So, this is my first fanfiction in several years! My love for Darling in the Franxx has inspired me to come back and attempt this again with hopefully better writing than my first cringeworthy fics were. Nobody has written any material on Ichigo/002, so I thought it'd be nice to give this ship some attention and love.

My second chapter will be a lot longer at this rate and make up for how short this one is I hope. I try to switch from Ichigo's and Zero Two's perspectives in this fanfic, although this chapter is mainly from Ichigo's standpoint. Please enjoy and leave kudos if you did! It'll mean a lot to me, so I can know if I'm doing well or not.

Also, if you find any mistakes, please do point them out. Most times, they'll slip right underneath my nose even if I believe everything looks perfect.

Due to some grateful feedback, I've changed the format tremendously, so I hope it's easier and more enjoyable for people to read.

EDIT: This story, as of now, is discontinued. I don't believe I'll come back to it, but thank you all who have read it. I didn't initially have any ideas for it since it was more of a warm-up for me to get back into writing. As of now, I'm working on 'Your Smile In Spring'. Please do check it out!

She wasn't sure how she ended up in this situation, but having her back pinned up against the cold wall of an old, long abandoned building by a certain unruly, pink-headed girl was not what Ichigo had in mind when Nana informed them that they would be resting up at one of the few beaches that still breathed in a world like theirs.

God, how did things escalate to this? One minute she was blindly following Mitsuru into a foreign cave just to see what her teammate had discovered, and then the next Ichigo was being pestered by this cheeky girl.

"Darling and I have done that," Zero Two had whispered into her ear, causing the hairs on her neck to sit up immediately because she hadn't heard the parasite sneak up behind her at all.

How long had she been following her around? Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest now as a familiar sense of nervousness rushed through her body and put her mind into a state of panic. That happened quite frequently these days despite the fact that it was unbecoming of a leader. And usually, those uncontrollable, irrational emotions of hers were centered around one person within their group and indirectly he was still the main cause of why her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest at any moment. However, this time, the half-klaxosaur blood has weaved her way in between that.

It seemed to permanently describe their relationship ever since the unexpected duo ended up partnering together. Something she had failed to do for Hiro and it still stung whenever the bitterness of her brain chose to recall what she deemed her biggest failure. As always Zero Two was the thing that separated her from Hiro and also the person who caused her so many troubles whether it was truly the parasite's fault, or not.

Although now it couldn't be helped with what the girl was boasting to her about. Yes, she has already known that Zero Two and Hiro shared a kiss between one another, and as her imagination unforgivably ran wild, her heart in her chest clenched in discomfort. That dull pain that haunted her almost every day. Why did Zero Two have to go as far as to remind her and then rub it in her face?

The smugness she wore on her face now told Ichigo that Zero Two completely relished in the advantage the girl believed she had over her. As if winning Hiro's affection was a competition between them.. Yet couldn't she deny that it wasn't, could she? Her actions didn't match up to her thoughts nowadays.

"Done what?" She decided to play ignorant, hoping that Zero Two would find it in her heart to just leave her alone if she played oblivious.

Just as she'd done earlier when questioned by her teammates about the subject of 'kissing'. Of course, Zero Two had to completely defy the wish she was screaming to herself in her head.

"Kissed," she said with so much confidence that Ichigo somehow wished she could wash that arrogance off the parasite's face. However, even here she felt hopeless.

"But I guess you guys aren't ready for that," Zero Two continued once she was greeted with silence from the other.

Her words left a bitterness in Ichigo's mouth. What honestly made Zero Two think she was so above them outside of their reliability during missions? Right now they were on a small break, therefore no rivalry of any sort should spring up in an environment where they should be off their defenses for a day. Yet it naturally did when it involved the two of them.

Ichigo has come to notice that the only times Zero Two approaches her was only to antagonize her about Hiro, but it wasn't as if she was actively looking for Zero Two herself either. She actually went out her way to avoid the girl as much as she could. However, it was inevitable with how much she attached herself to Hiro's hip.

