Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Now...Can you tell me more about that dream you had, Miku-san?”

“I don’t know what else to say about it. I’ve been telling you. All I remember from it is fighting someone for... something . I think we were in...A concert hall?”

“A concert hall?”

“Yes. I think. It was...Destroyed if I remember right. There was rubble everywhere...And a burning smell.”

“I see...Anything else in particular you noticed? Or is that about it?”

“Nothing in particular,” Miku crossed her arms, throwing up her hood in a huff, “So? Why are you making me recount this dream, again?”

“Well, Miku-san,” the woman sitting across from her set down her pen, “Dreams can tell us a lot about someone’s psyche. Many times there are subconscious worries or events that manifest in them.”

“So?” Miku asked sardonically, obviously not very interested in this. She seemed to be more interested in the shelf of books that lined the wall behind the woman, “What do you surmise from this dream of mine?”

The woman paused, thinking about what Miku just asked for a second, before responding, “Have you been in any fights recently? Or rather, have you been hurt by bullies again lately?”

“How’d you fricking guess,” Miku rolled her eyes.

“Would you be willing to tell me when this happened?”

“Well,” Miku yawned, “It happened recently, when…”

The sound of raindrops echoed all around her. Miku stood waiting at the bus stop, her thin fingers tapping the rhythm of the raindrops against her arm. It was a constant beat of one two one two. She had a gift, one for a friend. A bouquet of white flowers.

The expression she wore would look neutral to an outsider, though there was an air of melancholy to it if one examined it more closely. Miku hated that fact. She hated showing people weakness. Hated when she had to chase people’s backs.

The bus arrived. Finally.

Miku got on the bus. She was absolutely drenched, water droplets fell from her stringy black hair to the floor. Seems like her hood didn’t keep all of the water out. She quickly moved to the back of the bus, sat down and listened to the hum of the engine.

The trip wasn’t too long. It didn’t feel that way at least. She’d been on it enough for the travel time to feel almost non-existent. Almost . She still had to sit in this bus for what felt like a few suffocating minutes.

They arrived at the destination. Miku got off of the bus, and walked to where her friend was. She could hear the singing of crickets as she approached.

The graveyard was relatively peaceful. It seemed that way at least. There wasn’t a single person here. The souls of the dead loomed above her. Rows and rows and rows of them, surrounding her. Trapping her. A reminder that this was the place where the dead remained. That this was no place for those still living.

Miku walked over to a grave.

She placed down the bouquet of flowers and stood for a few moments.

All around her the sounds melted into a single somber melody.

“I hope you’re doing well, Hibiki,” She said, her voice breaking as she spoke. A warm liquid dripped down her face. Too warm to be mistaken for rain. Miku tried to laugh, “Seriously had to get back at me for getting you killed, huh?”

The girl was dead. She had been for two years. And it was her fault. She was the one who asked her to come to the Zwei Wing concert with her. That infamous concert with only a single survivor.

And it wasn’t Hibiki. Nor was it Miku. Miku hadn’t even been to that concert.

Miku stood up, rubbing the tears from her eyes. And she began to walk back to the bus stop.

—Shit.

It was one of them. Miku put up her hood, trying to make her presence as small as possible. She just needed to walk home, that’s all. It didn’t matter if she didn’t take the bus this time. She just needed to walk home without being noticed.

She passed the bus stop, taking a glance behind her. She wasn’t following. Miku continued to walk. Just walk. Ignore that girl. Pretend you aren’t here.

—Sounds. Footsteps. Miku sped up. Don’t look back. Pretend you didn’t notice.

“Well,” came a voice. Miku continued walking. Don’t pay attention to the jeers, “If it isn’t little Miss Murderer .”

Miku heard the sound of footsteps speed up.

“Hey. I’m talking to you!” The voice yelled, “What do you think you’re doing...Visiting a graveyard of people you killed?”

She was quite close now. Miku felt a hand touch her back.

— And she was shoved to the ground.

Miku hit the hard pavement. A bit of blood pooled from a scrape on her face.

“I can’t believe I used to hang out with you...Would you have invited me to my death if she had turned you down?” The girl landed a kick on Miku’s ribs.

‘Shut up,’ Miku grit her teeth. She tried to stand up.

—Another shove. Miku hit the ground. It was harder this time.

“Don’t tell me you actually feel bad about it,” The girl jeered.

“Shut up!” Miku yelled, kicking the girl in the shin.

She ran.

Ran as fast as she could. She ran and ran and ran. It started as a rumor. A rumor from people who were grieving. Grieving parents, grieving friends. A rumor that turned her into a scapegoat. A disease that spread, turning everyone against her. A disease that told people that she had been the one behind the incident. A disease that made her life hell.

Hell. Hell. Hell. Hell.

Every time she left home, every single time, she had to cling to the shadows just to attempt to be safe. People barely talked to her since then, the most they’d do was call her murderer, before pushing her down the stairs, or chasing her through the street. It wasn’t even just strangers, her own parents did the same thing.

It’s not like they ever called her murderer, but over the two years they began to stop talking to her. Stopped associating with her. Until they just disappeared, leaving her without anyone other than her aunt.

And then there was more. And more. And more.  

But she deserved it. She had committed a sin that could never be forgiven. She was the one who killed her friend. Murdered her. Killed her. Killed her. Why? Why? Why? Why?  Why did this happen this way?

“Why…” Miku fell to her knees. Her voice broke into sobs, sobs that echoed throughout the rain filled sky.

“Tell me again about that dream you had, Miku-san.”

“I don’t really know what else to tell you...Concert hall. Rubble. People dying. Screams. Someone protecting us. Fighting someone...Losing,” Miku sighed, “Every time we talk you always ask me this.”

“I promise you I will bring up something different next time,” the woman said, “It’s just this type of repeating dream usually has some kind of meaning. For example, you always mention the concert hall.”

“Yes, because that’s always the main location,” Miku said, laying back on the soft floor as she looked at the blond lady.

They were in the backroom of a small bookshop. The lady worked here. They met when Miku hid here when she was being chased by some bullies. She hid here because she thought it was  empty...That there was nobody in here. And yet it turned out that it was not only this woman’s workplace but her home as well.

It was warm. The lights were soft and gold...Very different from the harsh light of the sun. The shop itself had a nice smell, lavender maybe, that put her heart at ease. There wasn’t much here but that was part of its charm. It was humble and kind, much different than the world outside.

The lady had been kind enough to let Miku come by here whenever she needed to...Though usually the conversations they used to pass the time ended up being like this...This lady sure liked to talk about feelings.

The woman continued, “That concert hall...Do you regret anything involving a place like that.”

Miku tensed up. Of course she did, she knew that. She took a deep breath, “Yes. Though I never went to it.”

A nod. The woman wrote that down, “I see. If I may...What do you regret?”

“That I wasn’t able to be there when my friend died,” Miku said, before shaking her head.

“I see…” The woman nodded, “And you say you always remember fighting someone for something? Could you go into that?”

“No.”

“Alright then,” The woman cleared her throat, “If...If you went to that concert...What do you think would’ve happened?”

“Maybe I would have saved her…” Miku laughed. A self-deprecating laugh, but a laugh nonetheless, “Just kidding...What would happen would be that I’d die too.”

“I see…”

Miku left the bookstore in a huff. Making smalltalk with that lady could get so frustrating sometimes. Though, talking with her was usually better than whatever happened to her outside. The conversation had ended there that time; Miku spent the rest of the time reading some of the books there until it was time to close.

The buildings cast long shadows in the light of the setting sun...Shadows that seemed to stretch on and on, looking almost like the bars of a jail cell, trapping whoever walked in them, until they overtook the rest of the scenery.

Miku clung to the shadows like a bug, her hood up as she kept her head down. Hopefully she’d get home without too much of a fuss.

The crowds of people out in the streets talked without a care in the world. Laughing, joking around, complaining about their day, talking about dreams of the future as if it was the most important thing in the world.

Just gotta hope none of them noticed her.

Miku flinched. Someone tapped her shoulder. She quickly whipped around.

Standing in front of her was a girl she didn’t recognize. She looked around Miku’s age, being only slightly taller than her. She had long auburn hair and teal eyes that stared curiously at her, not regarding her as a criminal, but something peculiar.

“Uhm…” She said, her voice having a very clear accent...Miku couldn’t place where from, “Do you know where to get to Tokyo?”

“Tokyo?” Miku looked at her, puzzled. They were all the way in Chiba. She sighed, “Just take the train.”

“Thank you,” the girl nodded, “Sorry for bothering you.”

Miku didn’t say anything in return, continuing to walk back to her house. Being sure to never leave the safety of the shadows.

And the foreigner strode in the other direction. The light reflected off her white clothes in an almost blinding way.

The bookshop was different today. The shelves were unusually barren and empty. The books were in stacks, wrapped in plastic, and most of the technology wasn’t there anymore.

It felt sterile. Unwelcoming. Cold. It was almost as if there was a disease that had attached itself to all of the wares at the store...One that needed to be put down without mercy.

As usual, Miku sat in the backroom lying on the cold, hard floor. The owner sat in her chair, as always, with her notebook in hand.

“Tell me about that pendant you always wear, did you get it from a friend?”

“I keep telling you, it’s always—,” Miku paused. The question registering in her head, “Huh?”

The woman laughed, “I told you last time, I wasn’t going to ask you about that dream again.”

“I-I see…” Miku cleared her throat. She held her red pendant in her hand, holding it out in front of the two of them, “Honestly, I don’t really remember.”

“Really? But you always wear it,” The woman said, giving Miku a quizzical look, “I thought it was important to you.”

“It's a habit, really,” Miku yawned, placing it back on her neck where it belonged, “I have no idea when I got it...I just wear it.”

The woman nodded, she looked like she was about to say something. Miku cut her off though.

“Hey, so...What’s up with the new look of the shop?” She asked, “Moving places or something?”

“Exactly right,” The woman hummed, “I got a new place in Tokyo...So I’m moving my stuff there.”

—Something hurt. Miku tried not to let it show.

“Hooh…” Miku’s hum of interest shook ever so slightly, “Got some obligations over there?”

“Yes...I’m very sorry about this.”

“I see, I see,” Her voice sounded more sarcastic than she intended. Her heart hurt.

The woman smiled, “I’ve had a lot of fun here, though...These conversations with you were always something I looked forward to.”

“...Same here,” Miku said, rolling so she didn’t face the woman, “...So this is goodbye?”

“I mean...For now at least.”

Miku stood up, walking over to the door, “Well...I won’t bother you so that it won’t be any more painful than it has to be.” She said, her voice more bitter than she intended.

“Right…”

“Bye...Carol,” Miku said, closing the door behind her.

Miku wandered the streets aimlessly, not sure where to go. Frankly, she didn’t care. She just wanted to walk. Because she was doing fine. That’s why she felt like walking.

She just felt like it. That was all there was to it. She wasn’t upset. Not at all.

It was too bright for its own good. Every street reflected the chalk white light back at her...There were no shadows anywhere...Just harsh light exposing everyone that walked

A group of people passed her. Miku tensed up as they did. She heard whispering from them. Whispering about her like she was some kind of monster they needed to stay away from.

They didn’t do anything. It was almost like they didn’t notice her. Like she didn’t exist.

The buildings towered around her like giants. Not a single place was safe or welcome.

—Her heart ached again.

It wasn’t like that place meant anything to her. So it didn’t matter that it was gone now.

—It didn’t matter that that safe place was gone.

Her nails dug into her hand. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that she might not be able to find another place where she could just talk with someone. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have that place to hide from her bullies. She had a house still. She could just stay there.

—She was running now.

She was always running. She was quite good at it. Being on the track team made it so she wouldn’t lose to anyone when running. She was fast.

Fast enough so she didn’t have to look at anyone’s backs. Fast enough so they wouldn’t see her. Fast enough to run from them. Fast enough so they wouldn’t ever catch up.

—Fast enough that she could’ve saved her if she was there.

The city blurred around her. She passed many buildings as she ran. The scenery changed. Green.

She slowed down. Where was she now?

She wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked around her.

She was in a forest now. Surrounded by trees that felt as tall as the buildings back in the city, with even longer shadows. That was just fantastic, wasn’t it. Well, all she needed to do was run back so it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle.

Miku sighed. But that still took time. Oh well…

—A familiar smell entered her nostrils.

Dust. Carbon. Noise.

Before she knew it she was running again. Running towards that smell. Towards? Why was she running towards? She should be running away.

And yet she continued to run.

And was promptly tackled to the ground by a girl running in the other direction.

“Shit!” The new girl cursed. She stood up quickly dragging Miku to her feet, “What the hell are you doing here!”

Miku didn’t respond. She was focused on the things behind the girl. Noise. Without thinking her body moved. She ran at full speed, dragging the girl behind her.

“What are Noise doing here?!” Miku yelled, telling her body to go faster.

The girl struggled against Miku’s grip, “They’re only after me, let go!”

“No!” Miku tightened her grip, “I’m not leaving someone else to die!”

“You have a death wish or something?!” The girl snapped back. She looked at Miku in disbelief.

—Protect her. Get her out of here.

Those were the only thoughts filling Miku’s head as she ran. This time, she’d save someone. This time she wouldn’t lose. This time she could protect someone.

There wasn’t anything else she could think about. Just run. And so she did. Deeper and deeper into the woods, she ran.

She felt a tug on her hand, “Look ou—”

She didn’t hear the rest. She ran straight into a tree. She fell. She fell straight into the ground. She staggered back onto her feet. They were surrounded by Noise. Nowhere left to run.

The girl sighed, “Fucking fantastic...Now I dragged someone into my mess. That’s why I told you to leave me...Now we’re both going to die.”

—No. Miku couldn’t accept that. There was no way.

 A feeling welled up in her heart. She had to protect that girl. Had to save her.

—She had to make sure she didn’t fail again.

Words. Words bubbled into her brain. Her heart compelled her to say them.

And so, she sang.

“Koleshi Excalibur Tron”

The scenery around her exploded into a bright purple light.

“That’s—!” The girl looked at her in bewilderment, “How the hell...Why do you have a Symphogear?!”

The light faded. Miku stood, clad in mechanical purple, white, and black armor. In her hand she held the hilt of a sword. A second passed, a bright purple blade of light extended from it.

“...Hey, you,” The white-haired girl smiled, “You might be able to save me afterall.”

Miku stood, her back facing the girl. She held her sword out in front of her, “What do you mean?”

Before the girl could answer, a Noise lunged at them. Instinctively Miku swung her sword defensively.

And the Noise turned to dust.

—Just like they had back then.

Miku’s eyes widened, a feeling of shock shook her core. She couldn’t believe it.

She could fight them.

“That answer your question?”

Miku nodded. Her shocked expression melted into a smile. She could fight them—!

—‘This kind of repeating dream usually has some kind of meaning.’

Miku’s grip on her blade tightened.

And she ran towards the Noise.

One by one she slashed them apart with her sword. Her technique was unrefined, more like wild bashes than slashes, but they got the job done. As she destroyed them, she noticed something strange. She was singing. Sing to an electronic rhythm generated by her armor.

And the words she sang came straight from her heart.

She heard a scream and she flipped around. A group of Noise were rushing at the girl.

—She had to protect her.

As if responding to her feelings a golden barrier appeared around the girl.

[Round Table]

The Noise slammed helplessly against the barrier, bouncing back harmlessly. The blade of the sword flared to a massive size and with a single swing she effortlessly cut them all down. Big and small, the Noise disappeared.

[Dragon Slash]

The sword’s blade then shifted down back to its original size. She ran back to the white-haired girl, grabbing her hand. Unexpectedly, she was bonier than Miku had thought from looking at her. Her knuckles especially felt hard.

Miku shook her head. There was no time for that now. Just because she had cleared out most of the Noise she could see, there might be more on the way.

“We’re getting out of here. Now,” Miku said, slashing at a Noise that just appeared.

“Couldn’t agree with you more,” the white-haired girl laughed. And the two girls began running.

“Kohinata Miku,” Miku said after a bit of running.

“What?”

“My name.”

“Oh,” A pause. Then the girl responded, “Yukine Chris.”

And the girls continued running in silence.

There was nothing silent about the command room. The loud clicking of fingers on every keyboard in there filled the room with a chaotic level of noise.

The reason for this was on the screen at the back of the room. There was an unknown signal displayed and everyone at the room seemed to be trying to analyze it as fast as they could.

A man with red-hair was standing at the podium in the middle of the room, overlooking their progress. Behind him, the door opened and in walked a tall girl with blue-hair.

“Commander, why did you call me?” she asked, crossing her arms as she did.

The commander responded, “We picked up signals from Noise in another area...”

“Right, I’ll see to it right away,” said the blue-haired girl, she turned around to leave the room.

“Wait. Tsubasa, that isn’t what I called you for.”

Tsubasa stopped. She turned around to face the man and waited for him to continue.

“I called you here because something unexpected happened.”

“Cut to the important details, Commander,” Tsubasa said, looking mildly annoyed.

“These Noise disappeared a little after their signal came up,” the man paused, before he gestured toward the screen, “This showed up before they disappeared.”

“An Aufwachen pattern,” Tsubasa whispered, staring at it, “Which relic is it?”

“That’s the thing,” the man said, pulling up many similar symbols, “We don’t know. There is no match.”

“So...You called me here too…”

“Yes,” the man said, looking at her with a serious look, “There is an unknown Relic user...And we’re sending you to investigate.”

Chapter Text

“Hey, Tsubasa...Can I ask you a question?”

“What is it, Kanade?”

“Is there something...Beyond all of this?” Kanade asked, laying back against the warm floor of Tsubasa’s garage, “All of this fighting...Is there something beyond it?”

Tsubasa turned around, wiping the grease off of her forehead. She had a curious look on her face, “What brought this on all of a sudden?”

Kanade laughed, sitting up and playfully poking Tsubasa’s forehead, “Nothing really, I was just curious. So? What do you think?”

Tsubasa stopped, pondering the question for a bit, “I’ve...Never really thought about it...I’ve always just focused on what I can do right now...What about you? Do you think there’s something?”

Kanade smiled. A big grin as bright as the sun, a grin so big that Tsubasa couldn’t help but bask in its light for a few moments, “Of course I do!”

“R-Really? What is it then?”

Kanade’s grin somehow got bigger, “A life with you, silly. I can’t imagine it any other way.”

Tsubasa felt all the blood in her body rush to her face, “W-What?! T-That’s what you had in mind?”

“I know it’s a bit silly and childish but...It’s what I want,” Kanade pulled Tsubasa close to her in a tight embrace. 

“T-Then...I want the same thing…” Tsubasa said quietly. She could feel Kanade’s warmth...A safety she never wanted to leave.

“Hm? What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you,” Kanade teased, cupping her hand over her ear as she playfully pretended to mishear her.

“I-I said, I want the same thing!” Tsubasa blurted out. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she looked away from Kanade.

Kanade pulled Tsubasa into an even tighter embrace, “Then it’s a promise...After all of this is over let’s start our life together.”

“Y-Yeah…” Tsubasa said quietly, basking in Kanade’s warmth for a few more precious seconds, “It’s a promise…”

Tsubasa stared out the window of the helicopter. The harsh whirling of the blades filled her ears as she stared into the horizon.

She never liked these downtimes in missions. Being stuck alone with your thoughts as you waited in bated breath for the helicopter to arrive was a feeling she particularly despised. Especially when they filled her mind with unneeded memories.

Reminiscing was unfit for something like her. A sword, steadfast and cold, had no need for such pleasantries.

And especially it had no need for any promises.

And so she sat still, blankly staring out the window, over acres of land that stretched on and on into the distance.

The forest clearing was rather peaceful. A serene breeze blew across the whole area, rustling the leaves and grass as it did. It was nice, feeling the wind against her skin as she laid down on the cool grass.

Miku was exhausted . Even she had limits, and running for what was probably several hours straight was definitely one of them. 

She had practically collapsed when they had arrived in the clearing, the adrenaline having left her body almost immediately. Her armor had disappeared, being replaced by the clothes she had been wearing before, and so she was now laying on the ground, catching her breath.

It was safe now, a fact that Miku had to remind herself of every so often. The Noise had stopped pursuing them some ways back. Thank goodness, Miku wasn’t sure if she’d be able to fight them if they showed up right now.

Chris was sitting a bit away from Miku, winded out as well.

It had been silent like this for a while now, neither girl willing to break the serenity of the situation. A moment of pause that they didn’t want to let go. The idle sounds of the forest soothed them, giving them small bits of energy back so long as they didn’t disturb it.

Of course it couldn’t last. There were too many questions. Too much to talk about, but for now...They just sat there in peace.

“...So,” Miku reluctantly broke it. She sat up slowly, her body aching as she did, “I have a few questions…”

“I know,” Chris said, staring straight at Miku, “Where should I start?”

“I guess...Start with what a…” Miku paused. What had Chris said back there again? “What’s a...Symp— Sympho...The armor that I had summoned...You called it something.”

“A Symphogear?”

“Yes that. What is that?” Miku asked.

“Well…”

The silence inside the helicopter was tiring. It was quite awkward, two people sitting in a helicopter waiting in bated breath to arrive at their destination. The fact that it was quite stuffy inside here didn’t do any favors. And so, Tsubasa sat restlessly in her hard chair, alert and ready to go at any moment.

Still, sitting in complete silence wasn’t something she particularly enjoyed. And so, it was inevitable that this silence would be broken.

“So,” Tsubasa said, turning to face her friend and co-worker, Ogawa Shinji, “About this Aufwachen Wave pattern…Do we really have no data on it, at all ?”

