“A new aquarium opened up last week. We could head there afterward.” It seemed… fairly boring to him, but kids were weirdos that liked looking at boring things.

His hair was twisted before he coiled it around his neck twice, the end of his ponytail getting tucked down the back of his jacket. Uncomfortable, but it would keep i from getting knotted or whipping Rebecca in the face as they rode into the city.

Once in the hangar he took a seat on the front of his ‘bike, motioning for Rebecca to slip onto he back before gunning the engine. It seemed to roar to life before settling down to a gentle purr. A sharp jerk and they were off, dust marking their path as he sped out of Hunter’s.

Being a passenger for Zero was an… extreme sport. There was no chance of his crashing but it was hard to be convinced of that with the way he weaved through traffic, darting up right behind and beside other vehicles before cutting around them– and all the while refusing to drop his speed.

It barely took him any time to get them to the ice cream parlor.

“Oh, that sounds nICE-”

When he took off, she didn’t even have time to squeak as the wind blew into her face.

Rebecca had to hold on tight to her Papa, not because she was afraid of the speed, but because she was probably light enough to fly right off the bike and into the concrete if she didn’t. And she didn’t want that to happen of course.

‘It feels like flying’ she thought to herself. And wondered what it was like to fly under her own power.

By the time they got there, and she got off the bike, her hair was blown back quite thoroughly. She brushed her hair down and tied the end of her hair in a low tail so it wouldn’t stick up.

“We’re here!”

iiregularhunter:

Zero smiled as he stepped over to her. He reached out to ruffle her hair for a moment before handing her his extra helmet. It was a little big for her, but it’d still fit decently enough – and it wasn’t like she would actually need it. Despite his crazy driving, Zero was always in complete control of where he was going on the road.

“So did we decide on ice cream?” A slight turn as he started to walk, heading towards the hangar where his ‘bike was kept. “Or do you want to go somewhere else?”

She made a delighted noise at the hair ruffle, taking the helmet and strapping it on as securely as she could make it. Then she padded along right behind him.

“Yeah! We can go somewhere else after that too if that’s alright.”

iiregularhunter:

“You’re okay. You’re okay now…”

Zero gently stroked her hair as he murmured softly to her in the hopes of calming her. Of calming himself. A strange sensation of rage and fear were both piercing through his core, causing a slight tremor to creep into his arms – because he had already lost someone so painfully dear to him tonight. He wouldn’t have been able to stand it if he had lost anyone else.

Even though his knee was still sparking, Zero hauled Rebecca up into his arms without waiting for her to say anything else. It whined, small warnings flashing through his internal HUD to warn him that the extra weight was going to cause further damage – but he would be able to walk to the medical bay with her.

~~Besides, his own injury was meaningless compared to hers.~~

Little pieces of debris fell from her her hair as he stroked it, and she buried her face in his shoulder, still shaking and causing her to not notice her Papa’s tremor. She was thankfully calming down now, and her tears of fear were subsiding.

“Ah-”

Was all she could get out before he lifted her up, with her still clinging to him. There was probably no point in asking if he was sure about carrying her, but at least she was lightweight compared to others.

Oh, one of the dents in her leg armor started sparking a bit. That would explain it. She wondered when it started sparking actually.

She wouldn’t try fooling Zero by saying she could walk, because by the looks of her leg, she probably couldn’t. But then…

“…P-Papa, are you okay…?”

Her voice was soft as he carried her, vibrant blue eyes looking up at her Papa’s face.

iiregularhunter:

Zero smiled in amusement before turning to head to his own quarters. Being a Commander had a few perks, one of which being that he could easily get himself cleaned up and changed in the comfort of his own room.

His armor vanished in cubes of light, withdrawing to a band kept on his wrist. A quick rinse was all his hair needed before he changed, picking dark jeans and a red t-shirt to replace it. Work boots and a black jacket completed the ensemble, as well as a pair of sunglasses he tucked on top of his head.

A small grin played at the corner of his mouth as he headed back out to find her. If they were going out into town, then he was entirely driving.

As soon as she was done showering and changing into her normal clothes, Rebecca zipped down the hallway and skidded to a stop when she spotted Zero. She then finished tying her top together when she realized she forgot to tie it.

“Papa!”

She looked quite excited, balancing herself on the short heels of her boots as she waited for him to come over to her. She looked quite presentable now, her hairpins holding her surprisingly wild hair back from her face.

As soon as Rebecca had seen the news report, she shuddered on the spot before running off to her room, ignoring worried Hunters that tried getting her to stop.

She locked her door behind her and crawled into her bed, burrowing herself under her blankets.

Anyone who walked by her door at that moment would suddenly hear muffled sobbing that lasted for quite a while. Until what sounded like something popping, then hoarse coughing replaced it for a moment until silence.

Then it echoed, loud and true, down the hallway. The sound of a violin resounded, pain and sadness seeping into every note as one of the children of Zero played out her anguish.

It echoed and resounded until she became tired, and the music stopped.

And everything was silent once more.

iiregularhunter:

“Just remember to be patient with yourself. No one became a great hunter over night.”

Well…

It was a little white lie– of sorts. Even Zero himself had been forced to start as a Class-D and had to fight to work up the ranks to being a Commander himself, though it had less to do with his skill and more to do with his attitude. Skill-wise, Zero had been at Class-S from the start of his Hunting career, but Sigma had held him back to make a point.

A frustrating and annoying one, but Zero could appreciate it now. He had no doubt he wouldn’t have been able to have any leadership skills if he had been granted his own Unit from the start. Not with how he had been prior to joining Hunter’s.

“You wanna go out later?” A hand gently clapped on her shoulder as he spoke. “Go get cleaned up first and I’ll make sure Velvet has everything handled for the rest of the day.”

She nodded in agreement, giving him a small smile.

“Yeah. I’d rather be a decent one first.”

Rebecca squeaked in response to his hand on her shoulder, nodding at that as well. She looked quite delighted, actually.

“Mhm, I do. And okay!”

Once Zero let her go, she immediately zipped off to the communal showers to get her armor off and wash down. She was covered in dust!

iiregularhunter:

The sight of her and the damage to her armor sent small shockwaves of rage through his system’s core, but he could tamp them down for the moment. She– she didn’t deserve to feel this way. Not after how terrified she had been when he had first found her. She didn’t deserve to have to experience something as horrific as this attack.

And it was only going to get worse.

“Were you hurt? Did anyone touch you?” Pulling back slightly, Zero reached up to cup at her cheeks to force Rebecca to look up at him. Lying wasn’t acceptable in this situation, and he wasn’t about to let her get away with doing that.

“If they did I’m going to kill them-” Ex-member of his Unit or not.

It’s not like I haven’t already done that.

“N-No, not that I r-remember… The a-air vent kept scraping the b-back of my armor… S’not m-made for me in my a-armor, but I couldn’t disengage it… A-Any blood on me i-isn’t mine though…”

She didn’t have the energy to lie even if she wanted to, which she didn’t, though she legitimately didn’t remember if anyone got a shot off at her before she took shelter in the air vents to make her way out to help. The answer was a solid ‘probably’ though, as the vent didn’t cause the dents in her boots and helmet.

She did, however, unconsciously lean into his touch, shaking her head before speaking again.

“Most of it’s soot, m-maybe dust from rubble…? A-And the scrapes don’t go further than the a-armor… I’m okay f-for the most part.”

The smoke hadn’t been good for her, but thankfully it didn’t affect her as much as it did humans, so all she needed to do was a bit of air cycling in a clean patch of air and she’d be fine.

She was still quite upset, though being with Zero right now was helping more than he probably realized.