That thought caused another pang in her chest and the small girl resisted the urge to bring her hand to the center of her shirt and curl her fingers into it. Whatever laugh Zero Two wanted to get from her, she wished she'd hurry already! Her hands balled up into two shaky fists and at that moment, Ichigo couldn't take it anymore.

"I-I know! I-I've done it too."

Huh?

The words left her mouth before her brain could stop and decide whether it was a good idea or not, but as with her past mistakes with her inability to think rationally, this was only another. Warmth spread across her cheeks and she didn't need a mirror to know that she was probably blushing before the other. Zero Two had caused this out of her?

No, it has to be because the subject of their conversation forced her to remember... That particular night.

However, while she was even more flustered than before, Ichigo felt a small boost of confidence after proving to the parasite that she had the same advantage over her. She concluded with this that Zero Two wasn't a person so far ahead of her as the girl has made her believe. Hah! How will she take that? Ichigo suppressed the need to mirror the other's sly smile, not wanting to seem as cocky as her. Yet even with her confession, the girl remained undaunted.

"Oh, really? With whom?" Zero Two pried, dwindling Ichigo's hope that she'd cut her some slack any time soon.

As the girl asked this, Zero Two took the authority to rest her arm beside Ichigo's head and lean not only her body, but her face in closer to hers. Perhaps it was for the sake of privacy, or Zero Two pettily just wanting to it intimidate her some more and just maybe it was succeeding a little bit. No, it succeeded much more than just a little because her heart running amuck in her chest has never sounded so loud before until now.

Zero Two couldn't hear it, right? It was so eerily quiet in this long deserted town that Ichigo was almost certain that the girl could despite it not being her own body. Why has she gotten so close? Instinctively, Ichigo made the move to lean away from her, but as the heels of her feet and her back were met only with hardwood, the shorter parasite realized she was trapped here.

Curiosity and interest filled Zero Two's mind. She believed that Ichigo was only bluffing because she has not met many parasites that new about the adult world more than her considering how sheltered they were. Not understanding something like a kiss was an unfortunate way of missing out on the exhilarating things in life.

Someone like Ichigo kissing another person? Pft, not likely.

Zero Two was fully aware that she only had an infatuation for Hiro, therefore she would not let those lips of hers so easily touch another's. Unless... Had they? That swelling pride on her face soon twisted into something darker and for once, Zero Two wasn't sure what it was. But all of a sudden, she very much felt as if she was being threatened despite the fact that nobody had a weapon pointed her way.

Has her property been stolen, or marked before she'd gotten her hands on it? On him. Her eyes narrowed some, dangerously in fact but Zero Two still wanted to hang onto the chance that Ichigo was simply lying to her.

"It has to be with someone special you know. So, who did you kiss?"

The girl shifted her weight into her other leg, her eyes not removing themselves from the shy and embarrassed one's that seemed too intimidated to meet her own. That wasn't a first. A nice, wafting aroma hit Ichigo's nostrils and almost immediately she knew where this pleasant smell came from. Did Zero Two always smell this nice?

It was... different from how Miku's, Kokoro's, and Ikuno's individual scents. While theirs did nothing for her, Zero Two's effortlessly captured her attention? The scent was mildly sweet yet fresh at the same time, reminding her of a resplendent peace that she has not yet experienced.

The fact that she was able to smell the girl's aroma so vividly only reminded her of how close their two bodies were and in that moment, Ichigo wasn't too sure if her heart was only racing in her chest because of the memory of her mouth pressed against Hiro's ransacking her brain again.

But what was that about? Only he has managed to extract these kinds of strange feelings out of her, so it felt even more unusual to be in this kind of situation with Zero Two. This was all because of the girl's lack of personal space. Not wishing to meet that sharp and skeptical stare of hers that seemed to stare right into her soul, Ichigo lowered her eyes to look away but that too would be an unfortunate mistake on her part since the young girl's body then filled her vision.

It was hard not to notice how much more filled out she was when her white, clad one-piece hugged the curves she sometimes wished she possessed so tightly. Insecurity wasn't what was bothering her at the moment however since she's long gotten over silly things like that. It was the strange interest she had in the other's body that imbalanced her.

