I promise.

The next day

Hiro walked to the pond, alone, and saw Mitsuru there. He smiled and said "Hey, Mitsuru." Mitsuru turned around and said "Oh, hey, Hiro..." he was getting water and Hiro said "Something on your mind?" as he crouched at the water, scooping it up.

Mitsuru sighed and said "It's Kokoro. She's acting strange, she wants to... Touch our bodies together." Hiro said "Maybe, your in love?" Mitsuru said "Love?" Hiro smiled and cleaned his hand on a rag before standing up, saying "The feeling of wanting to get to know someone better, protecting them, touching your bodies together... That's what love is."

Hiro walked away saying "Hopefully, you understand, Mitsuru." before disappearing into the trees.

He returned to the residence and saw everyone on the couch. He got a glare from Ichigo, but ignored her as he sat sat to Zerotwo saying "What's everybody gathered for?" Zerotwo said "I heard you stole a book from Delta?"

Everybody looked at him and Ichigo snorted.

Hiro's mouth twitched and he looked at Kokoro, who was trembling, he sighed and said "Yeah, I'm the bad guy. Whatever." he leaned on Zerotwo and said mentally "Open 10 Mystery Chests."

[Congratulations! You've received Memory Retriever Power! (Upgradeable)]

[Congratulations! You've received Sound-Proof Headphones!]

[Congratulations! You've received Impenetrable Mind!]

[Congratulations! You've received Devil Fruit Encyclopedia (Complete)]

[Congratulations! You've received a cube of Vibranium]

[Congratulations! You've received Prime Meat!]

[Congratulations! You've received Unbreakable enhancer (1)]

[Congratulations! You've received 10 year experience token!]

[Congratulations! You've received +1 Random!]

[Congratulations! You've received Supreme Horn Care Kit!]

Hiro closed his eyes and said mentally "Gift Zerotwo, Impenetrable Mind. Use +1 Random. Show me the description of the 10-yr Experience Token and the Unbreakable Enhancer."

[OmniWeapon Mastery (Distinguished) > OmniWeapon Mastery (Origin)]

[10-yr Experience Token: Crush this token to instantly get 10 years of experience in any gradable Talent, Power, or Magic. (Rarity: X)]

[Unbreakable Enhancer: Enhances an item to be Unbreakable. (Rarity: S)]

Hiro hummed to himself as he read the descriptions. Zerotwo closed her eyes as well, as they looked to be sleeping as Mitsuru showed up and everybody started talking about him and Kokoro touching bodies together.

Hiro wrote on Zerotwo's palm 'Ichigo fucked everyone this time.' she replied 'What did she do this time.' he wrote 'The book was Kokoro's, it was about reproduction. Now Papa's little dogs have it.' she replied with a trembling finger 'Are you serious?' he wrote 'Yup.'

Zerotwo exhaled from her nose and wrote down '... I'm gonna stab her...' Hiro chuckled and replied 'Need a pistil. Plus Goro...' she cut him off, slapping his hand away and grabbing it, writing 'Goro's better off without her. Ikuno?' he replied 'She likes girls.' she wrote 'No wonder...'

He grunted and wrote '?! No wonder what?' she trembled and wrote 'Nothing~ Hehe~ She definitely wasn't staring at me.' Hiro wrote angrily 'She has the gall to stare at MY Angel?! I'll turn her into a man!' Zerotwo burst out laughing and waved saying "I'm sorry, I thought of something funny." to the rest as they looked at her.

She wrote down 'Darling! Now their suspicious!' he cracked a smile and wrote 'Good. I'm claiming my territory. No girls or boys allowed! Maybe I have to put you in a backpack?' she giggled and replied 'A big backpack?' he wrote 'No, no, no! A very small backpack. Then, I'll put you in my pocket when we go out.'

She laughed and covered her mouth.

Suddenly, the 9s walked in and said "Oh, hello! Everyone!" everyone looked at Alpha, who smiled and held up a book saying "Do any of you recognize this?" the group was startled and Hiro sighed, Zerotwo grabbed his hand tightly and he could feel rage bubbling in her.

He patted her hand and wrote 'Don't worry, everything will be fine.' as he added mentally "Use the 10-Yr token on Mechanic talent."

[Mechanic (Origin) > Mechanic (Transcendent)]

Alpha said "Hm, so you wouldn't mind giving us an explanation, would you? Code: 556" Kokoro trembled and stood up. Hiro sighed and looked at Ichigo saying "Congratulations." Ichigo said "But! But!" Hiro sneered "You're an idiot." he looked at Delta and added "And you... Hehe~" before closing his eyes.

Delta felt cold all over and started shivering, Kokoro said "I... I want to make a baby!" Alpha said "You're aware, Papa banned this correct?" Kokoro said "Ah?! No. I had no idea... But why? That's how the adults... As well as ourselves were born."

Futoshi said "Hold on, are you saying Papa isn't the one who created us?" Kokoro said "I am! We're just like any other animal! It's been like that since ancient times. That's how every living being has been keeping their species going for 1000s of years! So the reason we have boys and girls must be this! It may be selfish of me... but I want to leave a mark on the world..."

