Chapter 48

This is the forty-eigth chapter of the DARLING in the FRANXX manga.

Synopsis
As Genista enters stampede mode, everyone is horrified and Ichigo pleads for Kokoro to stop. The Klaxosaur continues crushing Genista and Kokoro screams in pain while Mitsuru watches in horror. Genista breaks free from the Klaxosaur’s grip but it is fully in stampede mode, which takes on the form a beast with wings. Genista jumps in the air and is about to attack before it abruptly shuts down and collapses to the ground.

In the cockpit, Mitsuru and Kokoro lay on the floor because he had pulled her off of her seat. Mitsuru tells Kokoro she is unbelievable and he scolds her for being reckless. Kokoro smiles and says despite the recklessness, they managed to escape from the Klaxosaur because she believed Mitsuru would stop her. Mitsuru angrily asks Kokoro how she can trust someone like that. Mitsuru's starts to have flashback from when he was a kid. Mitsuru said that a FRANXX is a robot piloted by two people and he wanted to be an excellent child like Hiro. Before going to get his Elixir Injection, Mitsuru asked Hiro to promise they would pilot a FRANXX together and they pinky promised. After the Injection, Mitsuru came back, saying he did his best to keep their promise, but Hiro didn’t remember the promise, which devastated Mitsuru. Mitsuru breaks down, saying believing in people will get you betrayed and he was an idiot to believe in Hiro. He starts crying and wonders why Hiro made the promise only to forget about it. Kokoro understands Mitsuru has been hurt so much he can’t recover but she points out she hurt people to; she knew she hurt Futoshi by teaming up with Mitsuru. Meanwhile, Chlorophytum fights the Conrad Klaxosaurs and Futoshi warns them not to get close to Kokoro. Kokoro says that despite everything, she still wanted to ride with Mitsuru, who asks if it was out of pity for riding with an incompetent person like him. Kokoro denies this and says it’s because she likes him. Mitsuru stares at her, surprised. Mitsuru says he doesn’t know what to say because they are in a middle of battle. Kokoro replies she knows but she just wanted to say it. Mitsuru realizes it feels strange because when he looks at her smile, he will be a fool and suffer like before and wonders why does his heart feel full.

Hiro tells Ichigo they have to help Chlorophytum but Zero Two says they can’t go just yet because they are surrounded by Conrad Klaxosaurs. Futoshi wonders what Mitsuru is doing and he needs to protect Kokoro. Four Conrad Klaxosaurs jump on Genista, much to Futoshi’s horror. However, Genista suddenly reactivates and jumps back on its feet. Without her helmet and coat, Genista returns to the battle. Kokoro—as Genista—is smiling and mentally asks Mitsuru to walk together with her and Mitsuru is shown to be pleasantly surprised.