Several days after the memorial service, a more joyous occasion began for the pilots of Squad 13: Appreciation Day. Appreciation Day was the name of the day that pilots could receive presents from APE themselves in congratulations for their hard work. Even as their admiration for Papa turned into a strong dislike for him, Kyouko and Yasuto still enjoyed this one day in the year, normally asking for and receiving either special medical or fire-rescue/damage control equipment or computer equipment. As the entirety of the squad excitedly picked up their presents, Ikuno found the last two sets, both marked for the two. "Kyouko, Yasuto, your presents are ready!" Both of their presents were in two duffel bags, wrapped up neatly in colorful red wrapping paper with flame markings on the side.

"Alright," Yasuto excitedly said as the two ripped open the wrapping paper and opened the duffel bags. "This is excellent! This gear is better than we've ever been issued from our damage control days!"

Zorome climbed over discarded wrapping paper to see the gifts, asking both of them, "Hey, you two. What did you guys ask Papa for?"

"We asked for new fire gear," Kyouko explained to him. "Our current sets from our damage controlmen days were hand-me-downs and are like 7 years old now. This gear is brand new, and is better looking, too." She then pulled out the helmet from her gear, which was black and had a custom shield with her Code number on it, 099. "Our old helmets are plastic. These ones are traditional leather, a rarity in today's world, and much heavier. Try it on." She then handed it to a curious Zorome.

As he put it on, he clipped in the chin strap and commented, "Holy crap, you're not kidding. This thing is super heavy!"

As Yasuto put his gear on, first by pulling his hip boots up and then by zipping his coat up, he gave a thumbs-up and told the group as a whole, "If anything goes wrong fire-wise here, we'll be ready." As he then put his air pack on, he tightened the straps and grabbed his helmet. Now that he was fully geared up, he turned to Hiro and Zero Two and asked them, "So, Hiro, what did you get?"

"I got a guide on birds," Hiro explained as he showed the group the book he received. "I've always had an interest in zoology, mostly ornithology, so it only made sense."

Later on, Goro and Yasuto sat in the boys' bunk room together, talking about the day as Hiro walked in. Yasuto turned to him and grinned, jokingly remarking, "Hey there, lover boy."

"Let me guess," Hiro replied back, annoyed. "One of you two were watching me and Zero Two when I gave her the mirror?"

"I was," Goro replied, raising his hand. "You know, I never knew Zero Two was that affectionate with you."

As Hiro walked over to his bunk, he noticed a familiar object in Goro's hand. "Hey, isn't that Ichigo's hair clip?"

"It's the same type," Goro explained as he showed it to him. "But I never ended up giving it to her. You kinda beat me to the punch with that." As Hiro reacted with surprise, Goro further told him, "You know, I once didn't get that whole 'love' thing you said to me, but after today, I think I do. You know how Ichigo has always looked up to you?"

"Yeah," Hiro replied, knowing what seemed to be obvious as he sat down on his bed. "Why?"

Yasuto decided to get right to the point, and spoke in Goro's place. "Hiro, me and Goro think Ichigo loves you like Zero Two does." He then turned to Goro, who was slightly peeved with how right to-the-point he had been. "Sorry about that."

"Right," Goro nodded. "Like I was saying, I can see clearly that she feels that way. On another note, seeing how you feel about Zero Two awakened something within me." He then paused and took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to express what he wanted. "I think I love Ichigo that way. Let me tell you, it feels good to get that off my chest finally, Hiro." Hiro nodded in agreement, relating to him.

"Atta boy," Yasuto patted him on the shoulder with. "See? I told you, getting it off your chest isn't so bad, right?" He then stood up from beside Goro. "Well, I gotta go do one last check of the perimeter tonight. I'll be back in like an hour or an hour and a half." As he walked out, the other two boys waved him goodbye. In reality, his 'perimeter check' that night was really just an excuse to get out of the mansion and meet Kyouko in a secluded area of Mistilteinn for sex.

