Within the plantations' locker rooms separated by gender, the boys were dressing down in their respective room—including Hiro. He wasn't participating in the ritual and the training that would follow, but was planning on filling the time with something productive, such as pushing one of the training mechs past its limits. Hiro has been through all the simulations and exercises involving the tiny mechs, to the point where his proficiency in controlling them felt like controlling his own body. All he had to do now was to prove his worth by piloting Strelitzia once more with Zero Two.

"I'm amazed you managed to beat that klaxosaur," Goro sounds over from his locker. "How did it feel?"

"I don't remember much, it was over before I realized it," Hiro replies back, his mind blanking on the details of piloting the Franxx. "It felt like something completely different."

"I see, either way I'm glad you stayed. We would have all been screwed over if it weren't for you."

Walking past the two, Zorome makes the extra effort to bump into Hiro's back.

"Outta my way," the shorter boy scoffs as he walks towards the stamen suiting pods, "I don't believe for a second that you piloted a Franxx before we did. Got that, ya wuss?"

His piercing violet eyes stared back towards them, and Hiro could feel the welling urge to punch something short and arrogant right about now. Goro would have already beaten him to it, but both knew it wouldn't do any of them any good.

Over in the girls locker room, they were also dressing down—though Ichigo was already halfway through the process.

"Gah, why do these have to be so tight?" Miku complains, struggling to put on a pair of black panties.

"Connecting feels so weird," Kokoro comments over from her locker. "I hope we get used to it soon, not at all like the training units."

Sneaking up on a distracted Kokoro, Miku snakes her arms around the taller girl and begins tickling her. "It's like your body being stirred up from the inside."

"I don't want to be reminded of it," Ikuno calls from opposite the two engrossed in their tickle fight, walking towards the suiting pods to talk with Ichigo. "What it really that rough for you two?"

Ichigo stood in one of the pods as it worked its magic of painting on her white and blue pistil suit. Never did understand how the things works, all she knew is that it's some marvel of magma energy, or something like that. Works for her, so why question it?

"It did feel a bit weird, but I dunno…" Ichigo recalls the brief moment her and Goro connected during the yesterdays failed startup ritual. "Kinda put me at ease, like I'd become one with someone."

"I just wish my numbers could be as high as yours," desires Kokoro as she walks over to the wall of pods. "You and Goro must be very compatible."

The pod Ichigo stands in finishes up by attaching the neck brace which doubles as the stamens paracapacity reader and connection interface. Exiting the pod, Miku walks in to claim her pod for suiting up.

"Good for you," Miku congratulates, with a hint of animosity. "You two double-digits were made for each other. Speaking of double-digits, how 'bout that Hiro?"

Hiro.

That was something Ichigo didn't want to think about right now, and his pink orbiter. Especially the pink orbiter, but there was probably going to be no way of talking about Hiro without referencing her at the same time.

Miku continues to gush over Hiro as she steps into her pod. "He brings a girl home out of nowhere, and she's already calling him 'darling.' Maybe those two will make a good coup–"

Miku is abruptly cut off as Ichigo slams the door to her pod shut, drawing all eyes to her. She really didn't want to be in the same room with them right now. Ichigo would rather be out there piloting to relieve this unneeded stress, and it would be very beneficial if she could pilot with Hiro to ensure his safety; but it seems the universe has other things planned to her dismay.

Ichigo leaves the locker room and heads towards the garage in search of Goro.

"What was that all about?" Miku whispers as the door shuts behind Ichigo.

The continuation of the startup ritual was quick, as they didn't have to go through all the formalities once again to everyone's fortune. To their dismay, Papa and the adults weren't there to witness it like they had been the previous day. Using the fact that they were already piloting their Franxx, the administrators used this opportunity for some basic drills and tactics that would take up most of the morning.

"I'll be giving out all your strategic instructions," Hachi explains of the Franxxs' comm system. "The Squad Leader, Delphinium, will be the one to give field orders. This will be your first drill in a real Franxx, so stay calm and have trust in your partners actions."

Out on the outer platform of the plantation sits a lone training mech, with Hiro sitting in the cockpit. He watches from afar, as the four Franxx walk out towards the desert plains. Their awkward and unstable movements a sign of their rudimentary control of the towering mechs.

How Hiro yearned to be out there with them, only if they let him pilot with Zero Two once again. He had the ability to pilot—he didn't lose it, he just needed the right catalyst to help him a long.

The only thing Hiro could do was work on his already perfect combat skills with the mech. The hardest simulations were a breeze and the exercises were hardly a challenge. Hiro just didn't know how he could convince the administrators to give him another chance.

