instead, that honour goes to a bright white room, completely empty... until the sliding door off to the side opened up, and a woman in a lab coat entered, holding the hand of a smaller girl of humanoid shape, wearing a hospital gown and having stark red skin, long red horns protruding from a head of white hair. The girl stepped into the room. "Well done, Zero Two. Another successful experiment." The woman said coldly, emotionlessly... "Food will be delivered shortly." And without another word, she left, the door closing behind her. The girl just stared blankly at nothing, then walked over to her bed and sat down, crossing her legs and massaging her hand.

Today was more painful tests. The lasers they used on her hands were hotter than ever, and her horns were snapped off for sample testing and analysis. Hopefully they regenerated soon, she always missed them... And it really hurt, it was akin to losing a fingernail...

Lifting the pillow up, the girl grabbed a small, colourful book. "The Beast and the Prince". Opening the book, the girl smiled softly as she was greeted by the colourful images on the pages. Food slid through a gap on one of the walls, but she didn't care. It wasn't going anywhere, she just wanted her book.

This was the girl simply known as 002, or Zero Two as we'll call her. The details of the name? Well, that's for another time. Her unusual look was genetic, as her DNA rendered her only half human, with the other half of her being being an animal native to this world: the Klaxosaur. Since her birth, Zero Two had lived in the facility, this room specifically, spending her whole life tended to by scientists, led by Dr. FRANXX. One of these very scientists had given her the book, actually, others had attempted to take it away from her, but she'd fought tooth and nail to keep her precious book, which caused them to ultimately give up and let her keep it.

But one day, the woman who gave her the book never came back...

And that was when the experiments began.

She'd been subjected to so many painful scientific procedures... Her regeneration always healed her wounds with nary a scar... But the pain... It was always there... It hurt so much...

Finishing the book, Zero Two closed it, then hopped off the bed, grabbing the tray with the plastic wrapped cooked meat. Taking a seat on the floor, she tore the plastic open, then used her hands to dig in, gobbling the food down like an animal, spilling crumbs all over herself in the process. When she was done, she pushed the tray away, then climbed back into the bed and grabbed the book, holding it close like it was a stuffed teddy bear, before the room was filled with her soft, gentle snoring.

Outside, a pair of scientists observed the entire thing. The same woman from before, and a different scientist, one with glasses. "Is the petition ready?" The man with glasses asked. Nodding, the woman presented him with a clipboard with a petition that already had a large number of signatures. The man signed his own name, then handed it back to the woman.

"I'll give it to the doctor." The woman said with a nod. "Soon, 002 will be transferred to the Parasite raising environment and be free from this inhumane hellhole..."

"You seem to care an awful lot for someone that gives her a shoulder more frigid than the arctic." The man chuckled.

"Well of course. I don't care if she's half klaxosaur or tends to act like an animal, she's a child. She deserves SOME freedom." The woman said with a frown.

"Well, she's ready to be trained as a proper parasite, so really, this petition was the last bit of incentive needed to get her out of here and into the real experiment we have planned..." The man remarked. The two stayed for a moment longer, before then turned to leave, Zero Two still sleeping soundly.

And so, our scene shifts to a different environment. A classroom, with children dressed in hospital clothes, all with numbers written on them. The teacher was explaining what seemed to be quadratic theory, but then the bell rang, signifying the end of the class. "And that's all the time we have for today!" The teacher saw the students off kindly. "Enjoy the rest of your day, and don't forget what you learned for future studies!"

"Yes, professor." The children answered, all their voices emotionless and cold as they rose up from their desks and left the room in a single file line.

Of course, there was one student that beat them to it.

As the rest of the class was getting ready to leave, one very anxious student pushed her was past everyone else and ran out of the classroom as fast as she could, leaving the students all staring blankly at the door. A boy scratched his head. "015 seems to be in a hurry."

"Yes. What has her in such a rush?" A girl next to him asked.

"It's most likely nothing. Very likely just 015 acting up again." Another child said. The children all nodded their heads as one, as a synchronized unit.

The entire exchange had no emotion. Every single word spoken was said coldly, like a fact, no emotion to speak of in their voices.

The girl, now designated 015, was breathing heavily as she ran like her life depended on it. Truthfully, sometimes she felt like it did. 'Gotta get out gotta get out gotta get out' She chanted internally as she sprinted. Bursting out of the facility, leading to the classroom, she found herself outside, amongst the greenery she'd been staring at through the dome. The girl looked behind her, running forth a bit more before falling behind a clump of bushes. She began breathing heavily, before falling to the floor, utterly exhausted.

Her breathing turned to sobbing as the girl shakily curled into a ball and began to cry into her knees.

This... was a nightmare.

Every class was a nightmare. Their voices... All the same emotionless, monotone, flat voices... She was the only one who didn't talk like that... It made everyone else scary.

It wasn't right to feel like this! It was clear the other kids did want to befriend her and be close to her, but... she just couldn't do it! Their behaviour, the way they talked, as if they were machines, it was terrifying! And it... it... it hurt! It hurt to reject them and run away! But she JUST! COULDN'T! HELP IT!

Flashes appeared in her mind. All the other kids. Standing over her as she laid on the floor. Gazing down at her with those cold, emotionless empty eyes. They ask if she's okay. If she needs help. In those voices, those blank, empty voices... In her panic, she accidentally hits one of them and makes them fall. They aren't angry. They aren't scared. They aren't sad. They simply ask her why she did it. Like an everyday question. She runs away. When they find her again, an hour later, they ask if she's okay, why she's acting so strange...

Strange...

Was... Was she the problem...? Was SHE the strange one...? Maybe... Maybe she should try to be...

No. No. NO. She couldn't become like them! It felt...hurtful to say that about them, but it was true! She couldn't become a cold machine like them! She didn't want to!

A voice called out to her. It was one of the kid. 023, she believed. He was... less scary... He was just like everyone else, but somehow he felt less scary to be with.

He found her behind the bushes. "Are you okay?" He asked. She timidly nodded, getting up and sitting on the grass. "Did you get scared again?" She nodded. "...I can't understand your fear. But I don't want you to be afraid. You can talk to me. Even if I probably won't understand... it might make you feel better. ...I can listen."

A moment of silence. Then, 015 began talking.

And she didn't stop. For the next several hours, she just kept talking while 023 listened and occasionally chimed in, until dinner came and 023 called her to come and eat, prompting her to nod and follow him, passing through the facility and entering the cafeteria, where she grabbed a tray and was given some food. Meat, veggies and soup, plus some bread. Taking her seat in the corner, away from everyone else,015 began to eat. Every child that attempted to talk to her was ignored, and in turn, she was left alone. As soon as she was finished, she left her tray and the table and ran for her room. Entering, she climbed into bed, wrapped herself in her covers and pulled did her best to fall asleep, the face of the other still fresh in her mind as they were on her first day of thinking for herself.

These are the stories of our two girls, and the hardships they suffer. Both prisoners, surrounded by cold hearts and lack of emotion. Both never understood by those around them. One seen as a monster to be examined, the other seen as an oddity in a sea of similarities. In one universe, they'd be enemies, led by a shared love for another

This... is a different universe. A universe where they both need someone to accept them... and what better person to accept them than someone else that needs acceptance?

The scene transfers to a lift, the female scientist now leaving the elevator and approaching a group of scientists from the parasite raising biome. "Is the delivery ready?" One of them asked.

The woman nodded and presented them with a cage, big enough to reach her thigh, with the half-breed girl sealed within, dressed in a hospital gown, much like the other parasites. The scientist approached and knelt down to observe the girl inside. He made an attempt to look approachable and reach towards her, but the girl slapped the metal door of the cage with an animalistic growl before curling up and hissing at him. The woman sighed. "...Take care..." She murmured softly. "She's... quite different from the average person." The scientist took a step back, clearly taken aback by what had just happened, and the woman picked up the cage, looking at 002. "Now, you've given us quite enough trouble already by making us dress her and put her into the cage, so please just point us in the direction of the release point so we can finally be done with this."

"Erm... Right..."And so, the scientists led the way, and after about ten minutes of walking the white halls, they reached a door. The woman put the cage down and opened the door to allow 002 to come out. The Half-Klaxosaur cautiously sniffed around, before slowly crawling out of the cage and standing up straight. The woman put a hand on her shoulder, making her tense up and snap her head to look up at her like a deer in headlights.

"This will be your new home." The woman said calmly. She pressed a button on the wall, opening the sliding door, then grabbed her by the hand and set to walking into the room with her. Zero Two looked around at the hallway in awe, amazed by the unfamiliar sights. It was REALLY bright outside the labs! Stopping in front of another door, the woman opened it, and Zero Two gasped, her eyes widening and sparkling at the sight of green. Green EVERYWHERE. And sounds. Unusual sounds. Pretty sounds. Chirping, splashing, all sorts of sounds she'd never heard before!

Several minutes later, in another part of the lab, the Parasite children were currently having breakfast, having just woken up. As usual, 015 was sitting off in a corner, away from everyone else out of fear. She idly picked at her meal of eggs benedict with her fork, her head propped up on her other arm. Sighing, she impaled a piece and ate it, chewing it without interest.

Suddenly, the sound of talking caught her attention. She overheard some of the other kids talking over at another table, and despite being afraid of them, what they were saying quickly piqued her interest. Especially considering they never did this sort of thing. She leaned forward slightly, doing her best to hear what was being said.

"Have you all heard the news?" A girl spoke.

"Yes. A new addition will be joining us." A boy nodded.

A new Parasite... That... did not stir 015's interest. She had seen many new arrivals. They were always the same. Cold. Emotionless. Terrifying. This one would be no different. They would be just like everyone else, and she would continue to be alone, as it always was...

The sliding door opened. The attention of all the kids in the room turned to the entrance of the cafeteria. Standing there was a girl with red skin and eyes and a pair of horns on her head. Her hair was snow white, and her teeth were sharp. She wore the same outfit as all the other Parasites, and she held what seemed to be a book.

Ichigo's eyes widened at the new arrival. Could this be the new addition? She... She looked weird! Not in a bad way, of course, but... unusual! The girl looked around at her surroundings, making noises 015 had never thought she'd hear from a parasite. She sniffed the air several times, looking around at all the other children in the room. One boy stood up and approached her. "Greetings. I am 092." He said stoically. "It's a pleasure to meet you, 002. I hope you'll feel welcome among us."

002 stared blankly at him for a few moments. Then she grabbed him by the arm and started sniffing his hand. And then, she began to lightly nibble it before looking at the boy's lunch. And then, she THREW herself into the boy's spot and began to grab the food with her hands and shovel it into her mouth with fervor as 092 stared at her with a tilted head. "...Why are you eating my food? ...Are you enjoying it that much?"

015 sat and watched this, her eyes wide as dinner plates, her jaw dropped.

The girl messily devoured her food, leaving bits and crumbs all over the table. She spotted the girl opposite to 092's spot, who tilted her head at her. 002 then crawled onto the table and did the same thing she did with 092's food, shoving it into her mouth like an animal using her hands. "...Are you enjoying the food?" The girl asked. 002 looked up at her, sniffed her, then went right back to eating her food. She looked around at the other kids on the table, and she very quickly made a mess as she crawled all over the table, knocking cups and glasses over, thankfully not smashing anything as she gleefully grabbed every single bite of food she could get her hands on until eventually, she fell off the table and hit her head on the floor, yelping in pain. The other kids, as if she didn't just make a mess of their table and eat their food, crowded around her. "Are you injured?" The girl from before asked. The girl didn't answer, she just got up and rubbed the sore spot of her head, when another smell caught her nose, and she zeroed in on another table.

More specifically, 015's table.

The girl walked over, making unusual sounds, and when she reached 015's table, she stopped and sniffed at her. 015 tensed up and leaned back, an odd tingling sensation washing over her. "Ah! Wh-What are you doing?!" She asked worriedly. 002 moved her face back, noticing how this girl sounded different from all the rest. She looked down at her eggs, before, like earlier, she began to devour her meal with all the etiquette of a beast. "Wh-Hey, that's mine!" 015 attempted to stop her. 002 jumped back and hissed in response. 015 sweatdropped and decided to just let it be for now. Soon enough, the girl was done, leaving an empty plate behind. She locked eyes with 015, still chewing and tilting her head. It was...

