Zorome lay in bed with his arms under his head, staring at the ceiling as thoughts circled his head endlessly. His blanket was draped over his body loosely, though he wasn't cold and felt no need to use it in the first place. He could hear the faint sleeping sounds of his teammates sleeping in the room; Futoshi was snoring quietly with his mouth open, Hiro was muttering in his sleep, Goro was making whistling noises as he breathed. Zorome was the only one awake in the room at that moment.

I wonder why we haven't heard anything from Papa yet. Especially now that Kokoro and Mitsuru had their wedding. You'd at least think he'd come to see how we're doing. Perhaps come to give us more orders. Zorome shifted his feet restlessly beneath the covers. They hadn't heard from Papa for the better part of two months now, which caused the boy to worry deeply. Even though he knew his squadmates could survive just fine he wanted to know Papa was still looking out for them. He wanted Papa to take pride in Squad 13 and to care for them.

After another hour of shifting restlessly in his bed and worrying, Zorome sighed and climbed off his bunk, slipping quietly out of the room. He grabbed some binoculars that were hanging on the doorknob as he did so, the ones he used to look out for signs of danger or to see if Papa was finally coming to get his squad. He quietly slid down the halls and out of the boy's wing, only to freeze when he heard footsteps coming from the main sitting room. He was startled by the fact someone else was out.

"Who's there?" Zorome demanded, struggling not to flee as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the halls.

"Oh," A disappointed voice sounded from near one of the couches. "I thought you were my Darling."

"Zero Two?" Zorome cried. "What are you doing outside at night?" He crossed his arms, his binoculars still grasped firmly in his right hand. "Don't tell me you were going to come and sneak over to the boy's living area. No girls are allowed there!"

Zero Two sighed, sounding rather bored. Zorome's eyes had adjusted enough by now from the small amount of pale moonlight that was coming in through the windows and he could see her tall form standing beside one of the couches. She flitted over to stand in front of him, swishing her hair back over her shoulders.

"W-what do you want?" Zorome demanded warily. "What're you sneaking around for?"

Zero Two sighed. "To tell you the truth, I'm feeling quite restless tonight. I found my room to be too...quiet. Too boring. I was on my way outside when I thought I heard something. I was hoping it would be my Darling but it was you." She leaned closer to him, tipping her head to one side as she pressed a forefinger to her chin. "But you're one to talk. Why are you sneaking around?"

Zorome allowed his arms to rest at his sides again. "I was going to go outside and keep an eye out on things. I gotta make sure nothing gets to us while we're sleeping!" He puffed out his chest but Zero Two looked bored, not at all impressed by what he had said.

"Huh," Zero Two replied, straightening up again. "Normally I'm the only one wandering the halls at night these days. Mind if I come with?"

Zorome was surprised by the pink-haired girl's question. Even though she had started bonding with more of the squad members in the past month, it was still odd to have her address him at all, let alone ask to come with him. He had only ever shown interest in hanging out with Hiro until recently.

"I guess," Zorome replied, shrugging. Maybe it'll be a bit less...weird...if someone else comes with me. Although Zorome wasn't scared of being alone outside at night, ever since the thirteenth plantation had been mostly destroyed, something felt off about it. There was something eerie about Mistitleinn that gave him the chills these nights.

The two of them left the building in silence, crossing the forest until they came to the edge. Zorome put the binoculars to his eyes and gazed off into the distance, allowing himself to be lost in thought while Zero Two stood by and watched, humming quietly to herself.

A sudden thought struck Zorome and he turned to Zero Two after a while, setting his binoculars to the side. "Hey, Zero Two, why the heck do you call Hiro your 'darling' or whatever? Also, what exactly is kissing for. Hiro told me it is when you press your mouth against someone else's or something weird like that. Yeah, what's with that?"

Zero Two smiled. "Ah, I was wondering when one of the squadmates would ask me that." She seemed mildly amused. "I call Hiro my Darling because he means the world to me. It signifies that we can never be forced apart!" Her eyes gleamed with passion as she spoke, which caused Zorome to feel a little unnerved.

"That's sappy," Was all Zorome had to say in response to that. "Anyway, what the hell is kissing for? What's the point in it and what does it do?"

"Kissing is something you do with the person you love," Zero Two replied cheerfully.

"What the hell does that mean?" Zorome asked, fully confused now. "What the hell is 'the person you love?'"

"Simple," Zero Two said casually, "The person you love is the person you want to be with forever. They're the person you live for and also the person you'd die for!" She clapped her hands together and shot him a toothy smile. "They make your heart race and you yearn for them always."

"Oh," Was all Zorome could muster. He remembered that time Futoshi had cried after Kokoro had switched partners, shouting that he loved Kokoro. Zorome had been confused, not knowing what that had meant, and had been a bit worried for his big friend's sanity. Now he understood what that meant.

Zero Two giggled and turned away from him. "I don't think we'll be hearing anything from Papa or any klaxosaur anytime soon. I'm going inside. What about you?"

Zorome let out a yawn, then tried to hide it quickly. "I'm, uh, not very tired or anything but sure! Guess the plantation doesn't need me to guard them at the moment."

Little did Zorome know, the conversation he'd had with Zero Two was something that he'd end up thinking about a lot for quite some time.