A New Generation: A ZoroMiku Story

53: Kokoro's News

Miku

After having confessed to Zorome that night, Miku felt as though she could take anything that came her way for the next few weeks. It felt amazing to know that the person she loved above anyone else felt the same way. The word love...it was so new and strange for her to think about. She'd always found it confusing until it had been explained to her. Now she knew how Zero Two had felt about Hiro, though she'd never be able to be sappy like Zero Two had been. That was definitely a level of affection that was beyond her comprehension. She knew Zorome probably felt the same way. The two of them would show affection in their own odd way instead. That made more sense to her. 

About three weeks had passed since they'd confessed to each other and time flew faster than it ever had for her before. It was oddly pleasant for her to get so much alone time with Zorome now that they lived in a small house with nobody else. She found she got a healthy dose of time with him as well as with her other friends. She now felt like she could trust them and her fear of betrayal had diminished entirely. It was comforting to have friends who had her back even when she wasn't with her former squad mates, though she knew nobody would ever be able to place them. 

Now, Miku and her fellow teachers were having a pleasant day together, eating on the beach and relaxing while they took a break from their teaching duties. Miku was playing with sand, picking it up in her hands and letting it drizzle back onto the ground. It felt cool and it was hard not to fidget with it.

The other teachers were chatting idly about random things, mostly about their new lives and the fun they'd had since they no longer had to fear fighting klaxosaurs. All of them collectively agreed that starting the school together had been the best decision for them. None of them would ever forget Bella, however, and they vowed to do something in her memory, with Jasper being the most passionate about it since he had been her partner. Although he seemed to have recovered mentally since her death, Miku could still tell that he missed his partner dearly simply by how he talked about her and by the look she saw in his eyes whenever someone mentioned her name. He would never fully recover, she was sure, and she knew now that she would feel the same way if something were to happen to Zorome, though she didn't want to ever think about that and hoped that day never came. 

"Hey!" A rather familiar voice called from the other end of the beach. Miku's eyes widened and she jumped up to her feet almost immediately, running over to greet the newcomer before she could stop herself. 

It was none other than Kokoro who had called out, with Mitsuru standing at her side!

Zorome 

Zorome grinned as he joined Miku in greeting their old friends. Ai wasn't with them, much to Zorome's disappointment, though he was sure she was with someone else from his former squad. It still felt weird to him sometimes that he didn't see them every day after he woke up. It made him cherish the time he spent with them even more, however.

"How have you been?" He asked as he put his hands on his hips.

"We've been doing great," Mitsu told him. "Things have been going pretty well and Ichigo has been making sure things stay that way. Kokoro and I have been spending a lot of time together as well."

The other teachers got up to come to join them. They all looked eager to see the longtime friends of their fellow teachers. They chattered excitedly as they surrounded Mitsuru and his wife.

Kokoro shied away slightly as the future teachers surrounded her and Mitsuru grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it. He took a protective step in front of her. Although his expression was still friendly, there was a slight glare in his eyes as he regarded the others, as though he wanted them to back away from his beloved. 

"Hey, it's nice to see you!" Jasper clapped his hand on Mitsuru's back and beamed at him. "Any friend of Zorome and Miku is a friend of ours as well."

"W-we actually have something to tell Zorome and Miku," Kokoro said shyly. She was still holding onto Mitsuru's hand. "We want to talk to them in private first if that's okay." She seemed anxious about asking the others to leave.

Jasper just grinned and nodded understandingly. "Of course. Come on, guys, let's go back to eating." He ushered the other teachers back to where they'd been sharing their food.

"What is it you want to tell us?" Zorome asked almost as soon as Jasper and the others had turned away. His heart was racing. He could tell be the smiles on his friends' faces that they had something good to tell them.

"Mitsuru and I are having another child!" Kokoro's eyes glistened with happy tears as she made the announcement to her friends. "I just found out I was pregnant three days ago. We're so happy!"

Miku immediately pulled her old friend into a long embrace. "I'm so happy for you!" 

"Hey, that's awesome!" Zorome gave Mitsuru a pat on the back. "I bet Ai will be happy about having another little squirt around to play with."

Mitsuru was beaming. "Yeah, I'm glad she'll have a sibling to play with. Kokoro and I have been wanting to have more kids for a while now. We enjoy taking care of them."

Miku was crying emotionally into Kokoro's shoulder. For once, Zorome couldn't even complain about how emotionally volatile his partner was. He was just about to burst into happy tears himself.

Sometimes it was hard for him to believe that Mitsuru was the same squad member he'd been since the beginning. He used to be very aloof, cold, and outright hostile to the others at times. Now he was caring, gentle, and full of love for Kokoro. Even before his memory wipe he had begun to change all because of his love for her.

This is the best thing ever! I wonder if any of our other squad members will have kids? I hope so! Then Miku and I can teach them everything we know and they'll always talk about how amazing we are at being teachers!