Present day at the orphanage was in full effect, every kid in his dorm was excitedly opening their present from Papa. Everybody always got what they requested. It was Papa's form of gratitude to show that he was thankful for their willingness to pilot the FRANXXs.

Hiro smiled down at a red backpack that he had gotten for his present. This is exactly what he needed. When he and the girl managed to escape, they would need some supplies to last them to the end of their journey. What better way to carry said supplies than in a backpack.

"Oh, you couldn't have come at a more perfect time." He whispered to the backpack.

Frankly, he was still marveling at how lucky he was that he had requested the very thing he needed before he ever knew that he needed it.

"Why did you ask for a backpack?" Ichigo asked, holding a new teddy bear in her arms.

He shrugged. "I didn't know what to get so I just flicked through the suggestions until I found something."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? Of all the things on that list you chose that?"

"I think it's cool." A shy Mitsuru said.

"Thank you." He said with joking relief. "Somebody understands me."

"I kind of wish, I'd asked for that too," Mitsuru added, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Don't worry." He said giving Mitsuru a smile. "There's always next year."

Mitsuru gave a small smile, but he could see a lot of pain and sadness hidden behind that expression.

"Is something wrong?" Ichigo asked, noticing the same sadness that he had.

Mitsuru shifted uncomfortably. "I…. I… Um… I h-haven't been doing very well on the tests lately… I'm… I'm afraid that Papa might take me away." Tears were sliding down his face, and he looked like he was making a massive effort to keep from sobbing. "I don't want to leave… I don't want the caretakers to take me away."

His heart ached for his friend. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like to feel the threat of being deemed obsolete. To feel like you were so worthless that Papa would discard you.

Mitsuru's struggle against his tears was becoming a futile effort and his body began to tremble with racking sobs.

Quickly he stood up, and pulled Mitsuru into a hug, pulling the boy close to his chest to hide his tears from anyone else in the dorm.

Now that Mitsuru was shielded from everyone else he began sobbing, his whole body convulsing and shaking in Hiro's arms.

"Shh…" He whispered in the ear of the sobbing Mitsuru. "It's going to be okay…"

"Yeah.." Ichigo said. Rubbing Mitsuru on the back, contributing her connection and support to him as well. "You won't be taken away, I promise."

Mitsuru dragged in a shaky breath, struggling to regain control of himself, from all of his fears suddenly bursting out at once. After another few moments, Mitsuru finally managed to drag himself out of his momentary fit of despair.

Hiro, felt Mitsuru give him an extra hard squeeze before the boy finally let go.

"Thanks, guys," Mitsuru said, hurriedly wiping the tears from his eyes.

"No worries." He said with a smile. "We're happy to be here to support you."

Mitsuru gave him an affectionate smile, and then all three of them went off to join the rest of the group.

He rubbed his arm, where the caretaker had given him his injections. He had just got back from the lab and was walking back towards the enclosure where everybody was playing.

"Stupid injections.." He muttered.

What were they even for, and why were they giving him so many? He felt absolutely no difference before or after, so what was the point? Maybe that meant they weren't working?



"Oh, whatever." He muttered. "I'll be gone soon anyway."

As he was walking he spotted a caretaker pushing a cart with piles of clothes that she had presumably just collected from all their dorms. Ignoring her he walked past and continued towards his destination.

He hadn't gotten very far, however, when a thought occurred to him. If I'm running away with the little girl, then she'll need a change of clothes and some snow gear. Slowly he turned around and watched as the caretaker began to leave.

"Today's my lucky day." He whispered triumphantly.

Carefully he started off after the caretaker, following far enough behind to keep her in view, but not close enough that he would be suspected of following her. As he followed her he kept himself on high alert, his eyes scanning for any sign that he might be spotted or that somebody else was following him.

Luckily nobody challenged him during his pursuit, and he was able to follow the caretaker.

Suddenly she stopped and touched a control panel on the wall. A door slid open and the caretaker began maneuvering the cart so that she could enter the room.

Immediately he felt the urge to rush forward but he stopped himself. If he ran now she would see him and he would be caught. Slowly the cart and then the caretaker disappeared into the room, and he was completely in the clear. The only thing he had to do now was get to the room before the door closed. Running he charged off down the hall towards the door, hoping beyond hope that he could get there in time.

"Come on. Come on." He urged, trying to gain even more speed.

He was only about three feet away from the door when it slid shut with a hiss. Silently he cursed as he skidded to a halt in front of the door. What was he supposed to do now? He needed to get that girl clothes but his only way of getting her any had just closed. What was he supposed to do!?

"Stop.." He hissed to himself. "Slow down and think."

He stood facing the door blankly for a few moments, not entirely sure what he should do.

"It's probably not as easy as pressing the controls." He muttered. Looking off to his right he spotted them, and sure enough, a code was required to get through the door. "Hmmm…."

"What to do… What to do.." He muttered.

After a minute of thinking came to the only possible solution that he could. He'd have to wait until the caretaker exited the room, and then slip in before the door closed. He gave a sigh. That plan would rely on a lot of luck. A lot of things would need to go his way for it to work. And that wasn't even to mention the fact that his whole plan relied on the caretaker not looking to the right. To confound his problem, even more, his whole plan relied on nobody else being in or walking in the room while he was in there.

"Breath Hiro. Breath." He whispered.

Best to not think about it and just do it.

