Chapter 30

This is the thirtieth chapter.

Synposis
While everyone is sleeping, Futoshi talks in his sleep and kicks Goro, waking him up. Goro notices that Hiro is not in his sleeping bag.

Hiro and Ichigo walk along the beach and she says she couldn’t sleep, and he says the same thing and it felt like it would have been a waste. She jogs and tells him to look at the stars, and points out Orion. She tells him that he taught her about the stars but he doesn’t remember. She asks him about the Ichigo Star and he says it is the fifteenth star of Orion, the same as her code number. He recalls they promised to see it together after leaving the Garden.

They continue walking together and Ichigo says they can look at the stars again because they can now fight together. However, Ichigo says she needs to be a better leader while she remembers when she welcomed Hiro and Zero Two into Squad 13 as official members, because she believes she has only been a burden to Goro and that Hiro should have been chosen as the leader. Hiro disagrees and says she is a great leader. He admits he blames himself for their inability to connect because the kiss she gave him distracted him and, at the time, he was confused because he didn’t know it should be shared with someone special. He apologizes for taking away her first kiss. Ichigo grabs him and kisses him, which surprises him. Nearby, Goro sees this and sadly smiles. Ichigo admits the first kiss was special to her and she will do her best to be a better leader so he won’t give all his attention to Zero Two. Zero Two sits on a rock and looks at the sky.

At HQ, the council discusses Hiro’s ability to pilot Strelizia. One council member wonders if they should be happy now that they found a partner for Zero Two. Papa confirms they should because Hiro’s mission is to escort Zero Two to the objective. Tarsier says APE’s goal of ending the war with the klaxosaurs will finally come to end by taking control of Gran Crevasse, which is the castle of the Klaxosaur Princess.