Secrets unrivalled - Darling In The Franxx

Part 12 - A new face

Screams come from the delivery room, today is a very special day. The day when Kokoro and Mitsuru have their first child. They have a girl and name her 'Ai' which means love as a representation of the word they were taught by Zero Two.
Mitsuru falls down on his feet as Nana shows the newborn Ai to her father. Ai wraps her tiny hands around Mitsurus thumb, he begins to cry of joy.
The others smile and watch, their new life has been rather harsh lately so this change of pace was rather refreshing to them.

"Ai" Mitsuru says as he wipes the tears from his plump eyes.

"Your name is Ai!" He's overjoyed to be a father as Kokoro is to be a mother.

Mitsuru holds Ai. Compared to his hands, she is tiny.

"She is very healthy" says Nana

"Congratulations"

Goro pats Mitsuru on the back.

"Looks like you're a papa now"

Goro sheds a tear. They pushed a life behind as they saw the true colours of papa and dr Franxx and continue to struggle to set a new life of their own.

"I wish Hiro were here to see you" says Mitsuru.

Kokoro is overjoyed but is incredibly tired from the labor, she falls asleep with a small smile on her face.

"She's just sleeping" informs Nana

The others leave the room, Mitsuru sits beside the sleeping Kokoro as he holds Ai in his arms. Mitsuru looks like a pro papa already.
They each have allocated jobs to do around the house, and a lot of jobs at that! Usually Kokoro does the cooking with Miku while the others tend to the garden and supply all the food they can find in the ponds and tree's around them. It's been a few weeks since they've arrived and they've kept themselves busy, even Zero Two is busy but she usually is the one who collects food while the nines clean and furnish the place.
Hiro is still asleep, he was moved to a room where many machines are attached to him and his bed is comfy and warm. Everyday, Zero Two checks on him and gives him a kiss on the cheek when saying hello and goodbye. He is still alive, but barely... who knows how long he has got... but with the way he is now, he might as well be dead.

"Zero Two" Ichigo yells across the hall

"You going fishing today?" Asks Ichigo

"Yeah, I am actually" she responds

"Did you want someone to go with you?" She asks

"No, no, I'm good, besides I'm not sure you'd be able to catch anything" she responds with a laugh, Ichigo laughs back.

"Well, if you ever need help, ask one of us"
"We'd be happy to help!"

The ponds are usually at the far ends of the house which is where they'll most likely be spotted by Papa by airships and monitors. She knows that if one of them get spotted, they'll be killed. But Zero Two no longer cares if she's alive or not, her purpose was to see her darling again but she couldn't even save him and now he is going to die. She can't help but feel selfish and like she's to blame for not noticing sooner.

"Why the long face Iota?" Asks Alpha

Zero Two has an unsightly frown on her face.

"Don't call me that" she replies
She is and probably always will be cold to the nines, though she is grateful for their help and support to Hiro.

"You know, the more you frown, the faster you age" he says sarcastically

Zero Two shrugs
"I guess that doesn't matter anymore, does it" she mumbles

"What was that?" He asks

"N-nothing!" She replies
"I'm going to get some food, you keep holding the ropes here"

"Iota" he shouts as she begins to walk away.

"Make sure you come back okay?" He says
"Hiro will be sad if you don't"
He's almost like a mind reader, he can read Zero Two like an open book.

Zero Two runs off to get food while everyone else stays. On the way, she has constant tears flowing down her face.

—————
"This is odd" says Nana
They're in the control room of the house, a place that monitors the state of Hiro's brain waves and pulse.

"What's odd?" Asks Hachi

"Look at these readings" she points towards the screen with a graph like monitor showing up.

"Just 10 minutes ago, his waves spiked" she explains
"It would only do that if he were conscious"

They stare at each for a moment, there is a glimpse of hope.

"Could he be waking up?" Says Hachi

They run to the room that Hiro has laid in for the last 3 weeks. A loud beeping from the machines  signalling that he may just be finally waking up.

Hiro's heartbeat fastens and he begins to sweat.

"I don't think he's waking up" Nana says
"I think he's undergoing the transformation period"

Hiro's C blood count begins to rise at a significant rate but Hiro still isn't conscious. Hachi lifts up the hair to find two small horns poking from his head.

"He's not going to die" she says in a happy tone.
"Quick! Find Zero Two and bring her in here!"

Hiro silent groans and grunts in pain as the horns grow larger by the second.

"She isn't here, she has gone to look for food near the ponds" Hachi replies.

"Well find her! He needs her more now than ever!"

Next chapter:
As Hiro shows signs of waking up, the only way he'll be able to push through is if Zero Two is by his side, but Zero Two receives a harsh encounter from the one and only, Dr. Franxx. The scarcity of food has become incredibly hard to feed everyone in mansion and crops begin to wither and die. How will they survive?