Silently he waited, barely breathing trying to make as little noise as possible. Just when he was about to give up, the door to the room opened with a hiss. Backing away ever so slightly to hopefully keep out of sight of the caretaker.

"Just turn left." He mouthed. "Just turn left."

His unbelievable luck held. The caretaker miraculously just walked out and turned left immediately almost like a robot.

Almost not believe at how stupidly lucky he was, he quickly dashed into the room. He was just in time because a second later the door hissed shut behind him. Breathing a massive sigh of relief he looked around at the spoils of his victory. He stood in a room, filled with what looked like some massive machine. The clothes that the caretaker had just brought in were at one end of the machine, and at the end, he saw stacks of the white clothing everyone wore.

Elated at his success if made his way to the other end of the machine and found clothes all arranged by size, in neat stacks.

He broad smile crossed his face. He couldn't have asked for an easier solution. After staring at the pile for a few moments however his smile faded slightly. He had no idea, what size clothing would fit the girl.

Walking towards the girls' section of clothing he gazed at the different sizes, still not entirely sure what to get her. Struggling he did his best to recall how big the girl really was. The first memory he recalled was when he was on the branch and they were staring at each other. Unfortunately what wasn't going to really give him the information he needed. The black coat thing that she wore was baggy and oversized. He scowled in disgust. They had probably made it so big to make her feel as exposed as possible even when she was wearing something.

Regretfully and trying to spend as little time as possible thinking about it, he let his mind flick to the memory of her being tortured completely naked. Doing his best to not relive the worst parts of that memory he tried to picture what kind of clothes she would fit into.

Finally having a picture of her in his mind, he opened his eyes and selected a set of clothes that looked like they might hopefully fit. Satisfied that he had a complete set for both of them, he made his way over to another part of the room and found snow gear, all folded in neat piles.

As he stared at it he realized that he had a problem. A major problem. There was no way that he would be able to carry a set of clothes and snow gear for both of them back to his dorm.



"Damn." He muttered.

This would probably be his only chance to come in here, and he couldn't afford to risk another attempt. He stood there thinking for a few minutes but he eventually came to a decision.

"You need this more than I do." He whispered, putting back the clothes he had grabbed for himself. Satisfied that he had made the right decision he walked back over to the piles of snow gear and took out complete set for her.

By now his arms were pretty full, but he convinced himself that he had just a little more room. He glanced at the pile assessing what he might need.

Snow pants, he decided. Reaching an arm forward he grabbed a pair of snow pants for himself. He'd probably get away with wearing whatever gear, the caretakers provided him on his walk to the lab, but snow-pants were probably not something they were going to provide him.

Satisfied that he had everything, he made his way back over to the exit and stood in front of the door. Thankfully after a few agonizing seconds, it slid open for him, and he was able to walk out without resistance. Elated that he had managed to pull this off, he carefully made his way back to the dorm, only having to carefully time his entrance into one corridor with a caretaker. Entering his dorm he made his way over to his bed where his red backpack was waiting for him. Quickly he shoved the clothing into the backpack and zipped it so that nobody would notice that he had stolen extra clothing.

After he was finished, he let a huge smile spread across his face. That couldn't have gone any more perfectly.

"Alright…" He whispered excitedly. "Only one more thing to do."

Breakfast the next morning was finishing up in the orphanage's dining hall. Most of the kids had already left, but Hiro was still sitting at the table his backpack by his feet. He had been waiting for this moment since the start of breakfast. The hall had just reached the point where most of his peers had already, left, but it was still too early for the caretakers to clean up all the food.

"What can I grab?" He muttered quietly, his eyes searching for some food he could take.

The first thing he spotted was a jar of honey, sitting unopened at the center of the table.

"Better than nothing." He whispered.

Quickly his hand darted forward and he snatched up the jar and slipped it into his backpack. Quickly he glanced around to make sure nobody had seen what he had done. Nobody had. Bringing his gaze back to the table he searched for more food.

Over the next few minutes, he stocked up on as much food as he could, grabbing everything that he could. Satisfied that he had enough, he hitched his pack onto his back and made his way back to his dorm. Slipping into the room he checked to make sure nobody was there before he slid his backpack under his bed.

Satisfied that his backpack was out of the way and that nobody would come by and sneak a peek as to what was in it. As he walked back towards the enclosure where everyone was playing, he felt a smug smile cross his face. He was feeling really good about his plan. He was confident that he would be able to pull this off without any hiccups.

"Good job Hiro." He whispered with a satisfied smirk.

As he walked, he did his best to recall that red girl's adorable smile. He tried to picture every little detail of her face trying to remember how her whole expression just glowed with joy and happiness.

I'll protect that smile." He whispered softly.

Contented with himself he walked into the enclosure where everyone was playing. Nothing seemed off at first until he spotted his group of friends all huddled in a corner, whispering with downcast looks on their faces. As he got closer to them he noticed that Mitsuru was not among the group and suddenly he felt an uneasy feeling wash over him. Quickly he scanned the rest of the enclosure but Mitsuru was still nowhere to be seen.

"Oh no." He whispered horrified.

Moving quickly he worked his way over to his friends, who were all still huddled in deep discussion.

"Maybe they're just testing him like Hiro," Ikuno said, reasonably.

"But what if they're not." A distressed Kokoro asked.