015 couldn't describe it. She reached forward to touch the girl, but she hissed again, then ran out of the cafeteria, the other kids watching after her retreating form. "That was rather odd." One of the girls remarked.

"...Who cleans this up?" A boy asked.

015?

She was already gone. Following the new arrival.

015 breathed rapidly as her shoes tapped against the floor as she ran through the hallways, holding tight in her arms the book the girl had dropped when she threw herself at 092's food. Stopping for a moment, she examined the book a bit closer. It... didn't seem to contain any calculations or particular subjects Parasites were normally taught... Its pages were... oddly colourful.

'Strange...' 015 thought. 'I wonder where she got this book from...' Then, she remembered what she was doing, and with a gasp, she continued to run after the most interesting living being she had ever seen in her life.

The girl was a parasite like her. There was no way she wasn't. She wore the same clothes as everyone else, she had a number tag, and she was here with them. But... She...

She was so different!

This was the first Parasite 015 had ever seen that showed life! She didn't act emotionless and cold! Her eyes weren't blank and dull! They were full of.. of.. light! She didn't know how to describe it any other way! Her behaviour wasn't like that of a machine, just acting blankly and following what she was told! She caused utter chaos the likes of which was unheard of in the facility!

And... Most importantly... She was the first Parasite 015 didn't feel afraid of when she looked at her... Sure, she hissed at her like some animal, but... it didn't scare her one bit. In fact, it... weirdly soothed her!

She HAD to see this girl a bit closer. She HAD to. There was no question. She NEEDED to see her again.

Arriving at the door to the biome, 015 rushed through as soon as the door slid open. Her eyes darted around everywhere in search of a mix of red and white. She ran forward: "H-Hello?! Z-Zero...Two...was it?!" She called out. "Wh-Where are you?! ...Y-You dropped your book!" Suddenly, some bushes began to rustle, causing her to stop. Immediately, popping out of the leaves, was the red, white-haired, horned head of 002. The red girl blinked her eyes open, gazing at 015. And... again... So much light in them... No cold, emotionless stare, just bright-eyed curiousity, interest, and...

Was that anger? She was... snarling...? Oh... She knew why... She looked down at the book, then held it out to her. "H-Here... You dropped this... I...I just wanted to give it back to you, that's all." She said softly.

Unfortunately, 002 didn't get what she was saying, and with a yell, she pounced out of the bush, tackling 015 and pinning her to the ground. Then she jumped off and scurried away to curl up between two bushes. 015 sat up and looked to see her hugging her book close to her chest, still snarling, though not AS aggressively. Shakily, 015 stood up, parting the grass to look at 002. The half klaxosaur stared back at her, hugging the book closer and baring her teeth with some quiet growling. Hesitantly, 015 took a couple shaky steps forward, and Zero Two immediately let out a sharp hiss, swiping at her with her arm and snarling louder at her. 015 attempted to placate her, raising her arms in surrender. "I promise I'm not going to hurt you! I just... I'll just sit here, and I won't come any closer, you don't have to be scared..." 015 sat down, crossing her legs, and stared quietly at 002, the latter still looking back at her, teeth bared and snarling quietly. She did nothing but stare at her for a long period of time, likely quite far in the hour, until she eventually stopped snarling, closing her mouth and simply sitting in the grass behind the bushes, her book her close to her and her eyes occasionally glancing at the other living being close to her. Meanwhile, 015 continued to regard 002 with a smile, the first smile she'd sported on her face since she was just a baby. She made no move to interact with 002, she simply sat and admired her, seeing a child like her for the first time, showing genuine emotion and life, even if it was mostly just snarling.

002 looked at her again, this time maintaining eye contact with her properly. They stared at one another, in silence, and then...

It was broken.

"Hi..." 015 spoke, greeting 002 in a gentle and friendly, approachable voice, making it abundantly clear that she meant no harm. She sounded... genuinely happy.

002 stared at her for a few seconds, before slowly but surely, she adjusted herself and began crawling over to 015, slowly of course, as one arm still held her book. She kept herself low, like an animal stalking its prey, looking up at her with curious eyes. 015's smile only grew wider when she started approaching her. She lifted one of her hands and offered it to 002. "Hi... I'm 015..." She greeted softly. 002 stared at her hand suspiciously, almost backing away, before cautiously approaching the hand and sniffing in its general direction. Now feeling more calm, 002 continued approaching until she stopped directly in front of 015, now almost touching her hand with her nose. She sniffed at the limb a little more, before sticking her tongue out and poking a finger with it, then quickly backing off, expecting something to happen. When nothing occurred, and she saw 015 still smiling, she approached again, sniffing and licking the finger, before gently beginning to nibble the entire hand, which got a laugh out of 015. "St-Stoooop, that tickles!" 015 giggled out softly. Then, she got pushed down to the ground like earlier, 002 sniffing her entire torso now before licking her face, which in turn got 015 giggling and laughing even harder. "Ewwww, stoooop, you're getting drool all over me, cut it out!" She got out between her laughter as she tried to crawl out from under 002.

Alas, 002 laid down on top of her, hugging her book between the two of them and poking one of her cheeks with a horn. 002 let out a hum of satisfaction and a yawn, her eyes fluttering before closing. "Hey, you can't fall asleep now, we have class soon." 015 chided lightly, but 002 didn't listen. She just started to nap. 015 looked off to the door to the biome, pondering whether to try and get her off and go to class, or to just stay here...

She really didn't ponder that much. She just lay down and closed her eyes, accepting her situation and joining 002 in her nap. She would MUCH rather be with 002 than anywhere near the classroom and its emotionless inhabitants.

Back in the classroom, the students were all trickling in and taking their seats. Soon, the teacher walked in, carrying a folder under her arm. "Good afternoon, class." She greeted.

"Good afternoon, professor." The students all replied in their typical monotone.

The teacher started off with a roll call, calling out the numbers of the students and getting responses from everyone, but when she called for 015, she got nothing. She repeated, and nothing. The students all looked around to see 015's spot was empty. It was weird. 015 was never late... "...She went after the new parasite." One of the students remembered.

"New parasite?" The teacher inquired.

"A new parasite arrived. She made a mess in the cafeteria. Then she ran away after that and 015 followed after her. I don't know where she is." The student replied simply.

The teacher blinked, her mind lingering on the words "mess in the cafeteria". She found that strange...no Parasite would ever willingly cause a mess. They were all specially trained and created to not show emotion. 015 was an anomaly that was deemed safe enough to keep studying despite her emotions. Plus the woman found it cruel to kill the poor kid when she did nothing wrong.

But this new one...might pose a problem.

"Does anyone know where they went?" The teacher asked.

"Maybe the biome, that's the most likely place 015 can be found in." One of the kids suggested. "I don't know about 002 though."

The teacher nodded. "All right then, everyone. Follow and help me find them." She instructed. And so, they all left the classroom. Heading through the hallway, they arrived at the biome, opening the door and entering the grassy environment. Everyone began to look around the place, the kids trickling in and moving around the biome to try and find their fellow Parasites. Eventually, one of the girls found them, and headed off to tell the teacher.

When everyone arrived to see them, they saw the image of 015 laying on her back, sleeping peacefully with 002 laying on top of her, head on her chest, as they both peacefully slumbered.

"I've never seen 015 at peace before." One of the boys said. "She usually has rather bad nightmares. But she's calm."

The teacher silently smiled at the adorable sight. "Well... Best not disturb them. It won't hurt to miss one lesson, I suppose..." Everyone walked away, leaving the pair alone to rest.

Chapter Text

Several long hours passed. The Sun above the 13th Plantation slowly moved across the sky, eventually reaching the peak at Noon. As such, it's rays end up directly shining into the eyes of 015. Groaning at being so suddenly woken up, she opened her eyes, blinking tiredly and lifting an arm to block the sunlight and preserve her sight. She felt a weight on her chest, and looked to see 002...no longer sleeping.

She had her chin propped up on her chest, red eyes gazing at her with an unreadable expression. 015 remembered what happened, and smiled at 002. "Hello... Did you sleep well...?"

002 tilted her head, not really getting what she was talking about. 015 looked around, realizing she was still laying down. "Could you... get off so I can sit up...?" 002 didn't understand her still, instead moving forward and beginning to lick 015's face again, making the other girl giggle once more, and try to stop her. Eventually 002 sat up, letting 015 breathe and have space to sit upright herself. "I can't remember the last time I slept so nicely. She usually always have nightmares all the time. I guess it's because I met you... Thank you for letting me meet you..." 002 was STILL clueless about what she was talking about, and 015 got up, offering her hand to guide her to class, hoping they hadn't missed anything important. 002 didn't get what she wanted, and instead of taking her hand, she bit down on it, making 015 yelp in pain and pull her hand back. "AGH! WHY?!"

002 noticed her reaction and guessed what she did was wrong. She adopted an apologetic face, finger between her teeth and a sad "Ah...aaaaaah..." escaping her throat. 015 suddenly completely dropped her pain in favour of feeling sorry for her. She sighed softly. "It's okay, you didn't hurt me..." She showed her hand to show nothing got injured. 002 calmed down a little, keeping her finger in her mouth. 015 then decided to teach her about the hand thing. "Now... When someone offers you their hand, you need to take it and let them pull you up." To demonstrate, she took 002's hand, put it in her own, and lifted 002 up on both legs. 002 looked in awe at their connected hands, looking back and forth between them and 015, letting out excited and awed "ooh" and "aah" moans and gasped, examining the hands together with bright curiosity in her eyes.

She moved their hands up and down, flexing her fingers and sniffing at the joined hands. 015 sweatdropped, not understanding what was so special about holding hands. Eventually, she let go, and the red girl whined and pouted slightly. "We need to go to class now-" She yelped when 002 abruptly grabbed her hand again, much tighter than before. Her other hand held her book, and she gave her a stern look that made it clear she was NOT letting go of her hand. 015 shrugged. "Well, I suppose it's all right to guide you to class..." She set off to walk...

Or rather, try to, as she dragged 002 along behind her as her feet slid across the ground. It was quite clear she wasn't intending on walking along with her. After a while, 015 grew a bit annoyed. "Come ON, walk with me, I don't wanna have to drag you everywhere!" 002 tilted her head, then noticed 015 seemed a bit tuckered out. Her eyes widening in inspiration, she let go of 015's hand, then picked her up and threw her over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. 015's eyes widened. "H-Hey! Put me down, this is not how you carry a lady!" She protested. 002 didn't listen, simply carrying her away... in the wrong direction. "No, turn around, the classroom's the other way!" 015 exclaimed. 002 was utterly ignorant and simply kept walking. 015 sighed and slumped in her carry. "This is gonna be a loooooong day..."

002 willfully ignored her as she carried her around through the halls of the facility, exploring her new living space with her new friend, while 015 just allowed it to happen, as even though she didn't want to admit it... she REALLY liked this.

Every single day was filled with nothing but monotony and emotionless cold. She would wake up, eat, go to class or hang around the biome, hide away from her peers, and just generally avoid interaction. But this girl... She was experiencing a whole new side of life she never imagined could exist with this mysterious red skinned horned girl. The white hallways now seemed brighter with her around... The cold humming of machinery around her was interrupted by 002's awed hums, moans, yelps and gasps, each sound filled with untold life and curiousity. She would normally walk all alone...

Now she wasn't walking at all, instead being carried by a new friend in a very embarrassing way. But she didn't even care that it was embarrassing! She loved it! This was the most fun she'd ever had in her life!

002 suddenly stopped and went silent.

015 perked up, noticing they had just rounded a corner, and the hall became a bit dimmer. Tilting her head, she turned to her new friend. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?" She asked. 002 dropped her, causing her to grunt in mild pain, before she looked up to see what was the matter.

They were in the infirmary. Strange... Why would that stop...

"E-Eh... Eh...!"

She looked up to see 002 stepping back. Her face was stuck in an expression she knew all too well. One she'd been experiencing all her life.

Fear.

