Chapter 14

"It's not fair!" Zorome, the fiery shorty complained loudly.

He was currently on the spectator's area along with the other teens as they watched two new FRANXX on the sparring field. The other teens of squad 13 was only watching as the shorty made a spectacle beside them.

"Give me another chance!" Zorome begged Nana and Hachi. "I'll really show you what I can do! Please!"

The shorty knew that the way his sparring battle ended was very pathetic. He was pissed at Hiro with every fiber of his being since it was all because of that failure's incompetence that the result became like that.

What's worse it that he lost to Ichigo piloting the FRANXX alone!

Zorome would never be able to live that down.

"No." Hachi rejected Zorome. "Maybe some other time. But for now, we have another sparring match scheduled."

"It's not fair!" Zorome aggrievedly stomped his foot and spat, "It was all because that failure couldn't do jack shit that the match became as pathetic as that!"

"And it was also because of you!" Zorome stressed as he pointed at Miku, who was standing among the girls. He snarked at her direction as he pinned the blame on her.

"Haa?!" Miku's face immediately soured as paced towards him and spat back, "How is it my fault?! Clearly you're the one who sucked at piloting!"

Zorome gritted his teeth and narrowed his head towards her forehead and pushing her back, "I swear! it was because-"

"Now, now." Nana stepped in between them, separating the two angry teens. "Break it off you two. You're partners, remember? Don't fight now or you might lose your chemistry and never be able to pilot Argentea again."

At her words, the two immediately took a step back. Miku glared at Zorome for a bit before turning her face in the opposite direction with a dissatisfied, "Hmph!"

'It's fine.' Miku thought to herself, 'I don't need this incompetent shorty. After all, Adam can make me compatible with someone else. Heck, I could maybe become his partner too!'

Zorome was also doing the same thing, stubbornly refusing to look at her instead of apologizing. He was still too angry to remember the fact that Adam revealed that he could make any pistil compatible with someone else.

'Speaking of which,' Nana looks at the pink-haired girl standing beside her with a neutral expression. 'Zero Two doesn't seem to be jealous in the slightest.' this genuinely surprises her.

Honestly, with how sticky and obsessed she was with her brother, you'd think she would be complaining about Naomi being Adam's partner all the time. But right now.... 'That doesn't seem to be the case, thankfully.' Nana secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She really didn't want to deal with a bratty Zero Two who always runs away and disappearing to who knows where whenever she feels like sulking.

'Really, the amount of times that the doctor complained about Zero Two...'

Anyway, turning her attention back to the sparring field, there Nana saw two towering robots standing opposite to each other.

On the far left was Chlorophytum. She was mainly white and violet in colour. It has a thick purple visor covering most of its face, four antennae coming out the sides of its head, and one large vertical antenna on the back of its head. Two violet fins that come out from the top of the visor are modified to resemble hair. Chlorophytum only has a single visible eye with a cyan color. It is not made clear if it has only one eye, or if there is another that is simply obscured by the visor for stylistic purposes. There is an orange gemstone on its cranium, along with a violet tie-shaped gemstone on its chest. The arms are shaped like guns, and it has pointy, orange peg legs that are made of the same orange magma-energy material used to defeat Klaxosaurs.

Opposite to her was Chantrieri. Her skin was white and from her waist was a long black dress that was clearly made in steel and yet shows flexibility akin to a cloth. Chantrieri's black hair were tied into two ringlet pigtails. The black cloth extended all the way to her sleeves, making it seems as if she was wearing a gothic dress. All in all, her distinctive features were somewhat lacking in comparison with the other unique FRANXX and if one were to be honest about it, she was only a little bit different compared to a standard FRANXX.

Inside Chlorophytum's cockpit, Mitsuru forcibly made his way inside Ikuno's mind and forced a connection between them. It was an unpleasant feeling for Ikuno, but she was already used to it and let Mitsuru inside her mind. The spine-piece of her white and purple bodysuit, lit up from the bottom and all the way to the top until her head piece powered on. The blue gauge stated 100% while the pink one had 89%.

Mitsuru frowned at this sight.

"Hey. Focus."