"Don't worry, Kokoro," Futoshi said consolingly. "I'm sure Mitsuru is fine."

Kokoro began sobbing, and gently Futoshi wrapped an arm around her,

By now he had closed the distance and he blurted a question. "What happened?"

Goro turned to him a concerned look on his face. "While you were at the lab, some caretakers pulled Mitsuru aside and after a short conversation they escorted him out. We haven't seen him since."

"Damn…" He hissed. "Then we really have nothing to go on."

Goro nodded and attempted to return to the futile conversation that the group was having. He, however, was too lost in thought to give the conversation much attention.

Why? Why did this keep happening to him? Nobody ever answered any of his questions, and the more he looked into this whole situation the more questions he had. And they were now more important than ever. Where was the line? When did the caretakers' actioning start becoming unacceptable?

"A long time ago." A voice inside his head said. No human had the right to torture and abuse somebody else. What else were they doing if they could stomach torturing somebody, while she screamed in pain and agony? Did the caretakers even have a limit to what they' ed be willing to do? And that if torture was just the tip of the iceberg. What happened to all the children that disappeared? They had to go somewhere. If they were willing to torture, the girl that the thought was going to be some sort of super soldier; what would they do to somebody who wasn't worthy of piloting a FRANXX at all?

Just then the door to the enclosure open and….

"Mitsuru!" He shouted, relieved.

The whole group whipped around, and when they spotted Mitsuru, everybody ran over to him. He was the first to get there.

"Mitsuru." He said relieved. "You're back."

"Hey, I guess I am," Mitsuru said with a sad smile.

Before he could follow up as to why Mitsuru was looking so said everyone else arrived and began pestering Mitsuru with questions of their own. It wasn't long however before everyone else in the group noticed the dejected look on Mitsuru's face.

"What's wrong?" Kokoro asked her voice ladened with concern.

Everybody was silent as they waited for Mitsuru to answer.

"I…" Mitsuru said sounding slightly scared. "The caretakers said that If I want to stay here I need to get the most potent version of the fertility injection. They say that if I don't I will never reach the potential needed to sync with my eventual partner."

Everybody in the group let out an audible groan. They had all heard stories about that particular injection, and everybody knew that the survival rate was extremely low. Nobody knew exactly what happened if the body failed to adapt to the injection, but the people who presumably failed were never seen or heard from again.

Everybody stood in silence, all of them processing the gravity of what Mitsuru had just told them that he had to undergo.

He took a deep breath and started forward. "Don't worry Mitsuru." He said giving him a confident slap on the back. "You having nothing to fear from those injections. I bet you'll get through it with flying colors, and by the time you're done, you'll be fully ready to pilot a FRANXX with the rest of us.

Mitsuru gave him, an appreciative smile and his face lit up with delight. "Thanks, Hiro, you have no idea how much that means to me."

"Don't worry about." He said.

"Hiro is right," Ikuno said confidently. "You can endure anything that is thrown at you. You have nothing to fear from these injections."

"Thanks, Ikuno," Mitsuru said, smiling at her.

Relieved that Mitsuru was okay and convinced that he would come back from the injections successfully, everybody dragged him into the group and they all had a fun rest of their day, doing their best to keep Mitsuru in high spirits.

Hiro awoke the next morning, his warm covers wrapped around him. All throughout the night, he had been dreaming about the girl with the red skin and crimson horns. When he awoke he knew that today was the day, that he needed to rescue her. Something deep inside him knew that it had to be today.

With a sigh, he sat up on his bed and looked around the dorm. Taking his time he isolated his friends and stared at each of them. As he watched them all a weird feeling was pulling at his heart. He almost felt lonely, but at the same time, it wasn't a feeling driving him to remain with them. He knew that he needed to save the girl, and his resolve to do that was ironclad. But he couldn't help but feel scared for his friends. He was running away, and his fate would be in his own hands. But his friends were just here. They would spend their lives here until they were old enough to leave; and throughout that entire time, their fate would be in the caretakers.

Looking around he whispered. "Good luck everybody. I hope we meet again someday."

Resolving himself one last time, he took a deep breath.

"Today is the day." He breathed.

Standing up, he put on the uniform that was left by his bed every evening. When he had finished, he turned to his blanket and began folding it until it was small enough to fit in his backpack. When he had finished, he pulled his backpack out from under the bed and stuffed the blanket in one of the spare compartments.

Hitching his backpack unto his back he made his way, into the enclosure where all the children played. He needed to wait until the caretakers took him for his injections before he could rescue the girl. The time that he usually spent walking back to the orphanage would be his only time to rescue the girl without being seen.

He sat all morning waiting for the moment that he would be taken to the lab, everyone asked him why he had his backpack with him but he was able to brush off their inquiries with fake answers. Lying to Ichigo and Goro was the hardest, and deep down he thought that they probably knew that he was lying. But unfortunately, it had to be done. As much as he hated lying to his friends, he could not take the chance that what he was planning to do would get out. Everybody needed to remain in the dark.

Awhile later two caretakers came into the room and called out. "Code 016. Code 326, come with us."

Standing he walked over to Mitsuru, who was standing with the rest of the group getting last minute encouragement from everyone.



"Good luck Mitsuru," Ikuno said, nodding.

"You'll do brilliantly!" Kokoro chimed in.

Goro was next. "I expect to see you back here soon." He said, trying to make his voice as deep as it would possibly go. "You show them what you're made of."