“Yes...It’s very strange,” Ogawa said, putting his hand to his chin in thought, “After all, we should have data on every Symphogear there is...And we haven’t had contact from Ryouko-san to see if this is a new Gear she’s built.”

Tsubasa sighed, pressing her hand to her forehead, “I see. So, we’re potentially dealing with someone able to create Gears from scratch...Even though we should be the only ones who can.”

“Yes…” Ogawa paused, “Though, I’m wondering how it’d even happen, since we haven’t disclosed any of that information to the public…”

Tsubasa shook her head, “All we have to do is take them in and bring them to base...Then we can analyze that Gear all we want.”

She turned her head away. She was done with the conversation. There was nothing else to talk about. No point in speculating about this person. All she had to do was take them in. That was all.

And she would test their abilities as she did.

“I see...So why do I have one?” Miku asked, crossing her arms, “From what you’re saying, that means I have a Relic fragment or something like that.”

“Y’know, I’ve been wondering that too,” Chris said, eying Miku curiously, “You didn’t even know what a Symphogear was...So why do you have one?”

“What do these Relics look like anyway?” Miku asked, twirling her hair in a finger.

“Gears are usually like...Pendants. They look like crystals?”

Miku’s eyes widened. Her blood went cold. A sudden insurmountably heavy weight pressed down on her chest. It couldn’t be. Slowly she pulled out her necklace. The jagged edges of the gemstone pierced her skin. It felt unfamiliar, different, strange, unsafe, completely unlike the object she had always casually worn. She held it out in front of her.

Chris nodded, it looked like she expected this, “Yeah, that’s it. Where’d you get it?”

Miku grimaced...Of course it was. The knot in her chest grew tighter. It felt like the shadows around them grew, the trees that once had just melded into the background now felt unfathomably tall. They loomed over Miku, silently peering and judging her. They waited for her answer.

Why didn’t she remember.

Why couldn’t she remember.

Why wouldn’t she remember.

Her heart pounded against her chest. This wasn’t good. She needed to calm down. Calm down. She’d understand if she told her the truth, right? That she didn’t remember. It was the truth after all. There wasn’t any need to doubt someone who was telling the truth, right?

—She wouldn’t call her a liar . Because she wasn’t lying.

“I don’t remember.” Miku answered simply. Her heart was still racing. She put the Gear pendant back on her neck. It was heavy. Heavier than she had remembered. It was a weight crushing down on her chest, “It’s just something I’ve always worn…”

—One second passed. It felt like an eternity.

Chris’s eye twitched. The knot grew tighter. She looked annoyed. Her hand clenched tightly into a fist. Miku could see the tension all throughout her body.

“You don’t remember?!” Chris’s voice sounded like a scream to her.

Miku wanted to cover her ears. She wanted to run away. It was too loud. Chris didn’t believe her. Even when she told her the truth, she didn’t believe it. Of course she didn’t, who would? Miku had been given something so powerful...And she just forgot about it.

“Y-Yes,” Miku said meekly. She looked away. She couldn’t stand to look the girl in the eye any longer, “Honestly…”

Chris took a deep breath. Slowly, the tension left her body. Her muscles relaxed and she released her fist. Her look became softer, she was still clearly annoyed but...It was less harsh than before. She sighed, shaking her head. Then, she spoke in a much gentler voice than before, “Alright, I’ll believe you. There’s no point in prying anyway.”

A pause. Silence. Miku’s rapid heartbeats slowed. A gentle wind danced across the clearing, and the trees faded back into the background. The knot in her chest loosened. She felt like she could breathe again. This peace felt like it could’ve continued forever but...There was one more thing on her mind.

After letting her body relax, Miku turned back to Chris. She really didn’t want to break the silence again, but it was gnawing at her.

“Uhm...I have another question for you actually,” Miku reluctantly asked.

“Hm?”

“How do you know this?”

“None of your business,” Chris answered sharply.

Miku nodded. She shouldn’t pry any further either. She didn’t want to anyway. She just wanted the serene silence that they had been blessed with to return. And it did. The light gusts of wind, the rustling of the grass and the harsh whirring above them.

...Wait. That wasn’t there before.

Miku and Chris looked up at the sky. The helicopter hovered ominously, blocking out the sun like a flock of crows. It just stayed there, searching for its prey. Miku defensively stood in front of Chris as a figure jumped out of the side of the helicopter.

The helicopter stopped moving. Finally. Tsubasa looked back at Ogawa.

“So, this is the place where the Aufwachen Wave pattern was last seen?” She asked, not waiting for an answer before opening the side of the helicopter.

“If our information is right, it should be!” Ogawa replied, yelling so his voice wouldn’t be drowned out by the sound of the blades spinning above them.

“Then...Here I go!” Tsubasa took a deep breath. And she jumped out of the side of the helicopter.

The wind bellowed as she fell, blowing her hair behind her. Falling. This motion was always exhilarating. Her heart beat fast as all other sounds and feelings died out. Only the cold wind that rushed past her ears was left. 

She was approaching the ground now. She could make out two figures. She couldn’t see them well, but she knew there were two people in that forest clearing. And so, she took out her Gear pendant.

And she sang.

“Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri Tron”

—Her head hurt. 

Miku stood dumbstruck as the sky was enveloped with a harsh light. A light that burned. A sharp ache filled her mind almost as if someone had stabbed a sword straight into it. The light faded as the figure slammed into the ground.

The earth cracked beneath her as she landed. A girl clad in blue and white armor stood in front of them, a katana fell from the sky and pierced the ground beside her. She dislodged it, spinning the blade a few times before pointing it at Miku and Chris.

“Are you the one who used the Symphogear?” The girl asked, pointing her sword at Chris. She then pointed it at Miku, “Or was it you?”

There was something familiar about this girl that Miku couldn’t place...Like she had seen her somewhere before. Flowing blue-hair and a serious expression. It was on the tip of her tongue but she just...Couldn’t recall.

—The girl brandishing the sword glared. Something…

What was it...What was it...

“I asked you a question!” the girl shouted.

Miku flinched, “Uhm! No!”

—Shit. That was the wrong answer. 

The girl grit her teeth. Her grip tightened on her blade. She clearly didn’t appreciate being lied to.

“Don’t mess with me, I can see the pendant around your neck!”

The girl charged at Miku, closing the distance in a matter of seconds. A single thrust of that pointed blade would be fatal! She was gonna die here if…

—No. She wasn’t going to let that happen.

The urge to sing once again welled up within her chest. And the words fell out of her mouth.

“Koleshi Excalibur Tron”

She had summoned her armor just in time. The blade hit her. Hard. Pain radiated throughout her chest as she slammed into a nearby tree. A loud crack echoed beneath the song that the girl sang.

The singing stopped, yet the instrumental continued. The girl stood silently, before steading herself. She rested her sword on her shoulder and spoke.

“You’ll never win a fight if your first reaction to someone charging at you is to put on your armor,” She looked down at Miku.

Miku couldn’t place that expression. It was almost a mixture of pity and condescension. She hated it. Those eyes looking down on her…

Again and again and again.

She hated everything about this situation. No, that was wrong. She despised everything about this situation. On the ground almost powerless as someone loomed above her. Taunting her. Telling her she couldn’t do anything at all.

—But this time... 

Miku stood up. The hilt of her blade appeared in her hand.

—She could do something about it.

She gripped the hilt so tightly that it honestly hurt. It was heavy. It took everything in her not to drop it. She pointed it at her opponent. Her hands shook as the blade of purple energy appeared.

“Good, you stood, now—”

Miku didn’t let the girl finish her sentence. She charged forward, unleashing a flurry of unfocused strikes.

The girl nimbly dodged and parried each of them. Quickly she did a pirouette, kicking Miku hard with her boot. Miku skidded back, tearing the grass out of the ground as she desperately tried to stay upright.

“Your attacks are—”

“Oh, enough with the instructor act!” Miku yelled, aiming her blade at the girl. Energy condensed within the hilt.

And it released a brilliant beam of light.

[Phoenix Flare]

The recoil was overwhelming. Miku was definitely not prepared for that. She almost fell over as she flew backwards. And the girl swiftly dodged out of the way of the beam. Immediately, she prepared her next attack as Miku staggered back onto her feet.

She pointed her sword into the air. Behind her, Miku’s beam tore through the trees. The sword’s edge shined with a blue light.

[Blue Flash]

She slashed it down, sending a blade of energy at Miku. In response, Miku swung her sword in an upwards arc, barely cutting it in half. She teetered backwards, trying to regain her balance from that swing.

As soon as she was steady, Miku charged at the girl, sword poised to strike at any moment. Her attacks were in no way planned, just spur of the moment decisions that Miku made as the fight progressed.

She slashed wildly at the girl in front of her. Her technique unrefined but as long as she sent a flurry of attacks at her she was sure one of them would hit.

It was exhilarating. Miku’s blade lashed out, an intense barrage of unfocused attacks. Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, she slashed in every direction for a chance to hit the girl. The blade streaked, leaving lines of purple light in the air. With each strike, Miku tried to hurt the girl in front of her. She wanted to make her back off, wanted to blow her back with a decisive blow. She felt like if she could just hit the girl. If just one of the attacks connected that would be enough. Just one.

And not one of them reached.

The girl quickly dodged the attacks, confidently ducking and parrying the blade at every opportunity she could. She smirked, seeing an opening in Miku’s attacks. Quickly, she flipped her blade to the dull edge. And she swung.

Wham!

A sword hit her from below.

Tsubasa staggered backward as soon as she did. What in the world just happened? She touched her bruised stomach, and slowly it came to her.

The girl had dodged her attack. Not only that, she took advantage of the opportunity to strike her. It seemed like she was learning. She was smiling too. There was a look of confidence on her face, a renewed vigor burning in her eyes. Once again, she readied her sword. Her form was still all wrong, but there was a certain conviction in the way she moved. It looked like she thought she might be able to win.

Tsubasa smirked. She knew that confidence was entirely misplaced. Her opponent might’ve been learning, but it would still take her many more battles before she could beat Tsubasa. She had good reflexes. But because of that, Tsubasa now knew how to adapt. Her opponent wouldn’t be able to dodge this next attack.

Tsubasa pointed her sword towards the sky. And from it a rain of energy blades fell. They were like a sheet of needles, enveloping the sky and blotting out the sun. There were so many blades that it was impossible for the black-haired girl to dodge any of them. She wouldn’t be able to react.

[One Thousand Tears]

At least, that’s what Tsubasa thought.

The girl clad in purple held a hand out to the sky. And a golden barrier appeared, blocking each and every one of the blades.

[Round Table]

Tsubasa gawked at the scene in front of her. This was rather unexpected. So that Armed Gear wasn’t just a sword...It was also a shield.

Regaining her composure just in time, she saw the girl’s blade flare up to the size of a small building. And it was still growing. She had to deal with that fast. Tsubasa ran at her, not giving her the chance to finish her attack. Her thrusters roared to life, sending her flying towards the girl.

She slammed the dull side of her sword into the girl’s chest, sending her flying backwards. The energy went back to normal. This fight had gone on long enough. It was getting rather tiring. She had seen everything this girl had to offer. She had practically no experience in fighting.

The attacks were unfocused. Her wind-ups were much too long. And it seemed she didn’t understand the full capabilities of her Gear.

So, she needed to end it. Now. There was nothing else to learn from this.

The leg compartment of Tsubasa’s Gear opened. She caught the small knife it released in her hand. As the girl was still recovering, she threw it. It landed squarely in her shadow.

[Shadow Stitching]

Tsubasa slowly walked towards the girl. Seeing this, the girl tried to charge at her once more. Only to realize she couldn’t move. She struggled against the invisible force that kept her locked in place. She tried desperately to make herself move, to pull herself out of the binding. And Tsubasa just walked. Tsubasa walked slowly and patiently. She saw her opponent’s spirit slowly drain from her eyes as she realized how futile it all was.

“What the hell did you do?!” She shouted, still pulling against the constraint.

Tsubasa didn’t answer. She just kept walking. The slow building terror in the girl’s eyes grew and grew until the moment Tsubasa was right in front of her. Tsubasa raised her sword high. The girl closed her eyes. And Tsubasa brought the pommel down on her head. Hard.

The girl crumpled to the ground, her Symphogear dissipated into a bright light. A moment later and she was back in her original clothes.

Tsubasa swung her over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She looked around. Nobody there.

She sighed, “It’d be wise for you to come out now...Unless you want the same treatment.”

From behind a tree, a white-haired girl emerged. Her arms were pressed close to her chest, her body shaking like a leaf about to fall. She had a fearful look in her eyes...Or maybe it was a nervous one. Tsubasa couldn’t say.

Tsubasa spoke again, “Do you have a Symphogear?”

The girl tilted her head. There was an expression of confusion on her face, “W-What’s a Symphogear?”

Tsubasa sighed. So, she was just a bystander after all. Tsubasa shook her head, “You’re an integral witness for this case...I would like you to accompany me to headquarters.”

The girl nodded.

The helicopter landed next to them. Tsubasa jumped back onto it and sat down in her seat. She threw the girl she was carrying down on the seat next to her. She made no effort to be gentle. She honestly couldn’t care less about how she treated her. Ogawa looked at her with an extremely concerned expression. Tsubasa didn’t care.

She just stared out of the window, listening to the sound of the blades.

Miku awoke in an unfamiliar room. The smell was sterile and the air was cold. Clinical. It felt just like the bookshop had the other day. Bright lights shone all around her. Too bright. Why was she here…

—Oh that’s right.

She fought...And lost. And now she was here.

Stupid. This was all stupid. Just when she thought she might be able to protect something, she lost. Again and again.

She was always losing. She could never win.

Where was she anyway?

Miku sat up, there was a soft creaking sound from beneath her. She surveyed the area. She seemed to be in some kind of...Detainment room? No, that probably wasn’t right. What was it…?

Oh, she was sitting on a bed...So was this a hospital?

Yeah, that was probably it. Maybe. She was alone as well...Not a human being in sight. Just her and the hum of the medical equipment.

The door opened. Two people walked in.

One was a tall man with red hair. He was wearing a red shirt with a pink tie tucked into the breast pocket. The other was a younger woman with dark blue hair. She had a different aura to that of the man. While the man was big and imposing, almost like a mountain, the woman felt more like a cold river...Gentle almost. Gentle in a way that was disarming. The kind of person you lowered your guard to. In her hand she had a plastic cup with some kind of liquid in it.

Miku tensed up. This was never a good sign. People she didn’t know coming into where she was. Subconsciously she reached for where her Gear would be…

—Shit.

Of course. Of fucking course. It was gone. Not here. Gone. Gone.

She felt a sinking feeling in her heart. Sinking. No, she was drowning. Drowning in a deep sea. She lost something she shouldn’t lose. Something she had to hold onto. Something important...Something…

—Don’t let it go, okay?

Miku winced. Calm down. Calm down. No, there’s no way she could be calm. Just focus.

The people were saying something. It was murky. Miku couldn’t exactly hear them. Fragments came through the waves. Focus.

Her tongue felt like lead. Her voice sounded strange. Unfamiliar, “Could...Could you repeat that?”

“Oh...Yes,” The man spoke. His voice was rough...Harsh...Yet felt strangely gentle, “I asked if you were okay. You seem on edge.”

“I’m fine.”

“If you don’t mind…” The lady spoke. She had a gentle voice. She held out a plastic cup, “I brought something warm for you. It’ll help you calm down.”

Miku frowned, looking at it suspiciously. The woman drank a sip first as if to show it was safe. Miku took the cup.

“Thanks…” She said, taking a sip. The warmth spread throughout her body...It was comforting. The tension in her limbs relaxed as she looked around.

“I don’t blame you for being on edge,” the man said. He sighed, “Tsubasa wasn’t supposed to attack you.”

“We’ve already reprimanded her for her actions,” the woman said. She sighed, “But she said she wanted to test you first or something...All we asked was for her to bring you in.”

Miku took a deep breath. They seemed honest enough. She nodded, taking another sip.

“So! I suppose we should start with introductions,” The man smiled. He extended his hand to greet her, “Kazanari Genjuro, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The woman cleared her throat, “And I’m Tomosato Aoi, pleased to make your acquaintance…”

Miku stared at the outstretched hand. She didn’t reach for it, “Kohinata Miku.”

“Alright...Miku-kun,” Genjuro said. He pulled back his hand, recognizing Miku didn’t want to shake it, “I’m sure you have many questions.”

“Right...So my first question is…”

Kazanari Tsubasa walked briskly through the empty hall. Her footsteps echoed all around her, the only sound resonating throughout this void. The underground headquarters always felt unfathomably large. It was almost as if it was not meant to exist in the first place.

She was frustrated. She had been given a stern lecture about the fact that she shouldn’t have attacked the unknown Symphogear user. But that was her duty, was it not? A sentinel does not falter if there is an enemy.

It just fights. Unfeeling. Without bias.

She was at the room. She had been sent to interview the girl they had found with the Symphogear user. If she didn’t know anything, all she needed to do was sign the non-disclosure agreement.

The door opened automatically. Tsubasa walked into the room. Sitting at the table was the girl. She slid the paper to the girl and sat right across from her.

“I will now ask you a few questions, is that fine?” Tsubasa asked.

The girl nodded.

“So…”

“...And that’s what the Second Division does,” Genjuro finally finished his explanation.

“I see…” Miku paused, grasping the empty air around her neck, “So...I’m assuming you want me to join?”

“Only if you’re willing to, of course.”

“...Will you give me back my pendant if I join?” Miku asked.

Genjuro nodded.

“Then, I’m in,” Miku said. There was no other choice for her. She wasn’t going to let go of that power again.

Genjuro looked like he couldn’t believe what he just heard. He raised his brow suspiciously as he processed what Miku had just said. Then, he locked eyes with her. There was a certain look in his eyes that Miku couldn’t describe. It was like they were looking deep into her soul, searching for something. Then, Genjuro spoke again, his voice grave “Are you sure? You might die if you join.”

“I’m sure.” There was no hesitation in her voice.

Genjuro didn’t break eye-contact, “Alright…You’ll also need to transfer into Lydian, so we can keep an eye on your actions.”

Miku nodded.

“We will be informing your parents and old school of this. Do you need to get anything from there?”

Miku’s eyes twitched. It felt like something was constricting her heart. She couldn’t breath. She was sinking again, deeper and deeper into that sea. The darkness surrounded her. She looked around desperately for a light, but there was nothing. There was only darkness as far as she could see.

She took a deep breath.

“...Just call my aunt, my parents don’t care.” She said. Her voice was small and weak.

Genjuro looked at her with an expression she couldn’t read. He nodded. 

“Alright,” Genjuro said, gesturing for Aoi to go get everything ready. Aoi nodded, and left the room. He turned back to face Miku, “Do you have any other questions?”

A few moments passed. Miku was breathing again. The thing constricting her heart loosened its grip. A few more breaths. She took a sip of her drink. She could focus again.

“A few...That girl who attacked me...I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before…” Miku took another large sip of her drink. It had gotten cold at this point, but it was nice to have regardless.

“Oh!” Genjuro smiled. His previously stern expression was replaced by a lighter, more relaxed one, “That’s because you probably have. She’s the Kazanari Tsubasa.”

Miku spat out her drink, “I-I— What?!”

“So you have heard of her,” Genjuro smiled.

“Y-Yeah, who hasn’t!” Miku stared in disbelief. That Tsubasa? Really?

Kazanari Tsubasa. She was famous for quite a few reasons. The only survivor of the Zwei Wing Tragedy, a concert that she and her partner held that would eventually end in tragedy, when, out of the blue, Noise had attacked it, killing everyone there...Including her partner Amou Kanade.

And even so, Tsubasa continued on. She made music after that. It would’ve been entirely reasonable for anyone else to quit making music altogether, but Tsubasa was different. It was as if she was keeping the memory of her friend alive through her songs…

Allegedly. Miku didn’t listen to Zwei Wing or Kazanari Tsubasa anymore. She’d mostly heard of all of this stuff on the radio.

…

—Her heart hurt.

Right...She shouldn’t think too hard about this stuff again.

So, it was that Tsubasa who attacked her. Miku frowned. So, the actual survivor of Zwei Wing attacked her, huh?

...Great.

—Murderer.

“So, when am I gonna get my pendant back?” Miku asked, turning away from Genjuro. She couldn’t face those eyes anymore. She couldn’t take someone staring straight through her.

“Well, after our scientist, Ryouko-kun, analyzes it,” Genjuro sighed, “She wasn’t in all day today, so you’ll have to wait a bit…If we knew what Gear it was, we probably could’ve given it back to you but...We don’t have any data on it…”

“...Alright.” Miku got off the bed. She started for the door.

“One more thing.”

Miku stopped.

“Do you remember where you got that Symphogear?”

“I don’t. I’ve just always had that pendant.” Miku replied. And she walked out the door. She strode down the hallway, not looking back. The hallway was as empty as could be, only the sound of her footsteps accompanied her.

It was nice to be out of that room, she didn’t like it in there at all. It was just awkward conversation after awkward conversation. At least it was over now, now she had time to breath and walk. And so, she got ready to exit the building. All she needed to do now was find her way to—

Wait a minute. Miku stopped. She didn’t know where to get out! Or where her dorm even was! This was a completely new place! Oh crap, oh no. Hopefully, Genjuro was still in the medical bay! Miku ran back to where she had exited. The door whooshed open automatically in front of her.

“Would you like us to show you out?” Genjuro asked, a smile on his face. He looked like he had been prepared for this.

Miku nodded. Her face flushed red with embarrassment.

Genjuro smiled warmly. Fatherly is how Miku thought she’d describe how he looked in that moment.  Genjuro walked to the door, gesturing for Miku to follow him, “I’ll take you to your dorm.”

