Hiro snuggled up as close to 02 as he could without giving the pink haired girl a reason to suspect anything was going on. The two layed on a coach in the main room of the birdcage, hugging tightly under a quilt that Kokoro had knit for Squad 13 quite some time ago. It was dark outside, and the rest of the squad were asleep in their dorms. The pair were deeply focused on a large TV which buzzed about 10 feet in front of them. It had been 02's turn to pick a movie for the two of them to watch, and to Hiro's dismay, the half-klax had chosen her favorite horror film.

If he was ever asked, Hiro would deny the rumor that he was afraid of the horror genre, instead claiming that the gore simply made him cringe. This was, of course, a lie, and Hiro couldn't bear to sit through any scary movie without showing obvious signs of being terrified. As a result, Hiro tried to avoid Horror movies however he could, faking sick on his Squad's movie nights a number of times in the past. Even going so far as the hide a copy of "Attack of the Klaxosaurs Two" on a night Zorome had decided to put it on

Tonight was different though, as his stubborn partner wouldn't allow Hiro to ruin a chance to be alone together. Zero two practically dragged him from his dorm, and after the snacks were ready, she pressed play and sealed Hiro's fate. The movie picked up slowly, and before he knew it Hiro had already survived the first half without any bad jumpscares. Despite this, he knew the movie was just getting started, and Hiro was not looking forward to the next 45 minutes.

Zero Two's attitude was completely different from her partner's, as she was enjoying every second of the film. Hiro didn't understand how the girl could wear a smile on her face and be completely relaxed while he was so terrified, but she managed it the whole way through the movie.

"Don't go in there you moron! Don't do it, don't do iiiitttt- Aww, he's super dead. I told him not to go in there." 02 laughed as one of the main character's head rolled from his shoulders, having been decapitated by the demon haunting the group. 02 had seen this movie half a dozen times, so none of these scenes made her jump any more, rather she would always laugh at how stupid the characters acted.

Hiro, on the other hand, was not laughing. On the outside he held a stoic face, trying not to react in any extreme manner like he wished he could. On the inside however, his heart raced as his mind tried to wrap itself around the gruesome scene he just witnessed. He once again asked himself how he managed to get sucked into this mess, and he promised himself that it was almost done. The only reason he made it this far without being too visibly scarred was because of 02's commentary telling him when to brace for a jumpscare; he silently thanked his partner for the unintentional act of mercy. Hiro once again tried to move closer to Zero Two, caring less about if she noticed and more about hugging his partner as tightly as possible.

This pattern continued for the next half hour. A character would die in some horrible way, Zero Two would start giggling about how stupid said character was for dying in such a manner, and Hiro would hug 02 tighter and try not to appear too scared. Eventually however, there was only one character left, and Hiro knew that jumpscares were coming. Hiro tried to hide himself behind his partner, having abandoned almost all hope of appearing unfazed by the movie.

It was at that moment, disaster struck.

"Hey, Darling, we ran out of chips." 02 said, displaying the empty bowl to Hiro. "I'm gonna grab some more real quick". With that, 02 shot up from the couch and disappeared into the dark house, leaving Hiro all alone with nothing but the TV.

Hiro starred at the TV for a few seconds before comprehending what had just happened. Once he understood what had just occured, his mind went into full panic mode. He hid under the blanket and closed his eyes. Despite the fact he couldn't see the movie, he still could hear all the misery coming out of the device. His imagination was arguably worse than whatever was on the screen, as he imagined himself trapped in the movie, forced to run through the halls of the abandoned mansion. Struggling to avoid being consumed by the demon chasing close behind.

After what seemed like minutes of hiding Hiro realized that he couldn't hear anything coming from the TV any longer. The parasite didn't know how to react, and he gathered the resolve to peek out to see what had happened. Slowly moving the blanket, Hiro popped his head out just enough to see the TV, completely turned off. Hiro starred, not knowing what happened. His heart raced, TV's don't just turn themselves off, so what the hell happened?

All of a sudden Hiro felt something grab his shoulders and push him off the couch.

"Boo!" yelled 02 as she jumped on top of Hiro. "Gotcha, Darling!" Zero Two giggled while she dangled the remote above Hiro, who was now pinned down on the floor.

Under normal circumstances Hiro would have gotten scared and jumped before composing himself, however these were not normal circumstances, and after the suspense that Hiro had been put through, Hiro had but one response to being jumpscared by 02. Hiro shrieked like a little girl.

Zero Two wasted no time. She immediately rolled over and started laughing, much to the expense of Hiro's dignity.

"Aww, what's the matter, Darling?" Zero Two managed to say in between laughs. "Did I scare you or something?"

"Zero Two!" Hiro angrily responded. "Don't do that!"

"But, it was adorable! If you're scared so easy why didn't you tell me not to put on a horror movie, dummy."

"I'm not scared… You just surprised me."

"You've been holding onto me like your life's depended on it ever since we started this movie. I've noticed, Darling." Zero Two helped Hiro back onto the couch, still giggling at the way she surprised her partner. "Let's put on something else, I'll let you choose."

"No, I'm fine, let's finish this one." Hiro responded, still trying to appear brave. "But you owe me for that!"

Zero Two sighed at Hiro's stubbornness. "If you say so, Darling. Now get under the blanket, I need to hold onto my tough partner in case I get scared." Zero Two joked.

"S-shut up and turn the TV back on."

"Whatever you say, scaredy cat."

Hiro wiggled back under the blanket and snuggled up next to Zero Two. Whenever he felt scared, he wiggled closer and felt better.

Ugggghhhh. This one took me a while to get it to a place where I felt like it was any good. Big thanks to my friend Meru for helping me edit.

Anyway, did you guys see that beach episode? It was dope as heck. Also I realize that this is the only chapter that takes place at night, and it is also the only one un-related to 02 sleeping. That's pretty funny, imo

Keep Reviewing, it gives me power!

See you next Week!