Mitsuru face broke into a smile as he tried not to laugh at how ridiculous Goro sounded. "Of course Goro."

By now he had made his way over to Mitsuru. "You ready Mitsuru?" He asked.

Mitsuru looked at him. "Yes. Let's go."

Stoically he walked over to him, and they both made their way over to the caretakers. As they walked to were the caretakers were waiting, everyone shouted praise and encouragement to Mitsuru. The caretakers escorted them out, and Mitsuru gave one last wave at everyone still left in the enclosure.

The caretakers marched them right to the exit and stopped right before the door.

"Your snow gear and boots are in the corner, we will await for you outside." One of the caretakers said.

The caretakers walked through the door and when the door hissed shut behind him, he turned and looked at Mitsuru.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Yeah," Mitsuru muttered nervously.

Both of them walked over to a set of snow gear and began to put it on, when they were finished he began to make his way over to the door.

"Hiro," Mitsuru called looking desperate.

"Yeah." He said, turning. "What is it?"

Mitsuru shifted his feet nervously. "Um… Would… Would you be willing to pilot a FRANXX with me if I make it through the injections alive? I.. Think…your r-really cool a-and I was thinking that if we piloted together I might be able to become more like you."

He felt his heart sink as he looked into Mitsuru pleading eyes. If only Mitsuru knew what he was about to do. This could possibly be the last time they saw each other, and Mitsuru was begging to have a closer relationship with him. How could he possibly tell him without destroying Mitsuru's feelings? But as he stared into Mitsuru grey eyes he knew he couldn't tell him the truth. Even if it was a lie he couldn't bring himself to crush the amount of pure hope and admiration emanating from Mitsuru's face.

"Sure thing!" He said giving the boy a radiant smile. "After you're done it can be just the two of us. We'll learn how to pilot a real FRANXX together."

Mitsuru face lit up so bright that he seemed to glow, and the biggest happiest smile stretched its way across his pure innocent face.

"Thank you, Hiro!" Mitsuru said delightedly. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me!"

He smiled, and they made their way out of the orphanage and the caretakers escorted them to the lab. They were led together all the way to the elevators until the caretakers split them up.

"Code 326, please come with me." One of the caretakers said, walking over to a different elevator than the one that he was taking.

Mitsuru turned to him and smiled. "See you later."

He smiled back. "Good luck. I can't wait to see you back at the orphanage."

"Sure thing, see you soon."

With that, Mitsuru followed the caretaker into the elevator and they disappeared.

"Come Code 016. It's time for your injections."

He sighed and hitched his backpack a little more securely onto his shoulders, turning he followed the caretaker, and he was escorted to were he would get his injections.

A while later, the caretaker dropped him off outside the lab and locked the door behind him.

"Let's go rescue that girl." He whispered with a smile.

Breaking into a run, he dashed his way over back to the orphanage and turned right a few feet before he was at the door. Scrapping the snow aside searching desperately for the walkway light that he had buried there. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity he found the light. Elated he secured a strap from his backpack around the light, and he dashed off towards the tree in front of the lab. When he got to the base, he looked up trying to remember the path he had used to scale the tree successfully.

He nodded, when he had finished planing his route he clambered onto the first limb, and began his ascent up the tree. Struggling from the weight of his backpack and the walkway light he carefully worked his way up the rest of the tree. He had to make sure that none of it fell back to the ground because if it did his chances of being discovered were bound to increase by quite a bit. Breathing heavily he finally managed to pull himself onto the branch that looked into the girl's window. Gratefully he rested for a moment doing his best to catch his breath as the cold air stung his exhausted lungs. After a few more moments he regained enough of his strength to look up. Quickly he scanned the room but was startled to find that nobody was there. The girl was gone.

"No…." He groaned. "What made me think that she'd just be in here whenever I wished." He gritted his teeth in frustration. "Hiro you're such a dumbass. What made you think that she would just be in here anytime you wished?"

His next thought almost made him want to cry. There was only one reason she was not in here.

"I vowed that I would protect that smile." He whispered, his voice ladened with sadness. "I should have taken you out of here the first time I saw you…." He sniffed disgusted with himself. "Of course I had to wait… They've been torturing you… It's all my fault, I shouldn't have let this happen."

He sat on the branch, his head in his hands. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't just sit here forever, somebody would eventually come looking for him. But at the same time, this had been the perfect moment to rescue her.

He sat dejected hoping beyond hope that the caretakers would bring the girl back to the room, any minute.

Just when he was about to give up and return to the orphanage, it happened. The door to the girl's room opened and a male caretaker kicked the girl into the room, sending her crashing into the corner of the room.

Before he even had time to hide the caretaker shut the door to the girl's room and left. He watched as the girl slowly curled into a ball, and hugged the book hidden beneath her cloak. After a few moments, he watched her whole body deflate as she finally let herself relax, her eyes closing as she tried to have a few moments to herself.

He smiled. "There you are. Come on let's get you out of here."

Shifting around he grabbed the walkway light and brought it around in front of him.

"Let's hope this works." He said, nervously.



Taking aim he threw the heavy light as hard as he could at the window. With a deafening crash of shattering glass, the walkway light created a massive hole in the window.

The girl's eyes flew open, and her face contorted into a mask of hatred. Immediately she began snarling and hissing attempting to ward off anything that might threaten her. Defensively she hugged her book under her cloak tight to her chest, preventing anybody from taking it away.