Alpha said "Leave a mark?" Kokoro said "Yes... We've lived our lives without a purpose believing that we were made to fight against the Klaxosaurs but you know what? That might actually be true! We can carry new lives and leave them here as part of the future! When I learned that was possible, it made me so happy... That's why-"

Alpha cut her off saying "Absolutely disgusting! I'm talking about you, of course. Humans have evolved and cast their reproductive functions aside in the process. If you reject that, then we all have to go back to conforming to one gender or another."

Kokoro said meekly "But what about.." Alpha said "Gender is a pain. An annoyance only tolerated for the sake of operating the Franxx, and that's all it is." Hiro burst out laughing and covered his face with his hand.

Alpha said "What are you laughing at?" Hiro sneered "Your stupidity. You're hopelessly stupid. So incredibly stupid, in fact, that I feel even speaking to you is making my brain cells deteriorate. Moron. You may be an abomination of genders but everyone else is not. The simple fact is, it's not a pain, but a constriction."

He crossed his leg and said "Use your peanut sized brain and thing for just a moment. Where do Parasites come from? Can't come from adults, they can't reproduce. Can't come from Papa, whether he's able to reproduce is still up in the air. Are you molding them out of clay? Do they just fall from the sky? Appear out of thin air?"

Alpha was stumped and Hiro sneered "Moronic. Have you ever questioned anything that's been told to you? Humans produce more humans. It's natural law. Don't you find it odd that as we draw nearer and nearer to the end of the battle between humanity and Klaxosaurs the number of Parasites has been dwindling? Getting so low that we can't even replace members of our squad?"

He laughed and added "What about the failures? Where do they go? Back to the garden? As you may or may not know, once you fail... You don't make it to the Garden. Your life is forfeit. As for the adults... What do they know? They're just like you, unable to function without orders. You and your little gang of hermaphrodites have over stayed your welcome, don't you think?"

Nana said "I agree. Leave." everybody turned and looked at Hachi and Nana, who suddenly appeared.

Hiro pouted "Here comes the police. Another adult, who knows absolutely nothing. What a joke." Nana said "Enough!" as she glared at Hiro, who clicked his tongue and looked away. They took Kokoro away and Hiro stretched out his back before leaving, Alpha said "Where are you going?"

Hiro sneered "None of your fucking business. You disgust me, therefore, I'm leaving. Did you robotic brain understand that? Maybe I should talk in 1s and 0s? Here I'll do it for you. 01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100100 01101001 01110011 01100111 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101101 01100101 00101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100101 00101100 00100000 01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101110. Happy now?"

Alpha clenched his fist and said "How dare you humiliate me, like this!?" Hiro stopped and turned around, walking right in front of Alpha and looking down at him as he said emotionlessly "What are you going to do even if I humiliate you? Report me to your master?" as he punched Alpha in the stomach, sending him rolling on the ground.

He swung his arm at the rest, sending them into the walls as he walked over to Alpha and stepped on his hand, saying "Want to test how fast bones heal?" before pressing down, Alpha screamed in pain as all the bones in his hand broke.

Hiro kicked him in the face and said "Oh? No smug smile? What happened? It can't be that a 'perfect' being like yourself feels pain? Wouldn't that make you..." he kicked Alpha through the hallway into a wall as he finished "Imperfect?"

He snorted and turned around, walking back. He stopped, picked up Delta by the hair and said "Next time were on the battlefield... Consider ending your own life with a bang because you won't survive until the battle is over." before dropping her on the ground and wiping his hand with a disgusted expression and leaving.

The group was stunned and Zerotwo sighed, going after him.

Hiro sat outside and scratched his neck, thinking about something. 'I don't have Palladium but the Alloy I made works... I need to get to Strelizia and work on it, but replacing the Magma energy source with a pure reactor...' he scratched harder and blood seeped out 'The problem is there isn't enough time to restructure Strelizia!'

His hand was grabbed and a voice sounded behind him "You're bleeding, Darling." Hiro sighed and put his hand down, she sat next to him and said "What's wrong?" he said "There's not enough time for me to modify Strelizia. Not to mention that things are getting more dangerous.. I don't want to lose you again."

She leaned her head on his shoulder and said softly "You won't lose me. I'm not going anywhere." she intertwined his fingers with hers and said "Never." he leaned his head on hers as he said "Promise me. Promise me you'll never leave."

Zerotwo gave him a sweet smile and said "I promise." she stretched out her pinky and Hiro hooked it with his own, saying in his mind 'Even if I have to kill everyone, I won't let you die. Even if I have to drag you to a new world myself.'

They sat in silence, watching the trees shake from the breeze. Hiro suddenly said "Angel?" Zerotwo responded "Yes, Darling?" he asked "If everyone were to die and I brought you away, would you be upset?" she hummed saying "Can we do something about it?"

He said "Well, if you sacrifice yourself." she was silent and he added "I won't let you. I won't let you leave me. Even if everything were to die, even if I have to die, I still won't let you die." she looked at him saying "Darling..."

He tightened his grip and looked at her before smiling as he said "So don't sacrifice yourself, okay? Promise me you'll remember." she nodded gently and wiped his tears away as she said "Darling... Are you okay?" he touched his forehead with hers and said "I am now." she smiled and held his cheeks gently, giving him a kiss on his nose and closing her eyes, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs.