Authors Note: Thank you for your support on the previous chapter. Before we begin I would like to address a concern I have seen voiced by some readers. Some fear that this Fanfiction is going to be a copy of the anime. These opening chapters are a build up as Hiro starts to unlock more of his memories. Eventually, enough events will take place that the story will diverge and no longer resemble the show. Just as a sneak peek I have about 25 chapters planned. So at the rate of changes that we are going, we won't remain with the anime for much longer.

Special announcement: Some later chapters will include links to concept art for events and or characters that come up later in the story.

Thank you for your continued support and enjoy The Jian Bird Chapter 2: Squad 13.

Goro was stunned as were the rest of members of Squad 13. His friend Hiro, was the last person he had excepted to emerge from that FRANXX. Wasn't he supposed to be on his way to the orphanage? And who was that beside him; that wasn't Naomi. There were so many questions that he needed answers to.

"Hiro!?" Cried his surprised partner Ichigo.

"That impossible!" Came the arrogant retort of Zorome.

Luckily for Goro the Plantation administrators Hachi and Nana were running towards the group now gathered around the deactivated FRANXX. Turning he began to formulate one of his many questions that he was dying to ask, when Ichigo burst out "Is Hiro alright?!"

The female administrator Nana gave the vaguest answer she could possibly give in his opinion. "We are unsure."

Well, that was helpful he thought irritably. Not only was he confused but now he had to add concern for his friend to the list.

He watched as the girl supporting Hiro lowered him to the floor of the faceplate. Still staring at her he watched as she tucked her pink hair behind her ear and turned her head to look at Hiro. That was when he noticed the two small crimson horns protruding from just above her forehead. "Who is that girl?" he pondered aloud.

"That's Zero Two." Came a voice from behind him.

Jumping about a foot in the air and scared half to death he spun around. Behind him was Dr. Franxx; a bent over old man with half a mechanical face. If it had been anyone else when he would have cursed them into oblivion; but seeing how Dr. Franxx, was the inventor of the FRANXXs he thought that might be a bad and potentially dangerous idea.

"Wait a minute. She's not the Zero Two that supposedly kills her partner's is she." Miku interjected startled.

Surely, she doesn't actually kill her partner though; does she!?" Yelped a scared Kokoro.

"I heard that if she rides with any Stamen for three times then they die." Was Misturu's unconcerned reply.

"He looks fine though." Kokoro's partner Furoshi contributed.

Goro and the rest of the squad turned expectantly towards Dr. Franxx; hoping that he would fill in the details by answering their questions.

"I guess we should go and ask him." Stated the doctor leaning on his walking stick as he began to plod his way forward.

His attention solely focused on their conversation; he hadn't realized that while they had been talking Hiro and that mysterious girl Zero Two had made their way down to the ground. He and Ichigo were the first ones over; questions of concern bursting from their lips before they had even arrived.

"Are you alright!?" Both he and Ichigo demanded as they skidded to a halt right in front of Hiro.

"Yes, I'm fine." Was Hiro's reply has he waved for them to calm down. "I was never in any danger."

He and Ichigo quickly looked at each other both thinking the exact same thing and simultaneously agreeing that this was not the right time to bring it up.

When he returned his gaze to normal he noticed that Zero Two was looking at Hiro with an odd expression on her face. Her face seemed to be a mix of surprise, longing, and desperation all mixed into one. By now the rest of the squad had caught up and had questions of their own. Hiro answered them all smiling and reassuring. Goro noticed however that Hiro never truly gave them his full attention and his teal green eyes seemed to keep wandering back to that mysterious girl. I wonder how these two had met? He was almost certain that he had never seen anyone with horns, either at the orphanage or Plantation 13.

"Wheres Naomi?" Inquired Ikuno suddenly.

He watched as pain spread over Hiro's face and Goro knew that whatever the answer was it wasn't good.

"I.. Don't know." Hiro finally replied, his voiced shaking with emotion. "She didn't let me enter the transport with her and." Hiro gathered himself and continued. "When the Klaxosaur attacked it, it destroyed the transport she was in."