Not wanting to waste any time, he scrambled to the edge of the branch, so that he could lean his weight against the windowsill and call out to the girl.

"Come with me! I can get you out of here!" He called out desperately.

The girl didn't move but just looked at him completely stunned.

"Please!" He begged, holding out his hand.

As they stared at each other, the girl slowly began to move on her hands and knees towards the window. Curiosity and wonder present in every single facet of her face. She looked at him, her eyes filled with hope, being irresistibly drawn to this person that was calling out to her.

He smiled at her trying to communicate through expression alone that he was here from her, and genuinely wanted to help her.

The distance between them closed as the girl slowly made her way over to him, and after what seemed like an eternity she was finally only a few inches away. Reaching as far as he could he held out his hand to her.

"Come on." He whispered affectionately. "I'm here to rescue you."

Slowly the girl reached up, her little hand, and he felt her soft delicate fingers caress his hand, as she gently reached up to touch him. Carefully and with the utmost affection, he slowly closed his hand, so that their fingers were fully intertwined.

"Hey." He whispered affectionately giving her a big smile. "I told I'd come back didn't I?"

The girl didn't say anything, she just stared at him curiously with her beautiful emerald eyes.

"Come on." He said, gently urging her to come closer. "Let's get you out of here."

Slowly the girl allowed herself to be guided to the edge of the window, she balked slightly when she bumped against the wall beneath the window, but with a few gently words she slowly climbed onto the windowsill. Her eyes widened in fear as she gazed down at the dizzying drop below her, scared she looked like she was about to retreat back into the room.

Gently he gave her hand a little squeeze and she looked up at him, uncertain as to what she should do. Encouragingly he spread his arms so that he could draw her in. "I got you." He said soothingly. "Please just trust me."

The girl gulped nervously, and then before she could regret her decision she crouched down and clambered onto the branch as he slowly pulled her into a reassuring hug.

"There." He said, just holding her for a moment. "See I told you that you were going to be okay."

The girl made a nervous grunting noise in her throat, as a form of response.

He gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Come on let's see if we can find a way down from here."

The branch answered his call but not in the way he would have wanted. The strain of both of them sitting on the edge was simply too much for the branch to handle, and with a sickening "snap" the branch broke and they both fell, landing in the snow with a "thud".

"Ouch…" He muttered getting up.

Quickly he looked around for the girl and spotted her as she resurfaced shaking away the snow that had covered her. Quickly he ran over to her.

"You alright?" He asked taking her hand.

She grunted in acknowledgment.

"Come on." He said leading her by the hand. "We need to move before anybody notices we're gone."

Hoisting his backpack more securely onto his shoulders he began to run, leading the girl by the hand. Thankfully she didn't resist but allowed herself to led, with only a curious expression on her face.

For what felt like an eternity they trudged their way through the snow towards the forest that surrounded the garden. When they were just about to enter the forest, they were forced to stop and confront a massive wire fence that blocked their path. As he stared dumbfounded at this obstacle, and as he starred he heard an electric buzzing coming from the fence.

"Damn." He moaned. "How am I going to get around this?"

The girl grunted in a tone that indicated that she was asking why they had stopped.

Turning to her he gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry we'll find a way through I promise."

Turning back to the fence, he muttered. "There's got to be a weak point somewhere…."

Leading the girl they began to run along the fence's perimeter. Desperately he searched for weak points in the fence hoping that sooner rather than later they could find a way through.

"There." He shouted a few minutes later.

Just ahead the wire on the lowest part of the fence had snapped, creating a break in the defenses. Carefully he worked his way forward unto the where right by the hole. Gulping he nervously stuck his arm through the gap, making sure that nothing could hurt them. Relieved he drew his arm back through the hole and turned to the girl a satisfied smile on his face.

"We can get through here." He said happily. Then in a warning tone, he added. "Just don't touch anything else, I don't know what this fence will do to us if we touch the other wires."

Carefully he crawled through the whole, to the other side, then turning he help the girl through making sure no part of her body come anywhere close to the other wires. There was a heart-pounding moment where her horns almost caught the wire above her, but with a last-second adjustment, he was able to guide her through safely.

As she stood from crawling on her hands and knees he smiled. "You did great." He said tucking her beautiful pink hair behind her ears.

She didn't say anything, but instead only stared at him with her emerald green eyes.

There were a few moments of silence.

"Come on." He said giving her hand a squeeze, let's go. "We need to be far away from here before they notice we are gone."

Leading her, he began running as fast as he could towards the edge of the forest, seeking the safety that the forest could provide. About a minute later they entered the outskirts of the forest, and suddenly there was a sharp decline in the amount of snow they had to run through.

Panting slightly he turned to the girl as they ran. "It'll be a lot easier to run now. Hopefully, that means that we can manage to escape unseen."

The girl grunted, but aside from that said nothing.

As he turned his attention back to where they were going. I wonder why she doesn't say anything. He thought to himself. Then a realization washed over him, and he felt his stomach twist in anger. Just to make sure though, he turned back to ask her.

"Hey, do you understand what I'm saying." He asked, already knowing the answer.

The girl said nothing, but instead only gave him a curious expression.

He felt his heart sink. Just one more thing that the caretakers had done to make this girl's life even more miserable.