The girl never stopped to notice before, but Zero Two possessed a seemingly flawless complexion that was normally hidden underneath their uniforms that left only their hands and necks exposed. For a minute, Ichigo wondered how soft she would feel if she were to touch the other's milky skin and then the wet droplets that enameled her entire body gathered her attention. She was still wet from the ocean.

Looking up, Ichigo was able to confirm that her damp, pale pink hair followed the same fate. Why did a monster have to look so beautiful? The girl knew herself that she was going too far out of line now, so decided that avoiding the sight of Zero Two's body altogether would suit as the best temporary solution for her unusual captivation in the parasite.

"Hey, I asked you a question." Zero Two's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, her tone a lot more impatient and slightly harder this time.

She was not known for being soft-spoken with anyone who was not Hiro, but her words did force Ichigo's gaze to lift from the concrete beneath their bare feet and to meet with Zero Two's cyan pools instead.

Had she ever seen a gemstone in person, Ichigo would've definitely compared their beauty to one here. This lack of proximity was helping her notice things about the other more than before. Or perhaps this fascination was always here, but the distance she willingly tried to put between her and Zero Two made that harder to acknowledge until now. Or maybe she just did not know how to behave in this situation regardless of the other person's gender. Regardless if they were a friend or foe.

She really wanted to know then? Well, fine. She could tell her and maybe then Zero Two will finally back down from her bold advances? Nervousness filled her, but her courageousness burned louder and couldn't stop herself from blurting out what she really wished to say to her this entire time.

"It... It was Hiro, okay?"

"Now you're not the only one," Ichigo didn't add but wish she had.

For the quickest moment, Zero Two's eyes widened slightly as her brain absorbed the information that was just sent to her. A second later, however, her facial features fell slack and took that composed yet impassive look that Ichigo always misread as boredom. Ichigo... and her Darling has kissed each other? Did this take place before he ran into her world, or afterward? She didn't like the way this made her feel even when she considered both probable scenarios.

Zero Two wasn't angry nor was she irritated, but something did tell her to be deeply upset about this. After all, Ichigo has touched her beloved Darling whether it was before she had marked him as her own or afterward. Her stoic expression took an unexpected shift now and returned to the casual, thoroughly amused face she sported before.

As if she found a ray of hope between the brief cloud that hung over her head just that quickly and it was undeniable that Zero Two did have a clever idea up her sleeve that was now known to the suspecting shorter one.

"Eh? Is that so?"

She did nothing to hold back the wide, clever smile that stretched across her entire face as Zero Two's long fingers settled underneath Ichigo's jaw and her thumb slowly swiped at her chin. And slowly that smile of hers became a lot slier.

Not knowing what Zero Two was up to caused her to feel afraid, but more importantly, why was she doing nothing to stop this before whatever Zero Two had in mind took place? Whether Ichigo was frozen in fear, or genuinely a little curious in how the other would respond to this, her feet remained rooted to the ground and she honestly did nothing to swat Zero Two's fingers away from her chin.

Her hand had no business being on her body, but instead of reprimanding her about her rudeness, she waited. Zero Two's head tilted slightly to the side and the space between them was becoming littler and littler with every passing second. Her sweet aroma blessed her nostrils more strongly than before and at this proximity, Ichigo could feel the other's breath against her own.

Not much later, Ichigo was not left waiting for long. Her soft, green eyes widened slightly In sheer shock and as Zero Two's surprisingly soft lips recreated the exact scene she shared with Hiro inside Delphinium, this time she was put into a state of suspension. With her body completely frozen, her face also had the same response to the other's unplanned kiss to her lips.

Zero Two wasn't one to hold back however and despite the other's unwillingness to respond to her affection, the parasite took what she wanted and deepened the kiss. Even with her lack of response, Ichigo never fought against her once. Was she too shocked too, or did she have a reason to believe that something more at work here? Ah, well she never understood other people's emotions well nor did Zero Two take the time to find out. However, this person fascinated her from day one just as much as her Darling did.

Even though Ichigo was unable to reciprocate what was being given to her, she did find herself melting underneath Zero Two's strong fondness and no longer were her muscles as tense as before. This was something the other female would surely take the time to notice since she could feel her jaw untightening between her grasp.