The group fell silent as the impact of what Hiro had just said hit them like a ton of bricks.

"So she's dead?" Came Miku's sad voice; sounding as if she didn't want to believe it.

"That would be the safest guess." Her partner Zorome replied sadly.

He and the rest of the group were silent for a few minutes; each processing in their own way, the loss of one of their squad mates. Her presence would be sorely missed. Naomi had never been the center of attention but her kindness and willingness to lend support had made her an important part of everyone's lives. He knew this would be an especially hard blow for Ikuno since her and Naomi had always been close and got along especially well.

Their melancholy was interrupted by the return of the plantation administrators who had just got back from investigating the deactivated FRANXX.

"It's time to return to the plantation." Came the voice of Hachi.

Silently the group started to make their way back towards the plantation. The ghost of the one no longer with them almost hanging in the air.

"Sir we have erased Code *1* .s. However there are fragments of Code **2 that we cannot era..e." "tRy.. again THey are…unnecessary noise." "Sir a second time may damage … brain." "Very well; leave them for now. I will make my final decision later."

"My first pretty thing." "Da….. li..g."

The warm morning sun was shining through the window to the boy's dorm; it's gentle rays slowly urging him awake. Hiro groggily opened his eyes and stared up at the bunk above him. He had just had the strangest dream. All he remembered of his dream were broken fragments of voices but who they belonged to was still a mystery. What he found odd however was that most of his normal dreams were abstract and very hard to piece together after the fact. This dream, however; or at least the pieces he could remember were vividly clear and easy to understand.

Sighing he got up and notice that all of the beds were empty. Grabbing his clothes from the dispenser he put them on; taking extra care to make sure everything was neat and that nothing was bent out of shape. He wasn't sure why he had the sudden urge to do this but something told him that he should. Once he was finished he stopped at the wall mirror that hung by the door. His wild jet black hair framed his face and his eyes were their usually shaded of teal green.

Satisfied he made his way to the door and opening it walked out into the hall. Before he descended the stairs he stopped at a picture of Squad 13 on the wall. He looked at everyone's smiling face until his eyes came to rest on Naomi. She looked so innocent in this picture. Her chestnut brown hair and eyes were matched only be her kind smile.

"You deserved better than me." He said sadly to the picture. "If I'd only have been more capable then perhaps you would have been spared."

Sighing he turned away and began to make his way down the stairs towards the entrance hall. It felt like it took forever but finally, he reached the bottom.

"Are you feeling alright." He heard someone call. Turning he saw his friend Ichigo descending the stars behind him. As per usual her, navy blue hair was arranged so that it hung by the right side of her face and her eyes sparkled their usual lime green.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Was his offhand reply.

"Come on, I know you better than that." She insisted.

"I was just thinking of Naomi." He said sadly. "Tell me have the administrators said anything about the crash?"

"They have actually." Ichigo said hesitantly; sounding as if she wished that she didn't have to answer. She took a deep breath and continued. "The search teams haven't been able to find anything except the wreckage. They have even searched the surrounding area and there is not a trace of her anywhere. "

Sighing the only reply he could come up with was. "Well if they do, please let me know."

"Of course." She said immediately.

Turning he began to make his way towards the mess hall. Trying to think of anything except Naomi he wondered if Zero Two was still around and if he would see her again. After they had defeated the Klaxosaur she had been collected by a group of plantations guards and he hadn't seen her since. Papa must really want to keep an eye on her since every time she got out of their grasp, guards never seemed to be very far behind.

He was only a few feet away from the door to the mess hall when Goro stuck his head out. Goro liked to keep his short yellow hair wild, and he wore narrow lensed glasses which framed his hazelnut eyes.

"Hey Hiro get in here, that girl is in our mess hall." Goro said quickly.

Hiro heard Ichigo's sharp intake of breath from behind him before he started forward to investigate if what Goro said was true. Sure enough, there was Zero Two sitting with a table to herself and looking preoccupied but very pleased. Walking a few more steps he saw that she was pouring a giant jug of honey over everything on her plate. It didn't matter if it was ham, sausage, bread, or fruit; if it was on her plate then it was covered in a liberal coating of honey. He watched in fascination as she picked up a massive slab of honey dripping ham and stuffed it into her mouth. Although he found the action quite endearing and secretly wanted to try it himself; he heard whispers of disgust and confusion from several members of the squad. Taking his seat he continued to watch as she poured more honey on a bun and stuffed that in her mouth too. Still transfixed by her he watched as she intently licked all the honey from her right hand.

"Hopefully she doesn't ruin her good looks with the ways she's eating." His friend Goro commented.

"I can't believe all her injuries healed so quickly." He said as a way of response.

Realizing what he had just said his immediate thought was. "Wait a minute her injuries are healed!" He screwed up his face in concentration trying to remember back to their meeting on the walkway. "Hadn't she been bleeding?" Turning his head he looked her up and down and couldn't find a single cut, scratch, or blemish of any kind. "I could have sworn that she had been injured." He thought to himself.

His mussing were interrupted by the sound of Zorome's voice who had just walked over and stood beside Zero Two.

"Hey there." He said, his arrogant voice was like nails on a chalkboard to Hiro's ears. "It was a real treat to watch your skills in action. If you so desire I, Zorome the Great, shall most graciously ride with you. I am sure that I could outperform with ease whatever merger skill that wuss was able to accomplish."

Hiro was not going to listen to the rest of this. He gritted his teeth and turned away as the sudden urge to punch that arrogant brat, came over him like a wave crashing against the shore. He knew that Zorome had problems with his self-esteem and was constantly looking for people, most of all Papa, to verify his achievements. His appearance even exacerbated this problem in Hiro's opinion. Zorome had extravagant purple eyes and wild light brown hair that seemed to just be begging for attention. He also knew that Zorome's strong dislike of him was because Hiro was constantly given attention from the high ups due to his low code number. Even if he understood why Zorome might feel the way he did; he still found it really hard to try and forgive Zorome for hating him for something that he couldn't control.

"What do you think you are doing! These are my best pair of clothes!" Shrieked Zorome.

Hiro smirked to himself. He didn't know what Zero Two had done but anything that made Zorome give that reaction he approved of. Lost in his amusement of the whole situation he didn't notice that Zero Two had moved until she scooted onto the chair he was sitting on.

He started in surprise and was about to ask a question when Zero Two began to speak. "This is much better. Let's eat together, okay?"

She grabbed the honey jar from the table in front of them and began to pour it over his food; her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth as she worked. After she was satisfied she dipped the tip of her finger into the honey and popped it in her mouth.

"Um, Zero Two, would you let me pilot your FRANXX again?" He asked after a moments pause.

"Of course." She said immediately; removing her finger from mouth. "After all you are my partner." "Darling." Seductively tracing his lips with her finger as she said the last word.

"D-Darling?" The squad repeated in confusion.

Although he heard the rest of the squad question amongst themselves; his whole attention was focused entirely on Zero Two and her smile. He was forced to look away however when Nana walked into the mess hall.

"Alright everybody, settle down I have some announcements to make." Smiling she said. "First, I have been assigned as your caretaker just like I was back at the orphanage." A general note of approval went around the room. "Secondly, you are scheduled to test drive in your real FRANXXs in an hour so don't be late." There was a buzz of excitement as everybody started talking to each other at once.

Hiro heard over the buzz of conversation Ichigo ask. "Nana is Hiro really going to be her partner."

Nana looked over at Zero Two and answered in a voice of somewhat irritation. "We're still awaiting orders from HQ on what to do with Zero Two. But for the moment, she has not been assigned a partner or a place among your squad." She made sure to add special emphasis to the last part of her sentence. "Now Zero Two come with me."

Before Hiro could do more than protest feebly, Zero Two got up and muttering walked over to the administrator. Getting up he asked the administrator. "If I am not her partner then what is my place in Squad 13?"

"Papa will give you your orders in due time. Please just sit tight until then." Nana replied softening her voice. She and Zero Two then walked out before he could ask anything more.