His arrogant words entered Ikuno's ears. Ikuno, feeling slightly struggling with their forced connection, tried her best to stabilize her breathing.

'I'm okay... I'm fine.... this is fine...'

And like that, the surroundings of the cockpit lit up and Cholorophytum woke up.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere inside Chantrieri was completely opposite from the cold and indifferent atmosphere inside Cholorphytum.

"Naomi~"

Adam called Naomi in a sing-song tone as the latter seemed deep in her thoughts.

"...Hm?" Already bending over and manning the pistil's seat, Naomi looked behind her and raised her brow in question.

Adam playfully grinned, "Still remembering what happened in the showers?"

Naomi immediately snapped her head forward, but Adam could see her ears turning red.

Why was he even asking that?!

Of course she was still thinking about what happened earlier!

How could she not when ber mind could still vividly remember what they did in the showers. It was so embarrassing, so appalling, so mind boggling that it kept replaying in her mind. Even now! It's still stuck to her head... the unforgettable sight of Adam and Zero Two's 'forbidden acts'.... oh how lower body is still shivering at the remembrance.

"...This is all Adam's fault." She can't even focus in the upcoming spar because of it.

"Don't worry your pretty little head." Adam smirked and pinched her slim and perky butt, causing the latter to squeal, or so she thought, but it was honestly more of a moan.

"A-A-Adam!!!"

Adam cackled in laughter and finally decided to synchronize with her.

"Want a kiss before we start?"

"....Yes." The answer was almost immediate.

As embarrassing as it was, she knew they needed it in order to synchronize. 

In reality however, they didn't really need to do this anymore because the first time Adam kissed her, she already became compatible with him. However, even if she knew about this, she would still take the kiss.

Because even if it was embarrassing, she admits to herself that kissing Adam felt good and that if it were possible, she would do it at every moment that she can. Moreover, since the time Adam played with 'pussy' and made her 'cum' so many times, her inhibitions were slowly fading away.

Now she didn't mind whatever she and Adam did... so long as it was behind closed doors of course.

She can never imagine herself doing such acts like Adam and Zero Two, most especially in a public place like the women's bathroom. Like really... why there?! Weren't they worried of getting caught? Or did they actually want to get caught?!

'Even if... even if Adam does what he did to Zero Two to me...' Naomi could feel her face heating up at the thought of Adam's 'big thing' going inside of her.

And because of Zero Two's kinky and obscene reactions at the time she happened upon them (and stayed to watch the entire thing), Naomi didn't feel scared of the 'forbidden acts'. Far from it, something inside her was awoken. Adam and Zero Two's passionate display (more like voyeuristic and kinky display), lit up the embers of desire inside her and doused it with gasoline, making her feel a burning desire to experience such mind breaking, heaven sending, world whitening treatment.

Naomi snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a hand hold her chin and pulled her into a kiss. She didn't even notice when Adam got ip next to her. Nevertheless, she moaned in pleasure as her hands cupped Adam's cheeks and deepened their kiss.

And like that, the interior of the cockpit lit up and soon, Chantrieri stirred awake.

***

"Nana-san, I have a question." Miku spoke to the older buxom-woman beside her.

Nana raised her brow, gesturing the pig-tailed red head to say it.

"Why does Adam and Naomi's FRANXX look like she's wearing a dress?" She looked at Chantrieri with an envious gaze, "It's quite fashionable as well."

"Yes, Nana-san." Kokoro agreed with Miku. "It is quite odd in comparison to Genista's dress that seemed more like an armour built for her."

Nana looked at the two and explained, "Your observations are correct. Chantrieri's 'dress' isn't actually an armor. Rather, it's her weapon."

"Weapon?" The teens curiously asked.

Nana only hummed in affirmation.

Meanwhile, back to the middle of the sparring field. Cholorphytum assumed her battle stance. Chantrieri on the other hand, stood completely relaxed. Her right hand, holding the baton was behind her back while her empty left hand gestured Cholorphytum to come at her. Her fingers gesturing fingers made her look like a master taunting her student.

Inside Cholorphytum, Mitsuru narrowed his eyes at this and scoffed, thinking that Adam was being arrogant and looking down at him.