The girl obviously noticed his expression, and they ran she gave an inquiring grunt.

"Its nothing." He said giving her a reassuring smile. Giving her hand a squeeze they continued to run deeper into the forest.



After what seemed like hours they finally stopped for a rest in a forest clearing both of them completely out of breath.

"There." He panted. "At least we have some distance from them."

The girl, however, wasn't paying attention to him, and instead was looking around, at everything around her. Curiously she poked at the snow, and gave the cutest little yelp, as her hand sank beneath the surface of the snow. He watched as the girl continued to explore her surrounding investigating everything that caught her attention. It was clear from how the girl was behaving that she was just now processing the fact that she had really just left the lab, and was actually free, from the caretakers' control.

Suddenly from overhead, a bird flew over making a loud screeching sound, as it zipped through the trees. The girl's head whipped around and she growled in the direction that the bird had flown, unsure as to what was the source of the noise.

Chuckling he picked himself up from the snow and made his way over to her. As he got closer his foot made a "crunching" sound in a hard patch of snow. The girl's head whipped back around and she growled at him until she released that he was the one who had made the noise. Her face softened as she stared at him, and as he looked into her eyes, he could tell that she was experiencing a lot of different emotions and she wasn't entirely sure what she was feeling. The one emotion that he could clearly define in her gaze was gratitude. Above every other emotion that he saw, that was the one that clearly stood out to him.

"Do you like being free?" He asked jokingly, knowing that he wasn't going to get an answer.

The girl only cocked her head in confusion and gave a confused grunt.

He smiled and sat down next to her. Saying nothing the girl just stared at him, unsure of what to do with herself. After a while of doing nothing, the girl eventually got bored of looking at him, so she reached down and began to rub her cold feet. As she did this, he followed her movements with his eyes and when he saw what she was reaching for he groaned.

He had completely forgotten that the girl had been barefoot the who time. The had been walking through all that freezing snow too and the whole time he had been in his wearing comfortable boots, while she had been running barefoot. Quickly, he swung his backpack around and began searching through it until he found, socks and snow boots. As he placed them on the ground she stared at them with a very confused look and began to inspect them trying to figure out what in the world these things were.

He let her stare at them for a little bit before he interjected. "They're snow boots." He said kindly. "You put them on your feet to keep them warm."

Hearing his voice her head jerked back to stare at him, but when he didn't add anything more she went back to staring at the boots.

He chuckled. "Come on. Let's get them on your feet." He said.

Getting up he made his way over so that he could take a seat in front of her, sitting down he grabbed the socks and gestured to her feet.

"Do you mind?" He asked.

She cocked her head but didn't say anything more.

Hoping that was a good sign, he cautiously reached out for her left foot, as he did he saw that there was a band with a code number wrapped around her ankle. Gently he twisted it so that he could read the code.

"Code 002." He muttered. "Wow… I've never seen a code in the single digits before." He looked up at her. "You're really amazing, having a code this low is unheard of." He sat and thought for a moment. "You know…. Back at the orphanage, I gave everybody their own names." He paused for a moment and looked up at her. "Do you want one?"

Curiously she tilted her head and stared at him with her beautiful eyes.

Hoping that was her form of consent, he pinched his chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Code 002…. Hmm… Oni... No that's dumb…Umm, Zero Two?" He shook his head. "That's a little unoriginal…Hmm"

Before he could change his mind however, the girl shouted out. "Eo To! Eo To!"

He gave the girl an amused smile. "I should have thought of a better name. Sigh…"

Then looking into her beautiful eyes he said. "Well, I guess it's official." A big smile spread across his face. "Zero Two."

Her face lit up, and he saw the smile that he liked so much spread across her face.

The sat there looking at each other until he broke the silence a few minutes later. "Come on. Let's get these snow boots on you."

Slowly he gently grabbed her foot and wait to see if she would react negatively. Luckily she didn't do anything except watch curiously as he stretched her leg out. Gently and giving her ample opportunity to refuse, he slid a sock onto her foot.

Curiously she wiggled her toes getting used to this new sensation. Smiling he gently placed the second sock on her other foot. Then he carefully put on the snow boots, as Zero Two watched him her eyes full of curiosity and wonder. With a smile, he resealed his backpack and stood up.

"Come on." He said holding out a hand to her. "We' ed better get moving."

Zero Two reached up and grabbed his hand, and gently he pulled her to her feet. As she stood she stumbled forward on uncertain feet and tripping forward onto his chest. Gently he caught her.

"I got you." He said kindly.

Gently he stood her back up and watched for a few moments as she shifted uncertainly, not used to the sensation of supporting herself with things on her feet.

"Don't overthink it." He said kindly.

Reaching out, he took her hand. "Here, I'll help you get used to the sensation."

For the next few minutes, he gently held her hand and guided her as they walked through the forest.

"Alright, try a few on your own." He said. Bounding forward, he situated himself a little distance away from her. "See if you can make it to me on your own."

Zero Two stood looking at him confused, and not entirely sure what to do.

Being patience he gestured for her to come to him, and after a few long moments, she seemed to get the message. With a determined look on her face, she began to make her way forward on her own. The first few steps looked like they were taking far too much effort, but eventually, she seemed to recognize that the process of walking hadn't actually changed, it was just the sensation. When she made that connection she was able to walk a little more naturally, and by the time she had made it to him, she looked like she had the basics down.