And the half-klaxosaur blooded girl allowed Ichigo to know the same with the smirk she soon felt against her own lips. The kiss lasted only for a couple of seconds, but even with the short length, what Zero Two had just done to her was still enough to blow her mind. Once Zero Two slowly separated from her and took a step back to return Ichigo's personal space back to her, the girl's startled eyes still looked up to the taller in question.

"There. Now I have your kiss with Darling returned to me," Zero Two said with a smug smile on her face, her tongue intoxicatingly licking her bottom lip to savor the girl's taste.

"Wh–What..."

That was her aim? Ichigo couldn't answer why this revelation made her shoulders slump slightly. No, she did know why. It was because that kiss was amazing. It was far better than the one she shared with Hiro and just as the boy had told her, her world truly did light up the moment Zero Two's cherry lips had touched her.

It was as if kissing the other caused some chemical reaction within her that made her feel sparks throughout her entire body. ..Was this the kind of things humanity was missing out on this entire time?

"Hmm..."

Zero Two's cyan irises looked up at the sky without any purpose as if deep in thought.

"Sweet. Just how I remembered."

With that said, the beautiful monster then blessed her with a rare, satisfied smile and for once, it didn't unnerve Ichigo. Even if that look on her face was only there at her own expense, she didn't detest it and perhaps that was one of the reasons why she was so stupid.

"Sweet," she said?

"Zero Two.." The leader started but was unable to finish.

Her mind was not yet over what just took place and was too stuck to construct the proper response to any of this. So, with the adrenaline still coursing through her veins, it was no surprise that her small body jumped in place when she heard Goro and Hiro's loud voices suddenly calling out to them in the near distance.

Had they seen?

At that time she panicked, looking over at her teammate and current crush, but the benign and unaware expressions they had on their faces reassured her of otherwise. In fact, they were waving them over. Had the two boys truly walked in on the unfitting scene, Ichigo knew they would've had the modesty to leave them alone. At least, from their perspective.

In reality, there was nothing to be left alone since Zero Two had kissed her without her consent. Yet her lips were still buzzing and felt warm, a lingering feeling that Hiro left on her own for the past few days.

Now it was last claimed by Zero Two and no longer would she be able to reminiscence the kiss she shared with the person she had romantic feelings for. She'd think of the girl instead, but for whatever reason, that realization didn't strike a nerve within her.

Why didn't she just slap her again?

Ichigo knew she had every right to yet the thought to retaliate never crossed her mind even while she was being kissed by her. She allowed it to happen and that's what confused her the most.

"C-Coming!"

Ichigo hoped they wouldn't notice or question how she stumbled over her words because she was obviously not in her best state of mind at this moment. Before the girl could look over at Zero Two to see the fulfillment she received from her lack of togetherness, she was already on her feet to put that usual separation between her and Zero Two back in place, walking away from the very spot that had caused her heart to do flips in her chest.

As usual, Zero Two lingered further behind from the group, but it didn't take her long to catch up. After all, this time there was something– No, someone other than her Darling who piqued her interest but she decided not to make it plain obvious at this moment.

As Zero Two took a spot beside her almost lover and shared with him a bright, contented smile, Hiro was not blind to the other's change. Because normally she looked disinterested when it was not just the two of them, but this time it was entirely different.

"Did you find something?" He asked, unaware of what kind of intimate moment took place between both his female friends.

"Hmm?" Her arms came behind her back, fingers clasping together. "I sure did, Darling. I found something very interesting." Hiro questioned what it was, but she didn't tell him.

From over her shoulder, Zero Two looked back at the person whom she was referring to and let out a small smirk when she caught Ichigo subconsciously touching her still warm lips when the girl most likely thought no one was looking. When she noticed Zero Two's tantalizing eyes on her, her instinct was to turn her head away from her to hide the warm sting to her cheeks and to dodge the fact that the girl might've seen her touching the place her unplanned but not unwanted lips just touched.

Ichigo did not know what to think about the sequence of events that took place today, but she did know for sure that one certain boy wasn't the only thing that would be running through her mind when slept tonight.