The girl really didn’t know anything, that’s what Tsubasa had concluded by the time the interview was over. She was just a bystander attacked by Noise. And she had been saved by that Gear user.

Tsubasa sighed. That was all she learned from this girl. Apart from her name, Yukine Chris. The girl also looked like a foreigner, and yet she spoke Japanese perfectly. Though, it was perfectly possible. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

And yet there was something weird that Tsubasa couldn’t quite place about her.

Tsubasa flipped through the papers Chris gave her. Everything looked good. Nothing out of the ordinary here. She nodded, and with a satisfied grunt, she tucked it underneath her arm.

She turned towards Chris, who looked like she was anxiously waiting for something, but Tsubasa couldn’t say what.

“So,” Tsubasa said, breaking the silence of the room. Chris turned to face her. She continued, “Where do you live? It is my duty to escort you back there.”

Chris’ eyes darted back and forth anxiously, “Uhm...Uh…”

Strange. Very strange indeed. Tsubasa cleared her throat.

“Is something the matter? The location of your home won’t be disclosed, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“N-No it’s…” Chris took a deep breath. She looked like she was contemplating something…But just what was it?

No, that wasn’t right. It was more like she was trying to recenter herself. That made sense. She had been attacked by Noise and abruptly brought in for questioning, who wouldn’t be nervous.

Tsubasa waited. Watching as the girl’s body relaxed. She turned away from Tsubasa, looking down at the ground.

“I don’t...Have a home,” Chris said quietly.

Tsubasa stared blankly at her.

“You what?” She asked in disbelief.

“I don’t have a home, alright!” Chris yelled, she slowly tugged her sleeves as she slouched forward. She looked very small at that moment, “I’m homeless...I don’t have anywhere to go…”

Oh. Suddenly it made sense. That’s what felt weird about her. Tsubasa smiled slightly. It wasn’t that she was dangerous or anything, it was that she had this lost air to her. Now it made sense.

Tsubasa thought for a moment. There had to be something she could do…

Oh! That could work.

She looked back at Chris, “You know? I could get permission to have you transferred to Lydian. You’d get an education there, and you’d have a place to stay.”

The girl stared at her. Her eyes were wide. She looked like she couldn’t believe what she just heard.

“Is...Is that really okay?” Chris asked.

“Of course,” Tsubasa said, smiling, “I’ll figure something out.”

Chris turned away, not letting Tsubasa see her eyes. Then, in a quiet voice, she muttered, “Thanks…”

This dorm was too big for her. Too spacious. Miku sighed, laying down on the floor of this barren room. There was nothing of hers here. Nothing familiar, it was just a sterile blank slate.

Cold. That’s how she’d describe this place. Cold and colorless. All the empty space made her feel small. Like an insect that had wandered into a human’s living quarters and was confronted with the fact of how insignificant it was to all of the giant furniture and space there was.

It was a duo-dorm. Apparently, this was the only free dorm left. A dorm meant for two people. And yet, it would only house one from here on out. Its original purpose was taken from it, and yet the memory of that purpose remained like some sort of spirit. A spirit that would haunt it for as long as it existed.

The furniture looked fine. It was nothing special, and it definitely didn’t feel like hers. The table and kitchen were clearly meant for two people. And the bunk bed. It wouldn’t ever house more than one person though, that was just the facts. That just made the whole place feel lonely.

—Her chest hurt. 

Everything around her reminded her of just how alone she really was...And how alone she’d always be. How, even when she was in a new town, a new place, there wouldn’t ever be anyone here for her. How she’d always be so very lonely.

And then the door opened.

Miku sat up immediately. Why the hell was the door opening. She was supposed to be the only one rooming here, right?

The lights turned on.

And there, standing in the doorway of her room, was Yukine Chris. The girl she had protected earlier.

Miku stared at her, dumbfounded. Why was she here?

“Oh, it’s you again,” Chris said, looking at Miku, “I was wondering who was gonna be my roommate.”

“R-Roommate?” Miku looked at her in disbelief, “I was told I’d be rooming alone.”

Chris smirked, “I ended up transferring here too.”

“...And this is the last room available, huh,” Miku sighed. She tried to sound uninterested, “Do what you want. I’ll take the bottom bunk.”

“Thanks, I wanted top bunk anyway,” Chris said, hopping up to her bed.

And though she tried to look as uninterested as possible...There was a small smile on Miku’s face.

One that she didn’t even notice herself.

“So what do you think about that girl?” Genjuro asked, turning to face Tsubasa.

They were sitting down at a bench at the nearby park. The moonlight shone down upon them, illuminating them only slightly. It was a waning quarter moon tonight. The phase right before it became a crescent. A sign of its inevitable death. A death where it’d just disappear, turning into a new moon, leaving only the stars behind.

The night air was cold. Yet, it never felt unwelcome. The darkness almost felt safe.

“Which one?” Tsubasa didn’t look away from the moon as she spoke.

“Kohinata Miku...What’d you think about her?”

Tsubasa’s eyes narrowed, “I don’t like her.”

“Why is that?”

“You talked with her, you should understand.”

“Ah,” Genjuro looked down at the ground. His eyes were unfocused as he stared out into the distance, “So you noticed it too?”

“...You always say the best way to get to know someone is to fight them,” Tsubasa shook her head, “There’s something wrong with that girl. It’s like this is all a game to her. There’s nothing behind her attacks. A girl fighting for her life shouldn’t be fighting so spiritlessly.”

“...Is that how you saw it?”

Tsubasa nodded.

“I see…” Genjuro looked up at the moon, “She’s not normal...I can say that for sure. Normal people don’t throw away their whole lives for a pendant.”

“...What do you mean?”

“‘Will you give me back my pendant if I join?’ That’s all she asked me after she knew everything...And that look in her eyes…” Genjuro trailed off. 

“...Speaking of that pendant,” Tsubasa turned around to face Genjuro. Her eyes looked quite serious, “Do you honestly believe she doesn’t know where she got it?”

Genjuro shook his head, “I don’t think you’d forget something like that. But…”

“But…?”

“I don’t want to question her too hard about it right now. We’ll get it out of her eventually. That’s our specialty.”

Tsubasa laughed, looking back up at the moon, “You’re right. Especially once Doctor Sakurai looks at it.”

Genjuro nodded. And then it was silent. There was nothing left to be said.

The two of them sat in silence for a while. A somber wind blew between them as the moon’s cold light continued to illuminate the park. The grass rustled gently. It felt like it would be an unforgivable sin to break the silence. A sin that’d snap them out of the peaceful contemplation of this moonlit night.

And then, there were footsteps.

Behind them, they heard an exaggeratedly loud groan. One that was obviously just trying to get their attention.

“ Finally, I’ve found you, Genjuro-kun. Tsubasa-chan,” said a very familiar voice. Speak of the devil. The two of them turned around to face her. “I’ve had such a bad day today, it’s unbelievable!”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Ryouko-kun,” Genjuro deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

“ So , what were you talking about?” She smiled, adjusting her glasses, “It sounded like a pretty interesting conversation from what I could hear. Did we find a new candidate for a Gear?”

“...Actually,” Genjuro’s eyes were serious, “We wanted to talk to you about just that.”

“ Really , well I’d love to see this lovely lady, if it’s a lady of course,” Ryouko said, patting Tsubasa’s head, “It’s always nice to have—”

“Ryouko-kun,” Genjuro firmly cut her off. “It’s not a candidate.”

Ryouko’s smile faded.

“She’s a new Gear user .”

“What?” Ryouko tried her best to keep her intrigued gaze on her face. Her voice was level, but there was an underlying air of disbelief to it, “What Relic is it?”

“...That’s the problem…It’s not on record. There is no data on it at all . Among any of the Symphogears you’ve created.”

Ryouko frowned. Her usually jovial face turned deadly serious.

“I see. I’ll analyze it right away,” she said. Her enthusiasm from earlier was entirely gone.

And the moon continued to shine. As cold and uncaring as it always did.

Chapter Text

It was another amazing day at Lydian. The birds were singing and the sun was shining! Every day here was like a dream come true. Itaba Yumi smiled to herself. Who would’ve thought that she would’ve gotten into such a prestigious music school. Someone completely normal like her getting into a place like this…! God, it was almost like some kind of anime.

She walked through the hallways, an excited pep to her step. Not only had she been admitted to the school that the absolutely amazing Kazanari Tsubasa attends, she also made two friends right away! Oh, there they were now.

“Hey!” Yumi said, running up behind them and wrapping her arms around their shoulders affectionately, “Did you two hear the rumors?”

The extremely cute blond tilted her head curiously, “Rumors? What of?”

That was Terashima Shiori. She was a kind and polite girl. And also very pretty. Her long blond hair and her golden eyes would make anyone fall in love. Not that Yumi was in love of course, it was just an observation. She was one of Yumi’s extremely nice roommates. And the other was…

“Oh, you mean the rumors that we’re getting a transfer student,” the cool brown haired girl said.

That was Ando Kuriyo. She was absurdly cool and athletic. Yumi had watched some of her basketball matches and...If your breath wasn’t taken away from you when you watched her, there was something wrong with your brain. Between the ways her short brown hair flowed, her beautiful form, and the determination in those violet eyes...Goodness, she couldn’t get it out of her head.

“What do you think she’ll be like?” Yumi asked cheerfully, eyes filled with excitement.

“Eh, probably normal,” Kuriyo said, putting her hands behind her head in a relaxed manner, “I hope she’s sporty, though...We could always use new members on the basketball team.”

“C’mon, that’s boring ,” Yumi said, she put an exaggerated emphasis on the ‘o’ in ‘boring’, “I think she’s probably gonna be someone cool, like a mysterious transfer student in an anime!”

Shiori shook her head, sighing affectionately, “Life isn’t like these anime of yours you know. But...I think it’d be interesting if she was some kind of...Secret serial killer.”

“There you go again with your serial killer stuff, Terashi,” Kuriyo rubbed her temple, “You two always have your heads in the clouds.”

“And you have no imagination,” Yumi teased, hitting her back affectionately.

“Hey! Itaba-san, take that back. She does have an imagination,” Shiori smiled mischievously, “She came up with those nicknames for us after all.”

“Yeah, but that’s as much imagination as she has,” Yumi teased, poking Kuriyo’s nose.

Kuriyo sighed, shaking her head, “At least one of us needs our heads on the ground, Ita.”

They continued onto class just like that, talking listlessly and excitedly about whatever came to mind. The halls were warm, nicely spaced with just enough walking room for the three girls. Yumi smiled, it was always like this. Lydian was such a nice welcoming place. Everyone here was so kind and helpful. The food was great too. If she didn’t know better, she’d say it was paradise on earth!

Of course, it wasn’t. She knew that, obviously. There were one or two blemishes, like that homeroom teacher of theirs. That teacher was always so angry at everyone, getting on their backs if even one person looked like they weren’t paying attention.

They made it to class. The room was positively bustling with talk of the transfer student who was apparently in their class. There were all kinds of topics thrown around. People chatted about how they thought she’d act, rumors about why she was transferring in so late, and more! Such a lively morning this was.

Yumi casually sat down in her seat. Shiori and Kuriyo quickly sat down on either side of her. And they eagerly waited for class to start.

A few moments passed. Then, they heard the telltale signs of the teacher approaching. The class went deathly quiet as soon as they heard the clacking echoes of her high-heels. The door opened. The teacher walked in, a stern expression on her face. She cleared her throat.

“As some of you have probably heard,” She sounded stressed, “We have a new student joining us today.” She looked towards the door, “Come on in.”

A girl in a purple hoodie walked into class. Yumi looked at that puzzled, weren’t those not allowed by the dress code? She obviously had the uniform on underneath it but...Hm. The teacher didn’t look amused by it either. She looked pretty tired actually. Oh! Her detective brain activated! The two of them must’ve had an argument about it before she came into the classroom.

The girl herself was rather sickly looking. She had a rather gaunt look to her, very skinny and boney like she didn’t eat very much. She also had stringy black-hair that she tied up in a ponytail. She also held herself in a way that made it look like she didn’t want any attention to be drawn to her, all hunched over. Her green eyes darted back and forth almost in a panicked look.

Mysterious transfer student. That’s immediately the thought that ran through Yumi’s head.

A few moments passed. The girl stood in silence, staring up at the rest of the students.

Their teacher’s eyes twitched. She cleared her throat, shooting the girl an irritated frown, “Introduce yourself."

“Kohinata Miku,” The girl looked down as she said her name as if she was trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible.

“Now, your seat is over there,” The teacher said, the slightest hint of annoyance in her voice. Yumi beamed. The transfer student was sitting right in front of her! She had all sorts of questions she wanted to ask.

The girl, Miku, slowly walked up to her seat. She glanced at the seat from time to time but otherwise she kept her eyes glued firmly to the ground. Then, she sat down right in front of Yumi.

The teacher began her lesson. Yumi took out her notes, but her eyes were still firmly glued to the back of the new girl. She knew she shouldn’t bother her during class...That was just asking for trouble but…

But the girl was right there! And it was so easy just to reach over and poke her back! And then she could ask her whatever she wanted! She knew she shouldn’t...She knew she shouldn’t...Oh, screw it!

Yumi leaned over and tapped the girl’s shoulder as subtly as possible. Miku shuddered, clearly feeling the tap, but she didn’t turn around.

“Hey,” Yumi whispered, tapping Miku’s shoulder again, “Hey, you.”

Shiori signed, shaking her head disapprovingly, “Itaba-san, please don’t bother the new girl on her first day…”

“But isn’t it just like an anime, Shiori?” Yumi complained, “Mysterious transfer student and all that?”

“There you go comparing things to anime again,” Kuriyo said, frustration seeping into her voice.

The girl turned around, glaring at them, “Can you three be quiet, I’m trying to focus on the lesson.”

“Ah! She responded!” Yumi excitedly pointed at her, “I have so many questions for you!”

“Itaba-san, she just asked you to be quiet,” Shiori hissed. She put a finger on her lips, “I don’t think she’s in the mood to be asked a ton of questions.”

Kuriyo glanced at the teacher, “Girls, I think we should stop talking…” She said quietly.

“Oh...Sorry about that new girl,” Yumi sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, “I just got a little excited over having a new transfer student, that’s all.”

“It’s fine,” Miku muttered, she sounded a little bitter, “And my name isn’t new girl, or ‘you’, it’s Kohinata Miku.”

“...And I do not appreciate people talking in my class, Kohinata-san!” Yelled the teacher.

Miku clicked her tongue and turned back around. She looked like she was in a pretty bad mood from being yelled at by the teacher.

It was lunchtime now, and the day was going great! Yumi sat in the courtyard happily eating with her two friends, but not only them...The transfer student was here too! Shiori, Kuriyo, and herself had decided to invite her to eat with them, and surprisingly she had accepted.

The girl in question seemed to be trying to keep to herself, even when she sat with the three of them. All attempts to talk with her had...Well, they had pretty much all went the same way. One of the three would ask Miku a question, and be promptly met with another non-answer. The transfer student then went back to prodding at her food aimlessly.

So it was going pretty badly. That didn’t matter though, in an anime mysterious transfer students always acted like this! It took a lot of conversations to get them to talk. So, Yumi wasn’t gonna give up!

“So!” Yumi jumped forward excitedly. Miku quickly scooted away. Yumi smiled brightly, “Do you watch anime?”

“Uhm…” Miku’s eyes darted back and forth nervously, “No, no I don’t.”

“How about manga? Light novels? Oh! Oh, maybe you like visual nov—”

A hand hit the back of Yumi’s head.

“Ow…” Yumi rubbed her wound before she turned around to face Kuriyo. Kuriyo looked at her sternly. Yumi whined, “What was that for?”

“You’re overloading her again,” Kuriyo facepalmed, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips, “Sheesh, I know you’re excited, but if someone doesn’t wanna talk, don’t force ‘em.”

Yumi puffed out her cheeks, “Fine. I’ll stop.”

“Itaba-san,” Shiori said firmly. She looked...Pretty angry, “Apologize.”

Yumi glanced at both of her friends. They both looked pretty mad...She may have taken the bit a bit too far, huh.

“O-Oh, sorry about that,” Yumi said, turning to Miku, “I didn’t realize I was bothering you, I just got a little over-excited.”

Miku turned away, before quietly saying, “It’s fine…”

An awkward silence descended upon the area. It was like someone had draped a blanket over them in broad daylight, it wasn’t a suffocating feeling but it was definitely something unpleasant. Dang it, she got so caught up in her own excitement that she ignored that girl’s feelings. Now she probably thought that she was some sorta weirdo.

Yumi shook her head. No, she needed to keep her head up! A few stumbles in interactions were normal!

Kuriyo nervously glanced between them. Then, after a few more seconds of this uncomfortable silence, she cleared her throat. Clearly, the awkwardness of the situation bothered her a lot.

“So...Terashi,” Kuriyo glanced over to Shiori, “Any fun serial killer cases you know of?”

Miku gawked. She stared at them in disbelief, “Why in the world are we talking about serial killers?”

“Oh, it’s just Terashi likes researching them,” Kuriyo said, “And I was curious if she knew any fun ones.”

“Well, Andou-san, you have to be a bit more specific,” Shiori said, closing her eyes, “There are many types of serial killer cases, some closed, some unsolved, and others still open.”

“Hmmm, how ‘bout an ongoing one!” Kuriyo smiled. The blanket was slowly being pulled off.

“Well, there are the Silver Knife Murders,” Shiori said, smiling, “They’re quite interesting, especially for an ongoing case.”

“Oh!” Yumi raised her hand excitedly, “Is this the one where the knives disappear?”

“Yes!” Shiori smiled, “Glad you remembered it!”

“I’ve never heard of these murders,” Miku said, poking her rice with her chopsticks.

“Okay, so!” Shiori’s smile was as bright as the sun. If she had glasses, Yumi was absolutely sure she’d be pushing them up right now. Shiori cleared her throat, then she began dramatically,  “The Silver Knife Murders are a string of mysterious murders happening all over the world. At first, people thought they were just a bunch of unrelated murders but...People have been realizing some strange similarities.”

“Similarities? What kind?” Miku perked up. Her eyes were full of curiosity. Yumi’d have to take Kuriyo out for dinner some time for her genius idea of having Shiori start talking about serial killings. 

Shiori stuck one of her chopsticks in her mouth as if she were smoking a pipe. She then opened her eyes dramatically, “The similarities, my dear, are as follows: Firstly, all of the victims are scientists...And secondly, each of the victims were found with a silver knife stabbed into their bodies.”

“I see...So that’s where the name comes from,” Miku nodded.

Shiori held up a finger as if to shush Miku, “But wait! There’s more...What makes people think that these are the same murderer...And not just a copycat is one key fact. This fact is possibly the most bamboozling of the whole case, and this fact is...As soon as the knives are touched they disappear.”

Miku’s eyes went wide. Of course, that shock was expected. When Yumi heard it, she thought it must be a detail from some anime or something. Miku leaned forward, excitedly awaiting the next part of the story.

“Why did that knife disappear? How does this person travel around the world so fast? Why are they on this killing spree? We don’t know...But,” Shiori smiled, taking a bite of one of her hotdogs, “That’s exactly what makes this case such an interesting one to follow.”

“I see…” Miku put her hand on her chin in thought, “Y’know, I might look it up later...It seems pretty interesting.”

“By all means, please do!” Shiori said excitedly, “What’s your phone number, I can send you some sources I like.”

“O-Oh, here,” Miku said, extending her phone. Quickly, Shiori typed it down into her phone, before showing Miku hers.

And all the while, Yumi stared up at the beautiful blue sky. Yep, she was having a great day.

Miku was having a horrible day. Every single thing was just...Not going her way. At all. Miku clicked her tongue as she stared out the window. The light was too harsh, the sun was shining way too bright. And, while the buildings were tall, they didn’t seem tall enough to block the sun.

Today was just one thing after another. First, in the morning, while she made it quite clear that she wasn’t going to take off her hoodie, the teacher still made a huge deal about it. Something about ‘violating the dress code’ or something, Miku didn’t really care.

Then, in the middle of class, she got bothered by three people she had never even seen before. They were making a lot of noise so Miku turned around to shut them up, but then the teacher yelled at her for talking. That was so unfair. They started the conversation.

And then, she had somehow been convinced to have lunch with the three of them. Miku didn’t really know why she agreed, maybe she just didn’t have a place to eat, and they seemed nice enough. Oh, how that was a mistake.

The peppy brown haired one, Yumi if she remembered right, was probably the most annoying of the three. She constantly tried to get Miku’s attention and ask her uncomfortable questions. Frankly, she felt sorry for the other two for having to deal with her every day.

Thankfully, she backed off thanks to the efforts of the other two. Miku felt like she was losing her mind while talking to her. And the conversation that they had after that was...Actually not that bad. The Silver Knife Murders, huh?

Though, unfortunately that conversation also resulted in those three getting her phone number. What a horrible decision that was, she just knew she’d be bothered every second of the day with inane text messages. She hadn’t yet, of course, but it would eventually happen.

The train passed an especially tall building. The shade was rather nice after sitting in direct line of sight of the blazing sun. Cool, dark, and safe. Though, she knew it couldn’t last. The sun would come back and continue its assault on everything around.

Those three girls had also somehow talked her into hanging out with them after school. Apparently there was this place called ‘Flower’ that was a great Okonomiyaki shop, and they wanted her to try some. She wasn’t doing anything after school anyway so she just went along with them. Seriously, why were they so intent on bothering her at all times.