015 looked back at the infirmary again, before turning back to 002, who rushed to her, lifted her up and hid behind her, trying to look as small as possible. 015 looked once more, then turned back to 002 and gently reaching a hand out to console her. "Hey... What's wrong?" She asked softly. Predictably, the only response was a bunch of nonsensical grunts and moans. "You... don't want to be here, right?" 002 nodded rapidly. With a soft sigh, 015 gently took her hand and led her away from the infirmary. Once they were away from that particular hallway, 002 looked behind her, now much calmer.

"Do you feel better?" 015 asked. 002 tilted her head. 015 giggled. "I guess that's a yes then. Why are you scared of the infirmary? That's where you go to get treated when you get hurt." 002 instead approached and hugged her, letting out a soft sound of gratitude for 'saving her'. 015 had to admit, she was quite touched by the gesture. She returned the hug before taking 002's hand. "Okay, we REALLY do need to get to class now, come on." She began dragging the red skinned girl to class.

This time, 002 walked behind her willingly.

They eventually managed to reach the classroom, the door opening to let them in. "Hello, 015. 002." The teacher greeted them, then paused at the uncertain expression on 002's face. "Um... Take your seats, please." The two obediently did so, 002 choosing the closest possible seat to 015, and the teacher returned to explaining the aerodynamics of a Franxx and how to pilot it, all while 015 quietly paid attention to the lesson...

While 002 was obliviously messing around, chewing the table, the books, the pens, anything within biting distance. Then, she let out an "Ah!", before 015 clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shhhhh..." She shushed her. 002 blinked, but nodded and immediately went silent, looking back at the teacher as she explained everything. She understood literally none of it.

"Now then, what is the most notable feature of piloting a Franxx? Could you tell me, 002?" 002 looked at the teacher, stood up with a purpose... and then proceeded to speak a lot of garbled nonsense consisting of oohs, aahs and eehs.

The entire room just stared blankly at her, the teacher confused while the rest of the class were emotionless, tilting their heads with question marks floating above their heads. 015 sighed. "Only a male and a female can pilot a Franxx. Two males or two females cannot do so."

The teacher nodded awkwardly. "Y-Yes... Congratulations, 015... And the reason for that is that their entire system and mechanisms were based on the primary enemy of mankind that we face on the frontlines, and the very reason you are trained the way you are." She pointed to 002. "She is a living example of this very enemy." 002 tilted her head at that, letting out a confused "Eh?" and the teacher simply carried on. "Now, who can tell me the species of our new student?"

015 was proving that she was far more willing and active with 002 around, as she eagerly raised her hand into the air. "002 is a Klaxosaur! Their giant dragon-like bodies are piloted by the male and female specimens, and that is the blueprint used for making and operating the Franxx!"

The teacher smiled and nodded. "Well done, excellent diligence, you are correct once more!" And with that, the lesson continued, the next few hours of class relatively normal as every student paid rapt attention...

Except 002, who was aimlessly looking around and not understanding a single thing that was being said, chewing on the table, scratching her horns, rocking back and forth in her chair, and all the while, 015 was entirely aware and giving her the odd glance, hoping that the look on her face would be enough to get 002 to calm down and stop making a ruckus.

It very quickly became apparent to her that it wasn't working, however, and she made a soft "Psst..." sound to get her attention. That instantly caught 002's attention, and she looked at 015 with a tilted head. Using her eyes, 015 urgently tried to point at the board and teacher in the front, eventually resorting to lightly moving her lip to hiss out "Pay attention." to her.

Thankfully, 002 understood that one, turning to look at the teacher obediently. 015 smiled and turned back, glad to have managed to convince 002 to pay attention. Eventually class ended and everyone was heading out. Getting up, 015 approached 002, smiling warmly. "So... What did you think? Was the lesson fun? Did you learn anything new?"

002 didn't respond.

She just...kept staring at the front of the class. Still as a statue.

015 blinked in confusion. "Uh... Hello...?" No answer. Snapping her fingers in front of 002's face? Nothing! Not a peep! She grabbed her shoulder and lightly shook her...and a loud snort escaped 002's lips as she suddenly became groggy, looking around confusedly and seeming...sleepy?

015 gave her a dry look. "PLEASE tell me you didn't sleep through the entire class with your eyes open." 002...just licked her cheek. 015 sighed. "We'll... work on that."

Taking her hand, 015 guided 002 out of the classroom, through the halls and into her own room. There, she closed the door, and moved to the cupboard, pulling out a set of books from the drawer. She placed them on the bed, and grabbed one and showed it to 002. "See this? This is the anatomy of Klaxosaurs and the study of the entire species."

002 just began chewing on it.

015 gasped. "No, it's not food, stop it!" She hurriedly pulled the book back, wiping the drool off and opening it. "You're supposed to READ it. See?" 002 was amazed to see another book like her own, opening it and showing the pages to 015. The latter sighed and gently pushed the book down. "That's nice, but we don't have time for that. I'm going to teach you how to study. Just wait! You'll learn SO many things!" 002 just grunted and pouted, looking away. Sighing, 015 shook her head and facepalmed, realizing this was going to be impossible...

But...she didn't care. She WOULD succeed. 002 gave her the greatest gift in the whole wide world, and she didn't even do anything beyond just behaving like she did. She'll be damned if she doesn't return the gift and help her new friend become successful. No matter how much time it would take.

So, she took 002's hand, and pulled her over to her bed. The books were lined up, and the study session began.

And it was... quite the rollercoaster.

The first thing she tried to teach her about was the Franxx, how they worked, and the creatures they were based off of. 002 just stared at her with her head tilted the whole time she was talking, not understanding a single word of it.

Deciding to ease up a bit, 015 attempted to teach her about sciences. Algebra, the metric system, physics, chemistry, geography, everything they'd need to know for piloting a Franxx. 002 just... moaned and fell back on the bed, a sentiment 015 unfortunately understood all too well because she hated sciences just as much.

And so, she kept on descending, going simpler and simpler, until eventually...

"A..."

"Aaaaah..."

"B..."

"Mmmffmfmfmmmmfueeeeh..."

She ended up stuck teaching her the basic alphabet.

AND SHE STILL WASN'T MAKING ANY PROGRESS!

Falling flat on her face, 015 groaned into her pillow. "How and why are you this uneducated?! This is kindergarten stuff!"

002... responded the same way she had for the past two hours. By tilting her head in confusion. Groaning, 015 sat back up. "Please, give me SOMETHING! ANYTHING! One plus one! The letter A! Just... Say your own name! Zero Two! Zero. Two. ZERO. TWO."

"Woeehcheh..."

"Zeeeeeeroooooo Twoooooo."

"Wooeeehcheh."

Ze...ro... Two."

"Woaaaeeeehhh...cheh."

015 collapsed, eyes glazed over as she foamed slightly at the mouth. "I give uuuuup. I can't do it anymore." 002 stared at her, blinking, before turning to the colourful sheet of alphabet paper on the bed. It looked pretty... So many colours... Taking it in her hand, she examined it, sniffing, looking and turning it over. She stared for a moment... And then...

015 snapped out of her stupor when she heard the sound of paper ripping. She looked up to see 002... Chewing the alphabet paper. Before she could even react properly... 002 just gulped down the entire thing. Silence reigned between the two, the girls staring at each other, not speaking a word, and then... 015 groaned. "Why would you DO that?! That could be HORRIBLE for your stomach! You might need surgery! Why would you have the stupid idea-"

"Aah..."

015 stopped to look at 002.

"Bf...bddvueh...bweh...beeh...beh..."

015's eyes widened.

"C...c...cheh...c-ceeeh..."

And she realized what had happened. 002 ate the alphabet... And now, she could understand the letters enough to speak them... somewhat coherently.

"That... This... That's AMAZING! You can understand stuff by eating it?!" 002 tilted her head.

"Haaaaa?" 015 looked at all the other books, then back at 002. She grabbed the book about math, then opened it.

"Do you... wanna eat this one too?" 002 looked confused. 015 pointed at her mouth, making biting motions, and that, 002 understood. Taking the book, she ripped out two pages and shoved them into her mouth and chewed them up. When she swallowed, 015 waited a moment, before writing 1+1 = ? on a sheet of paper. She presented it to 002. "Now, do you know what this is?"

002 stared at the paper for a moment, before using her new speaking ability. "T...tf...tfwwooo."

015 nodded. "Your pronunciation needs work... But you got it! One plus one IS two! Good job!" She gave 002 a gentle headpat, a gesture the red skinned girl really seemed to appreciate as she smiled and leaned into it, grabbing her by the wrist and making her pat until she was satisfied. Afterwards, 015 spoke again. "All right, let's try a few more things before we keep going. Just a few more math and language questions..."

For the most part, 002's pronunciation left a lot to be desired, but... she was doing well! Ichigo could tell 002 knew what she was doing, she just couldn't properly word or write it.

Now, they were currently trying to get her to say their names. Zero Two was easier, being the first one they worked on learning. Just like before, 015 kept repeating the name, and 002 repeated after her.

"Zero..."

"Z..zhzh...zaaeeello..."

"Two..."

"T-tttzzzzuuuu..."

"Zero..."

"Ze...zeeeelllo..."

"Two..."

"Tszuuu..."

015 would clap and praise 002 for getting better and better, and 002 would drink it right up with utter joy.

"Well done!" 015 complimented her again. "You're doing amazing!" She reached for another book to feed her, but she felt nothing but blanket. She looked down to see...pieces of paper, leather and cardboard, torn to shreds...

002 was holding a bunch of papers, and she began to cram them down her mouth. And it was that that made 015 realize...she had no more books. 002...ate all of her study materials. Seeing her go silent, 002 leaned forward and came face to face with 015. "Ah! Wh-Why are you so close...?"

"Whe...whaaash wuuoong..." 002 managed to speak.

Recognizing what she was asking, 015 sighed with a sweat drop. "I... don't have any books to study now..." 002, now smart enough to understand how important those books were, put a finger between her teeth, chewing it with an embarrassed and slightly sad expression. "It's okay! It helped you learn, so I'm glad they went to a good cause! I'm sure the staff will give me new ones!"

002 got an idea, hopping off the bed and taking her own picture book from the table on the other side of the room. She climbed back on the bed, and pushed 015 to lay down, before doing the same, snuggling up close to her and opening the book to read with her.

015 blinked owlishly at the very close proximity. "Uh... Is this... really necessarry?" She then felt 002 slide one of her arms under her back and hug her even closer, causing 015 to subconsciously curl up and let the snuggle keep her in. Her eyes were then drawn to the book...there were...not many words. Mostly just a big picture on both pages, with words being in a small paragraph off to the side...what kind of book wass this? It didn't look like it was for studying purposes...

In fact...it seemed more like....a story? One of those so called "fairy tales" she heard teachers mention on rare occasions? This was something new...she was certainly intrigued to say the least...

The story was about a...beast princess. She fell in love with a human...how was that even possible? A beast and a human together? Strange...but, she kept reading, learning about how the beast made a deal with a...witch, to turn human. She then saved the prince, and married him. And that was nice. She found love. She got to get... married...

Oh...

Then the story turned sad. The princess couldn't control her curse and turned back into a beast, and the witch told her she could either free herself by killing the prince or turn back into a beast. The princess chose the latter, and the prince found feathers where his wife used to be... 'How tragic... No matter how hard she tries, she just can't find her happiness...' 015 thought.

It...reminded her of...of herself...

Somehow, she could see herself in the princess...just like she was a beast that fit a world of humans, she was full of emotion so she was incompatible with her emotionless peers. And...when she first saw someone so different from her yet also the same...she felt overjoyed, and...wanted to be with them...slowly, her eyes turned to look at 002, who was reading the book with a peaceful expression, eyes half lidded. They also moved and noticed her, and the two girls just stared into each other's eyes, peacefully...no reaction from either...

*mlem*

Then, 002 linked 015's cheek.

015 blinked, but the feeling nonetheless made her laugh a little. Seeing she liked it, 002 let the book go and began to pepper 015's face with affectionate mlems, the other girl laughing loudly. "S-Stop!" She giggled, gently trying to push her off of her. 002 just kept on doing it, before eventually flopping down on top of 015, taking a breath as she poked 015's cheek with one of her horns again.

