Chapter 11 - Falling in love...? [Rewrite]

Don't forget to give me a comment, reply, or power stone! They give me motivation!

Thank you!

-SR_2027.

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The stronger Klaxo-Sapiens converted into Klaxosaurs in male-female pairs. Whereas the weaker Klaxo-Sapiens converted their bodies into energy in order to restore the planet which had suffered desertification from the Klaxo-Sapiens draining its life energy during the war with VIRM.

-

But during the year 2025, APEs was founded at the start of the twenty-first century following the mysterious arrival of the Chairman and his companions who took control of the internationalization government due to APE's discovery of Magma Energy.

Members of APE introduced magma energy as a new mining technology by excavating magma energy from underground the Earth's surface and it became a new low-cost and all-compassing energy source, allowing technology and civilization to rapidly accelerate.

This, in turn, led to the Earth losing its vitality, which in turn made Klaxosaur Queen, or Code 001 to take action, which led to the first Klaxosaur attack in 2037. This started the beginning of the conflict between Humanity and Klaxosaurs.

Sadly, Klaxosaur had a huge advantage over Humans, making them almost go extinct if not for Franxx to finally invent the FRANXXs, mechas which was to be piloted by two pair of Parasites, one male and one Female.

*Bam*

"Darling! Tell me what you and that creepy old man were talking about!??"

While he was going through the knowledge in the books, thinking and recalling the plot of the Darling in the Franxx anime, Zero Two who was feeling mentally tired and bored, came to Ryo who was sitting on the sofa and reading the book and directly collapsed on his lap, and started to take a sniff of his stomach.

Looking at Zero Two directly collapsing on his lap, Ryo felt happy, making him smile and caress her hair. He removed all the unnecessary thoughts and actions and focused all his attention on her for a while.

This might probably be the last time since they might be able to cuddle this much as he will soon be busy with Franxx, trying to increase his bloodline potential.

"Zero Two. I will tell you everything when we go to sleep tonight. I promise."

"Hmmmmm. Fine. Whatever."

Feeling her hair caressed, Zero Two also started to smile and dived deeper into his stomach as her eyes felt a bit heavy with how tense and mentally tired she was feeling because of the confrontation with Werner Franxx.

No matter how much older she looked, she was still a 12-year-old child who required a lot of rest.

On the other hand, Ryo felt his resolution to get stronger grow watching over Zero Two. It did indeed hurt him a little seeing Zero Two getting hurt today, he knew that if he had intervened in the fight between Zero Two and Nana, he would have disturbed her growth.

But it all would have been different if he had much power and resources to confront the APEs, Klaxosaurs, and VIRMs. He would have trained Zero Two personally and would have made her experience a lot better.

'I hope I can build the serum as soon as possible so as to switch myself out... No, I can't think about it right now... I am on vacation right now.'

'Well... How about this... Just wait Zero Two. I will get your revenge for all the humans that have hurt you!', As soon as he thought about it, he almost laughed at himself, 'When will you start to admit Ryo it will also be for your own gain... You can't change...'

Silently Ryo's eyes grew a bit colder and sharper as he waited for the right time to strike. How could he be letting all the humans on this earth go free after hurting Zero Two? If someone gets in his way, he will kill them.

No matter if they were innocent or not, they were with the ones working for those who hurt Zero Two. And he will not be letting any of them go. 

They are innocent? So what? If they do not have the power to help themselves, it is their fault. 

With how much suffering and trauma he had gone through, he had closed his heart to any other person. But living with Zero Two has changed his stone-cold heart, and helped him move out of his trauma and previous love...

-

Soon the dawn came and so did the night.

Ryo started to arrange both his and Zero Two's beds while Zero Two sat by the window, dangling her legs in the air enjoying the look of the fake stary night made up by a holographic projector installed in the room while humming a song.

It didn't take him long for him to arrange the pillows and blankets on the bed, but as soon as he turned around, he was mesmerized by the beautiful sight. The reflection of moonlight and the Zero Two's mesmerizing looks was just so fatal.

As if feeling the stare, Zero Two looked back at Ryo who was a bit stunned, and smugly smiled. "What happened, Darling? Did you fall for me, again?"

Patting the sittable area by her side, Zero Two invited Ryo to sit.

Shaking his head, Ryo removed all unnecessary thoughts and sat beside her side as they both started to stargaze at the false sky while holding hands.

Looking at the beautiful stars in the sky, Ryo indeed had to say that if he hadn't seen the device projecting the sky, he would have not been able to discrete if it was real or false.