Deciding to bite the taunt, Mitsuru made the first move. Cholorphytum took a step forward and raised the baton with her right hand. She instantly narrowed her distance with Chantrieri. As she stood just a step away from her, Cholorphytum swiftly swung her raised baton downwards, right where Chantrieri's head would be bashed. Or should've been bashed.

But her attack simply met the air as Chantrieri shifted her body sideways. Cholorphytum immediately halted her swinging arm and redirected her strike sideways towards where Chantrieri was.

Chantrieri responded by taking a step backwards. To the untrained eye, it would seem as if Chantrieri was simply moving or reacting quickly. But in reality, she was in fact, moving a step ahead. The only ones to notice this were Nana, Hachi, Zero Two, and surprisingly, even Ichigo. They all saw how Chantrieri was already moving her body backwards, as if already expecting Cholorphytum's next move.

The spar continued with Chantrieri repeatedly dodging all of Cholorphytum's attacks rather lightheartedly. It was clear from Chantrieri's relaxed actions and refusal to attack or parry that she wasn't taking the spar seriously. This fact further infuriated the already annoyed Mitsuru as he began to pilot Cholorphytum aggressively. Her quick and lethal attacks created loud 'swooshing' noise across the air as her body continuously chased after Chantrieri.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ground quaked as two large mecha robots moved across the sparring field. One, was aggressive chasing the second, while the latter was gracefully dodging with minimal movements.

"How is he doing that?" Futoshi was so awestruck that his half eaten bread fell to the ground.

"...." Goro was no better. The scene left him baffled and speechless.

"...." The same was for the upstart shorty. Even he couldn't believe that Mitsuru, a fairly competent pilot— severely lacking compared to him of course, would struggle to hit Adam even once.

All of the other teen's reactions were more or less the same. And really, how else were they supposed to react when Chantrieri and Cholorphytum's fight looked more like an adult playing around with a child.

Was Mitsuru lacking? Not at all. In fact, all of his attacks were all were text book moves. Not only that, but they were also well-executed. Which to his credit, was far better than one would expect from a newly graduated parasite who has only finished one exercise drill.

Adam on the other hand, although his actual skills are hard to gauge- mainly due to him just playing around- his movement and prediction alone shows both his proficiency and expertise as a pilot.

"...Nana-san. Is there even any point in this?" Ichigo couldn't help but ask that question.

It was clear to everyone that Cholorphytum was outmatched. Anymore than this was just bullying and humiliating her.

Nana continued to watch with an impassive face, "Although this is only for formalities sake, a sparring match is still a sparring match. Neither one isn't incapable of fighting nor are they forfeighting. Therefore, the match will go on."

"I see..." In the end, Ichigo could only nod her head and continue watching as well.

"He's so cool!!!" Miku felt giddy as she watched Chantrieri dodge Cholorohytum's series of attacks like it's nothing.

'Honestly, it feels a little refreshing to see Mitsuru being humiliated like this. This should teach him to be less snobbish.' Miku smirked.

Meanwhile, Kokoro had a starstruck gaze as she saw how Chantrieri dodged with no exaggerated movement. All of his movement was efficient, precise, and elegant.

Why elegant you ask? That's because of Chantrieri's still carefree demeanor throughout the fight.

Whenever Chlorophytum swung her baton fiercelt, Chantrieri either only shifted her body to dodge it accordingly or creating a single-step distance away from the former.

'It's like I'm watching a dance...' Kokoro absentmindedly thought to herself.

Meanwhile, inside Cholorphytum's cockpit, beads of sweat kept falling down Mitsuru's forehead as he piloted Cholorphytum. Ikuno was even worse. She already felt overworked. Breathing felt difficult and her body felt heavy.

Cholorphytum/Ikuno's fatigued face appeared on the side of the cockpit's interface.

[S-slow... down...] she weakly requested, her fatigue apparent on her face.

Mitsuru glared at her and disregarded her words. Not only that, but he even doubled more workload on Ikuno, forcing her to move faster than she could normally bear.

Mitsuru wasn't stupid. He knows that Adam was better than him.

