"Hiro's alright now!" Ichigo looked relieved. She and the rest of their squadmates who had been fighting Klaxosaurs had returned. Zorome had been the only one in the lounge upon their arrival and had explained the situation to them. 

"That's a relief," Goro said, wiping a bead of sweat off his cheek. "I was pretty worried about him."

"I knew he'd pull through," Zorome laughed. "He's survived worse crap!" His laughter died away and he looked down at the ground between his feet. "But what about Miku? Zero Two says that Miku is sicker than Hiro." I should've snuck over to the room once Hiro and Zero Two were out by the lake. Why didn't I? He was a little bit annoyed with himself. I would've just looked again!

"Poor Miku," Kokoro said sadly, leaning a little against Mitsuru, who tucked her close to him.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Mitsuru comforted his partner. "She's strong. If Hiro pulled through then I'm sure she will too." He reasoned.

"It's not that simple," Ikuno broke in. She had a serious expression on her face...as usual. "I found a lot of similar illnesses in the book I'm reading. Almost every illness can affect an individual in a different way than the next. Besides, Hiro's biology may be different because of Zero Two. Maybe that is why he recovered so quickly."

"Quickly? That wasn't quick!" Zorome argued. "That took, like, almost a week!" Nobody paid attention or responded to his statement, though Ikuno shot him an annoyed sideways glare. 

"Where are Zero Two and Hiro now?" Goro asked, gazing around the room.

"Outside bathing in the lake still," Zorome answered. 

As if on cue, the doors opened and the two parasites walked in. They were dry now, though their towels were sopping wet. Hiro's eyes lit up when he saw the other squad members. "You're back!" He breathed, relief showing in his features.

"Of course we are!" Goro said with a smile. "Zorome told us that you're feeling better."

"Yep!" Hiro nodded happily. "I'm feeling perfectly fine now. I bathed just to make sure I'm clean."

"I'll miss sharing a room with my Darling," Zero Two sighed. "But at least I get one-on-one time with Miku!" She perked up a little bit. "She may be really sick but she loves to chat still! Well, when she feels well enough to, that is. Anyway, it'll be nice to get back onto the battlefield." 

"Wait," Ichigo said. "If you go back onto the field, that means you won't be here to watch Miku during our battles. That also means that you'll risk contaminating the rest of us if you stay with her at night. Even if you don't get sick, the illness can still stick onto your clothes."

"Hmm," Zero Two slowly nodded her head. "I suppose so." She then turned to Zorome and smiled at him with a knowing look. "But Zorome can still watch her, right? I know he wants to! I could barely stop him from visiting her!"

Zorome felt embarrassment crawl into his chest. "I, uh, well, just wanted to see when she'll be well enough to pilot!" He defended himself. He was flustered.

"Yes, but what if he gets the sickness?" Hiro asked. 

"If he gets the illness, we will have no other choice than to make Zero Two look after the both of them," Ichigo admitted. "But this is his choice." She looked at Zorome. "Do you want to watch Miku or would you like Zero Two to remain off the battlefield and continue to instead?"

"I'll watch her," Zorome sighed, though deep within he felt almost somewhat excited to be alone with his FranXX partner. "I guess I gotta do something to keep busy."

"Good," Ichigo nodded. "Then it's settled. You will be taking care of Miku while the rest of us are in battle. I also think you should sleep in the room just in case. The sickness...it seems bad."

"Okay," Zorome agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly. He wasn't sure if he felt comfortable with sharing a room with her. It seemed to make his heart feel weird yet again. "Uh, well, should I start now?" He asked awkwardly.

"Yes," Ichigo told him. "Please do. Make sure she eats and drinks. If she needs help or seems worse, please tell us."

"Yeah, yeah," Zorome said dismissively. "I've got this. It can't be that hard to watch her while she's lying in bed. Unless she starts to mouth off at me!" He began to head upstairs and quickened his pace once he reached the second floor. He hadn't seen Miku in a few days and wanted to know how she was doing.

Damn...she looked so terrible when I saw her the other day. I can't imagine what she'll look like now if she's doing worse. He shuddered. He was about to find out.

He opened the door to the room where Miku was. The room was warm and humid as if the illness itself was filling the air. Miku was lying alone on the lower bunk of one of the beds. She was fast asleep.

Zorome quietly closed the door behind him and went to stand closer to Miku's bed to get a better look. Her blankets were pulled halfway up her body. Her gown was covered in sweat and her hair was plastered to her face from the sweat as well. She was breathing in wheezing breaths, even worse than she had been a few days before when Zorome had last laid eyes on her. Her skin was pale and had a faint and almost sickly green hue to it. Her veins stood out against her pale skin around her eyes and on her hands and arms. 

All of Zorome's annoyance at not being able to fight vanished, along with his nervousness at having to share a room with his FranXX partner. Now nothing but worry for his partner stirred within his chest. Thoughts that he had been trying to push away for the past few days came rushing through his mind. 

"Miku...," He cried softly out loud. He hadn't intended to, it had slipped out.

As soon as Zorome spoke, the auburn-haired girl opened her eyes.