Indeed, about an hour later, the two parasites finished their lovemaking session, which had gotten somewhat dirty due to the two of them choosing an area underneath a tree and beginning as it started to downpour. Their pajamas and their outdoor coats were laying down beside the trunk of the tree, drenched from the rain despite the cover of the branches. As the two stood up, Yasuto helping his partner up by lifting her and gently holding her against him, they looked down at each other and realized there were dirt marks from the ground on their bodies, and the rain was not doing much to clean it off. Kyouko gave him a kiss and then told him, "You know, we could go clean off in the small lake nearby." She then grinned as she reached down his body. "Maybe go for another round. We got time."

"I was gonna suggest the same thing," Yasuto replied with a seductive grin. "We haven't done this in a full week and a half. Let's make up for time lost, shall we?" He took her by the hand and led her to the shore of the small lake, the section of which they were in jutted out a bit to create an area they could jump into. "Well, come on, let's jump in." He then dove into the water, quickly followed by Kyouko.

As the two embraced in the water and emerged, they kissed passionately. Even though they had been doing such for four and a half years, every time they came together physically still felt the same as it had when they were younger. As they split, Kyouko told him, "A second round is guaranteed at this point."

Then, the two of them heard a noise from nearby and halted. Yasuto feared they had been caught, and as his heart raced, he drew Kyouko in as tight as he could to his body, determined to protect her if he had to. As the two scanned the forest around them, they looked for the cause of the noise. Then, the cause presented itself when Zero Two walked out and saw them. "Ehhh? The transfers?"

Kyouko, frozen in fear, stammered out, "Ze- Zero Two!"

Zero Two laughed as she saw that the two pilots were completely naked in the water. "Well, looks like I caught you two in a predicament. Tell me, what would a boy and a girl who are very clearly affectionate for each other when they're not piloting be doing out here naked, kissing each other and embracing?"

Kyouko, realizing Zero Two knew exactly what they had been doing, demanded of her, "Listen to us, and you better listen fucking good. You are to never tell a soul about what we do in the privacy of the areas here that aren't covered by cameras!"

"Why would I?" Zero Two smugly looked the two over. "I wouldn't let APE get in the way of such a loving couple, especially when you two are perhaps the best pilots they have that aren't of the Nines. Besides, you two give me ideas I could use with my own Darling one day."

"Absolutely not," Yasuto immediately replied somewhat harshly in a serious tone. "Even though we have Dr. Franxx covering our asses and we know where to hide away from the eyes of APE, we still run a massive risk having sex. You cannot afford to suddenly drag a clueless stamen who has no idea what he's getting himself involved in and has less connections and know-how into this. If you're not careful, you could end up like some of the parasites we worked o-"

Kyouko looked to him and interrupted him with, "No, please, don't say that. You know how I feel about what we did back then." She clearly was disturbed by what he had brought up.

"Right," Yasuto replied, feeling bad now. "I'm sorry, dear. I shouldn't have said that."

"Eh? What do you mean?" Zero Two became mischievous, not aware fully of how disturbed Kyouko and Yasuto were by the "secret" the latter had almost accidentally let out. "Come on, tell me."

Kyouko sighed, shaking her head. "Well, the cat's outta the bag, I guess. Zero Two, you know about sex, right? You know what it's for?"

"Yeah," Zero Two replied. "I'm not uneducated like the rest of the Children here."

"Well," Yasuto continued from where his partner left off. "When we interned with the Ministry of Health and Bodily Peace, we participated in procedures for parasites who violated the prohibition, and on those who became pregnant. We involuntarily terminated pregnancies if they were less than two months along. If not, we would lock up the pistils and have them give birth. Their babies would then be taken away and raised in the Garden as extra parasites, and like the father of the child, the mother would be given a Class F amnesiac wipe."

Kyouko then took over, adding a rather emotional part of the story. "We... We had no idea, but we were ripping children away from their parents and forcing them to forget they even existed. APE had us rip families apart. When we came to realize how in the wrong we were... We... I... I almost lost it." She then buried her face in Yasuto's shoulder, trying to hide her tears. "To this day, I don't know if I can ever forgive myself."