There was just something about Zero Two he couldn't place his finger on. The way she asserted herself during breakfast was something he'd never seen from any of the other girls in the squad, and the fact that only with her, Hiro could successfully pilot.

Starting the training mech back up once more, Hiro sets off to complete his lap around the outer platform, to break his personal record once again.

Later in the early afternoon, the parasites of Squad 13 finish up their first training drill. Back in the garage, Ichigo is relatively pleased with how everyone performed; besides Zorome being a reckless idiot that is. Now she could go back up to the boarding house and relax for a bit, hopefully without a certain someone being present.

Zero Two was also down in the garage, walking around aimlessly while enjoying a green apple lollipop. Should probably ask the doc for some more, to be able to share them with darling of course.

While walking around, Zero Two eventually crosses paths with that blue haired girl and her taller friend. She didn't know or bother to learn their names or whatever they go by, didn't matter to her anyways.

As Zero Two walks past them, she could just feel how the shorter one's attitude changes. If that is going to happen every time that they ran into each other, Zero Two could get very used to it.

"Hey, why did it have to be Hiro?" the shorter one asks, with some semblance of worry.

Zero Two stops in her tracks to think. Wait, who was Hiro again? Oh! Right.

"Hiro? You mean my darling?" Zero Two reaffirms as she turns to face the two.

"There you go, calling him that again."

She's jeeeeaaaaalllloussssss.

"I'm grateful that you took care of that klaxosaur earlier, but I want you to stay far away from Hiro from now on," the blue one proclaims, trying to assert pitiful dominance over her darling.

"Why?" Zero Two questions, not wanting to cave into her shallow demands.

"Because you're not apart of our squad. If you're going to up and leave one day, don't get Hiro's hopes up."

This one's going to be fun to tease, if not more than darling.

Zero Two closes the distance between the two, letting a soft giggle escape her lips. "Oh? What are you to my darling?"

"I'm the Squad Leader," she retorts back, trying her best not to falter.

She thinks she has power over my darling just because she leads a squad? Ha.

Getting closer, Zero Two bends down to come face to face with the girl. It's the little things that can set a person off even more—even more so if they're short.

A couple sniffs here and there, then:

Lick.

The blue one recoils back in a mix of fear, surprise, and confusion, trying to figure out what just happened.

"Sweet. I like your taste," Zero Two expressed, as she walks off to who knows where.

She gets to be with her darling and constantly piss off this short girl by just existing? Zero Two could get used to this.

Up top under the dome covering the forest of Mistilteinn, a soccer ball is being kicked around in the courtyard by Futoshi and Zorome in an effort to pass the time.

The ball is kicked back to Futoshi, who thinks about the future of their piloting career. "Do you think we'll be able to fight like that one day? Fight the klaxosaurs like the Franxx Hiro piloted."

Doing a couple tricks with the ball, he sends it flying towards Zorome who keeps up the momentum. "That doesn't count as piloting at all. There's no way that loser could pilot a Franxx."

"But it did move," Futoshi replies back, accepting the ball as it soars back. "And the adults seem to have taken an interest in Hiro too."

"I've heard rumor that pistil, Zero Two, has the special ability to pilot a Franxx all by herself," Mitsuru chimes in, leaning back on one of the courtyard pillars. "You saw it's four-legged form, didn't you? Hiro was only taken along for the ride."

"See? I told you," Zorome exclaims as he points a finger towards Futoshi.

Towards the other side of the courtyard, Hiro walks into view of the three boys with a towel around his neck. He was coming back from finishing up another training round in the tiny mechs.

"You think you're hot stuff, don't ya?" Zorome mutters, before kicking the ball towards an inattentive Hiro. The ball makes contact with his arm, who lets out a small grunt of pain.

"Bingo! I'm the best!" Zorome shouts, before sarcastically apologizing. "Oh, sorry 'bout that. Really expected you to dodge that. Were you cranking one all by yourself in a training unit?"

Hiro was reaching for the towel that now lay on the ground, before Zorome continues once more.

"That's perfect for you, a wuss who just hitched a ride with a girl!"

When Hiro was walking back up to the house, he knew that he would have to confront the damn gremlin again. Hiro was hoping that it wouldn't go this far, but Zorome just kept pushing and pushing.

Anger was something that Hiro hadn't felt in a very, very long time. He just wanted to go back to the boarding house without any trouble.

Closing the gap between the two, Zorome notices a faint blue glow emanating from within Hiro's eyes.

"I piloted that thing with Zero Two, okay?" Hiro seethes, now inches apart from one another.

"Oh really? A Franxx is nothing like those wimpy training units," Zorome argues back, not knowing what he's getting himself into. "Let's go, right here and now!"