Idly, 015 reached up and touched the horn poking her, prompting 002 to hum in content and curl up close to her. Innocently interested, 015 began to stroke the horn, eliciting giggles and laughs from 002. Smiling, she began to pet her faster, rubbing her fingers against the horn as 002 descended into full blown laughter, slapping her hands and feet against the bed as she cackled. Eventually, after a small cough, 015 stopped to let 002 get a breath in, then smiled and gently stroked her back. "Did you like that?" She asked playfully.

"Yyyyyyyessssssss." 002 responded, earning herself another headpat from the prideful 015.

"Attention, lunch time will begin in twenty minutes. All Parasites please gather in the cafeteria for your mandatory sustenance."

"Oh, lunch..." 015 murmured.

"Eeeeh?" Zero Two asked with a confused head tilt. 015 just gave her a flat look with a small cat-like smile and said one simple word:

"Food."

002 immediately perked up and leapt off of 015 and the bed, now clawing, scratching and batting away at the door with her tiny hands, acting more like her previously animalistic self. 015 sighed, shaking her head, before simply getting up and pressing the button next to the door to open it. As soon as it was open, 002 was gone, loud grunts and barks descending down the hallway.

015 shook her head. "I should probably follow her and make sure she doesn't cause any-"

A yelp was heard, likely caused by 002 startling someone.

"...Trouble..." 015 sighed in exasperation. She rushed out of her room, running down the hallway to see an utterly petrified looking scientist trembling in place, surrounded by papers scattered all over the floor. She made her way over to him. "Are you all right?" She asked politely.

The man nodded as he fixed his glasses. "I... I believe so... What just happened?! I saw something red slam into my stack of documents and climb on my face, then jump off and start running down the hallway making weird animal sounds!"

"That would be the new parasite that just arrived." 015 sighed. "She's a little... different than all the rest. Right now, it's time for lunch, and she's very excited for it."

"Ah. I see. Um... In that case, you should probably run after her and get caught up..." The scientist murmured.

015 nodded. "I'm sorry she caused you the trouble. Good luck."

The scientist just nodded and looked at the mess around him, then collapsed to his knees. "Another delayed promotion..." He moaned.

015 eventually arrived at the cafeteria, coming to a... mess. Every parasite and cook was staring at 002, the cooks incredulously and the parasites... curious, but emotionless as ever. And 002? She was currently slapping and scratching away at the glass separating her from the various foods, even attempting to bite through with her teeth. "Zero Two!" 015 called over, and the red skinned girl snapped her head over to look at her, before going right back to what she was doing. "Zero Two..." 015 called again, and 002 barked at her. Her eye twitched, and she stomped her foot. "ZERO. TWO." She called a third time, sharply and sternly.

The girl perked up, sliding off the glass and standing upright. 015 tapped her foot against the floor and pointed in front of her with a stern look. "Come here now." 002 fiddled her fingers shyly as she approached 015, her face downcast and shameful. She stopped in front of 015, who raised her hand towards her. 002 immediately flinched, expecting to be struck...

And then froze up when she instead felt a gentle hand rubbing against her head. Her eyes widened as she looked at 015, who had a tired smile on her face. "Now don't run off like that again, okay? You could get in trouble, and I wouldn't want my new best friend to get punished like that." 002 gasped, then immediately wrapped her arms around 015 in a hug, the human girl smiling softly and hugging back. The adults in the room all let out an "Aww..." at the scene, while the Parasite children all noted how affectionate they were towards each other since the moment they met.

"It looks nice to be so close to someone." One of the boys remarked. Soft murmurs of agreement immediately sounded out from all the rest. The two girls began to pick out their food, 015 choosing some fried chicken and some mashed potatoes while 002... very clearly wanted all of each. 015, deciding to humour her, smiled and retracted her order.

"We'll take one of each." She sighed out, winking at the cook.

Everyone in the room regained their incredulous looks, all pointed towards the two girls. "...Why do you want so much just for lunch?" One of the girls drawled.

"Because Zero Two wants to try everything. She loves food, and she's new here. She's never had a chance to taste any of this, so it only makes sense to try everything all at once. And besides... A little variety never hurt anybody." 015 explained.

"I... suppose that makes sense...?" The cook murmured. Soon enough, the two girls were seated at a table just for them, around twenty plates with every dish from the menu in front of them. 015, in awe, intook the scent of the various dishes...

And Zero Two immediately tried to gulp down an entire plate. However, 015 reached a hand up to grab her arm, stopping her and causing her to let out a soft whine. "I know you're hungry, but that's not how you enjoy a meal." She lowered the plate, took a spoon, and scooped up some potatoes dipped in tomato sauce before holding them up to 002. "Here. Take a bite." The half-klaxosaur looked at the human, who smiled back. "Go on..." She pushed the fork closer, until eventually, 002 accepted it, biting down, chewing and letting the delicious taste dance on her tongue. Her eyes widened, and she excitedly bounced in her chair, grunting eagerly for more. 015 giggled and scooped a different dish, some salad, and allowed 002 to take a bite of it as well.

Zero Two gladly chomped down on the green veggies, chewing a little before swallowing... with an expression that just screamed she was trying her best to not throw it all back up. 015 tilted her head. "Is... something wrong with the salad?" She grabbed the bowl and sniffed... Absolutely nothing. The smell was so palpable, it genuinely hurt her nose. She gave a flat look and realized the salad was most definitely bland and tasteless. She looked over the table, quickly grabbing some olive oil and pouring it on the salad, along with some vinegar, then used a fork and spoon to mix the whole thing together. When she was sure it was done, she stabbed some more salad onto a fork and offered it once more. 002 chomped again, chewing... and swallowing with a nod and a happy little "Mhm!"

015 nodded and took a bite of food as well, and soon, the two girls were smiling as they fed on the massive assortment of food on the table. At the table next to them, a group of parasites all stared in interest as they ate their own food. One boy gulped down some water. "015 and 002 seem to get along well."

"It's odd, with how uncomfortable and withdrawn 015 is with everyone else..." She never told them why, even though they'd asked her countless times to become their friend.

"I think it's because she's expressive. Maybe she doesn't like us because we're not as expressive."

"Why is that...? Were they born differently than us...?"

"Is it a flaw in genetic code...? And if so... is it a flaw in ours, or hers...?"

"Whatever the case, the probability of them bonding with any other Parasite over each other specifically is extremely low. They're literally perfect for each other."

"But why is 002 half klaxosaur? I thought they were only outside the plantation."

"I heard rumours about one of the lower levels housing a klaxosaur being tested on by the scientists led by Doctor FRANXX. That must be 002."

"Oh, they're almost done with their food."

All the other parasites looked to see that, indeed, the majority of the plates, bowls and glasses at the table are were empty, or at least nearly so. And the two girls were still eating, feeding each other while smiling and not at all looking full or satiated. They were clearly having fun laughing and eating together. They all lookedbetween themselves and nodded, silently coming to a ey were friends the very day the pink skinned girl first arrived, and 015 wanted nothing to do with them. And that fact... left a strange clenching feeling in their chests.

With 002 and 015, the latter wound her fork back, before letting go and launching a piece of meat straight into 002's mouth. The klaxosaur happily smiles as she ate the piece, before slapping a spoon, causing soup to be launched at 015. The human opened her mouth and the soup landed right in, the girl slurping up the noodle hanging out of her mouth and hiccuping a little, giggling at the fun they were having. 002 grabbed a whole roasted chicken, biting down on the poultry and literally ripping off a half of it before chewing it up and gulping down. Bones and all. She offered 015 the same. "Oh no, I can't eat like you can." She explained. 002 blinked, before ripping off a chicken leg and offering that instead. "That's better." 015 nodded, accepting the wing with a smile. As she ate, 015 stared at the messy way 002 devoured her food. It was kind of adorable...

She watched 002 chow down a big gulp of meat, then let out a cute little belch, which caused her to giggle. "You're weirdly adorable, you know that?"

"Uh?" 002 tilted her head curiously before repeating the process, getting another laugh from 015 for her troubles.

The rest of the lunch continued like that, the two girls happily playing with their food, laughing and enjoying themselves. The adults around them certainly found playing with their food vulgar, but all in all, they didn't mind. These two girls managed to bring so much life and light into the normally dull and orderly cafeteria, and it was very much appreciated. Eventually, the food was finished, and a large assortment of empty plates were left all over the table, both girls satisfied after the best meal they'd ever had.

"...I loved this." 015 said sincerely.

002 hummed in response.

015 was quick to get up and gather the dishes, setting them on the table in neat arrangements before gently helping 002 up from her seat. The klaxosaur was a bit woozy as she rubbed her belly. "Hmm... Maybe we should go and rest up now." She pulled 002's arm over her shoulder and helped her walk out of the cafeteria. Heading down the hallway, she made her way to her room, entered and shut the door. She could see well enough in the dark, so she easily pulled 002 over to her bed and gently laid her down.

She adjusted her to make sure she was comfortable, and once confident she was nice and snug, 015 grabbed her blanket and joined her under the covers, nestling in to get comfortable. However, 002 unconsciously reached out and pulled 015 into a tight embrace. 015 was surprised, but she was also tired, and not at all against it, opting to simply smile and nuzzle in closer to the Klaxosaur, her own arms wrapping around the other girl's torso as they embraced and fell into a slumber.

Hours passed, the day descending into night. Classes had long since ended, so there was nothing to do but rest and do what one wanted. The Parasites, for the most part, focused on their studies, but 002 and 015, as expected, stood out in yet another way, that being their choice to rest together instead of study. And as a result, they spent the entire day sleeping together, and continued to do so well into the night. The clock had only recently struck 22:30 p.m. when 015 slowly awakened from her slumber, yawning and opening her eyes to the darkness of her room... and a dim shade of red that was right in her face. Her eyes slowly wandered down to find 002 snuggling into her, holding her tight. She could feel her own arms wrapped around the female klaxosaur. Careful to avoid poking herself on 002's horns, she moved her head back slightly as she slid lower down and buried her head in the crook of 002's neck. The still sleeping klaxosaur let out a hum as she tightened her hold and rested her chin on 015's head.

015 smiled softly and nuzzled in a bit closer to 002. She could hear her heart beating against her ribs, feel her chest rising up and down with every breath, hear the small exhales escaping 002's lips, and...

"Mm...mmmmmmffff...I...Iiitsyghoooo..."

015 blinked at 002, who was now waking up as well. The pink skinned girl yawned and blinked her eyes open, looking around in a daze before noticing 015, close as could be. 015 smiled. "Good morning."

002 responded in her usual way. By lightly licking her on the nose.

015 giggled. "Ah, that tickles!" Then, she remembered what 002 said. "Were you... trying to say something?"

002 stared blankly at her, not knowing what she meant. "Oh... you were talking in your sleep..." 015 explained.

002 tilted her head, then her eyes widened as she remembered. And then, she repeated herself.

"Iiiitsssygooo."

"Yeah, that's it!" 015 nodded. "What does it mean?"

002 poked her head. "Iiiiitchygoooooo..."

"Yes... Now what does it MEAN?" 015 repeated, confused.

002 poked her head twice. Now 015 was REALLY confused. 002 sat up, helping 015 do the same, before poking her again on the head, repeating the word.

"Ii...iichhhhighoooo..."

It sounded coherent... 015 was pleased that 002 was becoming smarter.

But she still didn't know what she meant by that

As if sensing her confusion, 002 scurried off the bed and ran over to the table, grabbing a pen and paper. 015 watched as she wrote something on it, When 002 was done, she rushed back to her and climbed onto the bed again, showing 015 what she wrote. It was very crude... But 015 could make out the numbers one and five... The same numbers as her codename. And under them were two crudely drawn kanji, the one under... well, the one reading 'ichi', and the other one under the five reading... 'go'.

015 blinked as she looked up at 002, who was now pointing at her again..She tapped the paper with her finger and pointed at 015, repeating the word she'd said before. "You. Iiiiichiiiiigooooo." The realization struck 015, and her eyes widened. 002 was... giving her a name...? A real name?! Not just a codename like everyone else had?!

"...Ichigo..." She tested the name out on her lips. "...Ichigo." She did so again before smiling brightly. "Ichigo!" She liked it. She really, REALLY liked it, but... she was a parasite... Was she allowed to have a name...? As if sensing her concerns, 002 raised her hand and weakly thumped the top of 015's head. "You. Are. Ichigo."

