A New Generation: A ZoroMiku Story

13: Alone

Miku

Miku's vision blurred from the tears that were welling up in her eyes as she watched Zorome stomp out of the room. She put one hand over her mouth, pain searing her heart. She wanted to scream at him for what he'd done but nothing came out. She was glad that he'd left. She didn't want him to see her about to cry right now, though she hated that her friends were about to see it.

"Are you okay?" Bella asked her, leaving Jasper's side to comfort her. 

Miku wiped the tears from her eyes. "Y-yeah," She said, a bit shaken by Zorome's anger and harsh words. "I'm fine. I think we should end the meeting, though, at least until next week. Maybe Zorome will be ready to listen." 

"Good idea," Bella said sympathetically to her. "Would you like to come to our place for a bit? Jasper and I made cupcakes together."

Miku sniffled and nodded. "Sure. Is this alright with you guys?" She asked, glancing up at the others with her tear-filled gaze. 

All of them seemed to be shifting awkwardly on their benches after what had happened. She didn't blame them. All of them agreed aloud that it would be a good idea to end the meeting. Before Miku could follow Bella and her partner home, however, she felt a light touch on her shoulder. She turned around to see that Hyaku had approached and was looking at her with concern in his blue eyes. 

"I'm sorry about what happened tonight," He told her sincerely. "Zorome isn't a very good team player, is he?"

"He isn't," Miku agreed, for once not having the desire to even defend her partner. "He's such an idiot sometimes. Most of the time." 

"You can always talk to me if you need to," Hyaku offered. "You can plan with me too, especially when he's being an ass like he was today. Would you like to do that sometime? I'm sure I'm a better listener than him."

Miku nodded, grateful to him. "Yeah, sure," She said, feeling a bit better now. "Anyway, I'm going to go to Bella and Jasper's for a bit."

"He can come too," Bella offered sweetly. "We can all hang out together if you like?"

Miku smiled. "Sure! Sounds like a good plan to me! Unlike any of Zorome's plans..." She added bitterly, almost talking to herself as she said that. 

***

Hanging out with her new pals had actually done Miku a lot of good. She was thankful that Bella had offered to do so, as well as glad that she had Hyaku's help if needed. But when she got home, she felt lonely at the realization that she hadn't shared those moments with her partner.

As she entered the house, she saw that Zorome was bouncing his ball in the middle of the room. He looked up at her and grunted as she walked in, tucking the ball between his arm and his torso. "What took you so long to come home? Were you out planning without me?"

Zorome

The words were out of Zorome's mouth as soon as Miku entered the room. He saw her tense up defensively almost immediately in response.

"Of course not!" She snapped. "Don't be dumb! It was rude of you to walk out like that during a meeting, you know? Also, why are you bouncing the ball around in here? Go outside!" She stomped over to her bed and lay down. It was evening now and he guessed she'd ask to go to sleep. 

"I do what I like," Was what he said in reply to that. He'd never been one for manners, after all. "Y'know, I don't get why you won't just listen to me. I just want them all to see that we're in charge. I want everyone to see that."

"I'm going to bed," Miku told him, which he'd guessed correctly. "And, honestly, we need to get this right, Zorome. We need their help and we should take their advice. Most of the kids in our group are older than us. We can still lead them!" 

He scowled at her. "You sound exactly like Ichigo!"

With that, he stomped off, ignoring her offended gasp as he left the house. 

As he headed through the narrow walkways between the array of tiny houses, he admitted to himself that he felt guilty for yelling harsh things at Miku like that at the meeting. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to bring himself to apologize soon, however, for he was still too worked up about how she didn't seem to care about them being leaders together anymore. He thought that was what she'd wanted but he supposed he was wrong, which was a thought that made his heart ache for some reason. 

As Zorome brought the ball to a secluded area and kicked and bounced it around for a bit, he began to wonder if all that shit was Hyaku's fault. It seemed like it had been he who'd convinced Miku to be a pushover. He didn't like that at all. He wanted her to feel the same was as he did and he wanted her to share the glory of being head of something with him. They never got to be squad leaders and this was the closest they'd get. She'd wanted to be a squad leader when they'd been parasites and now she sounded almost as awful as Ichigo had whenever she'd get all bossy and annoying.

For the first time since he'd come with her to the new settlement, Zorome felt lonely. He wanted to confide in her. To tell her that his heart was hurting and that he felt threatened. But she was the one who was hurting him and making him feel that way so he knew he couldn't. He also couldn't confide in any of the other members of their new group, especially not Hyaku. He wished he could talk to Futoshi or Goro about this. He sure would've if he'd still lived at Bird Nest with them. 

But for now, Zorome had to deal with his feelings and cope with them alone.