Zero Two was clearly saddened by the story, but not shocked. "I'm sad, but I'm not surprised. That's right up their alley. It's stories like that that make me sometimes happy that I can't have children, even with my Darling."

"Wait a fucking minute," Yasuto asked her as he delved into what she had just told them. "You can't what?"

"I can't have kids," Zero Two repeated herself. "It's that simple."

"Who told you that?" Yasuto and Kyouko were both clearly confused.

"APE did," Zero Two further explained. "They ran tests and told me I was infertile."

The two parasites looked at each other for a few seconds, and then back to Zero Two. "Hey, uh," Yasuto explained to her. "You may be surprised to hear this, or not, but there's a good chance APE just straight up lied to you. We've looked at CAT and MRI scans of your body from when you were younger, Zero Two, and everything down there from your vagina to your ovaries looks perfectly normal, or at least it did when you were like 12."

"Not only that," Kyouko mentioned as well. "But I'm pretty sure we would have been told if you were infertile when we were informed of your medical records back then."

Zero Two paused as she took their words to heart and analyzed them in her head. As she stood, she clearly had a mix of emotions, ranging from denial to anger to joy. "I... What... No..." As she felt her lower abdomen, as if a pregnant woman would, she said to herself, "Did they... Did they lie?" She then looked up. "I... I have to go. I need to process this." Zero Two then marched off into the woods and out of sight, her emotions brooding within her as she contemplated what else APE may have lied to her about.

The two lovers looked at each other as they contemplated their next action. "Hey," Kyouko said to Yasuto. "I... I'm sorry that happened."

"No," Yasuto assured her. "It was my fault for bringing it up. If you just wanna go to bed and forget this ever happened, that's fine. We can have some fun in the lake another ti- IIIIIIII- me!" Yasuto pitched up slightly in his voice when he felt Kyouko grab his crotch.

Kyouko sighed as she smiled. "No, it's fine. If anything, it makes me wanna have sex even more to get my mind off this." She then broke free of him, using her arms to hold herself up in the water. "What are you waiting for? The water feels nice and cool, and I bet when we start, it's gonna feel even better."

...

The next day, Squad 13 raced to a reported Klaxosaur that was incoming, though still a ways away from Cerasus. As they raced through the desert and kicked up the sand underneath them, the clouds above were still producing storms. However, one set of clouds in front of them were peculiar, raising their suspicions. Kokoro noted to the group as they got closer, "What's up with those clouds over there?"

"I think we found our target," Ichigo replied. "Everyone, get ready. I gotta call it in to Headquarters." Goro then tuned the radio to the dispatch channel for Ichigo to talk on. "Delphinium to Headquarters."

"Go ahead," a dispatcher replied back to her from the control room.

"Squad 13 is 10-84," she replied, giving the code for arrival. "We are ready to give the 10-12."

In response, a single beep was sent out over the radio by the dispatcher. "All units include Cerasus Dispatch, hold the air. Delphinium, go ahead with the 10-12."

"10-75 upon arrival," Ichigo radioed back. "I have a Major-Scale Gutenberg-class Klaxosaur flying in the sky with what appears to be a small storm system of clouds surrounding it that it generated. It appears to have various tentacles or cables hanging down to the ground, and it is moving at a slow pace. Standby for the 10-30." Ichigo then mentally sent a snapshot of her view of the Klaxosaur back to the control room, which was coded as a 10-30.

"10-4," the same dispatcher replied. "We received the 10-30, and we'll be assembling your RIT Franxx."

Meanwhile, Heliconia had already fired all of its rockets at the Franxx, striking it and causing it to scream out in pain. "Alright, that should piss it off a bit," Yasuto radioed to everyone. "Get ready for strike!"

"Argentea," both Miku and Zorome shouted at the same time as Argentea readied it's claws. "Roll out!" As they zipped through the sky, they slashed at the Klaxosaurs' long and thin tentacle-like cables in their attempt to reach the core. However, just as they seemed like they would reach it, they were caught in a mass of cables, stopping them dead in their tracks. As Argentea struggled, it began to tear at the cables, and then finally, it broke free, crashing to the ground just as several large orbs dropped from the Klaxosaur and exploded nearby.