Zorome throws his right fist out towards the taller boy, aiming for his jawline.

What a mistake that was.

Hiro's right hand shoots out to intercept the incoming fist, catching it at the wrist before it makes contact with his face. Zorome is briefly stunned by the quick reflexes, before he suddenly lets out a hushed sigh of pain. The grip on his wrist is that of an iron fist, clearly underestimating Hiro's strength through his lanky form. The blonde moves his gaze from his fist to Hiro's face, who was looking back with an intense, icy stare.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Hiro's pupils were consumed by a deep blue, a contrast to his turquoise irises. On top of the iron grip, his eyes alone were demanding that he stop—the cold stare places an inhuman fear deep within Zorome. As much as he did not want to admit it, Hiro was one of the most skilled parasites to pilot the training mechs; though skill alone could not explain the inhuman strength being exerted through his hand and into Zorome's forearm.

"Wh-what the hell?" Zorome whimpers, the pain shooting up through his wrist taking its toll.

Hiro extends his left arm to the side of his body, his free hand moving into the shape of a fist, intending to strike the shocked stamen square in the chest. However, before Hiro is able to follow through, the backdoor to the boarding house opens with Ichigo and Goro rushing out.

"Hey! What's going on out here?" Ichigo demands worriedly as she runs over to Hiro, and Goro over to Zorome.

Catching Hiro's attention, he forcefully shoves the stunned Zorome away from him, causing him to grunt in pain while stumbling several steps back, then landing on his rear. The shorter boy clutches the wrist with his other hand, testing to see if there was anything broken.

Hiro closes his eyes shakes his head, the sapphire color fading away from within his pupils. Looking over to his left, he sees a concerned Ichigo approaching him.

"Hiro! Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Ichigo rapidly asks while inspecting Hiro's body for any type of injury. To her benefit, she finds nothing of the sort.

On the opposite side of the courtyard, Zorome finished looking at his wrist, with no serious injury present, cocky attitude returning full force.

"This isn't over, wuss!" Zorome shouts from across the courtyard, with Goro holding him back.

"Don't let him get to you," Ichigo whispers to Hiro to try and calm him down.

Hiro's mind was on other things at the moment, far from the matters that involved the gremlin. "I can pilot, I just need a chance," he mumbles to himself.

Almost as if the universe received his request, his communicator begins to buzz within his pocket. Pulling it out and flipping it on, the courtyard becomes silent in anticipation.

"It's Nana," he announces to everyone in the courtyard. "I wonder what she could want."

"A mock battle with me in a Franxx?" Hiro asks from his seat.

The parasites of Squad 13 were summoned to the briefing room when Hiro got the call from Nana. On their way down they didn't know the why behind the summons. Everyone was in attendance: Nana and Hachi standing towards the front facing the children, Zero Two sitting away from the others, and all the while Zorome silently fumes after having his ass almost handed to him.

"Correct," Nana replies to Hiro. "We'll be testing your ability to pilot a Franxx,"

"And to reinstate you as a parasite, should you perform well," continues Hachi, finishing her sentence. "Pick your partner."

In that moment, Hiro becomes ecstatic. They were willing to give him a second chance! This time he would be able to prove to all of them that he could pilot a Franxx. And being given the chance to choose his partner, Hiro already had one in mind. Before he is able to say anything, Hiro is already beaten to the punch.

"I'll do it," Zero Two happily declares from her position in the room. "You are my darling, after all. And you're–"

Nana makes a motion to cut her off and prevent any 'sensitive' information from getting loose, but Ichigo has already begun speaking. "Hold on, I'll be his partner. She does not belong to this squad, and if you're only measuring Hiro's aptitude, I don't see why it can't work with me."

"Why does it have to be you?" Mitsuru smugly suggested. "You already pilot with Goro, and now you want to ride with Hiro?"

"Quiet down, everyone," Nana says, trying to regain control of the room.

Ichigo looks over to Goro for reassurance after Mitsuru finished his rude comment. The blonde boy answers with a smile and thumbs up, showing no hard feeling and approving of her decision.

Regaining her handle on the room, Nana addresses the horned girl. "Zero Two, we will not be deploying Strelitzia for this test. Hiro will need to pick someone else from the squad."

Zero Two shoots her an angry look before standing up. "That sucks, but fine," she says, walking over to a certain blue haired girl.

Bending over at a perpendicular angle to her body at the hips, a feat she's able to accomplish with ease. With their faces nearly touching, Ichigo puts up a defensive hand covering one of her cheeks, protecting it from being licked—like that would stop Zero Two. Ichigo's mixed expression of anger and embarrassment fueled Zero Two's urge to annoy her as if it were a positive feedback loop.