'However!' His face crumpled as his fingers clenched around the handle bars, 'I need to hit him at least once!!!"

Mirroring Mitsuru's intentions, Cholorphytum shifted her gears and began slashing at Chantrieri like well-oiled machine.

"At least once!" Mitsuru shouted earnestly as the interior of Cholorphytum's cockpit started flashing red light.

[Mitsuru, stop now!] Nana ordered.

"...." Mitsuru didn't reply. No, it was more precise to say that he didn't hear her.

Right now, all that's in his mind was to hit Chantrieri.

'Just once! Just.... once!'

[Alright, alright. That's enough.]

Suddenly, Adam's ever-soothing voice sounded in his ears.

Confused, Mitsuru looked at the side, checking if Adam communicated with him via call. But that was a mistake as Cholorohytum's view suddenly shook and the next thing Mitsuru knew, their body fell and they was facing the night skies.

Seconds later, Cholorphytum lost power and shut down. The cockpit became dark without an ounce of light.

As soon as Ikuno was released from the immersion, she repeatedy gasped for air. She was completely out of breath because of the heavy toll under Mitsuru's fierce and demanding control.

"...." Mitsuru on the other hand, was only mentally exhausted. He looked at Ikuno without an ounce of sympathy or pity. He only stood up from the stamen pilot's seat and moved towards the cockpit's entrance. Leaving an utterly exhausted Ikuno behind without the slightest consideration.

When the hatch opened, he was met with a frowning Adam, farcry from his usual amiable smile and nonchalant demeanor. Adam glanced at him with disdain, before disregarding him and walking past him to enter Cholorphytum's cockpit.

Irritated, Mitsuru gritted his teeth and said, "You will not win next time."

But he received no response from Adam.

Mitsuru clenched his fist and turned around, leaving Cholorohytum completely. As he did so, he encountered Zero Two who simply walked past him while heading towards Cholorphytum. She didn't look at him, much less spare him a glance.

Mitsuru glanced at her, feeling embarrassed from being disregarded.

'....Arrogant! Just like her brother!' he hatefully thought.

***

"Huff... huff... huff..."

With heavy eyes, Ikuno tried to dismount the pistil's seat. Only to find that she had no strength left in her arms.

"Damn that bastard..." she cursed under her breath as she let herself slump over the pistil's seat. With how thoroughly exhausted her body was, there was no way she could move her body. So she may as well wait and rest her body until she could move or someone comes to get her.

She looked over to the side with a blank gaze.

'He didn't even think about helping me.' she idly thought, her mind replaying the way left her alone.

Sigh.

What's the use of thinking about it now?

Didn't she already know that Mitsuru has always been like that?

The only reason that they were able to partner up despite their distant and indifferent relationship was because Mitsuru was the only stamen pilot that matched with her weak character that easily succumb under the willpower of other people.

In the first place, she never wanted to be a parasite. Far from it, she wanted to do literally anything else other than be a child solider.

'Why does everyone like the idea of fighting monsters? Why does everyone feel like it's the most natural thing to do?'

Even with all the indoctrination they received from the garden, Ikuno constantly questioned everything in her mind. Naturally, she never voiced out these questions of hers for the fear of being punished. After all, their only way of life was to either become a parasite.... or be pruned.

So, for Ikuno, piloting a FRANXX and becoming a parasite was the only way to survive with the addition of looking after her friends.

'And... her as well...' A certain bluenette appeared in her mind.

Ikuno shakes her head off this thought. She didn't even understand why she particularly cared about her.

'Sigh... when are they going to get me?'

Just as she wondered that in her mind, someone entered the cockpit. Ikuno weakly raised her head to see who came to get her, and to her surprise, it was the all too familiar appearance of a certain silver-haired man with the most handsome face she had ever seen in her life.

She was momentarily taking aback, wondering why he came to her.

'I don't think it's his personality so spite people... is he here to give me advice or something?'

"Ikuno-san." Adam greeted as he approached her.

"....Adam-san."

"It was a nice match."

Ikuno narrowed her eyes at him, wondering if he was being sarcastic. But from the looks of his face, that didn't seem the case.

