Hiro folded his sheets, putting them neatly in a stack at the foot of the bed. Zero Two and the rest of the squad agreed to meet up in the courtyard. He Planned on joining them, he just had to complete his chores first.
Suddenly, the door to the room swung open, Hiro looked around and saw (Y/N) standing there with a menacing look on his face, his arms crossed and his fists clenched. He knew this wasn't an amicable visit, In fact, he had a hunch he already knew what this was about.
"H-hello (Y/N)," Hiro started "Can I help you with somethi-"
Before he could finish, (Y/N) pinned him against the frame of the bunks, similar to how Zero Two would. Just with a lot less love and a lot more rage.
(Y/N) stared the Stamen in the eyes and he bared his teeth, revealing his canines similar to Zero Two's.
"Hear my words 016..." He growled, "You will listen and not speak a word, understood?"
Hiro fearfully gulped and nodded quickly. (Y/N) squinted and sighed.
"Look..." He started, "You clearly make my sister happy...happier than i've ever seen her"
His gaze steadied as he glared at Hiro, his eyes began flashing an iridescent cyan.
"But if you EVER break her heart..." (Y/N) began, growling, "I will break...every bone in your body.."
A cold sweat ran down Hiro's neck.
"Am I clear?" (Y/N) growled.
Hiro swallowed in fear, composing himself before he responded with utmost certainty
"Crystal..."
(Y/N) took a deep breath as his face relaxed and the glowing of his eyes disappeared.
"Good" he growled, "I'm glad we could reach an understanding"
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Ichigo sat in the launch bay, watching Azure Defiant undergo repairs and cleaning. As the crews were reloading the Hornet Launchers, she noticed they also seemed to be modifying the arms of the Jaeger. "Beautiful, ain't she?" She turned around and saw (Y/N) standing, staring proudly at his Jaeger. "Solid iron hull, no alloys. Forty engine blocks per muscle strand. Hyper-torque driver for every limb and a new fluid synapse system." He then sat down next to her. "I just got off with the old man," he announced. "You're my new co-pilot now" Ichigo stared at him in shock, her eyes widening. "What about Goro?" She asked "Someone has to pilot Delphinium with him" "Naomi will take over that part, they already tested and they're compatible" (Y/N) assured her. That answer seemed to satisfy her as her facial expression calmed before she went back to admiring Azure Defiant. The crews seemed to be loading blue fuel cells and some kind of particle accelerator into the arms.
"What are they doing?" Ichigo asked.
"Apparently, the brass didn't think Azure was well armed enough," (Y/N) explained "Those are prototype I-19 Plasmacasters they're implanting into the arms." Ichigo just looked at him with confusion, as she had little to no idea what he was talking about. "Plasma Cannons" He confirmed. She nodded, before sitting in silence for a minute. Suddenly, Ichigo grasped her shoulder in pain. (Y/N)'s eyes darted to her in concern. "Are you alright?" (Y/N) asked. She nodded in response, but he wasn't buying it. He reached out to inspect the cause of her pain but was stopped by Ichigo, "Seriously (Y/N)...I'm fin-" "Ichigo..." She looked up and her eyes shot wide open, his face was a cold glare with his eyes slightly glowing. Ichigo recognized this expression. Zero Two had a similar one after she'd slapped her. She reluctantly relented and let (Y/N) continue. He pulled her sleeve up to her elbow and saw something that made his breath stop. A blue tumor reached down her arm, stopping right before her wrist. (Y/N)'s expression sank into one of sadness and regret before he let her arm go. He knew what this was.
"How long has this been here?" He asked
"About a day," Ichigo answered, her face also sinking.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, "I should've told you"
She looked up at him in curiosity.
"It happens to everyone who pilots with..."
He looked down at his hand with traces of anger and regret-
"One of us..."
She put her hand on his shoulder, "it's not your fault, I was assigned to you."
"Even still," he muttered, "I should've said something." Ichigo chuckled. "Do you really think Nana and the doctor would've changed their minds?" He smiled and sat in silence for a moment. "Actually, there were a few things I wanted to ask you," Ichigo began. "Go ahead" (Y/N) responded. "During our drift, I saw memories of someone you called momma. Who was that?" His face contorted in surprise before sinking into deep thought. "I never really knew her name, actually. But I guess you could say she raised me and Zero Two. She wasn't like the others who just saw us as some experiment. Instead, she actually cared for us and raised us. But one day, she was taken away and I was shipped off to be a pilot, but I'll never forget her. She taught me a lot of the stuff I know now, even an old language." Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh really?" Ichigo stated, "What was it?" "She called it Japanese," (Y/N) smirked "Watashi wa okoru to nihongo ni suberikomi-gachidesu" Ichigo's eyes lit up with fascination as (Y/N) continued to think. "Actually, I had a question for you too," He started. Ichigo turned and looked at him, waiting to answer. "In the drift, you seemed to really hate my sister, why?" Ichigo gulped as she saw (Y/N) begin to scowl a bit which would make sense, one of her memories WAS her calling Zero Two a bitch after all. "I...don't exactly hate her," She explained, "She just...appeared out of the blue one day and started calling Hiro 'her Darling' and acting really-" Before she could finish, (Y/N) cut her off. "So it's all about Hiro, is it?" He asked. She was silent for a moment before reluctantly nodding. But to her surprise, he didn't seem mad. If anything, he seemed satisfied. "You grew up with him, didn't you?" (Y/N) concluded. "Hiro was the one who gave you a name instead of just your code. And when he failed to ride with Naomi, you hoped you'd get to pilot with him. You love him, don't you?" Ichigo hesitated before reluctantly nodding again, but then (Y/N) put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "You know I used to love someone too," He admitted. Ichigo stared at him in surprise, his face sank into sorrow as he explained; "Do you remember in the drift, I mentioned someone named Eight-Four-Two?" Ichigo thought back and briefly remembered the fleeting memory before nodding. "I called her Miki. She was one of my first co-pilots, and my first actual friend" (Y/N) explained. "I piloted with her for about 8 months, my longest record with any other pilot. Other crews called us "The Avatars of Destruction" with 8 drops and 8 kills under our belt, the highest record at the time. We were unstoppable...until our 9th drop. We were sent out against a Category 4, Tormentor. We...I underestimated the kaiju, and it cost her life." Ichigo's eyes widened as (Y/N) continued to explain, biting his lip. "It pinned us to the ground and ripped her right out of the Conn-Pod. I...I felt her fear, her helplessness...and then...s-she was just gone" (Y/N) explained, but not before a single tear fell. "I fought it off long enough for reinforcements to arrive, but by then it was too late and the bastard got away." He held the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pinky as he mourned. "I've been through 5 other co-pilots since then," (Y/N) admitted as he wiped away his tear, "I never stopped blaming myself...not for any of them-" Before he could finish, Ichigo grabbed his hand. "Maybe.." She began, "we're drift compatible because we were both denied love." (Y/N) smiled as he intertwined his hand with hers. "BROTHER!" They both turned around and saw Zero Two and Hiro walking up to them. "Us and the rest of the squad were headed out to the courtyard" Hiro explained, "You wanna come?" (Y/N) thought to himself for a moment. "Yeah in a minute," He explained before turning to Ichigo. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up." Ichigo smiled and nodded. As the three walked off and left (Y/N) alone. He thought about Ichigo and blushed as he smiled to himself.