The train was slowing down. Intercom crackled to life and the automated voice announced the stop. Miku stood up. She needed to get off here.

She made her way through the suffocating crowd, and slipped out the door. She walked out, dodging people who passed her all the way. The street was cramped, uncomfortable, stifling. She kept her head down, trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. It was like she was a mouse, dodging giants that loomed all around her.

They had agreed to meet at the park before heading to Flower. Miku pulled out her phone, checking the map. It looked to be around this way. She just...Needed to pass through the countless people in the street.

Her heart began to beat fast. Her breath was short. No, no, she needed to calm down. None of these people knew her...She was new here! She didn’t need to be afraid...Right?

—But… 

Miku threw her hood over her head. She weaved her way through the crowd. Even if someone knew who she was, all she needed to do was keep her head down. They wouldn’t hurt her in front of a crowd of this many people...Right? Right, nobody would...No, she could think of some people who would.

Miku shook her head. Those people back in Chiba weren’t here. They weren’t here. They weren’t here.

The park came into view. Miku immediately dashed over to it. Her feet hit the ground one after another, steps echoing all around her. The people all around her paid her no mind. They probably didn’t even care about her. She was new here, after all. Probably just someone weird running in the streets.

The loud scraping of her shoes against the pavement dissipated into the soft squish of the grass. Miku slowed down. She was in the park now.

It was a strangely calm place, especially at this time of day. The warm hues of sunset colored the serene area with a kind orange. A soft breeze blew through the park, rustling the grass. The running water of the stream that cut the park in two made a calming sound. The water wasn’t rushing, it was flowing. And the brilliant light of the sun reflected off of it in a magical way, that would take almost anyone’s breath away.

Almost anyone, that is. Miku sighed, sitting down beneath a nearby tree. It was still too bright for her. The sunlight hurt. It hurt so much. And more than that, she hated how sunset felt. It was a reminder that nothing lasts forever, the more beautiful something was, the faster it was taken away. And so, Miku laid beneath the tree. She laid within the safe shade, facing away from the blinding sun.

She pulled out her phone. It was 5:40 P.M.. Those three had wanted to meet up at 6:00 P.M. but there was no sign of them being anywhere in the park.

Miku sighed. She put her phone in her pocket. Sheesh, if they were gonna meet up with her, they should at least arrive early. Now she had to wait until they showed up. And so, she closed her eyes. And she listened to nature’s sound all around her. The rustling of the grass, the swaying of the trees, the flowing stream, all of it. The way the birds chirped, flying around and playing. The soft sounds of conversation she couldn’t quite make out. All of it melted into a singular sound, just one harmony that she listened to.

And then, she heard footsteps. At first, she thought it was just someone walking around but...They were getting closer. The footsteps cut through the harmony, discordant as they approached her, getting louder and louder. And then they stopped.

Miku cracked one of her eyes open. And standing above her was a rather familiar face. Green eyes met lavender. Miku blinked, rubbing her eyes. Yep, they were still here. Carol smiled warmly.

“I thought it was you, Miku-san,” Carol said, her voice full of warmth and kindness, “May I sit down?”

Miku slowly sat up, gesturing to the spot next to her, “Go right ahead.”

Carol sat down. She leaned back against the tree and looked back to Miku. She grinned, “Fancy seeing you here.”

“I could say the same to you,” Miku said, looking away. She felt her eyes water. She didn’t want to let Carol see that.

Carol laughed, looking away from Miku. She stared off into the distance, “Didn’t expect you to be all the way in Tokyo.”

Oh, that’s right…! Lydian was based in Tokyo. A smile crept onto Miku’s face.

“Ended up transferring schools,” Miku said, there was a tiny bit of energy in her voice that hadn’t been there before. She felt happy. Miku tried not to let it show.

Carol glanced back at Miku. She hummed in thought for a moment. She smiled again, “So, Lydian’s I take it? You are wearing their uniform.”

“Yep,” Miku sat up, stretching. She turned to look at Carol, a small smile on her face, “Looks like we might be seeing each other around again.”

Carol nodded enthusiastically. There was a brief pause, before Carol said, “Wanna go see my new shop? I’m sure you’ll love it!”

Miku nodded, “I think that’d be—” Wait. Wait wait wait. Right...She couldn’t do it right now, “Uhm...I can’t right now, made a promise to some kids that I’d meet up with them.”

“Oh?” Carol grinned mischievously. She ruffled Miku’s hair, “Made some friends already?”

Miku sighed, looking away, “Not really...They’re kinda bothersome.”

“Hm, I see,” Carol fished around in her pocket. She pulled out a notepad and a pen. Quickly she wrote something down, before ripping the note out. She held it out to Miku, “Here, the address.”

Miku took it. She held it gently in her hands. It felt warm and safe. She smiled, “Then, I’ll see you after?”

“Of course, you’re welcome at any time,” Carol smiled softly. Then, she stood up, “Now, I think I’ll get going; still got some unpacking to do, after all.”

Miku nodded sadly. She knew she shouldn’t keep Carol too long, the lady had work after all. A slight pain radiated from her chest. Though, she knew it wasn’t going to stay for long. After all...There was a safe place waiting for her around here.

She heard Carol’s footsteps slowly disappear. She looked down at the note and smiled. Maybe today wasn’t that bad after all.

Hino Hana loved her job. Ten years ago, when she decided to quit her old stuffy office job and open this okonomiyaki shop was probably the best decision she had ever made. Ever since then, she finally felt free. Everything finally felt right . She was finally doing what she loved and people loved her for it. And now that she had spent ten years building Flower up, it was her pride and joy.

Not to mention, it seemed to become a bastion of safety for the regulars here. They knew they could talk to her about anything, or just have a pleasant time away from all of the bustle of their everyday life. And that was the exact aura she wanted this place to have.

The door opened, its bell chiming as it did. The girl who walked in had long white-hair, lavender eyes, and was rather short. Hana smiled. This was a familiar sight. What was unfamiliar was that she was wearing a school uniform. Lydian’s to be exact.

“Welcome,” Hana said warmly. She glanced at the door. Surprisingly, it closed without anyone else coming in. She raised her eyebrow, “Surprised to see you alone, Chris-chan. Not bringing your friend today?”

“Ah, right,” Chris’s expression flickered. Her eyes darted to the ground. Strange. She looked to the ground, “She’s not gonna be around for a bit…”

“Did something happen to her?” Hana said. That was concerning. It was always nice to see those two around here, they tended to bring a nice energy to the place, especially while working...Well while Chris was working, the other one tended to just eat all the time, “Did you two have a fight?”

“Nono,” Chris shook her head. She smiled, “If we fought, you know we’d eventually make up...Just...Yeah, something happened to her, let’s leave it at that.”

“I see,” Hana said. Yeah, knowing those two they’d get back on good terms in no time. Though, she probably shouldn’t pry for now. Instead, her focus shifted to the other curious thing about this situation, “Did you transfer to Lydian?”

“O-Oh,” Chris blushed. She turned her head away, “Y-Yeah, there were some...Circumstances, but I ended up going there now.”

“That’s great!” Hana smiled. Looked like Chris’s life was on a bit of an upturn, “As celebration for you getting into Lydian, how ‘bout an extra big serving. It’s on the house.”

“Eh? You won’t make me work today?” Chris looked a bit disappointed.

“You can work if you want to,” Hana shook her head. Jeez, she wanted to give her a little reward for getting into that great school. Oh well, she wouldn’t say no to someone who wanted to help out.

“Great! I’ll get to it right after I finish,” Chris smiled. She had a gentle smile as warm as the sun.

Hana pulled out the ingredients. And she got to preparing Chris’s meal.

It was too loud. Hanging out with these three was definitely a bad idea. Miku internally groaned as she followed the trio. After Carol had left, these three had finally shown up. They were right on time, which Miku was slightly annoyed by. They should’ve come there earlier, they called her out after all.

The three were chatting happily in front of her. The sound was grating against her ears. It felt like she was hearing a drill drilling into metal right in front of her. It was so loud that she wanted to cover her ears. Why did those three have to be so loud when talking? They had to get tired at some point, right?

Though, she wasn’t particularly paying attention to the conversation. It didn’t really interest her. She was just staring aimlessly in the distance as she followed them. She was starting to think that it wasn’t worth it to eat at Flower, no matter how good it was.

“C’mon, you should’ve seen it! Trust me, it was the most horrifying thing I’ve ever watched,” Yumi said excitedly, “The way the world is breaking around her as she doesn’t realize she’s dying, and then the train exploding like that...God I can’t describe it.”

Kuriyo sighed, shaking her head, “Please don’t spoil it Yumi, I haven’t watched it yet.”

“O-Oh, sorry about that…” Yumi said quietly.

“It’s fine, you didn’t spoil anything about who does what,” Shiori said, reassuringly patting Yumi’s back.

“What are you talking about?” Miku asked. This conversation sounded just a bit interesting.

“Oh! Oh!” Yumi raised her hand excitedly, “It’s a new anime we’ve been watching. It’s a horror about people’s anxieties manifesting...I think.”

“It’s a bit hard to tell right now,” Kuriyo said, a hint of exasperation in her voice, “But, do note that it’s really really scary…”

“It is?” Shiori asked, tilting her head, “It’s pretty normal for me.”

“Yeah, it’s not that scary Kuriyo-chan,” Yumi said, a teasing smile on her face, “You’re just a scaredy cat.”

“S-Shut up!”

Miku sighed. Great, she just got them to talk longer. When in the world were they gonna get to the shop? Her stomach growled. She should’ve eaten more at lunch…

“Oh!” came Shiori’s voice. Miku looked up. Shiori was excitedly pointing at a small shop, “There it is!”

“Alright, let’s go,” Miku said, briskly walking towards the restaurant. After this she never had to hang out with those three again. She left them behind in her dust. Quickly she opened the door and…

“Welcome!” came a familiar voice. Standing there behind the counter, in an apron, was Yukine Chris. For a few seconds Miku stood dumbfounded. Again? Seriously? Chris raised her eyebrow, “Oh, you again. Hey.”

“Why in the world are you here,” Miku deadpanned. Why was she everywhere she went?

“...Because I work here?” Chris said, her voice was also deadpan. It was like she was mocking Miku, “Now stop gawking and come in. You’re here for food, right?”

“Fine,” Miku sighed, walking over and sitting down at the counter, “There’s a few students coming here too, they invited me.”

“So you’re gonna wait for them?” Chris asked, tapping her pen against her notepad.

“Pretty much,” Miku said. She twirled her hair in her fingers, “Didn’t know you worked somewhere.”

“I only work here occasionally,” Chris said, sliding a glass of water across the counter, “Here.”

“Thanks,” Miku said, sipping the water. The coldness was refreshing as it spread throughout her body. 

A few moments passed. Miku sat in silence, sipping her water. Those three were sure taking their sweet time.

The doorbell chimed.

“Welcome!” Chris called out.

“Oh, oh? What’s this?” Yumi said, looking at Chris curiously, “New waitress?”

Chris nodded, smiling, “Pleased to make your acquaintance. The old lady’s in the back taking a break.”

“Aww…” Yumi pouted, sitting down next to Miku, “She makes the best okonomiyaki though…”

“Don’t complain,” Kuriyo said firmly. She sat down next to Yumi, “People need to take breaks sometimes.”

Shiori silently took her seat next to Kuriyo. She nodded in agreement.

“I know, I know…” Yumi said, sighing, “It’s just that I’m not sure if this newbie will be able to keep up with her.”

“Oi,” Chris shot her an annoyed glance, “Just for that, I’ll make the best okonomiyaki you’ve ever eaten.”

Yumi smiled, “Go ahead, it won’t be the same though.”

“Of course,” Chris grinned, turning around and setting the ingredients in front of her, “It’ll be even better.”

And so it began. Chris threw the okonomiyaki batter down against the hot cast iron grill in four even portions. Oil sputtered slightly and the batter sizzled as it cooked. An intoxicating smell filled the air as it cooked. It was all greasy, yet it was the type of greasy that made it so you couldn’t wait to put whatever was cooking right in your stomach. Miku’s stomach growled. She watched Chris prepare the okonomiyaki with an energy she hadn’t seen the girl exhibit until now.

She looked happy. Miku smiled slightly. Well, whenever it was finished it was sure to taste amazing.

Chris flipped the okonomiyaki over. Yumi let out a small “woah” as she did. She looked on, amazed at the girl preparing her meal. Chris smiled at her, giving her a confident wink. Looked like Chris might actually win this challenge. Miku smirked, maybe that’d shut Yumi up for a bit.

Then, Chris shoved them onto their plates, before decorating them with amazing smelling spices and sauce. Miku felt like she hadn’t eaten in weeks, she couldn’t wait to see how this tasted.

Chris set down the plates in front of each of them. She crossed her arms, grinning confidently. Yumi turned her head away with a “Hmph”, though Miku could practically hear the vibration in the air as she shook with energy. It was like she could barely restrain herself from digging into the delicious meal in front of her.

Yumi slowly cut into the okonomiyaki. Her hands trembled as she brought the steaming piece to her mouth. And she bit in. Instantly, her eyes lit up, and she moved with an incredible energy, practically devouring most of her meal in a few seconds. Chris smiled fondly, watching Yumi eat the delicious meal set in front of her. Yumi set down her utensils and stared at Chris, an excited look in her eyes.

“Can I have seconds?” She was practically bouncing out of her seat.

Chris smirked, “Of course! A second serving coming right up!”

Miku sighed. Sheesh...Why was she getting so excited over this, it was just a meal. Honestly, she really didn’t like people who were like this...People who seemed so happy over these trivial things...A person who would get excited and just be the center of attention with a pull that just drew your eye to them. A person like the sun, someone who you wanted to be with you...Always.

…

Miku ate a bit of her okonomiyaki. It was alright. Nothing that would warrant the display of energy Yumi was making over there. The flavors were good, strong, and it was quite filling but...She sighed again. Maybe she just wasn’t that hungry.

Miku finished her meal without a word. She heard Chris and the others making small talk and having banter with one another but...Honestly, she couldn’t care less about whatever they were talking about. It was just grating background noise to her...Static in her ears that wouldn’t stop.

She felt her phone vibrate. Miku breathed a sigh of relief...Whatever this was she could probably use as an excuse to leave. She pulled it out, looking at the screen. Unknown Caller.

She clicked on ‘respond’, “Hello?”

“Come to headquarters. We’re having a meeting.” And then they hung up.

…

How in the world did Kazanari Tsubasa get her phone number? She didn’t recall giving it to anyone in the Second Division…

Oh well, she could just ask them later. After all, it was the perfect excuse to leave.

“Uhm,” Miku spoke up. The four girls turned around to look at her, “Something came up, and I need to go...Sorry about that.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Kuriyo said, smiling, “Sometimes, you just gotta do stuff.”

“See you tomorrow!” Yumi said excitedly. Miku groaned internally...Right, they were her classmates now. She couldn’t escape them.

“Get going, if we need you, I’ll call you,” Shiori said.

Miku got up from her seat. She quickly shuffled out to the door, being careful to dodge the various seats and tables she had to walk through. She put her hand on the doorknob. Then, she paused. She took another look back at the four girls.

They looked happy. So very happy as they chatted away without a care in the world. There was a strange pain in her heart. She shook her head. It was time to get going. And so, she opened the door, and left into the cold sunset.

Miku didn’t like headquarters. She didn’t like it yesterday, and certainly didn’t like it today. The air was cold, sterile, unkind. It had a certain smell that she absolutely hated. It was a very artificial smell, similar to the gas dentists used to numb your mouth when they needed to pull teeth. The kind of smell that just...Smelled ever so slightly wrong.

The entrance to this place was an unfathomably large drop in an elevator...One that just went to show how disconnected this place was from the rest of the world. Underground, distant from everyone who existed. A place for people who didn’t quite fit. A place of solitude and loneliness. A place almost like the afterlife, where only the spirits of the dead lived.

The hallways felt like they stretched on and on forever. A monotonous stream that looked the same no matter where you went, taunting you with every wrong turn you made. Just a long empty maze of hallways.

Well, not exactly empty. She saw many workers in the hallways, but never enough to entirely fill it. In a way, it was a strange reminder that, even here, she wasn’t alone. Her footsteps echoed throughout the hall as she briskly walked to her destination. Eventually, she got to a metal door, and walked forward. The door whooshed open, and sitting inside was Tsubasa, Genjuro, Aoi, and two people Miku didn’t recognize. They stared at Miku as she entered, firm expressions that portrayed the importance of this meeting.

One of them was a somewhat serious looking man. He had dirty brown hair that was somewhat unkept and his eyes were narrowed in a firm stare. Didn’t look like the type of person who liked to be messed with.

The other was a tall woman with brown hair tied into a tall bun utop her head. In stark contrast to everyone else, her expression was relaxed, almost jovial as she smiled warmly at Miku. Warmly. Yes, that’s how she smiled. Her purple eyes seemed to search and peer all over Miku, scanning her, trying to figure her out...Like she was examining a dangerous animal and trying to figure out how best to approach it.

Miku’s head hurt. She walked over, her body felt heavy all of a sudden. It was like someone had just tied a weight to her arms and was trying to drag her down into the bottom of the ocean. She sat down in one of the seats, away from everyone else.

The silence continued. It was an oppressive silence that weighted down on her, quietly challenging her, waiting for her to break it. She didn’t want to though. And so, she waited, and waited, and waited.

Genjuro cleared his throat, “I’m glad to see you again, Miku-kun. How’s Lydian been treating you?”

“It’s been fine,” Miku replied curtly. She tapped her foot impatiently, “Before we start whatever this discussion is, can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead,” Genjuro said kindly. He smiled at her. He had that same fatherly look on his face that he had when they first met.

“Right, so...How did you get my number?” Miku asked.

Tsubasa shot Miku and annoyed glare, “The commander did tell you that one of the second division’s purposes is intelligence gathering, did he not? Figure it out yourself.”

“Now, now, Tsubasa-chan,” the brown-haired woman said, her voice sounded soothing. She stroked Tsubasa’s hair gently. “This girl’s probably just overloaded from all of the info from yesterday~, she probably just didn’t remember.”

“I see…” Miku nodded. She vaguely remembered Genjuro saying something like that.

“Now then,” The woman said, smiling, “Why don’t we move onto the main topic of today, Genjuro-kun.”

“Right,” Genjuro nodded, “Now that you’re here, I should introduce you to some of the others you’ll be seeing often when you work with us. Over there,” he pointed at the brown-haired man, “Is Fujitaka Sakuya-kun. He and Aoi-kun work with us as support. And that,” he pointed at the woman, “Is—”

“Genjuro-kun! Didn’t your parents ever teach you that it’s rude to introduce someone for them?” The woman chastised goodnaturedly. She put her hand to her chest, staring at Genjuro with mock offendedness. 

Sakuya let out an audible groan. The woman shot him a playful glare.

She then turned to Miku, a wide smile on her face, “Sakurai Ryouko, at your service! So you’re the new Gear user, right? It’s a pleasure to meet you finally.” She extended her hand in a welcoming manner.

Miku stared at Ryouko’s hand. She didn’t take it.

Ryouko let out a huff of annoyance, “Tough crowd, huh? Well, whatever, I’m sure my reputation precedes me but, just in case you somehow don’t know about me, I’ll introduce myself anyway! I am the genius behind Sakurai Theory, the creator of the Symphogears, and the Second division’s lead scientist! I developed all of the Relics and Symphogears by myself, in fact I’m probably the only one who can make them!”

“I see,” Miku stated deadpan.

“So! Obviously, I was the perfect person to pick to analyze that Relic of yours,” Ryouko said, proudly puffing out her chest, “And! You wouldn’t believe what I found! Two very interesting details.”

“Go on…” Miku said, she felt every so slightly annoyed at how long this had taken.

“Well! Let’s start with the boring part first. You see, when I was analyzing it there are various criteria for figuring out where a Relic comes from. All of them are made from legendary items from the past that hold some kind of special power, so finding which specific item a Relic was takes a lot of cross referencing between different objects and reviewing—”

Tsubasa cleared her throat loudly. Miku glanced at the rest of the group. Sakuya looked rather restless, Aoi was at least trying to look interested, and Genjuro was tapping her finger on his forearm impatiently. Miku smiled slightly, it looked like she wasn’t the only one annoyed at how long it took this lady to get to her points.

“Since all of you mood killers seem to want me to hurry along or something, I’ll get to my point,” Ryouko clapped her hands together, smiling, “Your relic is...Drumroll please...The legendary sword, Excalibur!”

Silence. Was that supposed to make them react?

“Oh. Cool.” Miku said blankly. She honestly couldn’t care any less about what her Relic used to be. It didn’t matter, did it? All that mattered was that it was her power that she could fight back against Noise with.

Ryouko glanced around, looking to see if anyone else had a strong reaction to that. It didn’t seem like they did. She sighed, clapping her hands again, “Well, I did tell you that was the boring part, didn’t I? Well, it’s now time to get to the actually interesting part! Who gave it to you, Miku-chan?”

“Eh?” Miku looked at her, tilting her head in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“Oh, sorry, I should back up a bit...My bad,” Ryouko laughed, though, she kept her eyes locked with Miku’s. Her gaze was piercing, uncomfortable, unsafe. 

Miku knew that look. She knew it well. Oh, how she hated it so much. It was the same look as the bullies in her town looked at her with. It was the glare of a hunter, tracking its prey’s every movement waiting for it’s moment to pounce.

Ryouko smiled. It was a cold smile, lacking any of the warmth it seemed to have moments ago, “I said before that I should be the only one able to create Symphogears, right? Well, about that...You see...I didn’t create that Excalibur you have.”