"You can have him, but only this time," she whispers, getting closer to Ichigo's ear and placing a hand on her shoulder. "You better take good care of my darling, okay?" Zero Two gives her shoulder a firm squeeze to emphasize her dominance over Hiro, who then makes her way towards the door.

"So you'll be his partner, right Ichigo?" confirms Nana as Zero Two leaves the room.

"Wait!" Hiro cries out an attempt to get Zero Two's attention, but it's too late as the door slides closed behind her.

Unphased with his outcry, Nana continues. "Would anyone like to volunteer to be their opponents?"

Sensing the opportunity, Zorome jumps from his seat and raises his hand. "I will!" he exclaims.

"Hey! Who died and made you the leader?" Miku snaps at his sudden proclamation.

"I wanna show them what we're made of."

Miku calms down a bit, knowing that it's impossible to argue with Zorome and win. Finally, she decides on her answer. "Alright, fine."

"Right then," says Hachi with his emotionless face. "The battle will take place tomorrow morning."

"Wait!" Zorome bursts out, "Let's do it right now!"

His arrogance knew no bounds and judging by his attitude, both Nana and Hachi caved in to his request. "Then it's settled, both opponents are to be suited up and ready within the next hour. Dismissed."

Hiro sat on his bed examining the locked box once again while Goro sat opposite of him on his own bed. Any minute now and he'd be called down for the battle; and hopefully put Zorome back in his place. At least he got some more time to see if there was any possible way to open the box. So far in the endeavour, Hiro has made zero progress on it.

"Seems like Zorome's got something to prove doesn't he?" Goro asks while cleaning off his glasses.

Hiro sighs while setting the box back on the nightstand, giving Goro all of his attention. "Yeah, and sorry about Ichigo."

"Don't worry about it, you know how much she cares about you."

He knew all too well that the girl cared about him. It had been becoming increasingly obvious ever since Zero Two came into their lives. Ichigo was acting a lot more defensive over him and it was not subtle in the slightest.

A ringing comes from the communicator in Hiro's pocket, pulling it out signals that it's time for the battle. "Looks like it's time," says Hiro as he walks towards the door.

"And Hiro, take it easy out there," the blonde reassures as Hiro turns the door knob.

"This is my only chance, I can't make any promises."

The night sky blanketed the desert wastes in darkness, all except for the Plantation and the brightly illuminated arena. Giant lights many stories tall illuminate a makeshift arena situated outside Plantation 13. The arena itself was hastily constructed—a square signifying the border of which the mock battle will take place.

On the lower platform of the Plantation, members of Squad 13 stood in attendance with both caretakers, Nana and Hachi, with tablets in their hands. Several feet away, but on the same elevation as the rest, Zero Two was leaning up against one of the many outer support beams to the Plantation, arms behind her head with the stick of a lollipop appearing from outside her lips. Not too far from her position, Doctor Werner Franxx stood leaning on his cane, close to the edge of the platform in anticipation of the events to come from the mock battle.

The Doctor turns his head to the side to meet Zero Two's leaning figure. "Could you be more respectful, girl?"

The horned girl scoffs in response, turning her head away from the elderly man's slightly disappointed gaze. This entire thing was a giant waste of time to Zero Two. What good is there in having her darling pilot with someone else—with the blue washboard nonetheless—that wasn't her? He piloted with her, and that's all there is to it; but it seems the Doctor has other plans in store before they could pilot once more.

Before arriving to the platform to watch the mock battle, the elder did reaffirm his decision to pair them up, regardless of her darling's performance during this trial. Zero Two knew that he wouldn't be able to pilot with the washboard—his existence belonging to her. If she had been able to, she would have brought a bowl of popcorn to munch on; though seeing that she didn't, the lollipop swishing in her mouth was evident enough.

In the center of the arena, two inactive Franxx stood opposite each other, awaiting activation from its pilots. Within the blue and white maiden steel, Delphinium, Hiro and Ichigo were finalizing their preparations; that was before being rudely interrupted by Zorome through the intercom. His bashfulness really did not know any bounds.

"Hey wuss! Time for me to settle this!" Zorome boastfully sounds from inside Argentea, followed by a quick comment by Miku.

"I'll be able to beat you this time, oh so Great Leader, especially with that partner of yours."

Undeterred by her mockings, Ichigo calmly reassures Hiro who sat in the stamen seat. "Don't worry about them, Hiro. This isn't about winning or losing. Just focus on connecting with me."