Disheartened he sat down and ate the food that Zero Two had cover in honey. This helped his mood quite a bit and he decided that while the rest of the Squad was doing their drive he would grab some extra practice in the training FRANXX. If the time did come when he was allowed to pilot with her then the least he could do was be prepared for it.

Once he was finished he left the mess hall and made his way towards the elevators that lead into the plantation. From there he would make his way towards the FRANXX center and find the changing room.

When the elevator arrived he stepped in and was about to close the door when Ichigo called to him. Looking up he saw her running towards the door. Quickly he jammed the hold button and waited for her to arrive.

"Thanks." She said, stepping in.

Hiro knew that Ichigo was squad leader and knew that because of this fact she liked to be one step ahead of everybody. She was probably going to the FRANXX center as well since the squad was on the verge of its first real test drive. The elevator was quiet until Ichigo broke the silence.

"Are you really going to pilot that FRANXX with her again." She asked

"Yes." He answered simply.

"You know, I have heard rumors about her." She said. "Supposedly none of her partners could ride with her more than three times." Continuing she said. "I don't know if its true but, I think, to be safe, you should stay away from her."

"If I can't pilot, I'm as good as dead anyway." He replied. Luckily for him, the elevator arrived at the landing and he had an excuse to depart from her since the boy's and girl's changing rooms were in opposite directions.

He should have been scared of Zero Two after what Ichigo had said but he wasn't. There was just something about that girl that fascinated him so much and he couldn't bring himself to be scared of her. If those rumors where true then she had probably been feared and hated her whole life. The monster that nobody wanted and everybody feared. He thought back to their first meeting. "I'm always alone. Thanks to these horns." Her voice echoing in his mind. No! He wouldn't become another one of those people. He knew that somewhere deep down she was probably just as vulnerable and hurt as everyone else. She had just been forced to hide herself away and she needed someone to help her find her way out.

He arrived at the changing room and opened the door. Spotting his locker he walked over to it and began to take off his uniform. While he was doing this Mitsuru walked in and gave him his usual disinterested glare. Mitsuru's eyes were narrow and looked like two chips of hard flint. His slicked backed hair made him look even more like a condescending jerk. Mitsuru had always disliked Hiro and he wasn't quite sure why. Has far as he could remember he hadn't done anything to deserve such treatment.

Once he was finished undressing he grabbed his skin-tight parasite suit and pulled it on. Glad of his excuse to leave he exited back out the door he had come through and walked to the main lobby. Most of the areas here were off limits and even if they weren't the only reason a parasite might come here was to train. It was true that the lobby could lead to the launch bay but seeing how the changing rooms and briefing room had their own paths that lead straight to that location there was little it offered.

Walking over to the massive window that observed the training room he looked down. The familiar room was empty as he had expected. "Maybe someday all the time I spent in here will pay off." He thought. Walking over to a lift he descended until he reached the ground floor and then made his way over to the training FRANXXs. His usually FRANXX was available and ready for use. He had always been attached to this one. He wasn't sure why; it was the exact same as any of the others but if it was available he took it. "02." He said reading its designation number. "Thanks for bearing my failures for all these years. Hopefully just one more time my friend; just one more time." The last words he whispered almost as if praying.

Getting in he sat down at the controls and stretched his arms and neck. He was going to be here for a while. The rest of Squad 13 would be gone for most of the day as they got accustomed to their real FRANXXs. Today he needed to master the Mega-lance which was the only weapon available that was similar to the one that Zero Two's FRANXX used. Flecking his fingers he powered up the training FRANXX. The FRANXX hummed alive around him and grabbing the controls he took a few steps forward. Once he was in the center of the room he called out. "Computer. Activate Mega-lance training excise. Programs novice through master. Set difficulty to max." He twisted the control handles and the FRANXX reached out to grab the Mega-lance that had been provided.

"Program ready." A computerized female voice called back.

"Begin." He said.

"That's my Darling." Whispered Zero Two approvingly; as she quietly sat observing from the window above Hiro.

