Outside the Klaxosaur that trapped Delphinium, Squad 13 and Squad 26 discussed among each other in their Franxx units as Heliconia, the new incident commander, prepared a plan of attack and rescue. It had been about 45 minutes since Delphinium got trapped inside the Franxx, and the Klaxosaur itself would hit Cerasus in another hour and a half. Yasuto, discussing to Code 090 about the operation, pointed out with Heliconia, "Okay, so do you see that X-shaped hole on top of the Klaxosaur?"

"Yeah," 090, who was in one of two Franxx sent on the RIT assignment, replied to him. "What's up with that?"

"It's like an exhaust port," Yasuto replied. "That seems to be the safest entryway into this bastard. Any other way, and we risk getting trapped ourselves."

Then, they both were interrupted by a dispatcher from Cerasus. "Cerasus Headquarters to Command, prepare to receive information on your MDT."

"Command, 10-4," Yasuto replied. Heliconia then turned back to 090's Franxx. "Okay, we're getting info on this guy. I'll send it to you as soon as it's done loading for me."

Kyouko could see the information as it came in, and read some of it out loud. "Okay, it says that the fluid in the sac of the Klaxosaur is not harmful to Franxx units, however it is toxic to humans and should not be consumed. It powers the Klaxosaur, and is similar in viscosity and flammability to... To Napalm?! Guys, this thing is literally using its fuel to explode to deal with threats!"

"Fuck," Yasuto muttered as he realized the rescue would be more difficult than he realized. "This will be hard."

"I got an idea," 090 replied to him, thinking of an idea that would save them both. "Me and 245's Franxx units are gonna go in from the top. As long as we aren't caught in any explosions, we should be able to still operate inside the Klaxosaur. I'll grab Delphinium and drag it out, while 245 kills the Klaxosaur."

Kyouko remarked with a sigh, "Well, it's the only option we got left."

...

Inside Delphinium, the air was getting tighter as Goro and Ichigo were running out of breathable air. All Franxx units had at a minimum enough emergency compressed air and oxygen to supply a cut off cockpit for 4 hours, but only if one person was inside. They both were sweating profusely from the heat, and both wondered if help would reach them in time. Ichigo asked Goro as she wiped sweat off of her forehead, "Goro, I gotta ask. When was it that you began to like me? Like... Consider me how Zero Two sees Hiro?" It somewhat hurt her to say those words, given her feelings for Hiro, but she had to phrase it that way.

"I didn't realize it until Zero Two explained it to us," Goro told her. "But I think it was in the Garden. Yes, definitely. I fell in love with you in the Garden. I'm just glad I got to tell you how I felt. I don't... I don't particularly care if you end up with Hiro like that... You'd be in good hands with him. I was probably a bit selfish in confessing to you, and for that, I apologize."

Ichigo felt terrible. She felt guilty for the fact that Goro loved her though she had feelings for Hiro. At the same time, though, a part of her was telling her that perhaps Goro was not a bad person to be with if Hiro did not work out. "No, don't be. I'm the one that's sorry about all this. I really am."

"It's not your fault," Goro assured her. "Really... You can't help the way you feel about Hiro, and I can't help the way I feel about you." Wanting time change subject matter, he decided to ask her a seemingly random question. "Hey, Ichigo, what do you see when you're connected?"

"When I'm connected?" Ichigo thought to herself for a second. "I just close my eyes, but I don't see pitch black when I close them. I instead fly through something... I can't really visually describe it, but it's like I'm seeing the inner thoughts of whoever I'm riding with. After the connection is complete, I wake up, but I'm not in my own body anymore. No... I'm actually in Delphinium. Apparently, according to scientists, my physical body is unconscious and unresponsive the whole time."

"Yeah," Goro confirmed. "Your actual body inside the Franxx doesn't move or speak at all. It did twitch a bit when that liquid from that clothing-dissolving Franxx attacked us, but that's it."