Ichigo slides her arms into the pistil terminal's controls, stamen controls lifting up from their resting positions in front of Hiro. Panels from the headpiece on Ichigo's neck disengage, moving forward over the top of her forehead, signalling to Hiro that he could begin the connection to Delphinium.

"Delphinium and Argentea, begin the trial," Hachi announces from the platform, giving the green light.

Within seconds, Argentea's pilots immediately connect without issue, indicated by her faceplate lighting up. In Delphinium's cockpit, Hiro feels like he's about to break into a nervous sweat. He's never done this before, well, not consciously. When he piloted with Zero Two, it all came so naturally to him, he feared he wouldn't be able to do it with anyone else but her.

"Just relax Hiro, connect and I'll do the rest," Ichigo reassures once again.

Her words felt like silk to his ears, giving him just enough confidence to reach out to the stamen controls.

It's just like the training mechs.

Wrapping his fingers around the controls, he hovers his thumbs over the buttons to begin the connection.

Except it's more real.

With closed eyes, Hiro presses down on the buttons. His vision is enveloped within a spiral of green, growing more and more intense the more he dove down into Ichigo's mind. The green gave way to a bright white, Hiro's mind successfully syncing with Ichigo's.

Panels within the cockpit light up and the paracapicity score between the two reaches an exceptional 100, considering their low code numbers. Delphinium's faceplate lights up, followed by basic movements and examination of the arms and fingers. Each individual movement of the fingers fueled Hiro's delight further.

"I'm doing it! I'm really doing it!" Hiro excitedly cheers, as he takes in his newfound ability.

On the platform, all of Squad 13 were equally surprised—even Mitsuru, though he would never express it. Zero Two was surprised too, enough to get her to move away from her lounging spot and closer towards the edge of the platform, right next to Doctor Franxx. The man however offered no sense of elation, unmoved by the boy's ability to pilot.

Zorome wasn't having any of this, he had something to prove. "Alright wuss, enough with this crap. Let's go!"

"Ready, Hiro?" Ichigo asks, wanting his agreement before they proceed with anything.

"Yeah, let's do this," Hiro responds, still overtaken by glee of his ability.

Delphinium begins to move forward towards the waiting Argentea, one slow step at a time.

Three steps in, Ichigo begins to feel something off with their connection. She had never felt this before with Goro whenever they made a connection. The connection she held now felt like it was faltering, but felt stronger than Goro's. Like it was trying to reach out for something more, but was reluctant to do so. It ebbed and flowed, unknowing and all knowing all at the same time. Like a child unsure if they wanted another cookie.

The fourth step in, the connection's strength and lack thereof grew more in magnitude.

Ichigo wanted to ask Hiro if he could feel the same thing, until she felt the full force of the connection weighing down on the back of her head.

"H-Hiro…?"

Delphinium seizes movement, deactivating and collapsing to one knee in front of the anticipating Argentea.

Then a rapturing, bright white light fills Ichigo's vision, before she was able to take notice of the thin blue tendrils snaking their way up her forearms from out of the pistil terminal.

Fear encapsulated Nana as her eyes darted from her tablet to the inactive Delphinium, then back to the tablet. The tablet in her hands held live information regarding the two parasites currently inside the Franxx, and the information she was receiving was something she couldn't believe.

The only other time Nana had seen something like this was when Zero Two piloted with a stand-in stamen, but in this case it's the opposite. Ichigo's paracapacity score plummeted when Delphinium seemingly deactivated; yet Hiro's climbed and climbed past any known value a stamen was capable of. The boy was hitting marks only pistil in Stampede Mode was capable of. To top it all off, Ichigo's brain waves were all over the place, spiking and flatlining at random intervals.

"Nana?" a soft male voice sounds from behind her, but her fear still present. "What's going on? Are Hiro and Ichigo alright? You're worried."

Nana takes her eyes off the immobile Delphinium to meet Goro's distressed eyes through his glasses. "I-I don't know," she stutters in response.

Goro only stared back as Nana gently pushed the statue that was Hachi to the side, making her way over to Doctor Franxx, as fast as her heels would allow. All the while on her short journey to his side, the occasional twitching motion emanates from Delphinium.

"What the hell is going on, Doctor? Did you know that this was going to happen?!" Nana angrily accuses him, thrusting out her tablet in front of the elder, presenting him with all the information present. Zero Two who stood by his side snuck a peek at the tablet, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

The only thing she could think was: Damn, darling. I've been missing out.

"Patience, my dear Nana," was all that the Doctor had to offer as a response.

On the completely opposite side of the spectrum of reactions, Zorome's impatience was growing. "C'mon wuss, I don't have all night," he mumbles to no one in particular. "Let's just finish this, Miku."

"Fine," she sighs in response, "let's not hurt them too much."