She pouted her cheeks and looked away. "More like you totally toyed with us." she sighed softly.

Adam merely smiled amiably at her, "It was a noteworthy battle nonetheless." he stated in a very convincing tone.

"You don't need to patronize me, Adam-san."

Adam shook his head. "I'm sorry if that's what it sounds like, but I genuinely meant what I said." He leaned downwards to match her eye level. "You think I didn't notice how despite your partner aggressively used and abused you, you still endured to syncronize with him?"

"!" Ikuno's eyes widened, her irises trembled behind her glasses

"How did you-"

"It's not that hard to guess, you know?" Adam stated nonchalantly while looking at her state.

Ikuno's face grew increasingly pale as she immediately said, "Please don't tell anyone."

She was well aware of what could happen to her once this gets out. While parasites were treated as child-soldiers, their mental health was still being maintained by APE. Therefore, if Mitsuru's psycological abuse towards her was found out, there's a chance that they were to be separated. This would only bring her more anxiety than relief because Mitsuru's the only stamen pilot she was compatible with. If she was found to be incompatible with any replacement, there's a high chance that she may lose her status as a parasite and even be 'pruned'.

Therefore, she definitely DID NOT want this issue to ever be found out.

Ever.

Seeing Ikuno's desperate face, Adam took a deep breath and sighed. He was well familiar with this kind of appearance.

'So she's another case of bypassing the indoctrination.' Adam silently noted. He had met numerous cases of these kinds of parasites in other plantantion.

With his special constitution, he was able to hell the troubled and worried pistil parasites. The stamen parasites however... if they weren't lucky enough to be reformed through indoctrination, then they could only be 'pruned'.

"I won't." Adam reassured her with a sincere face. "I promise."

Ikuno stared at him for a few seconds before releasing a tense breath. She really didn't have any other choice than to take his word for it. It's not like she could force him to follow her request or anything.

"Please excuse me."

Ikuno then felt her body being raised and carried by Adam.

"A-Adam-san!"

She couldn't even struggle since her body felt weak.

"Don't worry, Ikuno-san." Adam says, "I'll bring you to the infirmary."

Being carried in a bridal style, Ikuno's embarrassment grew even more apparent as they walked out Cholorphytum's cockpit. There, they found Zero Two leaning on the side of the hatch as if she had been waiting for them.

A flash of jealousy appeared in her eyes when she saw Ikuno being carried in Adam's arms, but she quickly hid her jealousy as soon as it appeared. She glanced at Ikuno before looking at her brother and asked him in curiousity, "Darling, why did you have to personally get her?"

They began walking towards the plantation as Adam replied, "Well, I figured that she would be too tired to move based on how her stamen partner worked her."

"I got that part but...." She turned her face towards him, "Why does it have to be darling?"

Ikuno, who was quietly being carried by Adam, couldn't help but shrink a little when she heard Zero Two's toneless voice.

Adam raised his brow in amusement. Smirking, "Why couldn't it be me?" he asks back.

Zero Two narrowed her eyes at him before facing forward, "Because darling should be busy caring for his new partner?"

"She's nice." Zero Two added with a smile, "I like her."

"Oh? So you approve?"

"Definitely. I like her flavor."

"I told you, you'll like her." Adam stated with an 'I told you so' tone.

"That, I do, Darling." The pink-haired young woman looked at Adam with a wide smile, "Is she going to join us tonight?"

"You..." Adam looked at his sister who seemed to be looking forward to expose their lovemaking in front of another person.

'Did I mess up up and awaken her exhibitionist fetish?'

Meanwhile, Ikuno decided to remain quiet as she did not understand what Adam and Zero Two were talking about.

...Or maybe she did.

'Could they be talking about... kissing and stuff?' the bespectacled, freckled girl thought to herself.

Her face grew increasingly rosier as she pictured the handsome Adam kissing the beautiful and exotic Zero Two.

***

(A/N: I actually do have more than ten chapters in stock-pile. I'm planning on putting it on patreon, but I'm still on the fence about it since I don't really have a committed schedule to write this work.

You guys tell me if you want it or not.)