"Not every Franxx is like that, though," Ichigo continued. "You know, me, you, and Hiro used to have long run-on conversations about stuff like this, and I'm glad that in our possibly last moments, we're having one..." She then let out a chuckle. "Anyway, I know that the Franxx that Yasuto-oniisan and Kyouko-oneesan are in lets the pistil move around within her restraints in the Franxx cockpit. A few more advanced Franxx also have it, but Heliconia has been modified so much from its original incarnation that Kyouko's face still appears on the face of Heliconia even though her body is more free inside. She told me she can switch off this connection to talk to Yasuto privately, though. It's a whole complicated thing, really."

Goro smiled. "I'm glad that we're getting back into this. We haven't had a conversation like this in a while. As for me, I just see whatever's in front of me. It's boring, really."

"Oh, shut up," Ichigo weakly shoved Goro playfully in response. "It's not boring. Don't sell yourself short like that."

"I guess you're right," Goro remarked. "Especially when you're in my view." He then coughed after swallowing some sweat down the wrong hole. "Agh, damn it. Choked a bit on my own sweat."

Ichigo then slowly and tiredly moved her body up next to Goro's, getting about ready to pass out. "Goro, listen, you know I love Hiro, but... If we're gonna die in here, I'm glad it would be by your side." She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, ready to accept what seemed like an inevitability. "Staying in here with you for so long got me thinking about a lot of the decisions I've made, and a lot of the decisions that were made for me. I think... I think I've lived a good life."

"Yeah," Goro replied to her, also ready to accept his own fate. "I have, too." The two closed their eyes and prepared to accept their fate. Now, death seemed peaceful to them, instead of the frightening menace it had been before.

Then, they both were jolted awake by a sudden shift in Delphinium. As they looked around and wondered what caused it, Code 090's voice came through on the radio. "Delphinium, this is Code 090 and Code 170, we got you. We're dragging your unit out now."

Goro and Ichigo smiled, realizing the help they had been promised had now come. Goro radioed back to Code 090, "Thank you! You guys got us at the right time!" As they both felt Delphinium move by being dragged by 090 and 170's Franxx, he told Ichigo with joy in his voice, "Looks like we get to fight another day, Ichigo."

...

The day after, the team relaxed at Mistilteinn, all relieved by the successful rescue of Goro and Ichigo. However, Kokoro was not too active or social for the day, and had largely stayed upstairs in the girl's dorm room, not even getting fully-dressed. While she had been a bit on the cranky side the day before, today, she was rather quiet and moody. Downstairs, her partner, Futoshi, wondered why she had acted so to the others in the front living room. He exclaimed in his comically protective tone, "Why does Kokoro have to suffer alone? I don't want her to, since I'm her partner!"

"It just happens about once a month," Ikuno explained to him. "And for some reason, only the girls go through it. Trust me, though, you boys should consider yourselves lucky you don't. It varies between us, and each time. Kokoro's just always had more painful 'bleeding times' than any of us, but this time must be pretty bad." It was clear none of the girls except Kyouko knew the true purpose or name of their periods. Kyouko had not told them due to not wanting to get in trouble, and also referred to it as the 'bleeding times' as they did. "There's really nothing that can be done, at least nothing that you could do. I'm glad you're concerned about her, though. That says a lot." Ikuno was both genuinely glad Futoshi had the most concern out of the boys about this, but also intended it as a minor dis at Mitsuru. "Not every boy shows concern." Mitsuru simply ignored the remark.

"My bleeding times used to be super painful sometimes," Kyouko remarked. "They weren't always, but I'd say about two-third of the times I got them in the year, I ended up in Kokoro's shoes. Thing is, once I was like almost 16, the pain gradually lessened, and now, I'd say I end up in Kokoro's shoes maybe three times at the most per year, not like six or seven. One year, the first full year I got them, I had eight. That shit suuuuuuucked."

Miku laughed in response. "Woah... I've had bad ones, but... I think I'd rather get eaten by a Klaxosaur than go through eight painful ones in a year."