Raising the training baton in Argentea's hand, they prepare to strike the immobile Delphinium. The baton swings downwards, aimed directly at Delphinium's side to knock the Franxx down to the desert floor. Mere inches before contact, an arm from the mech shoots out to intercept the wrist of the offender.

"What?!" shouts both Zorome and Miku in unison, having fully believed that the Franxx was inactive this entire time.

Delphinium's head slowly and shakely raises upwards to look Argentea right in the eyes, though the mech lacks its typical face when active. The blank faceplate then fills with static, soon fading away to reveal one piercing eye that wasn't covered by her hair, glowing an intimidating icy blue. Bright sapphire veins flow outwards from around the eye, snaking off to the far left of the faceplate.

On Nana's tablet, every warning message possible began to pop up one after another. The color of red flashed over every bit of incoming information.

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[PISTIL UNRESPONSIVE]

[POSITIVE PULSE: 0]

[NEGATIVE PULSE: ERROR]

[PISTIL CONTROLS: ERROR]

[STYRE MODE: ACTIVATED]

Where is this place?

What is this place?

Ichigo felt like she was trudging through this desolate, icy forest for hours. She kept walking on through the rows of many dead and frozen trees that sprouted up towards the bleak, gray sky. The piercing cold of the winter winds penetrated right through the piloting suit she still wore. While it had protection against extreme weathers; but the cold that passed through the suit made it seem like she wasn't wearing anything.

No memories of how she got to this place.

No recollection of this places existence.

But one thing was certain.

Hiro was here in this wasteland of a forest.

"Hiro?" Ichigo calls out into the treeline, keeping her walking pace up. Only the whistling of the wind responded back to her call.

With no answer, she kept pushing on through the foot of snow that covered the ground. Ichigo wraps her arms around herself to retain some body heat, hoping that there would be some place warm in this forest.

That place would have to be wherever Hiro was.

Or what if Hiro…

No.

If she could answer the question to her being in this forest, it would have something to do with Hiro. One moment she was piloting with him, then suddenly she was placed in this forest. Hiro would have to know. And he has to be here.

Lost in thought, Ichigo had not realized that the snow covering her ankles was beginning to thin and the freezing winter winds were not pelting her body as much as they had been. Opening her nearly frozen shut eyes, a large mistletoe tree graces her vision. Its mere presence fills Ichigo with some sort of existential warmth, and it felt like the forest was guiding her here all this time.

Scanning the area, Ichigo looks down at the base of the tree, where the roots twisted and turned in a multitude in directions away from the base of the trunk. Unknowingly, Ichigo steps on a tiny twig causing a crunching sound as she enters the large clearing. Quick movement is seen from the base of the tree, a small figure darts around the base of the tree.

"Hey, wait!"

That voice.

It sounded so… familiar.

At the base of the tree, another small figure in a winter coat is seen getting up from a sitting position, as if to chase after the more fearful one. As Ichigo got closer, she began to make out more detailed features of the figure.

A young boy, raven hair.

The boy begins to walk around the tree in the same direction as the figure, until he notices Ichigo, to which he turns around to face her. Any feelings of cold she still had from the forest have completely faded, being replaced by warmth.

Brilliant turquoise eyes, book in his hand.

Is that…

"Hiro?" Ichigo blurted out, her emerald eyes widening in surprise.

This didn't make any sense whatsoever. The boy is obviously Hiro, there is no doubt in her head, but why is he so young? And why is he in the middle of a freezing forest of all places? Weren't they just piloting Delphinium? Wait, what if this was a memory of some kind? Ichigo knew that if both pilots were under extreme stress in a Franxx, their minds could merge during the connection. But everything she has felt here doesn't feel like one, but it does explain the young Hiro.

The young boy smiles at her, tucking the book under his left arm and begins to approach her. Due to the size difference between the two, Ichigo has to get down on her knees to be level with him.

Now foot apart from one another, the young Hiro does not seem to find anything wrong with the situation they find themselves in. He still has that smile from when he first saw her approaching.

"Hiro, what's going on? Why are you out here?" Ichigo quietly asks him.

The young Hiro does not answer, but instead reaches for the book under his arm. He extends his arms out towards her, the front cover facing upwards. On the front cover, it looks to be a giant mess to Ichigo. Where the picture would be is a mess of color and lines, the title is completely illegible.

A low growl is heard from near the mistletoe, causing Ichigo to look up and away from the book. The same figure that ran behind the tree now is peeking from around the trunk, and quickly darts away from vision when they notice Ichigo staring at them.