"You did great." He said smiling. Gently he tucked a strand of loss her behind her ear, and he saw her cheeks flush a slightly darker shade of red than the rest of her skin.

Smiling he turned and gestured for her to follow. "Come one, let's go see what the rest of the forest as in store for us."

As he began walking he heard her run after him, and he felt her hand slip into his. Smiling he gave her hand a little squeeze and they set off deeper into the forest.

They had been walking for a couple more hours before they stopped again. Zero Two was starting to look a little tired from all the walking and he himself could feel the cold air stinging his lungs as he did his best to recover his breath.

"Let's take a rest." He panted.

Looking around he spotted some dry ground wedged in between a tall tree and a bush. Leading her over to it they sat down, relieved that they didn't have to sit in the snow. Leaning back against the tree trunk he sighed and closed his eyes. He hoped that the zigzag pattern he was leading them on was throwing off any pursuit that the caretakers might try to mount against them.

As he sat, he felt Zero Two's hand stroke the side of his face, her fingers tracing over every inch of his face.

Opening his eyes, he smiled at her. "Hey. What are you up to?" He said in an affectionate tone.

Instantly she jerked her hand away and averted her eyes refusing to look at him. Chuckling softly he gently reached out and grabbed her hand, using his thumb to rub against the back of her hand. As he sat there gently trying to coax her back into at least looking at him, he stared at her and attempted to piece together some assumptions he could make about her. As he sat, however, he found that making assumptions about her was much harder than he had first anticipated, since he had almost no information to go off of. He guessed that they were probably about the same age. She looked to be around the same size as all the other girls in the orphanage maybe being a little bit bigger. Actually, now that he thought about it, she looked actually a little bit older. Her face compared to most other kids at the orphanage had lost most of its childish appearance. Although maybe she wasn't older. He was also aware that his face had lost most of its childish appearance as well, but he was pretty sure that he was the same age as the rest of the kids. That thought got him to thinking about himself. Now that he thought about it he had always been slightly ahead of his peers, with his attitude and how he saw the world around him. He had always been the first to ask questions over everyone else and he had always felt that he was thinking a step ahead of some of his friends. Another thing that was different now that he thought about it was how he saw girls compared to boys. For some reason, girls just felt different and he found them more interesting than boys. There's was just something about them that he found interesting and couldn't explain.

As he sat in thought he became aware of Zero Two's hand again. This time she was running her hand through his wild black hair, and letting it run through her fingers.

He giggled in pleasure at the gently tickling sensation of her hand in his hair. Unfortunately just like the last time that he had made her aware that he knew what she was doing she jerked her hand away again. Fortunately, when he looked into her eyes this time, she didn't avert her gaze.

"You do the cutest things." He said affectionately. "I can't help but enjoy all the little things you do."

She cocked her head at him in confusion and gave him a confused grunt.

He sighed. "I keep forgetting that you can't understand me…"

Absentmindedly he began to feel around in his pockets, trying to think of a way to interact with her. He hadn't been searching for long when he came across the two hard candies that the caretakers always gave him.

"Oh…" He exclaimed pulling them out.

Turning to her he said. "Here you go."

Zero Two tilted her looking curiously at the candy he held out to her.

"It's food." He explained. "Here give me a second." Grabbing both ends of the wrapper he pulled and letting the candy fall into his hand. Turning to her he said. "Say, Aah."

She opened her mouth and he placed the candy on her tongue. He watched her face light up as she began to suck on the candy. She was so excited that she bobbed up and down her legs flailing in uncontrollable enjoyment.

He chuckled as he watched her. That reaction was absolutely adorable.

When she had finally gotten over the pure excitement of tasting the candy, she made a noise to get his attention. He smiled and indicated to her that he was paying attention.

Grabbing the collar of the black robe she was wearing, she reached inside, and the book that she valued so much emerged when she pulled her hand back out. She looked at it for a moment and then held it out to him.

"What? " He said startled that she would present her most prized possession to him. "Are you sure I can see it?"

She grunted and gestured from him to take it.

"Thank you." He said awed.

Gingerly, he took the book and read the title. "The Beast and the Prince." He looked up at her. "Do you want me to read this to you?"

Not understanding what he had said, she looked at him confused, but after a little bit of encouragement, he got her to scoot over next to him. Placing the book on their knees, he flipped open the book, as she leaned her head against him.

In the deepest, darkest part of a forest lived a tribe, hidden from all. They had large wings on their backs and were beautiful, but they were what would be called beasts. Among them was their princess, who had huge, ashen wings. Their law said that once one turned seventeen, they would be allowed to fly outside the forest.

And on her seventeenth birthday, the princess took flight to the world beyond the forest. She crossed the steep mountains and the surging rivers and reached a land of humans. The moon shone brightly in the sky.

She landed in a castle garden, where she found a young man gazing up at the moon. The princess hid in the bushes and stared at the young man, and for the first time, love bloomed in her heart. But he was clearly of a different race. A beast and a human could never be together.

And so, the princess went to see a witch who lived in the same forest and said, "I want to live as a human. I want to be united with him." The witch replied like so: "I can help you if you offer me your wings. But keep this in mind. No matter how you disguise yourself, you are a beast, and you will consume the prince's life one day."

The princess ripped off her wings and was assaulted by pain far more intense than she had ever felt. She could never fly again.