"Program complete. You have finished the Mega-lance training course." Sounded the computerized female voice.

Sighing he whipped the sweat from his brow. It had been a long day and he had only taken very short rests.

"Well, at least I am somewhat prepared." He said to himself. Turning he piloted the FRANXX back to its docking socket. Shutting down he opened the cockpit and got out. Looking at the clock on the wall he saw that he had been here for almost eight hours. Finally getting to the lift he rode it up until he reached the lobby. "The Squad should be back by now." He pondered as he walked his way back to the changing rooms. Quickly he got undressed and took a hot shower.

The water felt like heaven on his aching muscles and for a few seconds, he just stood there as the water fell over him. "The Mega-lance was a satisfying weapon to use." He thought to himself. "It was light enough that is could be wielded in one hand which allowed for quick blocks or counter attacks. But it also possessed enough weight for devastating power blows and savage thrusts."

When he had finished his shower he dried himself off and got dressed quickly. He needed to get back to Mistilteinn; his friends were probably wondering where he was and admittedly he probably had been gone for too long. Exiting he made his way towards the elevators. He was about to call the elevator when out of the corner of his eye he spotted Zero sitting next to a pole. When he walked over to her, he noticed that she was curled up in a ball with her head resting on her knees. She also appeared to be asleep because aside from her light breathing she wasn't moving. He was going to wake her up but instead gazed at her horns. This was the first time he had ever seen them this close. Her horns a pawn closer inspection had an almost crystalline structure and with their crimson red color, they almost looked like they were made of ruby. The only word that he could think to describe them was, beautiful.

"Darling, you pervert." She said softly interrupting his thoughts. "Quit staring."

"S-Sorry!" He said in surprise reeling back.

"It's fine. The doctor says that parasites are better off being a little pervy." She said with a smile.

"Still, why does that make me a pervert?" He asked halfheartedly.

Getting up she stretched and said. "I was tired of waiting for you. Let's go."

Turning, she made her way towards an exit off the main lobby.

"Huh? Where are we going?" He asked as he started off after her.

She didn't answer but continued walking down the corridor she had chosen. Up ahead was a security forcefield. Why she had picked this corridor caught him as odd since none of the parasites had the security clearance to pass through that field. When she reached it however she passed through without encountering any resistance at all. He made to do the same but as he originally predicted the forcefield refused to let him through and made a loud beep. Turning she looked questioningly at him.

"We children have restrictions on where we're allowed to go. Nearly all of this area is off-limits to us." He provided as a way of explanations.

"Oh?" Turning she held up her hand and smiled.

"Is that an S-class ID?" He said astonished.

Saying nothing she walked through the barrier again and put one arm around his waist and grabbed his hand with one of hers.

"Wh-What are you doing?" He asked confused.

"If we go through together, like this.." And in an almost waltz-like motion, they walked through the barrier.

"I got in!" He said astonished.

Letting go of him she ran forward a few steps and gave a little bow. "See? Piece of cake."

The door at the end of the hallway opened onto a vast balcony that overlooked a sparkling golden city.

"Wow! This is amazing!" He gasped. "How did you know about this place?" He continued still in astonishment.

"All the plantations have similar designs. This is nothing special." She said disinterestedly.

"Really? I've never set foot in the city before. All I have ever known is Mistilteinn and a few other facilities." He said still in somewhat awe.

"This is all just a mask to hide behind." She said with just a slight note of disgust in her voice.

The way she said those words caught Hiro as odd and for some reason; he got the feeling that she was talking about more than just the city.

"What is the mask hiding?" He inquired curiously.

"What humanity has become." She stated simply. "A series of dead one-way streets that lead nowhere."

With that, she jumped over the rail and onto a narrow beam that hung over the endless city. She walked forward until she was standing at the very end.

"That's not safe!" He shouted in horror. "Please come back over here."

"Say, darling." She said interrupting him and turning she looked him straight in the eye. "Do you wanna run away with me? I can get you out of here, darling."

"Get you out. Get you out. Get you out." Echoed through his mind.