Shaking her head, Ichigo changes focus back to the book in her hands. Opening it to the first page reveals a blank page; and turning to the second page is a another blank page, with all the subsequent pages seemingly blank.

Ichigo only grows more confused the more pages she flips through. "Hiro, why are the pages blank?"

The young boy gestures to take the book back with a look of confusion of his own, which Ichigo freely allows. He flips back to the first page of the book, and what follows only deepens Ichigo's confusion. Hiro reads the book aloud as if there is nothing wrong, but Ichigo only hears a garbled mess of words stream from his mouth.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, snaking blue and black tentacles slowly slither from out the path Ichigo took to reach the clearing. Catching Ichigo by surprise, she lets out a yelp as they begin to wrap around her ankles and the rest of her body.

"Hiro!" she shouts, trying to wiggle away from the tentacles, though they show no signs of stopping.

The tendrils tighten, and slowly begin to drag the panicking girl back into the depths of the frozen forest. Ichigo digs one hand into the ground and tries to reach the other arm out to Hiro; but he only stands and watches with a blank expression.

The figure from behind the tree is visible once more, and only two things stand out about the figure.

Watching, fearful, and hateful emerald eyes.

Two large horns.

That was the last thing Ichigo saw, as her grip on the ground loosened, allowing the vicious tentacles to drag her deeper into the depths of the forest and out from the clearing. Trees and brush sped past as she was dragged along the snow, and she could feel herself growing tired as everything darkened around her.

[STYRE MODE: ACTIVATED]

"...go! Ichigo! Come in! Do you read?!"

What the hell just happened? Ichigo thinks to herself, eyes still shut. How long had she been out? One thing became clear rather quickly, she was still connected to the pistil terminal of Delphinium. Opening her eyes, she is greeted with many warnings and errors littering the control panel in front of her, as well as a frightened Argentea looking down through the screen.

'Styre Mode?' What is going on?

Struggling to get her bearings, Ichigo is quickly filled with fear when she realizes that none of the controls are responding to her commands. Attempting to move Delphinium results in an unseen force pressing itself against her body, against the direction she tries to move. Getting a better view of her arms, Ichigo's fear only deepens. Bright blue tendrils have rooted themselves up the length of her arms.

Overwhelmed with panic, the pistil tries to disconnect herself from the terminal. "Disconnect! Disconnect damn it!" Her attempts at removing herself from the terminal are met with failure.

"Ichigo! Oh thank goodness!" Nana exclaims over the comms.

"Nana! What's going on? Why can't I move?"

"Just stay calm, Ichigo. What's Hiro's condition?"

Ichigo hadn't thought about Hiro after regaining consciousness, and with that she felt a pang of guilt for not checking on him sooner. Turning her head as much as the headpiece would allow, she begins to wish that she had never done that.

Hiro remained sitting in the stamen chair; yet his entire body is tensed up, face twisted and contorted into rage. Blood streams down from two spots above his forehead under his raven hair, covering the majority of his face in dark crimson. Hiro's turquoise eyes have a bright, icy sapphire color rooted deep within his pupils.

"Hiro!" Ichigo shouts at the top of her lungs, but the stamen remains unresponsive. His eyes were too focused on one thing.

Holding Argentea with one hand, Hiro sends the Franxx crashing down to the desert floor in one swift movement. Ichigo lets out a yell of agony as her face contorts in pain, the force the stamen exerted through Delphinium channeled its way through her rigid body, movements not her own.

"Miraculous!" Doctor Franxx exclaims, delighted by the boy's sheer power. "The boy's able to control Delphinium without any input from the pistil!"

Nana is taken aback by his brash attitude of the situation taking place in front of them. "Doctor! You knew this would happen all along?! And what about their safety?!"

"I had my theories, yes, but this is more than what I expected," the elderly man replies, keeping his joyous composure intact. "If that pistil wishes to maintain full motor function of her body, I suggest that she be less tense."

Nana is practically shouting through the comms to reach Ichigo's attention. "Ichigo! Did you hear that? Relax yourself and you'll be fine."

Suddenly Delphinium begins to move once more—under Hiro's control no less. Jerky, impercise movements come from the Franxx as it slowly rises from its kneeling position. Heeding Nana's advice, Ichigo relinquishes some control to Hiro.

Though slowly standing, the twitchyness of Delphinium's movements fade, allowing the Franxx smoother control; though not all uncertainty has left.

The tendrils that were wrapped around Ichigo's arms and up her lower legs, wound tighter around her pistil suit. Her body tenses up once again out of fear of the blue tendrils, and in doing so sends another shot of pain up her spine followed by another scream of agony.

"Ichigo…" the deep, raspy voice of Hiro sounds from behind her. "Calm yourself… it… I won't harm… you."

