After the creation of Code: 002 using the Klaxosaur Princess as a template, Doctor Werner Frank went on to create another specimen using her DNA as a base, this one however, only related to it's origins by blood and not by form. This one was a male...
(Somewhere outside of Plantation 13)/(No One's POV)
After a successful "Kiss" with Plantation 26, Squad 13 was given a 3 day break, including one day and one night at a beach, something they thought only remained in history books.
As Squad 13 arrived at said beach, there were a variety of emotions.
Zorome and Futoshi: "THE OCEAN!"
Those two were having the time of their lives.
"OI! Don't go too far!" Said Goro as he readied an umbrella.
Ichigo: "Nana said she will get us tomorrow morning."
Goro: "Is that so?" Said the boy as he looked at Ichigo from head to toe.
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Ichigo: "There seems to be no signs of klaxosaurs in the area, so let's try to enjoy this"
Goro: "y-yeah" Said the boy looking away with a slight blush in his face.
On the other side of the spectrum of emotions was Ikuno. Due to what happened to her in the last mission, Nana decided to put her, and consequently Mitsuru, out of commission for a while. They wanted to make sure what happened to her didn't leave any long term damages.
However, being put on hold was not what was making Ikuno uneasy.
[Flashback]
After Ikuno woke up in the hospital room, she was told that due to what happened in the battle, Code:003 was sent to the Garden, to undergo a variety of tests.
As Ikuno left the hospital area, she made her way back to the boarding house, but on her way there she was met by someone, her full time partner Mitsuru, making his way back from Plantation 26's docking bay.
As the two walked, no words were said, but she could feel how mad he was just by standing beside him.
As they entered the elevator, the silence was finally broken.
Mitsuru: "Don't think that having a high kill-count makes you less of a failure."
This took Ikuno by surprise. She expected him to feel resentment towards her, after all she was meant to pilot for hours on end with the very same person that almost killed him within minutes.
Mitsuru: "You know damn well you did nothing in that battle, you were there just so he could sync with the Franxx. If you weren't such a failure, maybe he wouldn't have had to pilot with Zero Two. Hell, maybe you wouldn't even have to pilot with him, if you were more capable maybe we would have stayed together like the others, maybe they would have sent someone else to pilot with him."
Ikuno stood there, holding back tears as her partner talked about her in the worst possible light. Deep down she somewhat agreed with him, if she hadn't passed out as the klaxosaur transformed, maybe they could have killed it themselves, instead of allowing Zero Two and 003 to pilot together.