Glass smashed. A little red figure wearing a black ragged coat was huddled in a corner of a blank room. A voice called from a branch outside. "Come with me! I can get you out of here!" A small pink hand reached forward almost pleading with the figure to come with him. "Please!"

"Please! Please! Please!" Snapping back to reality he saw Zero Two cartwheeling on the beam toward him. Before she reached him she flipped into the air and landed next to him.

"Just kidding." She said sweetly.

"Don't do that ever again! You could have gotten yourself killed!" He said with more intensity then he had meant to.

A loud beeping came from his communicator before he could continue. Irritably he pulled it out and accepted the voice call that he had just been sent.

"Hello." He called into the communicator.

"Hiro." Called the voice of Nana. "Come to the briefing room; your squamates will meet you there."

"Roger." He called back and hung up.

Lifting his head he saw that Zero Two was looking at him with a strange look on her face. It was very difficult to read and kind of looked like it was a mixer of surprise, hope, and sorrow all at once.

"I shouldn't have shouted." He said apologetically. "I'm not sure what came over me."

"You're fine." She said in her usual tone. "In fact, I think this may be the first time anyone's ever worried about my safety before."

"Oh." He said lamely feeling the heat crawl up his face.

"Don't we have a meeting to get to?" She said teasing.

"Y-Yes. Of course. We should be going." He said recovering.

Squad 13 was already in the briefing room when they arrived. Silently he and Zero Two took a seat on one of the benches.

Without any preamble, Hachi began to speak. "We would like to confirm the piloting abilities of Code 016. So Code 016 is going to participate in a mock battle."

"A mock battle with me in an actual FRANXX?" Hiro said in surprise.

"Yes, that is correct." Answer Nana simply. "Based on how you perform here we're considering promoting you to a parasite."

"Congrats." Goro whispered from behind him.

"Thanks." He whispered back; still in some shock. This could be it. Would he finally be able to serve his purpose? Did this mean Zero Two was joining Squad 13? "I really hope that's the case." He thought to himself. Just at the thought of it, his heart started to beat a little faster.

As if a dream was coming true he heard Hachi say. "Pick your partner."

"I'll do it." Zero Two said before Hachi had even finished speaking.

"Zero Two." He said relieved.

"Well I mean, you are my darling." She said as if stating an obvious fact.

"One moment." Ichigo interrupted. "Let me be his partner."

"Ichigo?" He said aghast.

Ignoring him Ichigo plowed on. "She doesn't belong to our squad. Also, if you're only measuring Hiro's aptitude, then it should work with me as his partner."

"Then why does it have to be you?" Mitsuru said. "You already have Goro as a partner, and you want to ride with Hiro?"

"I agree with Ichigo." Goro interjected. "Ichigo has the highest aptitude numbers of the whole squad. If anybody can draw out or demonstrate Hiro's abilities it's her."

"That answer was ready way to quickly." Hiro thought to himself. He couldn't help but get the feeling that Goro and Ichigo knew what they were going to say long before they had ever gotten to this meeting. His question was "Why? Did they know something about Zero Two?" He doubted it. He had spent by far the most time with her compared to the rest of the squad.

"Pipe Down." Nana said. Interrupting his thoughts.

Nana directed her words at Zero Two. "HQ hasn't authorized the use of Strelizia. So Hiro will need to take the test with one of his squad.

"Well, that sucks." Zero Two said dryly.

Getting up she said. "Fine. My injuries haven't healed completely yet, anyway."

"Wait, what?" Hiro said surprise and concern entering his voice.

Ignoring him Zero Two walked over to Ichigo and said slyly. "I'll let you have him this time. Go for it." She then bent over and whispered something in Ichigo's ear before turning and leaving.

"So you'll handle it, right, Ichigo?" Nana said

"Yes, of course." Ichigo replied after a moments pause.

"Who will volunteer as their opponents?" Hachi asked.

"Me!" Zorome said instantly.

"Hey who died and made you boss?" His partner Miku said her attitude as fiery as her red hair.

