Alone and Lonesome ー Part 7

" 'You're the chosen one's,' Papa said"

"As far back as we can remember, we children's had code numbers assigned to us,

and were told that piloting weapons called FRANXX in male-female pairs to flight, was our sole purpose in life"

"Children's that aren't fit for that purpose have no value....That's exactly why I decided to leave this place".

ーーーー

All the parasites were standing in rows, each with their partners. Everyone was listening to Papa's speech rather than Ichigo. She was looking at the sky with a expressionless face. Goro knew it as he called her name without looking at her.

"Ichigo!", He continued," Focus on the ceremony. Papa is watching, and so is everyone else", He said as Ichigo raised her head to look at his tall fivure before turning her sight towards the geound which was carpeted red for the welcoming ceremony.

At Mistilteinn, "Right".

"That's all the official instructions for your return to the orphanage," Hachi told as he looked at the boy sitting front of him with a crestfallen expression on his face and his fists clenched.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know", He asked. "Nothing, really", was the boy's relpy. Hachi looked at the boy carefully before continuing," Code 016, HQ has given you special permission to remain here. Are you certain you don't want to stay". He asked.

"I am", Was what the boy said looking back at Hachi. Is that so? Understood", with that the conversation ended and the boy stepped out of the office room. As he stepped out her heard some One crying and looked in the direction. He saw a girl wearing the Standard Pistil Parasite Uniform. Her hand covering her face and she was crying. Watching the girl crying, the boy's lips parting at remembering a memory from the past. A painful memory.

"Positive pulse and P-Factor dropping. Timed out. Commencing stage six linking. Measuring ability score. Negative pulse detected. Positive pulse on standby", The female operator announced.

"Three,

"Two,

"One....Timed out", She announced.

"Code 703 & Code 016,

"You fail", This time Hachi spoke from the speaker. The boy was sweating and taking long breaths as sweat drops dropped from his chin on his hands. The girl was also taking long breaths under her bodysuit's cap. The boy started crying at his last line, gnashing his teeths.

All the team stood up as it announced Code 016 Positive pulse and P-Factor dropping, causing them to fail their capacity test.

ーーーー

"You should've stayed, Hiro", The girl from before who was seen crying by the boy said as she looked at at steel floor.

"Dis you refuse because of me?", She asked as she clenched the handle of the bag in her hand. "No!", The boy replied. He was also looking down. "It's not like I'd be of any use even if I stayed", He said.

"You've always been like this. You're just running away. From your partner, and from yourself", She continued. "You remember how many of our friends disappeared fromt the orphanage, right?", She said," There's no telling when we could end up just like them", She said.

"So don't try to play the hero!", She scolded him as her bag fell on the ground from her hands. "Who cares if it's favoritism? You're lucky you have a chance to stay at all!", She yelled out clenching her fists.

"We've made it so far! I would definitely stay, even if it killed me!", She said as she covered her face with her palms again and started crying. She was sobbing. The boy was quietly staring at her expression and her face as she cried.

"Quit your chatter", The bodyguard from behind said as he stepped foward. He was covered in the Standard APE uniform from top to bottom leaving only his mouth open.

"Naomi....", The boy utterd her name as hs stared at her. " Why....", The girl said between her crying. "Why did you have to be my partner?", She asked as she knelt on the ground still crying.

§§ Naomi §§

Naomi is a former parasite from the Thirteenth Plantation with the codename "703". She is the former partner Hiro, who held her back from becoming a pilot due to his inability to pilot the franXX.

Naomi is a girl of average height. She has short, wavy dark brown hairs with dark brown eyes. She wears the Standard Pistil Parasite Uniform. Naomi is a quite and introverted girl who doesn't speak much. She has respect for her teammates and is grateful to Hiro for naming her, though she regrets being assigned as his partner due to their incompatibility. Despite her brief membership of Squad 13, everyone liked her and was friendly with everyone.

§§ Hiro §§

Hiro was a parasite with the codename "016" and was once known as prodigy among the children's. However, he failed to synchronize with his partner Naomi and was considered nothing but a failure as a pilot. As a result, he did noy knew where he belonged and struggled to find his place in the world.

Hiro has an average build, height, and a standard "Slim" male physique. He bad black shaggy hairs and rich blue eyes. His checkered past had left him with an emphatic expression on his face. He was often seen in the standard stamen parasite uniform. As a child, Hiro was very jovial, optimistic, and hopeful, giving names to other kids and to himself as well.

He taught the kids that names only given to themselves could give a sense if uniqueness when the only name they had was their codes. This earned him fame among the other children's in the garden. Hiro was very curious about himself and the world around him. He would constantly ask himself questions and whenever he tried to ask the adults, they would never give him an answer. This, coupked with the fact that the other children's never took a stand with him and were very obedient, made Hiro frustrated and he felt like he was the only person fighting the world all by himself.

Because he was considered a role model, all of the childrens hoped, he would lead them because he was the best pilot. Hiro appears to be quite philosophical, as he was first introduced as him monologuing about the philosophical meaning of a wounded bird he saw in the forest, indicating that he still had retained the curiosity of the outside world from his childhood. In his time in the Garden, he spent his time teaching Ichigo and Goro about many old but meaningful sayings that would stick to them even as they grew up.

Hiro was shown to be very hardworking and devoted, as he refused to leave Plantation 13 even if he was of no use there. He was also kind and caring, as despite feeling depressed over his inability to pilot, he never acted in a harsh manner towards his fellow pilots, even when someof them weren't as welcoming to him. He was determined to prove himself worthy to pilot and make bismdelf acknowledged. When he doesn't got promoted to an official parasite, he states that he would do his Best and not tie them down.

He teaches all of this to his friends in Squad 13. Instead of "Fight until I die" mentality, Hiro developed a "Fight so I can keep living" mentality. His traits from childhood also started to resurface: He became fearless, disobedient, rebellious and ready to stand up for his friends, even if it meant against the rules.