It felt like something had stabbed her. Miku stared at Ryouko, wide-eyed in disbelief, “You mean…”

“I have never found any parts of Excalibur to be able to make a Gear like that and I most certainly wouldn’t lose so that some girl could just, pick it up and keep it,” Ryouko paused, scanning Miku’s expression, “And then, that girl just so happens to be compatible with it, go figure. So...We can surmise two things from this...There’s someone else who can create Symphogears, who is not me...And that person gave it to you. So! Who’d you get it from, Miku-chan?”

“I…” Her head hurt. A chill ran down her spin. She glanced at the others in the room. Gone were the somewhat reassuring expressions of them, they were replaced with cold, hard, expressions waiting for her answer.

But…

Where…

She couldn’t…

Icicles pierced her skin, freezing her blood in place as she was plunged deep into the abyss, with not a single lifeline. She felt sweat drip down her face. Her heart pounded against her chest. She was sure they wouldn’t believe her. Even if she told them the truth they wouldn’t believe her. But what else could she do?! Nothing, that’s what. She was powerless. Just like she had always been. And she wasn’t anywhere safe. There was nothing safe about this place. This cold, clinical, sterile place.

—She stared into the woman’s cold purple eyes.

She took a deep breath. They wouldn’t believe her, but there was only one course of action she could take. And so...She told them.

“I...It’s just something I’ve always had...I’ve always worn it,” she said, her voice trembled, “I don’t know if I got it from someone or anything...I just know that I’ve had it...I’m sorry, I can’t be of much help…”

“I see,” Ryouko said, her voice was piercing. It was clear that she didn’t believe her. Nobody seemed to, “Well, say what you want...That’s good enough for now.” She pulled out the red pendant from her pocket, and held it out in front of her, “You can have this back now, Miku-chan.”

Miku snatched it out of Ryouko’s hand. She felt the comforting shape of the Relic, before slipping it back around her neck. Then, she tucked it beneath her shirt, right back where it belonged. Her hands were still shaking.

“Here,” Aoi said. Her voice was smooth like the water of a creek, gently flowing past. She held out a cup to Miku, “It looks like you need it.”

Miku took the cup. The warmth radiated into her shaking hands as she slowly brought it up to her mouth, and took a long sip. It was warm, kind, safe. Slowly, her body relaxed as it warmed her core. She looked at Aoi, and murmured, “Thanks…”

“Don’t mention it,” Aoi smiled gently. She turned around to Genjuro, “Let’s move on from this point now, there’s one more thing, right?”

“There is?” Tsubasa asked, she stared at Genjuro, “I was told we were only briefing this girl about her Relic.”

“Yes, but...There is one more thing I wanted to ask,” Genjuro looked at Tsubasa, a serious look in his eyes, “I would like you to train Miku-kun.”

“What?!” “Huh?!”

Tsubasa stared incredulously at Genjuro, “You want me to train this girl?”

“You want this girl to train me?”

“Yes,” Genjuro said, nodding, “Miku-kun needs someone to teach her how to use her Gear effectively, and both of you use swords, so it’s the most natural fit.”

Tsubasa crossed her arms. She locked her eyes with his, staring at him as if what he had just said was an affront to all. Then, she spoke simply, in a cold voice, “I refuse, commander.”

“Tsubasa,” Genjuro said, staring back at her with a stern look, “You will be working together from now on, so—”

“Working together? I refuse to work with someone who doesn’t take any of this seriously,” Tsubasa said. Her voice was forceful and left no room for questions, “And I absolutely refuse to train someone like her.”

“I’m standing right here,” Miku snapped back. She glared at Tsubasa, “And what in the world do you mean by ‘not taking this seriously’, I’m—”

“Oh, don’t give me that,” Tsubasa returned the glare. Her eyes burned with a cold fire, “Let me tell you something. Your attacks, they don’t have any spirit behind them. Even when you were fighting for your life. You think this is a game.”

Miku grit her teeth, about to snap back, before Genjuro stepped forward, giving both of them a stern look.

Tsubasa clicked her tongue, “She’ll just end up failing when it’s most important. So, I’m not teaching her.”

And with that she turned around and marched out of the room, her footsteps echoing throughout the empty air. Ryouko glanced concernedly back and forth between Tsubasa and the rest of the group.

Then, she sighed, shaking her head, “I’ll talk with her...Somethings require a woman’s touch.”

She briskly walked out of the room, waving to the rest of them as she did.

Genjuro sighed, sitting down with a resigned look on his face. He looked conflicted, pondering what to do now. Then, after a few moments, he spoke, “I am sorry for her behavior.”

“...” Miku said nothing in response. She waited for Genjuro to continue. The air felt heavy.

“Please don’t blame her, Miku-kun,” He said softly, “Tsubasa’s...Going through a lot...She lost someone close to her and…”

Miku continued to sit in silence.

Genjuro paused. He struggled to find the words to convey what he was trying to say, “It’s...I’ll figure something out; hopefully we can convince her to train you…”

“...Yeah, about that,” Miku said. Her voice sounded distant, “Do I even need training? We’re just fighting Noise, right? I’ll manage.”

Genjuro’s friendly face turned into a hard expression, “Training isn’t just for combat, Miku-kun. People who train to fight are prepared to kill. It won’t just prepare you for killing the Noise, it’ll build bonds between those you train with. When you train, your mind will become stronger, sharper and quicker. And most importantly…”

Miku felt Genjuro’s eyes pierce through her. She was transparent as he stood, inspecting every little crevice of her life. She turned away. She couldn’t look into those eyes any longer.

“It’ll teach you when to use your blade, and when not to.” He said firmly. Then, his expression turned kind. A gentle look crossed his face, “We train so that we don’t just destroy, because unlike the Noise, we can choose when to and when not to break something. That is why we train.”

“Whatever...Noise are mindless, aren’t they?” Miku said indifferently, shrinking in on herself, “I don’t need to train. They’ll be cut down one way or another.”

“I see.” Genjuro said seriously. He sighed. It almost looked like he wanted to continue the conversation further, but thankfully, he didn’t. “Sorry for springing that on you, I hoped it’d be a good way to build camaraderie between you two.”

Miku shrugged, “We can stay mostly strangers for all I care.” She said sharply. She really wanted to go. She wanted to be anywhere but here in this uncomfortable room. “Is that everything?”

Genjuro gave her one last piercing stare. Miku averted her eyes. He sighed, shaking his head, “Yes, you may leave.”

Miku stood up, dusting off her skirt. She gave the three one last glance. Fujitaka was mostly silent. Genjuro just sat in the chair, a distant look in his eye. Aoi set a drink next to Genjuro with a caring look in her eyes.

And then, Miku left.

“So...Tsubasa-chan,” Ryouko said. Her voice felt kind, full of warmth. A voice that was compassionate and soft, “...How about we have some girl talk, just the two of us?”

The two of them were sitting in Ryouko’s office. It was quite a comfortable little place. For one, it was quite cold but...Tsubasa liked it that way. In the heat, a sword would melt and disappear. In the cold, would be preserved as it was forever, always sharp and ready to cut.

She sat on the couch behind Ryouko’s desk. The room was filled with all kinds of little knick knacks, stuff that the scientist would mess around with or test whenever she got bored. A Newton's cradle that she would occasionally mess with, letting the two marbles knock one another indefinitely. A drinking bird that did the same, aimlessly drinking from its water always. And so many more.

Her shelves were lined with scientific journals and books, all written by her. She kept them here as a reminder of her own accomplishments...And as material for her new discoveries. Tsubasa honestly wouldn’t even be surprised if some of them were empty, just waiting for the day they’d be whole, full of discoveries their master made. And when that day came, they’d be finally complete. They’d be something that they could be proud of.

Tsubasa sank back into the couch. She was enveloped by the soft cushions that surrounded her, reminding her that everything’d be okay. It was safe. A safety that wouldn’t leave.

“...What is there to talk about, doctor?” She asked. The doctor had followed her after she left the meeting, and insisted that they come to her office. But, there wasn’t really anything she had to talk about, was there? After all, she was doing perfectly fine.

“Oh, you know...Anything you want,” Ryouko smiled. She pulled back one of the spheres on the Newton’s cradle, before releasing it. The rhythmic tapping of the toy was quite grating . The white noise drowned out any other thought Tsubasa tried to have. Ryouko looked back to Tsubasa, “That Kohinata girl, perhaps? I trust the commander’s judgement, of course...But I want to know what you think about her?”

“What else is there to say about her?” Tsubasa said, crossing her arms. The incessant tapping grew louder and louder. Ryouko stood up, walking over to where Tsubasa sat.

“Well, isn’t it always nice to get more allies to fight with?” Ryouko asked, sitting down next to Tsubasa.

“...I already told you. I refuse to work with her,” Tsubasa said, shaking her head. It was too loud. The tapping filled her ears as she tried to focus, “I will never work with someone like that. Someone who doesn’t have any spirit. She’s nothing like Kanade. Even at the end Kanade never fought without spirit…”

“I see, I see,” Ryouko nodded. She hummed for a moment before saying, “So, it comes back to Kanade-chan again...Right?”

Tsubasa felt her chest tighten. Unneeded. A sword doesn’t need to feel like this.

“She meant a lot to us...All of us...But…” Ryouko smiled sadly, “She must have meant so so much more to you.”

“...” Tsubasa didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to. The tightness grew. It was getting hard to breath.

Ryouko placed her hand on Tsubasa’s head protectively. She felt like a guardian, something safe and kind, “You’re still having nightmares about that day, aren’t you?”

“...Yes,” Tsubasa said quietly. Ryouko stroked her head gently. Warmth radiated from her hand...Suddenly, the tapping stopped...The knot loosened, “She died for nothing...She was such a fool.”

“A fool, maybe...But...Sometimes we need a fool like that,” Ryouko murmured gently.

“If those kids she had laid down her life to save had survived, perhaps we would,” Tsubasa laughed. It was a hollow, empty, laugh, “But, since she didn’t save them, then she’s just a fool. Someone who laid her life down for no reason.”

“Nobody ever does anything for no reason…” Ryouko said, tenderly running her fingers through Tsubasa’s hair, “...Not you, not Kanade…” She slowly brought her hand to Tsubasa’s face, and gently stroked it, “And certainly not me…”

“...But accomplishing nothing after she sacrificed her life?” Tsubasa asked, “What else could you say about it…”

Ryouko shook her head, “She saved you, didn’t she?”

“...I didn’t need to be saved…”

“...Don’t say that,” Ryouko said, her voice gentle but firm, “I...Don’t know what I’d do if you both were gone...Tsubasa…”

“...Doctor...I—”

Whoosh.

The door opened. An unwelcome intrusion of this peaceful scene. It ripped through, destroying the atmosphere of serenity that had enveloped it in one sudden motion. Ryouko pulled her hand back from Tsubasa’s cheek. And immediately the knot in her chest returned. Tsubasa turned her head to face the intruder. Her expression was cold.

Standing in the doorway was a familiar face. Her manager and coworker, Ogawa Shinji.

Tsubasa’s expression softened, “Ogawa-san…”

Ogawa smiled back. His expression was as warm and kind as ever, “Sorry, am I interrupting something?”

Ryouko laughed, shaking her head, “No, Tsubasa-chan and I were just finishing up. Did you need something?”

Ogawa held out a clipboard with a sheet of paper on it, “It’s about the new concert schedule.”

“I see, I see,” Ryouko hummed happily, “I’ve been so excited for Tsubasa-chan’s next concert...But this is probably a private affair, so I shouldn’t keep you, Tsubasa-chan.”

Ryouko gave Tsubasa a gentle push on the back. Tsubasa nodded, standing up slowly. Honestly, if it were up to her, she wanted to stay here forever but...She knew she couldn’t do that. She left the comfort of Ryouko’s couch and walked over to Ogawa’s side. She turned around, giving one last glance at Ryouko before she left.

Ryouko smiled warmly at her, “If you ever need to talk about anything...Don’t be a stranger, ‘kay?”

Tsubasa nodded, smiling to herself. And then, she left that comfortable room, walking behind Ogawa into the hallway of the base.

“Well, this is just like old times, isn’t it?” Carol said happily. Her voice was full of energy, loud yet not unpleasant. She smiled as she looked down at Miku laying on the floor, “So? How’ve you been lately?”

The two of them were in Carol’s new bookshop. It was quite a bit bigger than the old one, yet it was just as comfortable. A warmth permeated the whole building in stark contrast to the cold air of the night. The kind golden lights shone down upon them, illuminating the bookshop in a gentle glow. Miku was honestly a bit hesitant to enter at first, thinking it wouldn’t be like the old one, that it wouldn’t be as kind or comfortable. That the city would somehow corrupt it, making it as harsh as the rest of the world.

But she was wrong, it was just like the place she remembered. The soft scent of lavender filled her nostrils, calming her soul as she just laid on the ground, staring at the ceiling.

That wasn’t to say that everything was the same...It was just that the important things stayed. There were more bookshelves now, lined with endless books, filled to the brim with all kinds of content. Stories. Ideas. People. Hearts. Knowledge. Fantasy. The stories that they told reached far and wide, into the skies above, into the waters below, different worlds, different places, different times. All of them, together in this shop. It was so much bigger than before, and yet, somehow, that didn’t make it feel any less warm or homely. It was like the warmth had just spread wider and wider than it had before.

The books were complete here and they were all intact. They were probably all things their writers could be proud of...All of them, except for the notebook Carol held in her hands. It was a thing Miku had noticed ever since they started talking. Carol always carried a notebook with her. Even when they had met in the park, it was still there. A part of her that she never left.

Miku sighed, her eyes fixed on the ceiling as she felt the soft carpet against her back. After that horrible meeting, she had decided to come here to calm down. She honestly didn’t want to go back to her dorm after that...And, she did want to check this place out. She just...Needed to unload somewhere safe. “Terrible. You?”

Carol snorted, trying to hold back her laughter, “Terrible? What happened?”

“Well…” Miku took a deep breath. This was going to be a long talk. Miku started her story. She went through how she got into Lydian, leaving out the parts about the second division, Symphogears, and basically anything she wasn’t allowed to talk about. She did, however, make sure to say how hectic everything was and how it was sprung on her all of a sudden. 

And all the while, Carol listened patiently. She stayed silent the whole time, just listening to Miku’s frustrations as she continued to talk.

“And then today!” Miku said, raising her voice. She was obviously very irritated, “Oh, you’ll never believe all of the shit I’ve been through today. It started off bad, with the teacher getting on my back for ‘violating the dress code’ because I decided to keep my hoodie on. Then, there were these three girls who kept bothering me! They kept asking me stuff like ‘What are your hobbies?’, ‘What do you like to do?’, ‘What was the school you came from like?’ and other annoying stuff like that. Can you believe it? They even roped me into eating lunch with them...And hanging out with them after school.” Miku groaned loudly, “And I’ll have to deal with them again tomorrow. Why can’t they just leave me alone—”

“Miku-san,” Carol cut Miku off with a firm voice. She took a deep breath, staring at Miku with a disapproving expression, “That’s called being friendly. They’re trying to be your friends.”

Cold. The room felt colder than before. Miku shrank back, turning away from Carol, “...I don’t need friends.”

Carol sighed, shaking her head. She spoke more gently this time, yet it was still firm. A voice that drew you in, yet never let you get lost. “You can’t live your life in solitude not connecting to anyone else. To live in this world, you need people who care about you, people who you care about.”

“But every connection you make will eventually leave! And when they do, it hurts so much…” Miku snapped. Her voice came out louder than she had intended. She silently clenched her fist, her nails digging into her hand, “So, what’s the point?! Why do we need to make something so fragile?!”

“Because then you have people to lean on when one breaks.” Carol said, her voice was clear, unmuddled by any surrounding sounds. “When you’re sad, when you’re angry, or just when you need a friend,”

Miku glanced at Carol, listening intently to every word. She held onto them tightly, as if they were a precious treasure she needed to keep close to her heart.

Carol smiled. It wasn’t a happy smile, but it wasn’t quite a sad one either. A distant smile, looking at a faraway time, “It hurts like hell when one breaks; when one’s unfairly taken away from you.” She clenched her fist, looking away from Miku. Her voice was quieter now, “And when it happens: it feels like it’s better if the world just burns down to the ground. But…” Her voice grew louder, resolutely cutting through the empty air, “It’s connections you make after that have will make you realize that this world is worth living in.”

“...But what if they leave again,” Miku said meekly, her fingers slowly relaxed. Her nails no longer dug into her skin, “What then?”

“Then you keep the memory of it within you...And you keep moving,” Carol clasped her hands together over her heart, “Maybe there’ll be things you regret, that you can’t change, but don’t let them consume you…” Carol smiled. Her smile was bright, yet it was also gentle. It wasn’t anything like the sun outside, instead it was just like the golden lights inside the bookshop. A smile that was kind and safe, “Because, it still meant something even if you regret it.”

Miku didn’t say anything in response. She just let Carol’s words sit in her brain as she pondered their meaning.

“Just think about it, okay?” Carol said casually, spinning her chair around and scanning the bookshelves, “And don’t keep shutting people out when they try to talk with you, it’s good to be kind to others, y’know?”

The seconds passed in complete silence. The warmth gradually returned to the room. Slowly, she unclenched her fist. “You really think so?”

Carol nodded. She swiveled her chair back around and flashed a smile at Miku, “I do. It also makes you less of a jerk.” She said with a wink.

“I’ll...Think about it,” Miku said. She stretched her arms out wide against the soft carpet. She rolled over, laying down on her stomach this time. She looked up at Carol, “Anyway, you got any interesting stories you wanna read today?”

Carol laughed lightly, “We haven’t done that in a while, have we?”

“Yeah...Plus, you have a bigger selection now, right? So, we should find something to read,” Miku rolled back over onto her back.

“Alright!” Carol scooted her chair over to the shelf. She parsed through the different books slowly, searching for one that looked interesting, “Hmm, are you in the mood for—”

Jingle

The door opened? Who in the world was going to the bookstore at this time of day?! It was like the middle of the night!

Carol stood for a moment in silence. It looked like she found it just as unbelievable as Miku did. Then, she cleared her throat, recomposing herself quickly.

“Well, looks like it’ll have to wait, sorry ‘bout that,” Carol said, standing up. She started for the entrance, “Welcome!”

Miku pouted as she watched Carol leave. Why were they getting interrupted now. She was calming down, she didn’t need anyone else to see her here…

A few moments passed. Carol was still not back. Miku aggrivatedly began humming. This was boring, when was Carol gonna come back? She impatiently rolled onto her stomach. And then she rolled back onto her back. She repeated this a few times, rolling further and further away from where she started. She was a fish rolling herself up into a delicious roll of sushi.

She continued to roll all across the ground. She rolled and rolled and rolled, all throughout the store. She was just a cabbage rolling down the hill after it had been dropped out of a shopping bag. Unstoppable and aimless. And nothing could stop her.

“Uhm…”

She continued her roll. She was a tire on the run. A tired that slipped out from the car and was just spinning out of control. She rolled further between the rows of books that surrounded her.

“Are you okay?” came a concerned voice. It sounded vaguely familiar. Her Japanese was somewhat off, with the definite sign of an accent to it.

Miku cracked her eye open. And standing above her was a young girl. She looked around Miku’s age. She looked down at Miku, her teal eyes held a mixture of puzzlement and concern in them. Her long auburn hair flowed gently down, bathed within the golden light, kept out of her face by a single silver hairpin.

Blood rushed to Miku’s face making it a deep shade of red. Oh goodness, someone saw her. And she saw her doing something really embarrassing. She could just curl up in a hole and die!

“D-Don’t tell Carol,” Miku said quickly, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Hah…” The girl nodded. She stayed silent for a moment, before asking, “That’s...The shop owner, right?”

“Yes. Do not tell her,” Miku said again, more firmly this time. Carol’d never let her live this down, if she knew!

“I...See…” The girl said. There was something familiar about her that Miku just couldn’t place. The girl stared at Miku for a few moments. “Uhm...Have I seen you before?”

“I…” Miku traced her memories...She knew she’d— Oh! “You’re the foreigner from the other day!”

“Oh!” The girl smiled brightly, “Thanks for the directions! I’d still be lost somewhere else if it wasn’t for you…”

“Ehh...You probably could’ve asked anyone else and they’d have given you the same advice,” Miku said, shrugging.

“But... You were the one who I asked...So thanks,” And with that she turned back around, scanning the bookshelf. She slowly brought her hand to one of the books and pulled it off the shelf. It was a Japanese Translation book. She dusted off the book and looked around, “Uhm! Miss! I think I found it!” She called out.

Carol poked her head out from behind a bookshelf, “Oh! You have, let me see it.” She said, walking into the aisle where Miku and the girl were, “Oh, you’re here too, Miku-san.”

Miku nodded. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like Carol saw what she just did.

The girl handed Carol the book. Carol hummed casually as she paged through it, the sound of the paper flipping was incredibly satisfying to hear.

Carol nodded happily, “Looks good! Now…” She grinned mischievously, “You know...The best way to learn a language is to have a teacher. And...I can think of one that I could get you.”

“Really?” The girl asked, her eyes bright with enthusiasm, “That’d be great.”

“You’d just have to stop by here everyday,” Carol said.

The girl nodded, “That works...I’m pretty free.”

“Great!” Carol’s grin grew wider, “Hear that, Miku-san? You’re teaching her.”

“Wha—!” Miku sat up quickly, staring at Carol in disbelief, “You want me to teach her?!”

“Yep, who better to teach someone Japanese than a native speaker?” She asked, smiling smugly.

“But I—!”