Honestly, 015 was now more interested in the fact that 002 used proper speech. But...Ichigo. Her...name...her new...proper name...she found it really hard to accept. That is, she would have, if 002 didn't bop her on the head again, telling her the exact same sentence she said a second ago. She. Is. Ichigo.

Well now, she couldn't exactly be an ungrateful friend and leave 002 alone with no name, could she? She poked 002 in the chest. "You'll be Zero Two then. My name came from my number, so I'll give you just the same. So now we have matching names."

"Ze-Ro-Two..." Zero Two tested her newly gifted name. "Ze...ro...Two. Zero...Two... Zero Two!" She became more and more excited the more times she said it. "I am Zero Two!"

Ichigo giggled. "I'm glad you like your name."

Zero Two immediately tackled her in a hug, sending the both of them sprawling to the bed. "Ichigo... Zero Two... Zero Two... Ichigo!"

Ichigo laughed and embraced Zero Two, rubbing her hair gently, her heart warming at how happy she was over something as simple as a name. She looked at the clock. "Oh wow, it's late... And we haven't had dinner..." She looked down at Zero Two. "Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Nuh... Don't need food... Need be with Ichigo..."

Ichigo looked thoughtful, before smiling. "All right. I am hungry though..." She reached out to open a drawer on her cupboard, pulling out some pills. She popped two out, giving one to Zero Two. The klaxosaur sniffer her pill, the took it from Ichigo's fingers and swallowed it down in one gulp. Ichigo chewed her own pill, then swallowed.

"What that?" Zero Two asked.

"It's a sustenance pill. It's used to replace food when we don't feel like eating." Ichigo explained.

True to her words, Zero Two suddenly realised she felt full. She blinked twice, then laid down on top of Ichigo. Ichigo smiled warmly and gently petted her head as she pulled the covers over them. She looked at Zero Two for a second, then decided to plant a small kiss on one of her horns. Zero Two blinked at her, then returned the favour by licking her face. Ichigo let out a soft laugh of delight, and Zero Two smiled before laying her head back on her chest. "Okay... Good night, Zero Two..." Ichigo murmured.

"Night night..." Zero Two replied. And with that, both girls descended into dream land, huddled up together, sharing warmth and living the most peaceful night of their lives.

When the next day had come, it was slow, and deliberate. There were no windows, so the sunlight couldn't shine through and wake anyone up unless they happened to be sleeping in the biome. Zero Two was the first to wake up in the case of herself and Ichigo. Yawning, she blinked her red eyes open, tiredly looking around at the room she was in. She looked up at Ichigo and stared at her while she slept. She lifted a finger and lightly poked Ichigo's nose, causing her to snort in her sleep and let out a humn. Zero Two smiled in delight at the development, then slid up closer, now face to face with Ichigo, and leaned in so their noses were almost touching. Unconsciously, the sleeping girl's arms reached up and pulled Zero Two into a hug. The sleeping Ichigo nuzzled her face against Zero Two's chest, and Zero Two wrapped her arms around Ichigo's neck, gently holding her close and nuzzling their faces together.

She couldn't sleep, so she decided to just watch as Ichigo slept. Ichigo was cute, all sleeping and cuddly. Her face looked like she was peaceful and she had a soft little hum in her voice and she looked like a cute little animal. Remembering what Ichigo had done last night, she attempted to immitate a kiss instead of her usual lick, but all she really did was bump her lips against Ichigo's forehead. ...Was that right...? She dug through her library of newly gained knowledge in search of information.

Finding the knowledge of how to properly make a kiss, she took a deep breath, leaned down and pressed her lips on Ichigo's head. She held them there for several seconds before separating with a sigh. She blinked, then smiled wide and proud at her success, then planted two more kisses on Ichigo's head before nuzzling close to her. She closed her eyes and peacefully absorbed her friend's warmth, listening to her soft breathing as she slept, enjoying the comfort her presence brought.

DING DONG

"Good morning, Parasites. Today is the start of a new day. The schedule for today is-"

Zero Two's eye twitched in barely restrained frustration at the unwanted morning announcement. She normally would've been startled by it, but now that she had been enjoying the comfort of the now waking Ichigo's presence with her, she was more angry about it and wanted to smash the stupid sound into pieces so it would shut up. Ichigo blinked her eyes open, yawning and stretching her arms. She suddenly found herself squeezed, and looked to see Zero Two hugging her close, a cute pout on her face. Ichigo smiled. "Good morning." She greeted. Zero Two responded by rubbing her face against hers. Ichigo looked up at the speaker on the wall and sighed. "Well... Time to get up..." Zero Two whined and hugged her tighter, refusing to let go. "Hey... Come on now... We have to go now..." Ichigo tried gently coaxing. Zero Two responded by digging her face into her shoulder.

"Nm-mm." Zero Two insisted, shaking her head.

Ichigo sighed. "You're lucky you're so cute, you little lazy bug... But we really do need to get up so we can eat! You like food, right?"

"Nuh." Zero Two protested. "No food. Ichigo. We stay in bed. Stay holding. No food. Don't care. Pill." Ichigo blinked, then sighed in exasperation at her friend's antics. And yet... she complied. Pulling out more pills, she handed one to Zero Two, then ate her own.

"..You can't get used to to this you know... We can't stay in bed forever, we can't do this every day, this is just for one day." Ichigo said sternly. Zero Two giggled and kissed her cheek. Ichigo laughed and rubber her hair. "I can't be mad at you..."

Zero Two suddenly had a moment of inspiration. She flipped Ichigo onto her side, laying next to her and connecting their foreheads and noses together. Ichigo blinked, but she smiled, liking the affection. She looked into Zero Two's red eyes as they stared into her soul with... such life... Such radiance... Radiance that all her fellow parasites had always lacked. The lack of light that scared her. This light in her new friend's eyes... It sent an indescribable warmth through her heart. She could feel her heartbeat quicken the more she stared into that radiant, shining, deep red.

Then, Zero Two licked the tip of her nose.

Ichigo blinked, then giggled softly. "Are you gonna do that every time we get face to face?" Zero Two tilted her head, then smiled and gave her a light kiss on the nose, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen before she laughed. "Wow, that is so cool! You learn so fast!" Zero Two saw that her friend was happy with the kiss. She liked that. So she gave her more. All over her face. Ichigo was laughing in delight. "Hahaha! Stop it! C'mon!" Zero Two kept it up for several minutes before finally stopping and embracing her with a soft hum.

Ichigo hugged her back and nuzzled her face against hers, then yawned. "Want another nap?"

Zero Two blinked. "More nap...? Why? Bad sound ruin nighty night?"

"Yeah, the wakeup call was kind of abrupt, so... I'm still a bit sleepy..." Zero Two pulled the covers over them and snuggled up close as she tucked them both in and hugged Ichigo to share her body heat.

Ichigo smiled softly and hugged Zero Two back and gave her a kiss on the horn before connecting their foreheads together. Zero Two let out a delighted sound and closed her eyes, the two girls slowly lulling themselves back to sleep, forgoing their duties as parasites.

In the cafeteria, the other children had gathered to eat their designated breakfast meals. As they ate, one girl looked around the room with a blink. "The room seems... oddly dull this morning."

"Perhaps it's because 002 and 015 are not present." A boy guessed.

"Why not?" Another boy asked.

"I imagine they slept in." Another girl suggested. "How strange. It shouldn't be possible with the morning announcement."

"...Perhaps they are injured?" Another girl spoke.

"...That would be detrimental to their progress." A boy remarked. "Someone should go and see if they require assistance."

"I volunteer." A girl stood up and leaving for 015's room.

As she walked down the hall, she thought to herself. 'It's odd that they're absent... 002 clearly loves to east, how could she not be awake, in the cafeteria, eating like an animal? And 015... She's hesitant, but always diligent... For them to not arrive... It must be quite serious...' When she arrived at 015's room, instead of knocking, she simply pushed the door open, letting the light shine through the room. Entering, she looked around. The room was a bit messy... She looked up to see 002 and 015.

The blanket of 015's bed shifted, before a tired 015 peeked up, blinking before she gasped in fright and pulled the blanket over her head. Then, 002 popped up. "...Hi!" The klaxosaur greeted with a toothy grin and a wave.

"Good morning. I came to see why you did not arrive at the cafeteria. Are you well?"

"Mm. Not hungry. Want to sleep more." Was the response 002 gave.

"I see. Well, the morning announcement was quite abrupt after all, free day aside..." She turned to leave. Zero Two waved after her, then turned to where 015 was. She seemed to be... shaking. Was she cold? ...Her face looked kind of... afraid...

Once the door was shut, Zero Two patted her scared friend on the head. "What wrong?" She asked.

Still trembling, Ichigo slowly emerged from under the blanket and looked around nervously before heaving out a sigh and relaxing her shoulders. She rubbed her neck with a soft groan. "Agh... I think I slept wrong... My neck hurts..."

Zero Two, in all her wisdom, healed Ichigo's sore neck by kissing the back of it. "Go away, boo boos... Now what wrong? Why scared?" Ichigo cringed and looked back at the door nervously. Zero Two hated seeing her friend scared like this.

She pulled Ichigo in close and embraced her. "No more scared... I keep you safe..."

Ichigo smiled and returned the embrace, nuzzling their faces together. "I'm sorry... I'm not trying to make you worried..."

"Why scared?" Ichigo insisted. After a moment of silence, Ichigo mustered up the courage.

"...It was... Her... The girl... " Zero Two immediately shot up, and Ichigo pulled her back down. "No! No no no, you don't need to do anything to her, she didn't mean it!"

"She scare you. Needs to know not to do that. I just say. No hurt." Zero Two argued.

"No... Please just stay..." Ichigo pleaded. "I... I'd feel safer if you stayed with me..."

Zero Two hesitated, then sighed and sat back down. "Why scared?" Ichigo stared back at her quietly, then gained a sad look and sighed.

Zero Two tilted her head, then embraced her, Ichigo returning the embrace and exhaling before confessing. "I'm... different... than the other parasites... I was always... jumpier, and... happier, and I cried more, and I laughed more, and... I tried to see over time if any of the others were like me, but... but they weren't..."

A brief pause, before Ichigo continued. "They're... cold... Their eyes... have no emotions in them... It's like they're looking right into my soul... Their voices say they care, but they don't sound like they have ANY emotion... They don't sound like they care about ANYTHING... They just do what they're told... Like machines... And... I don't like being near them... They scare me... They make me uncomfortable... It feels like they're ripping me apart with their eyes, and I hate it... It's horrible... So horrible..."

"...Weird. Why not scared of me?" Zero Two asked.

"Because you're different... You have so much life, and emotion... So much... EVERYTHING! It's great! I can't even get mad or annoyed at you when you mess up, because... because I love that you even DO mess up! I like how you act, how you look at me, everything! I can't be scared of you because you aren't like them..."

Zero Two put a finger to her chin thoughtfully, then nodded in understanding. She grabbed Ichigo in a tight hug. "No more scared. I here. No scared."

Ichigo teared up and hugged back. "I'm so happy you came into my life... Why... Why aren't you scared of them like I am...?"

"Don't care. They look like them. They act like them. Normal for them. Don't care. I want food, I eat food, I want play, I play, don't care if they look, don't care if they don't like."

"...If I didn't care, would I not be scared...?"

Zero Two pouted and poked her cheek. "No more think about it, rest. Not time for thinking of this. You're too good to not care. You care. If you don't care for them, you don't care for me. I like that you care. I be sad if you didn't. You be like... Like them..." Zero Two slumped and looked down with a light shiver.

Ichigo put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned her head up to look at her. "I'm sorry, Zero Two... Of course I won't stop caring... I'll always care for you, don't be sad. We'll always care for each other."

Zero Two, upon hearing those words, remembered... She remembered Dr. FRANXX, and how he had told her that he would always care for her, because she was his greatest creation. And then... he hurt her. He lied to her. Because if he cared for her, why would he have made her go through all of that? It didn't make sense... He had to have lied. And now Ichigo was saying the same thing... Zero Two hesitantly looked up at Ichigo. "...Really...? For really real...? No hurting? No leaving...?"

Ichigo hugged her tightly. "Of course not! I promise... You're a gift. I have to repay you the best I can, and I'll do it by being there for you forever. I'm not leaving you... Never..."

