Everyone was worried about Hiro for the rest of the day, which caused the atmosphere to be unusually somber. Zorome tried to distract himself from Hiro's illness, Papa's abandonment, and his weird thoughts about Miku by kicking a ball around in the courtyard. He was glad that he didn't have too many chores to do that day. He just wanted to chill out and get all that stuff out of his mind.

"Hey," Futoshi walked into the courtyard and waved at him, smiling. There was a loaf of freshly-baked bread in one of his hands. "I just got finished baking with Miku and Kokoro! There's some tasty bread now, wanna try some?"

Something within Zorome twinged at the mention of his FranXX partner's name but he tried his best to ignore it. "Sure!" He said. "Where is it?"

"Miku put it on one of the tables in the mess hall," Futoshi replied. He took a bite of the bread and swallowed it, smiling. "Mmm, it's delicious!"

Zorome ran past his friend and into the building, excited to try the bread his friends had baked. He was hungry. It had been four hours since breakfast. A tense and uneasy four hours at that. He wanted to eat.

"Oh!" Zorome skidded to a halt inches before crashing into Miku, who was walking out of the mess hall. She looked at him with a bewildered expression on her face, which was only a few inches away from his...

"W-watch where you're going!" Miku stammered, brushing past Zorome.

He looked over his shoulder for a brief moment and watched her go before rubbing his forehead and walking into the room. His stomach growled at the scent of fresh bread that was wafting into his nostrils. He happily walked over to the table where the loaves were and hungrily tore into one of them. The warm, soft texture felt amazing as it slid down his throat. His mouth watered at the taste. It was absolutely delicious!

Once Zorome was done eating he left the room and went upstairs. He was surprised to see Miku walking over from down the hall where Hiro and Zero Two were.

"What were you doing over there?" Zorome asked.

"I was checking on Hiro and asking if he and Zero Two want some bread," Miku replied. She wore a worried expression on her face. "Zero Two said yeah but Hiro...he seems too sick to eat anything right now. She says he's been coughing a lot and he even vomited once..." She shook her head sadly.

"Sounds tough," Zorome sympathized. "But I'm sure he'll be okay. Hiro survives everything! Anyway, I was on my way to my room to take a nap."

"I'm going to go to my room and do the same," Miku said. "But first I'm going to bring some bread to their room! I'll bring a few loaves in case Zero Two manages to convince Hiro to eat as well!" With that, she darted away. Zorome watched her go for a moment before walking over to the room he shared with the other boys.

Ack...my heart did that weird thing again! Zorome realized. My heart and chest or whatever. It's so weird! It does that whenever I see her. Should I talk to Zero Two about it again sometime? He climbed up onto his bunk and lay down on his back, looking up at the ceiling absentmindedly. After a while, he ended up sinking into a deep sleep. This time, he had no invasive dreams about Miku.

***

"So, how is he?" Goro asked, breaking the tense silence that had fallen over the parasites as they ate their dinner that day. Zorome had been woken up by Futoshi an hour earlier to make the food.

"Zero Two says he's gotten worse," Ichigo replied with a grim expression on her face. "She doesn't know what to do about it but she still suggests we keep our distance from him until he feels better. She also says that honey is good for sore throats."

"That's true," Ikuno piped up. "I've read that in one of my books before."

"So..." Miku spoke suddenly, her tone dark with worry. Zorome looked at her. "What happens if one of the rest of us gets sick? What if it spreads?"

Goro and Ichigo exchanged a glance.

"I...don't know," Ichigo admitted after a brief moment. "What I do know is we will try our best to take care of anyone who gets sick, even if we aren't sure exactly what to do. Zero Two is taking good care of Hiro."

"Maybe someone should bring them dinner," Kokoro suggested. "It's only fair that they get to eat while it's too fresh."

"I can bring it to them!" Miku said, jumping to her feet. "I just finished my meal anyways!" She grabbed the two empty plates that were sitting on one end of the table and skipped away.

"You've seen Hiro today?" Goro asked Ichigo.

The squad leader nodded. "Yes, but from a distance. I asked Zero Two how he's doing and she told me everything I needed to know. He's...not well."

After that, the squad finished eating their dinner quietly before going back to their rooms.

I hope the sickness doesn't spread. I mean...I know I can beat it! But I'm worried about the others.