Ichigo looked over the scene and ordered her squad, "Be more careful! This thing is unpredictable!"

Then, as Argentea stood back up, both Miku and Zorome noticed something odd about the Klaxosaur. "Oh hey," Miku said through Argentea. "It looks like the core's right there!" Indeed, as Argentea pointed at it, the whole squad could see that the core of the Klaxosaur was inside a translucent sac of some kind of fluid, and was completely visible in a seemingly-vulnerable spot. "Let's get it!"

As Argentea jumped up, both Yasuto and Goro realized it was most likely a trap. Both of them shouted at the same time, "No, Argentea, don't!"

Indeed, as Argentea sank its claws into the sac, their fears were proven right. The sac suddenly expanded greatly in size as it began to envelop Argentea. Miku screamed out in fear, "HELP! WE CAN'T MOVE!" As the sac expanded, it began to emit lighting and become more unstable.

Goro and Ichigo both looked at each other through the screens in the cockpit and nodded, jumping up to save Argentea from being fully engulfed. Delphinium quickly pushed Argentea out of the sac, quickly becoming irrecoverably engulfed itself. Ichigo yelled out, "Everyone, get back! I think it's gonna explode!"

Then, silence.

Delphinium was fully enveloped by the sac and disappeared from sight. Hiro screamed out in panic, "Ichigo! Goro! No!" As he did, Ichigo's prediction was right, and the Klaxosaur practically exploded in front of them with the force of numerous tons of dynamite. The blast was massive, and as it kicked up sand and debris and turned rocks into shrapnel, all of Squad 13 had to look away and bunker down to avoid becoming victims themselves. The explosion was deafening, and as the rest of the team's hearing slowly came back, they were met with a chaotic scene.

"I'll take command," Yasuto radioed to everyone before switching to the Dispatch channel. "Heliconia to Headquarters, urgent!"

"All units hold," a dispatcher replied. "Heliconia, go ahead with the urgent."

"10-66," he immediately replied, using the code for a missing, injured, or trapped Franxx unit. "We have a 10-66 with Delphinium! It was caught in an explosion and we have no contact with either of its pilots. Heliconia will be assuming Incident Command at this time. Get me the elevated assignment that goes with that 10-66 sooner rather than later!"

...

Inside Delphinium, its internal systems had all but been stopped by the damage it had taken, and as a result, it force-disconnected Ichigo. Goro was unable to pull the ejection handle for her in time, causing both of them to be stuck inside the Franxx unit. As the cockpit was surrounded in darkness and red error messages, the two of them adjusted their eyes and looked around. They very quickly realized they were stuck, and it would be a long time before they could be rescued. As they both stood up and looked around, they remained largely quiet, unable to receive any messages over the radio as of yet. Goro looked over Ichigo, his first concern being her rather than himself, wondering if she had been injured. Her plug suit was bathed in a dark red light from the error messages, and to Goro, it seemed to almost enhance the way she looked.

Ichigo broke the silence first, telling Goro with a sarcastic tone, "Well, this is just great. We're stuck in a Klaxosaur." She then sighed and addressed another topic. "You know, you could have punched out and saved yourself. Well, I mean, I don't know how the fluid inside this sac of whatever this thing is would treat your body since you only have a seat and I got a whole capsule, but it would beat being stuck here. Why did you stay?"

Goro chuckled. "I stayed with you because I don't want to leave you to your own devices in here. If I tried to punch both of us out, it would eject me first, and I wasn't sure if the capsule would form in time before the sac enveloped the hatch your capsule ejects from. Like you said, we don't know what the fluid in the sac would do to either my body, even with my own stamen plug suit, or the cushioning around your capsule. Ichigo, I want to keep you safe."