"..."

After a while, Ryo who had been looking at the sky, felt that it was time for them to sleep, though about something which made him feel a bit fearful. Looking at his side, Ryo gave Zero Two, who was still looking at the sky with a smile on her face, a resolute look.

"Zero Two..."

"Yes, Darling. What is it?"

Perking her head to her side, Zero Two looked directly in frowning Ryo's eyes.

Although feeling a bit hesitant, Ryo made up his mind to say what was on his mind. He had been feeling a bit fearful about some stuff related to his past life.

He was fearful about what if Zero Two learned about his past by some accident and felt hurt. Furthermore, there are chances of those 'Higher Dimensional' beings who could take advantage of this and try to destroy their relationship using it.

"Zero Two, will you still believe in me...? Will you still... love me if I say that I have been hiding a lot of things from you? I have some secrets that I can't just tell you, even if I want to."

With a resolute will, Ryo said the things that had been bugging him all this time. From the time he had started to... love Zero Two, he had been feeling that if she knew about his past, she might feel repulsive toward him.

Clearly perceiving the worry from Ryo's eyes, Zero Two signed and leaned her body toward Ryo and hugged his arm, leaning to his body in his embrace and looked into his eyes and replied, "Darling, is the secret that you are hiding something which could hurt me? Is it related to that old man, Franxx?"

Looking at the clear emerald eyes looking at him with softness, Ryo stayed silent for a moment, but in the end, he decided to reply, "... No. It is not related to Franxx, but I do think that it could hurt you."

"Hmm. Darling, no matter what happens, even if you are keeping some secrets from me, I believe in you. After all, you are doing it for my own good, right, Darling?"

Feeling the worry in Ryo's eyes grow more, Zero Two closed her eyes and smiled while bringing their faces together till their horns touched each other, an act that she did to show her happiness to Ryo.

No matter what happened, she knew from her very heart that Ryo would never do anything that would harm her. She knew that no matter how strict he acted around her, she could easily see the care and love in Ryo's eyes.

'Darling, do not worry. Even if there are things that you might have done that could hurt me, just know that I will always support you and be by your side.', Opening her eyes, she looked directly into Ryo's eyes to show how she was feeling.

It was once said that eyes are the window to the heart. This cannot be more true for Ryo. Looking at the sharp cat-like emerald eyes showing and conveying her feelings to him; Ryo felt relieved.

'Had the TWO potions started to take effect? It's already half a minute since I took it...'

The stone over his heart which was disturbing him was finally removed.

Looking at Zero Two, showing her complete trust in him, even when she knew there were things that he knew or he did in the past, that could hurt her, Ryo felt like showing her how much he was happy to have Zero Two in his life. Just then his eyes fell on her pink soft lips.

He knew that Zero Two had kissed him multiple times when they were sleeping, and Ryo felt that time he should be the first to take the initiative.

Taking a deeper breath, Ryo looked at Zero Two as he brought his face instantly closer to her face and gave her a kiss, astonishing her in the process as her eyes widened. But soon Zero Two came to the realization of what happened, she hugged Ryo and pulled him, trying to make their first kiss as long as possible.

'Soft', As soon as Ryo's lips touched Zero Two's lips, he felt how soft her lips were. This was probably the second time in both lives he had ever kissed. He was even a virgin till the age of 18 when he died in his first life due to some circumstances.

So feeling the warm feeling build up inside him, Ryo almost cried as it brought out a memory of his that he didn't want to remember. But suppressing his feelings to not destroy this special occasion for Zero Two.

His first time was his worst experience, so he didn't want Zero Two to experience the same.

-

Ryo didn't know how long it was but was felt like an eternity as they continued to kiss. But no matter how long they continued, Ryo started to feel a bit suffocated and opened his eyes to see Zero Two in the same condition.

Thinking that it was enough for their first kiss. He finally broke free from Zero Two's forceful grip, breaking the kiss, as they both started to breathe quickly, trying to catch their breath.

"I love you... Darling."

Feeling a bit shy for the first time, Ryo finally conveyed his feelings to Zero Two for the first time. But unknown to him, this almost made Zero Two faint in happiness.

"I love you too, Darling!"

Feeling super happy and super excited, Zero Two suddenly pulled Ryo into another long series of kisses.

.

.

.

"..."

It took a bit of a while for Zero Two to settle down.

In the end, Ryo decided that he was finally going to open his heart completely to Zero Two. He then also allowed Zero Two to act as clingy as she wanted and even let her sleep in his bed.

.

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.