Even so, she smiled happily, with tears of joy streaming down her face. "I'm human! I'm human! I'm the same as him now!"

The princess once again set out for the land of humans, this time on foot. In the desert, she spotted a group of people. "Oh, no! Is there anyone who can save him?!" There lay a young man, his leg bitten by a snake. The princess rushed to his side and sucked the venom out from his wound. "Thank you, o brave lady. I am the prince of these lands." It was the same young man she had met in the castle. " I owe my life to you. Please marry me."

A wedding ceremony was held soon after. The priest asked the princess, clad in a wedding dress of pure white, "Do you vow to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do." Them two exchanged rings, and when the priest said so, they sealed their vows with a kiss. And cheers rang out across the land. "Bless the brave girl who saved our prince's life!" The whole kingdom celebrated their marriage.

"Humans! Humans! They have neither the wings to fly nor the claws or fangs to hung. Such weak and frail creatures, but they are so, so warm. Humans are wonderful!"

After the wedding, she lived happily as the princess of a human land. She supported the prince in his work, traveled the world, and saw oceans studded with glints of sapphire, sparkling grasslands, and auroras that swayed like raging flames.

The princess took the prince's hand and said with a smile on her face, "Grab on to me and never let go, Darling."

But the princess's happiness was short-lived.

She woke up one night to a pain that threatened to rend her asunder and found her body turning into one of a beast. "Why? I asked you to make me human!" On her back were jet-black wings, tearing through her flesh and skin to spread. "Using magic comes at a price. You've attained plenty of happiness as a human. Now, it is time for you to lose yourself and turn into an ugly monster," the witch of the forest whispered to her. "However, if you kill the person you love most, you will be freed of your curse and return to the beast you originally were."

The princess gazed at her beloved prince as her claws reached for his throat. She loved him more than anything and anyone but the desire to rip his neck apart welled up inside her. As she desperately tried to clench her fist and stop herself, her claws dug into her skin, and blood started gushing out.

"If I kill the prince, I will be freed of this curse..." With tears streaming down her face, she kissed the prince on the cheek.

When the prince awoke, the princess was no longer beside him. Instead, the bed was covered in jet-black feathers.

In profound sadness, the prince searched all across the land for her. But nobody had seen the princess.

"This is a really sad story." He said, feeling his throat constrict slightly with emotion. "I couldn't imagine being ripped away from somebody I cared about.

Almost self consciously he looked down at Zero Two. For a few moments he watched as she stared to the prince, and then without warning, she turned to him.

"Hmm." She grunted pointing her finger at the prince, and then suddenly she pointed at him. "Hmmm." She grunted again. Moving her finger back and forth between the two.

Smiling he shook his head. "No.. No.. No. I'm not the prince."

The girl shook her head and pointed between him and the prince with more intensity. "Hmm."

He was just about to respond when he heard the sound of voices, coming from the trees behind them.

"Where did they go?" A male voiced shouted.

Scared out of his mind, he only just managed to avoid shouting in surprise. Forcefully he bit his tongue and tried to make himself as small as possible. Then looking around he noticed that Zero Two was growling angrily in the direction of the voice. Instinctually he reached out and pulled her close, hugging her to his chest in an attempt to protect her.

"Shhh." He whispered soothingly. "I promise I won't let them hurt you."

As he sat there, he felt the tension leave her body and she buried her face in his chest. Her growling stopped as she allowed herself to be held in his protective arms.

"We need to return and launch a more comprehensive search." Another voice shouted. "We don't have enough people."

"Has anyone found the tracks again?"

"No."

Somebody who sounded like they were in charge shout. "Everyone return to the lab. The snow is about to cover their tracks, we're going to have to change strategies."

"Can't we just delay the snowfall?" Somebody else asked.

"No, it'll help slow their progress and following tracks isn't working anyway." Then in a tone to demonstrated that everything was final, the person in charge said. "Everyone return to base."

He and Zero Two sat hiding for a long time, but finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he deemed it safe to move again.

Letting go he separated himself from her, and he sat there almost not believing how lucky he was.

"That was close." He whispered.

Zero Two glanced around still looking slightly afraid that the caretakers would swoop down out of nowhere and take her away. But at the same time when she looked at him, he could see what looked like a hint of affection behind her gaze.

Gently he reached out and tucked some of her loose hair away from her face. Surprisingly however she reached out and did the same thing, attempting to get his wild hair behind his ears.

He smiled and gently nuzzled his cheek against her hand. "You're so sweet."

Curiously she stopped and looked at him. "Ngh." She grunted.

He sighed. "It's nothing." Then standing up he held out his hand to her. "Come on Zero Two. Let's get out of here."

She grabbed his hand on he pulled her to her feet. Then intertwining his fingers in hers, they set off deeper into the forest.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading Chapter 14 of The Jian Bird.

Well here's part 2. Honestly, I did think I had this much to tell about this one event but I guess I do. Believe it for not but this was all supposed to fit in one chapter originally. So much for that plan.

As you probably guessed by now there's going to be a part 3 to this. So sit tight and I'll try and get that out to you guys as soon as possible.

For all of you waiting for a lemon don't worry I've got very intimate plans for our couple here so it'll be worth the wait. I just have a few more things I like to cover so that it fits in smoothly.

Stay tuned for Chapter 15 of The Jian Bird: The Beast and the Prince Part 3