...

About half an hour later, as Kokoro laid in bed and read through the book she had found at the beach, hoping to make up for lost time due to how busy they had been and finish the book, she wondered to herself why the Adults had never taught her or anyone else the things in the book. She knew such information was forbidden due to Kyouko's warnings, but wondered why. "I wish I had been taught this before I started bleeding from my fucking crotch," she thought to herself, the pain from her cramps making her uncharacteristically vulgar and angry in her head. "At least I wouldn't be driven so mad from this shit. At least I'd be able to take some comfort, no matter how little, in the fact that it actually had an important purpose other than to make my abdomen and lower back feel like they're getting fucking skewered by Satan's pitchfork once a God damn month! Well, that, and to stain my clothes with blood unless I take precautions!" She then closed the book and sighed, speaking to herself. "I fucking hate this pain. Now that I know about it, I don't mind the actual reason behind it, but I just wish I felt less pain. I don't even mind the blood or anything. I just want there to be less damn pain."

Then, she heard a knock at her door and slowly sat up in bed, not caring that she was naked aside from her lower underwear. She was not expecting a visitor, and wondered who it was or why they were there. She decided to hold off on replying to see what they would do, and sure enough, they knocked again, this time also speaking. As soon as she hears the voice, she blushed and grabbed the blanket, covering her chest up to her shoulders. "Kokoro," Mitsuru asked on the other side of the door. "Are you there? Miku sent me up here to see if you needed anything."

"Uhhh," Kokoro replied. "I mean, you can come in if you want. I don't mind." Mitsuru decided to comply, opening the door and walking in. As he noticed she was topless, he looked away, slightly embarrassed. "It's okay. That's what blankets are for."

"Right," Mitsuru replied as he sat down on the opposite bed.

"Why did Miku send you up here? I'm surprised she didn't send a girl, or at least Futoshi?" Kokoro did not mind his presence, but was curious.

"Actually," Mitsuru replied, admitting the truth. "She didn't. I just thought the idea of leaving you up here to your own devices was stupid. Plus, Futoshi was panicking over it, and I wanted to get him to calm down, so I told him I'd check on you, since he was afraid you'd react like you did with that stupid boys versus girls thing. Personally, I think that's a thing of the past, and I've certainly moved on from it." He sighed as he laid down on the bed. "So, this is the girls' room, huh?"

"Yeah," Kokoro replied. "I don't know what you were expecting, but it probably isn't much different from you guys' room."

Mitsuru nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, apologies if it's not a question you want to answer, but... How does it feel? The bleeding times?"

"The actual term is a period," Kokoro replied, using one hand to hold up the childbirth and sexual reproduction book to Mitsuru and her other hand to hold up the blanket covering herself. "Or, scientifically, menstruation. I won't say it out loud, but you can read Chapter 4 of the book to see the actual purpose of it." She reached over and handed the book to him, which he accepted. "Anyway, to answer your question, it depends, as you know. For me, my periods tend to be really painful. I try to remain calm and nice like my usual self, but I'd say I turn into Zorome or Miku inside my head." She then chuckled, glad she was able to bring some light into the situation. "The pain can differ, but mostly, it feels like two people playing five-finger fillet on my stomach or back and missing their fingers each time, coupled with the occasional massive headache."

Mitsuru could not help but smile at her analogy. "You must come up with colorful analogies for that pain. Also, I can't exactly picture you being cranky and mad all the time like those two."

Kokoro smiled, glad he was willing to listen and hear her out. "Yeah, I guess. When you're sitting here, withering in pain and wishing that your body would stop throwing a fucking hissy fit because you're not reproducing or however that book describes it, you tend to think up some interesting things to get your mind off the pain."

Mitsuru looked at her with surprise, not expecting her to be so vulgar with her words. "Holy shit... I don't think I've ever heard you drop an F-bomb before."