Zero Two could easily tell she was being sincere. Tearing up, she reciprocated the hug with a huge smile. "Thank you..." She gave Ichigo a kiss on her face.

Ichigo giggled. "All right, let's try and settle down..." She gently pulled Zero Two back down and pulled the covers over the two of them, the pair embracing one another as though they were stuffed animals. Ichigo smiled and kissed Zero Two's horns, one kiss for each, before nuzzling her cheek against her forehead.

Zero Two meanwhile grabbed one of Ichigo's hands, putting it on her own face and humming in delight at the soft touch. Getting an idea, she began to lightly nibble on the fingers, causing Ichigo to giggle. "D-Doooon't! That tickles!" Zero Two was pleased at the sound of her laugh, and she closed her eyes as she let sleep overtake her once more, not removing Ichigo's fingers from her mouth as she continued to lightly nibble on them. Ichigo let out a yawn of her own, eyes blinking shut once more...

The girl headed back to the cafeteria, returning to her table. "What did you learn?" One boy asked.

"They simply decided to sleep in. Perhaps they didn't get enough rest." The girl replied.

"How strange." Another girl remarked. "They seem to have been sleeping since noon yesterday. They missed dinner. How could they have not slept enough?"

"Perhaps they came down with an illness." Another girl suggested.

"...Do we inform the staff?" A boy asked.

One of the children nodded. "It's best to ensure it isn't anything contagious."

"I don't believe it is an illness." The girl that went to check on them spoke up/

"But how else would they be tired enough to sleep through an entire day and not be satisfied?" Another girl pointed out. "It has to be something wrong." The parasites began to debate on the topic, and eventually, they settled on telling the staff just to be on the safe side. Wouldn't want one of their own to die.

Especially not 015. She was already plenty hurt. She didn't need to suffer any more.

Back in the room, Ichigo and Zero Two were sleeping soundly, hugged together and practically stuck like glue. Zero Two's face scrunched up, and in her mind, she dreamed. She was in a dark room. On an operating table. She looked up, and there were countless sharp objects floating directly above her. Needles, knives, scalpels, saws, lasers... Zero Two began to try and struggle to get free, as the tools all began to descend. She screamed, yelling for help, crying that it hurt even though she wasn't even being touched, and her eyes were overflowing with tears of terror as she tried to escape.

But just before the tools reached her, she felt something else brush against her fingers. She snapped still, then slowly turned to her left, and saw a small figure was holding her hand. The tools stopped, frozen in place, as the figure grabbed her hand and gently removed the straps holding her down, carefully helping her to sit up. Zero Two blinked, seeing the shadows clear up to reveal the face of Ichigo, who smiled softly at Zero Two and hugged her close. "It's okay... You don't have to be scared... I'll be with you... Forever..."

Overwhelmed by shock and fear, as well as relief, Zero Two returned the hug with intensity, her arms gripping Ichigo like her last lifeline that would disappear any second. A few sobs escaped her mouth as Ichigo gently rubbed circles on her back and kissed her on the forehead, holding her tightly. Zero Two slowly but surely managed to calm down before her vision began to brighten... and she was awake again, blinking in surprise at the sight of their room.

Zero Two immediately sat up with a jolt, snapping her gaze around the room, before slowly raising a hand and slapping herself across the face to make sure it was all real. She blinked twice, then curled in on herself slightly with a light shiver. That was an awful dream... She thought she was being hurt again, but... But no... She was still free, still in her nice little room, still with Ichigo...Ichigo... Ichigo was holding her. She looked over at the other girl with a smile, but... Ichigo didn't seem very happy. No, she seemed quite distressed, actually. Her face was contorted in clear discomfort, and she let out a soft whimper. "N-No... No...! Stop... looking..." Zero Two's eyes widened, and she immediately leaned in closer, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Ichigo was all alone in the facility. It was completely empty, the young girl's footsteps echoing through the hallways as she ran through in a panic. Eyes. All around her. She was completely surrounded on all sides by flat, blank, emotionless eyes, staring at her everywhere she went, piercing into her soul, refusing to look away. "Stop! Leave me alone! Just STOP!" She screamed, clutching at her head and squeezing her eyes shut as she ran. Unfortunately, she eventually came to a stop when she crashed into something and fell over with a yelp. She looked up slowly, and her eye widened when she saw she'd reached a dead end, a wall full of eyes staring at her. She scrambled to her feet to run the other way, only to be met with another wall. She looked around her wildly. She was boxed in. Nothing but walls. Completely surrounded by the eyes as they watched her. Pierced her. Judged her. "No... No... Stop... Please stop, please, please no, please..." Ichigo let out a choked sob and collapsed into a cowering ball on the floor, tears streaming down her face as the walls slowly began to close in on her...

Zero Two let out a soft whimper as she witnessed her friend's fear and distress. She bit her lip, before her eyes narrowed in determination. She laid down next to Ichigo and embraced her as tightly as she could, wrapping her arms around her back and pulling her in close. She wrapped her legs around her as well, and then closed her eyes as she gently nuzzled her face against Ichigo's forehead, letting out a series of soft grunts to try and make it clear to the sleeping girl that she was there and she wasn't alone.

Ichigo waited to be crushed, but it never happened. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up... And the hallway was back to normal... No eyes. No boxed in space. Just the same old hallways she had gone through hundreds of times in the past. Before she had time to question what happened, she suddenly found herself being picked up by someone. She let out a yelp and looked up to see... a woman. A woman with long flowing pink hair, fair skin, ice blue eyes... and a pair of red horns on her head. The woman looked down at her with not the emotionless, blank stare she always dreaded, but a soft, gentle, understanding smile.

Those horns... Those eyes... This woman looked different. WILDLY different. But she knew in her heart EXACTLY who it was... She let out a whimper and clutched onto her like she was her last lifeline, and in return she felt the pair of arms wrap around her and gently stroke her hair. "Shhhh... There there, it's all right... I'm right here... You can wake up now..." The woman murmured softly in the most soothing, angelic voice Ichigo had ever heard...

And then her eyes opened. And there, in front of her, was the Zero Two she knew and loved, embracing her tightly and looking at her with wide, innocent, worried eyes. Ichigo blinked twice, then smiled softly. "I'm okay..." She murmured. Zero Two blinked, then gave her a toothy grin and pressed her forehead against hers, not breaking their shared embrace. Ichigo embraced her back, and the two girls stayed like that, holding one another tightly as they cuddled in as close as they could.

Ichigo opened her eyes and saw that Zero Two had tears in her eyes. Frowning softly, she reached over and gently wiped them away. "Hey... Did you have a scary dream too...?" She asked.

"Mm-hmm..." Zero Two nodded. "...What yours...?"

"...I was in the hallways and there were eyes staring at me, and then the walls started closing in... What about yours?" Ichigo asked softly.

"I... I was on table... There was sharp stuff... Come down... Gonna hurt... Back in lab... Being hurt... Don't want hurt... Hate hurt..." Zero Two curled in on herself.

"Oh... Is that why you're scared of the infirmary...?" Ichigo asked gently.

"...Bad place... Bad things... Cuts open... Pulls things... Pokes things... Hurts... Hate it... Don't wanna go... No more pain..." Zero Two choked out.

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock, before she pulled Zero Two in closer. "Shhhh... It's okay... Just calm down... I'm here... Can you hear me...? Nod if you can..." She felt Zero Two nodding. "Okay... Just stay with me... You aren't there anymore... You're here... With me and all the others... No one's gonna hurt you like that ever again..."

Zero Two sniffled. "Promise...?"

Ichigo extended her pinkie towards the klaxosaur. Zero Two tilted her head and held up her own pinkie, and Ichigo gently wrapped the little finger around Zero Two's. "I pinkie promise, Zero Two... Those things will never hurt you again."

"...Pinkie... promise...?" Zero Two asked, returning the gesture.

"Yep!" Ichigo giggled. "It's a very special promise. I'm not allowed to break it."

"Why?" Zero Two asked.

"If I do, something bad happens to me." Ichigo replied.

Zero Two hugged her tightly. "No! No! Don't like, not want! Undo! No pinkie promise, uh-uh!"

Ichigo giggled softly. "Don't worry, it's all right, I'm not gonna break the promise, nothing's gonna happen to me! And if it does... Well, I'm sure you'll protect me..." She nuzzled against Zero Two, who blinked, then nuzzled back with a pout.

"Yeah... Will protect... Duh... You MY Ichigo. No hurt MY Ichigo. Never let them!" Ichigo felt her heart melt at her words, allowing Zero Two to protectively snuggle with her like a big cuddly koala.

"Th-Thanks... That... That means so much..." Ichigo whispered softly.

"...You okay...?" Zero Two asked.

Ichigo sighed deeply. "It's just... I've been so scared for as long as I can remember... I've been the only one my age that feels, that... that has emotions, that isn't just... flat and uncaring and it was scary and it was so lonely, I... I didn't have anyone... Not one person that I felt like I could talk to about anything and feel... comfortable and safe with, and then you showed up one day, and you just made it all better just by being... well... YOU. And... And it means so much to have you in my life, because... I'm not alone anymore... I... I have someone... Someone I can be close with... Someone that I can laugh and cry and just enjoy life with... Someone that understands me, someone that smiles when I talk to them and... has a personality... And it's just... Thank you, Zero Two... Just... Thank you so much for being there... Thank you for coming into my life... You're the best friend I could have ever asked for, and I'm so glad I had the chance to meet you... And I hope we get to stay together forever..."

Zero Two looked at her with a wide, teary smile, then let go for just a moment to grab the blanket and get them both tucked back in before hugging Ichigo and rolling like a log, causing the blanket to roll them up in a big sausage of fabric. Zero Two grabbed a pillow and used it to block the hole and pulled them both deeper into the blanket. The two girls stared at each other in the dark blanket, noses touching, bodies huddled together as they embraced. "There! We close! Super close! We together! I do good?"

Ichigo teared up as she smiled softly, then nuzzled her face against Zero Two's own. She let out a soft laugh. "You're so silly..." She whispered. "Yes... You did good..."

"Yay!" Zero Two let out a short cheer.

Ichigo, using her toes, closed the lower half of the blanket, shutting the pair away in the roll of fabric completely. Zero Two began to pepper Ichigo's face with kisses and licks and even light nibbles, wanting to show as much affection as possible and hear her nice giggles as they played inside their little makeshift hideout. Eventually, the pair were content to just cuddle up together, holding each other close and closing their eyes, content to just be close to one another.

And they stayed like that, the day passing by them until eventually, it was 5 PM. Ichigo let out a sigh and gave Zero Two a squeeze. "Hey... I'm getting a bit hungry." Zero Two's own stomach growled in response, and she let out a discontent groan. Ichigo giggled. "Guess you are too." Zero Two huffed and looked away with a blush, her cheeks puffed out slightly.

"Don't wanna go. Pill." She declared.

"No, we can't just live off of pills, we need food. Real food."

"Awwww... But wanna staaaaaaaay..." Zero Two whined.

"Now don't you get all whiny with me, young lady." Ichigo said sternly. "There will be no slacking on my watch, do you hear me? I'll have to help you understand proper etiquette so that we don't get into any trouble." Zero Two let out a soft whine and pouted, her lower lip sticking out as she gave Ichigo puppy dog eyes. "Oh, don't give me those eyes, come on now... If you do good, I'll give you prizes, how's that sound?" And just like that, Zero Two immediately stopped sulking in favour of perking up in excitement and throwing the blankets right off of them.

So abruptly, in fact, that since they were both still wrapped up inside the blankets, Ichigo found herself launched off the bed with a yelp, skidding across the floor on her feet until she eventually came to a stop, blinking owlishly at how fast it all happened. She didn't have time to dwell on it, though, because seconds later, Zero Two was RIGHT in her face, a wide toothy grin on her face as she bounced excitedly on her feet. "We eat now! We eat now! We eat now!" She chanted. And before Ichigo could even say a single word, Zero Two suddenly had her tucked under her arm, and rushed off towards the cafeteria at full speed. Ichigo looked up at her from her spot beneath her arm, then sighed softly and shook her head with a fond smile at her friend's energetic excitement.