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"Ryo! Ryo! Ryo!... Just wait. I will find a way to find you as soon as possible. Damn, these bastards getting in my way and destroying my plans! But don't worry Ryo, I will definitely find a way to be with you as soon as possible. I will find a way to break these shackles..."

Someone's GOLDEN YELLOW eyes shore in the endless darkness.

It was unknown who it was but if one looked carefully, they might be able to see that the given 'somebody' looked emotionlessly sitting on a throne as he/she picked up a black chess piece and moved it on the floating chess floating in an endless void. 

Its BLUE energy kept leaking out of its body as it tried its best to control itself. 'You are a part of me Ryo... We are destined to meet... It's either you reach out to me first or I find a way for us to meet...'

.

.

.

.

.

*Tring* *Tring* *Tring*

Waking up to the sound of the alarm, Ryo massaged his head as he tried to recall what he was dreaming about.

'What a weird dream it was.', Ryo felt that something was going for sure but he couldn't point out what it was. But...

[Data altered and sealed successfully...]

'System, what happened last night? What data did you seal? I took A potion last night and after a short while, I went to sleep. I didn't notice this message. Is it anything related to me?'

[Host need not to worry. The system cannot interfere with the Host without any consent. The data is of no use to you right now.]

'So...'

Shaking his head internally, Ryo removed all the unnecessary thoughts he was having and looked at the beautiful sight in front of him.

'I know for sure that System can't interfere with me. Even if it did, I can't do anything... Unless I give it confirmation, which I haven't. So let's just focus on...'

Just by his side, a pink-haired beauty was sleeping peacefully hugging her pillow while resting her head on his shoulder. Sadly her face was married with a frown for her sweet sleep was disturbed by the sound of the alarm, making her hug the pillow tighter while trying to go back to sleep.

Chuckling at the funny yet cute sight, Ryo turned his body to Zero Two's side after setting a reminder and stared at her.

For now, nothing matters more than Zero Two for Ryo.

Finding his love, something began to change in Ryo. He started to show more emotion when he was by Zero Two since the event last night.

With all his fear leaven behind, there was nothing stopping him from showing his deeply hidden within him that he had been suppressing inside himself.

"..."

Staring for a while, Ryo took a strand of Zero Two's pink hair and swirled his fingers as he went into thought about how much his life had changed. He finally understood how his father would have been feeling when he fell in love with his mother.

Scoffing at his situation, Ryo continued to stare at the peacefully sleeping Zero Two.

Sadly this tranquil scene was broken by the reminder vibrating on Ryo's hand, making him sign and turn off the reminder.

"... Darling, wake up. It's time for training.", Using his left hand, Ryo removed the pink strands of hair blocking Zero Two's hair as he brought his head to hers and poked his horns into her head, making her groan in sleepiness.

*Yawn*

Opening her eyes a little, Zero Two made a loud yawning sound. The bright light made her squint her eyes for a second but slowly her sight adjusted to the light, making her smile as she saw Ryo looking at her eyes showing his feelings.

Then an idea struck her mind as she smiled mischievously brought her lips closer to Ryo's and locked them with a bit of pull.

Knowing that getting her freedom to act as she wants she will do such stuff, Ryo responded with her kiss. But he quickly broke the kiss and pulling Zero Two's left cheek, he squinted his eyes and asked with a smirk, "Why is my angel acting so aggressively toward me? Hmm?"

"It's all your fault, Darling. You woke me up, so that kiss was a punishment for Darling."

Not shying away from Ryo, Zero Two smirked at him and replied back.

"I see. Looks like I have a lot of punishments due. When will I be getting my remaining punishments? I am waiting for it!"

Knowing that he had been taking care of waking Zero Two up, Ryo smirked back, making Zero Two chuckle in amusement.

"Hmm. I cannot be such cruel to Darling. I will punish Darling only when feel like it. Humph! Anyway, if Darling is so eager to receive such punishments, then Darling carry me to the bathroom! And after that, I will give Darling a kiss as a reward."

Making amused and speechless by her reply, Zero Two stretched her hands toward Ryo, as if telling him to carry her, making Ryo sign and stand up.

Then after doing a bit of stretching for an instant and removing all the laziness remaining in his body, he picked up Zero Two in a bridal carrying style and carried her to the bathroom.

---

It didn't take too long for them to take a bath.

After that, they finally reached the training quarters, finding Arato and Kiara waiting for them while the elite team of special Klaxo-hybrids was present in that room. Although both Ryo and Zero Two were on time, they still only arrived at the last few minutes.