"I'm gonna show 'em what I'm capable of." Zorome replied.

Sighing Miku said. "Fine, we'll do it."

"Done." Nana said quickly.

"The fight will be scheduled for tomorrow morning." Hachi began speaking.

"Wait! Let's do it right now." Zorome interjected.

"Very well." Hachi said tapping his datapad. " The necessary FRANXXs will be placed outside the plantation in thirty minutes. Don't be late."

Hiro stepped into the area that had been set up outside the plantation. Since Earth was nothing but a barren waste land that was only fit to be harvested for magma energy; all the administrators had to do was move the FRANXXs outside. Both the FRANXXs where kneeing at opposite ends of the area and waiting for their pilots.

Each FRANXX was designed to embody its female pilot, due to the fact that the females were the ones who interfaced directly with the FRANXX. The males filled a more guidance and support role. They were the ones who had the initiative with the controls so it was their job to be alert and know how to best use the FRANXX to its maximum potential. In an ideal world however, both the male and female aspects of the FRANXX would become one; and the FRANXX would be the embodiment of a combined mind. This was unheard of however since no parasite team had ever reached the sync rate required to achieve such a feat.

Ichigo was standing by her FRANXX Delphinium, and looking somewhat nervous. She was already in her skin tight parasite suit. All the female suits had the same design with a headpiece that functioned as a display and control handles that deployed from their legs when in use.

Slowly he made his way over to her. He wasn't sure how he felt about this whole ordeal. On one hand, he really wanted to prove that he was a capable parasite. On the other however, he felt that this was going to end in a similar way that it had every other time. He wondered why that the only person he had ever been able to sync with was Zero Two. The only reason he could think of is that Zero Two felt so familiar to him. But that made no sense since he had only met her a little over 24 hours ago. "Life does the strangest things." He muttered to himself.

"You ready?" Ichigo said when he had finally meandered his way over.

"Yep. Let's do this." He said with a smile.

They both walked over to the mobile lift that had been provided and began to ascend. From his rising vantage point, he saw Zero Two, Nana, Hachi, the members of Squad 13 who weren't participating, and. "Is that Dr. Franxx?" He said allowed.

Ichigo looked and yelped. "I think it is!"

"I wonder what he's doing here?" He pondered allowed.

"Beats me." She said confused.

They arrived that the Delphimium's head a few moments later. Reaching out Hiro touched his hand to the FRANXX. The hard metal felt cold and stiff beneath his hand. The faceplate to the FRANXX opened a few moments later revealing the entrance to the cockpit. The door opened and they took their places inside. Hiro sat at the back and Ichigo was kneeling on all fours in front of him.

"Alright, wuss lets see what you're made of" Called Zorome's voice over the communicator.

"Commence syncing." Hachi's voice called.

A few moments later he heard Zorome and Miku call. "Ready!"

Ichigo deployed the controls and activated her display. "Just focus on connecting, Hiro. I'll take care of the rest."

"Got it." He replied.

Reaching forward he grabbed the controls. The display on Ichigo's head came alive as her sync rate flew to the max. His rate, however, had barely moved at all.

"Just relax and focus Hiro." Ichigo called over her shoulder.

He took a deep breath and tried to connect. Grasping, he desperately searched for Ichigo's mind. His sync just rate dropped even further and was now hovering dangerously close to zero.

Faintly he heard Hachi's ever so familiar count down. "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One." "Timed out." "The mock battle is over." "Delphinium's parasite team has failed to sync in time. The battle is forfeit to Argentea's team. Both teams please return to the ground."

"Well, I was expecting more of a challenge. I guess those low code numbers don't amount to very much." Came Zorome's sneering lear.

Hiro didn't even listen he just got up and walked numbly to the lift. Ichigo joined him a few seconds later and they descended in silence. Numbly he thought. "Here I am being tied to the ground once more. I wonder. Will I ever fly?"

Authors note:

Thank you for reading Chapter 2: Squad 13 of the Jian Bird.

If you have questions or feedback feel free to let me know.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of The Jian Bird: Connections