“Think of it as a chance to spread your wings a bit...After all, it’s a connection you can make, is it not?” All of a sudden Carol’s voice sounded serious. Her smile had dropped and she stared at Miku with a firm look.

Miku sighed, “Alright...I’ll teach her.”

“Great!” Carol clapped her hands together. Her grin returned, “Plus, from the sounds of things you two already know each other, so it was a natural fit. So! For the foreseeable future...Miku-san you will be teaching...uh…” Carol looked at the other girl, “What’s your name?”

“Oh right, I haven’t introduced myself yet,” The girl smiled pleasantly, “Serena. Serena Cadenzavna Eve.” She said, bowing her head.

“Kohinata Miku,” Miku said, “Please get here earlier than you got here tonight, I don’t want to stay awake this long every day.”

Serena nodded, “I’ll try. I’ll be in your care.”

A small smile formed on Miku’s face. She stood up, facing both Serena and Carol, “Well...I’ll see you two tomorrow. It’s super late and I’m sure my roommate is worried about me.”

“Take care,” Carol said, waving.

And so, Miku left the bookstore. A smile on her face as she did. And she went into the night, feeling the peaceful breeze on her skin. It was cold, yet it didn’t feel unpleasant anymore...It was just comfortable for now. Though, who knows how long it’d last.

It was still dark out by the time Miku finally got back home. The trek back home was peaceful, the streets weren’t as lively as they were in the day, and the cool air was actually quite nice to feel on her skin as she paced through the night. It felt like no time had passed by the time she got home.

Miku put her hand on the doorknob. It was cold. Obviously, it was metal on a cold night after all. Still, she could feel it through her skin. She felt all of the little ridges and crevices of the doorknob...And she left her hand on it for a bit. This place would probably be her home for the next few years so...She should probably get used to it.

Miku smiled slightly. She turned the doorknob, and opened the door. Bright light flowed out from the room, cutting through the cold night like a knife through butter. Miku walked it, taking off her shoes and setting them by the entrance. Then, she closed the door, locking it behind her.

“Oh, you’re back,” came a familiar voice. Chris was sitting at the table, a set of playing cards set out in front of her. She looked like she was playing solitaire. She didn’t look up from her game as she spoke.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Miku said. She yawned. Today had been quite long… “You’re still awake? It’s like the middle of the night.”

“Could say the same thing to you,” Chris said, moving the cards around, “What took you so long?”

Miku walked over to her bed and sat down, “Just got caught up talking with a friend, that’s all.”

“...” Chris looked up from her cards. She stared blankly at Miku, “You have friends?”

“Hah?!” Miku shot Chris an offended look, “Of course I do! What do you take me for?”

“Sorry, it’s just I thought your whole shtick was being an edgy loner,” Chris said shrugging, “Good for you, though.”

“Hmph,” Miku pouted, crossing her arms indignantly, “Do you have friends?”

“Yep,” Chris nodded casually, immediately going back to her game. She smiled, setting the last card on top of its stack. She had won.

Miku blinked. It took her a moment to process what Chris had just said. “W-Wait, you do?” Miku asked.

“I don’t want to hear that from you,” Chris sighed, cleaning up her cards, “Of course I have friends, for example those girls you were with earlier. We’re on pretty good terms now.”

“...That doesn’t make you friends though,” Miku said, “You just met today.”

“It’s a start, at least,” Chris said, setting the cards back in their boxes. She walked over to the bunk bed and climbed up, “And, I do have friends I didn’t just meet today.”

“Who?”

“Nobody you know,” Chris said, grinning, “Also, take a bath before you lay down in your bed, please? You’ve been out all day.”

Miku pouted, “Don’t wanna.” She didn’t smell that bad. In fact, she didn’t smell bad at all. She smelled like a sushi roll, which smelled delicious.

“Take a bath!” Chris yelled, chucking her pillow at Miku.

The pillow smacked Miku right in the face, knocking her backwards. It stung...Miku rubbed her face, “Alright, I will, jeez…” She said, slipping out of her bed. She then threw Chris’s pillow back at her.

Chris caught it mid-air and placed it back where it belonged, “Good.” She said, threw her blanket over her shoulders and flopped back onto her mattress.

Miku grabbed her pajamas and towel. She shot Chris one last glare, before slipping into the bathroom. As she undressed, she sighed to herself. Connections...Huh? Maybe...She should try them for once. She filled the bathtub with water, and stepped in. The water was warm, soothing, kind. Just being in it relaxed her muscles as the stress from the day before went away.

And as she bathed, her mind began to wander. She thought back to everything that happened today, and eventually, her mind landed on one topic. The Silver Knife Murders. What Shiori had talked about back there really was interesting.

A string of murders with no connections other than the weapon that was used. One that happened throughout the entire world at seemingly random intervals. And those knives, strange knives that disappeared almost immediately after the body was found, with no trace of where they went. Honestly, it sounded like a fairy tale. But, it was reality. It was as real as the second division, as the Relics they used to fight Noise. To an outsider, those things sounded like fairy tales too…

She wondered if they could be connected.

Miku yawned, lazily scrubbing her body with soap. It didn’t really matter, though. Those murders had nothing to do with her, and they certainly weren’t important to anything going on where she was. It was just something curious, an odd occurrence to keep her mind occupied.

She rinsed off the soap, and stepped out of the bathtub. She let the water drain, it rushed down into the sewers in a single fluid motion. She grabbed her towel, drying herself off, before she changed into her pajamas.

She walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She turned off the lights, blanketing the room in a gentle darkness, and she walked back to her bed. She laid down, staring at the bottom of the top bunk above her...Letting her mind wander to all types of topics. Just, anything to pass the time.

Slowly, she drifted off into the abyss of sleep. And she had that dream that she always had. The one with the concert. The one where she was protected, the one where she ran as the world crumbled around her. The one where she fought so desperately to hold onto something, only to lose it all in the end. Just like she always did.

Chapter Text

It was a familiar scene.

The golden light of the sunset was seared into her vision. The smell of dust clogged her nose. Rubble, collapsed features of a once great structure, surrounded her. She could hear the sounds of fighting in the distance as she ran. They echoed all around, a chorus of metallic clangs and scraping stone.

The sun’s dying light burned against her skin. It stung her, stabbed her, scraped her, telling her to stop resisting, stop moving. The weight on her back did no favors. It was like a cruel joke, as every second it got heavier, as if a god kept stacking stones on her back as she ran. They were laughing at her, telling her it was useless, telling her to stop and give up. But, she knew she couldn’t do that.

She could hardly breathe, her lungs screaming in pain as she gasped for air. It hurt so much. But, she kept running. Her legs felt like they’d give out any moment. A searing pain burned through her muscles. It beckoned her to stop, telling her it was useless. And yet, she kept running. 

Even with her body burning like a dying star, she kept running.

Why? Because the exit was in sight.

She sprinted. Her legs moved with unnatural speed toward the exit. A little fire burned within her chest. Hope, a small hope, that if she could just reach it, she’d be saved. It was that hope that propelled her forward. All she needed to do was reach it.

And yet she never did. She was just inches away from the exit when it happened. The world broke apart. The stage collapsed. The ground crumpled all around her, breaking apart at the seams. She fell backwards into the void beneath her. Descending further and further as her final hopes were stripped away from her, stolen by the cruelty of fate.

It was a hollow scene.

The blue light refracting through the water enveloped her as she stared at the fish within it. They swam and swam, mindlessly moving from one space to another as they lived their lives.

Standing in the center of an aquarium was a feeling she always loved. It felt like she was standing in the middle of the world. Fish circled her without end, swimming aimlessly and endlessly. There were so many of them, and yet they were never overwhelming. And they all gave each other enough room to breathe, never intruding on another’s domain.

The fish that lived in aquariums were such interesting creatures. They were trapped, in a sense, but it never seemed like they felt that way. They couldn’t roam at all, but that was because their keepers had given them a purpose. A purpose they fulfilled just by existing. They were here to keep the humans entertained, and to show them their way of life. 

The deep blue lights flickered all around her, refracting the lights all across her body. It was as if someone had suddenly shone a spotlight onto her. She was the main actor on this stage, and nothing would ever change that.

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

Click.

“No updates on the situation, I’m afraid,” she said, twirling a strand of her dark brown hair in her finger, “I can’t seem to find those two no matter where I look.”

“I see,” came the voice of her keeper. That same familiar, kind, safe, soothing voice that just lulled you to sleep, “Disobedient children are always so difficult. I’m so grateful that I can actually rely on you.”

“Of course you can,” She said, a light chuckle in her voice. Betraying her keeper was like a sick joke, honestly. And yet, for some unfathomable reason, those two brats had turned their weapons on the person who saved them. How ungrateful could they get? Certainly they needed to learn their place; someone needed to teach them their place. And, obviously, she was the person who’d do just that.

“...Now,” Her keeper spoke again, her wonderful voice feeling like honey poured straight down her throat, “I have another matter to discuss with you…”

“Oh?” She perked up. She thought this was just the routine check-up. Her heart beat fast, her excitement growing. Just what did her keeper want to discuss with her?

“Well…”

It was a lively scene.

As always, the courtyard was positively filled with all kinds of different students. They chatted aimlessly and leisurely, happily eating their food and talking with their various friends. It was always so peaceful. A world where the hardships of the outside seemed to slip away, and one could just contentedly enjoy life.

It had been a month since Miku enrolled in Lydian, and strangely enough, she was getting used to life around here. Sure, things had been rough when she first enrolled, but eventually the days all blended together into a routine. She’d go to school, get in trouble for violating the dress code, talk with those three, maybe hang out with them a bit after school, go alone to Carol’s, and then she’d go home. Of course, this was between fighting Noise for the Second Division whenever there was an emergency. These moments had become just another part of the routine, honestly. She’d go there, listen to what they wanted, and then do her job. That’s all there was to it.

It was lunchtime now. She was sitting with Kuriyo, Yumi, and Shiori. To be honest, she wasn’t really listening to their conversation at all; though, it seemed to be pretty lively. It was nice to have background noise when she ate her food, and they didn’t mind when she sat with them at all. In fact, they encouraged it.

“And then!” Yumi said, excitedly gesturing into the air, “Boom! After all that hardship, she finally breaks through and saves her friend! God, I can’t even describe how cool of a moment it is!”

“Jeez, you’ve told us about this anime, what, five times at this point?” Kuriyo said, a good natured sigh escaping her lips, “Don’t you ever get tired of rewatching it?”

“But you two still haven’t watched it! And I’ve been begging you for weeks!” Yumi dramatically grabbed Kuriyo’s arms and shook her, “Please watch Our Moonlight, it’s so good!”

Miku giggled quietly. She had to admit, it was a bit amusing to watch them go at it.

“But it’s so heavy!” Kuriyo complained, struggling to escape Yumi’s grip, “And I have my hands full with Disfiguration!”

“And Disfiguration isn’t heavy at the start?” Yumi yelled, shaking her even harder.

“I mean it is, but it’s not as heavy as Echo literally getting her greatest fears and insecurities thrown at her to turn her evil!” Kuriyo pulled herself out of Yumi’s grasp, letting out a sigh of relief, “Anyway, Moonlight is finished, so we can binge it at any time, I’m catching up with Disfiguration since it’s still ongoing.”

“Well!” Yumi started again. It looked like this was going to go on for a while, so Miku decided to tune out here.

“...So,” Miku said, turning to Shiori, “What are they talking about?”

“Oh, just some anime,” Shiori said, a warm smile on her face as she watched her two friends bicker, “We’re probably going to end up binging it this weekend.”

“I see,” Miku nodded, turning back to her meal. And she ate it without speaking another word as the lively world around her blended into background noise.

It was an empty scene.

A deep darkness swept across the near-vacant building. While there were people in it, they were spaced out and far away from one another. All alone and solitary as they stood, watching the fish swim.

The world inside the aquarium was always so clean. There was a certain serenity to it all: the gentle music playing softly in the background, the warm darkness that enveloped them and obscured those within it from the world, and the countless lives that circled around them, unaware of any other existence than they already knew. And in this world, a girl stood, excitedly tapping her foot as if she just had her dreams come true.

“I see! So, you want my help?” The girl said, her voice was practically overflowing with enthusiasm. She was going to be assisting her keeper! “The Kazanari Bitch and that anomaly won’t even know what hit them!”

“Settle down…” Her keeper said, her voice smooth and lyrical. Truly a goddess incarnate, “You’re not meant to fight them...Only to intervene if things get...Out of hand.”

“But—!”

“No buts,” She said, a soft whisper that seeped into her soul. It cleaned her, made her head clear, “We don’t want to crush them...Yet. I need to study the anomaly first, see what she knows... who put her up to this, then we can crush them.”

The girl pouted. So she wasn’t going to fight alongside her mistress after all…Oh well, Mistress always knew best. About everything. And everyone. And she knew, one day, she’d crush them all. She’d destroy everything the worst one had created. So, for now, she knew she had to wait.

A smile crossed her face, “Alright, whatever you say, Mistress!”

“That’s a good girl...Now, we have another matter to discuss…”

It was a desolate scene.

A false simulacrum of a city surrounded her as she stood, hands gripped firmly against the hilt of her blade. The holograms were quite impressive, and the illusion of a moving city was palpable. Skyscrapers taller than one’s imagination, a blue sky with a sun shining down above them, highways that stretched on and on forever, interweaving and connecting a bustling city. And yet, it was all fake. All one single lie that was designed for the purpose of being destroyed. A lie for those who wanted to get stronger and dedicated themselves to only that pursuit. A false world created for one who had a single purpose, who had no room for anything else.

Tsubasa wasn’t angry. She wasn’t angry at all. After all, there was no reason to be angry. There wasn’t a single one. All she did was decide she needed some training while the commander talked with her father about the new recruit. That was all.

Countless fake Noise surrounded her. They were everywhere. Every alleyway, every street, every single spot in the fake city was just swarming with these pests. Tsubasa gripped her sword tightly, so tightly that the tension hurt. She didn’t care though, even if she was sloppy it was enough to fulfill her duty. She charged forward, cutting through Noise after Noise as she ran through the desolate street.

She slashed carelessly at every single target in her way; gripping her blade too tightly and leaving too many openings. That didn’t matter though. She didn’t care where she was going, all that she did was carve through Noise. All she had to do was focus on that. She didn’t have to focus on things that didn’t matter. She didn’t have to focus on the fact that the only reason the man who abandoned her was calling in was to ask about the new recruit. She didn’t have to focus on the fact that her uncle had let that person in in the first place. She didn’t need to focus on anything other than the Noise she was cutting down.

She delivered a vertical strike, cutting a Noise clean down the middle. The fake disappeared like all the unspoken falsehoods before it— She slashed behind her, dispelling another fake Noise. She didn’t need to think, she was a weapon. She wasn’t a daughter, a niece, nor a friend, she was just a sword.

And yet there were still so many of them. They were like all the lies people told her, innumerable lies that swallowed her whole, unfulfilled promises and broken dreams. A life after fighting? Only a fool would want such a thing for her. Her father didn’t care, he probably hated her with all his heart. That’s why he abandoned her. Only a fool like her uncle would think otherwise.

Over and over her uncle said he’d help her, that he’d work with her to help her accomplish her dreams. Over and over he told her that her father didn’t abandon her. Her best friend did too, she told her there was something that was waiting for them at the end, and yet she didn’t get to see it.

She was sick of it. Everyone lied and lied and lied. A life after the battle? Lies. A father who loved her? Lies. People who’d help her follow her dreams? All lies. None of them would help her now, nobody at all.

Tsubasa grit her teeth. She didn’t need to think about any of that. A sword shouldn’t feel a thing. She leapt into the sky. She threw her sword in front of her and it grew until it was a blade fit for a giant. One that could cut through anything and everything cleanly, without any bias. Her thrusters activated, and she kicked it down at an angle.

[Heaven’s Wrath]

The sword rocketed down, splitting countless falsehoods apart in its wake. And then, it slammed into the ground, ripping through the concrete like it was butter and exposing the circuitry below. The truth of this simulation, just a machine trying to emulate what it thought was reality.

Tsubasa landed beside the giant’s blade and flipped around, sword gripped tightly in hand— Only for a Noise to suddenly ram into her chest. Tsubasa was slammed hard against the giant blade, spittle flying from her mouth.

A second Noise slammed into her side, knocking her to the ground. She stabbed her sword into the ground, using it as an anchor to pull her up to her feet. Another Noise knocked her down. And another, and another, and another. Over and over again, before the simulation faded, leaving nothing but the gash in the floor and the body of a sword who couldn’t even complete the simplest of tasks. Alone in this empty reality.

A bright light enveloped her, and when it receded, her Gear had disappeared, leaving her in her civilian clothes.

“...Here,” said a familiar voice. It was a gentle voice, one that felt as if it were made of silk. It was a voice that would never fail to calm you down as it rolled and lapped against the annals of your mind as if it were the gentle waves on a beach. She set down a water bottle next to Tsubasa.

“...Why are you here, Doctor?” Tsubasa asked, her voice cold and metallic.

Ryouko sat down next to Tsubasa, “I saw you training here all alone, Tsubasa-chan. It’s commendable that you’d train all by yourself but...Don’t forget to take breaks.”

Tsubasa grunted. She slowly sat up and grabbed the bottle. Her bruised body ached, the dull pain reminding her of her failure to complete even a simple training session. She took a sip of the water. The refreshing coolness pierced through her exhaustion as if it were a breeze of cold air on a winter day.

“So...I saw that the commander’s talking with his brother about the new girl again…” the doctor shook her head disapprovingly, “Sheesh , that’s all he talks about these days, isn’t it?”

Tsubasa didn’t say anything. She just drank the water in silence. She didn’t want to be bothered. She didn’t want to hear this.

“Since this is the third time he’s called in to ask about the same thing,” Ryouko leaned backwards overdramatically, her soft back brushed against Tsubasa’s aching body, “It’s grating as hell, so I wanted a change of pace. Can’t they talk about anything different? Something fun would be nice.”

Tsubasa bit her lip. She quickly tried to crush the prickly feeling all over her heart. After all, it was only natural, wasn’t it? That the commander and that man would talk about business over anything else. That was all. That was all, she told herself. It didn’t matter.

Ryouko groaned loudly, “Like, I don’t know, those two don’t need to be all, business business all the time, right? I hope it’s not just me that thinks that, right? Maybe they should try hanging out after work or something. It wouldn’t be hard, I mean, I get that we have to be ready at a moment’s notice, since Noise could attack at any time...But they should at least find some time to have some breaks and hang out with each other...I mean, they are family, right?” She smiled brightly at Tsubasa.

Tsubasa turned away from the smile. She couldn’t stand seeing someone so jovial like that. Did the doctor even know what she was saying? For the Kazanaris, It wasn’t that simple. Her grip tightened around the plastic bottle. The tension started to hurt as the bottle began to crumple from the force exerted upon it.

“And—” Ryouko stopped, hearing the loud crumpling of a plastic bottle. Her smile quickly changed into a look of concern as she stared at the young idol, “Tsubasa-chan?”

Tsubasa stood up. Quickly, she faced the door, turning her back to Ryouko. “Sorry, leave me alone.” She said, sharply. Her voice tinged with much more emotion than she had wanted it to be. Anger and annoyance, two feelings she was trying her hardest to respress as she sped out of the room, footsteps echoing behind her. 

She didn’t look back to Ryouko as she left. She just stared straight ahead, aimless and unfocused, as she went back to her room.

It was a comforting scene.

The bookstore was the same as it always was, though that wasn’t a bad thing. It was the kind of familiar homelike spot that Miku had grown to love. The golden glow of the lights was amazing as could be, and the soothing smell of paper mixed with the light scent of lavender that filled every nook and cranny of this abode. A place of solace and healing for anyone who entered.

Over the past month, Miku had made a habit out of coming here after school. She hadn’t told any of her fr— Any of the acquaintances from school about it. It wasn’t because she didn’t like them or anything, it was just she wanted this place to be her little secret. Her place of solace that only she knew about. Well, only her, Carol, and Serena knew about. Er...Then that would probably be…

Right, a place that none of her school acquaintances knew. A place where she could relax without them if she ever needed a break. That was what this place was to her.

As always, Miku was teaching Serena Japanese. The two were sitting next to one another, with the translation book propped open between them. Although, translation book might’ve been a misnomer; textbook would’ve been a better title. It didn’t just contain direct translations from one word to another, but also the grammatical constructs that allowed one to properly speak the language.

Currently, Miku was explaining one of these constructs. To be quite honest, her explanation was shaky as hell. She had no real idea of how to explain what these words meant or what the construct’s purpose was, and she could only really convey the general gist and feeling of what it was supposed to imply. It was hesitant and it just felt wrong.

It wasn’t just this construct either; every single time she taught the foreigner Japanese, she felt like she was messing something up. It was a dull ache, one that went against how comfortable this place normally felt.

Miku finished her explanation. She tried not to let her discomfort show. She glanced at Serena, and, in a definitely normal-sounding voice, she asked, “So? You got all that?”

Serena nodded happily, “Yeah! I think so, at least. So, essentially…”

Serena went on to break down the construct to its roots. She compared it to other words and usages in her native language. She even connected it to different grammatical constructs she learned previously, its similarities, its differences, how they could be combined. She had this enthusiastic shine in her eye as she talked. Clearly, this girl was having a lotta fun, huh?

It was always like this. After Miku’s shitty explanation, Serena would somehow understand and connect it. A complete natural.

“Was that correct?” Serena asked. There was a hint of unease in her voice.