"...The hallways sure are empty..." Ichigo remarked. "Normally there's staff members or other parasites walking around, but there's... no one."

Zero Two sniffed at the air for a moment. "They in rooms. Bet they sleep."

Ichigo blinked before having a moment of realisation. "Oh yeah, it's the weekend! Nothing to work on! Ah... Good... They aren't gonna be there..." She sighed in relief.

Zero Two looked at her with a sad frown. She only had her... She was too scared to make any more friends... If only there were a way to help her be okay with the other kids...

Zero Two stopped in front of one of the doors and turned to look at it. "What are you doing?" Ichigo asked. Zero Two approached the door slowly. "Wait! Stop, Zero Two, keep going!" Zero Two ignored her and reached for the button to open the door. "NO! NO, DON'T! ZERO TWO, PLEASE DON'T, I DON'T WANNA SEE THEM RIGHT NOW, PLEASE, DON'T!" Ichigo panicked and begged Zero Two, beginning to tear up as her breathing got faster and harder. "PLEASE, LET'S JUST GO TO THE CAFETERIA! PLEASE!"

Zero Two paused at Ichigo's reaction. She was... really, REALLY scared... She looked down at her best friend worriedly. Then, she nodded and continued moving past the door as Ichigo took the moment to calm herself, not saying anything, looking... ashamed of herself. Zero Two... didn't like that. She didn't have to be ashamed of anything, she just needed to understand that the other kids weren't so bad. But... How was she going to help her overcome her fear if she didn't want to go near them...?

...Wait a minute...

If Ichigo was scared of them because they were emotionless... Then all she had to do was make them feel emotions!

Now the real question here was... how? How was she going to do that? Hmm...

She carried Ichigo into the cafeteria, shifting her hold so that she was now carrying her bridal style, and she approached the chef. "Yummy food please!"

"Yeah, right, uh... Here..." The chef tiredly gave them each a tray of food. Zero Two let out a cheer and carried Ichigo over to a table, setting her down and taking a seat beside her. The two girls exchanged a brief glance, then turned to their food and began to eat in an awkward silence.

"...Sorry..." Zero Two's soft, dejected voice broke the silence, getting Ichigo's attention as she turned to look at her.

"N-No, it's fine... I... I know I'm being kind of ridiculous..." Ichigo murmured softly. "I... I don't WANNA be scared... But... I just... can't help it..."

"...Then I help!" Zero Two declared proudly.

"Help? How can you help this? You're not a therapist." Ichigo asked uncertainly.

Zero Two's response? She grabbed Ichigo's pinkie in hers, interlocking them as she gazed firmly into her friend's eyes. "I. Help." She said in a tone that left no room for further argument. Ichigo felt herself calming down just a little bit.

She closed her eyes, heaved out a sigh, then gave Zero Two a small tired smile. "Okay... I trust you." She said sincerely. Zero Two grinned widely, and then promptly shoved a forkful of chocolate cake into her mouth, causing her to yelp in surprise. She blinked, chewed, swallowed, then sighed. "Be more gentle about that, Zero Two. Like this..." She scooped a forkful of her own chocolate cake, then slowly moved it to Zero Two's mouth. Zero Two watched it for all of two seconds, then lunged and nommed it right off the fork, much to Ichigo's exasperation.

Zero Two tilted her head, then mimicked what Ichigo had done earlier, moving the fork towards her friend's mouth slowly as she could. Ichigo opened her mouth in anticipation, and when the fork was past her lips, she took the bite. "See? Like that." She directed.

"Ooooh. Do me next! Try again!" Zero Two requested.

Ichigo giggled. "Okay, okay, here we go..."

The lunch lady watched the two girls feeding each other with a small, amused smirk on her face. "Only seven years old and they're already this far in their relationship... Heh... This is gonna blossom into something beautiful, I just know it..."

Zero Two, once the cake was gone, pressed a kiss against Ichigo's face, smearing some chocolate from her lips to her friend's cheek, causing her to giggle. "You are such a sloppy eater..." Ichigo shook her head as she wiped it off with a napkin.

Zero Two blinked twice, then her eyes narrowed and she puffed out her cheeks. "Don't want sloppy, want like you! Show me how!"

"You want me to show you proper manners?" Ichigo asked, head tilted.

"Mm-hmm! Manners! Show manners! Want manners!" Zero Two insisted.

"Well... Okay." Ichigo smiled, pleased with Zero Two's desire to learn. She looked over at a hard boiled egg, then grabbed it. "Okay. Do exactly as I do." She instructed, before lightly hitting the egg with her spoon to crack it.

Zero Two nodded. "Okay! Hit egg! Got you!" She pulled out her own spoon and slammed it down on the egg as hard as she could, splattering it immediately. Ichigo's eye twitched, and she slapped her palm against her face.

"Too hard, Zero Two..." She groaned.

Zero Two visibly deflated, then donned a determined glare as she gulped down her splattered egg, shell and all, then grabbed another one, glaring at it to inform it she wasn't going to lose this time... before she began lightly tapping it with basically no force at all, effectively doing nothing to it.

Ichigo watched for all of three seconds before letting out a fond sigh and shaking her head with a smile." No... Zero Two, watch. See what I'm doing, right here." She instructed, Zero Two watching as she cracked another egg.

"Ah!" Zero Two tried again. Nothing. She put more force in the second time. It was too much, and the egg splattered again, causing her to whine and droop.

Ichigo giggled. "Here, let me see your hand, i'll help you." Zero Two obediently allowed her friend to guide her hand as she helped her swing it down... and the egg cracked. Zero Two's eyes widened.

"Oooooh. Like THAT!" She took another egg and cracked it herself. "I do it! I learn!"

"Good job!" Ichigo praised as she patted her head. "Here, you get a prize for listening." She scooped the last forkful of her cake, then held it out for her, pleased that she waited for it to pass her lips this time before she bit down.

"GOD they're adorable!" The lunch lady gushed silently.

After a few more successfully cracked eggs, the two girls were headed back to their room... But Zero Two paused and looked at Ichigo. "...See them sleep." She pointed at a nearby room.

"...Um... Explain?" Ichigo asked, head tilted. Zero Two pouted slightly, then pulled her towards one of the doors and pointed at it. "Come! We open!" She insisted.

"What? But... But that's one of their rooms..." Ichigo said nervously, rubbing her arm.

Zero Two put her hands on Ichigo's shoulders and smiled warmly. "Is okay. Not scary. Nice." She insisted. She approached the door.

"W-Wait..." Ichigo murmured.

"Okay. Is OKAY." Zero Two insisted before fully opening the door and looking inside. She grinned over at Ichigo. "Come. Come look. Sleep. See?" Ichigo found her arm gently yanked by Zero Two, and she flinched and opened a single eye to humour her friend at least a little bit. One of the girls was sleeping...

And... And she looked so... gentle... So PEACEFUL, so... so... CUTE... NOTHING like the creepy, cold, unfeeling gaze she was used to...

She was almost tempted to reach out and touch her... And then, the girl let out a snort and rolled over in her sleep. Ichigo was... truly baffled. "Not scary." Zero Two said confidently, with a firm nod. She grabbed Ichigo's hand. "We see more! Come!"

And so, Zero Two took her friend around to look through the various rooms, and Ichigo was truly amazed. The other kids were so... human when they slept. One was sprawled out with his tongue hanging out. Another was sleeping on the floor. A third was sleepwalking and bumping into a wall. They were just so... DIFFERENT when they were asleep than Ichigo was used to.

The last one in particular had her giggling softly, stifling the sound with her hand to try and avoid waking her up, The two girls closed the door, and Zero Two looked up at her friend with her head tilted to the side. "Okay now?"

"Y-Yeah... Quite a bit... I'm... I'm surprised, I have to admit..." Ichigo responded. Zero Two tilted her head with a confused hum, and Ichigo explained. "It's just... They're so... empty and unfeeling when they're awake... But then they're like that, and it just... feels so different..."

Zero Two perked up. "When they awake, you can try be friends now!" Ichigo tensed up, and Zero Two deflated. "Ooooh... Not ready?"

"Zero Two... They're different... I know they're different when they're asleep, but it doesn't make them any less scary when they're awake... They aren't like that when they're awake, they're usually... NOTHING when they're awake..." Ichigo explained.

Zero Two looked thoughtful, before perking up. "I MAKE them something!"

"...Don't beat them up just to try and make them show emotion, please?" Ichigo pleaded.

Zero Two pouted. "No fun!" Ichigo just stared at her in disbelief that she was actually gonna do it.

The blue haired girl hugged her friend tightly, squeezing her eyes shut. "I... I don't want you getting in trouble, they might take you away... And then I'll be all alone again... Alone with... with them..." Zero Two looked afraid when she heard the word 'alone', and she immediately latched onto Ichigo as hard as she could.

"No! No alone!" She cried out. "Not leave me! We not be alone!" She sniffled. "Been alone too long... Don't wanna... Just can't... Not again..."

Ichigo tightened her hold on her. "That's why you can't do it, okay?" She smiled at Zero Two. "Just be good and we get to stay together... Okay?".

"Kay!" Zero Two accepted. "Don't wanna not be with you!"

Ichigo giggled. "I feel the same..." And so, with that done, both girls headed back to their room. Zero Two held onto Ichigo the whole way back. In fact, she hoisted her onto her shoulders for a piggyback ride. Ichigo yelped slightly in surprise before letting out a soft giggle and grabbing onto Zero Two's horns.

"Ah! Heehee! Tickleeeees!" Zero Two giggled, moving her head to try and remove Ichigo's grip. Ichigo looked down at her friend rather mischievously, and began to tickle at her horns. Zero Two giggled as she stumbled about through the hallways, until eventually, they reached their room. "STOOOOOP!" Zero Two pleaded through laughter.

Ichigo stopped to push the button to open the door... And then immediately went right back to it the second they were in. Zero Two, now wanting a taste of payback, flipped back onto the bed to remove Ichigo from her shoulders, and before Ichigo had time to react, Zero Two was on her, tickling at her ribs and under her arms. Now it was Ichigo's turn to laugh uncontrollably at the taste of her own medicine.

Zero Two, meanwhile, was cackling like a madwoman as she relentlessly tickled her friend's ribs. Ichigo managed to fight through it, grabbing at Zero Two's horns once again. Now, both were tickling each other.

This went on for several minutes before both girls stopped, breathing heavily. "Okay... No more of that..." Ichigo sighed.

"Yes..." Agreed Zero Two, hugging Ichigo tightly and closing her eyes. Once they were both sufficiently calmed, she spoke. "...Together forever?"

"Together forever." Ichigo promised. "Now... When we grow up... When we die... We'll always be together... We're never gonna be alone again... I promise..." Ichigo pulled Zero Two in closer as she made the promise, and the two girls closed their eyes...

The next day came, and the two girls were sitting in comfortable silence in the cafeteria, having their breakfast. Ichigo was very noticeably more comfortable. Not completely... But the difference was clear. She didn't look at the other kids, she found it easier to ignore them when she had her best friend around, particularly when the friend in question was as clingy and affectionate as Zero Two, who was practically glued to her hip at they are their food. And by that, we mean they were feeding each other from their respective plates. All the adults in their room had the same thought: The pair looked like a romantic couple.

"Heh... Talk about young love..." One of the women spoke up. It was so sweet how swiftly it formed... Practically upon their first meeting.

The two girls paid the adults around them no mind, too focused on each other. And the other kids? They found themselves glued to the pair themselves, only by their eyes though. Their feelings weren't there, but...they could appreciate how close they were nonetheless. The other kids collectively had the same thought... They all wished they could show half the affection these two did. But how? They didn't know how affection even FELT. They wouldn't know how to give it back! No one really showed much of it to them either...

And speaking of which... Zero Two had an idea!

Zero Two cheerfully ate her breakfast, planning in her head how she was going to go about this... Ichigo stared at her friend in mild concern and curiousity. She... really hoped she wasn't going to get herself into trouble...

And so, it was time to go to the biome. The children were all sitting around, observing the flora and limited fauna they could find around themselves. One boy dug through some bushes...and found a red face with white hair and horns staring back at him with red eyes. He simply stared back at the familiar face of Zero Two. "Hello." He said simply.