Kokoro looked to the window outside, looking to the sunlight beaming down into the room. "I know. Mitsuru, I'm not some shy and quiet nice girl all the time. We all have our moments of frustration." She then felt another pain begin to hit her in the lower abdomen. "Agh... Fucking Christ, not again... Here it comes..." She dropped the blanket, exposing her chest, but no longer caring that she had basically flashed Mitsuru.

Mitsuru, almost out of instinct, stood up from the bed and sat beside her, surprising her. "Kokoro, did it happen again?" In a rare moment for him, he showed deep concern in his facial expression and tone of voice.

Kokoro nodded through the pain. "Yeah... Thank you... Agh, shit..." She took a few deep breaths as the pain began to ebb and flow, the occasional tear flowing down her face as a result. "It feels like I'm being ripped open from the inside. I really, really hope we don't have to pilot any Franxx today. I'm not in the damn mood nor condition to do so." She then unexpectedly embraced Mitsuru, causing the young man to blush intensely, almost as intense as Kokoro had done when the Boys versus Girls incident had occurred. "Sorry about that, I just... I need this..."

The two were then interrupted when a voice called out to them as its owner walked in. "Kokoro, it's Miku. How are you doi-?" She stopped herself when she saw Kokoro and Mitsuru sitting on the same bed, with Kokoro's arms wrapped around him and him for comfort. All three of them paused as they processed in their heads what was going on. Miku was shocked to see Mitsuru in the room at all, let alone so close to Kokoro, and assumed the worst. "Mi-... Mi-... Mitsuru! Kokoro, what is he doing?!"

Kokoro immediately tried to calm her down by assuring her, "Miku, look, it's not what it looks li-"

Miku took a deep breath to calm herself as she turned to Mitsuru, suspicion in her eyes, and in a serious tone of voice asked him, "What are you doing here?"

Mitsuru calmly replied to her, "I thought the idea of just leaving her to her own devices up here while she's in so much pain was stupid, so I came up here."

Annoyed, the brunette replied back to him, "I get that, but boys don't really understand this pain."

"He's fine," Kokoro assured her. "In fact, him being up here kinda helped. I'm... I'm not too sure why, but it calmed me."

Miku sighed, wondering what to do with them. "It is what it is. Just, please, Mitsuru, don't do anything stupid. Kokoro, you might wanna consider putting something on. I'll be back later." She then left the room, walking down the hall and thinking to herself about what she saw. "Mitsuru and Kokoro are getting close again," Miku thought in her head. "I haven't seen this since the Garden. All three of us used to be close before he had his falling out with Hiro. After that, he practically ignored us, and it hurt. What exactly do those two have? They're not partners in a Franxx. I just don't want Kokoro to get into something she isn't prepared to handle and get hurt, whatever it is."

Inside the room, Mitsuru sat up, wondering if he should leave. "Maybe I should go. She has a point."

"No, wait," Kokoro asked of him. "Please, stay if you want. I already told you, I don't mind you being here. It gets my mind off the cramps. Don't worry about that." She then pulled her blanket up back over her chest to cover herself. "Maybe I shouldn't have flashed you like that. It probably gave Miku the wrong impression."

"I don't care," Mitsuru assured her. "I saw everything already. The initial shock and curiosity value is gone. Believe me, I got to see much more than I asked for of Ikuno by either accident or a prank, twice." The two then shared a laugh at the remark. "You know, I really don't know why I strayed away from you and Miku after what happened with me and Hiro. Maybe I just... Maybe I just wanted to be alone... Perhaps I felt like if Hiro betrayed me, you guys would have eventually as well."

"Like you said yourself with the Boys versus Girls incident," Kokoro replied to him. "That was in the past. We can turn a new leaf."

...