The ache in her chest grew. Miku smiled at her ‘student’, “Yeah, I think so. Well, next up…”

Of course, with the rate they were progressing, they usually didn’t stop at just one lesson. Miku moved on to the next construct. She explained it to the best of her abilities, though it still felt like she was giving a rather bad explanation. She couldn’t make the relevant connections to make it any easier, nor would she be able to answer questions Serena might have.

The ache turned into a sharp pain. Miku ignored it again. She was fine.

As always, Serena understood it perfectly. She had no problems comprehending it. She just naturally connected everything and that was the end of it.

And it continued like clockwork. A circular pattern without end.

—Tick.

Miku explained badly. She ignored the pain in her chest.

Tock.

Serena understood perfectly.

Tick.—

Miku explained badly. The air felt sterile.

Tock.

Her acquaintance understood perfectly.

—Tick.

Miku explained terribly. She felt useless.

Tock.

The girl beside her understood perfectly.

Tick.—

Miku said some words. A doll would explain better.

Tock.

Someone understood perfectly.

—Tick.

Was she needed? Was this just a formality? Was she a toy that’d be thrown away the moment she finished her purpose? There were so many more people who could teach this person. Someone so gifted didn’t need her. They didn’t need her at all.

Someone said something.

She was unneeded. Replaceable. Useless.

“...Ta-san?”

Someone else would be better. Anyone else would’ve been better. Miku didn’t deserve to teach someone like this.

“...Hinata-san?”

Hell, the only reason she had been teaching her was because she was just the person who happened to—

“Kohinata-san!” Serena’s voice cut through her thoughts. Miku looked up at her. She looked very worried. Why? “A-Are you okay? You just stopped talking all of a sudden.”

Miku moved her lips. It felt heavy, her body didn’t feel like it belonged to her, “Yeah...I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” She said, trying to give a smile.

Serena didn’t buy it. She closed the textbook, keeping her eyes locked on Miku, “Are you sure?”

Miku wanted to hide. She looked away, “I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

The two sat in silence. The air was thick, heavy, constricting. It tied itself tightly around her neck like a noose. It felt like it was trying to steal her breath away and suffocate her. She couldn’t breathe. Minutes? Hours? Miku had no idea how long since they had spoken.

“Miku-san,” came a familiar voice. Miku didn’t look at where it came from. Carol sat down in front of them. Then, in a gentle voice, she said, “If something’s bothering you, I think you should talk about it.”

“There’s nothing bothering me,” Miku said coldly. She stayed firmly focused on the ground, the tension palpable in her body. She was a string pulled to the point right before it would snap, “I’m fine.”

Carol took a deep breath, regarding Miku with a firm look. Then, in a steady voice, she said, “Unspoken words can cause relationships to fall apart.”

“Huh?” That caused Miku to look at Carol. She looked positively bewildered at the statement. She wasn’t in a relationship.

Carol chuckled, seeing Miku’s expression, “Oh, I don’t mean just romantic relationships. I’m speaking about all kinds of relationships; yes, lovers can be included, but more than that. If you aren’t clear with what’s bothering you, if you don’t talk about your feelings, they’ll overflow and destroy the connections you had with someone else.”

Miku sighed, leaning back into her chair. She wasn’t getting out of this lecture, huh? In that case, she should probably pay attention.

The bookstore owner smiled. She kept eye contact with Miku. It wasn’t a look of judgement, no. Rather, it was a look that held you in place; one that you couldn’t take your eyes off of since you wanted to hear what they said. Carol continued, her voice resolute yet tinged with sadness, “Then, all you’ll be left with is regrets and festering feelings. Words that lost their place, rotting endlessly as you continue through life. That’s why—”

For a brief moment, a complicated expression crossed Serena’s face. Almost as soon as it appeared it was gone. And, this was something that Miku didn’t see.

Carol’s tone increased, a loud voice but not a painful one, “That’s why, you speak if you have something bothering you. That way those feelings won’t fester as much, and your heart won’t be left with unspoken words that you wish you had said if the connection breaks.”

“Fine,” Miku sighed. Her posture straightened, she wasn’t leaning back in her chair anymore. She shook her head, “I guess I’ll give it a shot.”

The bookstore’s light felt less harsh, and its air didn’t smell as sterile as it had. The ache in her chest didn’t feel as large. Miku turned to Serena. She took a deep breath, the beating of her heart slowing ever so slightly, and then she spoke:

“I guess...It’s just that…” Miku exhaled. It was going to be okay, “Do you really need me to teach you Japanese?”

“Eh?” Serena tilted her head, she looked a bit confused at the question.

“I mean like, yknow,” Miku nervously tapped her thumbs together, “You’re a really fast learner, and like, I’m a pretty bad teacher...And I just feel like you could do a lot better with anyone else. And, in the first place, anyone could’ve ended up teaching you Japanese; I was just the person who happened to be there.”

“I see,” Serena said. A beat of silence passed. There was a complicated expression on Serena’s face. Then, she began to speak, “Honestly, I can’t say that you didn’t become my teacher just because of coincidence. And, while I don’t think I’m good enough to stop with these lessons, I can’t say whether or not I’d be at the same level with or without you.”

Miku broke eye contact. She felt a sharp pain in her chest. She bit her lip, trying to remain focused on the conversation. Those weren’t the words she wanted to—

“But,” Serena’s clear voice cut through the fog of her thoughts. She looked Miku straight in the eyes, “What I can say is that I enjoy coming here and learning from you. Talking to you and Carol has been fun, and if it wasn’t you teaching me, I wouldn’t have gotten that experience.”

Miku bit her lip again, she retorted, “In that case, Carol could’ve—”

“Bzzt,” Carol held up a finger to stop Miku there. She smirked, “Miku-san, did you forget? I’m German. While I did learn Japanese, I wouldn’t be able to teach it that easily to a Ukrainian. Plus, I have to run a bookstore.”

Miku sighed, the pain lessened. It felt like a crushing weight had lifted from her chest, “Alright, you win.” She said with a small smile. It was a genuine one, this time.

“See, told you it’d feel better,” Carol teased, smiling. She propped open the book in her hand, “Now then, you two ready for some stories?”

The two girls grinned. “Of course!”

And so, the day went on as it usually did. Time slipped away as they found themselves engrossed in Carol’s stories. It was a great epic of love and loss. Of people that fought for what they believed in no matter what. A world that they could get lost in, and characters who stuck in their minds. There was almost nothing that could interrupt them here. Almost.

Just as they got to the climax of the story, a sudden noise broke the narration. An incessant, electronic sound.

Miku’s phone was ringing.

It was a strange scene.

The night was quiet. It wasn’t dark, per se; this was the city after all, but it was a quiet night. Terashima Shiori sighed, that was a bit disappointing. She wished she could’ve lived in a city that never slept, where all kinds of interesting crimes happened. A city that was constantly changing, where life was consistently interesting and you could never know what would happen next.

When she had the opportunity to move to Tokyo, she thought there might be a chance that this place’d be that type of city. Unfortunately, that didn’t come to pass. It was a boring, normal city, where nothing interesting happened at all. It was just like everywhere else in the world, dull and colorless.

She was walking through the quiet streets with her two friends. Unfortunately, they weren’t prowling it, looking for crime, or doing anything remotely that interesting. Instead, they were just hanging out. How dull. They didn’t even really have an aim, and as such they were just listlessly wandering the city.

She was, however, keeping an eye out to see if anything fun would happen. For that reason, she kept a few paces behind her two friends, not joining in their joyous conversation.

“Besides, everyone knows how the third arc is inarguably the best,” Yumi said like a stuck-up know it all. Ugh, were they talking about anime again? Can’t they talk about something else? This was going to be a long night.

She didn’t hate her friends, nor did she hate their interests. Just in case there was an audience listening to her thoughts, Shiori wanted to get that out of the way as soon as possible. She quite liked them on most days, but it was so obnoxious to hear about the latest shows every single second of every day. They had been arguing about anime for the past twelve hours, it felt like. She could barely get a word in edgewise.

She sighed, shaking her head. It wasn’t a good idea to get worked up like this. ‘Deep breaths, Shiori. Calm down, they’re your friends.’

Maybe it was just because life had been so boring lately. Yeah, that’s probably why she was getting annoyed. School tests had been so simple, and the projects they did were a walk in the park. It was annoying. Nothing was really fun here. Sure, anime did help stave off the boredom, and interacting with others on the true crime forum was as fun as always. True crime really did help keep the boredom away for her.

She laughed at the thought. It was like she was a classical detective in the waiting period before her next great case.

Though, that did remind her. The Silver Knife Murderer hadn’t claimed another victim in a long time. That was disappointing, but it was expected. Usually, killers had a few breaks between their killings.

Maybe that was another reason she felt bored out of her mind. There were no developments in the case she was most interested in.

Shiori sighed. She looked around the street. Maybe she’d see something interesting if she looked around a bit more. The fluorescent lights illuminated the street like spotlights. Through their light, humanoid figures were revealed. Friends talking, couples arguing, folks wandering, all kinds. There weren’t many people out, though that may have been expected, there was a curfew after all.

Only people like her and her friends would be out around now. People who didn’t want to stay cooped up in their homes for one reason or another. People who wanted to feel the fresh night air, a change of pace, or simply because they were bored. Or maybe…

Shiori finally spotted something interesting. Someone interesting, more like. It was someone she had seen time and time before. She saw her move with a purpose, white hair flowing behind her. Now what was she doing out this late?

Shiori grinned. She could practically smell something interesting going on over there. “Hey, Itaba-san, Andou-san.” She said, interrupting the two’s conversation, “I think I just saw Yukine-senpai.”

Yumi’s mouth opened in surprise. How cute. After recovering, she asked, “Yukine-senpai? What’s she doing out during curfew?”

“Another troublemaker,” Kuriyo sighed, pressing her hand to her face, “Why isn’t anyone I hang out with normal.”

Shiori grinned, “Says the girl who agreed to come out here with us.”

“To keep an eye on you two,” Kuriyo’s exasperation was clear in her voice.

Shiori laughed. If Kuriyo didn’t want to hang out with troublemakers, she shouldn’t have been hanging out with the two of them. “Anyway, I wanna know what she’s doing out so late. Who wants to follow her!”

“Oh!” Yumi was practically bouncing up and down, “I’m in! I’m in!”

Kuriyo sighed heavily, “Fine, I’m coming too.”

“Great!” Shiori clapped her hands together pleasantly. And so, they began tailing their upperclassman.

The first thing they learned after they began tailing Chris was that it’s a lot more difficult to tail someone than stories make it seem, especially in the dark. The sheer amount of times they almost lost track of her was staggering, but thankfully they’d find her again rather quickly. Shiori made a mental note about this in case she ever wanted to follow someone again.

After a while, they got into a rather good rhythm of it. They kept enough of a distance as to not alert her, but not enough to still be able to keep track of her. Now, they could observe what she was doing without alerting her. The first notable thing they saw Chris do was talking to a man on the street.

“Ohh, is she going on a late-night rendezvous?” Yumi whispered giddly. 

That was possible, Shiori thought, maybe Chris had a secret date or something. Though, looking at the interaction, that line of thinking was probably not true. She saw them talk a bit. The man shook his head. Chris looked rather disappointed. Then, she went on her way.

“Hmm. Probably not, then,” Yumi said. She sounded a bit disappointed.

“Maybe it’s more interesting than that,” Shiori whispered back, “C’mon, let’s go.”

Afterwards, Chris would stop several people in the streets. There wasn’t much rhyme or reason to the people she spoke with; nor was a single connecting thread other than her seeing them. Judging from the interaction time, it seemed like she would talk to them about the same thing. Those two things probably implied she was asking them a set of questions. 

Her movements were rather interesting as well. Every now and then she’d stop to survey the area. She’d look in all directions before she’d quickly begin moving again. That could mean she knew she was being followed, though it could’ve also been that she was searching for something.

Perhaps both, since she was being followed.

Chris took a sudden turn into an alley. Okay, she definitely knew she was being followed. Before anyone could stop her, Yumi immediately followed Chris right into the alleyway. Welp, the jig was up.

Kuriyo sighed, rubbing her temple, “She does know that was a trap, right?”

“Oh, she will in a moment,” Shiori looked positively giddy to see what would happen.

Right on cue, they heard a loud scream, and Yumi flew out of the alley. She was soaring through the air, three feet above the ground, before landing hard on it. Jeez, how hard did Chris hit her? 

Chris strode out. To Yumi, she must’ve looked imposing and alien. The shadows obscured her figure, covering her face and masking her expression. And where there was light, it shone harshly. It reflected off her clothes, radiating sharp brightness. She cracked her knuckles. “There’s more where that came from if you don’t back off!”

A moment passed, completely silent. Yumi looked terrified. She was silent— too frightened to utter a word to the figure looming over her. A frigid wind blew between them as Chris just stood, staring.

As much as she wanted to watch and see how this played out, Shiori decided to step in. It honestly seemed like things might get a little bad. She cleared her throat, walking forward, “Sorry for spooking you like that, Yukine-senpai.”

Chris blinked. After taking a moment to reassess the situation, she rubbed her temple and sighed. “Oh, it’s just you three.”

And like that, the threatening aura disappeared. Chris relaxed, returning to a more neutral position. She stepped out of the alleyway and into the faint light of the streets. It felt a lot safer when they could actually see her face.

Their senpai crossed her arms, “So? Why the hell were you three following me?”

“Isn’t it natural to wonder what a friend’s doing when you run into them on the streets?” Shiori asked innocently. Behind her, Kuriyo was checking in on Yumi. Of course, Shiori was worried about her friend too, but it was best to leave each of them to their specialties. Shiori smiled, “Especially if said friend is out after curfew.”

“Says the girl out after curfew,” Chris retorted. She was certainly calmer now, but she was clearly a bit annoyed. Thanks to a certain transfer student, however, Shiori knew exactly how to deal with an annoyed person.

“You got us there,” Shiori laughed. She gave Chris a pleasant look. This was rather fun. “Well, to answer your question: The three of us like to do these little excursions every now and then. While we’re out, we try to find something fun to do or investigate.”

“And I happened to be the target, huh?” Chris groaned. Yep, she was annoyed. “Why?”

“Boredom.” Shiori responded flatly. Hopefully that cleared everything up.

“No like,” Chris wordlessly gestured in the air for a few moments. “Why did you decide to follow me, of all people?”

“I already told you, didn’t I?” Shiori tilted her head, slightly confused, “Seeing someone break curfew demands investigation, right? Also, we wanted to know what you were asking all of those people.”

“And you couldn’t just walk up and ask me?” Chris asked, crossing her arms.

Shiori nodded, “Tailing people is more interesting.”

“For the record, I was making sure these two didn’t get in trouble,” Kuriyo quipped. She shook her head disapprovingly at Yumi and Shiori.

“You didn’t stop them though,” Chris said through gritted teeth. She sighed, placing her hand to her temple once again, “Well, since you were curious, I might as well ask you too.”

“Oh?” Shiori raised an eyebrow. Given the circumstances, she honestly hadn’t expected Chris to be this forthcoming with info.

“Have you seen this girl around recently? She’s around my age with hair that goes down to about here,” Chris gestured at the area by her waist. “Maybe a bit longer...Idiot doesn’t take care of it either…” She began muttering. “It’d be so pretty if she took care of it too, but she just doesn’t. Heck, if she put effort into her appearance I’m sure she’d be a real looker. But no, she just leaves it up to me. In fact it’s—”

“Uhm? Senpai? Your explanation?” Shiori asked. She just had a feeling if she didn’t get her upperclassman back on track they might be here a while.

“Oh, right.” Chris cleared her throat, “It’s a pretty light brown, almost blond. That’s its natural color, obviously. You wouldn’t think it with how knotted it gets…” Chris grumbled that last bit. She shook her head, refocusing on the conversation at hand, “Amber eyes. A little taller than me. Kinda an airhead if you talked with her? Anyone like that?”

“Nope~!” Yumi called out not even a second after Chris finished the description. Shiori gave a small sigh of relief— looks like her friend had recovered.

Shiori paused. She briefly tried to remember if she had met anyone matching the description…to absolutely no avail, “Sorry, I don’t believe I’ve met with this girl either.”

“I haven’t either,” Kuriyo said nonchalantly.

“Didn’t think so,” Chris sighed. She started to walk away from the three of them, “Well, thanks anyway.”

“Hey hey!” Yumi bounded up to her excitedly, “Is that lady a friend of yours?”

Chris stopped. She flipped around, immediately trying to slap the anime fan away from her. Yumi nimbly dodged out of the way. “Haah?! Why would you think that?” Chris yelled, a bright red blush on her face.

'So it is a friend,’ Shiori chuckled. 

“I mean, you’re trying to find her, right?” Yumi said, a genuinely innocent smile on her face. “So I just assumed…”

“W-Well,” Chris turned away, still bright as a tomato, “Yes, she is. What about it?”

“Can we help you find her?” Yumi said excitedly. She practically pounced on the blushing girl.

Chris ducked out of the way, sending the otaku straight into the cold pavement, “Are you serious? Why? ”

“Well,” Yumi bounced back to her feet, “Four people’s better than one, right? If all of us look around, we’ll find your friend faster!”

“But you don’t even know her,” Chris responded sharply, “Why do you even want to help?”

Kuriyo sighed, shaking her head, “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Isn’t what obvious?” Chris asked.

“You’re our friend, Kinekuri-senpai,” Kuriyo said simply.

Chirs’ jaw dropped. She looked absolutely flummoxed, like she had just heard the most baffling information her had ever heard in her life. “Kinekur—”

“And,” Kuriyo continued. She looked at Chris with a fierce resolve in her eyes, “Friends help each other out. Even if I don’t know this girl, you are our friend and I want to help you.”

“Plus,” Shiori said, walking up next to Kuriyo, “It beats being bored at night.” She said with a playful wink.

Kuriyo shot her a playful glare for that part. Shiori stuck her tongue out back at her.

Chris sighed, shaking her head. She looked away from them, trying to hide the small smile that was on her face. Then, in a quiet voice she said, “Do what you want.”

Shiori shot a glance at her two friends. They nodded back at her. And, in sync, the three of them said, “Will do, senpai!”

It was a noisy scene.

And Miku absolutely hated it. She had just walked into the command room and was immediately assaulted by the absolute cacophony of sound. It wasn’t even talking , just the sound of fingers hitting keyboards. Sure they might be doing something important, making sure that the regular folk wouldn’t get hurt or some bullshit like that. However, that didn’t stop the noises from being excruciatingly annoying.

Maybe on a different day, this wouldn’t bother her so much. Maybe on a normal day, she’d just let everything fade into the background. Maybe on another day, she would be able to just accept that it was only this noisy because of how hard everyone here was working. But, today she just wanted them to quiet down.

Because today she just felt pissed off.

She never liked going to headquarters. That fact definitely did not help with her mood at all. Even though it had been a month, she just couldn’t find it in herself to like this place in any capacity. The bright lights shone down like spotlights, exposing her and stealing away any place she could’ve hidden.

The sterile smell that assaulted her nostrils was something she especially hated. In this place, it followed her wherever she went. The way it was omnipresent in the hallways reminded her of her old school. The way that the smell constantly clung to her every single goddamn time they poured those cleaning chemicals over her head. Every single goddamn time she had to clean off the writings they wrote on her desk, the same smell stayed. It was always there —following her— torturing her until she couldn’t take it anymore.

So, why in the world did she have to get summoned here at the climax of the story Carol had been reading her. It was completely unfair. That place was safe, and this place wasn’t.

The only silver lining was that that scientist wasn’t here yet. If she was, Miku probably would’ve started breaking something.

Miku started to make her way to one of the sofas in the command room. She just wanted to get this over with so she could leave. But, as she did so, a bright voice called out from behind her.

“I thought you might show up soon, Miku-san,” Miku turned around and was face to face with Aoi. The bridge bunny had a warm smile on her face and a plastic cup in her hand. “So, I was preparing something for you.”

Then, Aoi held out the cup to Miku.

“Have something warm.”

Miku frowned, staring at the cup in front of her, “...You know I don’t like coffee.”

Aoi grinned, “So if it’s not coffee it’ll be okay, right?”

“What is it then?” Miku asked, taking the warm cup. The only thing Aoi did in response was smile ambiguously.

Miku sighed, staring at the drink skeptically. It sure looked like coffee. Slowly, she brought it to her lips…And immediately, her eyes lit up as she tasted the distinct taste of hot chocolate. Not only that, but it was really good hot chocolate. It was just the right balance of bitter and sweet, accentuating all the tiny little complexities inside it. Its texture was silky smooth and it caressed her tongue in a warm embrace. It wasn’t too hot either, so she could down it in literally one gulp!

But, she didn’t want to. Instead, she wanted to savor every last drop.

“Oh shit! It’s poison,” screamed a certain man in shock. Almost immediately as he said that, Miku practically spat the drink out half-way across the damn room.

“W-Wha—?!!” Miku looked around, bewildered. And, then she heard snickering from one of the computers.

“O-Oh gosh, I didn’t think you’d actually spit it out,” Sakuya said, sheepishly.

Aoi put her hands to her hips, and shook her head disapprovingly, “Fujitaka-san, that wasn’t very nice. Apologize.”

“Y-Yes ma’am,” Sakuya said, bowing his head down. “I’m sorry, it wasn’t really poison.”

Miku pouted. Why did they have to ruin the moment with a dumb joke! She was just getting to—

“Fortunately, I expected this might happen,” Aoi said, casually pulling out a second plastic cup. “So I made a spare.”

Miku’s eyes lit up excitedly. She got a second cup out of the deal! After acquiring it, she made her way to one of the sofas in the base and sat down, drinking it happily.