Zero Two's response? "Nom!" She moved forward a bit to lightly nibble on his nose.

He blinked. "...Does it taste good? ...It doesn't seem very hygienic." Zero Two pulled back and gave him a small pout at his lack of reaction, her cheeks puffing out. So, she pushed forward, now licking his face like she did with Ichigo. Much to her annoyance, he just stood there, not really paying attention to it. So, she went forward again, now lunging and pushing him to the ground as she licked him. She did notice a slight shift in his facial expression this time. But it was too slight to know what it was for sure. So, she pushed forward again, rolling with him on the floor and replacing licks with kisses. And she swore she saw something forming in his eyes. She was making progress! She started to playfully wrestle with him and roll around in the grassy dirt. And then, she broke out the big finisher... Tickling his ribs. And now, the boy started coughing, but, it slowly changes to the familiar sound...of laughter. Everyone else in the vicinity heard it too, and they immediately turned to see the source of the noise. And they all actively gaped at what they saw. One of their own...laughing. Like Zero Two and 015 did.

And Ichigo? Her eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated disbelief. She felt happiness welling up inside her as she watched the scene before her. She even began to tear up at seeing how the boy was acting... human.

Zero Two decided she'd had enough, and moved onto another victim, jumping off the boy and lunging at a girl.

She pushed her down and started assaulting her with tickles as well. Ichigo watched as the girl squirmed and struggled for a bit, and indeed, her facial expression lost its stoicism. And she burst into laughter. The other Parasites watched in interest...before one curiously began to tickle another. Ichigo looked all around her as one by one, all of the emotionless husks she had been afraid of for so long... devolved into fits of uproarious laughter.

And the noise. The noise....it was a dream. A dream come true. Ichigo looked all around her, and she felt a laugh of her own building inside her. And so, she let it out. She started laughing. Laughing uproariously. Laughing her heart out in joy. In happiness. Finally, the people around her were acting like her, showing emotions like her! She...she...she could finally make friends! She could finally be friends with everyone! She could see them smile! Smile like her! Laugh like her! Her and Zero Two!

Zero Two...who was on the ground. Not moving. She stepped up to her friend with a tilted head, then knelt down by her side and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Hey... Are you okay?" And then she noticed... Zero Two was REALLY cold. Ichigo's eyes widened. Where... Where was this coming from?! She was just fine not even a few minutes ago! "Z-Zero Two! ZERO TWO! HELP! ZERO TWO NEEDS HELP!" She called out frantically, getting everyone's attention.

Not a single trace of their usual indifference or unfeeling nature, they were still unnaturally calm, but their eyes were showing genuine concern. "...She has to go to the infirmary." One of the girls said, serious as could be. Everyone else murmured their agreement, and Ichigo winced. Zero Two was TERRIFIED of the infirmary... But then... That was what she was there for... wasn't it...? She knelt down and gathered the klaxosaur in her arms, carrying her bridal style, looking down at her to see if she was awake. She was...but she was shivering. Trembling. On the verge of tears.

"No... No firmary... Don't wanna... Please no..."

"It's okay...:" Ichigo whispered softly. "It's okay, I'll be with you... We'll always be together, remember...?" Ichigo whispered softly to her, trying her best to soothe her fears.

She rushed with her out of the biome at top speed towards the infirmary. She promised she'd be there with her, but... Ichigo was truthfully very scared for her... This came completely out of nowhere... Why had it happened?! She would have to ask the doctors...She just hoped they didn't traumatize Zero Two too much... She looked down at her best friend. She looked so... small and pitiful... She was breathing heavily, sweating and shaking at the same time.

"I...chi...go..." She whimpered out her name and reached up for her. Ichigo sped up the pace as she nuzzled her face against Zero Two's hands. "It's okay... I'm here... I'm not leaving..." She murmured softly.

Eventually, the pair made it to the infirmary, and Zero Two, upon seeing it, in spite of her current state, instinctively made an effort to escape, whimpering and trying to weakly squirm out of Ichigo's hold. Ichigo shifted her hold to hug her tightly. "Hey... It's all right... It's okay..." Zero Two forced herself to calm down the best she could, whimpering and nuzzling in closer as they entered the room.

The doctors were quick to notice the two girls, and one of them hopped to their feet in alarmed concern. "What happened?!" She called out as she rushed over.

Ichigo teared up and held Zero Two up. "She just... collapsed, she was fine one second and then she just fell over and got sick!" The doctor tried to grab her. Zero Two immediately thrashed to get away. "NO! NO! NO TOOLS, NO!"

Ichigo gently grabbed her hand. "Don't worry... I'll hold onto you while they work..." She promised. She looked up at the doctors with a frown. "She's really scared... They didn't treat her well at the other place... She needs me there to stay calm..."

"That's just fine." The doctor said with a nod. "Sometimes patients need an outside source of comfort, not much to be done about that..." Zero Two looked up at them, seemingly surprised at how willing they were to let her have her comfort.

"Good... C'mon, Zero Two... We need to get you healed up..." Ichigo urged her friend along as she helped her up onto the table. The second she was on the table, Zero Two began to remember all the other times she had to be stuck lying on a table just like this...

But a gentle squeeze of her hand reminded her...she wasn't alone this time. She squeezed back and slowly opened her eyes to look over at Ichigo. Ichigo smiled at her. "You'll be okay." She whispered. Zero Two let out a very slight whine, and focused all her attention on her friend. Someone placed something on her chest, and she immediately winced, expecting something to stab through...

But...nothing happened. The tool just... got placed on different parts of her chest and...and that was it. She slowly cracked an eye open and looked up at the doctor, who pulled the stethoscope off her chest. "Hmm... Your heart rate is okay..." Zero Two simply tilted her head as she turned back to her medical kit. The doctor pulled out a long glass object with a red line running through the middle. "All right... Can you open your mouth for me, please?"

Zero Two took one look at the object and immediately gulped. "All right now... Open your mouth, please?" Zero Two froze up. This was it... She was gonna be hurt now... It was a drug... Or some other dangerous liquid! She shook her head and turned her head away with a soft whine...

"Hey... It's okay." Ichigo gently assured her. "It's just for measuring your temperature... You just put it in your mouth and pull it out after a little bit and the red line shows the doctor how warm you are." Zero Two looked at her friend, then heaved out a sigh, looked at the doctor, then opened her mouth. When she felt the glass stick placed in between her teeth, she squeaked in fear, expecting something bad to happen to her...

But nothing happened at all. The doctor took the stick out of her mouth, no issue. The doctor looked at the thermomter, then started in shock. "She's burning up!" She exclaimed. Zero Two groaned in response, as if to affirm that, yes, she didn't feel well. "Welll... It does't seem to be anything serious, at least... " Zero Two and Ichigo both heaved out a sigh... "With that said, we do need a blood sampl to study and make sure there's no lingering side effects from a non-human species suffering a human illness. Zero Two gasped. This was it, they were gonna take a knife and they were gonna cut into her!

"Take some of mine too!" Ichigo spoke up.

Zero Two gasped in horror. "No! Not hurt you too!" She protested. Ichigo just looked at her with a confident smile, and she stared at her with wide eyes at how unafraid she was.

"Don't worry, I've had my blood taken tons of times, I'm not afraid at all!" She smiled at Zero Two. "They're gonna take some of mine first, and I'm gonna let you see there's nothing to be afraid of. Okay?"

Zero Two immediately lunged to grab Ichigo's hand in hers. "Have to hold hands! Have to make sure you not scared too!" She insisted. Ichigo laughed softly into her hand at the gesture and how cute Zero Two was being. So, when the doctors began working, Zero Two gripped Ichigo's hand as close as possible, even using her other hand to hold her arm for extra comfort. She watched with bated breath as they brought the needle to Ichigo's arm... And then, when the blood was drawn, she snapped her gaze to Ichigo. And Ichigo was... unfazed. She just....looked like she always did. Not at ALL bothered about the needle in her arm, pulling her blood out. She looked at her, awestruck, eyes sparkling. Ichigo was the coolest person in the whole wide world! The universe even!

As soon as it was done, and a bandaid was applied, Ichigo smiled and waved her arm, showing it was completely fine. Zero Two looked at her arm, and then her attention was drawn to the bandaid. Her eyes widened as she looked at the bright, colourful patch over the stuck spot. She never got anything like THAT before... It was so... blue! She wanted one! She wanted one really bad! Ichigo smiled. "If you want one, you just have to let them have some blood. That's all." Zero Two faltered for a moment, but then sat straight to attention. If Ichigo could do it... she would do it too! She had to impress Ichigo! She had to show her she was as cool as she was! And so, she laid back down on the table and she extended her arm, an expression of purpose on her face. "You're doing GREAT." Ichigo praised her bravery as she gently held her hand. "I'm still here, don't forget, I have your back..."

The medical personel began the setup, wrapping something around her arm in order to ensure the blood pressure flowed better. Then, came the needle. Zero Two gulped, then braved up. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wincing in anticipation, expecting it to hurt like everything else did when she was in a room like this... And then, she felt a little sting. And nothing after. Just a quick sensation in her arm, and then the needle was removed, the wound was cleaned, and a pink bandaid was applied to her arm.

She blinked as she looked down at her bandaid, and her eyes sparkled in delight. It was the same colour as her hair! She let out a joyful squee, then hurriedly showed off her new bandaid to Ichigo, who smiled warmly. "See? We're even now. Was that so bad?"

Zero Two hugged her friend tightly. "I did it!" She declared. "You help me!"

"You did an amazing job!" Ichigo giggled. "And now you'll get better quicker and we'll be able to play some more. Now come on! You did so well you deserve a prize!" Zero Two perked up and excitedly bounced up and down on her heels. "Just wait here for me, and I'll get something special for you from the cafeteria." Ichigo promised.

"Kay!" Zero Two chirped, waving after her and laying back down, kicking her legs in the air despite herself. The doctors gently lowered a blanket over her, and she laid back and waited for a few more minutes before Ichigo returned, carrying a strange golden jar in her hands. Zero Two looked at it curiously, There seemed to be something inside it. Something that looked... really pretty. Ichigo took a seat on the side of the bed, then grabbed a spoon she brought with her. She opened the jar, then dipped the spoon in and offered the spoonful of sticky gold substance to Zero Two, who studied it curiously. Zero Two studied it curiously, then opened her mouth wide with an 'Aaahhh...' as Ichigo fed her the spoonful.

The second the spoon touched her lips, Zero Two was in heaven.

She fell back on the bed, savouring the gooey gold in her mouth, letting it pass over her taste buds and bathe them in pure delicious bliss. It was so good, Zero Two began to tear up. It was the best thing she'd ever had in her entire life! Everything else was DISGUSTING compared to this perfect godlike nectar! She tapped at her lap excitedly. "More! MORE!" She requested.

Ichigo giggled at her joy and complied, and Zero Two rabidly gulped it up.

She eventually reached over and just took the entire jar, eagerly digging her hands in and guzzling it down as fast as she could. She paused for a moment, looked at Ichigo, then offered her hand out to her to offer her a glob.

"Uh... No thanks. It's all yours." Ichigo turned her down gently. Truthfully she didn't care much for honey straight out the jar.

And then Zero Two pulled out her ultimate weapon.

Pleading puppy dog eyes.

She couldn't enjoy this without Ichigo also enjoying it. She even put extra effort into looking as sad and pleading as possible to convince her.

Ichigo rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "Oh, all right, I'll-" A wet slap of honey smushed against her face.

Zero Two gave her a wide smile, looking so majestically adorable that Ichigo couldn't help but roll her eyes and give her a small, mirthful smile as she collected the honey into her mouth with her own finger.

And so the two girls sat there and ate the entire jar of honey in one sitting. Ichigo wasn't the biggest fan of it, but hey... it made her friend happy.

Setting the empty jar down, Ichigo cleaned them both up with a wet towel she got from the doctors. Once all the sticky gold was gone, Zero Two pulled her in and laid down with her. She nuzzled her chin against the top of Ichigo's head. "You stay... Don't leave me..."

Ichigo smiled and crawled under the covers with Zero Two, hugging her close. "Of course... You remember what I promised you, right?"

And so, the two girls cuddled up close as could be and closed their eyes, not sleepy, but just content to be together.