His words bring her temporary solace in the sea of confusion which she resided in, numbing the fear and pain she felt. Ichigo once again relaxes herself in the pistil terminal, and the tendrils that wrapped around her limbs tightened once more; but their presence didn't seem as menacing as they once did. They felt like an extension of Hiro in some strange, esoteric way.

Delphinium now stands tall over Argentea, who lies in a small crater created by the slamming impact. The remaining members of Squad 13 had followed Nana to where she now stood, all of them showing varying degrees of emotion, or lack thereof; but one thing remained certain: they all shared concern for those involved in the battle.

Zero Two stood next to Doctor Franxx, still engrossed by what's happening in Delphinium. She could care less about whatever happens to the blue washboard, as she only cared about her darling.

"My darling's going to be fine after this, right?" Zero Two questions the Doctor with a hint of concern lacing her voice, as she pops the lollipop out of her mouth.

"By my theories, he'll be fine," Doctor Franxx reaffirms before continuing, "wouldn't want to waste a valuable asset, would I?" and quietly out of earshot of everyone else besides the pink haired girl, "nor would I do that to you."

Though any fear she had faded, Zero Two can't help but feel concern. Darling's piloting with someone that wasn't her, so that was cause for concern by itself. But if darling is in distress because of that blue washboard, she is so going to get it once they step out of that mech.

Out in the arena, Delphiniums icy, hateful eye stares directly into the cockpit of Argentea, focused solely on one pilot in particular. Both pilots are in a state of disarray as they try to figure out what just happened to them.

"What the hell was that?!" blurts out Zorome, as he still finds himself in a state of shock. There's no way that the wuss could do something like that…

Could he?

"I think… I think we could call this off, Zorome," admitted Miku, her heart still racing after the impact shaking her entire body. "Besides, Hiro's already proven he can pilot–"

"And admit defeat?!" the blonde immediately retorts. "Like hell I would. Not today, and not ever. I'm Zorome the Gr– wait, what the hell is he doing?!"

Lost in his self gloating, Zorome failed to notice that Delphinium had lowered herself enough to be able to place her hands under Argentea. Lifting the Franxx out of the crater, the comms are filled with an agonizing, pain filled bellow of Hiro.

"Put me down! Put me dooowwnn!" Argentea cries, limbs flailing as she is lifted higher and higher, though her pleas fall on deaf ears.

Hiro lets out another harrowing howl as Argentea is lifted above Delphiniums head, the panicked Franxx parallel to the desert floor.

Looking on in utter shock, Goro fears what might happen to Argentea's pilots. "He's not going to…"

"We can't stop him, can we?" Futoshi nervously asks, fearing the worst for his friend.

Nana shakes her head in response to his question. "I'm afraid not. We can only hope Hiro ends this quickly without harming them too much."

Another howl of pain erupts over the comms, Delphinium slightly crouched and looking onwards to the desert expense. Hiro was preparing to launch Argentea out into the wastes, as far as the Franxx would let him.

"Hiro! No! Don't do it!" Argentea pleads one final time in hopes that the stamen would listen, but the pleas go unnoticed.

One more howl comes out of Hiro's lungs, this one unlike the previous. It was deep and brutal, and could be felt. This time it wasn't transmitted over comms, it came directly from the source: straight out of Delphinium. Everyone down on the platform had to cover their ears from the sheer ferocity of his cry.

Taking one step towards the desert expanse, Delphinium moves Argentea behind her head as Hiro prepares for the final move.

As the Franxx begins to follow through, weaknesses begin to show throughout Delphinium. Her knees begin to buckle and arms falter. Before Argentea is able to leave the hands of Delphinium, the Franxx begins to collapse.

Before long, Argentea pitifully falls out of Delphiniums hands and hits the desert floor. The height of the fall was enough to disconnect Miku from her controls, causing the Franxx to deactivate. Soon after, Delphinium collapses to the ground, also deactivating in the process.

Everyone on the platform all shared looks of confusion and shock of what happened. Before anyone could ask what happened, Doctor Franxx began to explain with his robotic, lecturing voice. "The boy put too much strain on Delphinium, and as such, deactivated to prevent mechanical overload of internal systems."

"Are you saying that, uh, Ichigo is…" stumbles Goro as a newfound fear takes over his emotions.

"If she listened to anything I said, no. She'll be fine for the most part," and quickly to Nana and Hachi who stood idle, "and do get them out of there. I'll need to evaluate the boy."

A/N

Merged chapter 4 and a half with this one, totals ~7600 words. Gonna start using reddit for chapter updates and further authors notes, unless it's really important.

u/wyniashear