“As punishment, you will be the one cleaning up that mess, Fujitaka-kun,” Genjuro said sternly as he made his way to the sofa across from Miku.

“Alright…” Sakuya hung his head in shame. Though, him, the commander, and Aoi all had fond smiles on their faces as they looked at Miku enjoying her hot chocolate.

Noticing the attention, Miku quickly tried to regain her composure. She placed the cup down in front of her and tried to get a serious expression back on her face.

It was at this moment she noticed Tsubasa standing at the door. She had her arms crossed and a clear look of annoyance on her face.

Miku cleared her throat. Right, she didn’t want to be here so she should get this over with soon, “So, what did you call me here for?”

“I was planning to go over that when everyone got here,” Genjuro said, glancing at the door, “It concerns how we’ll operate going forward.”

“How we’ll operate going forward?” Tsubasa said, a quizzical tone in her voice. She tapped her forearm impatiently, “Are we, perhaps, changing something about our operations?”

“That is correct, at least in how we perceive our operations,” Genjuro said. He took another glance around the room. “Is Ryoko-kun—”

Right on cue, the sliding door whooshed open and the scientist, Sakurai Ryoko, waltzed into the command center. “Sorry I’m late, everyone~. Did you miss me?”

As jovial as always, it seemed. She didn’t have a single care in the goddamn world…aside from bothering everyone else, obviously. Miku bit her tongue. It probably wasn’t the best idea to make a witty comment right now, but she really wanted to. 

“Doctor, even Miku-san got here before you,” Sakuya said, rolling his eyes. Miku cringed slightly, a witty comment was made, but Sakuya didn’t need to insult her too.

“Miku-chan got here before me?” Ryoko opened her mouth exaggeratedly wide. A mock expression of shock. “My my, I didn’t know she was so on top of things all of a sudden. Where have I been?”

“Don’t worry, Kohinata is still late,” Tsubasa deadpanned. Though, the smirk on her face betrayed the stoicism in her voice.

Miku’s eyes twitched. A pleasant smile on her face. So it was make fun of Miku day, huh? She crossed her arms, clearing her throat, “Can we please just get the meeting started?”

“Miku-chan! There’s no need to be so rude,” Ryoko scolded playfully, “I know you want to get back to whatever date you were on, but we’re just having fun!”

Genjuro raised an eyebrow, “What makes you think Miku-kun was on a date?”

“Ohoh, Genjuro-kun~ You might not get it but, I can tell! It’s womanly instinct after all,” She patted Miku on the head, “Don’t worry, Miku-chan. Your late-night rendezvous with your secret lover is safe with me~.”

Miku groaned. She wasn’t going to dignify that with a response. She took another sip of her hot chocolate to calm herself.

Aoi placed her hand on Miku’s shoulder reassuringly. The warmth that radiated from it helped a lot, “I agree with Miku-san. We should get started.”

“Right,” Genjuro nodded. He gave Sakuya a knowing look. The bridge bunny nodded, and began typing on his keyboard once more. After a few moments, an image appeared on the big screen behind them. Genjuro nodded sagely, turning back to the group, “So, any opinions?”

Miku looked at the image. From what she could tell, it was a map of the city centered around Lydian. She could make out the city streets she had gotten to know over the past month. Though, there were a lotta odd specks of white that dotted the surrounding area.

“So…what are we looking at?” Miku asked, tilting her head questioningly.

“A map of the Noise attacks from the past month,” Genjuro responded, “Notice anything strange about it?”

“Oh here here! Pick me!” Ryoko said, raising her hand enthusiastically. Without waiting for a response, she continued, “There’s been so many attacks and they’ve all been localized entirely around Lydian!”

“Uhm…” Miku raised her hand, “What do you mean by that?”

“Miku-kun,” Genjuro turned to her, “How much do you know about Noise?”

“They show up out of nowhere and kill people?” Miku asked, tapping her arm nervously. She knew what was coming,

The scientist shook her head disapprovingly, “That’s no good, Miku-chan. You should’ve studied up at least a little more. I mean, you do work for us, after all.” Ryoko twirled around, appearing in front of Miku. She bopped her nose playfully, “Alas, I shall explain it. If none of you mind, of course.” She winked at the rest of the group.

“I was going to ask you to anyway,” Genjuro shrugged, shooting her a gentle smile, “Take it away, Ryoko-kun.”

“Alrighty~ No other objections, right?” Ryoko said, looking around the room expectantly. God, Miku hoped someone would object. Silence. “Well, looks like there are none. So Noise—”

Miku took a deep breath. She tensed up slightly, mentally preparing for the explanation. She just had a feeling it was gonna take a while.

“Since we have bigger fish to fry today, I’ll cut out the fluff,” Ryoko said, spinning back around and sitting on the couch across from Miku. “Essentially, there are a few things odd about this situation. To start, Noise attacks don’t happen all that often, historically speaking. There’s usually a big cooldown between each of them, usually taking a few months to a year. So, the fact that there have been this many attacks in the past month has been quite the anomaly~.”

“If we want to go back even further, the Noise attacks just within the past decade have been an anomaly,” Genjuro added, earning him a death glare from Ryoko.

“Genjuro-kun,” Ryoko had thinly veiled malice beneath her pleasant smile. She clapped her hands together, “I believe you told me you’d let me explain.”

Genjuro bowed his head, “My apologies, continue.”

“Ahem,” Ryoko smiled, turning back to Miku, “As I was saying! The amount of Noise attacks has been a cause for concern in and of itself, however—” Ryoko paused dramatically. She continued, “The fact that they’ve been centered around Lydian is perhaps more concerning...After all, why does it seem like these heartless dolls have a plan?”

“You mean…” A chill ran through Miku’s spine. Her head hurt. A sharp knife stabbed right into her brain. She stared at Ryoko— eyes wide with shock, “Someone’s controlling them?”

Ryoko grinned. A wide, chilling grin. “Exact—”

The automatic door whooshed open, cutting Ryoko off. A brown-haired man walked in. Miku had seen him before, but she had never quite interacted with him. He was usually with Tsubasa whenever she did something, but she didn’t know what he actually did, if anything.

“Sorry for interrupting, commander,” He said, bowing his head. He had a pleasant voice, smooth and gentle. It betrayed no emotions.

“Oh, is it that time already?” Genjuro asked, glancing at Tsubasa.

“Yes,” The man nodded, “We need to figure out the particulars of the album tonight.”

…

Did— Did she hear that right?

Miku looked between the two with a confused expression on her face. What in the world were they talking about? Album? Why was this a conversation happening in this military base?

Noticing her staring at them, the brown-haired man faced her, a sheepish grin on his face, “Oh, my apologies. I never introduced myself to you, did I?”

“N-No, you didn’t,” Miku said. She was still a bit bewildered by the sudden turn of that conversation.

“My name is Ogawa Shinji,” The man bowed his head. “To the public, I am the idol Kazanari Tsubasa’s manager.”

As if to prove his point, he pulled out a business card and handed it to Miku.

So that’s what it was. Why hadn’t it occurred to Miku that Tsubasa needed a manager? It should’ve been really obvious: Tsubasa was an idol, after all. So, she most definitely had a manager, and being someone who worked for the military, it was even more obvious that her manager'd work for the military too.

Miku stared at the business card for a moment. She looked back at the man, shaking her head, “I don’t want it.”

“Oh, alright,” Ogawa slipped the card back into his pocket. He looked a bit embarrassed. “Tsubasa-san, shall we get going.”

“Yes, right away,” Tsubasa stood up straight. Quickly, she made her way out the room, her manager trailing behind her closely.

“Now then,” Ryoko said, clearing her throat, “Where was I…”

It was a blinding scene.

The fluorescent lights of headquarters shone down upon two figures. They walked through the empty hallway in silence. The only sound surrounding them was the echo of their soles against the tiled floors. It reverberated throughout the base, accentuating every step they took. It felt like a single word would break that desolate silence.

It was Ogawa who decided to break it. And he did so by asking a simple question, “How have you been feeling, Tsubasa-san?”

“Why do you care, Ogawa-san?” Tsubasa said coldly. Her voice was as sharp as it had always been. At least, as sharp as it had been for these past two years. “I’m fine.”

“My apologies, as your manager your wellbeing is my utmost concern,” Ogawa took off his glasses, placing it in his suit pocket, “You’ve been on edge lately. More than usual, as a matter of fact.”

“On edge?” Tsubasa asked sardonically, “And for what reason do I have to be on edge?”

“Several,” Ogawa said casually. There was a slight pause in Tsubasa’s steps. Hesitation. She continued onwards. Ogawa continued, “Miku-san for one. From my perspective, it seems like the two of you don’t really get along.”

The idol sped up slightly. Ogawa kept pace, not letting his charge leave his sight.

“Working alongside someone you can’t get along with is plenty of reason to be on edge, is it not?” He asked. His stare was unyielding. Tsubasa could practically feel it on her back. Then, he added, “And your father called in earlier today, correct?”

“What does that man have to do with this?” Tsubasa asked bitterly. She didn’t turn back.

“You know what he has to do with this, Tsubasa-san,” Ogawa said, sternly. It was getting more difficult to keep pace with the idol. “If you need someone to talk to—”

“Ogawa-san.” Tsubasa stopped, her voice a chilling monotone. She turned around, facing Ogawa. The ninja shuddered at what he saw. The sword looked like an oni, a burning anger hidden beneath an expressionless face. It was imposing and giant, like an immovable metal wall. ”I am a sword. I do not need such things.”

Ogawa stood his ground. Although he felt like he was a pebble swept down in a stream— desperately clinging to his place— he held firm. “You can’t sing without emotions, Tsubasa-san.”

Tsubasa grit her teeth. She flipped around and continued her pace. And the two of them walked on in an uncomfortable silence.

It was an uncomfortable scene.

Miku leaned back into the sofa, trying to relax from the new information she had to process. “I’m just gonna go over this again, just to make sure I got everything.”

“Go right ahead,” Ryoko responded, sitting back against her own sofa. She took a sip from her coffee.

“Okay, so,” Miku took a sip of her hot chocolate. Great, it’s cold now. She set it back down, “Essentially, someone’s been controlling the Noise to try to nab this relic, Durandal, we have hidden in this base?”

“That is correct,” Genjuro said. He took a seat next to Ryoko.

“Okay okay, I got it,” Miku said. She...Wasn’t sure how she was feeling about this new information. There was a strange cocktail of feelings brewing within her, mixing together and running up against one another. There was something here she couldn’t quite place her finger on. 

So there was someone controlling these Noise, huh...Were they involved in the—

—A sharp pain stabbed her.

There was someone standing—

Miku shook her head. She shouldn’t think about this kind of stuff too hard. Though, that did remind her; she had a question. One that had been weighing in the back of her head since she had been recruited.

“Hey, so…” Miku glanced at everyone else in the room. They were all pretty relaxed right now, so it was probably the best time to ask this. She took a deep breath, and asked “Was Amou Kanade-san a Symphogear user?”

As soon as she asked that, the temperature felt like it dropped approximately ten degrees. Miku gulped, seeing how much that simple question caused everyone to tense up. It was silent— the sound of typing nowhere to be heard.

“That is correct,” Genjuro said gravely. He was clasping his hands together and staring at them intently.

Miku really wished her drink was still warm. “So, if she had a Symphogear, how did she die during the...Y’know, incident?”

Complete silence. An eternity passed. She swallowed nervously. Nobody moved, nobody spoke, not even the ticking of a clock.

“There is…” His voice was quiet, unsure. The stark contrast between the usual commander and the almost husk of a man she saw now. “Another function of the Symphogear. One that we have not told you about yet.”

“The superb song,” Ryoko said coldly. The usual bravado was nowhere to be found; her glasses shone in an odd way, obscuring her eyes. It blocked out any window into her soul, her expression unreadable. “A final song that burns away life.”

—The golden light of sunset burned her eyes.

Miku didn’t like listening to the scientist’s voice. It grated against the edges of her brain, filling it with pain.

The woman continued. What color were her eyes again? “When sung, it releases all the limiters, sending out a powerful attack that destroys the user’s body. It should only ever be used as a final resort.”

“Kanade-kun sang it during the Zwei Wing incident,” The commander didn’t move. He just stayed, staring at his hands, “From our standpoint, we saw the readings of its usage, but not the reason. According to Tsubasa, the two of them found some survivors and Kanade-kun used it to give them a chance to survive but…”

“They didn’t make it…” Miku breathed out, almost automatically. The infamous concert where only Kanazari Tsubasa survived.

Genjuro nodded solemnly. And silence smothered the scene once more. A frigid scene that stayed in stasis onward into eternity. The seconds passed by with only the suffocating white noise filling their minds.

Ryoko stood up. She didn’t look at the rest of them, “Well, I think that’s all I need to be here for, so I’ll leave now.” And she walked out the door, leaving behind the room blanketed in oppressive silence.

Time passed slowly. The seconds were no different than the minutes, a stagnant moment in time. But, as time flowed on, things began to thaw. Movement started once more, starting with the solitary sound of a single person typing. The familiar click-clack began with a single person. Then another joined in. And another, and another. People began moving once again, and the warmth returned to the room as it did.

Genjuro relaxed a bit, unclasping his hands. He looked up at Miku, smiling warmly, “Miku-kun, how do you feel about Tsubasa?”

“Huh?” It took a moment for the question to register in Miku’s head. Miku thought for a moment, before saying, “What else can I say about her? My feelings haven’t changed.”

Genjuro chuckled. He had an amused smile.

“W-What’s so funny?” Miku asked, blushing.

Genjuro cleared his throat. He regained his composure fast, but the look of amusement in his eyes did not leave. “My apologies. I was just thinking about how similar you and Tsubasa are.”

Miku’s eyes twitched. She pouted angrily, “Is that supposed to be an insult?”

Genjuro shook his head. He was smiling now. “Say, Miku-kun. May I ask you a favor?”

...Miku didn’t like the way this conversation was going. She stared blankly back at the commander, “What?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much of a problem, could you try to get along with Tsubasa a bit more?” He asked. His voice was tinted with a feeling that Miku couldn’t quite place. It was something of a mix between pain and warmth. A genuine heartfelt request.

Miku opened her mouth to refuse; but, she remembered Carol’s words. Connections, huh? She sighed, and she looked at the commander for a moment. The tension in her body released, and, in a voice that wasn’t harsh or combative, she asked, “May I ask why?”

Genjuro’s expression softened. His eyes looked more gentle than before, “She’s...Not really been in the best place these past few years. In fact, she’s probably the one who has it the worst of all of us.”

‘Ever since Kanade died’ were the words that weren’t said. Miku nodded slowly. She listened intently.

“She’s been locked inside her own heart for too long, I think she needs someone to reach out and help her. I’ve been trying to ask her father to reconnect; however,” Genjuro said. He stared up at the ceiling, “I think someone like you, someone similar to her, might be able to understand her feelings better. That way, she can see that she’s not alone in her pain.”

Miku didn’t say anything for a little bit. A flicker of conflict appeared on her face. She knew in her heart what the commander had said was correct. She knew that. Who better to understand Tsubasa’s feelings than someone similar to her. Someone like Miku. But— there was another feeling welling up in her heart. It wasn’t hatred, obviously, while Miku didn’t like the idol she certainly didn’t hate her. No, it was a much simpler thought that pervaded throughout her mind.

After all, Miku couldn’t do anything. She was useless. Anything she touched broke, she couldn’t do a single thing for anyone.

And so, she answered thus, “I’ll think about it.”

Genjuro nodded. He smiled at her kindly, “Thank you.”

And so, Miku turned to leave. She didn’t want to talk any longer. The meeting had ended a while ago and she had no more questions. So, she had no more reason to be here anymore. There weren’t any Noise attacks, no need to go out and—

A shrill sound blared, cutting through her thoughts. The alarm. It wasn’t the Noise alarm. No, it sounded completely different. The alarm for Noise wasn’t this shrill. A bright red light filled the room. The walls were dyed in the color of blood. She had never heard this before.  A foreboding feeling entered Miku’s heart.

She turned around slowly. The commander’s face was frozen in shock as he stared at the screen. The typing had stopped. Miku looked at the screen. And there, written in blood red text filling the screen was:

“EMERGENCY NEHUSHTAN ARMOR DETECTED EMERGENCY”

Miku’s feet hardly touched the ground as she flew through the dimly lit streets of Tokyo. She weaved in and out of alleys, making sure to avoid any populated areas— Though, that was probably unnecessary. Division Two had already issued a warning in the surrounding areas, and were evacuating them as she ran.

A Complete Relic. That was what they had told her it was. That was what they had detected. But, it wasn’t just that, was it? This relic had been stolen from the Second Division two years ago, during the Zwei Wing concert.

Miku was running. She could hardly breathe, her lungs screaming in pain as she gasped for air. It hurt so much. But, she kept running. Her legs felt like they’d give out any moment. A searing pain burned through her muscles. It beckoned her to stop, telling her it was useless. And yet, she kept running. 

Even with her body burning like a dying star, she kept running.

Why? Because she couldn’t let this person get away. 

Why?

Because this person was the culprit.

Of what?

That was obvious, wasn’t it?

So, with her Gear activated, Miku ran without stopping. It was like a gun had been fired behind her, signaling the start of a race. She couldn’t stop. She wouldn’t let herself. Even if Tsubasa was on the way, she wouldn’t wait for her. Because this was important. It was more important than anything that had come before. More important than the days she spent idling in a peaceful routine, more important than her ability to fight, more important than any of the cyclical scenes of life she had been beholden to this past month.

—It was a chance. A chance to get back at the person who stole her life away.

She sprinted as if she needed to get first in a race. No, she sprinted faster than that. The cityscape blurred around her, only dark hues of black and grey that filled her vision. She only had a vague sense of the buildings surrounding her; guided only by the knowledge of where she was going. She could hear the roar of the wind almost as though it were a crowd screaming at her.

It was a path she had walked many times before. The culprit appeared somewhere she often saw; in a place she often passed through. The streets were opening up now, it was in sight. She heard the sound of running water, saw the trees surrounding the area so she knew. She was here.

The park was filled with the cold light of the moon. It felt unfamiliar. Gone were the pleasant bird songs; the blue light of the moon illuminated everything it touched with a frigid sense of silence. It made the shadows stretch on and on ominously, like the bars of a cage. And there was a feeling. Something in her heart that told her there was something very wrong.

Miku made her way through the thicket of trees. She ran through the empty fields of darkness towards the park’s center. She went to where the culprit was. And she saw it.

It was— 

—A familiar scene.

A blond woman stood—clad in a strange golden armor— at the heart of the park.

—There was someone standing there. Someone towering in the doorway.

Miku stopped in front of the culprit. It felt like a thicket of fog had swamped her vision. The murderer towered over her. The smell of dust filled her nostrils.

The woman smirked. A terrifying grin. One that chilled Miku to the bone. “Finally. I was starting to get bored.”

—A terrifying grin appeared on the stranger’s face. And, in a chilling voice, [] told her.

“Hey, little miss.” The woman said. Her voice dripped with malice; it gripped Miku’s heart and constricted it. Ice cold. “If you don’t leave—”

—A sharp pain filled Miku’s head. She forced it down—

—A frightening glare. “I’ll kill you.”

Miku trembled, a mixture of fear and fury coursing through her veins. Her sword appeared in her shaking hand as she pointed it towards the stranger. She grit her teeth, steeling the fear within her, and spat out, “Save i—”

The roar of machinery drowned out her voice. Miku quickly turned around to see a blur of blue and white soar past her. The gust of wind that followed it almost knocked her off her feet. The smell of oil filled the air. Something barreled into the woman’s chest. An earsplitting crack echoed throughout the environment. Metal met metal. Sparks flew. The woman careened into the dirt; the motorcycle following suit before—

Boom!

The entire scene erupted in a blaze of fire. Some shrapnel hit Miku’s Gear, bouncing to the ground harmlessly. A sudden bout of nausea coursed through Miku’s brain. It took all her strength to not keel over as her body quickly tried to adjust to the rapid influx of heat. The inferno’s golden light filled the park, illuminating it for all to see.

It was like the sun had descended from the heavens and made its home right in front of them. Something that would be seared into the visions of anyone who saw it without knowing what it was.

—And it reminded her of the sunset’s golden light that had been seared into her vision so long ago.

Miku stared at the incandescent flames in shocked silence. Behind her, she heard a sound. A soft impact. Something had landed behind her. Slowly, she turned around. Tsubasa stood there silently, clad in her azure armor. She stared at the fire, silent rage boiling inside her eyes.

“You…” Miku stared at Tsubasa. Tsubasa didn’t respond. Then, Miku heard a strange noise from behind her. It was someone’s voice. Someone was laughing. Miku turned around, her grip tightened around the hilt of her blade.

The dust was clearing, the inferno dying down. And, in the center was the stranger. She was laughing. Miku’s shock turned to a silent horror. What was this person?

“You really know how to make an entrance, don’t you,” The woman pulled herself to her feet, not a scratch on her body. She smiled coldly, and walked towards them.

“...So it really is the Nehushtan Armor,” The azure warrior murmured. She gripped her katana tight. A cold fury smothered the area. She raised her blade at the murderer, “I’m taking it back now.”

“Taking it back?” The stranger wore an amused smirk. It was as if she found what Tsubasa had just said so ridiculous that it was funny, “Let’s see you try.”

And Tsubasa charged. Her thrusters roared to life, and she sailed through the sky, on her way to confront the enemy. She was backlit against a stage of fire; the sweltering heat distorted the air, warping the warrior’s figure. The sound of her song drowned out all others.

And all the while, Miku stood frozen with a single thought in her head.

Ah, what a familiar scene.