A few days later, the gang had gathered at the front foyer of Mistilteinn in their formal uniforms. They had been informed that they were to receive medals for their bravery in combat, and were to travel to the city below to do so. It was rare for most parasites to travel to the city, though not unheard of, especially for more specialized parasites within the APE Services Squads, to which Kyouko and Yasuto had once belonged to aside from their work in Pilot Defense Squads like Squad 9/15/13 or Frontline Squads. Zero Two herself had been in an APE Services Squad herself, the Nines, the most elite squad of any of the parasites in Zone 9 of the world, and perhaps the most elite of the Numbers Squads of all 22 zones.

As they mingled among themselves, Nana and Hachi then appeared before them in the front doorway, ready to lead them down. Nana addressed the group first, starting off with, "Alright, kids. Now that you're all gathered here today, before we go down, I just wanna say that I am proud of the achievements you all have made. Well, both of us are, excuse me. Anyway, we are both honored and privileged to be your caretakers. When I first caught wind of these awards, I was surprised APE was giving them out in this fashion, but believe me, I was not surprised at all that Squad 13 was chosen. You all have proven yourselves to be among the elite among the Pilot Defense Squads not only in Zone 9, but across the entire world. We've had our difficulties before, but we've never come across anything that we didn't overcome. Anyway, before I talk your ears off, let's travel. Thank you."

As the team began to walk out, Yasuto talked to Hiro and Zero Two, the latter of whom was wearing her normal red uniform. Kyouko and Yasuto themselves wore similar formal uniforms to the rest of Squad 13, but had additional cordions and citations on their jackets for their service they had already given. "I'm surprised you're not wearing your formal uniform," Yasuto noted to Zero Two. "This is a pretty big deal."

"Eh," Zero Two shrugged. "It's just more platitudes from the Adults."

Yasuto agreed with her, but still felt as if a formal uniform should be worn. "Don't get me wrong, I agree with you there, but still. I mean, it's not like everyday that us parasites get to go down to the city below their residence. Zorome looks pretty excited, as usual."

Indeed, Zorome was excited. He was practically jumping for joy at the thought of going down where the Adults lived. The three of them could overhear him talking to Futoshi, telling him, "This is going to be so rad! I'll be able to actually meet more Adults and see where and how they live, and maybe where and how I'll live one day! I've been dreaming of this day for a long time, and it's second only to the dream of actually becoming an Adult!"

Yasuto felt happy for him, but also felt a pang of sadness, knowing that his dreams were naive and would never become a reality. "Haha, yes. Innocence... I remember having that," he thought to himself. "I wonder just how he'll react when he finds out the truth. The truth that in some ways we are already or are at least close to being true adults, and not the perversion of that term, or that our life expectancy is only three and a half in the field due to our attrition rate. I've probably said and thought it to death, but APE and its collaborators will truly burn in Hell when they are judged, if the Abrahamic religions were right about the afterlife. Maybe the Jews, the Christians, the Muslims, and so on were onto something about that whole Heaven and Hell concept."

Meanwhile, Kyouko and Kokoro walked together for most of the way to the elevator. "So," Kyouko remarked to her. "You still feeling any pain?"

"Not anymore as much," Kokoro was thankfully able to report. "That one day I was in bed the whole time was the worst I've ever felt, hands down. Have you ever gotten it that bad?"

"Absolutely," Kyouko replied to her. "I got them that bad at your age, too, sometimes two months in a row. Now, the pain is nowhere near that level." She secretly thought to herself, "Hahaaa, birth control! Works wonders. I'm surprised they don't issue it as a period cramp relief medication or something instead of me having to basically steal a whole bunch whenever I make visits to the logistics area of plantations. You'd kill two birds with one stone: Reduce the amount of downtime for pistils by reducing the pain from cramps, and you'd prevent it at least massively reduce the risk of pregnancy if a stamen and a pistil get a bit freaky on the down-low. Isn't that the reason why they ban us from having sex anyway? Mass prescriptions of this stuff would remove any necessity for one, really! Of course, that makes too much sense, so APE would never do it. Speaking of, that reminds me. I need to make a pit stop at the medical facilities below..."