Although it did make Ryo miss a chance to get the first wave of his UPs due to the initial disappointment of Arato, he didn't mind it. He had already accommodated enough UPs for him to not worry much.

It took a full four hours in the training in which all of their limits were tested. Their body had to go through various training equipment and then they were trained in martial arts by their instructors.

After clearing the training, they were presented with protein bars. Working and pushing the body this much with an empty stomach could lead to some problems, so to help their bodies get energy while not making them consume too much food, they were provided with the bar.

Although it tasted a bit bitter, once consumed, all of the students started to feel their bodies regain energy instantly.

-

"This machine in front of you is called 'Virtually Artificial FraXX Training Pods' or VAFTP for short. After testing your talent in operating the Franxx, you will guys will be trained physically in the morning and after a resting time of half an hour, you will operate this Virtual Gear to train yourself to perform your FranXX jobs, but this is not the end."

"You are expected to operate the Practice-Bot by yourself, which could be operated by only one parasite rider. After mastering the Practice-Bot, you will finally be allowed to practice the real Franxx."

Showing a long empty Cylindrical tube with various gears in the mechanical structure, Arato introduced them to the Virtual Gear which would allow them to learn how to operate the Franxx. Each gear had two places for the parasites to sit on, one for the 'pistil' and the other for the 'stamen'.

"Now if you please, Two and Three, please prepare yourself for the talent test. I have the data of the Code Alpha and their group member, but I do not have the data regarding your talents in operating the Franxx. Although you might have gone through the tests previously, I want data as recent as possible."

Introducing them to a metallic structure with multiple-circular circular wheels which could help move the piolet in all the directions that could be achievable, Arato helped both Zero Two and Ryo to adjust themselves to the structure.

Then he tapped the side of the device and after tapping the condition of the machine, Arato pushed the 'Start' button, making both Zero Two and Zero Three spin 360 degrees at various angles. But it was not the end, the slow machine started to fasten up and accelerate slowly and steadily, making them spin in various directions.

After a long, the machine finally slowed down, making Ryo and Zero Two thankful that they had not eaten anything. As they left the seat, sweat covered their body as their body were a bit unstable and had wobbly legs.

They were barely able to stand because of how fast the spinning was.

Although they have gone through the process previously, the test that they went through was just on another level.

"Haha! You both are quite impressive. I am impressed that you didn't throw up as the machine was moving in the later part. I have seen many well-trained parasites throw up. I do have to say that you Klaxo-Hybrids have quite a durable and strong body. So all in all, your talent in being able to operate the Franxx is at a terrifying level."

Clapping his hands, Arato happily announced their results.

Indeed having the Klaxo-Hybrid bloodline was a huge advantage to both Zero Two and Ryo. Their body stats were several times higher than those of normal humans.

*Swisss*

Suddenly the hatch to the Virtual Gears opened, prompting both Arato and Kiara to walk up to the Alpha and his group and read their results out loud.

"[Score]: On average, you guys did quite well. Times Killed: 10, Enemies Killed: 101, Conrad-classes killed: 96, Mohorovičić-classes killed: 5. Quite a good score for rookies. If it was other normal parasites, they would have died probably 20 times killing such a large amount of enemies at once."

Praising the first Virtual gear practice, Arato nodded in impressiveness and allowed the elite group to leave. But as if they had something on their mind, the elite group replied that they wanted to see the good results of their fellow friends, clearly indicating Zero Two and Ryo.

Looking at the smiling Alpha, Ryo clearly understood this was their plot to provoke him to unleash the potential that they might be hiding. Thus, giving them an uninterested look, Ryo calmly walked into the opened hatch of the VAFTP and wore the VR helmet.

On the other hand, Zero Two looked at them with a face full of disgust. Then seeing Ryo entering the VAFTP, she also walked into the hatch open for her, the frontal part of the VAFTP, and positioned herself after wearing the helmet of the machine.

As soon as they both entered their position, the cylindrical tube closed as the screen connected to their inner helmet lit up with an internally holographical scene. But as soon as the screen lit up, both Ryo and Zero Two were astonished to see what the situation they were in.

"Attention Code 002 and Code 003, you are our final line of defense. You will be deployed directly in the middle of the stampede. Your goal is to kill as many Klaxosaurs as possible."

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[3825]

NOTE: The things you've read till now, the narrative is nothing more than what the real 'Ryo' edited to some degree. 

Don't forget to give me a comment, reply, or power stone! They give me motivation!

Thank you!

-SR_2027.