"You care a lot about me," Ichigo noted to him, both curious and somewhat annoyed by his devotion to her. "Apparently it's sometimes to a fau-"

Suddenly, Goro interrupted Ichigo with a kiss, caressing her increasingly reddened cheek as well. Ichigo was taken aback by the sudden kiss, and held her eyes open as his eyes closed, but then closed her eyes and gave in as they locked lips for a good 20 seconds. The kiss felt odd to Ichigo. For some reason, she did not resist it after a split second or two, and it did not feel bad, despite how she felt about Hiro. As they split, Goro told her, "My apologies. I just wanted to get that out there before something happens."

Ichigo took his hand in her hands as she guided it away from her face. She took a deep breath as she took in what had just happened. "I see... Goro, you know how I feel about Hiro." She noted the hair clip she wore by pointing at it. "I didn't realize it until Zero Two came around, but I realize now that I love Hiro. He knows me very well."

"I know you, Code 015," Goro replied to her with her code number as he produced his old hair clip. "Back then, I made one, too, but Hiro beat me to the punch."

Ichigo held it in her hands, feeling a mix of emotions in response to his words. "You did..." She then smiled. "Are you gifting it to me now?"

"Maybe," Goro replied to her with a smile.

"Then I accept," Ichigo replied. "I'll use it as a backu-" Just as she was about to put it in her pocket in her plug suit, her current hair clip suddenly broke into pieces, letting her hair fall down in a comical fashion. For a few seconds, Ichigo just paused in disbelief at what had just transpired. She then took a deep breath and admitted, "Or it will be my new hair clip since my old one decided to crap out on me just now."

Goro decided to help her. "Here, let me do it." Ichigo let him, Goro gently holding her hair in place as he affixed the hair clip correctly. "And with that, we're all set."

As the error messages went away around them, the lights turned back on, indicating the Franxx was running on reserve solar battery power. The interior of the closed off cockpit was a drab grey, and the light allowed them both to check their bodies for any injuries. As Ichigo did, she decided to bring some humor into the otherwise grim situation by asking, "Hey, Goro, imagine if this fluid around us is just like that one Klaxosaur from before."

"The one that dissolves clothes?" Goro immediately blushed in response as Ichigo stifled a laugh. "I, uh... I don't know why you're laughing."

"It's your reaction," Ichigo replied to him. "You're so cute when you get flustered like that." She immediately realized what she said and quickly dialed down on her laughter. "Wait," she thought to herself. "Did... Did I just call him cute?! But..."

"You stopped laughing," Goro noticed. "Are you alright?" He thought the exact same thing as she said, thinking to himself, "Damn it, she's so cute when she reddens up in embarrassment like that. It's almost like her coincidental namesake, the strawberry."

"Yeah," Ichigo assured him as she blushed herself. "I'm fine. I just said it looked kinda cute to see you get flustered. Anyway, I wouldn't mind if that happened again, as long as you were the only one around. I'm not gonna let it distract from my duties. Just... Just let me know privately if it happens, okay? Don't keep me out of the loop. My embarrassment over being naked around you is largely gone, but what really irked me was that you guys kept it a secret from us until after the battle."

Goro sighed. He admitted, "I'll admit. We fucked up. We thought at the time that it would have thrown you guys off in battle and caused someone to get hurt rather than just some temporary embarrassment. At least, that's what I was thinking. I'm sure some of the others had more perverted thoughts in their minds for why they didn't say anything." He then extended her hand out to her. "I can assure you that I wasn't thinking that."

Ichigo shook his hand in response, chuckling. "It's fine. That's old news, Goro. I believe you."

The two were then interrupted by a sudden radio transmission from an unfamiliar voice, presumably a Franxx pilot from another plantation sent to help them. "This is RIT. Delphinium, can you hear us?"

"This is Delphinium," Ichigo replied. "We're inside the cockpit. We're both okay, but we're trapped in here and running on solar backup."

"Alright," the pilot, a stamen, replied. "Just stay put for now. We'll get you out as soon as we can. Update us if anything changes. We're trying to find a way in right now."

"10-4," Ichigo replied to him. She then turned back to Goro, joyfully telling him, "Help's on the way, Goro!"

"All they need to do is find us before we run out of power," Goro noted to her. "We got about 85% power left."