A New Generation: A ZoroMiku Story

1: New Necklace, New Legacy

Miku

Miku wiped happy tears from her eyes, blushing, and stepped away from Zorome. The sandy-haired boy had just given her a necklace and asked her to leave the Bird's Nest to be a teacher with her. There was nothing she wanted more and she had never in a million years expected Zorome to show such consideration for her. At first, she thought he would just leave her there with the others, but when he had pulled out the necklace that matched with the one on his neck she had immediately known that something else was at play. She was grateful to him for cherishing their bond as much as she did. She appreciated it more than she would ever be able to admit out loud. 

"T-thank you, Zorome," Miku stammered, still taken aback by the emotions that were welling up in her chest. "I'd be happy to be a teacher alongside you!" She wiped a few more tears of joy away from her eyes with her fingers, trying her hardest not to blush. She glanced around, thankful that nobody was looking, otherwise she'd be embarrassed! Then again, she was sure Zorome would be too, which was probably why he approached her during a time where nobody else was looking. 

Zorome smiled. There was a fond look in his eyes, though he was glancing sideways almost as if he was too shy to look her in the eye at that moment. His cheeks were flushing a faint bright colour. "I'm happy too. Do ya like the necklaces?" He asked. 

"Heck yeah! They're such a great idea!" Miku exclaimed. "That's an amazing way to show our bond!" Her eyes were finally beginning to dry up again as she began to pull herself together. She was happy that Zorome had given her the necklace and even happier that he wanted to continue to live alongside her as they grew up. 

"I thought so!" Zorome said, puffing out his chest as he beamed at her. Then he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, ruffling his hair slightly with his hands. "A-anyway, um, I guess we should talk about this, huh?"

"Uh, duh," Miku said with a slight roll of her eyes. "This is something we have to plan out a bit, obviously." She glanced over her shoulder at the empty hall behind her. She had been on her way to help some of the other girls out with making new clothes. "Should I tell the others I'm busy now? I was going to help them out with some things."

"Nah, we can talk about this tomorrow," Zorome told her, grinning. "I have some stuff I wanna do today too. Kinda, I guess."

Miku narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't tell me you're napping all day again, Zorome! Or playing ball outside alone."

Zorome scoffed and put his hands on his hips. "I'm not!" He protested. "I have other stuff to do, y'know!" Though by the look in his eyes, something told Miku she was correct to think he'd been planning on going to slack off by himself. "Uh, anyway, wanna talk about it first thing tomorrow?"

Miku nodded. "Sure!"

Zorome

Zorome's heart was beating rapidly as he watched his partner walk away from him, now wearing a fragment of Argentea on her neck as proof of the bond they shared. He clutched the matching shiny pink pendant he wore for a brief moment, glad that things had worked out between them during that conversation. He could think of no other person he'd ever want to be by his side as a teacher. Miku was his best friend. He wasn't sure if he'd have had the courage to even go by himself to start a school had she said no to him instead. 

A warm feeling grew in his chest. It just felt so good. So right. He was glad that he'd gotten the idea to climb onto Argentea to pry out some pieces of her to fashion into the necklaces. It seemed to have made Miku happy, which was indeed what he had been trying to do. It felt important to him that he showed her that she cared about him, even if he often was only capable of messing up in her eyes. 

As Miku turned the corner and finally left his view, Zorome let out a long sigh. It was a sigh of relief that he had gotten that off his chest, as well as relief for the fact that she had agreed to come with him. He couldn't wait to talk to her again tomorrow and was excited to tell his former squadmates about their decision to leave the Nest and become teachers together. 

I'll tell the boys tonight! Zorome decided. Well, Futoshi for sure. I dunno about Goro or Mitsuru yet. Eh, I'll just tell Futoshi for now! 

Nobody else knew that he was desiring to be a teacher, so he was hoping they would be happy and supportive. He wondered if Miku would tell any of the girls or if she would wait until they had talked about it a bit more. Regardless, he was excited and fizzing with energy at the prospect of helping many future children by teaching them the things he'd learned since finally finding his own life, no longer controlled by Papa and the adults. 

For a moment, the thought saddened Zorome. At one point he'd looked up to the adults and wanted to be one. He'd trusted them and had been endlessly loyal to them, only to find out that his life and everything he'd been working toward had been a lie. They had never cared for him or any of the other children, nor had they intended on allowing them to live long enough to grow up to join the adult's ranks. They had been pawns in the eyes of the adults, nothing more, nothing less. Papa and the APE had also not even been human in the end, something that still confused Zorome to this day. 

Regardless of his past, however, Zorome knew he had a bright future ahead of them. The former parasites all did. He would help lead everyone to an amazing future by helping their children.